Aislinn's Favorite Things

I heard yesterday that Oprah is making her famous talk show episode, "Oprah's Favorite Things," into a special on OWN.  If you somehow have no idea what Oprah's Favorite Things is, I will fill you in.  Basically every year around the holidays, Oprah would surprise her studio audience with an entire episode dedicated to giving away her favorite things from that year.  And I am talking nice things.  One year she gave the whole audience Hummers.  If you need a visual, it went something like this:

Oprah would scream.  The whole audience would cry.  It was magical.  I can only imagine what a two hour special will be like.  But it got me thinking.  If I were to ever be as cool as Oprah (This is one of those "what would I do if I won the lottery" scenarios.  It's never going to happen, but you still need a plan just in case.) what would I give away on my favorite things episode?  It is actually a lot harder to choose than you might think.  So, after much deliberation, I have come up with my top five favorite things.  And I'm going to share them with you on this blog!!!!!  It's okay to cry.

1. The Greek Gods Greek Yogurt - Honey Flavored













This stuff is so delicious.  I eat it by the quart.  It's creamy and sweet and an excellent substitute for dessert.  It can be found at Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and some Harris Teeters.

2.  DVDONME

Everybody loves Redbox right?  You can use this code (DVDONME) once per credit card for a free rental.  You're welcome.

3.  Spell Tower

This is a computer game (or app for iPhones and iPads) that I am so addicted to.  It is basically a high tech word search.  If you like Words With Friends, you will love this.  You can play by yourself or against someone and five hours later you will wish you had never read this blog post!

4.  Plnnr

This website is awesome if you're a travel lover like me.  It is basically an itinerary generator.  You pick the city you are going to visit, enter how much time you will be there, and then select some of your basic interests (history, art, food, etc.).  Then Plnnr will give you an itinerary based on popular attractions that fit your interests and time frame.  Very useful.

5.  Reusable plastic cups

I know that these have been around for awhile, but of everything I own, this is probably the one thing I could not live without.  I fill mine up with water every day and bring it to work.  Bonus: a lot of coffee shops will give you a discount for bringing in a reusable cup.

So there you have it.  My favorite things.  With the holidays just around the corner (seriously, time is flying!) give some thought to your favorite things and leave them for me in the comments!  And if you are looking for some new ideas, be sure to come to Festival of Lights on December 7 and shop at some of Greensboro's finest stores.

The Post Labor Day Blues

Labor Day weekend is always so bittersweet to me.  Of course it is wonderful to have a nice long weekend right at the start of fall.  Maybe you used the time to soak up every season opening football game ESPN could show you or maybe you just wore every white pair of pants or shoes you own before packing them away until next year.  These are all sweet things.  The bitter part hit you this morning when you got into the office and realized that there are no more holidays until Thanksgiving.  Ouch.

If you are like me and are in complete denial about the end of summer and the start of the long and gloomy journey toward winter we are all embarking on, then you might be trying to squeeze in one last summer vacation.  I found this article on CNN today: 12 Fascinating Civil War Sites  It gave me hope that I will get in at least one more mini-vacation before summer really is done for good.  The site gives ten examples of awesome historical (and often free) sites to visit right here on the east coast.  Even better?  About half of them are between here and Washington, D.C.  Certainly do-able for one last long weekend vacation!  And if you aren't a huge dork like me and your dream vacation doesn't include hiking all over Civil War battlefields, a lot of these cities have other fun activities like golf and spas.  Just something worth checking out - one last hurrah before settling into hibernation.

And for those of you who really did finish out the summer like you are supposed to, over Labor Day weekend, I hope you had a great time!  Let me know what you were up to in the comments below, especially if it was something fun here in Greensboro.

Oh, and there is one thing to look forward to over the next few months.  Festival of Lights!  Don't forget to put Friday, December 7th on your calendar for all the fun things Festival of Lights has to offer (Santa, the Community Tree Lighting, and the holiday sing-a-long just to name a few).  We are starting to plan now and I can already feel the holiday cheer!

The 50 Cutest Things That Ever Happened

If you are in need of a little Hump Day pick-me-up, click on the link below.  I have gone through the whole thing about 20 times, and every time I crack up.  Hope you enjoy!

The 50 Cutest Things That Ever Happened

2012 Fun 4th Festival Recap

Some of my friends say, "It's been a minute since I talked to that girl!" or "I haven't seen you in a minute!" meaning, ironically, it has been a surprisingly long time since we last spoke, saw each other, or a variety of other verbs.  So I am here to say, it has been a minute since I have posted on this blog!

