Mastersingers in concert at Market Street Music

MSW2014Cropped_0Luxuriate in the sonorous music of the Russian Orthodox tradition along with the beloved and classic Requiem of 19th century French composer Gabriel Faure–with an orchestra accompanying a beautiful ensemble of voices as Mastersingers take the stage at Market Street Music.

Directed by David Schelat, Mastersingers represents some of the finest professional and amateur singers in the region, who offer impeccable sound and abundant dedication to the classics, new music and world music.

He will lift his baton at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at Market Street Music’s home venue, First and Central Presbyterian Church at 1101 N. Market Street in Wilmington. Tickets are $20, $15 for students age 15 and up. Younger students are admitted free.

 

Ben, Jerry and Bernie

Here’s a scoop from the Bernie Sanders camp.

Bernie-Sanders-icecream-e1454241717839Ben and Jerry, the guys who make the ice cream, will be serving their latest treat Bernie’s Yearning sundae, from 5-6 p.m. today in an unmarked tent on French Street, across the street from the Amtrak station in Wilmington.

Says Ben: “Just like there’s nothing is so unstoppable as a flavor whose time has finally come, there’s nothing as unstoppable as a leader whose time has finally come.”

Sanders has had problems convincing voters how we can pay for the programs he espouses. No such worries about the ice cream. It’s free.

Supporting the senator from their home state of Vermont hasn’t been all sweetness and light for the entrepreneurs. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were among 300 demonstrators arrested yesterday in Washington D.C. during a demonstration outside the Capitol.

 

Maryland’s House and Garden Pilgrimage

Nosy parkers, mark your calendars. Generous property owners will open their historic homes to the public for five weekends in April and May during the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage,  an annual tradition since 1937.

Harford-Co.-Keziah's Diary-JqwmVisitors will have the opportunity to visit such sites as the home where Gen. Marquis de Lafayette quelled a mutiny during the Revolutionary War, the home of a Confederate supporter who aided in the escape of assassin John Wilkes Booth, the home where a War of 1812 cannon ball was lodged and, Keziah’s Diary, pictured here, an estate in Darlington containing original slave quarters.

The Pilgrimage comprises 39 properties, including historic manors, gardens, schools, and churches. Tours run Saturday, April 30, through Saturday, May 28, and include these   counties: Queen Anne’s (Saturday, April 30), Harford (Saturday, May 7), Talbot (Saturday, May 14), Baltimore (Sunday, May 15), and Charles (Saturday, May 28).

Each county’s tour includes seven or eight properties. Advance tickets for each tour are $30 per person ($35 if purchasing the day of the tour). Catered lunches will be available for advanced purchase. To purchase tour tickets, or for more information, visit mhgp.org or call 410.821.6933.

Art auction benefits Habitat for Humanity

I like art. I certainly enjoy a party. And I’m passionate about the good work done by Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County.

unnamedOn April 8, Habitat is hosting its second live auction and art show to raise money to help people who need homes. The event is in memory of longtime Habitat supporter and art lover Judy McCabe, who worked tirelessly to plan last year’s successful auction of paintings donated by Dick Poole, a lawyer and collector with terminal cancer who made this event part of his considerable legacy to the community.

A year later, both Judy and Dick are gone. But their dedication to helping others lives on.

This year’s event, aptly titled There is no pARTy without ART, will be held at Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Greenville, 6-8:30 p.m. It’s co-chaired by ardent art patrons Cindy Pettinaro Wilkinson and Stephen Mottola. Tickets are $80 for couples, $50 for individuals.

I’ll be there. Hope you will be, too!

 

ANDI New York totes the Big Apple

I carry a backpack the way more buttoned-down types tote a briefcase. It contains my laptop, iPad, mobile phone, sunglasses, reading glasses, wallet, a bottle of water and a couple granola bars.

ANDI AD20166Andrea Weinberg, the Andi of ANDI New York, contemplates backpacks and other totes with the aesthetic of a fashion designer and the precision of an ergonomic engineer.

I meet Weinberg during New York Fashion Week, when the city is humming with previews of fall fashions. We get together at Amé Amé, a hip boutique in the shadow of the Flatiron Building.

