Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival

Classical music fans in Central Virginia love September. So do some of the finest classical musicians in the world. For fifteen years now, Charlottesville natives Timothy Summers and Raphael Bell have brought the two together for the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, two weeks’ worth of stimulating concerts of classical music for small ensembles. The eight […]

Saving for a down payment

These days it is not unusual for lenders to require a down payment of as 20 percent on the purchase price of a home. This makes a lot of sense from the lender’s point of view for several reasons. First, buyers who can save that 20 percent show they handle their finances well. Second, with […]

Commercial real estate market remains positive

Nationally the commercial market continues to recover, according to Lawrence Yun, the National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist.  Yun predicts an improving commercial market, with the multi-family sector leading the way based on what he expects will be an expanding GDP, an easing in commercial lending and continued job growth. The Charlottesville Market Hock Hockensmith, […]

A horse, of course

Shortly after she learned to talk, Molly Streit announced that she wanted to take horseback riding lessons. “I made the rule that she couldn’t ride until she was 5,” her mother, Meghan, said. “The day after she turned 5, she took her first lesson.” Molly is now 7 years old, and has been riding her […]

Playground etiquette: Quaint oxymoron or the rules of civilized society?

Is there a commonly accepted “playground etiquette?” Or are playgrounds a lawless land ruled by barbaric, screaming bullies and their diaper-clad children? Thinking back, wistfully, to my own children’s blissful playground days, I see images of radiant, round-faced, sun-screened toddlers, squealing with glee as they run, slide, and swing. Wait! Has the ether of time […]

Ebb and flow: Finding the family’s scheduling sweet spot

With one child still in preschool and one in grade school, I’ve already fallen into the typical yo-yo family routine phenomenon: By the last month of the regular school year, I’m just done. Done with daily lunch packing. Done with backpack checking and bake sales. Done with incessant clock watching, brush-your-teeth demanding, shoelace tying, and […]

World domination: Local Destination Imagination team goes global

They call themselves the Smartie-Nerds (a mash-up of the two candy names), and after placing fifth in the world at last spring’s Destination Imagination global competition at the University of Tennessee, nobody’s going to argue with them. “Them” is Madison Gildersleeve-Price, Abby and Elly Haden, Teresa Li, Maggie Matthews, Sarah Trotter, and Stacy Vitko, an […]

Shopping spree: What bizarre kids’ products are you missing out on?

If your baby has an iPotty (training potty with iPad attached, obviously), your toddler boys have portable urinals, and you and your daughter are currently wearing matching breastmilk-pendant necklaces, congratulations! You’re taking advantage of some of the completely absurd new and innovative parenting products available today. If you’re a slacker dark-ages parent like me, you […]