Ross Dress for Less Birthday Giveaway!

It's my birthday week, so I thought I would give one fabulous blog reader a present! Because that's the way we do things here at My Loueyville.

Back in July, I was lucky enough to be contacted by the good folks at Ross Dress For Less to attend a blogger event the day before the opening of their first Louisville store, located on the Outer Loop. They treated me and my podcasting partner, Linda, to a nice breakfast and then a tour and a bit of shopping at the Jefferson Mall location.

If you're not familiar with Ross Dress For Less, it's a store a lot like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Stein Mart that offers brand name and designer clothes at a discount. They carry clothes for women, men, and kids. They also carry shoes and accessories, housewares, luggage, and bath products, all at a 20%-60% off.

When Linda and I visited, the store was staffed with super helpful and cheerful people. It was really well-organized, and the prices were fantastic. I got two dresses, a shirt, a towel (don't ask) and a pair of pants for around $50, and honestly, I've been wearing the heck out of all of those clothes since I bought them.

I pretty much only shop at discount stores or sales racks. Mama Lou taught me the ways of the bargain huntress at a very young age, and I balk at paying full price for any clothes or shoes. So I'm coming from a place of experience when I say that Ross's prices seemed to be considerably more reasonable than its competitors.

Y'all know me and my inside-the-Watterson ways, so the Outer Loop is a bit of a field trip for me. Even so, the next time I need something snazzy to wear to an interview or a meeting, I'd definitely consider making the trek.

Speaking of interviews and meetings-- see what I did there?-- my biggest birthday wish is to get Chipman Creative really up and running.  I've signed my first ghost blogging contract and started on my first editing project, but I have a long way to go.

So, to celebrate my birthday, I am giving away a $25 gift card to Ross Dress For Less in exchange for YOUR best words of business wisdom.

Here's how it works: Either comment on this post or email me at lou [at] loueyville.com with your sage bit of business advice-- it can be a quote from someone famous, or it can be your own juicy nugget or lesson learned. I will choose a winner at random on September 4th (the day after Labor Day-- appropriate), and Ross Dress For Less will mail you the card directly. Easy peasy.

Advise me, people!

I love giving stuff away. Thanks, Ross! Happy birthday to me!

(Also, if you want to win an even bigger gift card, Ross is having a Back-to-School contest on their Facebook page. You can enter it here: https://www.facebook.com/RossDressforLess/app_167878003348182)

Disclaimer: I think I pretty much covered it in this post. Ross lured me and Linda out past the Watterson with breakfast and gift cards and a really big tote bag, and Ross is providing the prize for this post. But I wouldn't have written this or agreed to offer a gift card to a reader if I didn't like the place. All sentiments in here are totally genuine. 

Love Louisville: "It's that simple"

I am glad that the Voice-Tribune exists for those of you who dig that sort of stuff, but 95% of the time, I feel like I am decidedly not its target audience. The party photos. The "best-dressed" contests. The fashion shoots featuring pocketbooks that cost as much as my mortgage. The tours of homes whose "great rooms" would accommodate by tiny little shotgun house. Those article make me cringe a little... conspicuous consumption and all that. 

But one thing that I really do like about the Voice-Tribune is, despite all of its "not-my-Louisville" niche coverage, the paper's managing editor, Angie Fenton, seems like a heck of a person. 

Exhibit A: This article in which Fenton speaks very personally about her heartache over the wave of violence in Louisville's West End and the connection she has with two teenaged boys who live there.

Powerful stuff. Go read it. Now. I'll wait.

See? Right. Powerful stuff.

This weekend there's going to be a street-fair-ish-type event called LOVE LOUISVILLE: BEECHER TERRACE at Baxter Park on Jefferson between 10th & 11th. Here's what Fenton's article says about it:

... Come and show love on Saturday, June 16 from noon until 3 p.m. You’re invited. The rain date is June 30, but we’re hoping that doesn’t happen to a grassroots, unsponsored event now called Love Louisville: Beecher Terrace that will occur noon to 3 p.m. and includes free food, music by DJ Z-Nyce, Sonny Fenwick’s Bubble Truck, a cotton candy machine, Santa Claus (aka Walt Queen), Dare to Care, Brightside, Baxter Station, The Brewery, Wick’s Pizza, a crew from Henryville Community Church that wants to give back the love they received when in need and so many others. All we need – all we want – are people to show up and care.

Seems like a reasonable request: Show up and care. We can do that, Louisville.

Callooh! Callay! Trader Joe's is Open!

Huzzah! The Louisville Trader Joe's is open!!

I'm not saying that I ever took a trip to Cincy just to go to Trader Joe's, but I never took a trip to Cincy without bringing my cooler.  I'm a big, huge, stinking fan of the place. If you're a single person, TJ's is a godsend.  Lots of ready-to-eat frozen stuff that is portioned for or can be easily portioned for one.  A couple of years ago, I introduced Mama Lou to the Trader Joe's in Warwick, RI-- she lives around 45 minutes away. And now she makes the drive whenever she can to stock up.