Of course, I have a good excuse.  I was planning and attending Fun 4th!  Which is what I hope all of you were doing earlier this month.  Despite the heat, we had a great turn out and a lot of fun.  If you weren't able to make it (or did come and want to relive it) please check our our Flickr site which has tons of pictures from the Fun 4th week.
Here is the link:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/grassrootsproductions/

Also, if you took any pictures that you want to share, email them to me at administration@grassrootsproductionsltd.org and I will add them to the Flickr site!

Finally, a Fun 4th wrap-up post would not be complete without my list of the best moments from 2012.  They are as follows:

1.  I LOVED the new location for the Block Party.  I think moving it to Festival Park was one of the best decisions we've ever made and people seemed to be having a great time.

2.  At the Freedom Run, we had so many great runners that there weren't many windows when we could send the kids off for the Tot Trot.  I finally got an opening and sent the kids flying, but one poor kid got confused at the end about where he was supposed to go and just as he was about to get trampled by all the adults crossing the finish line, I grabbed him and pulled him to the side.  After everything was over the race director told everyone that I saved a kid's life.  Me=a hero.

3.  O. Henry served as the Independence Day Parade Grand Marshal this year and I helped design his float.  When I finally got to see it in person, I couldn't believe how cool it looked!

4.  Although we didn't break the world record, I had so much fun at High 5 on the 4th.  I couldn't believe how energetic people were, even after they had been standing out in the heat for hours.

5.  We had a new system for food vendors this year, as well some new participants.  I went around and taste tested as much as I could and it was all so delicious!

Thanks to Lynn Donovan for the pictures.  Please feel free to share your 2012 Fun 4th memories in the comments below.  I am already excited for next year, and I hope you are too!

Why Shopping Local Matters

Here at Grassroots we really push the whole buy local philosophy.  Our friends at the shops and restaurants downtown are always extremely generous whenever we need them and many of the owners and managers have become our close friends.  So whenever we can, we always encourage people to skip the big chains and shop at Greensboro owned stores.

But, I am going to be honest with you.  I rarely live by this ideal in my personal life.  When I am doing something for work, sure I will go local.  But at home it's all Target and Starbucks.  Until yesterday when my mind was completely changed.

My husband bought me a watch for our wedding anniversary.  He couldn't find the exact style I wanted in a store, so he ordered the watch directly from the designer's website.  Since they carry the same brand of watch in most department stores, he assured me that I would be able to take it to one of them and have the watch resized.

So yesterday, the watch came in and I took it directly to Friendly Center where there is no shortage of department stores to choose from.  I walked into the first one I came to thinking that I would be in and out in a few short minutes.  And that was true.  Except that I didn't get my watch resized.  The salesperson there told me that she was not allowed to touch my watch without a receipt of purchase from that store.  I explained the situation to her and assured her that they carry basically the same watch in their store.  No can do she said.

This happened about three times at different stores before I gave in to the fact that none of the big department stores were going to be able to help me.  As a last ditch effort I headed over to Schiffman's.  I'm sure you all know that Schiffman's is a high end store.  I of course assumed that if a rinky dink department store thought it was too much of a liability to fix my watch, Schiffman's would certainly have the same policy.

I walked in fully prepared to have a Pretty Woman moment ("I got money to spend in here!") on the first salesperson I saw, but was caught off guard by the quick and polite assistance I received.  A very professional gentleman greeted me at the door, offered me a drink, and asked how he could help me.  I gave him my story, ending with, "I'm sure you aren't allowed to help me either, but if you could just tell me where to go that would be very helpful."  But instead of brushing me off because I a. didn't purchase the watch from there or b. wasn't dressed like someone who could afford Schiffman's, he took me over to the counter and solved all my problems.

Yes, he did in fact resize my watch.  He also set it for me, showed me how to use all the many dials, and took it to the back to have it cleaned and polished.  And on top of all that, he didn't even charge me.  He just gave me a card and asked me to please bring all my future business to Schiffman's.

Believe me, I understand the importance of saving every penny.  I am married to an accountant, so I understand the value of a dollar.  Yes, I recognize that many people's objection to shopping local is that it is more expensive than shopping the chains.  And by all means, that is mostly true.  But how do you put a price tag on excellent customer service?  Or on great quality goods?  Or on people that are just genuinely nice to do business with?  I don't think you can.

And if it really comes down to dollars and cents for you, think of the gas money I spent driving from store to store trying to find someone to help me.  I should have just gone to Schiffman's in the first place.  Which is what I will be doing from now on.

If any of you have a story about a wonderful experience you had at a local business here in Greensboro, I would love to hear it.  Leave a comment here or send me an email (administration@grassrootsproductionsltd.org)  I am happy to share any of your stories on our blog and promote any local business that you feel is top notch.  Until then, happy shopping!