Emilie Greenwell

I am very excited for Small Business Saturday! This is really the year to "vote" with our shopping patterns for what really matters.

Of course, Christmas shopping for many of us involves hitting the toys stores for the childrens in our lives. For those of you in the Tacoma area, I have a couple of suggestions of where to shop this Saturday.

www.learningsprout.com

Learning Sprout is in downtown Tacoma at 809 Pacific Ave. It is a 2 story shop and is huge and full of all kinds of things from wooden toys, to costumes, scooters, musical toys, books, science kits and lots lots more. We love to visit this place. Make sure you pay for parking if you come before 6pm. (and make sure you put your parking sticker on the correct window- Tacoma PD loves to give warnings and/or tickets for having the sticker on the wrong side!)

www.teachingtoysandbooks.com

Teaching Toys is in the Proctor District, North Tacoma, at 2624 North Proctor. They have similar stock to Learning Sprout, though not as much space. Parking is free in this area, though, and Proctor has the benefit of having a plethora of other neat small businesses near by (Try the Pacific Northwest Shop just across the street for lots of exciting LOCAL goodies).

And finally, I want to give a shout out to the brand Green Toys. I am hoping to purchase a few of their items as gifts this year. Green Toys is not a Tacoma business, but their items are awesome and made from recycled milk jugs and other recycled materials!!! Totally awesome. The really exciting part is they are MADE IN THE USA. Some of the other green/recycled toy companies are having their items made in China.

I know Learning Sprout has Green Toys for sure. Or there are online small businesses that carry them too. Find your retailer here http://www.greentoys.com/buy/index.html. I like madeinusaforever.com's selection.

Happy shopping!

Come tour a beautiful listing in the Tacoma Country and Golf Club!

75 Country Club Circle SW will be open from 1-4pm today!

Info on this home can be found here:

http://haroldallen.com/find-a-home/buy-a-home/listing/282070?so=a&mlsln[]=282070&mxlt=47.131696&mnlt=47.131696&mxln=-122.543453&mnln=-122.543453&q=282070&oq=282070

Sunday the 13th is the last day this month to get in to Mount Rainier Park for free. In honor of Veteran's day, all national parks are free this weekend. This is the last one for this year.

In 2012, the free days will be:

Jan. 14-16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend), April 21-29 (National Parks Week), June 9 (Get Outdoors Day), Sept. 29 (National Public Lands Day), and Nov. 10-12 (Veterans Day weekend).

For Pierce County residents looking to find a camp for their kids for next year, The Tacoma New Tribune has created a searchable database of camps. Most appear to be local day camps. Hopefully, the database will grow even more as 2012 approaches, but what is already in there looks really great too.

So, if you're looking to keep the kids busy in the spring and summer, visit the News Tribune site here

http://wwwb.thenewstribune.com/events/summercamps/index.php

to check ou camps!!!!

If you think the season for the farmers market is over, it's NOT YET. True, the stock is changing, but there are still lots of great local treats to be found, right up through Christmas.

In Tacoma, the Proctor Farmers Market is staying up through December 17. http://www.proctorfarmersmarket.com/index.html

And for those wanting a somewhat larger winter selection, a short drive south will get you to the Olympia Farmers Market, open Saturday and Sunday through December http://www.olympiafarmersmarket.com/

Stock up on the winter squash and fall veggies for lots of great winter soups! The time is now!

Check out http://www.sierraclub.org/truecostoffood/ and watch the video to find out why your local farmers market is THE BEST place to shop!