On Friday, October 14th, the Chihuly Exhibit closed it’s doors to the public from 6-8pm, allowing for a private more intimate atmosphere open to only the Signature residents and their guests.  While the museum was closed, that doesn’t mean it was empty;  The event summoned up an amazing turnout with upwards of 140 in attendance.  Guests enjoyed great company, food & wine as well as a documentary on Dale Chihuly and a private tour of his installations & works residing in the St. Petersburg exhibit.  Many attendees have already visited the museum but loved the opportunity to visit again with friends & neighbors.  According to feedback from Scott Allen, “Those that visited the museum for the first time were thrilled and impressed.”

While the Newman & Allen Team continues grow their market share in the Bay area, they will never cease to take care of their community and the Signature residents.  Scott claimed that “The Morean Arts Center’s relationship with [Smith & Associates Real Estate President/CEO] Bob Glaser (pictured above middle) was key to this event’s success”.  However, we know that not only the event’s success but St. Petersburg as a whole would not be the same without he & Debbie either.  The Newman & Allen Team is one of the top producing collaborations in the area, yet their humbleness is always present and genuine.

To see more photos from the event, click here.  Have you attended one of the Newman/Allen events?  What did you think?

This month, the American Cancer Society (ACS) encourages women to “Put on your pink bra and join us in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. The pink bra is an empowering symbol of how personal the fight against breast cancer is. During our Making Strides events, a sea of participants in pink bras will join together to take up arms against the disease. This noncompetitive, 3.2-mile walk that celebrates breast cancer survivors and raises funds to save lives by helping people stay well, helping people get well, by finding cures and fighting back.”

Smith & Associates Real Estate has formed a team to participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on October 22nd and are accepting donations online at  www.putonyourpinkbra.com.  Look for Team Smith & Associates or drop off a check at our Tampa office (3801 Bay to Bay Blvd), made payable to “American Cancer Society, Making Strides.” Donations of all amounts are welcomed and any amount over $100 or more will get you an event t-shirt!

Tampa Realtor, Janet Mendez welcomes & encourages friends, family, survivors & and clients to decorate a pink bra, wear it over your t-shirt and join our team for the walk. It’s a great way to show your children & grandchildren how a lot of people doing a small part for a big cause makes for huge results!

Event Details
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
Saturday, October 22, 2011
7:30am Registration
9:00am Walk Begins

Location:
St. Pete Times Forum
401 Channelside Dr.
Tampa, FL 33602

A few fun facts on the American Cancer Society & why we are so eager to support them:

Helping people get well and stay well:
* The American Cancer Society’s screening guidelines are the gold standard for doctors and patients.
* Every 30 seconds someone calls the American Cancer Society and breast cancer is the top reason for calling. ACS provides support and information 24 hours a day via 800-227-2345 and online at cancer.org.
* The ACS is there with a sympathetic ear, cancer information, a ride to treatment, help accessing other resources in their community and many other services.

Finding Cures:
* The American Cancer Society has been involved in nearly every major breakthrough in the fight against breast cancer, helping make less radical surgery possible and finding lifesaving treatments such as Herceptin and Tamoxifen.
* ACS funds more research than any other nonprofit, next to the federal government.
* Fourty-four ACS funded researchers went on to win the Nobel Prize.
* The American Cancer Society invests more in breast cancer research than any other cancer type.  Today, ACS invests $115 million in 220 breast cancer research projects nationwide and more than $6 million for 11 research initiatives in Florida.

Figthting Back:
* The American Cancer Society is the leading voice for cancer patients in the Florida capital as well as Capital Hill.  Because of their advocacy, Florida developed two cancer research programs over the past decade and since just 200, has funded $7 million in breast cancer research.
* ACS is currently fighting for state funding to ensure ALL women in Florida have access to mammograms and breast cancer treatment.
* Making Strides Against Breast Cancer events bring communities together and give people a voice to fight back against the disease. The events raise both awareness and vital funding to make more progress and save lives.

If dropping off donations at the office, look for our “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” flags and for a $25 donation, a pink flamingo will be placed in our yard honoring or remembering a loved one of the donor’s choosing.  Have you or someone you know fought the battle with breast cancer?  What are your favorite supporting charities?

