San Jose Harvest Festival

The largest indoor arts and crafts show on the West Coast is coming to San Jose next week at the convention center. Over 24,000 unique arts and crafts--all made in the US--will be featured at the show. So this Black Friday, why not support some independent artisans instead of the traditional big box stores. All of the details are below!

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San Jose Harvest Festival Celebrates Black Friday by Supporting Independent, American Artisans

(San Jose, Calif., September 3, 2012)--- This year, Black Friday shoppers have the chance to forgo the big box stores and support independent artists and craftspeople by visiting the San Jose Harvest Festival, happening November 23-25 at the San Jose Convention Center.

"Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year," said Nancy Glenn, Harvest Festival Show Manager. "Our goal, just as it was 40 years ago, is to give visibility to the small businessperson by providing a venue to showcase and sell their crafts."  

2012 marks the 40th Anniversary tour of the Harvest Festivals, which began in San Francisco as a forum for independent artists to exhibit their wares. The show continues to hold to its time honored traditions of vetted, American made crafts in an environment offering down-home family fun.  

Adding to the entertainment this year is crowd favorite Tom Rigney and Flambeau, a band that blends American Roots styles into a completely original sound, mixing infectious grooves with deep musicality and spectacular solos. Also appearing on the main stage is John Park, known for his "Funny Waiter" show where he melds comedy and intricate tricks like plate spinning. There will also be the lovable strolling performers like Mama Claus and Eddie the Elf who wander the aisles and serenade shoppers with holiday classics.

Nature of Art for Kids, an eco-friendly company offering non-toxic art supplies for children, will host the hands on KidZone where kids can participate in take and make arts and crafts. Located next to the KidZone will be a special Child ID feature, sponsored by New York Life. Parents can bring their child to be photographed, fingerprinted and get essential information stored on a CD to have if needed in an emergency.

The San Jose Glass Artist Alliance will also be hosting a stained glass  workshop where Harvest Festival patrons can learn the intricacies of glass art and, for a small fee to cover materials, create their own ornament.

The official charity of the show is Humane Society Silicon Valley, a non-profit organization committed to animal welfare in every facet. Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV) will receive half of the proceeds from shopping bag sales and all of the proceeds from the bag and parcel check.

Plus, anyone who brings a non-perishable food donation to support the Second Harvest Food Bank will receive a $2 off admission discount.

The Harvest Festivals are the largest indoor arts and crafts show on the West Coast, featuring over 24,000 handmade gifts. Attendees can interact with artisans, get purchases personalized and browse from such items as original art, photography, jewelry, clothing, specialty foods, pottery, home decor and more.

What:             The San Jose Harvest Festival® Original Art and Craft Show

When:             November 23-25, 2012 (San Jose Convention Center, 150 W. San Carlos St, San Jose CA  95113)

Hours:            Friday: 9am – 6pm, Saturday: 10 am – 6pm, Sunday: 10 am – 5pm

Cost:              Adults: $9, Seniors (62+): $7, Youth (13-17): $4, 12 & Under:  Free

Info:              For tickets and information, please call 1-800-346-1212 or visit www.harvestfestival.com

ARTRAGE Tomorrow at the San Jose Museum of Art

November 15, 2012

7–10 PM
Tickets are $5 after 5 PM
(2-for-1 for members; free for college students, faculty, and staff with ID)

Live entertainment and creative fun inspired by the new exhibition Dive Deep: Eric Fischl and the Process of Painting. Explore the museum to 1980s tunes from The Next Wednesday Band and beach-y steelpan music from Cardinal Calypso. Get creative with DIY Art for adults and a demo of 3-D printing from TechShop. Join your friends at the “hot tub time machine” photo-booth. Beer, wine, and pub food are available at Café Too (no-host bar). College Night: The Nov. 15 ArtRage is free to college students, faculty, and staff with ID. 

Order Tickets Now

The Downtown Grocery Outlet is Open!

Finally, a grocer has occupied the former Su Vianda space next to City Hall and is servicing the Downtown community. I swung by here a couple weeks ago and they did a great job with the place. It is clean and well organized both inside an out, the prices are reasonable, and the staff was friendly. I think Grocery Outlet will be an asset to the area. The icing on the cake is that the husband and wife owners were born and raised in San Jose.

For more info have a look at the press release below or check out this particular store's website over here.

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GROCERY OUTLET BARGAIN MARKET EXPANDS SAVINGS TO THE SAN JOSE AREA
WITH 5TH CITY LOCATION

Husband and Wife Owner/Operators to Host Grand Opening Celebration of Brand New Downtown San Jose Grocery Outlet on Saturday, November 3

Berkeley, CA – – Local husband and wife entrepreneurs Darren and Chevonne Johst are proud to announce the opening of their brand new Grocery Outlet store in downtown San Jose, California. The largest “extreme-value” grocer in the U.S., the Downtown San Jose Grocery Outlet is the third of three new Bay area locations to open this fall and the fifth location of the grocery brand in the city of San Jose. The Johst’s will host their free-to-the-public official Grand Opening celebration on November 3 from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. San Jose residents are invited to attend the event to enjoy an array of fun, family entertainment, food and special prize giveaways.

