Wilmaville

I discovered a cool local Twitter charity event through Twitter yesterday. Essentially there is a charity event on Thursday at the Port City Pub on Grace Street to raise money to build a well in a developing country. This is a national initiative driven by charity: water but organized locally through Twitter. It’s also an opportunity to meet those fellow locals who love Twitter in person. How cool is this town getting to be? Read all about it at Wilmington US Twestival 2009. Be there or be square. And don’t forget to tweet about it!

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What woman doesn’t know about the LBD? The “little black dress” is synonymous with drinks, dinners and…we’ll leave it at that for right now. I lived in New York for 10 years…very few women I knew did not have an LBD.

Over the weekend, I went to Nashville to attend the BlissDom09 conference. In the lobby of the Hotel Preston (where I stayed), they had a twist on the LBD, and it seemed fitting to take a picture.

Hotel Preston's display of a "little pink dress"

Perhaps this is the “little pink dress” for mommies who are looking for creative things to do with their kids’ overabundance of crayons? Not sure. I just know that after passing it a couple times, I had LPD envy. This is the same person who holds anything pink at arm’s length.

I learned my lesson over the weekend as Lands’ End was one of the sponsors of the conference and gave each attendee a pink canvas tote. That’s right, one of these days, you’ll see me in my LPD (hopefully made of crayons) carrying my Lands’ End bag. Pink is my new black.

If you would like to receive free shipping from Lands’ End through Sunday, February 15, 2009, use Promo Code BLISSDOM, PIN 2175.

See you in the pink!

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No signs of a snow flake yet. Not one. Last night they declared the area schools closed.

Christmas comes around annually, like clockwork. Snow in Wilmington, predicted once every few years. At least with Santa Claus, he has helpers who show up at malls. With snow, well, that’s a bit more tricky. And how do *your* young kids handle anticipation with something they have no memory of seeing? Ice was the big item earlier this week. We’re talking “let’s stick it in the freezer and save it” huge.

You’ll have to excuse my grumbling a bit. I grew up in Denver. I remember once, maybe twice, when I was growing up that they closed the schools. We’re talking feet of snow and waiting until the last minute to close the schools.

Now, I understand that rarely happens any more—there is much more caution these days. But when the forecasters say there is snow that may start in mid-morning but that Wednesday’s black ice is going to be treacherous. Snow=fluffy, happy snowmen, shushing and après ski. Black ice=… well, okay, I’m not going there. But canceling an entire day of school?

Trust me, I’m glad I won’t be out on the road with Wilmington drivers unaccustomed to snow. And I’m looking forward to cozying up by the fire to watch today’s festivities. However, next time, could they consult with me? Not only do I have some winter weather experience, but my kids were out sick from school on Friday. This is my fifth straight day I’ve been cooped up with my kids while navigating the cold weather (little opportunity for outdoor play) and mounting deadlines.

If they had asked me, I definitely would have voted to get my kids back to school today. Maybe they’ll ask me my opinion tomorrow…as I’m driving away from the school?

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My daughter is desperate to see snow. Every time there is snow in a movie, she jumps up and down and squeals, “Snow!” Her favorite character could be dying, getting married, or having an epiphany but snow is all she sees.

She asked for snow for Christmas.

She learned to follow the weather forecast to see if anyone was predicting snow.

And she asked for snow for her birthday.

And that’s the funny bit. Her birthday is on Wednesday. And the weather forecast for Tuesday, here in Wilmington, NC – where it has not snowed (at least not so you would notice) since my about-to-be-10-year-old girl was just out of toddlerdom – is for snow: Up to four inches of snow. It might even snow enough to cancel school on Wednesday, which would grant her other birthday wish: No school on her birthday.

Did she do something right or what? Does she have a fairy godmother? Can I take credit for the snow and (if it happens) the cancelled school?

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Here’s to Tuesday! A week away!

Let’s gather to celebrate the end of the Bush administration and toast to a peaceful future!

Let’s mark this historic moment in the company of friends!

Let’s meet at Nagila at 6ish pm on the 20th!

Come as you are or wear your favorite Obamabelia.

Hope to see you there!

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Know a person or group who has done great things for the kids in our community? Take this opportunity to give them the love they deserve! One of our Wilmaville Moms sent us the following public service announcement. Thanks Melissa!

