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’ve been meaning to post about my latest CrossFit experience. As you know, I started CrossFit last summer with Alamo CrossFit. I really enjoyed it but unfortunately, I only did it for 3 months. The location wasn’t convenient to my home or office location.

Recently, I received an email from Dennis Boline (fellow Racker and the person that got me into CrossFit) about a free all women CrossFit workout with Emily Van Vleck, CrossFit trainer with Elite CrossFit. Elite CrossFit works out at the University of Incarnate Word, centrally located in San Antonio.

What was this free workout all about? Well, Emily was turning 24 and to celebrate her 24^th birthday, she wanted to offer a free CrossFit work out to women only. What a brilliant idea! It was a Saturday morning in March so the weather was perfect. Women showed up from all over the city. She grouped us by level of experience and in heats. For each level, there was a male trainer there to spot you.  Here was the work out:

WORKOUT (these weights are for Level 1):

• 400m walk/run/jog
• 24 step ups onto a 12′ box
• 24 push press with a 25lb bar
• 24 dumbbell swings with a 15lb dumbbell
• 24 burpees
• 24 walking lunges with a 10lb plate held overhead
• 400m walk/jog/run

I know it doesn’t look difficult but you’re going for a time. I was coming out of my winter hibernation so I have to say, I was a bit out of shape. They took photos and here is one of me being super dramatic:

Emily was so awesome and I commend her for a job well done. She had t-shirts made, had branded water bottles and everything was super organized. Emily is actually from northern California, but has been living in San Antonio since 2004. She came to UIW for synchronized swimming and was team captain, All-American and three-time member of the USA National Team. She is currently the Assistant Coach of Synchronized Swimming at UIW. You can read more about her here: http://elitecoaches.blogspot.com/

I just received an email from her about a Summer Boot Camp she will be running. It sounds super awesome. Here are the details:

UIW Summer Bootcamp Program

Learn how to truly gain a level of fitness you have never experienced before. You will perform skills and exercises that will improve the 10 areas of fitness: AEROBIC ENDURANCE, STAMINA, STRENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, SPEED, POWER, COORDINATION, AGILITY, BALANCE and ACCURACY!

Class Times:

May 17, 2010- August 13, 2010

Monday- Wednesday-Friday

6:00am-7:00am, or

12:00pm-1:00pm

Monday-Tuesday-Thursday

5:00pm-6:00pm

UIW Summer Bootcamp Program Fee: $275.  A savings of $175!!!

Click here to sign up: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/asp/home.asp?studioid=6898

This is a killer deal! I highly recommend going to Emily. It’s things like this that will help transition San Antonio into a healthier city.

There’s something about the Weston Centre in downtown San Antonio.  Louis always waves to you as you enter the parking garage, Morris and Hilton always greet you with your first name as you walk to the elevator and Bee from the café, Panache, always has a big smile on her face. It’s a warm and familiar place and doesn’t feel like your typical office building. In an upscale law office high rise, Rackers stand out like sore thumbs.  In my 7 years of working for Rackspace / ServerBeach, my job has taken me back to the Weston Centre 3 times.

As a Racker, you learn to be a nomad. I started at Rackspace in the Broadway building for 3 months, moved to the Paragon building to work for ServerBeach for 6 months until we moved to join the rest of Rackspace at the Weston Centre. I remember literally rolling my desk chair with all my belongings down Pecan Street to the Weston Centre building.  We worked at the Weston Centre until we outgrew the space. Rackspace moved headquarters while ServerBeach stayed at the Weston Centre. I left with Rackspace. After a year, I actually came back to the Weston Centre to work for ServerBeach again. ServerBeach finally outgrew the space and moved headquarters. After working for ServerBeach for 4 years, I returned to Rackspace but this time working for the Cloud Division. And guess where The Rackspace Cloud was living? That’s right, the Weston Centre.

Rackspace is moving headquarters to the refurbished Windsor Park Mall which we have renamed “The Castle.” The Rackspace Cloud’s last day at the Weston Centre is today. This time, I think my move away from the Weston Centre will be permanent. A Racker wrote this really kind email to The Rackspace Cloud staff with his thoughts on the move (I reposted to The Rackspace blog). I actually got teary eyed and that might be because I am an emotional person to begin with but nonetheless, it brought back memories. So what are my special memories from the Weston Centre?

1-     This is the place where I met Jason, my husband. Sounds so cheesy but I do remember the first time meeting him.

2-     I attended my first Rackspace holiday party at the Weston Centre. These were the days we’d always end up at Daven Port’s.

