As much as I love clean lines, open space, and living with less, I’ll admit it: I have moments where I yearn for maximalism. The rich colors, layered textures, and curated chaos of art-filled walls always call to me. And while I try not to buy things I don’t need (TikTok shop… you’ve tested me more than once), there’s one exception I never feel guilty about: art. Recently, while on my way to one of my Carytown staples, Tokyo Market, I stumbled upon a spot that felt like it was made for this very minimalist-with-maximalist-dreams heart of mine: Boon. Why Boon is Worth a Stop in Carytown Boon isn’t brand new, but it was new to me—and what a find. This curated gallery and shop features: Original local art – supporting Richmond area artists in the most meaningful way. Collector pieces – unique works with stories behind them. Vintage finds – art that carries history and character. Walking in felt like stepping into a visual treasure chest. Every wall, corner, and vignette offered something to spark curiosity and joy. I could have spent the whole afternoon browsing, but real life called and I had to go. My Personal Art Rule A few years back, I made a decision: if I bring new art into my home, it has to be original or it has to spark serious joy. No filler prints, no “just because” purchases. And honestly? That rule has been the best way to curate a home that feels meaningful and intentional. Boon fits that philosophy perfectly. I’m still thinking about a few pieces I saw there (specifically an amazing, huge painting of birds on a metallic background by Edward Allen Gross) —and I know I’ll be back soon. Why It Matters Shopping local isn’t just about keeping dollars in Richmond (though that’s huge). It’s also about creating a home filled with things that matter—pieces that tell stories, honor creativity, and reflect this vibrant city we call home. So if you’re looking to add a little soul to your space, put Boon in Carytown on your list. Even if you’re not in the market to buy, it’s worth a visit for the inspiration alone.

Click each event below for more information. For a full calendar of events, click HERE. Friday Cheers (1st of the Season!) Richmond Flower Truck Floral Arrangement Workshop Lewis Ginter Spring Plant Sale 54th Annual Art in the Park Mother's Day Concert at Agecroft Hall 5k Family Fun Day at Crump Park Big Tent: Memorial Day Event Family Night Hike

Click each event below for more information, for a full calendar of events click HERE. Hardywood's Spring Artisan Market Spring Bloom Bar with Freckled Flower RVA Burlesque Festival The Big Bloom The Bizarre Bazaar 33rd Annual Spring Market  Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k April Fools Festival Scotchtown's 4th Annual Fiber Festival Dominion Energy Family Easter SCAN Totally 90s Bash

Click each event below for more information, for a full calendar of events click HERE. Do Portugal Circus Pours & Pasties Burlesque and Variety Show St. Patrick's Day Charcuterie Workshop RVA Brick Day 2025 Virginia Derby Shamrock the Block The Irish Festival Pretend Again: A Grown-Up Night at the Museum Richmond SPCA Dog Jog, 5k, and Block Party The Wizard of Oz on Ice

Click each event below for more information, for a full calendar of events click HERE. The Diary of Anne Frank Dirty Dancing in Concert Galentine's Day Market GardenInk Cinderella: Presented by the Richmond Ballet 24th Annual Pet Expo

Click each event below for more information, for a full calendar of events click HERE. Dancing with the Stars: LIVE! Sensory Friendly Night Downtown Candlelight: A Tribute to Adele Edgar’s Sweet 216 Birthday Bash Celebrate MLK with the Richmond Symphony 999: The Forgotten Girls (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Special Bourbon Dinner Event Soul Aerial and the Performing Arts Center Present: Alice in Wonderland Hanover Tavern ParaCon

Are you running out of time? Shipping deadlines have passed, but you still need something amazing? If you're in the Richmond area, these are a few gifts and places I'd recommend! Food gifts Looking for something for the host/hostess, or just a little something for that hard to buy for recipient? Food is always a great answer! Here are some of my local favorites: Copper Fox Distillery- With locations in both Sperryville and Williamsburg, Copper Fox makes some great, American Single Malt whiskies (and so many other spirits). I'm not a big drinker, but it is delicious, and if you take a trip, you can get a behind the scenes tour, which is pretty fantastic on its own. Stock up for gift giving all season, or for your own bar. Are you on the list? Every year, a lot of my clients get a gift of croissant cinnamon rolls from me, from one of my favorites, Up All Night Bakery. They're always a huge hit, and it's a great alternative to the flood of cookies that often come with the holidays. A little treat for breakfast is always a welcome gift. (And everything they make is fantastic!) Looking to put together an amazing basket or box of RVA goodies? My favorite spot to run in and grab some goodies is Yellow Umbrella. Either location- Patterson Avenue or Libbie Mill- has all sorts of great grab and go party foods, chips, salsa, crackers, local snacks, and of course, everything you need for dinner or charcuterie. A great host gift? A loaf of fresh sourdough and a block of my favorite Isigny Ste Mere Butter with sea salt crystals. For just about anyone on your list, pop into Shop Made in Virginia in Scott's Addition and pick up anything from fabulous art, handmade jewelry, textiles, locally made craft kits and gifts for kids, and all sorts of Virginia made foods. Seriously, you could totally check off everyone on your list here. Another spot where it's easy to find something for just about anyone on your list is The Shops at 5807. With a multitude of shops under one roof, you can't go wrong. Maybe some fun readers for Mom from Frillseekers, a great shirt for Dad from Cronies, something useful and fun for the wine lover at All About the Beverage, and of course, a stop through RVYAY Toys for the kiddos. (There are plenty of things for the hard to buy for teens, etc, with great jewelry, fun stationery, and so much more!) It really is possible to avoid the mall (and Amazon!) and get everyone on your list something local! Happy Happy Holidays to you and yours! See you in 2025!  

