Marina Breeze Condos! This condo is a steal! Being offered at $69,000..make this your home today!

623 S. Palmetto...apartments for rent! Come live here with great tenants and a great landlord! The atmosphere down here is nice, there is a constant breeze too!

It's a cozy condo graced by the gentle breeze of the Marina. It's the well crafted cottage with the ancient oak in the backyard. It's the spacious loft that puts no walls in the way of creativity. It's the tree-filled lot waiting for your new home. It's the spacious park sprawling down the Halifax River. It's the public Marina you ride your bike through on a crisp Sunday afternoon. It's the cup of coffee you have on your morning commute to the office. It's the college student, the retiree and the busy young professional that all live on the same block. It's the dive bar in the same neighborhood as the four star restaurant. It is everything mixed up in to one delightful urban village.

Five years ago the Urban Homemaker moved back to Daytona Beach, with a mission to create a lifestyle from scratch. Kneading, pouring, and mixing all kinds of elements into something that works, something that allows people an alternative to the cookie cutter lifestyle of homogeneity. We are living in a new paradigm where people want to make their own choices about what constitutes home. Home is seen as a reflection of our unique individuality.


Today, there are many urbanites dedicated to creating a downtown lifestyle from scratch, figuring out how to bring the comfort of home into a city in search of its soul. Creating their own recipes for living and serving up bountiful portions of originality and independence. From $500 apartments to $500K homes, our neighborhood is filled with every demographic you can imagine. With all one thing in common.-we live in a sustainable urban village called Downtown Daytona Beach. Pulling the best of what history has to offer us into the year 2010 to take advantage of public parks, multimodal transportation, local shops and restaurants.

The Urban Homemaker has been cooking up a recipe for a lifestyle that works. Join her March 27, 2010, for a tour of Downtown on our 2nd annual urban bicycle tour. We'll visit some of the coolest places to live and do business. Contact Janet Palm at jp@BeDowntownDaytona.com for more information.


The Urban Home Maker is the superhero and role model of Kelly White. Kelly White is the owner of The Jack White Land Company, a Real Estate Brokerage Firm specializing in Downtown and Historic Neighborhoods. You can reach her at kw@BeDowntownDaytona.com.

Last Friday night was the first First Friday for the 2008-2009 year. We have to thank the Daytona Beach International Festival and the Daytona Beach Partnership Association for their efforts. The only bad part for me was that I was in my Loft all night hosting the bands. Oh well, I got to hear them all warm up.

The Daytona Beach Partnership Association also unveiled their 2009 festival season. Wow! Have we got some great things going on. Visit their website www.dbif.com to get your subscription. You will save money if you do it before October.

I am constantly amazed at what a great city Daytona Beach is. After traveling and being gone for most of the summer, it is refreshing to be home!

Okay. THis is the best recipe EVER. My friend Naomi Weiss introduced me to this.

Ingredients:

6-8 Campari or Roma Tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 lb. Boars Head Prosciutto

Fresh mozzarella balls, halved (you buy these in water in the cheese section)

A couple sprigs of fresh basil

Sea salt and Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar, to taste

Tooth picks


Directions:

1. Arrange tomato slices on a serving tray
2. Lightly salt
3. Place a small piece of prosciutto on top of each tomato
4. Place a piece of basil on top of the prosciutto
5. Top it off with a slice of mozzarella
6. Season everything with oil,vinegar, salt and pepper
7. Place a tooth pick in each "sandwich" and serve!

Interested in roof top gardening? Now is the time to get those summer herbs planted.

If you read my article in My Bliss and are looking for photos, check out the GALLERY on this webpage.

Also, it would be super if you leave a post so I know that someone out there is reading this!

I would be happy to answer any questions.

Rooftop Herb Gardening: The Sky is the Limit

  

Maybe you had a rough winter (like my garden did). The dark, dismal, short days of little sunlight coupled with the stress of the holiday season, the relentless slew of activities has left you withered and in need of an extra dose of sunshine.When I walked upstairs today to tend to our rooftop garden I noticed I wasn't the only one that had gotten a little withered in the last couple of months.Our rooftop plants are in need of water, fertilizer and the extra light that the longer hours of spring and summer sunshine afford us.

  

Bliss Readers, it is time to get your garden growing again!My garden happens to be fifty feet in the air on the roof of the Wall Street Lofts in downtown Daytona Beach.Therefore, I have had to adapt to doing a lot of container gardener.One of my favorite parts of our rooftop garden is our herb garden.If is so rewarding to grow herbs because you can eat them-yum yum!

  

Here is one of my favorite 'recipes' for gardening.Feel free to do this on your roof, your patio or right in your back yard.

