Emmary Nicholson ChRC® Tierra Antigua Realty - Tucson AZ

What is 'it' you ask? Everything of the wonderful, funky, fun, ecletic kind!

I love 4th Avenue in Tucson. It's a bastion of local shops, restaurants and bars. Some of my favorites I've written about in the past - Bumstead's, Brooklyn Pizza, Sky Bar, Antigone Books. And, for the best news yet - the Winter Street Fair is this weekend!!

The Street Fair began in 1970 when merchants put tables out in front of their stores to attract holiday shoppers. From there, it's grown to over 400+ exhibitors, 35+ food vendors and an attendence around 200,000 people!

If you'd like to go:

First stop is the 4th Avenue Street Fair website for parking information. Don't let anyone tell you that there's no parking - they are wrong! There is plenty of parking in the U of A garages as well as the downtown garages. They'll be running a shuttle if you need one.

If you ride your bike, you can park it for free in the bike valet area. See the above link for location.

The fair will run from 10am to 6pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday - December 9th, 10th and 11th.

Leave your pets at home as they aren't allowed during the Fair. Service animals are, of course, always welcome.

For me, shopping local is very important to me. Plus, it's really nice to be able to find something local to send to friends and family who don't live here. It's a taste of Tucson that I hope they'll enjoy all year long.

One of the most special events that happens in Tucson during December is the Winterhaven Festival of Lights.

Winterhaven is a wonderful little community in the central area of Tucson. The neighborhood, which was started in 1949, has held this event every year for 62 years and is the longest running festivals of its kind in the country. It's a time honored festival that draws tens of thousands every year.

I had the opportunity to walk through last year, never knowing that I would actually live a block away. I can't wait to be able to spend a few nights walking through and taking in the decorations - (my camera is not the best at night)

Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel - I made it out of clay

The Penguin Patrol!
There was a sign that stated that some of the penquins had escaped and were wandering around the Winterhaven neighborhood. If found, please return! They were hidden in other displays.

A portion of a Christmas village

Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what you'll see in Winterhaven.

Residents take months to plan, layout and then decorate their homes for this. Some folks don't go as all out as what you see above - they are more subtle in their decorations but they all do a wonderful job.

The neat thing about this is the fact that the Winterhaven Organization collects donations for our local food bank each year. Last year, they collected over 44,000 pounds of food and almost $30,000 in monetary donations.

If You Want to Go:

*There are specific nights where you can drive through the neighborhood. They are: Dec. 13, 15 and 20th.
*Walk thru nights are: Dec. 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th,18th,19th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th
*The event starts each night at 6pm and ends promptly at 10pm
*On the walk thru nights, you can take a hayride or a trolley ride through the neighborhood but you need to make reservations. Click for more information

For more information on homes available in the Winterhaven neighborhood, click on any of the green houses on the map below:

I love living in a military town. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever lived in a town that didn't have some kind of military base in it or close by.

Living in Tucson, we are blessed to have Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The base was activiated in 1924. Charles Lindbergh officially conducted the base opening ceremonies. The base was named for two local early aviators, who died in separate flight accidents; 1st Lt Samuel H. Davis, killed December 22, 1921, and 2nd Lt Oscar Monthan, killed March 27, 1924. (**from http://benefits.military.com/misc/installations/Base_Content.jsp?id=250)

I grew up in El Paso, Texas - home of Ft. Bliss and Biggs Army Air Field. There were many holidays where the community groups would do adopt a soldier campaigns, invite a soldier for the holiday events and so on. I loved to see the outpouring of support for our men and women in uniform and their families, especially during deployments.

And this year, I get to help out again...and so can you.

What a fantastic way to share some holiday cheer with the residents of the base. With the drop off point near the Visitor's Center, the general public can help out as well. I love love love this!!!

I can't wait to get to baking! I just hope I can keep my better half away from the goodies!

Like you, I'm seeing all of the reminders about changing the clocks this weekend. "Don't forget to fall back on Saturday night!" (Sounds like something we did in college.) For the majority of my life, Saturday night before bed was dedicated to changing the clocks - on the appliances, bedside tables and so on. I usually left the VCR alone. We never got along that well.

So, this morning, I decided to check a computer setting and I couldn't help but smile -

See the underline? Yes. I live in Arizona and therefore don't have to subject myself to the time change or, as a friend used to call it "The Bi-Annual Clock Silliness". All we do is switch from Pacific time to Mountain time. I don't have to wander the house changing things. Now, I'm on the same time as my family in New Mexico.

If you're tired of having to change the clocks - a sure sign that winter is around the corner, give me a call so we can begin your search for the perfect home in Tucson, AZ!

I first heard the term "RE BarCamp" a couple of years ago. I didn't realize just how powerful and exceptional attending something like this could be. Then I volunteered for Tucson's first Bar Camp which was last Friday, October 28. I learned how it could impact a person's understanding and implementation of social media.

(Click to visit our website)

For those of you who haven't been to a BarCamp, let me explain what it is. This is a day long 'un-conference' for real estate agents, title and escrow agents, inspectors, loan officers....you name it. If you are associated with real estate, this is for you.

There aren't classes (for the most part), there are discussions lead by industry leaders. The sessions are designed to be open discussions for all participants looking to learn more about a particular topic. It isn't 'you sit in your seat and listen to one person'. This is 'put your chairs in a circle and learn from those around you.'

Some of us did 'lead' the discussion - I taught a class in the first hour, Social Media for Beginners and my room was packed. The goal of my 'class' was to get agents who haven't played in social media up to speed with the terms and websites they'd be hearing about during the day. I'm happy to say it was a good idea.

Sessions included:

Facebook
QR Codes
iPads
Android or iPhone?
Zillow, Trulia and more
Blogging for Beginners
What is WordPress

and more.

The big highlight for us was having our Real Estate Commissioner, Judy Lowe on hand to introduce the state's new social media regulations. (I was doing my class so I couldn't sit in on that one.) The Commissioner even stayed around and attended other classes. What a nice boost for us to have her there!

All in all, it was an amazing day. The final attendance numbers aren't in but we're guesstimating about 180 to 200 were there. I think we did pretty darn good for our first one.

The organizing committee learned a lot from this year - what to keep, what to change, what to improve, what to dump and never do again - and plans are in place for next year's event. (Mark October 12th on your calendar.)

BarCamps are held all across the country and there are many scheduled for the rest of the year. Take a peek at the main website and see what's coming up near you. If you've never been, YOU NEED TO GO!!!