3-     The days when you didn’t know what to eat and ended up at Lula’s

4-     The fabulous Fiesta party the Weston Centre puts together for the River Parade

5-     Panache bean and cheese tacos are the best!

6-     Most recently, my long but fun walks to Starbucks with my marketing team

7-     Morris & Hilton– The friendliest guys I have ever met. They are always laughing about something.

8-     Rubbing shoulders with lawyers and feeling so under dressed.

9-     Even though I never went to Bill Miller’s I feel like did go because every day at least 1 person picked up Bill Miller’s.

10-  I can’t forget every weekend going out on the town and parking at the Weston Centre!

The Weston Centre is definitely a special place in San Antonio and will be missed!

You either hate or love Fiesta. As a San Antonio native and one that enjoys celebrating San Antonio, I love Fiesta. San Antonio puts together an 11 day celebration filled with over 100 events.

Fiesta really is one of America’s truly great festivals. It began as a way to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto.

NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio)  is one of my favorite events. It is an evening of food and drinks in La Villita (heart of San Antonio). It is open from 5:30pm to 10:30pm Tuesday through Friday. Various areas represent different cultures, serving their respective foods such as German, Italian and Asian. I go to taste different foods,  have a few beers and visit with family and old friends. It is quite an adventure and not for everyone. It does get crowded in some areas. Here is a clip of an area that got really crowded.

And then of course, NIOSA brings the best out in my parents. It’s really hard to out do this couple.

San Antonio has a tag line “Keep San Antonio Lame.” I knew that it was created in response to Austin’s “Keep Austin Weird” but didn’t know the fully story. I was reading the SA Current Blog and finally discovered it’s roots:

San Antonio visual artist Aaron Forland, contributing writer to emvergeoning.com (billed as “America’s most difficult art blog”) and co-conspirator with Justin Parr at emerging-artist hotspot Fl¡ght Gallery, originated “Keep San Antonio Lame” as a catchphrase in 2004, partially in satiric response to Austin’s “Keep Austin Weird” sub-culti PR blitz. It’s a pretty telling comment on San Antonio’s self-image: We think of ourselves as significantly less, well, cool than Austin. Austin’s middle-class, educated, indie, hip, self-aware. SATX is much poorer and way more old-fashioned. We love metal and the accordion, and could largely give a shit about trends if we even know about them. You know: “lame.”

I find this to be hilarious and very true. Don’t get me wrong, I love my city but I am the first to admit that San Antonio can be very lame. I often find myself saying “This is why we have our rep of being lame” in response to situations that I can’t believe we are so behind on. I can definitely provide a few examples.

This is a pretty big week for San Antonio – it’s Fiesta. Fiesta is a 10 day celebration full of parties and parades. San Antonians come out of the wood works ready to eat some tasty foods, have a few drinks and visit with family and friends. The city comes to life and is painted in every vibrant color.

On top of Fiesta, it is also Spurs Playoffs season.

We attended the River Parade on Monday night at the Weston Centre. The Weston Centre is located right on the River and is where Jason’s office is located. They throw an all out Fiesta party every year for their tenants to celebrate and there are seats to watch the parade go down the river. It’s a wonderful treat that we are always so fortunate to go to. This night happened to be the 2nd Spurs Playoff game against the Dallas Mavs. It started at 8:30 so we walked to find a bar that was showing the game. We landed at the bar at Acenar. I really like Acenar. It’s located right on the river next to the Valencia Hotel. They have a great vibe, great food and great drinks. They had the game so we kicked back there and had some chips and drinks. Spurs were finally kicking butt.
Unfortunately, the service was terrible. I have experienced this before at Acenar so I wasn’t surprised. I kept having to remind the bartender about my drink order. It was so frustrating.
Around 10pm, they call last call. Last call? Are you serious? It was the 3rd quarter and it was a Fiesta night. Apparently they close at 10pm. So we went ahead and ordered a couple of more drinks and stayed to continue to watch the game. At 10:30, they turned the lights on hinting that they wanted us out. Are you serious? It’s about to start the 4th quarter and again, it’s Fiesta night.
This is why San Antonio is LAME. A very well respected restaurant in downtown San Antonio was closing their bar at 10pm, right in the middle of an important SAN ANTONIO Spurs game and on Fiesta night. I realize it was Monday and I realize that they normally close at 10pm but can we please make an exception?

This is a typical example of why San Antonio gets their rep of being LAME. I have many more examples and I will post them as we go along.

Again, I love my town but if we don’t first recognize that we are LAME and why we are LAME, then how can we promote change? San Antonio has great roots and an awesome culture, we are just late adapters. Or maybe we just don’t want to adapt.