But I've managed to stay away. Nothing can turn me off of a place as fast as a nasty crowd. But my resolve is wearing thin, and I'm thinking I'll have to hit up TJ's within the next couple of days.  Here is what is always on my shopping list:

1. Two-buck Chuck in all of its permutations. I usually come home with at least six bottles.
2. Frozen pork potstickers. So quick and easy, and yummier than most of the local restaurants' potstickers.
3. Potsticker sauce
4. Lots and lots of cheese-- this is where I've noted the best price point for TJ's. Their cheese is often WAY cheaper than our local groceries. And I loves me some cheese.
5. Proscuitto. 
6. That lovely proscuitto and mozzarella cheese log thing... it's always at least $2 cheaper at TJ's than local groceries.
7. Asparagus risotto and mushroom risotto (frozen). It's supposed to be a side dish, but I usually make a meal of it.
8. TJ brand cheese crackers. Like Cheez-its, only better and healthier (or so I would like to think).
9. High cacao-content chocolate bars. You know I don't like sweets, but 60% or above cacao-content chocolate bars are great stomach settlers when you're feeling crummy.
10. TJ brand salad dressings... always interesting and cheaper than name-brand.

What else should I put on my shopping list, dear readers? Fresh flowers, for sure. I don't need veggies because I subscribe to Green B.E.A.N Kentucky. Leave me a comment below if you have a suggestion. Or tweet me at @loueyville.  Help me make a great shopping list for my inaugural trip to the new Louisville Trader Joe's!

Summer To-Do List: Clothes Mentor

It's beginning to look a lot like Summ-er, every-where you go... 

Why have I had Christmas songs in my head all week?  Tonight's carol is better than last night's, which was: Summer is coming, this Lou has gotten fat/Please Lawd let no body else notice that./If you haven't got a diet, some exercise will do./ If you're unwilling to exercise, then God bless you."


Seriously. I know you didn't ask for a glimpse into my odd little noggin, but there you are.

Anyway, summer approaches, and I am working on my summer to-do list. Lest you think I'm an organized, ambitious planner, I just told someone on Twitter that I will make this list tonight and consult it again on August 16 and then sink into a deep depression.  At least, that's how previous years' lists have gone.  Best of intentions... yadda yadda.

But I wanted to share some Louisville things that are on my to-do list.  (If I ever manage to complete a majority of things on my summer to-do lists, I'm gonna start calling them "summer ta-dah! lists.")

So tonight I'll start with: Sell some clothes to Clothes Mentor.

I don't iron.  Like, ever.  I own an iron and a steamer, but not an ironing board.  So I made the decision this year to donate or sell any item of casual summer clothes that doesn't come out of the dryer ready to wear.  I'll still iron or steam the fancy stuff.  But pants, skirts, shirts that come out of the dryer accordion-pleated?  Gone.  I estimate that I have marked 25% of my summer wardrobe for donation or sale.

Good news:  the blog 502 Fashion, brought this info to my attention-- the first women's clothing resale shop is opening up in St. Matthews.  It's called Clothes Mentor, and it differs from a consignment shop because they pay you up front for the clothes. Which I love. I've had some really shady dealings with consignment shops, locally.  See more about Clothes Mentor over at 502 Fashion.  And while you're at it, check out the rest of the blog.  Good, fun stuff.

LATE NOTICE: Zappos Outlet $10 Sale!

Despite the fact that I am suffering from "the creeping cruds," as Big Mama Lou would call them (ie. a cold/sickness that starts one place and migrates throughout your body), I decided that I could hold off on a visit to the Zappos Outlet no longer.  It's getting to be closed-toed shoe/boot weather, and I am plum out of options on those, having run every pair of winter shoes-- save my Uggs-- into the ground over the past couple of years.

(Did you know, by the way, that if you google "Zappos Outlet Kentucky," mine is the first article that comes up?)

My visit today did not disappoint.  I got a pair of Tsonga boots, a pair of Clark's pumps, and a pair of J41 heels for around $75 with my $30 Living Social certificate.  Lou is ready for the winter.  (Well, no, I'm not, but my feets are!)

Since my last visit in late Spring, the outlet has changed their name to the 6pm.com Outlet, and they've added a kind of ragtag assortment of high-end clothes.

Today's sale was 50% off everything (as usual) and 60-70% off specially tagged stuff.

I was quite satisfied to maybe not make another Zappos run until the spring until this notice came through Facebook:

6pm.com Outlet ‎10-10-10 only!! All Sandals are $10 FINAL PRICE*! All Yellow, Green, and Grey tagged merchandise is $10 FINAL PRICE! All White Pants are $10 FINAL PRICE! *Please see store for details. Sandals must be open toed and open heeled. We will be open from 12p-6p.

An Open Letter to Groupon from an Addict

Dear Groupon Louisville,

Sweet Mother of Christmas, I can't seem to quit you!  Just when I've told myself "Lou, no more Groupons until you use the ones you've got," you throw LIBA week our way where you feature nothing but independent Louisville businesses.  How could I pass up yesterday's Why Louisville? Groupon?

I know you're newish to the Louisville scene and have existed in other cities for a while, but ever since you came to our fair city, I've been an addict.  I'm not above finding myself awake in the middle of the night and checking my iTouch to see what discounted goodness you've sent to my mailbox in the wee hours.  I've signed up for New Orleans and Cincy, too, because I travel to both places often enough.  Roommate subscribes to Nashville for the same reason.

I currently have more than $300 in Groupon gift certificates waiting to be used.  Of course, I paid less than half that for all those Groupons.  I keep thinking that I should have a Groupon week and do nothing that doesn't use my Groupons.  I could buy books at the Book and Music Exchange and enjoy a good read while at Coco's Chocolate Cafe.  Then I could work off those extra pounds at a Jazzercise class or by buying some hiking gear at the Trail Store.  If I went hiking, I could pack a lunch from Heitzman's deli or Bodega, and celebrate my success at White Oak... you get the picture.

