BREAKING SPORTS NEWS!!!!!!!!! (Updated x2)

I would like to officially announce that I will be playing co-ed touch football this spring season. To avoid a frenzy, I’m going to delay the announcement of which team recruited me until we get closer to the season’s first game.Let the training begin. UPDATE: In a disappointing turn of events I will not be playing football this season.

UPDATE#2:  Last night I found out I will get to play football this season! Alisha & I will fill 1 spot on the team and take turns either playing on the team, or being the team cheerleader!  Either way, I feel like this puts me closer to fulfilling my dream of someday becoming a B’more Ravens Cheerleader!

Tags: Richmond, Sports

Daydreaming in Church Hill

There are lots of reasons why I love living in Church Hill. The history, the homes, the people and the transformation are a few things I cherish. But, what I love most is the daydreaming. Church Hill isn’t just a place where people eat & sleep, it’s a place where dreams, big and small, are had, shared and maybe brought to life. Almost every gathering with friends who also love Church Hill includes a conversation where daydreams are shared.  The conversations usually include one friend sharing an idea, then another friend adding their twist to it – and someone else pointing out an abandoned building that would be the perfect location for it to all come together.

My current day dream for Church Hill is a mixture of ideas from several friends & neighbors, and a few of my own….

Like most (if not all) of the people living in Church Hill, I want to see something done with the old movie theater on 25th street.  I think about that building a lot, and the potential for it to become something as unique as the people living here – something that represents our diversity and passions.  I envision the first floor of the building being a place for anyone to share their creative side – an art gallery, handmade crafts for sale, a cafe/bakery, a stage for musical and theatrical performances.  The upper floors of the building will contain rooms where neighbors teach neighbors anything and everything – painting, crafting, music, home repair, computer skills, pet care, foreign language, cooking, how to start a business….  Also, contained in upper floors are open spaces like a beautiful studio for yoga & pilates and an open office space available for anyone to use.  Maybe there will be room for a natural health practitioner to have an office, or for a few artists to have studios.  These are just a few of the ideas that have been discussed at my dinner table. And I love them all.

I love the idea of a space in Church Hill that allows each of us to answer that soft question we hear inside asking us what more do we need/want other than work & homelife.  Sharing our skills, learning new things, meeting neighbors, and maybe making daydreams come true.

Tags: Church Hill, Crafty, Daydreams, From another, Richmond

An Inspiration

About a year ago I was in a very cute shop in C’ville. I came across this watercolor painting that has a touching poem about love on it. Tonight I finally bought a damn frame for this piece of beauty. On the back of the art there is a love note from the artist, this is how it starts:

“during the most painful time of my life, i made a promise to myself. instead of numbing my pain, and avoiding it, i would turn into it, feel what was going on inside of me, and explore it. at times the emotion was too much for me. filling me up so completely that i needed to let some spill out.”

She goes on to say that the “spilling out” became bonesigharts.

This is so fitting for me to read tonight, since I just spent the past couple of hours sipping wine with a friend and dreaming of what we want to spill out of our pain.

Tags: Art Heals, Crafty, Richmond

And the Silver Medal goes to….

Me!!

Thanks to everyone that participated in RVA2k7BA.  Special thanks to the four or five of you that voted for me as Best Kept Secret….your efforts made me the Second Best Kept Secret in RVA for 2k7!!!

Tags: Blog, Richmond

Richmond Blog Awards – 2k7

The nominations have been announced, now it’s time to VOTE!!!

Tags: Blog, Richmond

A bad weekend for getting service in Church Hill

I don’t like to talk a lot of smack on my blog and I especially don’t like talking smack about my ‘hood, but I was let down by 3 Church Hill businesses over the past two days.
Let down #1:

For Dan’s birthday party I wanted to get some balloons, so I called up Church Hill Herbs & Flowers. I made an appointment to pick up the balloons on Saturday afternoon, but when I show up they haven’t even started blowing up my balloons. After much fussing between the employees, my balloons were ready 25 minutes later. When I paid for my simple latex, helium balloons I was offered a generous 15% discount because my balloons were not ready when I showed up. However, after the discount I was still paid over a $1/balloon. WTF?!?! I didn’t realize that like gasoline, the price of balloons has drastically gone up.

Let down #2:

For Dan’s birthday celebration, his brother (Mike) & future sister-in-law (Sarah) came down to visit. Today, the four of us, plus another fun-loving couple, decided to go to Jumpin’ J’s for brunch. We were pretty excited because Sarah has never been to J’s before. Last time she came down we tried to go, but it was when J’s changed their hours and we happened to be there on the one day of the week when they weren’t serving any food. So, today we walked down the street, dreaming of the delicious food waiting for us, but when we walked in the restaurant we were “greeted” by the waitress who told us that she wouldn’t be able to serve us any food today. Her reason was that she was leaving at 2:00 (it was just before 1:30) and that no one was coming in after her. So, slightly confused, hungry and a little upset, we left.