(Photos courtesy of American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer)

Community involvement plays a huge role in Real Estate.  Not necessarily because your community is filled with potential clients but because it is great to give back.  With October not only comes fun meetings, but it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well.  We have several agents participating in runs, walks and golf tournaments, but today we got to see the fruits of a particularly spectacular fundraiser…a bra decorating contest!  Yes, you heard correctly.  Two of our Tampa Realtors, Laurie Garrett and Janet Mendez (pictured right) modeled bras that they recently decorated at an event to honor all of the birthdays that have passed due to breast cancer research made possible by grants, donations and fundraisers nationwide.  BRA-vo to them on their creative skills.

This Tuesday also gave us a chance to meet one of our newest staff members (whom you will be hearing from on the blog as well), our talented Relocation Director, Jane Gowarty (pictured left).  Jane has been in Real Estate for the past 19 years, starting in land development and has spent the past 10 years focused on relocation.  She will be the first point of contact for out of towners looking to call Tampa Bay home, introducing the city and learning about clients’ stories in order to match them up with a like-minded realtor.  You may have seen Jane speak at several Leading Real Estate or Relocation conventions and we are excited to stand by her side as she continues to educate others on the importance of her department.

All in all, this has been a successful Tuesday.  What are your favorite things about meeting with your colleagues and what kind of community involvement would you like to see from Smith in the future?

In the 1920′s, at the peak of Florida’s land boom, mud was dredged from the bottom of Tampa Bay in order to build two man-made islands atop two small natural islands.  What was once known as “Little Grass Key” and “Big Grass Key” (they were grassy, I would presume) would now be called Davis Islands.  This project was started by Tampa native D.P. Davis (pictured below) who purchased the newly dredged land for a whopping $350K with the intentions to build an elaborate resort community consisting of several hotels, a golf course, airport and swimming pool.  Right as the land boom wound down, Davis sold 306 of the original lots for $1,683,582.  Quite the profit.

The story gets interesting surrounding Davis’ alleged death on October 12, 1926.  The last place D.P. Davis was seen was aboard The Majestic, a sister ship to the Titanic and the largest ship in the world at her time (pictured below), en route to Europe.  Some claim he was at a party when he was blown overboard through one of the ships large portholes.  Others claim he was alone with his girlfriend and it couldn’t have happened without force.  Few think he was looking to jump.   And, as a body was never recovered, many of us believe he was a modern day Machiavelli studying the Art of War and looking to free himself of his debts.

Many of the original Mediterranean-syle homes & structures still grace Davis Island and have been nationally deemed as Historical.  As for D.P. Davis, if he isn’t still walking the Islands, unbeknownst to the world, may his soul rest in peace.

(Historical Photos courtesy of www.DavisIslandCivic.com)

Well, there are several different chapters of the Awesome Foundation in cities all over the world including: Boston, New York, Montreal, Seattle, Sydney, DC, Berlin, San Francisco and our very own Tampa Bay.  Ten different chair people local to the specific city will get together to form a board.  Each month, the board members will donate $100 per person (in the name of awesomeness, of course) which makes up a $1,000 grant.  Local residents will submit applications for awesome ideas they have to improve their city and the board members will vote on who gets the grant based off of the applications.  Awesome, right?!

Some of the awesome ideas that have been funded in other cities are a monstrous colorful graffiti mural on the wall of a Boston school, a live re-inactment of the Indianna Jones and the Alley of Doom scene where locals get to play the role of Mr. Jones running from the gigantic boulder in DC (see photo to the right for a visual courtesy of the Awesome Foundation blog), polka-dots painted on top of San Francisco buildings to create the worlds largest game of connect the dots (picked up by Google Map satellites), and a winter Warmth project dedicated to keeping the homeless warm in Melbourne through backpacks filled with food, gloves, toothbrushes and information on assistance organizations.

The Awesome Tampa Bay chapter is brand spanking new, so they haven’t funded anything yet, however they are currently taking applications and eager to make our Tampa home more awesome than ever $1,000 at a time.  For more information or to submit your ideas, visit their website at www.AwesomeTampaBay.org.

What awesome ideas do you have to improve Tampa Bay?

If you have a heart for both golf and charity, then this 4-person scramble is for you.  Entry is only $100 per person and includes green fees, golf cart, on-course beverages, awards, lunch, dinner and participant prizes.  For $100, you can also promote your business and support the cause via hole sponsorship.  Or if you’re feeling confident in both your company and your golf skills, for $450, grab a couple of work buddies for a Corporate Team and hole sponsorship combo.