We head to an anteroom in the back of the shop, where a collection of ANDI bags are on display. The model who appears in ANDI ads is nibbling lunch at a table behind a vintage sofa one might find in a Paris apartment.

IMG_0813I put down my trusty Red Cross backpack and pick up an ANDI bag. It lacks the padding that lines my backpack. But it is exceptionally light and after a day of lugging my mobile office around Manhattan it strikes me as a highly desirable tradeoff.

Weinberg says her bags are designed for the way people live, with highly adaptable strapping and snaps so the totes can be configured for such tasks as carrying a yoga mat or attaching a set of keys. With a little rearranging, the tote is transformed into a featherweight, ergonomically friendly backback.

“It rests on the small of your back,” she notes.

The bags come in three different color ways. Silvery charcoal with goldtone hardware—“the most feminine”—black—“for New Yorkers”—and camouflage print revved with hot pink trim—“our edgiest bag.”

She started making bags from a wilderness fabric she sourced from a supplier in Idaho. Her fabrics are now made in Taiwan. The bags are manufactured in two different shops, one in Brooklyn and one in New Jersey.

Weinberg has accomplished a lot in what appear to be very few years.

“How old are you?” I ask.

“Guess.”

“28?”

“32!”

IMG_0829Weinberg does not have a design background, although her grandfather was a jeweler. She wears the delicate gold ring and Egyptian-inspired band he made for her mother. Like her designs, she is smart and approachable.

An integral part of her journey as an entrepreneur was a college business trip to China, where she understood she could have just about anything she wanted fabricated on the double. So she ordered a prototype of her first bag.

“The next day it was there for me,” she recalls. “I picked it up and I cried.”

She is currently selling the bags online and in retail outlets affiliated with spas, where she has attracted the attention of several celebs.

“Taye Diggs has bought a few,” she says. “Patti Stanger, the millionaire matchmaker, bought a camo.”

It’s an affordable accessory. Prices top out at a suggested retail price of $188 for the large signature tote.

Weinberg and I try out a few bags. The model snaps our picture with my iPhone.

As I head back to the station, a group of British tourists in Herald Square ask me if I will take their picture, probably because I look least likely to run off with their camera.

“Would you like me to take your picture in front of Macy’s?” asks a friendly matron. “Your hat and scarf are smashing with the Macy’s red star.”

Of course. Thanks for asking. And off I go.

 

Music to our ears: Pyxis Piano Quartet, in concert at Market Street Music

Beyond loving music, there are two reasons I always enjoy Market Street Music concerts.

PyxiswithMicheleKellyFirst, there’s the setting, the highly acoustical sanctuary at First and Central Presbyterian Church, long a destination for music lovers in the heart of the City of Wilmington.

And, second, supporters have the opportunity to meet musicians after the concert in this very intimate and exceptionally friendly environment.

We all have two things in common at Market Street Music events: we embrace music; and we embrace our city. (The home-baked brownies are great, too.)

On Saturday, March 19, reserve your seats for what promises to be an exquisite performance by Pyxis Piano Quartet, artists who have found a warm and receptive audience at Market Street Music.

Here’s the program:  C. P. E. Bach Quartet in D Major, Wq 94; Nikolayeva Trio Op. 18 for Flute, Viola, and Piano; Brahms Two Viola Songs, Op. 91; Villa Lobos Jet Whistle for Cello and Flute with guest artist Michele Kelly, on flute.

As Bach often said: Yowza! See you at the concert!

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I’m reflecting on February, the Month of Gratitude, my 29-day commitment to sending a formal thank you note to someone who has enhanced my life. Shown me kindness. Done me a good turn. Valued me. Given me encouragement–or a well-intentioned kick in the butt.

Researchers conclude that expressing gratitude is good for us. I agree. The Month of Gratitude validated that I have much to be thankful for; then again, I already knew that.

Unknown-1I sent notes I would have posted any way: thanks for inviting me to dinner, to your party, to the theater. I’m grateful to a longtime editor and friend, who sent me a significant piece of business. (His grizzled response: He doesn’t do favors. He knew I would make him look good. Thanks for that, too.)

