We Came, We Saw, We Shopped!

Oh boy, did we shop!

Last Friday was the 4th annual shopping day for Kate & Heather (and 3rd year with their friend Ashley), and possibly the most successful to date! A while ago we decided to support our awesome local shops as much as possible. This really played into the success of the day as we weren't wasting time driving to all the suburban malls and centers and getting in and out of the car all day. In fact, we only parked the car twice: Once at Patterson and Libbie and then again in Carytown. Less than 3 miles between these local shopping locations.

Kate & Heather started the day at The Shops at 5807 on Patterson at 10:30am. Neither had been in this gem of a shopping destination and were excited about the variety they had to offer- it's like 21 shops in one! We were able to get ornaments, hostess gifts, and other great gifts. The Toy Center was next door, which we were able to find treats for some of the kiddos we know.

Around noon we headed to Carytown and met up with Ashley. After lunch at Xtras, we managed to get down to some serious shopping!  We hit tons of stores in the afternoon, but didn't make it to all! The ones we had the most luck at include: Penzeys Spices (okay, it's a chain, but we still love them!), Fabrik (also a chain, but carries some local artists), DeCOR, Mongrel, and World of Mirth. Shortly after 4pm, we were awfully thirsty, so we wandered into NY Deli for a Happy Hour beverage and an app. After a few more shops, it was around 7pm and most places were closing for the day.

After this intense shopping day, we're pretty close to crossing everyone off our list! It's great knowing that we could support many local shops, as well as give our family and friends gifts that are more unique than ones that could be found at big box stores. It somehow seems so much more personal. We hope to continue this local gift shopping not only for the holidays, but for celebrations throughout the year!


Please share with C&G your favorite local shops!  (not just for our Richmond friends- anywhere!)

Cheers,

K&H

Shop RVA

Shop LOCAL and keep it close to home this holiday season!

Every year we (Kate & Heather) have a holiday shopping day. Kate takes the day off of work so we can avoid the weekend craziness. We start early and keep going until our lists are complete and/or it is time for Happy Hour!  These are marathon shopping events, they are a blast and have been hugely successful in the past. Most years we have hit the big chains and have gone from the city to the suburbs and back again. However, this year we are keeping it LOCAL. It is a fun challenge that we are ready and willing to embrace. 75% of the shopping we do daily is already on a LOCAL level but this holiday season the goal is 100% LOCAL. With the number of incredibly clever, innovative, practical, artistic and just down right fun shops in RVA we have this challenge in the bag...the locally purchased reuseable holiday shopping bag that is...BOOM!

This year the calendar is marked for us to shop on Friday, December 13, 2013!  We will also be shopping on Small Business Saturday, November 30, 2013 and Saturday, December 14, 2013 in support of Think. Shop. Buy. Local. 

Below is a sampling of some of the awesome LOCAL shops we will be visiting on our shopping days:

Carytown Bikes 

For the Love of Chocolate

Franklin Goose 

La Difference 

Lex's of Carytown 

Modern Artifacts 

Mongrel

Bygones!

Murphries

O Virginia

Orange

Original Gravity

Plan 9

Richmond Camera  

Ruth and Ollie 

RVA news

Schwarzchild

World of Mirth 

Many of these are in Carytown or nearby but we won't forget all the great small LOCAL businesses and shops all over the city. On the Northside-anything along Hermitage and of course those shops on MacArthur Avenue-the Bellevue Shopping District.  Southside and the Near West End we'll visit such as the shops at Libbie and Grove and The Shops at 5807. We know there are a couple of gems in the Short Pump area like Tweed but we will be staying away from that area this year avoiding the chains, traffic and malls. 

Other wonderful shops to explore this holiday season are those located in all the amazing museums in town. Can't find a gift in the museum shop? Give a membership to any of these cultural and very cool museums. 

Whether you favor the idea of a downtown baseball stadium or not (not) we are all in favor or supporting our local team so get some Squirrels gear this holiday season from the Squirrels Nest.  Heck it could be your last trip to the Diamond...pause for a tear.