Let down #3:

After leaving J’s we decided to go to the Hill Cafe for their Sunday brunch. Again, we ran into more bad service. Our waitress was sweet, but we sat in the less-than-half-full restaurant for over 20 minutes before we were asked for our food orders. Anyway, I was pretty excited about the blueberry pancakes I ordered. I’ve had them before and remembered enjoying them very much because the blueberries are cooked in with the pancake batter…not just placed on top. You can imagine my disappointment when my blueberry pancakes arrived at our table without any blueberries to be found. I could understand a mistake like this in a number of situations…..like, if the restaurant was packed (it wasn’t); or, if I placed a complicated order (I think it seems simple); or, if there were lots of other similar options on the menu that the waitress/cook might get confused (nope, it was the only pancake option for today).

Sorry for the complaining, but I’m wondering, is it just me running into situations like this on the Hill?

Tags: Church Hill, Friends, Life, Richmond

RVA Ink

It’s time for my next tattoo, but I don’t know where to go. Please share your good, bad and ugly stories of RVA tattoo shops.

Tags: Insanity, Life, Richmond

Stylez Salon: A Review

I’ve been wanting to get my hair cut for a couple of weeks, and after a couple of attempts, I wasn’t able to get an appointment with Tony (good friend & best hairdresser I’ve ever had). Then, Halloween turned out to be a particularly bad hair day for me and I couldn’t take it any more! So, I took a risk and called a salon that I’ve never been to or heard anything about and scheduled an appointment that evening. All I could think was, “This is a mistake. I’m going to end up looking like a freak. I’m getting my hair cut by a stranger who works at a salon that spells their name with a Z…..and it’s Halloween!”

But, everything turned out fine. Stylez is one of the most beautiful salon I’ve ever seen. It is full of exposed brick, chocolate brown walls and antique-looking decor. I want my house to look like that salon. I also want one of the massaging chairs that I sat in while getting a shampoo. My stylist was nice and I love my new hair cut…..also, it was about $15 cheaper than what haircuts in Carytown cost.

Tags: Richmond

Post-Potluck

I ate delicious food.

I drank very good wine.

I watched The Office.

I spent the evening with friends.
I love pot luck!

Thanks to everyone who came tonight!

Tags: Friends, Life, Richmond

A Day in My Life

Here’s what I did today:

- Got up early and went to the gym before work.

- Ran into Fat & Sassy friend, Alisha, at gym and worked out together.*

- Home to shower, eat 2nd breakfast, and break my hair dryer.*

- Work, with damp hair.*

- Lunch. Tried to plan leaving for lunch at the perfect moment, but timing was off and I got caught in the rain.*

- Work, round 2….colder & wetter.*

- Ran out of work and sped up I-95 to get to Beads, Bangles, & Bitches before their 6pm closing time. (I know I said I don’t want to shop there, but I really needed some beads and this is the only place that I know has what I needed.)

- Was practically pushed out the door at 5:55pm by the Beads, Bangles, & Bitches staff.

- Pushed out the door…into the pouring rain.**

- Changed out of wet shirt and into dry fleece….while in car.*

- Went to Target looking like a drowned rat.*

- Received a compliment on my Etienne Aigner shoes, which made me smile because these are the most grown-up shoes I own.*

- Shoe compliment turned into a long conversation that resulted in me figuring out this kind lady was a job recruiter.*

- Bought a new hair dryer.*

- Home to delicious Amy’s Pizza.

- Now I will knit & watch Coupling with Dan until I fall asleep.

* indicates damp events that were

** indicates events that resulted in extreme dampness.

Tags: Crafty, Life, Richmond

Hey RVA Crafters….

I’m in need of a good bead store.  I have been getting my beads at a certain store in Carytown, but I’ve had too many bad experiences there and want to take my business elsewhere.  So, if you know of a place to get pretty beads and good customer service, please let me know.

Tags: Crafty, Richmond

Neighborhood Gossip

I recently introduced myself to Church Hill author, Joshua Poteat. Through emails Joshua seems like a really nice guy. Today I got an email that his book Ornithologies is being published.

Congrats Joshua (or Josh)!!! May you celebrate with a wine & poetry night!!

Tags: Life, Richmond

Home Sweet Home

Well, we’re home, in Richmond!!! Thanks to everyone who helped us move…..you all did so much work, there is no way we could have done this with out you.

Tags: Life, Richmond

The House

Yesterday we went to Richmond for the final walk-through of the house. Today it will become “our house”.

Tags: Richmond

The weekend

Dan & I had a nice weekend. We got to sort through some of our junk, pack, and clean up the apartment some. Though you can’t tell we did any cleaning, the place is looking a little crazy with boxes everywhere.
I can’t believe we only have a couple weeks left before the move. This week we are going to Richmond on Wednesday for the final walk-through. Then on Thursday we go to closing! I really can’t believe all this is happening…..it seems like a dream, except for the packing, that is more like a nightmare.

Tags: Life, Richmond