SAFUN

The first home I ever purchased is up for sale. It’s a special home, not because it was my first home, but because I put a lot of work into making it what it is today. We have many great memories there that we shared with family and friends.

I am hopeful that we’ll find a new owner(s) that will appreciate it as much as Jason and I did. Below are a few things that I think makes it a neat place to call home.

Address: 303 Donaldson San Antonio, Texas 78201

MLS #: 850828

Realtor: Gina Candelario, Kuper Sotheyby’s Internation Realty

Click here for more details.

Character – Mix the old with the new

Built in 1927, you can’t find the unique features this home has in other houses built today with the original shiny wood floors, base board and mosaic tiled fireplace. It also has the original brick on the exterior giving it that cute gingerbread look.

The home has been updated with modern touches.  We opened the kitchen up to flow into the living area. With this, we made a custom bar area with additional seating. In addition, we had a custom island built and put right in the center of the kitchen, providing more counter and storage space.

The backyard is my favorite.  There’s a covered patio, a mature tree that covers half the yard for great shade, lots of greenery with an herb garden, a beautiful dog run, a deck for the back apartment all inside a privacy fence so it feels like a private cottage in the middle of the city.  You can have great barbecues and there were many times I feel asleep in our hammock on the patio.

Location – In the center of San Antonio

Being central to San Antonio, you can get anywhere easily. It takes about 3 minutes to get onto I10, hitting no lights going I10 East towards downtown or hitting 1 light going I10 West towards La Cantera.

The best thing is that you’re always going against traffic. While everyone is fighting to come to downtown during traffic hour, you’re going in the opposite direction. Here’s the time it takes to popular places:

Medical Center (10 minutes) – Just go down Fredericksburg road, which is 1 block down from Donaldson.

Rackspace Headquarters (15 minutes) – Just hop onto I35 North. You can waive to everyone stuck in traffic going downtown.

USAA (15 minutes) – You can go down I10 or Fredericksburg if you wish.

La Cantera, UTSA, The Rim, Fiesta Texas (15-20 minutes)  – Just hop onto I10 and you’re at The Rim or La Cantera in minutes.

San Antonio Community College (5-10 minutes) – Go down Woodlawn to San Pedro

Trinity University (10 minutes) – Right up Hildebrand

University of the Incarnate Word (15 minutes) – Continue down Hildebrand past Trinity University.

San Antonio Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Brackenridge Park (10 minutes)

You have access to superb restaurants downtown, Olmos Park and Alamo Heights area.

The Community  - Around good people

Being in a historic area, there are lots of good organizations you can get involved with. You can join the Monticello Park Neighborhood Association and the Woodlawn Lake Community Association to name a few.

You also are only a 1 mile walk from Woodlawn Lake where lots of joggers and walkers go. For other pass time, you can feed the ducks or take your motor sailboat.  Woodlawn Lake also hosts two of the largest events in the city, Earth Day and July 4^th.

These are just a few of the great things about the 303 Donaldson home. I hope this gives you a better idea of what it would feel like to call it home.

Click here to see featured tour and more photos.

I was so upset to hear the news that the neighborhood pizza parlor, Alamo City Pizza, was closing. It’s one of my favorite pizza parlors and a favorite of the community. Jason and I would walk down there to pick up our order. Their pizza rolls are to die for! For nine years open in that location on Gramercy Street, I felt like they made a huge improvement to the community. They made quality foods, served good beers and had live music on Friday nights. It was a real neat hang out. The last time we went to pick up pizza a few weeks ago, I noticed a sign that said “Closing on July 31st.” I was surprised and ask the lady at the register what it was all about. She said they were closing because the rent was going up and they didn’t want to renew the lease. Apparently the property is owned by a New Yorker, go figure. It was good while it lasted and apparently their plans are to reopen. I hope it’s somewhere in the neighborhood.

Growing up, my dad would take us to the San Antonio Public Library downtown or the “Big Enchilada” to check out books for school projects.  I remember I use to run off to the magazine section and look at “Seventeen” magazines from the 70’s and admire the fashion then. We would roam the aisles and my dad would show us books he thought we should read.

Unfortunately, my visits to the library grew minimal as I moved on to college and now the workforce. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of working with the San Antonio Public Library during their strategic planning process. Being involved with San Antonio Public Library planning committee brings back so many memories of how precious the library is. Times have changed of course and we have the Internet at our fingertips from our home and Starbucks for that “3^rd place.” The library is so much more though. It’s a day trip to take your children, a meeting place for business groups or a resource for travelers coming through the city.

As part of their planning process, the San Antonio Public Library is looking to the local community to provide them feedback on their main website, mysapl.org, as it’s an important component of their marketing efforts. As a San Antonian, you can help the San Antonio Public Library by taking this short (less than 3 minutes) survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/mysapl

Here’s a letter from Jean Brady, Chair for San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees, asking for your support:

Last week I went to a “Girls” happy hour – I don’t do this often but need to! This happy hour was different. It involved a paintbrush and canvas and, yes, of course, wine. We started out at Bin555 Restaurant and Wine Bar located at the Shops of Artisan’s Alley. This was my first time visiting this area. They have cute little shops and restaurants. After a glass of wine, we went next door to  “Painting with a Twist.” It is an art studio with two classrooms.  The idea is simple: bring your girlfriends, some wine and get ready to paint. It is $35 per person and you are provided with an instructor and all the materials needed to make a piece of artwork. They allow you to bring in a picnic – we brought wine!

My cousin organized this girl’s night out and there were about ten of us ladies. We each had a place setting with a blank canvas, paint and paintbrushes. Our project was The Starry Night. Please note, you don’t have to be an artist! I don’t paint so I was a bit intimidated at first, however, the instructor takes you step by step and encourages you to make it your own. The Starry Night sounded like a project way over my head but after a glass of wine (and the understanding that this is not going to be graded), I became more comfortable. We of course had lots of laughs! I think it’s healthy to allow yourself to be creative whether it’s writing, painting, drawing, making pottery. Mine is writing and I usually keep my stuff very private.  So painting with friends over a glass of wine was definitely liberating.

I highly recommend Painting with a Twist for a night out with your girlfriends. I will certainly being going again. Here’s a photo I took on my iPhone.

If you read my last post, you’ll notice that #3 of the memories of our old office space at the Weston Centre was Lula’s. It’s a family owned and operated Mexican restaurant, a Racker favorite. Kens5 visited The Castle and reported on the new developments around The Castle (old Windsor park mall). Because Lula’s received so much business from Rackspace, they went ahead and opened a Lula’s right across the street from The Castle. Genius!  In this video, you’ll see Cloud Racker and good friend of Jason and I, Mike Ortiz. He is the enjoying some food at Lula’s. Neat.