Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:
While I will be in New York City for Thanksgiving Weekend, I dedicate my November 24, 2012 Small Business Saturday Blog Post to my favorite Tampa Bay Small Businesses. (By the way, hopefully I will be visiting my favorite NYC small business - Podunk Tea Room.)
But meanwhile, you should check out these great Tampa Bay small businesses ...
Here is a proposed way to spend your Small Business Saturday shopping -
Cleanse Apothecary - Seminole Heights' fantastic body products store. Great gifts for yourself or friends and family. I give them two thumbs up not only for selection, but on amazing customer service.
After hitting Cleanse Apothecary, go across to the street for some guava pastries and Cuban Bread at Mauricio Faedo's Bakery. Still hungry? Grab an amazing meal at The Refinery.
After filling your belly, go to Kalamazoo Olive Company (now in St. Petersburg and Dunedin, Florida!) to buy more gifts for yourself or friends and family.
My friends JP and TW recently visited Tampa Bay, I made them a "Welcome to Tampa Bay" gift pack featuring products from three wonderful Tampa Bay businesses (cat optional).
The following picture shows a Fall tea sampler from the wonderful TeBella Tea Company (also stop by for your own afternoon tea at the Oxford Exchange which features TeBella Teas). I love TeBella. Their store is in my neighborhood and they also sell at the local markets around Tampa Bay such as the Hyde Park Sunday Market (I call them Farmers' Markets but in Tampa we call them Fresh Markets - which always confuses me with the grocery store chain of the same name.) When I am feeling under the weather, TeBella Tea Company's turmeric ginger tea adds a POW to my system. When I am feeling like a treat, I go for their Key Lime tea on ice. Sweet and delicious. TeBella has a lot of different sampler packs that make great gifts.
In the picture above there is also a 36 chocolates box from the AMAZING William Dean Chocolates handmade artisan chocolates. Did you see the movie "The Hunger Games"? These pretty as works of art chocolates are movie stars - they were featured on the buffet table in the movie. Rumor has it, the chocolates will also be in The Hunger Games' sequel. William Dean chocolates can be found not only at their store in Belleaire Bluffs, but at yummy Datz Deli, TeBella Tea Company and Dean and Deluca as well as online.
My friend JWS introduces me to William Dean Chocolates. She has turned so many people into William Dean believers, that the owner had enlisted her as official taste tester awhile back. She's always leaving his store with free chocolates in addition to her orders. When we visit the store in Belleaire Bluffs, I smile widely at the owner with a "pick me to taste test too!" happy expression, but so far, no dice! Evidently I don't have the "It Factor" that JWS has. (Or a fancy green grill that her husband has, read about that here.)
In addition to the tea and the chocolates in the picture above, there is a one pound box of three kinds of luscious toffee from my favorite toffee store - Toffee to Go. It is hands down the best toffee I have ever eaten. It is one of my top gifts that I give. My friend NT, one of the owners of Three Bears Hair Bows, turned me on to Toffee To Go. A billion calories later, I am still plotting my revenge on NT for exposing me to this insanely good toffee! If you're looking for adorable hair bows - great gifts for all the little girls in your life, check out Three Bears!
Speaking of hair, after you've bought all your holiday gifts, make some time for yourself with a great cut, color and style from my Color Guru Crystal at her new salon at the Salon Lofts in Carrollwood.
Next stop - get some amazing Thai food from Thai Island Restaurant on Davis Islands. If you're looking for a lot of free food for an inexpensive price - get the chicken lettuce wraps platter shown below. Delicious, fresh and packed with amazing Thai flavor. I've been to Bangkok and I dare say that Thai Island's food is even better than I had there!
If you're going out of town and looking for a pet sitter, I highly recommend my fabulous pet sitting company High Tail It Pet Sitting. They have been watching my hoard of cats for years. And on my birthday, they left me this Hello Kitty marshmallow pop - as they not only know my cats, they know I have an insane Hello Kitty fetish. Now don't be expecting High Tail It Pet Sitting to buy you Hello Kitty gifts (you all are not as special as me!), but do expect quality, reliable pet sitting.
If your vacation budget is more Staycation than European holiday, check out a sailing charter from my favorite local sailboat and pontoon charter company - Windsong Sailing Charters. (Tell Captain Wendy that Lily says hello!) My favorite is their all day sail to Anclote key with the beach barbecue package. (Chef Bruce's shrimp scampi is divine!) I refer to sailing with Windsong as "Princess Sailing" because they cater to your every need. (And if you're looking for a longer sailing trip, the 6 night British Virgin Island trimaran trips on Yacht Promenade are one of my favorite vacations ever!)
There are so many great small businesses in Tampa Bay. I hope you spend your Small Business Saturday visiting some of these fine establishments.
P.S. I do not receive any compensation for featuring these small businesses on my blog. However I will gladly accept any freebies they want to throw my way. Until then, I will eating as many free samples that Toffee To Go has at their sales counter as I can!
