March First Friday Recap-​​Celebrity Edition

WOW! What an amazing Clayton Gray Home First Friday!! A packed house, yummy food, a celebrity bar­tender and lots of shop­pers scooping up amazing items and 20% of sales going to the Make-​​A-​​Wish Foun­da­tion.

Let’s start with the food. Vera Farmen with Fruit of the Vine Organics pro­vided deli­cious bites for our shop­pers. All of the food fea­tured on Friday was from the cur­rent basket of the week. Guests were delighted with mush­room bruschetta, roasted pepper and gor­gonzola bruschetta, Meyer lemon curd tartlets with black­berry sauce, and eng­lish pea hummus. So fresh, light and amazing. All of the fruits and veg­gies in the basket are local and organic. You can’t find any­thing fresher. You can place your order on line for a large mixed basket, half mixed basket, fruit only, or an a la cart basket. You can pick up your weekly basket on Monday at Cru Cel­lars or for a nom­inal fee, delivery is avail­able in South Tampa. Storage tips and recipes are also avail­able with your basket. We all know, fresh, local and organic is best.…now Fruit of the Vine makes it easily acces­sible for you!

As the shop filled up with First Friday guests, our local celebrity bar­tender, Nick Peterson, was the main attrac­tion. Born and raised in the Tampa area, Nick attended Jesuit High School and grad­u­ated from the Uni­ver­sity of Tampa. After playing pro­fes­sional base­ball in the minor leagues with the New York Yan­kees and in the inde­pen­dent leagues in Canada and Wash­ington, Penn­syl­vania,  Nick set­tled back in Tampa where he is cur­rently a per­sonal trainer. His training is geared toward weight loss through resis­tance training and car­dio­vas­cular exer­cise com­bined. He holds a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion through the National Academy of Sports Med­i­cine (NASM). Nick Peterson is best known for his appear­ance on ABC’s The Bach­e­lorette Season 7  and his shocking win on Season Three of The Bach­elor Pad. He enjoys being active in char­i­table events with The Make-​​A-​​Wish Foun­da­tion, Give Kids The World, and Bac­chus Charity. If you are inter­ested in talking to Nick about per­sonal training or boot­camp, you can con­tact him at CPTPeety@​gmail.​com . Also, follow him on Twitter — @PeetysTraining . Thank you, Nick for being the best bar­tender and candle salesman! Oh, and ladies, he will be back for our April First Friday!!!

The Make-​​A-​​Wish Foun­da­tion was the house charity for this month. Make-​​A-​​Wish grants the wish of a child diag­nosed with a life-​​threatening med­ical con­di­tion in the United States and its ter­ri­to­ries, on average, every 38 min­utes. They believe that a wish expe­ri­ence can be a game-​​changer. This is one belief that guides them in their mis­sion and inspires them to grant wishes that change the lives of the kids they serve. March 29th is the Tampa chapter Wishmaker’s Ball pre­sented by Kinney, Fer­nandez & Boire, P.A. This is their biggest event of the year, a red carpet soiree that cel­e­brates local wish-​​children and raises money to con­tinue the mis­sion of granting many, many, more wishes. If you are local and want to attend the Wishmaker’s Ball, tickets and spon­sor­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties are still avail­able. It truly is an amazing gift to help grant the wish of a child, to watch their faces light up and for the entire family to forget the ill­ness and just watch true hap­pi­ness wash over their child.

Every month, our First Friday cel­e­bra­tions are growing. Part­nering with other local small busi­nesses and local char­i­ties the excite­ment and revival of Kennedy Blvd is booming. Not to toot our own horn, but Ronda Parag with Tampa Bay Metro stopped by to present us with the “Best Inspired Home Decor 2014″ award. Yea us! If you haven’t made it out to Clayton Gray Home yet, you def­i­nitely need to stop by soon. Cheers!