These San Diego venues will make your guests Green with Envy!!!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. If you're like most people I know, you're ready to get this year started the right way! 2009 is officially over (thank god), and it's time to dive into 2010! So, why not start thinking about your next special event? Maybe you're recently engaged, or have a big anniversary coming up...or perhaps you just want to throw an amazing party for your friends. San Diego has hundreds of stunning locations to have a party, but I wanted to focus on 3 "Green" venues that are not only beautiful, but completely unique.

First up is The New Children's Museum, located in downtown San Diego. The building is a dramatic, three-level, 50,000-square-foot structure designed by visionary and award-winning architect Rob Wellington Quigley. The museum utilizes innovative, environmentally sustainable architecture and infra-structural practices, including recycled building materials, a passive air handling system, photovoltaic panels, water-saving devices, natural daylighting and convection cooling. The New Children’s Museum is one of the first green museums in California. As you can see, the museum offers a variety of interesting spaces for any kind of event. To learn more, visit their website.

Next up is one of my favorite places to visit in San Diego...The San Diego Botanic Garden (previously Quail Botanical Garden). I don't have to tell you why this venue is green, I think the name speaks for itself. Located 30 minutes north of San Diego in Encinitas, California, San Diego Botanic Garden features numerous exhibits, including rare bamboo groves, desert gardens, a tropical rainforest, California native plants, Mediterranean climate landscapes, succulent gardens, an herb garden, firesafe landscaping, a subtropical fruit garden, and native coastal sage natural areas. Choose between the walled garden, gazebo or waterfall deck for a picturesque and memorable event.

And finally, make your guests Indigo with Envy at the Hotel Indigo...San Diego's very first LEED- certified hotel property. One of only 19 U.S. hotels to carry the certification, the 12-story hotel in San Diego's most popular neighborhood for nightlife boasts Eco-friendly features that include on-site recycling and composting initiatives, "green roofs" with outdoor decks made of recycled plastics and wood particles, an on-site herb garden used by the hotel's restaurant and discounted parking for guests driving hybrid and other fuel-efficient vehicles. And on top of all that, it's absolutely gorgeous! Imagine getting married on the rooftop deck, or entertaining your guests in one of their many modern, yet elegant spaces. Or you can always just stop in for some drinks.....Friday, anyone?

Stay tuned as I continue my never-ending search for Eco-friendly venues and locations. And feel free to contact me if you know of any!

Till next time, Go Green or Go Home!

Carlee