Since you've arrived on the scene, Groupon, we've seen at least two other sites try to replicate your success:  Living Social and Try it Local.  And of course there's the older, sometimes sketchy, Restaurants.com.  So far none of those sites has inspired addiction quite like you have.

As long as I'm going to remain a Groupon addict-- because I can't seem to quit you-- I might as well give you my wish list:

1) More sushi-- I'd love to see Oiishi or Wasabiya on your site.
2) Fewer hair salons-- Just how many heads of hair do you think we have?
3) A week of local gift-y boutiques right before the holidays-- most of my boutique-y Groupons will expire well in advance of gift-giving season.
4) More coffee shops-- Maybe for whole bean coffee?  Don't make us get pastries.
5) Nice seats at Churchill-- could be the only way I ever get to the track for more than General Admission.
6) Baxter Ave Theater-- Maybe a two-for-one deal?
7) Grocery stores-- fun AND practical.
8) Downtown Hotels-- be a tourist in your own city, as long as the Groupon rate is lower than you can normally get on Hotwire or Priceline.
9) More brand new businesses-- what a great way for a new local business to get people in the door!
10) 7 Days a week-- other Groupon cities offer a new Groupon every day!

Thanks for hearing me out Groupon.  A belated welcome to Louisville.  Keep the deals coming!

Best,
Lou

PS: Readers, if you haven't tried Groupon yet, if you click my link, I get some sort of bonus Groupon points.  Just sayin... :)

Rainy Wednesday Randomness

There’s so much good stuff going on these days that I just don’t have time to give everything its own post. Here are some of the events that are on my noggin:

Tll All this week the Bats are in town. Yippee! Mama loves her Bats.

• This month is Abbey Road on The River (May 21-25) at the Belvedere. Five days and more than 50 Beatles tribute bands. This is the kind of event I’d love to just go to check out, but even with the coupon available on the website, it’s $15. A bit steep for a quick check-out. HOWEVER, if you happen to be under twenty-one, you get in FREE if you go with a ticket purchaser. Spreading the Beatles love to the young ‘uns.
• Waterfront Wednesday (another big Yippee!) features the Meat Puppets this month (May 27). I’ve heard of them, but… ?? The other bands in the line-up are: the Features & Broken Spurs.
• If you go NOW—before midnight TONIGHT—to http://www.oprah.com/, you can download a coupon for a FREE two-piece grilled chicken dinner at KFC. Tried it last weekend and wasn’t a big fan, but free food is free food.
• May 22 is Bardstown Bound (now with added Baxter!!). Shopping, trolley, entertainment starting at 5pm. Here’s the website. It’s always a wonderful time. I particularly dig this year’s hippy-ish posters.
• Louisville landed a big convention fish yesterday. The ABC Kids Expo decided that Las Vegas mayyyyybe wasn’t really the best fit for a show that focuses “on products from newborn through teen, predominantly in the areas of furniture, bedding, room décor, baby gear, gift and layette, toys and related accessories.” I’d have a ball at that expo. Seriously. I love toys. Now can we please steal the big ALL CANDY EXPO from Chicago? I don’t even like sweets, but this still looks like the happiest place on earth to me.

And finally, the big news on the Lou front is for her second birthday (at the end of this month), she’s getting a whole new look! (well, the website, not so much Lou.) COMING SOON!!!

Louisville Tweets

The new Facebook format has done much in the way of curing Lou of her Facebook addiction. Not the best layout for a woman who has weird manifestations of pseudo-OCD. Less is more, FB. Less is more. More is not more. More is not brushing the mountain of powdered sugar off the top of your Kentucky State Fair Fried Dough. It may not kill you, but you'll feel like crap for hours.

So my second favorite social networking tool is quickly moving up in my list o' loves. Twitter is oodles of fun. Where else can you hear about NPR's Scott Simon's pizza breakfast with his daughters and Adam Savage of Mythbusters' love of Battlestar Galactica* and still get local skinnies straight from the horses' mouths?

Today on Consuming Louisville, Michelle (our "Most Influential Loueyville Woman: Geek Edition") posted her "Louisville Guide to Twitter" listing Louisville businesses that are Tweeting. It's awesome. Check it out.

Michelle, along with Tweeties** @beccaheiser @mizhellion and @ashleycecil, convinced me that I really needed to "do the tweet" a few months ago at the Louisville Geek Dinner at the BBC on Shelbyville.

Can of worms, meet the Tweeties who opened you. Tweeties, meet my can of worms.

Don't forget, you can do the tweet with me at @loueyville .

* If you're wondering, I'm saving the final installment (blub) of BSG for tomorrow morning. Kind of like ye olde Saturday morning cartoons, only much fraking sadder. I can't wait. Was not a planned engagement though; turns out that after 5.5 months of seperation, my TiVo and I are like college sweethearts seperated by a semester abroad. We're so happy to see each other, but we're both still a little cynical and skeptical. What really happened while we were apart? Do we even remember how to be a couple anymore?

** The accepted term is tweeple. I know.

Breast Cancer Survivor Network... fundraiser

If you've been a regular reader of the Courier-Journal in the past three years, then you know who Megan Schanie is. For the past three years, the newspaper has been chronicling the life of this young mother of two and her battle with breast cancer.

