LIVING Picks: Week of August 2- August 8

FAMILY Lammas Harvest Fair Saturday, August 5 This celebration of the first harvest makes history fun for the whole family. Learn about old-time farm life in demonstrations of everything from pounding yams to ironwork. Pay what you will, 9am-5pm. Frontier Culture Museum, 1290 Richmond Ave., Staunton. (540) 332-7850.   NONPROFIT Open house Saturday, August 5 […]

What’s the best grocery store bar in town?

As competition has grown among Charlottesville’s high-end grocery stores, a trend has emerged of adding bars. I’ve walked past these odd grocery store bars countless times but it has never occurred to me to pull up a stool and order a glass of beer before picking up milk and vegetables. Which invites the questions: Who […]

Fast food: New to-go lunch spot doubles as event space

A quick to-go bite to eat on the Downtown Mall is sometimes hard find, but Andy McClure, owner of the Virginian Restaurant Company, is making it easier with the opening of Penny Heart, a new lunch spot and small event venue that’s going into the former 11 Months space. “Our fast casual options [on the […]

LIVING Picks: Week of July 26- August 1

FAMILY Little Naturalists Thursday, July 27 Introduce your 3- to 5-year-old to the magic of nature in this short trail walk that connects kids with the beauty of the Ivy Creek Natural Area. Free, 10-11am. Ivy Creek Foundation Education Building, 1380 Earlysville Rd. 973-7772.   NONPROFIT Alzheimer’s Awareness Night Wednesday, July 26 Local sports celebrities […]

Drink it up: A look at the impressive wines in NoVa

Here in Charlottesville, there’s great enthusiasm for our local wines. The Monticello AVA (American Viticultural Area) loyalty is so hyper-local, in fact, it’s easy to forget there are wineries in other parts of the state. This week, I put down my glass of Crosé to explore another Virginia wine region: Northern Virginia, nicknamed NoVa. If […]

Dinner and a movie: Full experience at Alamo Drafthouse

Imagine making a reservation for a seat at a movie theater, knowing that your meal could match the movie you’re watching—and it’s all delivered to you. That reality exists at Alamo Drafthouse at 5th Street Station, which opened July 20. The theater features seven screens, with rocking theater seats and recliners. Reservations and walk-ins are […]

Truffle shuffle: Know what you’re going to get in this box of chocolates

My Chocolate Shoppe on the Downtown Mall has closed, but owner and chocolatier Mary Beth Schellhammer isn’t giving up candy for good—she’s started Clean Conscience Chocolates, a line of paleo, vegan, organic, non-GMO, gluten- and dairy-free sweet treats. “I cannot continue to contribute to our obese society, and I cannot continue to sell gummy bears […]

Bodybuilder Severine Bertret trains to compete

Charlottesville is dark and quiet when Severine Bertret starts her day at 4am. First on her schedule is fasting cardio, so she doesn’t eat before hopping on the treadmill or doing sprints around a track. She measures and weighs her food, eats, then lifts: high repetitions of heavy weights (with, say, a 15-pound dumbbell in […]

LIVING Picks: Week of July 19- 25

FAMILY Bottle cap crafts Wednesday, July 19 Make your own necklaces, key rings, magnets and other trinkets using bottle caps, glue and magazine cutouts. Grades six to 12, registration required. Free, 3:30-5pm. Greene County Library, 222 Main St., Stanardsville. 985-5227. NONPROFIT Square dance benefit Friday, July 21 Swing your partner ’round and ’round in this […]

The strange truth about cats catching colds

It has to be an allergy, right? She’s been sneezing for the last few days, and her eyes are watering up. She lives indoors, and probably hasn’t met another cat since her days in the animal shelter. It just doesn’t make sense that she could have caught anything. Such is the weird truth of feline […]