Category Archives: City Living

Summer on the Avenue

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Lately I have been spending most of my weekends in Rochester, which left me feeling distanced from Buffalo. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Rochester; but I love Buffalo more!

So when I finally ditched the Flower City for Queen City, I decided to spend the whole day Hertel-Hopping.

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It all started on the beautiful flower adorned patio of La Tavola. They had me at their beautifully crafted cocktails, but their food was an absolute home run too. And the fact that all the patio flowers were from their next-door neighbor Floral Explorations, it was an icing on the cake.

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Once well fed, it was time for a leisurely stroll on the avenue. And strolling and shopping come hand in hand. Now, don’t stop reading already. I am not going to talk about skater dresses and accordion-pleated skirts (I mean I can..but I won’t).

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On that note, enter Second Reader Book Shop. Now if you are anything like me (translation: book nerd), this place is absolute heaven. Like the name suggests, they sell pre-owned, vintage and collectible books. Buffalo, New York City, Frank Lloyd Wright, comic books from 1950’s, vintage Mustang poster books- you name it, they got it. And I can personally vouch for their collection because some of my very prized possessions were bought here.

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With a bag of books on my arm and a warm smile on my face, I moved on to New Buffalo Graphics. Now if you have not heard of this place; you, my friend, are missing out. Designed by Michael Morgulis, it is the ultimate destination for Buffalo-themed prints and posters. And for the most part, most of his art is lovingly and proudly created at the back of this very store.

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After all the shopping, it was time to quench the thirst. And Caramici’s offered a perfectly cold beer on a beautiful patio with a public piano. I enjoyed my beer, watching the hustle and bustle on the avenue serenaded by the melody of a pianist.

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And then I decided to venture out to Buffalo’s soccer mecca, mes Que. Traditionally a Bills and Sabres fan, I do not really follow the sport. Nonetheless, watching all the soccer enthusiasts, decked in their respective jerseys, cheering for their teams was fun. And the beers only made it more interesting!

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That concluded my Hertel-Hopping. Needless to say, I had a very nice time- all within two blocks of my house.

After all we only get 99 days of summer, gotta make the most of it.

From Farm to Hertel

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It’s finally happening. A step towards environmental responsibility. A nod of support to our local growers. Another win for Hertel.

The North Buffalo Farmers Market will open for the 2014 season on Thursday, June 19, from 3 – 7 pm. It will be located at Holy Spirit Church on Hertel near Delaware.

I’m sure most of you need not be sold on the benefits the come along with supporting local farmers markets, but I’ll reinforce them:

  • Choosing to eat locally is more than a trend, it is a healthy way of life.
  • Eating local means you have access to nutritional, fresh foods.
  • Eating local means you know the farmer that has produced your food.
  • Eating local is being environmentally responsible as you are choosing to eat without imposing a large carbon footprint.
  • Eating local is economically responsible, as the dollars you spend on food are kept in circulation within our local community.

The market is set to run on Thursdays through November 6, but will take the week of July 17 off so volunteers and their families can attend the annual North Buffalo Italian Festival. (I’m sure if the farmers could grow cannoli or zeppole they’d stay open, but without that, no chance.)

A Grand Opening Celebration is planned for July with music and activities when more vendors will be available and fresh produce is in full season. Food trucks are being invited, and vendors are always welcome to apply.

It was no easy feat to get this market off the ground. Securing a location proved to be much more than “let’s do it here” as most of the 15+ sites that were scouted were unavailable. This made securing growers difficult too, as it’s already late in the season. But now we have the foundation to start building what could be a large, annual marketplace. If we show some mighty Buffalove to the few who can join us this year, then we will reap the benefits next year and beyond!

Kudos to Patricia DiFrancesco Banning, Board Member of NorthBuffalo.org and Market Manager, for her hard work and diligence to make this happen. Without her, we’d still be aimlessly saying “Hey, Hertel should get a farmers market.”

Shop Local – Support Farmers – Eat Well – Celebrate Community

Buy Local Buy Fresh

Oooooh BABY…

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Photo May 30, 7 03 31 PM

72 and Sunny.

Open Patios and Iced Coffees.

Live Music and Dancing Kids.

Bflo and 716.

It is officially summer in the Buff! (about time, he said)

So when Canalside pulled out the rainbow adirondack chairs, and store owners started hanging flower baskets lining the street of Elmwood, we kicked off the Hertel Summer of 2014 with a banging Shop, Rock and Stroll!