The first article about Megan appeared shortly after I moved to Loueyville. And I, like most CJ readers, devoured each installment of her story. But-- and I can't put my finger on the exact moment-- at some point her story became too powerful for me. I remember very vividly reading an update about her progress that had been hampered by something and thinking, "Holy cow. I am waaaaaay too invested in this person. If something horrible happens-- if, God forbid, she dies-- I don't know if I can handle it." I cried. I bawled my eyes out in my kitchen. And so I stopped reading the articles about Megan. Totally. Cold turkey. I wasn't willing to invest in this woman who I didn't know. It already hurt too much.

And, maybe six or eight months later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And the Breast Health Navigator at Norton Suburban said, (I paraphrase) "You're so young, and you're so scared. Let me hook you up with someone who is younger and braver than you are."

Bless her heart. That "someone" was Megan. Megan took me out to lunch and changed my life. And she's continued to change my life. She was the guest speaker at my school for breast cancer awareness month. Her husband and I are Facebook buddies and stay in touch that way. My second-to-last chemo, I couldn't find someone to take me... her mother-in-law (??!!) picked me up, sat with me for the five+ hr process, and now calls herself my Louisville mom.

Besides being my friend and my role model, Megan is also the co-founder of the local Young Survivors Network-- a support and networking group of women under 40 who were diagnosed with breast cancer. A week from this Friday-- February 27-- is the YSN's yearly fundraiser, a silent auction at the Frazier Museum (where Megan is the Education head).

Please come! $10 bucks gets you in. I, personally, have had awesome success with silent auctions-- been able to land all kinds of great goodies. And the Frazier Museum kind of rocks.

And... not to dwell too much on me and my situation, but the fact of the matter is that breast cancer in women under 40 is particularly pernicious. There are fewer than 50 women in the Young Survivors (at least that I know about), but I already know that there are two women-- including the co-founder of the group-- who won't be able to make it to the fundraiser because they will have just had recurrance-related surgery.

Lou fraking hates being the poster girl for breast cancer. But she is also TOTALLY thrilled to pimp herself out as much as possible for the cause. (She was #10 in Louisville for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk with $1375)

What: Young Survivors Network Fundraiser
Where: Frazier Museum
When: 2/27 at 6pm
Cost: $10

And if you know any young breast cancer survivors, please send them my way and I will get her/him hooked up with the network.

Lincoln nogging? Yes, please!

Am am bonkers in love with Why Louisville's new Lincoln head pillow by Big Stone Head. I must own, please.

Only $24-- a steal!

Lincoln's big noggin will look lover-ly on my red couch.

An Open Letter to Local Business Owners

My dear purveyors of good stuff,

Right now, I live in a hotel. And before you ask, the answer is: No, there's nothing glamorous about living in a hotel. I used to think living in a hotel would be sexy. Manny Ramirez lived in a hotel the whole time he played for the Sox. Kelsey Grammar's character in the tragically short-lived sitcom "Back to You" lived and loved in a hotel room. Heck, it worked for Zack & Cody for three seasons until they took their game onto a cruise ship. (Please don't ask how I know this. Let's just say that convalescing makes strange TV bedfellows. FYI: Dan Savage brilliantly eviscerated said show on This American Life last year, claiming Zach and Cody were turning his son into the worst kind of heterosexual.)

Alas, the Residence Inn is not the St. Gregory from that mid-80's Aaron Spelling show starring Brand Walsh's dad/Babs's husband (are they still married? is anyone still married?).

Last Friday, I came home from work to find that the housekeeper (and yes, having a housekeeper IS sexy-- that's the best thing about hotel life) had left a flyer for 32nd Annual Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour on my coffee table. And when I went downstairs to check about my mail, there was another full-color flyer for the Home Tour displayed on an acrylic stand. And I thought, "Oh how nice. I'm a little broke right now, but I can always hit it next year."

A few hours later, it dawned on me that I've been living in this *&^%^&* hotel for almost three months now-- Ooohh! No, today is my three month anniversary! I've now lived in a hotel for 1/4 of a year. Sigh.-- and that was the very first piece of local advertising I've seen pass through the doors of the joint. Sure, there's the obligatory "brochure shelf" tucked out of sight down an unused corridor, but the Home Tour folks put that full-color photocopied, attractive, festive ad in my face-- both in my room and right on the front desk-- all weekend long. And if I hadn't been a Villager, hadn't known that I'd have another chance to go at the 33rd Annual Home Tour, I would have jumped at it.

At least a couple times a week, I'll be hanging in the lobby or waiting in line at the front desk, and I'll hear some tourist or business person ask for dinner recommendations. If they're looking high end, the answer from the front desker is always the same: Jeff Ruby's. If they're just looking for something to fill their bellies, the front desker always directs them to... you guessed it: 4th Street Live.

Sometimes I stick my nose in. Sometimes I don't. I almost always stick my nose in when I hear folks mulling over dinner options in the elevator or in the hallways. (This takes a lot of effort as Mama is painfully shy around strangers.)

There are lessons to be learned here, Owner friends. First of all, there are 140 guest rooms in the Res-Inn. If the Home Tour people paid 15-cents per color copy, that meant that they spent in the neighborhood of $21 to blanket my hotel and get a brochure into the hot little hands of every single person staying at the hotel that weekend. A single, day-of-purchase ticket for the Home Tour was $30. If one Res-Inn resident hit the Tour, the Tour still made $9.

