It cost WHAT to get my nails done??!!

Hello friends, how is everyone out there? Sorry I haven't posted in a long time but I have been studying for the cpa exam full time and will be for a few more weeks.

It's Friday which leads into Saturday and Sunday which means fun times, right? Sometimes that means a little pampering like getting my nails done. I haven't done that yet here in Richmond. I have been here since August 12 and still haven't had a mani or pedi here. Why? Sticker shock is a good reason. There aren't a plethora of nail salons here and most are attached to a hair salon which means they like to charge more moola. The average for a mani/pedi, nothing fancy, is $50 and up. After living in Atlanta and paying $30 tops I admit I'm spoiled.

So why would Richmond, Va cost more than Atlanta, Ga? Warning: I am not PC though I am sensitive to people so the following remarks may bother PC types.  There's not a lot of immigrants here. I have found ONE salon that is just a nail salon with Asians working there. I didn't even know American women performed mani/pedi's anymore as an occupation until moving here. Thus, prices are high.

I'm going to try the salon near my house and see how it goes. I'll post you later on the results. Perhaps the higher price will yield a higher quality though I haven't been unhappy with my mani/pedi services in Roswell.

On a similar but different note, it's VERY hard to find a good Mexican restaurant for the same reasons. We finally found one near our house called...ready for this...Mexico restaurant. It's just like home, it's good mexican. But there are others in Richmond we have tried that were actually recommended to us, but they were awful. I don't think Richmonders know what good Mexican food should taste like. Just another example of the lack of ethnic diversity here. There is diversity in Richmond, just not at all to the scale of Atlanta.

Deep thoughts to ponder on a Friday, right? Miss you guys and I promise I will start posting regularly again in a few weeks. There will be much news and much to show you in the near future!

Can Can Brasserie...

courtesy Can Can Brasserie

On our first trip to Richmond we were lucky enough to stumble upon this terrific restaurant on Cary Street. Most of you know we love all things France: cheese, wine, food, etc. So we were thrilled to try a french restaurant in our new hometown. We weren't disappointed. Just stepping inside transports you to France. Every interior detail has been addressed from the tile floor to the antique light fixtures and fans. They took great care to recreate a space that looks like it has been around for fifty years but is only a few years old. We have dined there four times now. We have had dinner twice, breakfast once, and brunch once.

It's always busy and lively. The front of the restaurant has huge glass windows that fold open like an accordion so on nice days, they open all the front windows creating this great energy between the dining crowd and passersby. They have two areas to dine outdoors as well.

It's open pretty much all day. Breakfast consists of pastries, baguettes, coffee. Lunch offerings run from anything between crepes to steak frites, seafood, or salads. They have cafe hours between 3-5pm with a 'limited' menu including cheese plate, entrees including quiche, slow roasted pork sandwich or hamburger and frites. Dinner every evening and brunch on Sundays.

Monthly they have beer/wine dinners featuring various regions in France. We haven't tried that yet but it is next on our list. Needless to say, if you come visit us, we will take you to Can Can!

Curious?? Check out their website and menus: http://cancanbrasserie.com

Yum!

Back to school!

Hi ya'll! Miss me yet?! Well, I am missing all of my friends from Atlanta but I am enjoying Richmond too so that helps a lot. The last couple of weeks have been full of moving, unpacking, settling in, and today J started her first day at school.

J had a great first day which is the best you can hope for. She likes all of her teachers and keeps commenting on how nice all the kids are. This morning there was a prayer service for the school and I attended as well. I love this school. I know it's too early to say something like that but I love the small size and I loved the prayer service to start this kids off for the year. Julia is probably most excited about her religion class, advanced art, and french.

So, Bryan is taking J to school in the mornings before work. This morning they left at about 7:30am and Bryan called at 7:52 to tell me he was already at his work. If there is one wonderful reason to move to Richmond it's called no commute and little traffic. It's so much less stressful when you don't have to plan your life around your 45 minute plus commute to and from work everyday.

I met some moms this morning at Starbucks between morning carpool and the prayer service. I already have a network of moms I can call or email with questions. Since there aren't a lot of new kids coming into the school besides kindergarten I have had several moms contact me to share information and make sure we have everything we need. It's been very helpful and I am grateful for the support.

So the photos are J's school and the adjacent sanctuary. The school was first opened in 1952 and the church is about 70 years old. They cannot build beyond what they have because they are landlocked. The school just finished a renovation a year ago to replace windows and update wiring for the lastes technology, etc. There are only two classes per grade k-6 and three classes for 7 and 8 grades.

How was the first week of school for you guys??

It's official.

