SOUTHERN VILLAGE ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF VALENTINES CONTEST
Thanks to all of the artists, poets and other amazingly creative children and grownups who entered our Valentines contest. The beauty, creativity and variety of entries were truly overwhelming! We judges had a very fun time looking through all of your valentines and selecting the winners. It was a difficult task, as it was hard to rule out any of the beautiful valentines that so many talented people created. However, we did finally select the following winners:
CHILDREN’S CATEGORY WINNERS
Grand Prize ($25 Market $treet Money Gift Certificate):
Allison Sumner, Age 10
Runners-up: ($10 Market $treet Money Gift Certificate):
Trinity Hamilton, Age 8
Taylor Gosk, Age 10
ADULTS CATEGORY WINNERS
Grand Prize ($25 Market $treet Money Gift Certificate):
Mona Shepherd
Runners-up: ($10 Market $treet Money Gift Certificate):
Eszter Rimanyi
Timothy Green
Congratulations to all who entered our contest. You’ve inspired us all with your creativity. Winners, please pick up your prizes at Market Street Books anytime after 4:00 pm on Friday, February 13.
HONORABLE MENTION
One beautiful and special entry must be recognized-a romantic little Valentines book crafted by local artist Linda Larriva. Please visit Market Street Books in Southern Village to see a show of Linda’s beautiful artwork, now through the end of February.
Please forgive us, but technical difficulties prevent us from posting the photos of the winning entries at the present time. These will be posted as soon as possible.
Valentines Day is a big deal to me. When I think of this special holiday, I think of hearts, flowers, romance and chocolate.While walking around Market Street in Southern Village, I find many fun inspirations for celebrating Valentines Day, and with ways to warm up despite the cool February weather. So just read ahead for my personal ideas, suggestions and picks.Let me know if you have any additional ideas, thoughts or comments.–Bev Carr, bcarr@mcarolina.com
HANDMADE CARD CONTEST
First of all, all artists and aspiring artists are encouraged to enter our handmade card contest.Prizes of Market $treet Money gift certificates will be awarded to the 6 most creative entries.Get creative with a Valentines Card of your own design.Enter our contest by “mailing” your entry in one of the decorated “mailboxes” located in 14 participating businesses in the Village.
DO YOUR HEART A FAVOR
Next, let’s think about our own hearts and what we can do to be heart healthy.What could be better for your heart than an energizing cardio workout at our favorite health club, O2 Fitness?You can exercise on any of their dozens of cardio machines, including their brand new “Wave Runner”—kind of like a traditional elliptical trainer, but with a new and different twist.A gift certificate to O2 Fitness could be a perfect gift for your loved one, or a couples gift for your sweetie and yourself.If you mention that you read this on the Southern Village website, they’ll be happy to give you a certificate for a free one-week trial.
VALENTINES DINING
If all of this exercise makes you hungry, you may want to supplement your workout with some heart healthy food.Jaluka Natural Bistro is the perfect place to eat some delicious and healthy food, all freshly prepared.Jaluka’s soups are a great way to do your heart a favor—low fat, nourishing and yummy.Vegetarian Chili is my personal favorite.Also, try their Acai berry smoothies, which not only are delicious and refreshing, but have many health benefits, especially in combination with a good cardio workout.Stop in to Jaluka to ask Maureen or Eduardo for more of the positive attributes of this fruit, which has been featured by Oprah.
We all know that Subway offers some heart healthy options.Besides the traditional low fat options of chicken and turkey subs, they also feature delicious Veggie Delite® and Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki subs, which are also both low fat.
Maybe a workout makes you want the comfort of a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate.La Vita Dolce is kicking your favorite beverage up a notch with special Valentines Day flavors, like a Dark Chocolate Raspberry Mocha or a Cherry Vanilla Latte.Add a couple of their chocolate-dipped pizelles, and you’ll be in heaven.Does it get any better than this?
As of today (January 26th), Chef Seth has not yet announced the Valentines specials at Pazzo. However, on a recent visit to Pazzo, I tried the sublime Veal Meatballs in a Mushroom Marsala Sauce over Pasta, and was reminded of one of my old favorite movies, Lady and the Tramp, where the two lovebirds (I mean dogs) shared a dish of Spaghetti.Pazzo’s take on this spaghetti classic is heavenly, and what a deliciously updated reprisal of this memorable movie scene! Add a couple of appetizers and a bottle of wine for instant romance!
Speaking of sharing, how about splitting the delicious Peking Duck Feast (advance order please) at Merlion, which is perfect for 2—my husband and I enjoyed it together on a recent anniversary.
Or you can start your Valentines celebration at Town Hall Grill with one of their signature cocktails, a pretty pink Cosmo or a Chocolate Espresso Martini.For Valentines Day, they’ll be featuring a Prime Rib dinner special.For this occasion, I’d recommend adding a bottle of sparkling wine to complete the celebration.