The gift of an experience and an adventure is always a route worth exploring.  One of the best ways to do this is in the form of a gift card, it really does take time to shop for gift cards and any gift is something thoughtful and to be appreciated.  An evening at the theater is always lovely be it the Byrd, The Carpenter Center or The Landmark.  Give the gift of a meal by giving a gift card to any of the culinary hot spots in RVA or let someone get their own culinary genius on with a gift card to these local food shops Bombolini Pasta, Ellwood Thompsons, Little House Green Grocery. Cocktails and Glitter is always fond of the gift of a liquid beverage of local beers, ciders and wines!  Check out these links to find the perfect beverage for your friends and family.  Better yet give the gift of taking someone on a tour of breweries and wineries. A subscription to Richmond Magazine is always a winner and of course supports local publications and all things local for that matter...if you actually know someone that doesn't have a subscription to Richmond Mag!

Can you keep it LOCAL this holiday season? Join us in this challenge and see how well you do. We will post our progress on Facebook and Pinterest!

Happy Shopping!

Cheers!
K&H

P.S. Last week we had Happy Hour at Mellow Mushroom in Carytown. We had time to kill before going to a holiday shopping event at Orange.  If you are not familiar with Orange, you need to be- it is awesome!  Mellow Mushroom rated 4 out of 5 martinis. We know it is a chain but it is in Carytown. They took the former Plan 9 location and turned it into a hip fun joint paying homage to Plan 9 and RVA in the fantastic artwork murals. The staff was wonderful, the snack of house made beer cheese and soft pretzels hit the spot and the bathrooms are some of the nicest in Richmond! Plenty of room at the bar for large groups. Minor drawbacks are the early Happy Hour of 3-6pm and though they have drink discounts there are not any food deals. We say go for the bathrooms but stay for some beer cheese, a slice and a local brew.

We Like Them Apples

We like them a lot!

Picked right off the tree to heavy bags to overflowing bowlfuls to yummy creations! Apple sauce, apple butter, caramel apples, apple fitters, apple muffins, apple cakes, apple cookies and a crafty little wreath. How 'bout them apples!

It is that most wonderful time of the year for heading up the mountain and picking apples. We like to go to Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. The drive is short and easy, the apples are delicious and the picking is fun! If that weren't enough, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable and sometimes there is live music to really set the mood. You can enjoy a tasting of Virginia wines and buy a bottle to enjoy with your picnic lunch! The hay wagon ride is a also must. But the best part of all are the apple cider donuts- Some folks go just for the donuts! If you manage to get down the mountain with any donuts left you have the greatest self control know to humankind! Slightly dramatic of a statement but not completely untrue all the same! Check out our Pinterest page for apple ideas.

The season isn't over try this link for other great spots for apple picking in Virginia.

As if the joy of apple season isn't overwhelmingly wonderful enough, it is also that other most wonderful time of the year known as the Brunswick Stew Festival. We are talking stew people!  STEW!!!!! The best most wonderful most delicious most amazing STEW!  It is a top 5 favorite festival of Cocktails and Glitter! After, you have a belly full of stew it is time to head to the river for the Urbanna Oyster Festival and continue the fest with fresh oysters prepared every way imaginable.

We had a low key Happy Hour at Social 52 (the former Avalon). They were able to successfully close Avalon and open Social 52 in a fairly short amount of time and have now been open for about 2 months. The rooms feel much more open than before with exposed brick and reclaimed wood and definitely open up the place. With plenty of room at the bar and additional bar tables, it is a great Happy Hour spot for a large group. Their "social hour" deals are good, especially the half price flat-breads, which are ample in portion, cleverly named (as is most everything else on the menu) and topped with creative ingredients. Bathroom was boring, but at least clean. Has a WOW factor in that moms eat free at brunch! We forgot to ask the details on this but come on, that is just cool whether we know what it means or not...right? Ok, you're right we should have the 411. Take your mom there and find out the deal and let us know on our facebook page. But don't get suckered by the Bacon Chopped salad- it was very disappointing (lettuce with house made bacon bits---lame-o). Thankfully everything else was a hit and we would recommend it giving it 4.5 martinis.

One last thing, a shout out to two of our girlfriends who have not lost the art of the thank you note. The same day as that post we both had fun mail in the mailbox in the form of thank you notes from two great ladies. But these are two of the gals we were talking about it in that post that are always on top it. Thank you ladies for being awesome!



Cheers, 
K&H


P.S. Due to technical difficulties we were unable to post last week and apologize for the delay this week.  Stupid (wonderful) stupid (kinda awesome) stupid (whatever) technology!

