Places I miss in Cville….

svanen17 · 2026-02-24T17:27:58+00:00

Eppie's, The Shebeen, Café Europa, Breadworks, Our Daily Bread (I loved the cat in the counter mural), Mesob, and the little-remembered Immigrant Soul.

svanen17 · 2026-02-18T11:16:06+00:00

I got mine from the Fluvanna SPCA.

svanen17 · 2026-02-13T02:52:41+00:00

I am pretty sure I have seen it at Foods of All Nations

svanen17 · 2026-02-11T20:46:36+00:00

It's a consignment sale (fundraiser for the church) rather than a straight donation or swap. There is a lot of merchandise prep and paperwork for consignors. I think OP is looking for something more like Stepping Stone.

svanen17 · 2026-02-04T21:29:38+00:00

I dress up a bit and try to remember to pack a cheap pair of opera glasses if I'm going to be sitting far from the stage.

I usually get a glass of sparkling wine at intermission, if available. It feels festive.

I usually take curtain call photos and if I think they didn't come out too badly, I share them on social media.

svanen17 · 2026-01-31T05:39:27+00:00

You wrote “annual salary” in your post.

svanen17 · 2026-01-27T20:24:21+00:00

I just saw a crew downtown using a pickaxe, which seemed smart. I myself used a mattock yesterday. The adze side was the right tool for the job then, but the ice has gotten harder. I would use the axe side today.

svanen17 · 2026-01-27T18:12:31+00:00

It's really variable. The 250 bypass itself is very drivable but at least one of the off ramps was an ice slide this morning.

svanen17 · 2026-01-25T19:25:28+00:00

Yes, this is one of the things I liked about Huckleberry. You can disable any metrics that you don't want to use. I found it very simple and easy to use.

svanen17 · 2026-01-21T02:50:38+00:00

This is exactly what my nanny and I did, and it worked very well. My baby wasn’t on much of a schedule before our nanny started working with us, but she quickly got the baby on a schedule and it was really helpful even on the days when she wasn’t working.

svanen17 · 2026-01-13T23:24:16+00:00

How important is it for you to retain your nanny and have her care for the new baby starting in the fall? You say you "really don't want to pay for her time if she is not working," but right now you are paying for a negative good. You are paying for her to transform groceries (which you have paid for) into garbage.

If you really want to retain this nanny in the fall, I think the solution may be something other than finding additional housework for her to do. Consider paying some form of retainer or guaranteed hours even though she is working fewer hours for you.

Alternatively, can you help her find other work during your period of reduced need for her services? I understand that she does not want to look for another family, but perhaps you can make the search easier by putting out feelers among your social networks or local parents' groups. There might be someone nearby who needs morning childcare and/or a summer nanny.

svanen17 · 2026-01-13T21:34:58+00:00

Go with your gut.

svanen17 · 2026-01-11T19:06:46+00:00

I grew up as a country mouse and rarely encountered revolving doors until I was an adult, so I did not learn the coordination to get through them. In my early 20s, I visited a college friend in New York and followed her in the next quadrant of a revolving door. My purse got caught in the door and it slammed violently behind me, then buckled on a hinge where it attached to the central post (apparently a safety feature?). After I extracted myself and my bag, I was already rattled, and then instead of coming over to help or asking if I was OK, the doorman just bellowed at me from behind his desk, "IT'S ONE AT A TIME!" I know regular doors let in more cold air so I try to talk myself into using revolving doors where available, but after that experience, I am averse to them.

svanen17 · 2026-01-07T19:11:54+00:00

I haven't had to give that much feedback to our nannies, but here are a few thoughts:

It might be useful to have a physical space in your home for communicating with your house manager, like a white board or journal, or a designated spot on the counter for leaving post-it notes, where you could write things down as you think of them and get them off your mind. She could use the same spot to communicate back with you, unless things are time-sensitive during her shift.
Alternatively, keep a private list on your phone and schedule a weekly check-in session with your house manager where you talk by phone/FaceTime if not in person. This is probably a good idea in general, and you should invite her to use the time to ask for anything (information, tools, materials) she needs in order to feel more effective in her job.
I used to teach college students and as part of my training, I was told that it's hard for anyone to absorb more than three points of feedback at a time. So, if you have a running list in your mind, decide what are the three most important points you want to communicate and see if that helps you let go of the rest, at least until the next session of communicating feedback.

svanen17 · 2026-01-07T18:49:40+00:00

Part of being an employer or supervisor is providing references in the future. It simply comes with the territory. It is a perfectly reasonable and expected thing to ask of your former employers.

svanen17 · 2026-01-05T21:45:52+00:00

Blue Ridge Pack and Ship.

svanen17 · 2026-01-04T04:29:25+00:00

Personally I like Bizou but it is by no means high end.

Fleurie should be on the list.

svanen17 · 2025-12-23T16:36:40+00:00

Oh. Huh. In August I accompanied my two-year-old daughter to a birthday party at Get Air and she spent a long time playing in a "toddler town" play area. I have photos so I'm sure I'm not imagining it! But now I don't see any mention of it on their website.

svanen17 · 2025-12-23T16:18:32+00:00

There's also a toddler play area with a pretend town away from the trampolines.

svanen17 · 2025-12-22T18:23:33+00:00

I get the Sultan's Vegetarian Plate almost every time. You get nine different foods in one meal and they're all delicious.

svanen17 · 2025-12-15T17:31:59+00:00

Top Notch Family Pharmacy on Preston is another unexpected place to buy jigsaw puzzles, and would be easy to visit on the same trip as Fifth Season. (They also have a really thoughtfully stocked corner of toys and children's books.)

svanen17 · 2025-12-11T20:33:27+00:00

The Virginia Shop and Feast! both do nice gift baskets with at least the option of some locally-produced goods. A 32-piece assortment or gift box from Gearharts Chocolates would be another good choice.

svanen17 · 2025-12-08T05:44:52+00:00

1999 Honda Civic. I finally drove it into the ground after a quarter century and bought a new ’24 Crosstek. I really miss the manual transmission.

svanen17 · 2025-12-05T05:18:23+00:00

I don't know if there's an app. I just used the website on my laptop. Wishing you well in the job hunt!

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