Friends –

As many of you know, I am on the Board of Directors for Smart Start of New Hanover County, an non-profit organization that serves children ages birth through 5 years.  We have an annual fundraiser called the Breakfast for Children’s Champions.  This year the Breakfast will be held on March 18, 2009, 7:15am – 9:00am at the Burney Center at UNCW and will feature NC State and NBA legend David Thompson as Guest Speaker.  There is no cost to attend the Breakfast, but donations are greatly appreciated.

We are currently seeking nominations for individuals, organizations, agencies, groups, etc who have performed exceptional work on behalf of young children and their families in New Hanover County, to be recognized as a Children’s Champion at the Breakfast.  We were hoping you could help spread the word by sharing this with anyone you think might be interested.

A link to our Breakfast for Children’s Champions page can be found here.  You can find a nomination form at this link. You needn’t download the file; you can simply open and print it or fill in it and email it to us as an attachment.  Nominations may also be made by phone by calling (910) 815-3731.

For more information about Smart Start of New Hanover County, visit us on the web at www.newhanoverkids.org. 

Thanks!

Melissa Lavengood

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As promised, Wilmaville made an appearance at the launch yesterday of Laterna’s new weekly Strictly Business Wednesday event. We were expecting the first one to be a bit slow. “Who cares?” I told my husband – who I cornered to attend with me when Elizabeth claimed she had to take care of her kids or work — or some other lame excuse. Dan was giving me a bit of resistance. “If no one else is there,” I offered. “It’s a good reason to eat Yanni’s cooking.” Dan instantly dropped what he was doing and agreed, proving that the way to get his attention is to dangle yummy food in front of him.

We arrived promptly at 4 pm because this was clashing with our kids’ 5:30 music lessons. We would have to dart in, mingle quickly, and dart out to pick up and drop off our future rock band at their respective piano and guitar lessons. A bit of hectic plan but it turned out to be well worth it.

There was a decent crowd. We saw a couple of people we knew. And we got to chat with Derek from Sea Comm Media, one of the sponsors of the event. (Sea Comm Media is responsible for The Penguin, The Bone, and the Big Talker radio shows.) Apparently Sea-Comm feels just as we do about Laterna: We want to see them survive this economy so we can keep eating there. Selfish? Call me Machiavelli. But it felt good to have a comrade in this mission.

The ads for this event rightfully announced, “Your network is your business.” This is especially true of this town, where everything is word of mouth. Getting out and meeting the people who might want the business service you offer is essential to surviving a down economy – in any location. But this town? Gotta do it. Plus meeting up with potential clients is probably tax deductable. So it’s a win-win — especially when there’s free food. It’s even better if Yanni made that food. This was a sweet opportunity.

It certainly worked for me. Dan and I sat down and I set out my new book How to Be a Geek Goddess, thinking maybe someone would want to buy a signed copy. But I never got around to mentioning that my book was for sale. I did better than that. Derek offered to give a few copies away tonight at the Market Street Saloon, where The Bone (103.7) will be doing a live show from 6:30 to 8:30. “Bryan (from Bryan and Jims Morning Disaster) will have 3 or 4 live breaks during our remote from Market St. Saloon tonight,” Derek emailed me this morning. “And he’ll be mentioning Wilmaville.com and your new book!” Thanks Derek! I was only there an hour. I barely had time to sample the incredible hors d’oevres. But I got radio coverage. How awesome is that?

Now I’ll bet you wish you had gone yesterday, don’t you? No worries. There is always next week. I’m going to let Dan take the kids to music and find someone else to go with me. Takers?

But before next week’s event, I’m finally going to choose a winner on our Laterna giveaway. This has dragged on long enough! To enter that giveaway, click here and comment in that post. You can comment on this post too – especially if you want to set up a time to meet at Laterna next Wednesday. But to enter the giveaway, you have to click here.

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Some of us from Wilmaville.com will be at Laterna (corner of Wilshire and College) on Wednesday from 4pm to 5pm. Laterna is doing local business meetups and we decided to pull up a booth and see what happens.

Want a free WIlmaville.com bumper sticker? Come find us! Enjoy a cappuccino or Stella on draft!

Also, I will have some copies of my book How to Be a Geek Goddess and will sign and sell them for less than Barnes and Noble charges for an unsigned copy.

See you there?

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Back in June, I got an email newsletter from the YMCA inviting me to sign my daughter up for the Girls on the Run after school program at the YMCA. Apparently a lot of local schools have implemented this national program into their after-school programs but my daughter’s school had just announced it would not be offering an after-school program. I work from home so I don’t technically need after-school care for my kids but this program sounded great. Here is a quote from the “About” page on the Girls on the Run site:

“Girls on the Run© is a life-changing, experiential learning programs for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the programs are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development.”