September Anticipation

There is a giddy school girl anticipation to the month of September.  The bummer part about September is that it means summer is over, but it is also the month that leads us into everything fabulously fall such as back to school, fall festivals, apple picking, the leaves changing colors, football, Halloween, fall cocktails, fall hikes, lighting the fire pit, and less sweaty weather! 

With the crisp fall weather just around the corner, we are pondering very important questions such as...

• How many different ways can you make wings for the tailgate? (The endless possibilities and flavor combos are making our bellies rumble just thinking about it!)  

• How many apple influenced delectables can you create after you bring home that 237 pound bag of fresh picked apples from the orchard? Is there such a thing as eating too many apple donuts? (we think not!)

• What craft and decorating ideas will be inspired by the rich breathtaking colors of the changing leaves and the spooky celebration of Halloween? 

• How many fall festivals can we attend? (All of them...well maybe not all, but we'll have fun trying.)

• Will this year be the year we go for the raw oysters or will we just stick to the roasted? (Probably sticking to the roasted. Either way we get to say the word "shucked" a lot and giggle)

On top of all that, there is a lot to celebrate and remember in the fall. It is a time for remembrance for those our country has lost. Take the opportunity to say thank you to our armed forces. It is a time of celebration as we both celebrate our wedding anniversaries in September. It is a time for long weekends away and full blown out of the country vacation with great friends.  It is a time that the holidays still seem a bit off, but really we know they are right around the corner.  

September may be the 9th month of the year, but it has the air of everything being fresh and new as if the world is at your finger tips and anything and everything is possible. Much like the first of the year, September is a great time to reflect and make resolutions, as well as take stock of the resolutions made at the beginning of the year. Where do you stand with all you said would accomplish in the calendar year? No worries, there's still plenty of time to meet your 2013 goals whether you have stayed on track, need a reboot, or start from scratch!

Where does Cocktails & Glitter stand on goals we've made?

• Creating and sticking with a weekly blog--check

• Keeping up with all our tabs--needs some work

• Heather getting more comfortable with technology, the world wide web and social media--depending on the day. It is going smashingly well or there are tears lots and lots of tears...it is a long term project in progress with potential for great success!

• Time well spent with family and friends--check

• Loving and celebrating our RVA and all things festival--check, with lots more lovin' to come!

• Getting our Happy Hour on--check and our list of "places to try" continues to grow.

• Big "Nitty Gritty" projects-- partly check, with some still on the list (Heather has big plans in September).

• Crafting and sewing projects--check, with lots of fun ones still on the list. We still need to make the wreaths we wanted to way back in February!

• Meeting health and weight goals and exploring what really works for us--for the most part check but still working on it!

• Over using the word AWESOME!--not check enough! We have gotten away from this and need to get back on it!

For the most part we are right on track for reaching the goals we set for this year even though some goals have been added or changed as the year as progressed. We hope your goals are being met with awesome success as well. Please let us know on our Facebook Page what goals you have achieved this year and those you are still working toward.

Happy September everyone!

The leaves will be changing before you know it!

Cheers!
K&H









   

  

July and (maybe) August

Is there anything going on in July and August?

Summer is here and Cocktails and Glitter is busy as ever, doing non-C&G stuff so we seem to be a bit stumped for good blogging material.   

Is it going to be this difficult in August, too? 

Why have our creative juices stopped flowing in these hot summer months?  (Yes, we are complaining that it is hot, since it finally got hot).

We haven't been to a festival in weeks! Hopefully our festival withdraw will be rectified this weekend by wandering some Richmond streets for the Richmond Mural Project Street Party, Saturday, July 27. Hopefully, seeing such cool art will give us a charge of energy to get crafty and artsy. The plus of this event is if you don't get out this weekend you can check it out any weekend because the art is forever!

Not to mention, it is almost August and we haven't even had ONE Happy Hour in July!  Which will, clearly, be rectified before July ends! With new places opening almost daily and so many others re-opening with new inspired concepts we have some Happy Hour-ing to catch up on! 

The festival circuit seems to slow a bit in the months of July and August. That being said the month of August may have a few goodies to offer. 

August is the official month to celebrate Virginia Craft Beers and RVA offers several opportunities to celebrate VA Beers in cold, frosty style.

August 2, the Richmond Coliseum hosts the Virginia Beer Live! an indoor beer festival showcasing over 20 Virginia-based breweries! 

August 3, get a little nerdy about nature and head to the 17th Street Farmers Market for the Purple Martin Festival.

August 8-11, Jazz music will fill the air at Maymont.

