Surfing the Neighborhood

A Journal of Discovery through the eyes of a real-life resident of Park and Market North Hills

Did you know SIX NEW SHOPS have opened at North Hills in the last three weeks?! If it weren’t so much fun, I’d be exhausted from going around meeting all the new owners, seeing what’s in their shops, and sharing their excitement.

In a recent post, I shared the news item with you on all the openings that had been tweeted as Surf North Hills, and promised to follow up on latest from our neighborhood. Let’s dive right in then and introduce you to Whalebone Urban Surf, next-generation venture from the legendary Whalebone Surf Shop at Nags Head. Jim and April Vaughn, known and loved for over thirty years in business, couldn’t be more excited that daughter Stevi is following in their footsteps here in Midtown.

A visit with Stevi Vaughn in her incredible new store (located off Lassiter Mill, next to Gena Chandler) will take you from Whalebone Junction to Buenos Aires to pizza at Piola, and maybe have you leaving with a stand up paddle board tucked under your arm, perfect for area lakes and requires no surfing experience.

Taking a cruise or an adventure trip over the holidays? Now you have a local source for boards and incidentals, coolest sunglasses and gear, luggage, and more.

Not ready to take the plunge? Try a personal balance board to build skills and gain confidence.

For everyone who hasn’t finished Christmas shopping, don’t miss Whalebone Urban Surf’s extensive choice in clothing you won’t find anywhere else in the Triangle, basic surf and everyday casual from fabulous brands like Quiksilver, Billabong, Hurley, and Volcom.

Who knew a landlubber like me would find urban surfing such a breeze!

The Lowdown on High-Rise Living

If I were a car, I’d definitely be sporting one of those Life is Good stickers. In three short months, living at Park and Market has shifted my sense of space, place and time.

When I decided to stop commuting to North Hills, I didn’t know just how dusty a car could get from sitting still or that I would be late for appointments because I didn’t include time for going home to get my car. Then there was the day I brought the car to work and wrote myself a note so I wouldn’t forget to take it home.

Life IS good! Not just because it’s high-rise but because I’m living in the middle of North Hills.

Convenience is half the story. Of course it’s convenient to have a 24/7 Harris Teeter grocery store in your basement – really, an elevator ride to ground level but I like to tell my friends I am going to the basement for a gallon of milk. Or seeing Zoes Kitchen outside my living room doors, and then deciding to call downstairs to order a hummus salad plate for dinner.

Maybe for you convenience would be the incredibly beautiful pool built on top of the grocery store, having a workout room on-site, a clubroom with tons of amenities, greenway paths close by, maybe too many good restaurants (when does walking start to cancel out the eating?) or a built in social calendar.

I still get a kick from making a Saturday list and having it turn out nothing like I planned because I got sidetracked at the Farmers Market buying a painting, or stunning vegetables that beg to be cooked right then, or sitting down to lunch with a new friend at Vivace and getting up 4 hours later with so much not yet said.

That’s really it, you know, not the conveniences but coming together with people I would never otherwise have met. I find the most interesting conversations happen when I stop to admire someone’s dog, wait for the elevator, or slip out into the early morning for a walk and find that many of my neighbors are already out there doing the same thing.

It’s the same sense of community I feel as I get to know people at Starbucks where I stop in twice a day, at Brothers Cleaners where everyone does know your name, Ethan Allen where I bought my new bed, shops where I’ve bought summer clothes or gotten a makeover, and even the fellow at Target who said his wife tells him what to do on the weekends, then laughed and pointed for there she was, waiting for his shift to end. Pretty soon it spills over and when I feel a tap on my shoulder at the market, it’s Fiquet Bailey, owner of Luxe Apothecary, now a friend who tells me of her plans for the day.

So while it may be living high that brought me here, the lowdown is it’s the neighbors in the "hood” that make Park and Market home.

Remodeling Made Easy

Recently, I went on a coaching expedition with my young friend who eats, sleeps, and breathes fashion. She has a knack for blending the readily accessible with the rare find, for adding a touch of color or an unusual accessory, and making it all seem easy and natural. Turns out she has some coaches of her own.

