The owner of this home contacted us several months before we actually listed the home for sale.  During our initial conversations, we explained the options available to the homeowner to avoid foreclosure.  We also explained the dangers of working with investors who had contacted him in an effort to purchase his home and “do a […]

Last week, a couple of girlfriends and I took the second in a series of road trips to Richmond to shop at Trader Joe’s. Joe’s is a different kind of shopping experience. The first time I stumbled upon one, by myself, I was a bit confused by the seemingly random selection of products. With experienced friends by my side for a little orientation, I got into the swing of it. It’s not really the kind of supermarket where you could do your weekly shopping. Instead, its claim to fame is specialty and gourmet foods, natural and organic foods, environmentally friendly products, and a great wine shop. There’s also a huge selection of Trader Joe’s store brand items, and the ones I’ve sampled have been excellent. And prices are surprisingly low.

The vibe at Trader Joe’s is decidedly anti-corporate. It feels like the kind of store your aging hippie friends would open (not to be confused with your deadly serious, all-too-earnest, strictly vegan, gluten-free friends). Maybe it’s the small size, or the hand-written signs, or the gray-haired men with ponytails who work there. And I understand that marketing has a lot to do with this—this is exactly the impression Trader Joe’s is trying to achieve: that they are the socially-conscious, eco-friendly, all-natural “little guy.” In reality, they are as corporate as any other supermarket chain. Still, it’s a fun place to shop, and I wish there were one in Fredericksburg.

Plenty of fair trade coffee, of course.

And now you know where to go to get your organic blue agave.

A good selection of thoroughly drinkable $4 wine.

Here are my Trader Joe’s goodies. Love their “Better’n Peanut Butter” (lower cal & fat) and their chipotle salsa, but my favorite product is the orange muscat champagne vinegar. Mixed with nothing but olive oil, it makes a delicious, refreshing vinaigrette.

Last week, a couple of girlfriends and I took the second in a series of road trips to Richmond to shop at Trader Joe’s. Joe’s is a different kind of shopping experience. The first time I stumbled upon one, by myself, I was a bit confused by the see…

In Virginia, any speed over 80 mph is considered reckless driving, which could land you in jail. Fortunately for many of my clients, the Fredericksburg area courts don’t typically impose jail sentences except at super high speeds, like 100 mph. But this speeding grandma would certainly be spending some time in jail. She was going […]

It’s been a while since I browsed my incoming search traffic. This is all from the last month. odonnellweb movies seen – 12 visits in the last month, and I have no idea why. This has never been a movie blog, and the bounce rate of 50% indicates that 1/2 of them found what they […]

Finally, my copy of Vahilla Rising arrived. A visceral film by acclaimed director Nicolas Winding Refn, Vahilla Rising is hard to tag with the usual cinematic labels because there are many things this epic tale is not. What it is though, unquestionable and resolutely, is outside the box. This film is no cookie-cutter imitation/feel-good formula […]

We love our Mac Pro. It’s getting a little dated (2006 vintage), but over time we have upgraded the OS X operating system, graphics card, monitors, and added a bunch of hard drive capacity and memory. It remains a real screamer that can get some proces…

I’ve been a huge Butch Walker fan for years, but his concerts local to me always seem to happen when I can’t make it. Not this time. I took the afternoon off, hooked up with a hot date, and headed North to Baltimore. Slowly. Really slowly. I mean really freaking slowly. A combination of Friday […]

I’ve been a huge Butch Walker fan for years, but his concerts local to me always seem to happen when I can’t make it. Not this time. I took the afternoon off, hooked up with a hot date, and headed North to Baltimore.
Slowly. Really slowly. I mean reall…

This forecast graphic for next Thursday morning shows a strangely persistent low pressure system hanging off the Carolina coastline.  There are a few low-level mutterings beginning among East Coast forecasters regarding a (small) potential for thi…