I’ve been practicing intentional gratitude since September 2008, starting each day with an expression of thanks. But it’s been a personal and private pursuit, like saying my prayers. The Month of Gratitude is focused outward, centered on the people to whom I am grateful.

imagesPart of my grand plan was to buy a fountain pen and order classy stationery with a crisp, fine hand. I accomplished neither, plowing through the month putting ballpoint pen to an assortment of cheap notecards rolling around in my desk. I will do better in future.

Some thank yous are deeply personal: to two women friends who have shown exceptional  compassion in the grief-drenched year and a half since my husband died; to the pal who convinced me to host two medical students for a month because he worried I might be lonely; to the friend I can truly and safely confide in (she is the only person who knows both one juicy secret and my net worth.)

Thanks to my cherished friend and piano teacher, who reminds me of the transformative power of music–and that the bright, eager 5-year-old inside me is alive and kicking. Thanks to a new friend, the funniest woman I’ve met in 10 years, who showed me the therapeutic value of dragging myself away from my desk for a long, wine-soaked lunch.

I’m thankful to the sweet handyman who has magically made my property manageable, while brightening my day with his sunny countenance. Ditto to my husband’s best friend, who volunteered to complete the website Dale did not get to finish–and circled back to me more times than I can count when I simply could not get my act together. Because that is what Dale would have done for his friend’s wife.

There’s so much to be grateful for, isn’t there? February has melted into the past. But I will keep writing thank you notes.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Last day for Flower Show discount

unnamed-1The 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show bursts into flower tomorrow. This year’s theme is “Explore America” and celebrates the beauty and diversity of our country’s National Parks. Now is the time to get your tickets!

Today, Friday, March 4, is the final day to enjoy the discounted price on tickets purchased online. Here’s how you can
Buy individual tickets online today!

Tickets will be available online and at the box office March 5-13 at full freight.

Last-minute Super Bowl snacks

As a lifelong Philadelphia fan, I don’t care who wins Super Bowl 50. Panthers? Broncos? What’s an Eagles fan to do?

radish-onion-dip-ictcrop_galDrink beer and chow down, that’s what a good sport does on Game Day. I’m heading to a Super Bowl party, where the hosts have planned a yummy menu that includes Colorado Pork Green Chile soup, Carolina Sweet Potato and Bacon soup and second half Mile High Brownies.

We are hoping for Philly cheesesteaks and soft pretzels next year.

It’s not too late to put together your own Game Day repast. Here’s a quick-and-easy recipe from the folks at Real Simple, Spinach and Carmelized Onion Dip. Serve it with crunchy broccoli, cauliflower and radishes.

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

  1. tablespoons olive oil
  2. medium onions, chopped
  3. kosher salt and black pepper
  4. 116-ounce container sour cream
  5. 110-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
  6. tablespoon white wine vinegar
  7. broccoli and cauliflower florets, endive spears, and radishes, for serving

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool.
  2. Add the sour cream, spinach, vinegar, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper to the onions and mix to combine. Serve with the veggies.

 

Tanger shares the love with shoppers

Tanger Outlets is showing its affection for shoppers with a Share The Love promotion, which will reward shoppers in February.

Tanger_RehoBeach-0023
So, how do they love thee? Let us count the ways:

1.) $2,500 SHOPPING SPREE:  Shoppers enter on-site at Tanger Shopper Services from Feb. 8-21. (Shopper Services are located at Tanger Surfside next to Van Heusen, and at Tanger Seaside next to Zumiez.)  A random winner will be chosen from among all Tanger properties nationwide.

2.) RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS:  Shoppers on the sidewalks and inside stores at Tanger Rehoboth will be surprised by a prize patrol. Patrollers hand out $100 each day in gift cards, and pick up the tab for purchases of lucky shoppers.

3.) FACEBOOK REWARDS: Tanger Rehoboth’s Facebook page will randomly reward customers with gift cards who express why they love shopping at Tanger Outlets.