Scrub your worries away and relax into the holidays

Hyatt Hill Country_gretyThe holidays are here, full of commitments, to-do lists, shopping, cooking and entertaining, but if you want to turn your holidays into “Aaaahhh-lidays,” you need to make room on your calendar to scrub your worries away at Windflower – The Hill Country Spa. Thanks to a series of happy hours designed for busy multi-taskers to pair downtime and social time with fabulous cocktails and spa treatments, you can relax into your holiday season while spending time with friends and getting your body ready for the holiday fun ahead.

Windflower – The Hill Country Spa at Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa is putting the “aaaahhhhh” into your holidays with a special happy hour series, “Toast the Season”, giving you the opportunity to raise a glass and your relaxation level at the same time. “Toast the Season” offers you the opportunity to enjoy specially-priced spa services, paired with music, cocktails and appetizers in the beautiful setting of Windflower – The Hill Country Spa.

Toast the Season kicks off Thursday, Nov. 20th—just in time to put you in the grateful spirit for Thanksgiving—then continues Thursdays,  Dec. 4th, 11th and 18th, giving you numerous opportunities to get yourself ready to shine for the holiday fun ahead. Each Toast the Season happy hour will be held 6-9 PM at Windflower – The Hill Country Spa on the grounds of Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa and will feature just the right soundtrack to get you in the mood, the talented singer/songwriter Tim Phillips on acoustic guitar.

Make Time to Polish and Shine for the Holidays
Toast the Season offers a menu of relaxation and flavor to put you in the holiday mood while getting you polished and prepped for holiday fun—and of course, it’s designed for you to enjoy with friends, making your season even merrier. With a menu of scrubs good enough to eat—not to mention fabulous cocktails created to compliment each of the scrubs and fantastic hors d’oeuvres from Antlers Lodge, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa’s onsite fine dining restaurant with Hill Country flavors beyond compare—Toast the Season is perfect for polishing your body for the holidays ahead.

Services offered during the happy hours include special pedicures and body scrubs featuring the fabulous FarmHouse Fresh product line used at Windflower – The Hill Country Spa. So get out of the kitchen and indulge in body scrubs and pedicures featuring natural ingredients straight from the cupboard, including: Watermelon-Basil Vodka Scrub; Bourbon Bubbler Scrub; Ruby Red Grapefruit Scrub; Citrus Grass Soothing Scrub; Rasmopolitan Scrub; Honey Lavender Scrub and Butter-Rum Scrub.

The seasonal pedicures and body scrubs are $65 each during Toast the Season, and each service includes a cocktail concoction of your choice, created to match the fabulous scrub flavors. Mix and match to enjoy the flavors suited to you—whether you’d like a Mistletoe Martini or a Harvest Moon, a Yule Tide Mule or The Grinch, or even a Rudolph’s Ruby Red or a RaspBerry Blitzen, the cocktail menu will definitely make your taste buds as happy as your body will be after enjoying the spa services:

  • 50-minute Pedicure: Includes a hot milk soak for the feet (using FarmHouse Fresh’s Nectar Milk or Butter Brûlée Milk), nail detail service (polish removal, cuticle treatment, file), followed by an exfoliation to soften the skin using your choice of the special FarmHouse Fresh scrub’s selected for these special holiday events. Service concludes with a petite leg and foot massage and moisture application using FarmHouse Fresh body milk (Sweet Cream Body Milk or Back Country Caramel Body Milk). *enjoy service while sipping on your choice of the signature drink pairings
  • 25-minute Scrub: This experience begins with a gentle and aromatic, full-body exfoliation fearturing the FarmHouse Fresh scrub of your choice to smooth rough skin and leave your body glowing. This treatment ends with a hydrating, full-body effleurage using FarmHouse Fresh body milk (Sweet Cream Body Milk or Back Country Caramel Body Milk).*enjoy service while sipping on your choice of the signature drink pairings

One cocktail is included with the purchase of a service, additional drinks are $8 each during the event. And to make Toast the Season even more fun:  guests will receive a certificate for one complimentary appetizer with the purchase of two entrées at Antlers Lodge, so you can come back and enjoy a terrific meal and keep the holiday spirit flowing.

