Community Blog

This Saturday, July 31st, LakeSide Market will be hosting a Summer Festival from 11:00am to 5:00pm. They invite you to come and “be an artist for a day.” This is a great way to spend a day and enjoy the great Texas weather.

The festival will offer free art classes, live music, interactive art exhibits, and a “Taste of Lakeside” tent with samplings from the great restaurants in the plaza. There will also be trunk shows with various retailers and a photo booth to capture a few pictures.

This event is completely free and LakeSide Market is less then 20 minutes from us, here at Benton Pointe.

You can easily send the afternoon there taking in the Summer Festival, browsing the stores, and enjoying one of the superb restaurants. Check it out for yourself this Saturday!

Are you a yogi or just interested in getting into yoga?  Every Friday at the Allen Yoga Center in Watter’s Creek there is a free community yoga class. The class is from 6:00 to 7:00pm on Friday evenings. Donations are accepted and go to local charities.

Get some exercise in and drop the stress of the week with an hour long yoga class. Yoga is a great way to distress, improve your flexibility and tone yourself. Plus, how do you say no to free yoga?

Just some things to know if you are new to yoga:

• Leave your shoes by the door, you don’t want to track in dirt and grim from your outdoor shoes.
• Phones should be off or silences as not to disturb the class.
• Get there at least 10 minutes before the class begins.
• Wear proper exercise clothes that will allow you to move freely and comfortably.
• Bring water with you to stay hydrated.

The free Friday class is a mixed level class that uses eclectic music. People often stay afterwards and enjoy some of the great restaurants at Watter’s Creek.

Since Allen Yoga is just over a mile away from us here at Benton Pointe there is no good reason not to go! Will you be going to a free Friday yoga class soon?

Watters Creek brings yet another great shopping opportunity to us here in Allen. They are hosting a European-style farmer’s market on Friday’s through November. The market opens on Friday’s at 9:00am and stays open through 5:00pm.

I have run by the Four-Season’s market on my lunch break to get fresh and locally grown produce.

There is a wonderful selection of produce, baked goods, plants and other products. I really like to buy locally grown/produced products when possible. If I’m going to spend the money I might as well support the local economy, right?

They have some really tasty treats and baked goods there for munching on as well. Plus, if you have a pet then you can grab something for them at the Posh Pets bakery stand!

So be a bit green in your shopping and get great Texas produce in the process! Do you shop at farmer’s markets?

That’s right! Our lovely little Allen Texas has made the MONEY Magazine’s list of Best Places to Live in 2010. In fact, not only did we make the list, we made the top 25! Allen was named number 16 on the list.

They had some nice things to say about our home:

When not at the office, they have plenty to do right at home; Allen has a symphony, a ballet, malls, and even its own minor league hockey team.

I must admit,  I have to agree with all of the positives they listed. Allen, and Benton Pointe, is a great place to live. I think they definitely hit on some of the key positives about the city, but they missed a few as well.

What is your favorite thing about live in Allen or at Benton Pointe?

Can you believe we are more then half way through with 2010 already? I know I can’t believe it either! But since it is, that means it’s time for that dreaded mid-year check up. A financial check up that is. It is time to review your goals and progress and see how you’re doing and if you’re really staying on track. Set aside a little time to review everything and go ahead and pull together all the paper work you might need.

Review the goals you’ve set for yourself. Are you where you should be to achieve them? What do you need to do next? Are there any changes you need to make to your current spending habits?

Next go over all your investments and make sure they are on track. Review the expenses, your portfolio and the performance of the funds.

Review your spending habits and look for place where you can be saving. Do you visit the coffee shop just a little too often? The 6 month check up can help you work on balancing out your spending.

GenX Finance has a great article on things to think about when reviewing your finances. Did you set any financial goals for this year?

This weekend has more rain predicted for us Texas folks. Two rainy weekends in a row simply isn’t nice. I was rather looking forward to a nice dinner on a patio for date night this weekend! However, I have happily settled on a similarly pleasant alternative: dinner and a movie. I know dinner and a movie is a little cliché for a date. But that’s just because it’s a fun way to spend an evening!