My daughter is a high-energy girl who loves hanging out with her BFFs above all else and, reading this, I suddenly wanted to get her into this program. At first, she insisted she didn’t want to run. Then I asked her to read about how it would be all girls, running, playing games, and connecting with their girl-power and she wanted in too. So we drove right over to the YMCA and put her on a list. Then nothing happened. A few weeks later, I called to ask about it. Getting to someone who knew about it was a pain and then I learned that not enough people had signed up for the at-the-Y program to get it started. We were both disappointed.

But I recently got an email from the program director at the YMCA asking me to see if I would help round up a few more girls to get this thing going. Jamie, the program director, has coaches ready. She has dates set aside. She just needs girls. The spring program will be “starting Tues. Feb 26, @4:00-5:00 and Wed. @ 4:00,” says Jamie. “The program would be twice a week for 10 weeks and end with the May 2 Wilmington Orthopedic Azalea Run as their graduation run.  Last year we had over 400 runners in this race of all ages.”

Got a girl? Like the sound of this? Call the YMCA (910-251-9622) and get her on the list. Do it now because my daughter – and several of her friends – really want to do this.

Update from Jamie:

The program is normally 50.00 but if a girl is part of the free lunch program at her elementary school she can participate for 10.00.  We are trying to start a group at the YMCA in addition to the elementary schools.  Moms can e-mail me at margie.butts@wilmingtonfamilyymca.org for more information.

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This is a photo of Wilmington fireworks but there are no downtown New Year’s Eve fireworks this year

Everyone is asking me that question today. I ran a few ideas around before finally deciding I didn’t want to do anything for New Year’s Eve but stay in and watch a movie.

Some of those ideas I toyed with were pretty darn tempting, though. I still might change my mind. What do you think?

Laterna is having a party with live music. For $50 a person, you get a four-course meal cooked by the genius in that kitchen. Choose from Filet Mignon, Grilled Salmon, or Mediterranean Chicken. It comes with desert, a wine tasting, party favors, and a champagne toast at midnight. Did you know that Laterna has a piano bar in the back with one of the best beer selection in town? I think that is one of the best kept secrets around. The exterior looks like the Perkins that used to be in that spot at the corner of Wilshire and College but the interior has great food, a cozy bar, and – did I mention terrific Mediterranean food? I’m thinking I’ll head over there for breakfast after the New Years though because they serve – bar none – the best breakfast in town.

The Fox and the Hound at Mayfaire is also offering a pretty tempting deal. If I liked that place better, I would probably take them up on it. (Too smoky, too many TVs, and the food is strange.) For $99, you get dinner for two, a bottle of champagne, and midnight munchies, followed by a free ride to your hotel room (included in the package) at the nearby Marriot. You have to contact the hotel first to get this deal. The number there is 910.332.3326.

Level 5 at City Stage is the place I usually hit for New Year’s Eve. There is nothing like an evening out with friends that includes a bit of theater put together by the film-industry pros who run this place. I think I have done their New Year’s Eve lock-in 5 times and loved it every time. It’s usually a package deal that includes (awful) finger food, an open bar, a great play, an evening on the open-to-the-stars-but-plenty-warm rooftop bar, and late-night dancing on the stage after the players wrap up. It’s a blast. (Eat dinner first.) This year the play is The Producers by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. The Web site is scant on details about the New Year’s event or ticket availability but I hear tell the play is sold out. I’ll update this if/when I learn more.

I just learned about The Brown Coat Pub and Theater on Grace Street and now I’m in a hurry to go there. The place is named for the terrific Joss Whedon TV series Firefly. If you’ve seen Firefly, you knew that from the pub’s name and are probably now in as big a hurry to go there as I am. If you haven’t seen it, you should put Firefly in your Netflix.com queue as soon as humanly possible. You are in for a treat. The Brown Coat is a comedy club and guerilla theater and on New Year’s Eve, there will be a free performance at 8pm by the improve group Super Kids. At 10, the local band Dragon Seeks Path plays. At midnight, there will be a ball drop and a free champagne toast. There’s a $10 cover charge starting at 10. Reservations are strongly recommended here because the place only seats 50. Tempting. Very tempting indeed.

Those were my thoughts. And not that I’ve jotted them all down, I’m not sure I’m making the right decision staying in.

What are you doing?

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