There are approximately 17,000 hotel rooms in the Louisville Metro area. That's a lot of color copies, sure. But if you're having a special event and you can share the cost with other businesses (Trolley Hops and Bardstown Aglow and Buy Local First and Louisville Originals folks, I'm looking at YOU), you've got quite the captive audience in hotel dwellers, whether they be tourists, businessfolks, or townies like me.

Secondly, if you're a local business within comfortable walking distance of a hotel, why don't you drop off some discount coupons for the front deskers to give out to arriving guests? It's only because I'm such a 'net nerd that I discovered the ill-fated Park Place's awesome Happy Hour deal. Heck, if Park Place had put a little ad in every Res-Inn welcome packet saying: "Hey, we're a high end eating establishment, but you can enjoy fine cocktails and appetizers at half price EVERY DAY and eat and drink like a classy person for the same price you'd pay at TGIFridays" they might have lasted a bit longer. Likewise, it's only through active interweb hunting that I've found out about the daily deals at the BBC Taproom and Artemesia. You don't even need to make it a discount coupon. Why is there no 1/4 page b&w photocopied flier on our brochure rack advertising BBC's daily specials? That's nutso!

And finally, I love me my front desk friends. They're a super sweet group of folks. I have no doubt whatsoever if you, Local Owners, scratch the front desk folks' backs a little, they'll scratch your backs A LOT. Just after Hurricane Ike, I was in a Highland coffee shop (Highland Coffee, to be exact) and a woman from one of the neighborhood Irish pubs came in and handed the baristas coupons for free beers on a particular night. I was behind her in line, so I didn't hear everything she said, but it was something along the lines of: we're thanking our neighbor businesses because we had power and were able to serve food during the dark days and our neighbors sent a lot of business our way. Aw. That's classy, folks.

There are approximately seven or eight people who work the front desk at the Res-Inn. Give them each a gift certificate for $25 at your eating establishment (you know they'll spend more than that). Give them a 25% off coupon for your store. If you're a tourist attraction, let them in free. And don't just do this once-- do it aggressively-- there's all kinds of turn over in the service industry, and you want to keep YOUR business at the front of their minds.

I'm still sick about the fact that I've seen six restaurants within walking distance of the Res-Inn go belly-up in the past three months: Primo, Market on Market, Melillo's, Jenicca's, Park Place, and Browning’s (she intones the litany of the dead). I’m trying to do my own broke-girl part by signing (and abiding by) the LEO’s Shop Local pledge. As soon as I’m finished with my work (if you can call this “work”), I’m heading over to Wild and Wooly to submit my 10 Buy Local receipts to enter their Holiday Passport contest.

But Local Owners, you gotta put yourselves out there a little more. Us Loueyvillagers don’t want to see you croak. We don’t like driving by the Spaghetti Warehouse (or whatever it’s called) and seeing it full to bursting, while 301 Bistro across the street has empty tables. It’s not that we don’t like the Warehouse—it’s yummy and cheap. We’re not unhappy that 4th Street now has a Panera Bread, as long as Panera doesn’t put Toast in jeopardy. Lou will probably end up spending her New Year’s Eve at one of 4th Street Live fine establishments. So, I’m not anti-chain. I’m just pro Local, for all the reasons one should be.

Rant over.

Lots of love,
Lou

$20 Art Show @ Mellwood Center Tonight

I remember the good ol' days when I used to buy my "art" at mall kiosks and from sidewalk vendors, when my "fancy" art was the poster that was--gasp-- nicely framed. Simpler times, my friends, simpler times.

While my taste has improved, my income... well, not appreciably. And that's why I love me some $20 Art Show goodness.

Last Downtown Trolley Hop, U of L hosted one such show in the Noir et Rouge Gallery at 333 E Market. I scored a gorgeous, framed oil painting by one Matthew Wallace, and I can't wait til I'm back in my house to put it on my wall. (And Matthew, honey, you hurry up and become a big and important star in the art world so I can hock that puppy on Ebay and retire early, ok?)

Tonight there's another such show at the Mellwood Art Center from 6p-9p. I learned my lesson at the U of L show; I went around an hour into the show and 75% of the stuff was sold. (Matthew, honey, I'm not saying that yours wouldn't have been my first choice anyway. It probably would have.)

Go early. Buy art. Feel festive.

BTW, as Michelle noted earlier on Consuming Louisville, there's a new-ish letter press in town, housed at the Mellwood. They were out at BBC during the Trolley Hop, giving away free coasters with Hunter S. quotes on them. Hound Dog Press will also be at the $20 art fair. All Mama wants for Christmas is funky letterpress Loueyville.com business cards from Hound Dog Press. It's only $95 for 100 cards. Sniff. I've been a good girl all year long. Please.

Maybe if she bats her long lashes at the very cute boys who own the joint, she'll get a discount. Or one of the cute boys! Either one would do!

Buy Local First

*&^%&$%^&%$

I'm at Day's Coffee right now, and just before I sat down and read this news item from the Keep Louisville Weird folks, I did what I always do with my receipt: I chucked it.