Welcome! If this is your first time here, I'm starting a new series for my newsletter and blog talking about some of the things you may not know about the Richmond area. Born and raised here myself, I have plenty of stories, but my dad had even more, and I always loved to hear them, and have him point things out while we were driving around town. Obviously, Richmond is filled with history- much of it complicated to say the least, but good or bad, it's always interesting, to me at least. Hopefully you'll find some of these things interesting too! Please let me know if you do (or if you don't) and if you have any questions or stories to share, please message me! So without further ado, here's the first installment!   The Richmond Union Passenger Railway, and Where It Went You may or may not know that Richmond, Virginia had the first (in the world) electric trolley system. While many places had tried to create a working system, no one was able to actually make it work. That is, until the powers that be in Richmond heard about Edison's colleague Frank Sprague and his experiments with electric transit in New York and invited him to Richmond to build one here. He and his team actually did the thing, and making it up as they went along, came up with a system of four wheeled cars attached to an overhead electric line and 12 miles of track, and the Richmond Union Passenger Railway was officially put into operation on February 2, 1888. Eventually, the system grew to 82 miles of track, and enabled much of the expansion of the city and its population. People were able to move further out, and they were still be able to come into the city without having to spend the day walking. This led to the development of Richmond's first suburbs, or "street car neighborhoods." These were Ginter Park, Bellevue, Barton Heights, Highland Park, Laburnum Park, Sherwood Park, the West End, and Forest Hill. The birth of our electric rail system also led to the development of 110 others across the country and the world. Pretty cool, huh? By 1949, though, cars were becoming more prevalent, and General Motors introduced buses to be used for public transit, and the cars fell by the wayside to make way for more gas powered vehicles. (Lots of thoughts, and even a court case, were based on the idea that GM and other auto makers conspired to get rid of the streetcars and make way for more of their own vehicles.) The writing was on the wall, and in December 15, 1949, trolley No 408 made its last run, followed by nine others, and hundreds of onlookers. Somewhat perplexingly, No. 408, along with 50 other cars, were not just decommissioned, but burned to nothing in the "Great Car Burning of 1949." Very few cars, or even parts of cars, exist. Our street car system may be long gone, but we have it to thank for some of our most beautiful streets, particularly in the North Side of Richmond. They were specifically designed to allow for carriages, pedestrians, and those trolleys, with wide roads, sidewalks and lined with beautiful trees.

There are a few reasons why your home might not be selling as quickly as you thought it would or wanted it to. Here are a few of them. Your home isn't easy to show. It doesn't show well. PRICE!! Check out the video above for a deeper explanation of the reasons your home might not be selling. If you have any questions about pricing or getting your home ready to sell, making sure that it moves at the rate that the market is moving, give me a call. I'd love to talk to you walk through and give you some tips on how we can get your home sold for the most amount in the least amount of time with the least hassle for you. Let's talk.

So what do you do if there is an issue with the appraisal? Let's give an example. You purchase a house for $450,000 and the appraisal comes back and it's $425k. Now, what do you do? Well, in our contract, and again, this is the Central Virginia contract. So I'm in the Richmond area, surrounding counties, we have our own particular contract, the contract where you are may be different. In our contract, it states that within five days of receiving that appraisal, the purchaser has the right to request in writing, whatever sort of resolution they would like from the seller and that can be a number of different things. First off, they can request that the price be reduced. So if the house is $450,000, that's what the contract price is, the appraisal comes in for $425k. Maybe you're the purchaser and you don't have an extra $25,000. You may have to go to the seller in writing and say, 'Can you please reduce the price to $425k'. Now they can say yes, or they can say no, or they can present a different option. But if you cannot come to a resolution, then all parties can walk away. No harm, no foul. Another resolution might be that, say you were in a competitive situation when you wrote the offer and you wrote the offer for $450k. There were a number of other offers, you do have the cash to back it up, and you say, oh rats the home appraisal came in at $425k, but we really want the house. We feel like it's worth $450k. It's worth 450 to us and we're willing to throw an extra $25,000 in there to bridge that gap. Obviously, you need to have 25,000 extra dollars. Or in some cases, you can kind of maneuver your loan a little bit to come up with a little extra cash, but that's between you and your lender. So the buyer can actually pay the cash difference, the lender doesn't care. What the lender cares about is if they're giving you 80% of the value, they're only going to give you 80% of the value that the appraiser says it's worth, period, end of story. They're not going to give you any extra because you really liked the house because it was a competitive situation. They don't care because it's the bottom line number for the lender and that is ultimately who the appraiser works for.