It’s an even better way to spend an evening when you can combine the two activities. The Studio Movie Grill down in Plano is a great place to do just that. They have a great selection of food and all the latest movies. I’ve been once before and really enjoyed myself. Last time I went I got the burger, which was delicious! My date got the pizza which was also seriously tasty. The service was prompt and pleasant. All in all it was a great place to go see a movie. Plus, it’s only about 20 minutes south of Benton Pointe.

They have a few special they run regularly as well. They have Margarita Monday’s, Beer and Burger Tuesday’s and unlimited pizza for $9.49 a person on Wednesday’s, Thursday’s and Sunday’s. Heck, if it’s still raining on Sunday we may head back over to the Movie Grill for another movie and some pizza!

Have you been to the Studio Movie Grill? What did you think, would you recommend it?

Well, if the forecast is to be believed, then we have a rainy holiday weekend ahead of us. However, that gives us the prefect excuse to go shopping! Plus, 4th of July sales are pretty common, so this is a great weekend to get out there and stretch you dollar! Find some great new summer items and stay dry this weekend.

Here are a few sales around Allen this weekend:

$1 Old Navy Flip-Flops this Saturday only. Print off the coupon on their Facebook page for $1 flip-flops. There is a 5 pair limit per-person.

The Bath & Body Works semi-annual sale is here with 50% to 75% off various products through July 5th.

Panacea is having a Fourth of July ring sale this Saturday and Sunday with thousands of rings for just $7!

Victoria’s Secret is offering a free pair of Pink flip-flops with any Pink purchase, while supplies last.

The Allen Premium Outlets are having a big 4th of July sale from Thursday, July 1, through Monday, July 5. Beat the rain and enjoy an extra 25% to 65% off this weekend!

Happy shopping and stay dry! Have a safe and fun Independence Day weekend.

As far as I’m concerned fireworks are one of my very favorite parts of 4th of July celebrations. I love the noise and the lights and the music. It’s just fun and brings me back to childhood. There are some wonderful events taking place around the area.

So long as you don’t mind to drive, you can enjoy these great events:

Frisco Freedom Fest will be on Saturday, July 3rd, at the Simpson Plaza. Taste of Frisco will be starting at 4:00 pm so you can go enjoy that prior to the fireworks, which start about 9:45 pm. Simpson Plaza is about 12 miles from Benton.

McKinney’s Red, White and Boom celebration will take place on Sunday, July 4th, with events and music that evening and fireworks at 9:45pm. McKinney Soccer Complex, where the event will take place, is about 7 miles north of Benton Pointe.

All-American Fourth in Plano will be Sunday, July 4th, at the Oak Point Park & Nature Preserve. Fireworks will being at 9:30 pm. This event is just over 5 miles south of Benton.

If you want you can even catch more then one fireworks show since there are some on both Saturday and Sunday! Just a reminder, fireworks are not permitted. Have a wonderful 4th of July!

I love eating out! There is just something so relaxing about a nice dinner out. However, I have stopped eating out as much as I use to for a variety of reasons. Needless to say I was pretty excited when I found out Cru here in Allen was participating in the Dallas Yelp Eats event.

They are offering a 3-course $25 prix fixe dinner menu through June 27th. Yelp suggest you call ahead for reservations and make sure to request the Yelp Eats menu when you call to ensure seating.

The menu Cru has for this event is really wonderful, I already have my dinner picked out! Although drinks aren’t included in the menu, I’ll probably see what they suggest to pair with since Cru is a wine bar.

You can see visit the Yelp event to see the menu or to see what other Dallas restaurants are participating.

Come out this weekend to celebrate the first Fourth of July with the City of Allen! That right, the annual Allen USA Celebration is this Saturday, June 26th. This is it a free event and everything kicks off at 4:00pm.

There will be a variety of rides at the events. There will also be concessions available for purchase.

There are two stages offering both music and some great acts. The Commodores will be coming on stage at 8:30 to get everyone dancing. At 10:00pm the fireworks show will take place. The fireworks are probably my favorite part of the entire celebration. I just love fireworks!

Lawn chairs and coolers are permitted at the event. There will be ample free parking, as well as shuttle to get you to the festival.

For more information visit the City of Allen website.

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