We Love Durham NC

Bento Boxes in Durham

Now you can get Laptop Lunches, a bento box lunch container system, at the Durham Food Co-op. I wonder what designs and colors they have?

TROSA Christmas Trees for a Good Cause

Last year, while we browsed for a Christmas tree at the TROSA lot in the Kmart parking lot on University Dr., a man stood nearby ready to help. The minute we picked our tree, he took it over to the spinner to bind it with string. After we paid the cashier (and not very much!), the kids picked out some candy canes, and the man took the tree to our car, put some bubble wrap down on the roof, and helped us tie it securely. The process was fast & easy, and we got a fresh & pretty tree. These guys define Great Service.

Northgate Mall at Christmas

Today we did the Northgate trip. Carousel (sea dragon and horse), Christmas train, waved at Santa, watched the singing bears, saw a friend from school, ate a pretzel using our Little Shoppers card discounts.

New thing this year: Santa is waaaaay down at the end of the ramp past Chick-fil-A instead of beside the train. Also, new thing is a giant trampoline-bungee cord contraption that was open to kids 2 (!) and up. I am glad it was not open when we walked by, but it would be wicked fun if you were preteen-aged.

Northgate Mall is so underrated. I love that place. On the way out, we passed the TROSA tree lot. If you still need a tree, they have amazing prices and service.

The Chicken Dance

Tonight found me and a bunch of other parents and kids playing math games and then dancing the Electric Slide, Cha Cha Slide (new to me), and the ever-fun Chicken Dance. I wonder: does each generation of kindergartners re-invent break-dancing?
Thanks to the teachers who care enough to remind us that math is cool.

Durham Lead Levels

Just talked to the good folks at City Hall about our water sample results. For both lead and copper, levels were below detectable levels. Hooray!

Christmas Train Back to Northgate!

Yay! The train is back at Northgate this year. Can’t wait!

Durham Farmer’s Market Year Round!

This from Sarah Howe, of Sarah’s House of Clay: “…the Durham Farmers’ Market has gone year round? We’ve moved indoors on Foster St in Durham Central Park School’s large room - it is almost large enough for us! Good food and local crafts all winter….”

More info: http://durhamfarmersmarket.com/events.mgi

The Lollipop Cure

Worried about my son’s exposure to the barfing bug and his sister’s cold, I stopped into the Durham Whole Foods (or Wellspring, as the locals still call it) to pick up some rhino pops. The pops have echinacea, and they come with a little dipping bag of powdered Vitamin C. My kids ate them up (and avoided the barfing bug, so far).

Nasher Family Day

We’ve been to the Family Days before at the Nasher Art Museum on the Duke University campus. This time we missed the musical performance due to an early afternoon nap, but when we arrived, friends told us it was great.

In the crafts room, half the room was working on mythical creatures… cut up National Geographic magazines (a pig’s head here, wings there, elephant’s trunk there), glue to a sheet, and add feathers, yarn, or pom-poms. Examples from staff and other artists were hanging around for inspiration. (My son made a parrot-cheetah-turtle-lizard).

The other half of the room was using Model Magic clay to recreate ancient urns… make a long snake of clay and then wrap around in a vase or pot, and add handles if you want. A fair number of kids were making snowmen, in keeping with the season.

No grouchy docent staff here… they were entirely enjoying the kids and keeping it very festive.

Afterwards, we played hide & seek in the “caves” and jumped down the stairs all the way to the car.

Thanks again, Nasher folks!

(Did I mention it’s free with admission, and admission is free if you are a Durham resident. Do come next time… February 4th.)

Rags to Riches Theater

My son has been attending a fun theater class given by Melody of Rags to Riches on Saturdays. They have been practicing for Jack in the Beanstalk. This Saturday, the lesson was off-stage… seeing how the scenery was set up, handing out bulletins… and then we all watched the R-to-R troupe play The Gingerbread Man to a live audience of kids and their parents.

I saw two new actors this time… Ursula and the Gingerbread Boy… in addition to the regular Lou Peters. As usual, Rags to Riches fractured the fairytale in creative ways, with new songs, maybe an alternate ending, and this time introducing us to a new game (which inspired spontaneous applause). Love love love these guys.

Morgan Imports

Morgan Imports, across the street from Brightleaf Square, is the holiday headquarters. Decorative items and gifts galore. Don’t think that just because it is right beside the Brightleaf parking lot that you can park there for free, though… Morgan Imports is not actually part of Brightleaf. No worries, park behind the building for free. It’s worth a visit! The toy section just screams Stocking Stuffer.

Retail Survey about Downtown Durham

I received an email requesting input into plans for Downtown Durham, Inc. I hope they will be able to get some of these businesses and services into downtown… I’d love to have a reason to stop (other than the library and the great old post office).

What do you think? Complete the survey here.