Blaine

About Me

Blaine Staed Lansberry has lived in Daytona Beach since she was 3 months old. She is maried to Brian and they are parents to 2 teenage girls.Blaine is a third generation hotelier; she and Brian operate 2 popular Daytona Beach hotels, the Bahama Houuse and the Best Western Aku Tiki Inn. Blaine is very active in her community and is on the Boards of many local not for profits. When she is not working or taxi-ing children or volunteering she enjoys cooking, running (so she can eat what she cooks) and pilates (so she can keep running).

I'm just a little sad!/ November 10, 2009- Well, today is the last day "THE CAR" is a part of my life - what a fun experiment this has been!  My only suggestion is that it should have lasted at least 30 days - I got 2 people interested in a 2010 SRX in just 5 short days....think of how many cars I could sell if I got to drive this thing for a month...2 months...perhaps a year?  I normally take Brantley to school 2 days a week.  I've taken her everyday since having "THE CAR".  Since today was the last day, she wanted to check out the DVD player on our short 15 minute ride - In went an episode of Scrubs and Brantley settled in the back seat to enjoy the luxury of in car video - my mind wandered thinking what a great thing this DVD palyer would be when we drive to NC this summer...the cooled seats would be pretty cool (no pun intended) for a sumer road trip...and I could keep my water bottles cool in the Glove Box Cool compartment...maybe I should go on a road trip today....no one would miss me until about 7:00 tonight...but the light turned green and I had to get my mind back to driving....which has been a pleasure in "THE CAR".  I wish I had been the one clever enough to come up with such a creative marketing idea - it has truly been my pleasure to participate and as an added bonus, I've reconnected with some long lost friends through my blogging efforts.  Thanks to all who've visited my page and helped me compete for my chairity of choice, Father Lopez Catholic High School.  1 Hour to go for counting clicks but I might just drive around a little longer beforre heading back to Ritchey Cadillac to return this awesome SRX!READ MORE

Monday Workday/ November 10, 2009- Since I had a very busy day at the office Monday - didn't get to spend much time with "THE CAR".  Many of my friends have suggested I name "THE CAR" but that just won''t work...it would make it seem like a part of the family and I know that I MUST return it Tuesday afternoon.  I wonder if car salesmen have ever thought about giving someone a new car to take home for a few days as a sales technique :)   I worked on me once but not this time!  Willpower!!  I did get out for lunch - and got to really take advantage of the rear camera - I had to parallel park on Seabreeze - and the camera made this a snap!  All it took was one try and I snuggled in between 2 other cars without a bit of trouble - if only I'd had this device 30 some years ago when taking my driver's test.  On the way back to the office after lunch, I did notice quite a few stares as I cruised down A1A...quite an ego boost...when I mentioned the looks I was getting, I was quickly bought back to reality..."Mom, it was the wheels they were staring at...not you".  The truth can be painful.  Got to go so I can plan more time with "THE CAR" on Tuesday - our last day together (boo hoo)READ MORE

A trip to the Art Festival/ November 09, 2009- "THE CAR" and I had a great day Sunday.  Again, perfect weather to Cruise with the windows open and the sun roof cranked back - the tunes were cranked, too.  I LOVE having the song info displayed on the magic info screen - I came across a channel playing an all Irish Music Set and not only could I see the name of every song, but they displayed the DJs contact info so I can email him for the playlist - how cool is that?  I got to hear a Gaelic Storm Song - Born to be a Bachelor - I know there are ladies out there who have met the man described in this song!  Anyone besides me see Gaelic Storm when they've been in Daytona?  Patrick Murphy is a cutie - and yes, I pulled over to text myself the DJ info!!  I did discover a small shortcoming with "THE CAR"...my car (an OLD srx) lets me charge my cell phone while the car is parked...I can plug it in dead at night and it is magically alive in the morning...not so with "THE CAR" - appears the charger only works when the car is cranked so I had a dead phone for most of the day  - I am sure with proper planning, I could work around this liitle blip.  All of my driving Sunday was for a purpose - to go to the Daytona Beach Art Festival - it was awesome...great art, great crowd, perfect weather...what more can you ask for - this is one of my all time favorite events of all time!  Does anyone remember the days when it was held at the Ormond Hotel or the year it was held at the Bandshell Park Area when the wind was whipping with gusts that destroyed a tent or 2?  A long time ago...  And finally, Got to really check out the awesome headlights last night - they light up the road like nothing I've seen - at first I thought my brights were on but no, just the regular old low beams - and they really brighten up a dark garage at night...very cool.  Back to work for now...Come back soon for Monday's adventures.READ MORE

A Long and Beautiful Day/ November 07, 2009- "The Car" and I have had a loooong day - we left the house at 3:30am this morning to meet my Galloway Buddies for our last long run before the Marathon.  I was almost the only car on the road - again, enjoyed the "moon roof" and great XM tunes on the ride out.  This is one comfortable cruising car!  The run was awesome - Coolish...at least for the first 4 hours and everyone was in awesome form...glad to have that behind me.  I am still getting used to the keyless ignition in this car.  I found my self trying to insert a key into the ignition this morning...and then wasn't sure what to do with the large key while I was running.  I am guessing if I bought this car, there would be a 2nd, smaller starter key to use?? A minor issue for a car this cool.  It was sun roof time on the way home...with all the windows open.  Needed to air out and cool off.  Ran errands - the remote power lift gate is awesome - had the rear open and ready for groceries before I arrived at the car and soooo easy to close, just the push of a button.  Headed to ERAU for another great show by their volleyball team - it was Senior Day and the 3 senior players and their parents were recognized.  Volleyball was followed by Men's Soccer and the Basketball Season Opener.  (For those of you who haven't enjoyed a sporting event at ERAU - it is great family fun!!)  I am always impressed by the Student Athletes at Riddle - a great asset for our community...but I digress.  I wanted to make the Halifax Art Festival but my tired body just said NO - so I cranked the tunes, opened the sun roof and headed home for the rest of this beautiful day.  Tomorrow "The Car" and my family have a full day - Art Festival, moe errands and who knows what else.  Loving my ...I mean their...SRX.READ MORE

Brantley is in love...with this car!/ November 06, 2009- My 13 year old got to see "the car" for the first time last night.  If it's possible, she is more excited than I am about the "Driving Force" experience.  In about 10 minutes, she had completely figured out all of the electronics - the GPS, the radio, DVD player, AC, Weather forecast, etc...she wanted to install the bluetooth for my cell phone but I'm not that technologically advanced.  She now has all the radio favorites set to her favorite stations - and with the XM screen, I can now figure out who is singing what when it's on her station.  Now I just have to reset them all to music I like!  When I picked her up from Basketball practice - she gave her friends the grand tour of "the car"...and she talked me into taking her to school for the next few days so she can enjoy the ride while we have it.  I did try out the sun rook last night - it was about 70 degrees with the moon almost full...maybe I should say moon roof  - AWESOME!READ MORE