Black Friday @ The Usuals

The Usual Black Friday Extravaganza
Friday, November 23, 2012

Secret Sale
10:00a – 12:00p (noon)
Discounts are a SECRET, but the secret is oh so good…
First THREE customers in the shop, as always, get 50% off of lowest marked price on everything (yes, EVERYTHING)!

Not-So-Secret Sale
12:00p (noon) – 10:00p
Get up to 40% OFF of everything in the shop! EVERYTHING is discounted, so don’t miss. All graphic tees and hoodies (Including I HEART SJ) are Buy One, Get One Half Off.

Santana Row Black Friday Events

Get Ready, Get Set, Let’s Shop!

Black Friday events at Santana Row, Friday, Nov. 23

 

The day-after-Thanksgiving shopping tradition at Santana Row includes discounts, doorbuster morning specials and treats throughout the day. Many stores are offering customers 25 percent to 70 percent off merchandise all weekend with giveaways such as free totes, gift cards with purchase and holiday refreshments throughout the day.

Santana Row hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Black Friday, with many stories extending hours during the Black Friday weekend. For a comprehensive listing of retail and restaurant events and offerings, check SantanaRow.com during Thanksgiving week.

 

A sampling of Black Friday specials at Santana Row:

 

Anne Fontaine - Enjoy sparkling beverages and holiday cookies while shopping. 

Atelier AVEDA - A $10 VIP card with any gift card purchase or retail purchase of $100.  Gift sets excluded.

BCBG - Up to 70 percent off new markdowns and 20 percent off everything in the store from 8 a.m. to noon.

Consuelo’s Mexican Bistro  - Enjoy happy hour all day. 

Eli Thomas – 20 to 40 percent off storewide. Agave jeans, shoes and Eton shirts excluded. 

El Jardin - Enjoy a “special” happy hour all day. 

Furla – 40 off the fall collection plus receive a free Furla necklace with purchases over $500. Champagne served throughout the day. 

H&M – Early 8 a.m. plus holiday deals starting at $5. 

Hot Tamales - Enjoy happy hour all day. 

Icebreaker – 30 percent off everything black. Sip wine and beer from New Zealand. 

Laser Away – 50 percent off all products and most services.

Oakley - Receive one Oakley $10 off coupon for every Oakley in-store purchase of $50. Limit of 20.

Penelope Boutique – 25 percent off all casualwear. 

Subway – Free cookie with any purchase (limit 1 per customer). BOGO on any 6” sandwich before 11 a.m.

Ted Baker – 30 percent off all merchandise. 

The Blues Jean Bar - Sip complimentary wine while enjoying 30 percent off your purchases of $100 or more.

The Container Store - Gift Wrap Wonderland presents gift wrapping & bow demonstrations at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.  Enter to win a $15 Store More card.

Spend $100 in November and get $15 for December.

Urban Outfitters – Doors open at 6 a.m. All sale merchandise is an additional 50 percent off until 10 a.m.

Vera Bradley – Receive a holiday totein new Dogwood pattern with a purchase of $100 or more while supplies last.

W’s Salon – 15 percent off retail and a free haircut or treatment with a clor service with a participating stylist.

 

In the Spirit of Giving: “One Warm Coat” Drop-off at Santana Row begins on Black Friday, Nov. 23

Donate a new or gently used coat and it will be given to a needy family this winter. Drop it off on Black Friday and receive a special gift: a lawn chair with a Santana Row logo! (While supplies last.) The coat drop-off location is in front of Pinkberry. The charity coat drive continues through Dec. 31.

Other drop-off locations include CineArts Theatre, Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table and the Santana Row Concierge.

For more information: call 408.551.4611 or visit www.santanarow.com.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

I'm thankful for so many things, not the least of which is living in a city that is friendly, safe, vibrant, and with a bright future to look forward to. Warm wishes to all of you this Thanksgiving Day.