August 9-10, is the 8th Annual Filipino Festival at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Woodman Rd.

August 10, the Jonny Z Festival will be taking place from noon to 5pm on Shields Avenue between Grove Avenue and Hanover Avenue.  Another great chance to be creatively inspired at an event to celebrate art!

August 10, the Dragon Boats will be racing along the James River.

August 10-11, Tredegar American Civil War Center is the stage for Sound City RVA Bands & Brews, another new festival celebrating beer and music!

August 11, Carytown will be celebrating the quintessential summer fruit of watermelon at the 30th Annual Watermelon Festival.  Be sure to sample all the watermelon inspired drinks and food offered by the Carytown restaurants!


August 17, the 22nd Down Home Family Reunion will be taking place at Abner Clay Park.

August 18, Beer and BBQ what more do you really need?  The BBQ & Craft Beer Fest will be held at the 17th Street Farmers Market.

August 24, brings the bull, the Running of the Bulls that is!  Intriguing but this event is outside of the city in Dinwiddie and the tickets are a bit pricey, but it is different so it may need to be witnessed.

So to answer the question "Is there anything going on in July and August?" the answer is a resounding YES and Cocktails and Glitter will be getting in on the fun and blogging all about it!

Cheers!
K&H





  

Get Active, Play in the Street!

Go Play in the Street, RVA!

Remember when you were a kid and kids played outside?  We played in the street and the cardinal rule was when you saw a car everyone yelled “CAR"!” play was paused, you moved to let the car pass, then play was resumed. Well this Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 10am-3pm you can play in the middle of the street and not worry about a single car interfering with your fun.

Take a break from the foodie festivals and check out the latest festival craze sweeping the nation! Atlanta is doing it, so is New York, Chicago, Seattle, Fargo, Madison, Wisconsin, San Diego and about 80 other towns and cities in the United States. Now the City of Richmond in partnership with SportsBackers is joining the initiative and having an Open Streets Project, called StreetsAlive RVA! 

logo/artwork SportBackers

What is this you ask? Well it is awesome! That is what it is! Open Street Projects are health and fitness festival events that are designed to promote exercise and physical activity of all kinds. The goal is to get you outside and moving. Being active doesn’t have to mean training for a marathon, working out with the SEAL teams, or other activities that are exhausting just to think about! If playing in the streets sounds like a fun thing to do, than it's a great added bonus that you burn a few calories on the side.

Since 2005 the number of Open Street Projects in America has gone from approximately 11 a year to 80 a year as of 2012. Not only is this festival fad becoming the “it” thing to do in the U.S., it is a big deal all over the world in one form or another. Seattle is credited with the first Open Street Project, which was started sometime in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Columbia (the country), started closing streets for a period of time on holidays and Sundays for cyclists, known as ciclovia. When translated from Spainsh to English ciclovia means “bike path” or “open streets.” The ciclovia was designed to give people the opportunity to cycle safely without mixing with vehicle traffic. Open Street Projects take it one step farther and make it safe to do all kinds of physical activities in the street without having to yell “CAR”!

So break out your wheels and take to the streets, your self propelled wheels that is---roller blades, roller skates, strollers, scooters, skateboards, big wheels, bicycles, unicycles!!!!!!!!  If you don’t have these kind of wheels, then you can walk or run the 2.5 mile loop and along the way take advantage of the over 50 vendors that will be offering interactive participation activities. There will be jump roping, belly dancing, hula hooping, juggling, boot camps, pickleball, line dancing and so very much more. Organize a group of your friends for a good old game of kickball or pack a picnic and lunch over the James River. In addition to all the activities you’ll be able to dabble in, there will be loads of vendors offering health screenings and information on healthy lifestyle options.   

There should be a festival worthy crowd of supporters, but congestion will hopefully be limited as you go at your own pace and start and stop where it works best for you. If you have to drive to the event be sure to map out your route so you don’t get slowed down by a closed street. 

Should you feel  a need to go off the set loop and explore think about grabbing a pint at Legends, take a tour of Blue Bee Cider, stop in at Plant Zero, visit the Old Dominion Train Museum. If 2.5 miles isn't enough for you, take a stroll along the several trails just off the loop such as the Richmond Slave Trail, the Floodwall, or the Pipeline. Whatever you do, take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to see Richmond from this unique point of view. If it goes well, we may have another annual festival to enjoy. The festival calendar gets 
better and better every year! 
 