While I will be in New York City for Thanksgiving Weekend, I dedicate my November 24, 2012 Small Business Saturday Blog Post to my favorite Tampa Bay Small Businesses. (By the way, hopefully I will be visiting my favorite NYC small business - Podunk Tea Room.)
But meanwhile, you should check out these great Tampa Bay small businesses ...
Here is a proposed way to spend your Small Business Saturday shopping -
Cleanse Apothecary - Seminole Heights' fantastic body products store. Great gifts for yourself or friends and family. I give them two thumbs up not only for selection, but on amazing customer service.
After hitting Cleanse Apothecary, go across to the street for some guava pastries and Cuban Bread at Mauricio Faedo's Bakery. Still hungry? Grab an amazing meal at The Refinery.
After filling your belly, go to Kalamazoo Olive Company (now in St. Petersburg and Dunedin, Florida!) to buy more gifts for yourself or friends and family.
My friends JP and TW recently visited Tampa Bay, I made them a "Welcome to Tampa Bay" gift pack featuring products from three wonderful Tampa Bay businesses (cat optional).
The following picture shows a Fall tea sampler from the wonderful TeBella Tea Company (also stop by for your own afternoon tea at the Oxford Exchange which features TeBella Teas). I love TeBella. Their store is in my neighborhood and they also sell at the local markets around Tampa Bay such as the Hyde Park Sunday Market (I call them Farmers' Markets but in Tampa we call them Fresh Markets - which always confuses me with the grocery store chain of the same name.) When I am feeling under the weather, TeBella Tea Company's turmeric ginger tea adds a POW to my system. When I am feeling like a treat, I go for their Key Lime tea on ice. Sweet and delicious. TeBella has a lot of different sampler packs that make great gifts.
In the picture above there is also a 36 chocolates box from the AMAZING William Dean Chocolates handmade artisan chocolates. Did you see the movie "The Hunger Games"? These pretty as works of art chocolates are movie stars - they were featured on the buffet table in the movie. Rumor has it, the chocolates will also be in The Hunger Games' sequel. William Dean chocolates can be found not only at their store in Belleaire Bluffs, but at yummy Datz Deli, TeBella Tea Company and Dean and Deluca as well as online.
My friend JWS introduces me to William Dean Chocolates. She has turned so many people into William Dean believers, that the owner had enlisted her as official taste tester awhile back. She's always leaving his store with free chocolates in addition to her orders. When we visit the store in Belleaire Bluffs, I smile widely at the owner with a "pick me to taste test too!" happy expression, but so far, no dice! Evidently I don't have the "It Factor" that JWS has. (Or a fancy green grill that her husband has, read about that here.)
In addition to the tea and the chocolates in the picture above, there is a one pound box of three kinds of luscious toffee from my favorite toffee store - Toffee to Go. It is hands down the best toffee I have ever eaten. It is one of my top gifts that I give. My friend NT, one of the owners of Three Bears Hair Bows, turned me on to Toffee To Go. A billion calories later, I am still plotting my revenge on NT for exposing me to this insanely good toffee! If you're looking for adorable hair bows - great gifts for all the little girls in your life, check out Three Bears!
Speaking of hair, after you've bought all your holiday gifts, make some time for yourself with a great cut, color and style from my Color Guru Crystal at her new salon at the Salon Lofts in Carrollwood.
Next stop - get some amazing Thai food from Thai Island Restaurant on Davis Islands. If you're looking for a lot of free food for an inexpensive price - get the chicken lettuce wraps platter shown below. Delicious, fresh and packed with amazing Thai flavor. I've been to Bangkok and I dare say that Thai Island's food is even better than I had there!
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| One of my favorites - the Thai Island Chicken Lettuce Wrap Platter |
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| Mangos and Peanuts - oh my! Thai Island's Mango Salad |
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| So good it makes me cry - Thai Island's Crying Tiger Beef Appetizer |
If your vacation budget is more Staycation than European holiday, check out a sailing charter from my favorite local sailboat and pontoon charter company - Windsong Sailing Charters. (Tell Captain Wendy that Lily says hello!) My favorite is their all day sail to Anclote key with the beach barbecue package. (Chef Bruce's shrimp scampi is divine!) I refer to sailing with Windsong as "Princess Sailing" because they cater to your every need. (And if you're looking for a longer sailing trip, the 6 night British Virgin Island trimaran trips on Yacht Promenade are one of my favorite vacations ever!)
There are so many great small businesses in Tampa Bay. I hope you spend your Small Business Saturday visiting some of these fine establishments.
P.S. I do not receive any compensation for featuring these small businesses on my blog. However I will gladly accept any freebies they want to throw my way. Until then, I will eating as many free samples that Toffee To Go has at their sales counter as I can!
My fav Thai in Tampa is http://www.lemongrassbestthai.biz. But I wanna try that one on Davis Island next time I am there!
ReplyDeleteHey Bill! I have been to Lemon Grass and it is very yummy, but Thai Island is even better (in my humble opinion). You definitely need to check it out next time you're in Florida ;-)
ReplyDelete