Well, our house went on the market this weekend. There's a sign in the front yard which means there's no turning back now. Don't get me wrong, I am excited at our future in Richmond but sad to leave my house here. We have spent ten years fixing and upgrading to make it ours so it will be a sad day when we finally say goodbye for good. It's also sad when we don't have a house in Richmond yet to get excited about. It's looking like we will be living in an apartment temporarily while we continue our search for the next perfect house for us.

We just gutted and rebuilt our kitchen and from what we have seen in Richmond, we will probably be rebuilding another kitchen soon. We also just finished renovating one of the bathrooms. I gues this was really good practice for us if we do buy a lovely 80+ year old home.

Good eating!

For a smaller city, I am impressed at the variety of restaurants around Richmond. There's everything from your big food chains like Chick fil a to Brio and PF Changs. There's also a nice selection of non-chain places. For our close friends, you won't be surprised when I tell you we found a french restaurant that we loved. Is it strange to travel to Richmond, Va to experience a little of France? It's just so fitting. Can Can Brasserie is in Carytown and it's a beautiful place built with care to look like it's been there for years. They used reclaimed tiles and fixtures and they did a fantastic job. The food was delicious and we ate way too much. We decided that's where we are taking our out of town guests when they come to visit! I know some of you need a little bribe... We also ate some bbq at Buz and Ned's. It's a hole in the wall close to the baseball park and it was really good. I can see us going to see the Flying Squirels play and eating a little bbq on the way to the park. (more on the baseball in a future post) So I am looking forward to exploring this part of the city as well and I'll keep you posted on our foodie experiences.

Decisions...

It's been a week since we were in Richmond looking at homes. I can't even remember all the houses we looked at. A few stand out but nothing we were ready to buy. We love the idea of moving into an old row home in the Museum District where we can walk to restaurants and shops. We did look at a handful of houses in the Museum District but I think we decided that may not be the best place for us right now. I should probably say I didn't like them. B is much more open to a city lifestyle than I am as it turns out. My cons: 1. Too many renters which drags down the property values on some blocks. 2. Row homes are dark: you really only get light from the front and back of the house since the homes are so close together. I need light! 3. I think we are a bit older than most people residing in that part of town, and I don't want to feel old or be reminded that I am getting old. 4. I just didn't get the vibe, so it just doesn't feel like a good fit for me. My pros: 1. The houses are full of charm and character. Mostly the floors were beautiful and original, the moldings and trim are wonderful. Love all the features in an old home. So, Museum District, for me, is not a good option. We took a look at Ginter Park which is just north of the Museum District, still very close to Richmond. Ginter Park is full of a variety of styles of homes full of character and charm and quite large too. This is a good website that gives some history www.historicginterpark.org. Of course I should know that when you think something is too good to be true, it probably is. We looked at a handful of properties in that area and there were some nice homes there. There was one property I had spied on the internet but was greatly disappointed when I saw it in person. Though it is more suburban than the Museum District, it was still a little hit or miss. Some homes and streets were very well maintained and loved and some weren't. I won't rule that area completely out, but it's probably not where we will end up living. Last tour was Near West End which is just west of the Museum District. It's a more suburban feel, but very close to Richmond, Carytown, church, J's school, B's office. It's the best of all worlds. It's a convenient location but you still have a great variety of homes that are older with a lot of character and charm and just enough land to make me happy. So, I think we at least know what area we want to focus on but didn't find our home yet. I really like Richmond and I am looking forward to our move.

Oh my gosh! Saturday was an incredibly long day. We arrived in Richmond about 3pm, got our car and drove through the city to our hotel. Ok, so very first impression, I was a little worried. It's so overwhelming to drive through a brand new city, not knowing a thing about the neighborhoods, and trying to envision that this is our new home. Thank goodness our agent came and swept us up right after we checked in to take us on a 3+ hour tour around Richmond! It was a lot to take in on the first day but we do have a very good idea of the various neighborhoods around here which helped tremendously. After seeing new neighborhoods and old, we reaffirmed our desire to purchase an old home with character. We still had no idea which area that might be yet, our plan is to tour some areas where we picked houses: Ginter Park, Museum District, and Near West End. I'm anxious to see what these houses are like in person and if we will find anything we like.

Hello!

I decided it would be fitting to create a new blog to document some new changes to my life. As most of you already know, we are moving to Richmond, Virginia for B's new job. We are excited, anxious, eager, and sad to leave home. For me, the most difficult part will be leaving behind all the friends I have here. I don't want to lose touch with all the wonderful people who have been a part of my life just because I am moving to another state. So I thought I would create this blog so I can share all the news and it will be just like you are right here with me! First stop is house hunting, meeting with recruiter (for my future job!), and interviewing a new school for Julia. We are heading to Richmond this weekend and I will be taking many pictures so stay tuned!