Skip to main content

New! Or: New to Me



It looks like it is going to rain all day. Blah. In my opinion, snow would be a whole lot more fun - - not to mention seasonally appropriate - - but it’s Saturday during the holidays and I bet we’ll all manage to find something to do.

I’m thinking of trying out the new grocery store in Wilde Lake. The Columbia Grocery Outlet is located in the space where David’s Natural Market used to be. They opened in late November but I just haven’t made it over there yet. More often than not I shop at Wegmans but I find the store to be enormous and daunting at times. I’m thinking that the Grocery Outlet may be a more manageable size for me. 

Have you been? Any recommendations?

Another new place that my husband and I have been meaning to try is a second hand bookstore called The Novel Refuge. Noodling around a good bookstore sounds like a great idea on a rainy Saturday. From their website:

The Novel Refuge, Inc. is a 501(c)3 public charity. We are a 100% volunteer-run used bookstore.Our mission is to support local refugees and asylum-seekers by selling books, games, puzzles,and other literary-related items. Through our bookstore in Laurel, we promote literacy in our community and keep books in circulation and out of landfills, thus reducing waste and the environmental impact of these products. 

They’re located in Cherry Tree Center: 11200 Scaggsville Rd. Suite 127 Laurel, MD 20723

Lastly, a new restaurant I keep hearing about is Old Line Kitchen and Wine Bar. You can find them in Gateway in the old Aida Bistro space. It’s true that we don’t go out to eat much these days. But…I took a peek at their menu and it looks tempting without being pretentious or outrageously priced. The feedback I’ve been seeing in social media has been encouraging. So, maybe…

Longtime readers of the blog know that I tend to get lost every time I go to Gateway. Perhaps someone should open a nice little bed and breakfast over there for those of us who lose their way after dark. If they do, I promise you I’ll write about it here.

Have a great Saturday whatever you decide to do! My day will begin with a luxurious bubble bath courtesy of our brand new hot water heater, the very best new thing in my life. 


Village Green/Town² Comments



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...