Reservations for services during Toast the Season are HIGHLY recommended as these events are sure to sell out.  Contact the spa at 210-767-5577 to ensure you don’t miss your chance to primp, polish and relax your way into the holidays.

Fresh From the Farm, Just for You
When you’re secluded in a setting that captures the charm and allure of a 19th century Texas Hill Country homestead, it’s natural to feel tied to the land and beauty around you.  Windflower – The Hill Country Spa features FarmHouse Fresh products, made with up to 99.6% natural and naturally-derived ingredients right here in Texas. All of their products are free of parabens and sulfates and all of their fragrances are all natural or phthalate free.

Featured on Oprah’s “O-List”, FarmHouse Fresh products have received the Dallas Beauty Award presented by Dallas’ D Magazine, as well as Redbook’s Most Valuable Beauty Product, Daily Candy’s Best of Beauty, and Elle Canada Hot List. They were also voted by spas, hotels and resorts as one of the top 5 Favorite Bodycare Lines in the US in both 2012 and 2013 in American Spa Magazine. FarmHouse Fresh’s shea butter Whoopie! Cream was also voted by spas, hotels and resorts as the Favorite Body Lotion in LNE Magazine.

Relax Through the Holidays
If you’re ready to unwind and welcome the holidays rested and recharged, Windflower – The Hill Country Spa is the answer. Set in the middle of 300 acres of wildflowers and historic Texas ranch land and named by Condé Nast Traveler readers as one of the top 100 resort spas in the United States, the spa is nestled in a secluded grove of live oaks on the grounds of the resort. To approach Windflower – The Hill Country Spa from the resort is to walk down a country lane into the past. The antique Star Windmill, slowly turning in the breeze over surrounding live oaks, beckons you into another time, another place. In every detail, the farmhouse resembles one of the 19th century farms that once dotted the Hill Country.

The scent of herbs and antique roses from the garden sets the mood—and for Toast the Season, a warm, flickering fire will greet you as well. Customized 50-80 minute treatments are offered in 21 rooms housed in the structure’s “renovated barn.” Aromatherapy and other treatments utilize indigenous herbs, botanicals, and elements of the Texas Hill Country to leave you feeling completely refreshed, so indulge in a special spa service, and keep the stress of the holiday season at bay. The spa is open to the public 8 AM – 6 PM daily, and if you’re looking for the perfect gift idea for the holidays, gift certificates are available so you can give the gift of a fabulous spa experience to those on your holiday lists!

Located just 16 miles northwest of downtown San Antonio and the San Antonio International Airport, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa offers a retreat that feels a world away, but the convenience and fun of San Antonio is just outside your door. Built in 1993, the AAA Four-Diamond resort features a 500-room luxury hotel, championship 27-hole golf course, a full-service state-of-the-art spa. The resort also boasts a tennis court, award-winning dining, walking/jogging path and nature trail, health club facility, five-acre water park with a FlowRider® wave machine, tower water slide, three swimming pools and cascading waterfalls, two outdoor whirlpools, Camp Hyatt children’s program and a 950-foot Ramblin’ River intertwined with lush gardens.

About Hyatt Regency Hill Country
Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa is located on 300-scenic acres in the heart of San Antonio. The recently renovated 500-room resort features 53,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and 165,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor event space.

Resort amenities include the full-service Windflower – The Hill Country Spa featuring 21-treatment rooms with world-class services, a five-acre water park with a FlowRider® wave machine, 22’ tower waterslide, four swimming pools, Ramblin’ River and regulation sized sand volleyball court. With five restaurants, a lounge and tavern, guests can enjoy superb epicurean dining or cocktails with colleagues overlooking a lushly landscaped 27-hole Arthur Hills-designed golf course. For reservations or information contact 210-647-1234 or visit us at hillcountry.hyatt.com.