"Grocery Outlet's move to open a new location in downtown San Jose was really predicated on the tremendous amount of email requests we received from residents," says Vice President of Real Estate, Marc Drasin. "After determining that the area was indeed a 'food desert,' we made the decision to bring in a more affordable shopping destination to downtown metropolitan San Jose."

San Jose State University students, residents and employees in the Downtown San Jose area can now expect to pay much less on brand name, quality foods and merchandise at the new Grocery Outlet. With over 165 independently-owned and operated store locations, including two additional locations that opened in Milpitas and Santa Clara in late September and October, Grocery Outlet continues to experience tremendous growth by consistently offering customers the opportunity to achieve considerable savings on brand names and high quality items.

Not only is Grocery Outlet expanding extreme savings in San Jose County and beyond, it’s also creating local job opportunities. The Johst’s have hired over 40 full-time and part-time employees to fill positions ranging from merchandisers and cashiers, to department managers and leads.  Many of these new employees are local students attending the nearby university and city colleges.

The brand-new Grocery Outlet will open in the space formerly occupied by Mercado Su Vianda, a Mexican market that has stood vacant for several years. The shopping center, situated on East Santa Clara and Seventh Streets next to San Jose City Hall and across the street from Horace Mann Elementary, also boasts another venerable family-owned business, Lee’s Sandwiches, and the very popular Tung Kee Noodle House.

Both born and raised in San Jose, the Johst’s along with their five children, are thrilled to have the opportunity to own and operate their own business in the heart of the city they have called home their entire lives - Grocery Outlet’s "family" ethos echoes the Johst’s sentiment. With an extensive background in grocery retail, Darren entered the industry at a very early age as a bagger for Safeway at the age of 17. Working his way up over the next 14 years, Darren eventually became one of the youngest Store Managers in the company. Darren’s deep understanding of the grocery business complements Chevonne’s degree from Santa Clara University and background in organizational analysis and business management. Together, the couple is looking forward to ownership success by creating a customer-friendly environment where real savings and quality merchandise are easily obtained under one roof.

At approximately 22,000-square-feet total, the completely renovated space will feature nine spacious aisles of product offerings, including an expanded Grab & Go section for students and nearby professionals, a high-quality selection of USDA-certified meats, fully stocked organic, beauty, health, and fresh produce departments, as well as an enhanced wine and beer section.

An institution amongst bargain-seeking loyalists, Berkeley-based Grocery Outlet specializes in opportunistic sourcing, buying discounted close-outs of excess inventories from national brand-name manufacturers and private-labels. With over 170 independently-owned and operated store locations, including two additional locations that opened in Milpitas and Santa Clara in late September and October, Grocery Outlet continues to experience tremendous growth by consistently offering customers the opportunity to achieve considerable savings on brand names and high quality items.

The Johst’s are also passionate about giving back to their community and look forward to benefiting local non-profit organizations. With Halloween right around the corner, the Johst’s are hosting a special in-store “Trick or Treat” costume event for the over 600 students of Horace Mann Elementary. From 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 31, trick-or-treating students are invited to visit special “goodie” stations located throughout the store to fill their bags with holiday treats, crayons and coloring books. In December, a joint venture between the Downtown San Jose Grocery Outlet, Olinder Food Group and Roosevelt Neighborhood Association will help provide gift certificates to struggling families redeemable for grocery items to make their special holiday meals.

For more information on the San Jose Grocery Outlet, please visit: www.groceryoutlet.com or visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DowntownSanJoseGO.

2,000 New Homes Coming to Communication Hill

KB Homes is in the process of purchasing 300 acres in one of the largest undeveloped areas in San Jose, Communication Hill. 75 of those acres are going to be used for a whopping 2,000 homes. I know this location is not ideal for many of the people that read this blog, but the development will be close to Lightrail, Highay 87, and has easy access to Downtown. The density should be on par with or greater than KB Homes' other project on Communication Hill, Tuscany Hills (760 units).

The complete plan for Communication Hill includes 4,000 residential units, 60,000sqft of retail, a 50 acre industrial park, and huge chunks of open space and trails. The overall vision is a dense neighborhood that is very walk-able, similar to Telegraph Hill in SF. This leaves about 1,200 homes to be developed after this project is complete, so it will be interesting to see the end result.

Source: SJBJ

78 Degrees Spirit Tasting and Food Pairings

There are many restaurants and organizations that do wine tastings and pairings but not very many that do spirit tastings. A new local company called 78 Degrees has just launched and they specialize in just that. Their events teach the art and history behind fine spirits and how their pair with different cuisines.  Their first event was a cognac pairing at Fahrenheit and it looks like it was a big success. You can check out the recap right over here.