The Louisville Independent Business Association is sponsoring a contest: save 10 receipts from any of its members between 11/7/08 and 1/5/09, bring said receipts either to the Louisville Science Center or to Wild ' Woolly, and you'll be entered into a drawing for a $1000 gift certificate good at any of the LIBA business. The first 50 entrants will receive a free tote bag.

Member list and details available here!

Shop on, Louisvillagers!

Coming Soon: Bardstown Road Aglow!

A tip of the hat to my "real" neighborhood-- mark your calendars for December 6th. Bardstown Road Aglow is always a good time, and it's a great way to support local businesses AND land unique holiday gifts for the friends and fam.

Check out my "note to self" in my entry about last year's Aglow: wear comfy shoes.

Expo: Memorial Day Flea Market-- Crap You Can Use

Again, it's hard to believe that I have lived here for two years and have not availed myself of the monthly flea market at the Expo Center. Usually the last weekend of the month, the Kentucky Flea Market has several big, blowout weekends: Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.

I dragged poor Mama to a Flea Market when we were vacationing in Florida this spring, and it was a massive disaster. Stall upon stall of Crap Nobody Uses, lots of socks, Avon stalls, and used books at new book prices.

The Kentucky Flea Market, on the other hand, is wall-to-wall Crap You Can Use. Mostly. At least every fifth stall was something worth looking at, mostly because of the cheap prices and "exotic" goods. (And that's a pretty good average-- 20% good stuff to 80% poo.)

The whole first two rows were bargain groceries, the kind you find at places like Big Lots. Overstocks, discontinued stuff. I'm not above buying discount groceries and toiletries from time to time, but I question the sanity of anyone who purchases discount condoms at a flea market (above). Methinks said purchasers are not all that committed to planned parenting.

I enjoyed taste-testing salsas and instant coffees. For some reason, I'm always sucked in by those booths featuring the little bags of dip mix that you add to sour cream. Why do they always taste so good? Artichoke and parmagan? Bacon and cheddar? Spinach herb? So good. What do they put in there? I only managed to keep myself from purchasing them (3 for $10) because of my upcoming need to pay better attention to what I eat. (Whatever they put in there to make them taste so good, can't possibly be good for you.)

What did suck me in, however, were the two stalls featuring vintage tv shows on DVD. Specifically, a bootlegged copy of Tales of the Gold Monkey, a favorite tv show of mine when I was a wee wee lass (it aired from 1982-1983), starring Stephen Collins as an Indiana Jones-ish pilot of a seaplane named the Goose in the 1930's South Pacific. I was more than happy to shell out $20 for the entire 22 episode run.

That show (along with Bring 'em Back Alive, which ran duing the same general time period and starred Bruce Boxleitner as Frank Buck, and was also offered at another stall) is somehow a hallmark of my childhood. So much so that when I went to the Museum of Television and Radio in NYC and was allowed to watch a tv show of my choice in their library, I opted for the pilot of Tales out of all of the shows ever featured on TV.

It's taken a lot of self-control to not skip out on this lovely, lovely day (it's 83 and sunny-- and don't worry, Lou is on her computer outside) and camp out on the couch and go all Veronica Mars on my new purchase (ie. consume it like it's a bottle of Jack Daniels and I'm... me. Kidding. Mostly.).

Other things I could have bought but restrained myself: Season One of MacGuyver for $16; Bath & Body Works products for half the retail price; a solid wood curio cabinet for $159... Other things I could have bought but was kind of grossed out by: aforementioned condoms; sugar gliders (poor things); knives up the Wazoo.

But I dropped $20 on something I couldn't get elsewhere and will get 20+ hours of solid entertainment from (and $5 on parking), and enjoyed the truly diverse crowd (more Big Hair there than I've seen in a while, though). Overall a good day.

Holiday Shopping-- Ho ho ho in the Hometown!

Yesterday, Lou dumped a fairly substantial chunk of change into the local economy in an effort to put her Christmas shopping to bed. (Note: "substantial chunk of change" in Lou-speak just barely tips into three digits, so no one's going to be giving her awards for local altruism.)

First stop: The Mellwood Center's Good Folk Fest. It wasn't til I walked in the door that I realized I'd gone to the GFF last year. I'm a big fan of folk art-- and an occasional folk-artist wannabe (my trip ended with a trip to Artist & Craftsman Supply to refresh my supply of brushes and paint)-- but the problem with folk-art-as-gifts is that folk art is so incredibly subjective. What's cool to me (for example, a seemingly finger-painted and incredibly timely painting of Evel Kneivel jumping a tank of sharks) may not be the taste of my Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn lovinng cousin. That being said, there's a great deal of satisfaction to be had in buying at the GFF. I bought a lovely painted wooden box for a whopping $20, and from the reaction of the artist, you would have thought I was dropping $2000. I just wanted to hug her.

Stop two: I always get turned around leaving the Mellwood, and this time I found myself driving up Brownsboro Road, right past Barbara Lee's Kitchen-- a restaurant that my students have been imploring me to visit for the past few months (somehow it came up that I love diners). And bless their cholesterol-clogged little hearts, but they sure did deliver for me. Barbara Lee's, located at 2410 Brownsboro Road, is open 24 hrs and features just about every diner-staple imaginable. And some unimaginable dishes too. I had a BLT & fried egg sandwich with hashbrowns, and I am a wee bit surprised that I am still alive to type this. But man, it was yummy and cheap-- my whole bill came to less than $7 (they take cash only). Barbara Lee's is a little dark and creepy, and certainly rough around the edges, but what can you expect from a place that has at least five sandwiches on the menu that cost under $4 including fries or hashbrowns? Dark and creepy, yes. Unwelcoming? No. After an elderly couple left five minutes after I got there, I was alone in the joint and the sweet woman behind the counter chatted UK Basketball with me (which I know nothing about and I briefly incurred her wrath when I brought up Tubby Smith. I managed to distract her by talking about the weather.)