 Cheers!

K&H

Virginia is for Bacon Lovers

Bacon Festival, Thank you!

Thank you to all those (which was apparently a lot) who had the brilliant idea to have a festival in the name of all things bacon, Bravo! Let’s do it again next year with a few tweaks.

Great weather!  Great Town!  Great Idea!  Great Support!

Greater the issues!

Being GREAT isn’t so bad!

Bacon Festival at 17th Street Farmers Market

In many ways this event was a huge success, huge!  The future meaty potential is endless. If we didn’t complain about it we wouldn’t be showing our love. At this point, it is well know tweaking needs to happen for next year, but, let’s be real, every festival and event needs constant tweaking each year, especially after the first year. We loved L-O-V-E-D the idea and we want it back bigger and better next year and every year after.

Do you think there weren’t growing pains for the Monument 10K as it doubled every year for like the first 5 years! Of course, there were and Sports Backers figured it out and so will you Bacon Festival.  Don’t be discouraged.  

Unless you can see the future, you just don’t know how many folks will attend.  However, as a beer and clearly bacon loving town, the future may have been in plain sight on this one. 

That is the thing about Richmonders we LOVE our festivals! We support them!  We want them ALL!  Then we want MORE! Then we complain and in the same breath beg you to come back next year. Because we are lovers and supports of our festival town we want everything to be perfect every time.  We know this is statistically impossible but we still want it.  

Every year, for every festival and event we will complain about the parking and lines. Much like we complain about the weather “it isn’t hot, it isn’t hot, it isn’t hot…why is it sooooo hot, you could fry an egg and bacon out here.”  You feel us, we know you do. It is our duty, our patriotic duty, as Richmonders to complain about the inevitable and uncontrollable-parking, lines and weather. We will loudly and repeatedly complain if one or god forbid all three get between us and our bacon.

We challenge you to name one event that parking and lines do not factor into the experience-Greek Festival, Broad Appétit, don’t get us started on race day traffic for both NASCAR and foot races, Hardywood 4 mile (they actually nailed the parking thing, thank you Hardywood), The Folk Festival, The Diamond (who are now using the Bypass Lane App for the food lines-check it out it is pretty cool). The list goes on and on. Over time these events have been tweaked to minimize those issues but they never go away.

Point is lines aren’t fun but they mean we are out in mass supporting our events and our town, and that folks is pretty awesome!

However, creating lines for lines sake is just darn ridiculous! (Cue more complaining) What was the deal with the beer line? 3 beer lines and 2 lines before you even saw the actual beer line. Really, if you think about it, it was more like 25 lines. Wrist band line, the ticket line, the 18 beer option lines, plus the cider lines plus the line you got in that was not really line. 

Seriously, that is too many lines. 

Since there was not a bacon beer and the first 30 minutes of the second beer line was spent intimately nuzzled directly next to the port o potties, we made the ultimate sacrifice and stuck with food only as you sadly could not enjoy both food and beer…pause for tear.

As seasoned festival goers and hardcore lovers of bacon we went early and it paid off. The buzz on this event was big and we didn’t want to deal with what approximately 83% (or more) of attendees experienced. Nothing, I mean nothing was going to keep us from the bacon. However, the 57 beer lines kept us from the beer. I know, we have already discussed that ridiculousness. The legend of the lines grows as the complaining grows. 

Even arriving right at 11am it was clear there was going to be a crowd. So we bellied right up to the first tent and over the next hour and a half were in beautiful bacon bliss. Items available were prepared in fun, inspired and creative ways. There were both savory and sweet interpretations and the portion sizes generous. We were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t just bacon it was the whole delicious pig! Pig is good!

·       Bacon Fried Oysters with bacon dust and bacon tartar sauce by On The Rox---YES!

·       Shrimp, bacon and pork belly lo mein by Fat Dragon (liked it so much we had 2) ---YES!

·       Stuffed avocado with pulled pork by Casa Del Barco---YES!

·       Bacon S’more by The Jefferson Hotel---cute but not our thing.

·       Slider with bacon and a bacon wrapped jalapeño popper-popper was    fantastic!

·       Griddle cake by The Berkely Hotel---YES!

·       Pimento gouda bacon grilled cheese sandwich by Mosaic---YES!