Their next San Jose event is a Johnnie Walker tasting and food pairing at Mosaic on November 17th. 78 Degrees is featuring all 5 major Johnnie Walker variants, including the exclusive and expensive Blue label. For information on this event and to buy tickets, just click here. Also you can use the discount code SJBLOG to get early-bird pricing even through it is past November 10th (again, the event is on the 17th).

Come try all the Johnnie Walker labels with thoughtfully paired hors d'oeuvres.  Check out the menu below:

Johnnie Walker Red Label paired with a special appitizer
Johnnie Walker Black Label paired with a spicy hors d'oeuvre
Johnnie Walker Green Label paired with a fruit inspired dish
Johnnie Walker Blue Label paired with a savory meat dish 
Johnnie Walker Gold Label paired with a creamy dessert 

The San Jose Holiday Art Market at Reed House

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

The San Jose Holiday Art Market
Saturday November 10th 12noon-6pm and Sunday November 11th 12noon-6pm

Held within the beautifully restored Victorian home known as the Historic Reed House in the Hensley District of San Jose, this unique art and crafts gift fair exhibits the extraordinary work of a select group of talented artists in an intimate salon setting providing an excellent and fun opportunity to get a jump start on holiday shopping.

Handmade original works range from assemblage, collage, dolls, jewelry, paintings, photographs, poetry, sculpture, textiles and much more. Raffle prizes awarded and sweet treats served throughout both days.

The Historic Reed House
328 North Sixth Street
San Jose, CA
http://sjartmarket.wix.com/sj-holiday-art-mkt

SJ Beerwalk - Nov 17 @ Willow Glen

If you have yet to attend a SJ Beerwalk, you are missing out. It's a great way to sample dozens of different craft beers while exploring various parts of the community and meeting the area's burgeoning beer masters. The next Beerwalk is coming to Willow Glen one week from tomorrow. It will likely sell out, so if you're interested I would recommend getting tickets in advance. All of the details are below.

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SJ Beerwalk—Coming To A Neighborhood Near You
Next Stop:  Willow Glen

Saturday, November 17th, 2pm – 6pm

To satisfy the growing thirst in the Bay Area, SJ Beerwalk is coming to downtown Willow Glen in San Jose.  If you somehow missed the first three sold-out Beerwalks in Japantown and downtown Campbell, SJ Beerwalk will be bringing the same thoughtfulness in beer selection and strong emphasis on community to Willow Glen.  The focus of the first Willow Glen Beerwalk will be seasonal/winter brews.

“Willow Glen has one of the best downtown areas in San Jose.  The environment is so relaxed and quaint, yep, I said quaint” says Beerwalk Co-Founder Charlie Mann (Jack’s Bar, San Jose) who lived and worked in Willow Glen for over 7 years.  Taking place on Lincoln Avenue (between Minnesota Ave. and Lester Ave.), ‘Beerwalkers’ will be invited to discover and explore twenty-five charming venues, from exclusive boutiques to unique restaurants.

Although at first glance beer seems to be the focus, it was the desire to create a stronger connection between locals and their communities that inspired SJ Beerwalk.  Each event is a walk-around tasting with carefully selected local and import breweries pouring samples of their finest at each small business location on the walk.  Co-Founder Jordan Trigg (Jack’s Bar, San Jose) explained that the main goal of SJ Beerwalk is to introduce South Bay residents to their local business districts, inviting them to check out shops they otherwise might never have set foot in.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $30 online at www.sjbeerwalk.com. In the case the event does not sell out, tickets can be purchased day of for $35. Registration begins at
1pm. Event runs from 2 to 6pm.

For more information visit www.sjbeerwalk.com
For up-to-the minute information, like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sjbeerwalk and follow us on twitter @sjbeerwalk

SJ Beerwalk’s mission is to provide a social outlet for the community and neighborhoods, while highlighting small businesses and raising funds for the non-profit business associations throughout the great city of San Jose and beyond.  Every few months, come walk through a different San Jose business district and visit local stores and restaurants while tasting over 20 beers from local and import breweries.

Oversocial MoFo Revue Tomorrow

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

The next Oversocial MoFo Revue is on for Friday, November 9th at Anno Domini. Featured artists this time include Kaitlin Gill on comedy and uppercuts, Wiggy Darlington on music and mystery meat, and David Sullivan on poetry and saving America.

Join the event page here.

Line up: 7:30pm / Show: 8pm
$5 bucks plus the ceremonial die roll (you pay between $6 and $11....depending on your luck.)
www.oversocialmoforevue.com

Anno Domini // the second coming of Art & Design
366 S. 1st Street
San Jose, CA