Fortfied by my meal-- my friend behind the counter eagle-eyed me until I finished every bite, she looked like she might be the kind to chastise me for not joining the "clean plate club"-- I hopped in the ol' jalopy and decided to go wherever the road would take me. It's been a blue eon since I drove around town for the sake of just driving. And eventually the road lead to the east side of Downtown. That morning I'd read in the newspaper something about the store Scout-- I can't remember what, but I've always liked their logo (I can be such a whore for marketing)-- so I decided to try to hunt it down.

But on the first pass down Market Street, I missed it (or I thought I did-- I actually didn't go far enough), but ended up stopping at Red Tree, which, for some reason, I'd always thought was a restaurant. When it comes to Christmas shopping locally, I always end up spending my hard-earned cash at places with serious charm-- a little flair goes a long way toward putting me in the holiday spirit. Red Tree has charm in spades. Jam-packed with eclectic gifts and furniture, the two-story shop features reasonable-prices in a beautiful and festive atmosphere. I picked up three gifts for three of my hardest-to-shop for relatives for under $70. And the sweet people at Red Tree even wrapped them for me (unfortunately, I realized when I got home that I would probably have to un-wrap them for plane travel-- damned TSA folks).

I eventually did find Scout, which was also oozing with charm and quirk. Unfortunately, try as I might, I couldn't find a damned thing there that I could afford. I'll go back, for sure, but as with some of my favorite shops on Bardstown, I think Scout will remain a browse-only option in the future.

Speaking of Bardstown-- last night was Bardstown Road Aglow! the annual dusk-10pm holiday open house. And this year's Aglow was twice as packed as last year's. I actually had to skip a few shops because of the crowd. These open houses are always a blast, usually featuring free food and wine and sometimes discounts. (Although this year seemed to feature less wine and fewer discounts than last year-- Kudos to Spree who offered hot cocoa with peppermint schnaps; that really warmed the cockles). Why Louisville? and the Book & Music Exchange saw a little of my holiday green, but for the most part I just walked, enjoyed the sights, and browsed. (Note to self: don't wear those high-heeled boots next year, you're still recovering today!)

Black Friday: Kicking off the Season at the Edinburgh Outlets

I've always been a big fan of Adbusters, healthily critical of our conusmer culture. If I ever have kids, I'll probably be one of those "mean parents" who won't pony up the latest trendy toy every Christmas, who'll substitute books for gagets as gifts. Once I became a homeowner, my level of consumption dropped dramatically, and that's a good thing.
That being said, I'm hardly the "dirty hippy" that Roommate claims I am. It's still been too long since my last trip to Disney World. I think Martha Stewart has just about perfect taste. I have "consumption crushes" of my own: sigh... Roomba... some day, you will be mine... oh yes, you will be mine!!

Honestly, though, it wasn't until I spent my first Thanksgiving with Roommates family, back when we were dating, that I was ever introduced to this thing call Black Friday. And I thought it was utter lunacy. And mostly, I still do. And Roommate's family isn't even hardcore-- I think we got up at 5am or so that first year.

But now that I'm in the habit of scouring the Black Friday ads, I realize that "Buy Nothing Day" is all fine and good if you happen to be a rich anti-consumerist. But what if you happen to be on a limited budget? What if your kiddo really, really wants that 5-speed bike for sale at Toys R Us at 6am for $100 off the regular price? On principal, you're going to forgo the $100 saving? Forgo getting the bike entirely or spending $100 more on Saturdays? That's lunacy.

Anyway, so Roommate and I went to Indiana for Turkey Day and the family happened to mention that the Edinburgh Outlet Malls were opening at midnight with all kinds of early bird specials. We joked about it a bit, but 11pm rolled around and found us parked in the lot watching cars flood in.

The Coach outlet was the biggest draw. We were floored that the line at 11p already wrapped around the building. Later we'd heard that some folks waited more than 2 hrs just to get 10% off. I find that hard to believe. Aeropostal, Gap, Nike, and a couple other stores had amassed significant lines before the doors opened.

Roommate and I played it cool, ducked in the stores that were less crowded, got a crappy hot mocha from the chocolate store, and basically treated it like any other trip to an outlet mall. When we walked into our first store-- the Bass Outlet-- Roommate said, "Okay, my brain just reset. It's no longer midnight."

"Why?"

"I'm in a shoe store."

If I was in the practice of giving clothes as gifts, I could have made out like a bandit, but as it was I bought one thing for my mom (and did save close to $50, so yay me!), and a skirt and sweater for myself. Roommate batted zero in the tis-the-season department and came away with just a pair of shoes for himself. In the end, we spent two hours, but it was a goofy, fun way to kick of the Christmas vibe.

That being said, I don't think I'll ever be the kind of person who can wait in line for hours for a store to open. When I saw the line at Coach, I said, "Okay, if Bono were signing the pocketbooks, I might. But otherwise never." Perhaps if I lived in South Florida and could start camping outside of Best Buy at 10pm for their $15.99 DVD player doorbuster in the comfort of 70+ degree weather, my feelings would change... but last night it was in the 20's!!! Lunacy, I tell you!