Various local merchants will be donating items for participant goodie bags and there will be prizes given out for competitions including: hole-in-one, putting contest, closest to the pin on all par 3s and longest drive for men & women.  If you show up in this awesome breast cancer awareness themed golf cart, I vote automatic win!

The shotgun start is at noon but be sure to leave your Belleair home with enough time to get there before 11am for open registration and a light lunch.  Enjoy on-course drinks throughout the day and the award dinner will begin at 5:30pm.   All in all, the day should be delightful.  Nothing like a fun competition for a great cause to kick off the fall weather!

We do however, know competitions can get serious, so choose your team wisely…Who will you have on your side?

The Tampa Bay Food & Wine Experience grew from the four year Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival that once graced St. Pete Beach.  The Experience will take place September 29th- October 2nd and will feature an array of amazing local cuisine and of course…wine!  Talk about a great early start to the weekend.

The event will kick off tomorrow night with a delicious culinary dinner by one of Smith & Associates‘ favorite caterers, Mise en Place.  For $65, attendees will joy a scrumptious four-course meal paired with southern Italian wine.

Don’t let the morning hangover set in because there will be even more fun happening on Friday!  The invitation only Trade & Media Grande Experience Tasting will take place at Curtis Hixon Park in Downtown Tampa where local delicatessens will make it onto the grid from 1-4pm followed by the Mini Treats evening soiree at the Creative Loafing space in Ybor from 8-11pm.  The Mini Treats event is (surprise?) hosted by Mini Cooper and will share various delicious bite-size morsels (that according to their site will “will send you diving into the deep end of the delicious pool”) with the public for $45 per person.  It may be fall, but this is Florida and I am ready to go swimming in that pool!

Everyone will reconvene at Curtis Hixon Park for The Grande Experience Tasting Saturday at 1pm,  where you will wander around, wine glass in hand to experience the fruits of some of the world’s greatest wine makers.  You will also have the change to explore each restaurant exhibit to sample some of the finest local food and attend one of the Grande Tasting Seminars to learn how to properly please your palate at home as well!  (The Grande Experience will be $75 ahead of time & $85 at the door or get VIP entry an hour early for $100.)  After a long day, head back to Mise En Place from 6pm-9pm for the After Glow & Trade Chill where, for just $15, you will enjoy appetizers and signature drinks while relaxing with new friends and old alike.

The Experience will go out with a bang at the (much needed) Jazz & Wine Maker Brunch at the Wine Exchange in Old Hyde Park Village (pictured right courtesy of unleashyourpalate.com).  Allowing you to sleep in a bit after the weekend’s excitement, the event takes place from noon-3pm.  For $65, enjoy what is said to be the best brunch in town- European style creations paired with the wines of Frog’s Leap Winery.  Or step up to the Bloody Mary bar for the perfect cure to the morning after a wine filled weekend while listening to the soothing sounds of CBS Radio.

I don’t know about you but I am pretty sure I have made up my mind about this weekend’s plans and I am ready to start tomorrow!  Get out of your Tampa Bay home for the weekend and join us at the Tampa Bay Food & Wine Experience!  For more information or to purchase event tickets in advance, visit their website at http://www.unleashyourpalate.com/2011/ Are you coming or what?

So, when I  come back to reality and realize it is 2011, we are walking to Pizza Fusion in the Skypoint building, and I am daydreaming in the middle of the street, camera in hand, tourist style, I quickly come to.  I do however continue to appreciate the beauty that one historical building can bring to an area filled with modern luxuries.

According to an article in the October 15, 1926 Tampa Tribune, Theatre architect John Eberson was quoted on how he got the magnificent idea for the design of the Tampa Theatre.  “I have been wintering in Florida for the past several years, and it is from this state that I got the atmospheric idea.  I was impressed with the colorful scenes that greeted me at Miami, Palm Beach and Tampa. Visions of Italian gardens, Spanish patios, Persian shrines and French formal gardens flashed through my mind, and at once I directed my energies to carrying out these ideas.”  And we sure are glad he carried them out.  A city is always much more fun when filled with history and beauty- just another amazing reason to appreciate our Tampa Bay home.

