South Street Brewery

After a movie on the Downtown Mall, Charlie and I went to South Street Brewery with some of his classmates. The brewery makes their own beer (that has won several awards) and has some good menu options. I had a cider and a bite of their pizza - delish. One of our friends got a chicken pita that looked awesome and everyone enjoyed their drinks. The food is a little bit pricey ($10-$20) unfortunately so it won't be our go-to spot but it will be fun to go back. The brewery is right near Bang! one block west of the Mall. Supposedly, there is live jazz on Monday and Wednesday nights, so I'm sure we'll be back (Charlie is a big live jazz fan). I'm going for the food!

Charlottesville cops

This weekend, there was a little incident in our neighborhood. One of our neighbors had a little too much to drink and could not get into his house at the end of the night. Assuming someone was in the house, Teddy (what we will call him here) became outraged that no one would let him in to his "own g'damn house". Teddy paced around the yard, yelling and calling people on his phone to continue his tirade. We live behind an impound lot and there are guard dogs that are let out every evening. These dogs whine or bark all night and Teddy decided to give them a talking to. After his dog lecture and his pounding on the windows and yelling for about 10 minutes, Teddy decided to break down the front door (which is made of glass) with a porch chair. One of our neighbors had called the cops who arrived just as Teddy dove through the front door. He even bolted the front door in order to evade the 5 policemen who raced up the walk - they stepped through the shattered doorframe. After a little scuffle and some very funny conversations, Teddy was escorted, barefoot, in handcuffs, to jail.
The point of this post is not to "out" our neighbor or make fun of what really was a hysterical situation, but rather to comment on the professionalism of the Charlottesville cops. If I ever get arrested, I hope it is in Charlottesville by the cops who showed up nextdoor. Each cop, after realizing the situation was not dangerous, called another cop just to see and laugh at what was happening. They reenacted the arrest, calling our friend Teddy "ol' Tubby" and continued asking Teddy questions just to laugh at his answers. They asked him his name over and over again and Mr. Teddy would not tell them - but he would give them an ID number repeatedly. The cops picked up some mail and got his name quite easily.



After his drunk in public charge and a night in jail, it turns out Teddy had his keys on him the whole time.

Montpelier

Last weekend, Charlie and I drove through the country and visited Montpelier - James and Dolley Madison's home in Orange, VA. The entrance fee was $14 (they may have different children/senior fees) and I think it was totally worth it. The visitor center is beautiful. There is a short video on the restoration project that they are working on at Montpelier and it includes a little intro to James and Dolley's lives. They also have a museum in the visitor center where you can see Madison's will, one of Dolley's dresses, and some other documents from Madison's life. The center offers a grounds/house tour after the video. While the house is still under restoration, you are able to walk through most of the house and get a good feel for the history of the place. There are no wall coverings up yet, as the plaster (the mixture is the same used when the original house was built) takes almost a year to dry. There is also no furniture in the house for the same reason. You can see some of the house's original furniture in a museum on the grounds.
Shortly after James Madison died, Dolley had to auction the house off and eventually ended up in the duPont family. The duPont family added 30+ rooms onto the house (using many of the original house's wood and fixtures). After the last duPont family owner passed away, the house was willed to a foundation with the instruction to return the house to the way it was when James and Dolley lived in the house. The exterior renovations have taken years and are finally complete.
After the house tour, we walked around the gardens, saw some of the horses (Montpelier was a famous horse breeding/training facility when Marion duPont Scott lived in the house), visited the museums and enjoyed the grounds.
I definitely recommend going and seeing Montpelier. While it is a historical home similar to many others and Madison is not as widely revered as Jefferson or Washington, I think Montpelier might be more enjoyable than either Mount Vernon or Monticello (bold statement, I know). It just seemed less commercial, I enjoyed learning about a President I didn't know very much about, and the renovation details were very interesting.

