In case you haven’t noticed, the Virginia Bloggers list is getting long!
Seriously, go take a look!
Since we have so many Northern Virginia bloggers, we thought it was about time to have a meet up in their area, so we rounded a few people up and grabbed coffee at Northside Social. Not only was the coffee good, but I love any cafe that is active on Twitter 😉
The cafe was cute, and it was fun meeting some new faces!
Ethel, Rana, Coco, Ileana, and Ashleyand I enjoyed some coffee while chatting about blogging, Virginia, and future meet up ideas. (Bartending class anyone?) Stay tuned for more on that!
Hopefully we can do some more Nova meet ups in 2013. As always, if you have an idea for a meet up in your area, please shoot us at e-mail: virginiabloggers@gmail.com
We’re excited to have our first official Northern Virginia meet up this Saturday! Meet us at the adorable Northside Social and grab a cup of coffee while meeting some awesome local bloggers, face to face.
Details: What: Coffee & Blogger-friends! When: This Saturday, December 15th 2:00pm
Where: Northside Social
Got a friend who’s curious about blogging? Bring them along!
Make sure to follow us on twitter for the latest updates and announcements. Hope to see you all there!
Saturday afternoon, we had the pleasure of taking a barre class at Local Barre, here in Richmond. Located near Short Pump, the studio is adorable, and the staff is super friendly.
What are barre classes?
While traditional forms of exercise are commonly performed with non-contracted abdominals, utilizing the barre forces continual engagement of the core. This not only provides the low back and spine the stability needed to complete safe movements, but also allows smaller muscle groups that typical exercises often miss to be isolated and sculpted while major muscle groups are simultaneously worked as well. This technique provides an intense, yet low-impact workout that garners quick, dramatic, and lasting results.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but let me tell you, these classes will get you in shape. My legs were shaking by the end!
Megan, Stephanie, Stephanie, Shannon, Katherine, and I all followed along while Alex kicked our butts. It was a lot of low impact exercises that targeted really specific muscle groups. I couldn’t believe how exhausted my muscles were by the end! It was definitely working!
Local Barre felt like the kind of place where you’d want to meet your friends for a workout together, or a place where you could make new friends, while sweating it out. The staff is friendly, the atmosphere is inviting, and the workouts will keep you coming back. I’m definitely interested in taking more classes, and Stephanie can personally tell you that she’s seen great results!
You can follow Local Barre on Facebook or Twitter to stay updated on the latest class info! If you’re in Richmond, definitely go check out their classes!
Hello everyone! I’m Alicia, a student, social media addict and blogger at River City Chic. River City Chic is a personal style blog I started after moving to the lovely capital of the South over a year ago. I’m originally from Northern Virginia, and I went to school in Philadelphia for a couple years and interned for a couple fashion companies in New York City before relocating to Richmond in the fall of 2011.
One of my favorite things about Richmond is the unique fashion scene it has. After living up and down the Mid-Atlantic, I can honestly say that Richmond has it’s own sense of style like none other.
For the many RVA fashionistas out there, RVA Fashion Week is hosting A Winter Galaon December 13th from 7:30-9:30 PM at Flames 231. This unique event will feature a cocktail hour and fashion show, with a portion of ticket proceeds going to Dress for Success.
Dress for Success is an organization that strives to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
The fashion show will showcase some of the hottest winter trends, with clothing from local boutiques Pink, Roan and Phoenix and designers Jennifer Carpenter & Brittany Covington. Still models will be a virtual display of amazing shoes, jewelry & hair provided by Champagne & Shoes, Random by Ciera and hair by VIP Salon & Salon Vivace.
There will be performances by Ameera & an afterparty with DJ M.A.S.S. Fx.
Tickets are available for purchase on the RVA Fashion Week website and include a complimentary drink and light hors d’oeuvres. You must purchase a ticket and have it with you to gain entry to the event.
I hope to see some of you there! This is a one of a kind event for a great cause. If you can’t make it out, make sure to check out River City Chic for a recap of this fashion packed evening.
Hello, blogging world. I am the proud contributor of grub like a girl.
Hello there
I’ve always cherished good food; the restaurants that serve it, the energy around enjoying it, and blogs dedicated to talking about it. In the past (pre-grub like a girl), I’d been blogaking (blog-stalking) other food critic articles and blogs and their take on dishes and restaurants. After moving to Richmond from Texas in 2011, I decided I’d give it my own whimsical shot. In June 2011, I went for brunch, came home, and wrote about my experience … in my own quirky way, of course.
The premise is a person (me) discovering the old and new restaurants, food trends, and quirks in Richmond. Although the name “grub like a girl” may come off sweet and appealing only to female readers, I assure you my blog is gender-less and can charm any type of reader…unless people who don’t like food, then we have a problem.
On a personal side, my real name is Bethany. Besides keeping my blog stayin’ strong, I’m take up residence with my partner and two pups in the West End suburbia (we’re actually looking to move to downtown or Lakeside area in the next year…I couldn’t be any happier). I work full time, dabble in painting, keep healthy by running, and discover new indie music that eventually goes mainstream (sigh).
Although I may not be grammatically correct (I prefer it that way actually) or post sporadically (schedule-less) my blog is my baby, with nourishment and balanced attention I’ve created something that people actually read… unless my stats are playing tricks on me.
My blog is predominantly restaurant reviews but on occasion I’ll post about other foodie related things, like my recent trip to Carter Mountain…
Heaven.
This has become my Fall Sanctuary.
Virginians flock every Autumn weekend to this mini-mountain. By afternoon, Carter Mountain swarms with hip locals and awkward [overexcited] suburbanites; a hodgepodge of personalities that could easily inspire a SNL skit.
The joy of picking apples is like finding gold. Children run through the orchards grabbing un-ripe green apples and yanking them from trees. Little do they know the apples they’ve picked will make their little mouths pucker with overwhelming bitterness. Their jaded joy and silliness makes it A-ok.
Adults elicit more excitement and determination than the kids. Personally, I can’t resist smiling when I’ve found a perfect red, ripe apple. I even adore the sound of the snap when it’s plucked from a branch. Simple sounds like this can make the soul satisfied.
My lady and I failed to remember that trudging through the orchard is comparable to a mini-hike. We were quickly reminded when her Toms and my un-broken-in cowboy boots became uncomfortable.
I spy something red.
We picked around 25 apples (Staymans and Winesaps), grabbed a few jars of apple butter, a dry apple crisp mix, and half a dozen apple cider donuts. We grabbed an early dinner in the downtown mall and headed home. After getting back to our casa, I immediately gravitated towards the kitchen to put my freshly picked apples to work. Apple Pie, baby.
Here’s the recipe I used, it was a little simple so I snazzed it up a little…
Ingredients:
Guilty…refrigerated pie crusts 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted buttah 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 tbsp Mexican Vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar 8 Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with other pie crust pinching the edges, if you’re feeling real fancy pants, try a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F, brush pie pastry with beaten egg (sometimes I mix with a little milk and sugar). Wrap foil around edges to prevent crumbly burnt outer crust. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
4. Let sit and cool until you can’t take it anymore. Slice, share, and enjoy.