A few fun facts & vintage photos I found on the Tampa Theatre website:

Opened: October 15, 1926
Architect: John Eberson
Architectural Style: Florida Mediterranean (includes touches of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Spanish, Mediterranean, Greek Revival, Baroque, and English Tudor)
Original Construction Cost: $1.2 million
Restoration Costs, to date: $2 million
First Movie: “The Ace of Cads” starring Adolph Menjou (silent film)
Opening Night Ticket Price: 25 cents
Acquired by the City of Tampa: 1976
National Register of Historic Places: 1978
Tampa City Landmark: 1988
Longest Employment Tenure: 45 years 1926-71 (Blondelle Gladney, box office cashier)
Seats: 1,446
Annual Events: 600+
Average Annual Attendance: 150,000+
Programming: specialty film, classic movies, concerts, special events, corporate events, field trips, weddings, graduations, production location, tours

If you are looking for something to get you out of your Tampa home,  support local history.  Check out the upcoming events at the Tampa Theatre by visiting their site at www.TampaTheatre.org.

Have you ever been to the Tampa Theatre?  What is your favorite historical monument in the Bay area?

The letters that make up the stores well-known name are actually an acronym of the founder’s name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm he grew up on (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden).  * Fun Fact: Småland is directly translated “small land” in Swedish.  Hence, why the “kiddy-land” section in many of the stores don this name.

In 1951, eight years after IKEA was founded, the first catalog was published (see amazing vintage cover pictured right).  Then in 1958 the very first store opened it’s doors.  There are now over 270 some odd locations open worldwide (including a Tampa location, visible from the Crosstown Expressway).  Talk about company growth!

Decorating my St. Petersburg home is not all IKEA has done for the world.  They have partnered with several other non-profit organizations including World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and UNICEF.  According to their website “The IKEA Group, in co-operation with UNICEF, initiates a broad community program in northern India to address the root causes of child labor. The project includes 500 villages and will benefit more than 1 million people, providing more than 80,000 children with an opportunity for an education. At, present, the project covers a range of initiatives, such as providing alternative learning centers, health and nutrition, education, empowering women and forming women’s self-help groups”

If that is not reason enough to absolutely love this place (read: go on an immediate interior design spree), then I don’t know what is.  We should all learn a lesson from them.  Looking for something to do in Tampa today?  See you at IKEA in 10…

Tampa Bay Fashion Week is an exciting annual event that allows local designers, models, photographers and stylists to really showcase their talents to both local and national retailers.  While the Art Institute of Tampa kicked off the official events of the week with their Red Carpet Reception and Celebration of Vintage Designs, the party started as early as last Saturday, September 17th when Project Runway’s Tim Gunn (pictured right on the cover Entertainment Weekly) hosted a runway show right in the middle of International Plaza!

If you missed last weekend and yesterday’s events, no worries, there is more…Check out tonight’s 6pm Model Behavior Cocktail Reception at Element in Downtown Tampa where you will enjoy hors d’oeurvres, while networking with tons of designers and models including supermodel Cheryl Tiegs.  Then, head on over the bridge to Downtown St. Pete tomorrow evening for the Swanky Soirée where you will find not only local fashion and fine art but amazing cuisine will be served by 15 local chefs, restaurants, bakeries & coffee shops and all proceeds go to charity.

Don’t get too tired during the week, as you won’t want to miss Friday’s runway shows & Fashion Week Boutique at Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort in Palm Harbor.  The work of 9 local designers will be featured and tickets are available ahead of time for $75 or at the door for $100 (pending availability).  Maybe you will even get a lucky go-ahead to attend Saturday’s Invitation Only Private Party- it’s so secret that they don’t even give us details!  Check out Fashion Week Tampa Bay’s site for tickets & more info. (left photo courtesy of Dive In Tampa Bay)

It was once said that the Tampa Bay area could never sustain a shopping center the caliber of International Plaza with upscale stores including Neiman Marcus, Burberry and Gucci.  Way to go, ladies & gents- we showed them wrong!  We now host our very own Tampa Bay Fashion Week complete with high end models, celebrity hosts and still stick to our local talent as well.  We are also expecting even more big name retailers to start gracing us with their presence in the near future…H&M cannot come soon enough & c’mon, American Apparel, get on the band wagon!

What is your favorite place to shop in the Tampa Bay area?  Do you plan on attending any of the upcoming Fashion Week events?