who knew?

I just found the best reference website for the downtown mall area. I'm sure it is completely common knowledge that this existed, but I just found it and am fascinated. It could totally make dinner club selections a little easier.

They have an updated list of everything to do, see, eat, and buy on the downtown mall and the map feature is fabulous (not for me of course since maps and I are not friends).

This will totally be going up on the wedding blog for our guests to check out.

Love it!

Charlottesville Downtown Mall

Arch's

So, if you move to Charlottesville, I'm almost positive someone along the way has mentioned Arch's delicious frozen yogurt. I crave this stuff regularly - especially the Vanilla Bean with ooey Gooey Brownies on top (don't worry - no salmonella). The Vanilla Bean is key. I had No-Frill Vanilla this time and it just wasn't the same. We decided to check out their regular food menu at the Emmet Street location for dinner tonight. Charlie and I walked out totally stuffed and wondering how Arch's would fit into our long list of sandwich favorites. Let me tell you, they are up there and have definitely earned bonus points for the frozen yogurt option post sandwich. We both picked sandwiches served on sub rolls which were then grilled - really a cool twist that I haven't seen before. The grilling wasn't a typical Quizno's type of grilling. It was almost panini style without the grease. The ingredients seemed very fresh and the place was packed. It did take a little while to get the food but it was worth it. The salads looked awesome too. Also - Monday night special - free chips and a drink when you order a sandwich - perk #2! I think Tuesday's special is similar but with a salad order.

ahh

don't you just love swimming pools?


*this pool is not in charlottesville...

The Local

Dinner Club #3's trip was out to Belmont to visit The Local. I had heard great things about it and figured most of the Econ kids don't get out to Belmont very often. We set up a reservation for 12 and got ourselves ready for a night out.

Unfortunately, we waited over an hour and a half for dinner to come out. Thank goodness there was good company and we kept ourselves entertained - but I think an hour and a half is a little too much. When the food finally came out, people weren't as impressed as I thought they would be. 4 people ordered the spare ribs and while the presentation was fun (individual dutch ovens for each) there was nothing to write home about. The trout came with bones in it and the skin on (totally fine but unexpected) and I had a pasta dish I could've made in my own kitchen. The food was by no means bad, but I was a little disappointed since I had heard such great things and it didn't seem like the food warranted the prices they were charging. The only dish that got a rave review was the Carbonara. Surprising!

The atmosphere of the restaurant is really cool and Charlie and I decided that we could be the fun couple who go to nice restaurants just to sit at the bar. The Local will be added to that list.

Book Sale

The Gordon Avenue Library had a pretty large booksale last weekend. One of the ladies who works in Charlie's department told him we might want to check it out since they had a lot of children's books. It was crazy - we got almost 50 books for $10. My teaching library is growing!

We'll have to remember to look for the next one and give people a head's up.

Gardening

We planted our first seeds together. Cheesy I know - but I can't help but laugh and call our new seedlings "Our Love Ferns" (thanks Kate Hudson). We hopefully will have a bunch of herbs, green beans, pumpkins for the fall, and wildflowers. Some of the flowers might not pop up because the day after we planted them, our landscaping guys came through and re-mulched all the beds - covering our baby flowers - I was so bummed.

yummm

The most delicious smell has entered our house courtesy of Archipelago Botanicals' Almond Sage candle. I can't get enough of it. I stopped in O'Suzannah yesterday and picked up some fun books to help Charlie and I come up with some wedding inspiration and splurged on this candle - so worth it. mmmmmm

The Nook

Charlie and I tried going here a couple of times but could never quite make it in the door for one reason or another. We made it in this morning for breakfast. I have to say I really love the downtown mall and how you are able to chill out and eat your meal in the middle of the patio area. The Nook is a diner type restaurant near the pavillion end of the mall. I had a waffle (nothing new and exciting here) and Charlie had a breakfast burrito called "the mess". I really liked The Nook and the prices were great too. $11 for breakfast. Since we didn't go inside, I don't how much room there is, but I think we will definitely be back and maybe even with friends.

Dogwood Festival Parade

On our way to find the Carpe Donut Truck (which unfortunately won't be around until September), Charlie and I stumbled upon the Dogwood Festival Parade going down High Street. I had been hearing about the Dogwood Festival but I thought is was just a festival event that was over by now (it started last Thursday). I was wrong. The parade was quite long and added a little fun to our day. I forgot for a moment that we lived in the South until I saw the Confederate Soldiers (just 2 of them) riding down High Street on their horses in full Civil War period uniforms. We also really enjoyed the Vintage Car part of the parade that included a 1980s Cadilac with crazy wheels. It really just looked like they took all the cars off of our street and put them in the parade :) It might be a fun tradition to check out the parade every year just to give us some humor in our day!

The City Market

I got out of bed this morning (before noon, believe it or not) and Charlie a I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by checking out the City Market. We've been meaning to go but have either had something else going on, forgotten, or I haven't gotten out of bed. Depressing, right? :) My friend, Erin, has a stand at the market where she sells her jewelry and has been telling me to go for a while. The market is fabulous! The flowers are beautiful and the plants they have are awesome - lots of herbs and lettuces. I can't wait to see what changes as the season progresses. The Market really is an awesome positive for living in Charlottesville.