Betsy's Top Ten - Movies

1. Sound of Music
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
4. Shawshank Redemption
5. You've Got Mail
6. Green Mile
7. Singing in the Rain
8. Philadelphia
9. Pretty Woman
10. Father of the Bride

(not in any particular order)

Charlie's Top Ten - Movies

1. Lolita
2. Dr. Strangelove
3. Royal Tenenbaums
4. The Departed
5. Godfather - Part II
6. Pride and Prejudice - BBC version
7. The Bridge on the River Kwai
8. Princess Bride
9. A River Runs Through It
10. Barry Lyndon

(not in order)

AsianExpress Take 2

We tried AsianExpress for a second time tonight. This time, I tried the sushi (shrimp tempura roll) and Charlie had the Hunan Beef. Both were delicious! Take out/delivery sushi - I'm set!

Charlie's Favorite Things - a rebuttal

Betsy - my beautiful fiance
Bayley
Pittsburgh Steelers
Playing golf and basketball
Good expensive food
Short shorts
Going to museums
Margherita's pizza from Newark, DE
Miles Davis in the 1960s
Top Chef
Jane Austen
Stanley Kubrick

SPCA Charlottesville

So we've been talking about getting a puppy #2 to add to our brood and as a playmate for Bayley - but we need to settle in a little bit more and I need a job. Despite the fact that I know we can't get another dog yet, I like to look at puppies anyway. Charlie and I went to the Charlottesville SPCA and were very pleasantly surprised at how nice the facilities are. Neither of us had ever been to a shelter before and were a little apprehensive. All the dogs seemed to be very well cared for and the staff was very helpful and knowledgable. If you are looking for a new addition to your family - definitely check them out. The shelter also had quite a few cats to adopt. The SPCA is located at 3355 Berkmar Dr. It's behind the Lowe's shopping center on 29N.

Philadelphia Soft Pretzels to add to "My Favorite Things" post

My favorite recipe (courtesy of Country Home - Jan/Feb 1998):

4 - 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 slightly beaten egg white

In mixer bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and the yeast.
In a saucepan, heat and stir milk, sugar, oil, and 1 teaspoon salt just until warm.
Add to flour mixture.
Beat on low to medium speed 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl.
Beat on high speed 3 minutes.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.
Knead in enough remaining flour to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes).
Shape into a ball, place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.
Cover, let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 1/4 hours).
Punch dough down.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface.
Cover, let rest 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, grease 2 baking sheets.
Roll dough into 12x10 inch rectangle.
Cut into 20 12x1/2 inch strips.
Pull each strip into a rope about 16 inches long.
Shape into pretzels.
Place pretzels 1/2 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
Bake in a 475* oven for 4 minutes.
Remove from oven; reduce temperature to 350*.
Regrease baking sheets.
Disolve 2 tablespoons salt in 3 quarts boiling water; reduce heat.
Lower 4 or 5 pretzels at a time into simmering water.
Simmer 2 minutes, turning once.
Remove with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels for a few seconds.
Place pretzels 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets.
Brush pretzels with mixture of egg white and 1 tablespoon water.
Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake in 350* oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from sheet, cool on wire rack.

Makes 20 pretzels

Scarpa

What a fabulous shop! They have so many things - none of which I can afford but I love it! Scarpa is rated for being one of Charlottesville's best shoe shops - they carry a lot of European designs and a fun selection. They also have a small selection of clothes, jewelry and handbags. The staff is great and very friendly. "Things you never knew that you couldn't live without" - absolutely true!

Scarpa is in the north wing of the Barrack's Road shopping center.

Their sister store is RockPaperScissors - a stationary store on 2nd Street NE - that I also love. Stationary is so soothing to me - strange, I know. And the shop has plenty of cute options. I will most likely check it out when I start thinking about wedding invites!

My Favorite Things

anthropologie
stationary stores - russell and hazel, paper-source
j crew
my speedy
sweat pants
mark haddon
jonathan adler pottery
fresh cucumbers with ranch dressing
philadelphia soft pretzels - see recipe above
my pup
"paula dean" - my new car
getting magazines in the mail
josh kelley
diet coke
the smell of fall
bradford and ella
target
john and kate plus 8
french fries
sales
going to concerts
dinner and movie dates
"vacuum rows" on carpets
julie andrews
faith hill
march madness brackets
my alma mater
the deltones
sweaters
turkey hill chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
project runway, grey's anatomy, desperate housewives
ellen degeneres
hotel beds
hosting parties