About Hyatt Regency
The Hyatt Regency brand is an energizing hotel brand that connects travelers to whom and what matters most to them. More than 140 conveniently located Hyatt Regency urban and resort locations in over 30 countries around the world serve as the go-to gathering space for every occasion – from efficient business meetings to memorable family vacations. The brand offers a one-stop experience that puts everything guests need right at their fingertips. Hyatt Regency hotels and resorts offer a full range of services and amenities, including notable culinary experiences; technology-enabled ways to collaborate; the space to work, engage or relax; and expert planners who take care of every detail. For more information, visit hyattregency.com or facebook.com/HyattRegency.

 

Family Service Association’s Adopt-A-Family holiday program

Family Service Assoc_colorFor over 20 years Family Service Association has helped give thousands of families hope for the holidays through their Adopt-A-Family program. With major sponsors like Valero, Family Service is ensuring a bright December for San Antonio.

Take for instance, Valencia Carter. Her family was helped by the program. The only thing she wanted was to give her youngest son something nice. She spoke to her other two children and let them know that with deep regret she could only afford one present that year. Her eldest children accepted noting that their younger brother still needed something to believe in.

Family Service Association stepped in and quickly found her a family willing to donate items. The day of pick up soon arrived and Valencia stood awestruck and in tears. “The only thing my baby wanted was a bike; he could not stop thinking about it and brought it up every chance he got. I could not afford to get him a bicycle at the time so I had no idea how I was going to tell him.” The day she went to The Neighborhood Place, among the many wonderful basic need items, was a brand new shiny bicycle.

“I will never forget my son’s face.” Valencia Carter says, “To the people, whoever they are, that got us all of those wonderful things. I do not know if they will ever understand just what they did for my family. We have hope again that somehow everything is going to be ok.”

Family Service Association’s Adopt-A-Family program is still going strong. Help us. Call 210-299-2400 and let us know you want to adopt. Alternatively, fill out our sponsor application form found here: https://familyserviceassocation.wufoo.com/forms/2016-adoptafamily-sponsor-registration/

 

 

30th Annual H-E-B Tree Lighting Celebration

HelpingHere CMYK1BlkOnlyH-E-B would like to invite the community to join in to see the lights and sounds of the holiday come to life during the 30th Annual H-E-B Tree Lighting Celebration taking place in Alamo Plaza.

The event is scheduled to take place on Friday, Nov. 28th – the day after Thanksgiving.

The free community celebration begins at 3 p.m. with kid-friendly events, including musical entertainment, face painting activities and balloon artists.

The 55-foot white fir Christmas tree is H-E-B’s annual gift to the city. In previous years, H-E-B has dedicated the tree to have to an education and military themes.

This year, the tree will honor and celebrate the newly opened Tobin Center for the Performing Arts located in downtown San Antonio. The Tobin – which opened on September 4th  – is a world-class performing arts center situated in the city’s old municipal auditorium.

Currently, there are more than a 100 acts that are booked in the next few months, connecting arts patrons, major performance organizations and the surrounding counties.

The 55-foot Christmas tree will feature over 10,000 LED environmentally-friendly lights and handmade ornaments that will depict musical instruments in honor of the Tobin.

Among the performers at this year’s H-E-B Tree Lighting Celebration will be the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio and the Ballet San Antonio, who will be showcasing selections of the enduring classic, “The Nutcracker.”

A nine-minute looped San Antonio Symphony holiday performance will be synched up with the Christmas tree lights for a spectacular show that will be sure to delight attendees.

Santa Claus is scheduled to arrive in a horse drawn carriage, and will light the tree with a merry “Ho-Ho” to officially kick off the holiday season in San Antonio.

The lighting will signal the end of the tree festivities and the beginning of the Ford Holiday River Parade on the River Walk which will immediately follow.

In the days leading up the big ceremony, H-E-B customers will be treated to pop up performances at 30 San Antonio stores to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the tree lighting.