Wish we could have tried more but our stomachs were at max capacity and the food lines were starting to form. If only we could have kept going we would have tried the bacon on a stick, chocolate covered bacon, bacon ice cream, bacon popsicles, bacon latte…who knew all you could do with bacon?  

Bonus fun of the day was how RVA showed its bacon love in t-shirt form. Next year there needs to be a Facebook page or Instagram page to capture all the cool tees! The Jefferson team were sporting shirts that read “Bacon… Transcending all Boundaries” and “Keep Calm and Eat Bacon…Constantly.” 

Other shirts we spotted…

·         VA is for Bacon Lovers (want this one)

·         Body by Bacon (don’t want this one or that body)

·         Picture of a frying pan full of bacon and eggs

·         Who loves bacon…this guy

That is just a small sample of the creative tees!

The venue needs tweaking but please don’t give up the 17^th Street Farmers Market, yet.  There is plenty of room there to make this event work. Like using the space taken up by the 349 beer lines. Please, repeat after me RIR is not the answer. RIR is not the answer. RIR is not the answer. Are we clear? RIR is great for the events it hosts but this is not an RIR event. If a new venue has to be sought out how about Browns Island, The Carillon, Monroe Park, The Canal Walk, Forest Hill Park, Byrd Park, Bryan Park, The Diamond, The Redskins training camp Park. There are many other spots before RIR. Can we fix Mayo Island, already?  

Bacon Festival, host a Happy Hour Cocktails and Glitter style. Invite those that organize the other festivals in town and get there feedback on making next year amazing! Come on festival organizers get together work out all the kinks leaving us with nothing but the weather to complain about.

A couple things we would like to see next year…

·       Better use of the market space.

·       Better vendor layout--there will be lines but they can be organized not  confusing.

·       Only food vendors, this isn’t a stuff buying event unless the stuff is bacon.

·       Parking Attendants to speed up paying for parking. The machine can only but do but so much. We would rather be in slightly shorter lines thinking we are moving fast than the guy next to us then one long line that doesn’t seem to move at all.

·       Photo contest for best t-shirt.

·       Peoples Choice voting…maybe the year after next on this one.

·     On the restaurant list have the item being served to decide if you even want to brave that line.

·      Water only stations or have all vendors sell water (for a $1.00 not more)

·      Seriously, the beer lines!

Thanks for an awesome festival; let’s make it even more awesome for next year!  

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!

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
 


 

Will Run for Beer!

Last Thursday we completed the Hardywood Twilight 4 miler, our second race of the year- 5 days after our first race of the year! A few mishaps turned us back into walkers (Kate was recovering from a stomach virus that's only plus was a 6 pound weight loss in 36 hours, and Heather suffered an undefined knee injury during the race). We will be registering for a 3rd race soon- let us know if you have any recommendations for us!

 This was the first year Hardywood has had a race, which they dubbed The Block Party with a 4 Mile Cover Charge. Overall, everything ran smoothly (except for Heather's knee)! We thought it was well executed- enough space for everyone to hang before and after the race, plenty of parking down the street at the Diamond, and a friendly crowd.  As with any new event, some improvements could be made. Here are some kuddos and suggestions for next year:

Kuddos:

• Really smart to have a drink ticket for runners attached to the bib.
• Pre-sale drink tickets during packet pickup- genius!
• Police support at intersections was fantastic! Thanks guys and gals for all that you do everyday.
• The community support in the fan was amazing. It's great to have a cheering section as you run though the fan!
• The signage at the race and along the way was fun, especially at the end when we needed a laugh.
• The free parking at the Diamond was greatly appreciated. Plus the half mile or so walk to the race was a good warm up.
• Really well staffed with volunteers/staff throughout the entire event.
• We LOVED the course!

Suggestions:

• A few signs marking the distance just to let you know how far you've come and how far you have to go.
• Cuter tee shirts. We actually liked the ones the volunteers and staff had a lot. The grey ones with the logo was a bit masculine for us.
• One more beer truck to help alleviate the long post race lines. 
• Add a second hand washing station by the port-o-potties.
• Spread out the heats at the starting line- we started back with the "Will Walk for Beer" group, but were surrounded by folks running once we were off.
• An MC to announce what was going on.
• A better defined Finish Line. It was a bit anticlimactic at the end- I mean, we just did 4 miles! We needed something more impressive!

We can't wait to run this race next year! We hope you'll join us!

Heather, Kate and Ashley post race

Our reward for running! (by that we mean mostly walking)

Cheers!

K&H