While some red-shirt-clad glad dudes belted out their best tunes under the North Park Theater marquee, folks drank cold beers and bottomless mimosas (Didn’t forget you lovely ladies!) on the patio at Mes Que.

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A couple storefronts ahead, the folks at Room were killing it with their chalkboard humor (isn’t that everyday, you say!), not to mention their gorgeous window displays.

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Right by Belsito on Saranac, another band was busy playing for their most important fans; cute little kiddies, who were laughing and dancing to these melodies.

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And literally, mommies and daddies of NoBo were “strolling” their little ones, for it is the season folks!

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As I concluded my Shop, Rock and Stroll on one of these lovely patios, me and my friend clinked our glasses for a wonderful summer.

I could not help, but extend the toast for a better NoBo, for a better Buffalo!

Hip and Happening

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After a long winter, we all look forward to the month of May. May means warmer days are in store, flowers are in bloom and patio beers are in my not-so-distant future.  The fifth month of the year also symbolizes Buffalo’s kick off to the summer travel season.  In my line of work as the Marketing Manager at Visit Buffalo Niagara, that’s kinda a BIG deal.  Most destinations are at their finest when summer rolls around and Buffalo is no exception.

CoverTo mark this momentous annual occurrence, our Buffalo Niagara Touring Guide rolls off the presses and arrives on our company’s doorsteps every May. My role as Senior Editor on the project has me offering insight on content. We can’t include everything so what’s makes the cut? What’s new? What’s hip? What are Buffalonians talking proud about? What would make someone in New Haven, Connecticut get up out of their recliner and make the 437 mile trip to Western New York?  It’s not all Bills games and chicken wings (although it IS the 50th anniversary of our saucy staple).  This year on our Hip and Happening list is Hertel!

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A full page devoted solely to Hertel Avenue. We tell prospective visitors to look for the marquee lights of the newly-restored North Park Theatre, to channel their inner interior decorator at room and to follow their nose to Romeo & Juliet’s. A few more shout-out’s to Mes Que and Modern Nostalgia and that there is how you make your neighborhood famous.

Interested in getting your hands on your own FREE copy? We’ll mail it to you! Request one here.

This year’s guide is truly our best yet, I know I know I’m biased but trust me on this one.

Once it arrives, bring it to Mes Que, we’ll share a patio beer and cheers to Hertel.

 

 

School 81: A Diamond in the Rough?

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I gave birth to this kid four months ago.

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Cute, right?

Well he wasn’t more than a day or two old, before Charlie and I started SERIOUSLY talking about where we would send him to school. Sure, we were getting a little ahead of ourselves given that he has to first master some basic life skills like eating and sleeping and cheering for the Bills before the bus pulls up and whisks him off to kindergarten. But still, now that we have a real-life tiny human in front of us, all of a sudden we feel like we have to start the conversation.

Many o’ times we’ve uttered the words “well there’s NO WAY we can send him to public schools, not in Buffalo”. The options were always Catholic schools, charter schools (whatever those are) or banking on the fact that we were raising the next Albert Einstein and we’d be enrolling him in the early achiever program at Harvard.

A pleasant Facebook conversation with a Hello Hertel reader I’ve never met now has me thinking otherwise.

This fellow North BuffaLOVER wrote me a quick note to say how much she enjoyed reading our blog. We exchanged a number of pleasantries and yada yada yada (thanks George Costanza for one of the greatest segues ever), turns out we have a mutual friend (classic Buffalo) AND turns out she’s a teacher at School 81 on Tacoma Ave.

I have driven by that school a million times and in the last four months have been wondering if that is one of the good ones you hear young parents living in the city talk about. According to her, it is. My eyes lit up.

She said the principal at 81 runs a “tight ship” and their students go on to Nichols and City Honors. She acknowledged that Buffalo Public Schools do have their challenges (putting it nicely) but said that walking into School 81 is unlike any other. Who is this Principal Tight Ship and what is he all about?

See this article from the Buffalo News on School 81’s Principal, Robert Clemens.

If you’re a young parent in North Buffalo, I truly hope you clicked that link. After reading that, I have a renewed sense of hope that a Buffalo public school, School 81 in our own backyard, could be a viable option for our child’s education someday.

A renewed sense of hope from a complete stranger, now Facebook friend, thanks to this very blog.

Now I just need Principal Clemens to stick around for another 13 years…ya know, in case that Harvard thing doesn’t work out.