VALENTINES GIFTS/SHOPPING
The Cottage Shop has a large selection of lovely Valentine’s Day cards for your special someone.While there, you may also want to pick up something to pamper your sweetheart with a gift of fragrant bath soaps, salts or gels.My favorite fragrance there is Provencal, with its soothing lavender scent.
If you want some sweets for your sweetie, you need go no further than Market Street Books for their large candy selection.
They’ll even make up a custom decorated gift bag of candy decorated in the spirit of the holiday.You may also want to pick up “Love Poetry Out Loud”, an enticing anthology of romantic poetry.
Ladies, be sure to check out the jewelry case at Bloom for a selection of beautifully crafted and very unique sterling silver cufflinks for your husbands or boyfriends.If you’re on a budget, but want to send a romantic message, Bloom has themostadorable windup toys, a dancing man and a dancing woman. Their hands can be linked together, and the man and woman dance with each other—too cute!
Bloom is also featuring an assortment of Valentines hand-towels
andfun acrylic Valentines vases, which they can fill with a charming arrangement of seasonal flowers.
If a flower arrangement isn’t your thing, how about an edible arrangement?For total deliciousness, Edible Arrangements is featuring several Valentine-themed fresh fruit “bouquets”, some with chocolate-dipped fruit.An article in the January 22ndWall Street Journal featured Edible Arrangements and raved about their chocolate-dipped bananas.I have to agree!Stop into the shop to experience firsthand the delightfully refreshing fresh fruit smells.I recently tried their Hearts & Berries arrangement and dipped the fruit into a chocolate fondue.It was a delight for all of the senses and healthy too—just remember that chocolate is a vegetable.
Shopping for in-home dining?Weaver Street Market has all that you need, including a thoughtful selection of wines, locally-produced, artisanal cheeses, plus beautiful, hand-crafted Luca Chocolates, made right here in the Triangle.
Maybe you’ve detected a theme here—I guess I have to come clean and confess that I’m a chocaholic, in case you hadn’t guessed that already.
MARKET $TREET MONEY Gift Certificates
If you want to buy a gift for someone, but are uncertain about what they want, please consider one of our Market $treet Money gift certificates, available for purchase at Harrington Bank in $10 and $25 denominations.
Recipients can use their certificates in any of the 16 participating businesses in Southern Village.
VALENTINES DATES
Valentines Day falls on a Saturday this year, so you can plan a romantic date.How about dinner at one of the restaurants and a great date movie?My Valentines picks at The Lumina Theatre are “He’s Just Not That Into You” and “The Pink Panther”, among other films that they’ll be screening.
If you’re a romantic kind of guy, maybe you want to pop the question over a nice dinner out.How about presenting the engagement ring on one of the beautiful crystal ring holders available for only $10 at the Cottage Shop?
Please consider Market Street Southern Village as a pleasant alternative to mall shopping.All of our shop and restaurant owners really care about their businesses and their customers.You’ll notice the difference when you visit any of the businesses here.
Get Creative! Market Street in Southern Village is holding its first ever Valentine Card Contest to celebrate the upcoming Valentines Day holiday. We are calling on all aspiring artists, craftspeople and poets, no matter how young or old, to submit your originally created Valentines Cards.
WHO: Anybody can enter. You may enter as many different original cards as you like. Winners will be chosen in adult and children’s (under 15) categories.
DETAILS:
Entries must be no larger than 6-1/2” x 7-1/2” in order to fit into the mail slots in our mailboxes.
All entries should include your name, your age (if under 15), your e-mail address and phone number.
All entries must include legible contact information in order to win.
WHERE TO ENTER: All entries should be submitted to one of the specially decorated “mailboxes” that are located in the following Southern Village businesses:
Bloom
Coldwell Banker
The Cottage Shop
Edible Arrangements
Harrington Bank
Jaluka Natural Bistro
La Vita Dolce Espresso & Gelato Café
Market Street Books
Merlion
Subway
Town Hall Grill
Travelink
Village Pediatrics
Weaver Street Market
WHEN: Starting on Wednesday, January 21st. We’ll be accepting entries up until 4:00 pm on Wednesday, February 11th. At that point, all of our mailboxes will be collected, and the judges will begin to review the entries and select the winners.
WINNERS: Will be chosen in Adult and under-15 categories. Winners’ names will be announced on our website, www.southernvillage.com at noon on “lucky” Friday, February 13th. Prizes can be picked up anytime after 5:00 on Friday at Market Street Books.
PRIZES: Prizes will be awarded in the form of Market $treet Money gift certificates, which can be spent like cash in any participating Market Street business. In each of the 2 categories above, there will be a grand prize of a $25 gift certificate and two runner-up prizes of a $10 gift certificate each.
This is an opportunity for your creativity to be rewarded–enter early and enter often!
Congratulations to Southern Village businesses Market Street Books and Harrington Bank. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce has awarded Market Street Books the 2008 Small Business of the Year and Harrington Bank the 2008 Large Business of the Year.
Congratulations are also due to Village Pediatrics, nominee for 2008 Newcomer of the Year.
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