Paradise City?

The newest WHY Louisville t-shirt design features a retro-80's-tropics rendering that designates Loueyville as "Paradise City." According to the website:

Legend has it that Axl Rose wrote the song Paradise City about Louisville. Whether that's true or not, you'd have to ask Axl.

In what can only be called a triumphant example of uber-procrastination, Lou just spent W-A-Y too long on the internet trying to get to the bottom of this rumor.

"Paradise City" was ranked #453 on Rolling Stones' list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #21 on VH-1's Greatest Metal Songs of All Time.

Best that I can tell from the internets, Axl Rose, a Midwest boy from Lafayette, Indiana, has refrained from ever pegging down a true Paradise City. He's said that "the verses are more about being in the jungle; the chorus is like being back in the Midwest or somewhere." In my investigations, it's only been in the comments of websites like songfacts.com and answers.com that well meaning boosters of the city have set forth the idea that Paradise City is Loueyville.

On songfacts.com, Kelly from Louisville writes:

this great song is about louisville, kentucky... only tha greatest city on this
damn planet. Axl was a sensible guy, apparently. I named my dog after him.

Yes, our grass is green and, as far as I can tell, our girls are pretty and Loueyville is only four hours away from Lafayette, Indiana. But that's ALL the evidence that I can dig up on this urban legend.

Still think the shirt is cute though! $17.

Loueyville in Malibu

Why Louisville?, the fun and funky HQ of the "Fan Club for the City" (of which I should be a platinum member!), reports that Adrien Brody was spotted in Malibu last week sporting one of their lovely 502-tshirts. Brody, star of the upcoming movie Darjeeling Limited (whose release I was salivating over long before Owen Wilson's meltdown) and Oscar-winner for The Pianist is probably best known for his hilarious and swoon-enducingly smooth smooching of Halle Berry upon accepting said Oscar.

He's kinda funny looking, but he can hang in my area code whenever he wants.

Shop WhyLouisville's Brody Bargain Sale where you can get the 502-fleur de lis shirt for just $10 bucks! What a bargain! The store is located at 1609 1/2 Bardstown Road.

Zappos.com Outlet: Risking traumatic brain injury for a cheap pair of shoes

Those of you who keep up with my book review site, Lou Reads, know that there is no love lost between me and shoes. Or rather, me and shoe shopping. I was cursed with fragile footsies; anything less soft than an angel's wing brings on a blight of blisters, a collection of calluses (thanks, Mom, for your bad genes).

In fact, I haven't been able to feel my right pinkie toe since Bonnaroo.

So, when one of my colleagues told me that Zappos.com, the largest shoe dealer on the web, had an outlet store in wee Shepherdsville, KY, I figured this might be the chance to score some of those high end, toostie-gentle, brand-name shoes I can never afford retail. Of course that was months ago, and I filed away the knowledge for a rainy day... little did I know.

Turns out that Zappos is headquartered in Nevada, but their primary warehouse is in Shepherdsville. If you go to their website, you can take a "tour." Apparently, they offer employees "free vending," so I'm thinking WIDE styles are probably popular with the employee discount.

Anyway, bored and looking for a field trip, I set out for Shepherdsville around 5pm today. It's around a 25 minute drive from the Highlands, just off exit 116 on I-65 South. Just as I turned off the exit, the skies opened up, the wind began to whip, and I put-putted at 15MPH from the exit to the driveway of the massive Zappos building. Storm-blinded, I parked in one of the conveniently placed customer parking spots right near the door and bolted from the car.

When I made it through the doors, I noticed that the employees were flooding out of the shop into the glass foyer. It wasn't until I was inside that I realized what they were looking at. The first "P" in the Zappos sign had been torn from the building and shattered on the ground in the parking spot next to mine. (See picture above)

Had I put-putted a little faster from the highway exit, it might have come crashing down on my noggin. I later found out that the P was made with foam, so traumatic brain injury may be an exaggeration, but it sure would have hurt like the dickens.

The storm lasted a good hour or so, and for me being stuck in a shoe store for an hour is pretty much hell ("Shoes everywhere! Nothing but shoes! 99% of which will tear up your tender toes! And even at outlet prices, there's still thousands of shoes that cost more than your weekly food budget!")

That being said, I did indeed find high-priced, feet-friendly, name-brand shoes at a bargain (a pair of Bjorn sandals that retail for $97 for just $50). They had plenty of Danskos, for example, in the $60-$80 range. Because of the delay, I nearly succumbed to impulsiveness and walked out with three pairs of shoes (Naturalizers for $37 and Croc flats-- I know, I know, ugly. But these looked comfy-- for $16), but better nature prevailed and I put back two.

The outlet store has a whole wall of deeply discounted shoes (many seemed slightly damaged) and frequent sales. From July 4-16, the outlet is having a summer sale where no shoe will be less than 30% off (I may go back and check out the Danskos again). Men seem to get short shrift there; not too many rows of men's shoes. And the pocketbooks? Ugh! Unless you're Paris Hilton, looking to carry all your earthly possessions with you in a huge, ugly, hobo bag just in case you end up in the clink again, AND are willing to pay $200 for the privledge, forget it.

Definitely worth the drive. Just stay away during windstorms. Still five letters left.