Photo from San Jose day-by-day

November 2012 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• Hundreds of new residents are coming to Downtown San Jose courtesy of two new high-rise rental buildings that will break ground early next year: One South Market (285 units) and The Carlyle (347 units).
• The 17th season of Downtown Ice began on Nov 16th and the opening ceremonies featuring Kristi Yamaguchi will be on Nov 23rd at 5:30pm.
• A new, super fast, free WiFi system is has been deployed throughout the Downtown core and is undergoing final testing. It should be ready very soon.
• Japanese retailer Muji has signed a lease for 7,000sqft at the base of the Fairmont Annex.
• The San Pedro Square Market now has 20 businesses, including newcomers:
• Sama Zama - made to order soups, salads, and sandwiches
• CaliDog - Californian cuisine meets Asian fusion
• Phonomenal Noodle House - Pho and rise dishes
• Polkadotz - mini-gourmet cupcakes
• The Civic has completed its $15M renovation, including leather seats and cup holders, new sound/video/lighting systems, and updated bathrooms and concessions.
• Work on San Carlos Street is wrapping up this month and will greatly expand the sidewalk and add a lighted public art display.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 2012

Before stuffing your face this Thanksgiving, why not participate in one of San Jose's most popular runs and offset some of those calories. The Turkey Trot kicks off early Thanksgiving morning in Downtown San Jose and is over by noon, giving you plenty of time to get to your feast. You can check out a video below of last year's run, which had more than 25,000 participants! For more info, just click here.




Timeline

• 6:30 a.m.  Race Day Packet Pick Up Opens (There will not be day of, on-site registration. Registration is only available online til 6am Thanksgiving morning, but capacity is 25,000, so registration may close early like it did last year.)
• 7:00 a.m.  “Costume Contest” sponsored by Virgin America & Mercury News
• 7:45 a.m.  “10K  Wheelchair” sponsored by Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• 7:50 a.m.  “10K Run” sponsored by Sharks Foundation
• 8:30 a.m.   “5K Run/Walk” sponsored by KLA Tencor
• 9:00 a.m.  Kids activities begin in Family Fun Zone
• 10:00 a.m.  “Elite Women” sponsored by SVB Financial & “PA/USATF Women” sponsored by El Camino Hospital
• 10:30 a.m.  “Elite Men” & “PA/USATF Men” sponsored by PG&E
• 10:30 a.m.  “Kid’s Fun Run” sponsored by Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (open to ages 2-9)
• 11:30 a.m.  Elite Awards Ceremony (all “open” winners will receive their medals and gift cards by mail three weeks after the race)
• Noon  Conclusion

More South San Jose Apartments

I wonder how long it will be before we run out of open land for these massive projects. Ivanhoe Cambridge and Shea Homes are building 648 luxury apartments at 1500 Cottle Road in South San Jose, where Hitachi Global Storage Technologies used to be. This is a $171 million project with ground breaking expected in 2013 and sales starting in 2015.

Ivanhoe Cambridge is a Canadian pension fund, and they must really like us because they purchased four South Bay apartment communities last year and Kimberly Woods in San Jose this year. Their total investment in Silicon Valley is now $600 million.

Source: SJBJ

Guieu, Salinger Exhibitions at KALEID Gallery

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

Two new exhibitions opened last Friday featuring Michele Guieu and Karen Carlo Salinger at KALEID Gallery. Exhibitions are on view through November 30th.


Let’s Fight Till Six and Then Have Dinner by Michele Guieu
This installation of drawings and videos is about childhood and its fleeting moments. Everything passes, hence the title, which also refers to the fact that the show opens just a few days before presidential election day. It puts the urge to argue and the hunger for peace in (a childish) perspective.
The drawings hung on the backdrop of the giant leaf are made from pages of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. I see the world Alice visits – and creates at the same time – as a response to the complicated world we live in. In the series of short videos, I watch my two boys as they grow: the way they see the world, the creatures and the monsters they imagine.




Creature Comforts ­­­­­by Karen Carlo Salinger
Suspended animation, medical curiosities, scientific illustrations and biological specimens. Improbable creatures in impossible situations. These are some of the ideas that I incorporate into my drawings, sculpture, and other artwork. I call them my creatures, because that is what they are – unknown organisms that take shape in my mind, the roots of which come from a lifelong interest in strange biology, microscopic life, the human body, and basically anything else ooey, gooey, creepy, strange or unusual.


88 South Fourth Street (@ San Fernando)
San Jose, CA 95112
info@KALEIDGallery.com
408-947-1785
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, noon -7pm, free admission

San Jose Ranked #1 Cleantech City in the Nation

This one is not much of a surprise... in the inaugural Clean Tech Index, San Jose is the top cleantech city in the country. Several metrics were taken into consideration such as the number of LEED-certified green buildings, advanced transportation options, clean electricity, clean investment, electric vehicle registrations, and clean-energy patents. This is an emerging market and one that is very important for San Jose to maintain its leadership in. The top 10 list is below:

1. San Jose
2. San Francisco
3. Portland, Ore.
4. Sacramento
5. Seattle
6. Denver
7. Los Angeles
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Boston
10. Austin

Source: The Merc