Two for One Festival WEEKEND!

Richmond's Big Fat Greek Festival!

It is that most wonderful time of the year known as Greek Festival time! In addition to celebrating the 38th year of stuffing our faces with Mousakka, Spanakopita, Souvlaki and Galaktoboureko, this Sunday is a newer Richmond favorite, Broad Appetit. These are two of our very favorite festivals... we are so excited, we can barely sit still!

Greek Festival is a staple for us and holds many fond memories. Like the time we walked there in the rain, or the time we had a bottle of chilled red wine waiting in line for food and then another with our food. Or the time Heather dropped her gyro on the first bite and was gifted a fresh one (that she manged to fully consume). Or that time we ate in Kate and her hubby's yard because they lived two blocks away and we saw a double rainbow. Or that time we went for both lunch and dinner all weekend or that time.....well you get the point-we have had some fun at the Greek Festival!

The Greek Festival runs Thursday - Sunday at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral. If you plan on attending during typical meal hours, be prepared to wait in line. But it will be worth it!

Broad Appetit is a completely different experience but it is a delightfully yummy festive event. It's such a great opportunity to try that new restaurant, or that not so new one you've always wanted to try! With over 50 restaurants participating and just $3 per small plate, it's easy to find your new favorite. This one day event is on Sunday, June 2, from 11-6. Plan on coming early for this one, as the best goodies sell out fast!

We will be full and happy this weekend!

Oh, and if that's not enough, don't forget Friday Cheers,  the dozen or so Farmer's Markets, and Bel Biv Devoe will be at the Stone Soul Music and Food Festival at RIR. (Did I just put "That girl is poisoooooon!" in your head? You are so welcome!)

Opa! Happy Festivaling!

Cheers,

K&H

Seriously?? Are you kidding me?!?

Seriously? Are you kidding me?!? Hey there "that guy", not in my town. 

May one not ruin it for all. By now you know Cocktails and Glitter LOVES festivals and all things Richmond. It's also no secret that we are in very good company with our fellow Richmonders. 

Richmond is lucky to have not only the variety and great number of festivals in our city, but so many of them are high quality/well organized events! We are lucky to have such talented local and national acts grace the stages, not to mention the seemingly endless number of unique and beautiful venues. We are lucky to have wild and wonderful, kooky and brilliant and pure genius themes for our festivals. (Genius and brilliant clearly describe the up coming and new festivals of RVA Streets Alive and the first (hopefully annual) Bacon Festival.)  We are very, very lucky and very, very spoiled to have these quality events in our backyard, so let's not take it for granted and not let "that guy" ruin it for the rest of us. 

(We are using "that guy" in a generic sense for any and all guys or gals who choose to be the poorest representation of themselves and end up connecting their idiot behavior to Richmond.)

Hey there "that guy," you do not have permission to misrepresent our town with "that guy" behavior. If you can't be a positive part of the awesomeness that is Richmond, then stay home. Don't be that one person who ruins it for the masses. Don't be the one to make our awesome city look bad.

For those of you set on being "that guy" congratulations, you are an idiot.  May the decisions you make at 19 not follow you through life forever....oh wait, felonies are forever. If all your aspire to be is a belligerent, drunk, idiot with YouTube hits, film yourselves at home not at our festivals. Yes, that is directed to "that guy" from Shamrock the Block, you too are an idiot. Also, making the idiot list is "that guy" who vandalized the Virginia Tourism LOVE artwork, seriously, are you kidding me!?!

People work extremely hard to organize and bring these events and festivals to our great town. Don't insult their hard work. Maybe part of the punishment for "that guy" who makes a mockery of RVA events should be required to work without pay from start to finish on an event. Once you learn all the work that  goes into make a few hours awesome, maybe you'll think twice about being "that guy". 

Luckily it sounds like "Toots" won't hold a grudge against River City, even with his souvenir of 7 stitches . We hope to see Toots & the Maytals back soon

"That guy" goes far beyond the bad behavior that make it to the local (or national) news. If you pay to attend a concert, don't talk loudly during the entire performance or shout at the stage every time. The folks sitting around you payed to hear the music, not you. And if you plan on drinking gallons of beer that requires many trips to the beer tent and port-o-potties, hang out on the edge of the crowd, not in the middle. Nothing disrupts a rock out moment like "that guy" stepping on your toes for the 5th time, or worse, spilling beer on you! Remember, this event is not just for you, it's for everyone to enjoy.

Iron and Wine at Groovin' in the Garden. Can you spot "that guy"?

For those out to have a good time at all the events and festivals over the weekend, we hope you enjoyed yourselves and really hope that "that guy" did not ruin your fun. We did not let anyone ruin our weekend festival fun! We enjoyed the jams of Iron and Wine at Lewis Ginter's Groovin in the Garden concert series on Thursday, had dinner at the Lebanese Food Festival on Saturday and heard all kinds of great stories about the Riverrock run on Friday and cool water events all weekend. 

