News

Greg Thomas wins hearts, trophies at Albemarle High School

From where he stands on the Albemarle High School football stadium bleachers, band director Greg Thomas has a good view of about 80 teenage musicians. Gathered in a haphazard semicircle on the track below, the Marching Patriots have just completed their final run-through of “Pursuing Red,” a show they first clumsily attempted at the beginning […]

Susan Sorensen | November 29, 2011

Living

November 2010: Inside out

Blame it on the empty room. That’s what designer Kelly Witt does when she recalls the momentary panic she felt the day she hung “a wire and crystal atom-shaped chandelier, lit from within by large holiday lights” in the furniture-less dining room of the brick colonial she and her artist husband, Clay, have spent the […]

Susan Sorensen | November 2, 2010

Living

An offer they can’t refuse

You’re no dummy. You peruse the local newspapers and pore over real estate websites. Then there’s the TV news, always rife with reports about a bleak real estate market. And it’s hard to miss the plethora of For Sale signs—very few of which have the words “Under Contract” tacked onto the front.   So you figured […]

Susan Sorensen | July 3, 2007

Living

How You Can Succeed in the Housing Market

For the past couple of months, Gini Carl’s mornings have consisted of seemingly endless rounds of bed-making, dishwashing, vacuuming and trailing after her 11-year-old daughter “to pick up everything she drops.” No, Carl’s not some Type A, neat freak Martha Stewart wannabe. She has, however, been playing one since early April. That’s when she and […]

Susan Sorensen | June 5, 2007

Living

Book ’em

I like to get stuff done. Most mornings, before my feet even hit the floor, I’ve composed a mental to-do list for that day. Mail the taxes, buy some milk, write a book review, bathe our dog, read to my daughter’s first-grade class, pick up a fifth of vodka. You get the picture. Some days […]

Susan Sorensen | May 1, 2007

Living

How you can succeed in the housing market

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Sign on for an adjustable rate mortgage and get more house for less of a monthly payment. Heck, you weren’t planning on staying in the place for long anyway. By the time the initial 4.25 percent loan hit 6.25 percent, you’d be history.  Seems you forgot […]

Susan Sorensen | May 1, 2007

Living

Back Porch: Call of the wild

Nobody’s ever accused me of being a nature girl. It’s not that I have anything against the great outdoors, but my idea of a killer hike consists of trekking from book store to coffee shop to shoe sale. I can identify almost no varieties of plant, tree or bird. And gardening is a pastime I’ve […]

Susan Sorensen | April 3, 2007

Living

Get Real: How You Can Succeed in the Housing Market

Buyer’s market. Buyer’s market. Buyer’s market. Seems to be the real estate mantra these days. So buy already, why don’t you. But maybe if you hold off for another month or two, housing prices will drop some more and you’ll get a better deal. Or will you? “I certainly wouldn’t recommend that someone sign a […]

Susan Sorensen | April 3, 2007

Living

Get Real: Rising tide

If you’re looking to put a positive spin on the recent hike in property values, try this one out: What’s arguably your largest asset—your home—is a lot more valuable today than it was last year. According to County and City assessors, properties are worth almost 16 percent more in Albemarle than they were in 2005, […]

Susan Sorensen | March 6, 2007

Living

Back Porch: Color me nervous

My friend Erin has a real knack for color. Whenever I’m at her place, I marvel over the fact that not only did she paint the walls in a high-traffic downstairs room deep pink, but that they don’t look completely ridiculous. And then there’s a green room, which flows seamlessly into a yellow space. Once […]

Susan Sorensen | March 6, 2007