 Pick out your favorite herbs.What ever you do, make sure that you get some basil.I am going to give you a great recipe next month that needs lots of basil, so get it going!Buy a couple of cinder blocks.Allow a hole for each herb.Not only are cinder blocks affordable and fun, but they are good for your herbs.Most commonly grown herbs need slightly alkaline soil; the blocks constantly leach lime into the soil, helping maintain the soil alkalinity at the proper level.Lay down a few bricks (the kind with little holes in them). Place the cinder blocks on top of the bricks.Before you put soil in, place some peat moss in the holes.That way the dirt doesn't 'fall' out.Fill each hole half way with soil. When you buy your soil, ask the people at the nursery for a soil mixture that is suitable for growing herbs (one that drains well). Also, pick up some good fertilizer while you are there.Plant you herbs!Fill the rest of the hole with soil.Water. Fertilize.Spend time every day or two checking in on your herbs.When they get going you can start picking them and using them.They like this.Visit my Urban Homemaker blog at www.BeDowntownDaytona.com to get more tips.What ever you do, don't be scared that you will screw this herb garden thing up.Worse case, a couple of the herbs won't make it-big deal.Make a note to yourself and try again next time.Experiment-the sky is the limit.

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The Urban Home Maker is the superhero and role model of Kelly White.Kelly White is the co-owner of The Jack White Land Company, a Real Estate Brokerage Firm specializing in Downtown and Historic Neighborhoods. She is working diligently to develop, market and sell Downtown Daytona Beach, all while perfecting her chocolate chip cookie recipe. You can reach her at kw@BeDowntownDaytona.com.

Today there is a great lecture at the City Island Library about suburban sprawl. It begins at 2PM. I will write about it tomorrow.

March has already been a fun month downtown. Last Friday we had the Downtown Hop. Downtown residents, business people and visitors "hopped" from restaurant to restaurant! We enjoyed drink specials and appetizers from all the restaurants. It was a great excuse for us all to come together and visit our fabulous restaurants. The next morning we congregated for a three mile run through riverfront park and joined Mellony Ritchey at Renew Yoga for a great Yin Yoga class. Do you know that the City Island library is open on Sunday? Jack, Courtney and I spent a couple hours there on Sunday afternoon. They have so many great books, DVDs and CDs.

The fun continues. March 15th is the St. Patrick's Day celebration in front of McKays and RedTails. March 28th is a Movie on City Island....E.T......can you believe it???

Well, that is all I can think of right now, but please comment if you know of any other fun downtown happenings this month!

THINK DOWNTOWN DAYTONA BEACH

Downtown Daytona Beach deserves its reputation as the most fabulous neighborhood in VolusiaCounty.'Why?,' you ask. All you have to do is THINK about it.

When you THINK about Downtown Daytona Beach, think about living here.The Olde Daytona, Orange Isle and Uptown neighborhoods bream with historic homes.Live oaks envelope the neighborhood streets.The fresh river breeze blows through the lovely porches that accompany these homes.Looking for petite and stress-free living quarters?Think about the Marina Breeze, a retro 50's condo perfect for people who want a charming city condo across from the Marina.Is Loft living for you?The Wall Street Lofts, located in the heart of the Downtown Commercial district has trendy loft spaces from 1000sq. ft.Wait till you see the roof top garden! Coming soon, the Courtyard and the William are two more condo projects that will afford you the opportunity to live downtown.

When you THINK about downtown think about dining, shopping and vacationing here.Fine dining establishments include The Cellar, Angell and Phelps, Delphine: American Brasserie and the Chart House.Do you love trendy ethnic eateries? Try Siam Spice, Zen Bistro, the Tandoori Grill and Ronin Sushi.Do you want to enjoy a great lunch outdoors? Visit Avocado Kitchen or Christina's Café.Love an Irish Pub or sports bar?The McKay's and Redtails are for you! Are you a comfort food lover?If you visit Stavro's Pizza, My Cousin Vinny's or Stinky Dogs you won't be disappointed.And last but not least all you seafood lovers, try Bay Street Seafood. I recommend the fish Rueben. After all this eating you will need a little exercise so stroll downtown and shop for jewelry, home décor, books, cds and ladies apparel.If you think that all of this is going to take you a couple of days to take in, get a room downtown.Stay at the Coquina Inn, the Live Oaks Inn or cross the river to the August 7 inn.

When you THINK about downtown think about the Arts.We have a fabulous performing arts center downtown, The News-Journal center, home to Seaside Music Theater.Every year Seaside does an amazing winter and summer season.This summer Seaside Music Theater will present Les Miserables, The Wizard of Oz, Backward in High Heels and Altar Boyz.In addition to Seaside Music Theater, the headquarters for the Daytona Beach International Festival, featuring the LSO is located downtown.Stop in and buy tickets for amazing classical and jazz concerts featuring world-renowned performers.Did I mention the Daytona Beach Symphony Society?Located in the historic Kress building, they are a premiere arts organization bringing us the best in symphonic music from around the world.

Think Downtown Daytona Beach for living, eating, shopping and entertainment.Think about walking to everything. Think about being a mile from the beach and across from the HalifaxRiver. Think about visiting the most fabulous neighborhood in VolusiaCounty. Think Downtown Daytona Beach.