Just around the corner is the Greek Festival & Broad Appetit, two of Cocktails and Glitter's favorite festivals! Keep an eye for our posting about that in a few weeks.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Cheers!
K&H 

PS- Share your most irritating "that guy" experience in the comments. Get it out of your system!

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Love Letter to Our Moms

Wonder Woman a.k.a.Mom!

How do you say I love you and thank you enough when it comes to mom? As long as you say it often taking advantage of every opportunity and on occasion creating a moment to do so, it just may be enough. The good thing is that they already know how loved and thanked they are because they are moms and they know everything. It is true- they do know all!

Funny thing about parents, moms especially, as children we place them on a pedestal they are our heroes with all the magic powers, then at some point we pass into this phase of life where we view them as humans, flawed humans to be exact, and we drop them from that pedestal. Then, something wonderful happens and we move into the next phrase of life where we grow up and get over ourselves. In this phase we realize we are all flawed humans and those flaws make us who we are. Those flaws prove resilience and depth, growth and acceptance, humility and grace and so much more. They are no longer flaws they are just beautiful parts and pieces contributing to the makeup of our moms (parents) and our own makeup. 

Heather and her Mom

In our moment of realization and acceptance of flaws as a part of life and existence, our parents, especially our mothers, are returned to their pedestal and we again see them as our heroes, our beautifully flawed human heroes. 

Their magic powers have no end and their role in our lives knows no bounds. 

They have loved us unconditionally since before we were born and every day

after. They have fiercely protected us, they have disciplined us, they have taught us the virtues of life and many a life lesson. They have challenged us and been challenged by us showing their strength and endurance, while, teaching us strength and endurance.

They have given us the tools to become beautiful flawed humans, supporting us every step of the way. Offering forgiveness and understanding of our flaws with unwavering fortitude at every turn.

Our moms have been there and will always be there to cheer us on and to pick us up when we fall. Ours moms are the loudest cheering section and kind voices in time of need.

Kate and her Mom

Our moms have done an incredible thing-they created a life, our lives, (yes dad was there, but he gets his props next month) and then they nurtured us at every phase of life without question, always with patience, sometime enlisting an army of saints to do so, but they did it. How moms (parents) do it day in and day out, we have no idea! But we take our hats off to them and salute the job well done.

We may not see you as much as we would like, yet we see so much of you in ourselves each time we look in the mirror. We hear ourselves sounding like you and we smile. We are becoming more and more like our mothers and it is a beautiful thing.

We are so grateful you are our beautiful heroes and that we get to call you by your hero name of mom. There is no one like you and you are amazing. It is an honor and a gift to claim you as ours and to share you with the world. 

Thank you. Love you. 

Cheers!

K&H

P.S. Check out this blog posting about the Go! Discover Richmond walk held last weekend.  Seriously, go explore this awesome town! 

Just another weekend in RVA!

Richmond rocked this weekend with events like First Fridays, Friday Cheers, Arts in the Park, Go! Discover Richmond 10k walk, Farmers Markets, ¿Qué Pasa? Festival, Kentucky Derby Party and Cinco de Mayo...there wasn't a dull moment!  

Even man's best friend got in on the festival action with Woofstock.  A celebration of the pooch held at Festival Park (downtown next to the Coliseum) benefiting the Richmond Animal League.  

We weren't able to enjoy all the events around town but those we did enjoy were well done, lots of fun and showcased the best of Richmond. 

The weather was perfect for an evening strolling art at First Fridays Art Walk and getting lost in the sounds of Shovels and Rope and Hayes Carll down on Brown's Island for Friday Cheers. 

Saturday, was an early morning start with the Times-Dispatch Go! Discover Richmond 10K walk, which started and ended at the Virginia War Memorial.  This was an incredible event that showed off this town in grand style. Everyone should Go! Discover Richmond! We know the neighborhoods and we know the landmarks because we pass them all the time, but how often do we take the time to really explore all the beauty and history that makes Richmond remarkable and unique? If you have ever uttered the phrase “I’ve lived here for years/my whole life and have never been to fill in the blank” change that now! Challenge yourself to discover RVA by visiting not just passing a park, a landmark, a museum, a neighborhood...we have it all so take your pick, discover, and enjoy.

After the walk it was time for shopping at not 1 but 2 Farmers Markets!  South of the James farmers market in Forest Hill Park then a mini market at the Urban Farmhouse Market & Café, Midlothian. Then it was time for the fastest 2 minutes in sports. Fabulous hat, check. Fancy bourbon drink, check. Friendly winning wager placed on Orb, check. Derby day is so much fun!  

Sunday Funday was fairly low key spent enjoying a Cinco de Mayo margarita.

And that folks is just another weekend in RVA! 

Stay tuned this month as we heart our moms and get a little crazy over the food truck court phenomenon and more farmers markets fun!

Cheers,
K&H