Fiquet Bailey, owner of Luxe Apothecary, is a makeup artist who simply loves to help others find their best look, one that fits their lifestyle. Her approach is low key and genuinely about building relationships whether working with runway models, fashion photographers, bridal parties, or someone new to the neighborhood who doesn’t wear much makeup. Her shop is cool and inviting, the walls filled with products not just for women but for men too. I felt at home as we chatted, and surprised, really, how easy it can be to try a new thing or two that makes an immediate difference in how you feel about yourself.

I don’t know if it’s the new look – thank you, Fiquet – or the new life – thank you, Park and Market – but lately everyone I know seems to be taking a second look, commenting and complimenting. Sometimes we don’t really know what life holds in store for us until we take the first step.

Coffee on the Brain?

Talk about waking up on the other side of the bed… this morning my eyes caught this title in the online news, Nervous About Alzheimer’s? Coffee May Help.

I am a die-hard Starbucks fan, no two ways about it, and take a lot of good-natured kidding around the office including being given a Princess wand for being too good to drink the office coffee, and from those who question my sanity for drinking hot coffee on a hot day.

Recent studies indicate that if we want to protect our brains from developing Alzheimer’s later in life, we should be more passionate about drinking coffee now. Not just a timid cup or two, but five cups a day, or about 500 mg of caffeine.

Talk about good timing… just when I have science on my side, I’m living at Park and Market where the options for a new coffee stop or two are lining up right outside my front door.

• THE OBVIOUS – Starbucks, Panera Bread and Chick-Fil-A
• THE NIGHTCAP TO A FINE MEAL – Firebirds, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Bonefish Grill, and Midtown & Bar 115
  
• THE PATIO – Hot Point Café, Bruegger’s Café and Espresso Bar
  
• THE ELEGANT – Flights at The Renaissance, Coquette, Piola and Vivace
  

Back to protecting your brain… researchers also say it takes more than coffee. If you want to learn more, be sure to try Brain Games on the back side of Bruegger’s Patio every Wednesday morning from 9:00 to 10:00.

Saturday Morning Shopping Lists

Eggs, Bacon, Bread, Bid on Painting at Silent Auction

Raspberries, Fresh Honey, Sweet Roses, Shop with Executive Chef from Flights at the Renaissance Hotel

I realized the other day just how much my habits are changing since I made the move over to Park and Market, and how many new adventures have come my way. Can you guess where I’ve been shopping on Saturday mornings from my two lists above? Bacon and eggs might sound like the 2-story Harris Teeter grocery just an elevator ride away, but I love to buy them at the Midtown Farmers’ Market where you can talk with dozens of farmers about what they’re growing or raising, and where there is always something happening on the Commons.

One of the regulars at the market is Dean Wendel, Executive Chef of Flights at the Renaissance Hotel. Watching him crisp in his black linen uniform on a warm morning, exchanging the best of the best food secrets with the market vendors, I found myself shadowing him, and to my delight was invited to “ride along”. Some of our stops along the way…

Piedmont Biofarm where we played Stump the Chef, with Lamb’s Quarter (fix it like spinach) and a taste test (tear off a leaf and chew), then a purchase for some lucky lunchtime guests back at the hotel.

Cohen Farm where Esta Cohen and Chef clucked over a carton of eggs, not just any eggs, but Gussies, the slightly smaller eggs that come from Pullet hens and are named for Esta’s mother. These were a “treat” purchase to round out Chef’s standing weekly order for 6 dozen eggs that he has delivered to his kitchen. I found myself wondering how far you’d have to look to find another hotel restaurant serving eggs on a Saturday morning that you could walk a few steps outside the hotel and talk to the farmer who produced them!

Edible Earthscapes where Chef indulged his passion for Rainbow Chard after Jason Oatis assured him he had plenty on hand and offered to sell at restaurant pricing.

Double T Farm where Tom Kumpf showed off his red leaf lettuce, grown to take the heat (talk about testing that lately) but it was the baby Bibb heads that spoke to Chef and he gently picked several to adorn sandwiches for his lunch crowd.

Would I like to come back to the kitchen with him? Are you kidding? I was in Seventh Heaven as I walked into that busy enterprise mid-morning with what seemed like every table at Flights taken and catering underway for hundreds to come later in the day. I stood listening as they discussed the spread of market bounty across their work table, where and how it would be used that day, thinking Farm to Table doesn’t get any fresher than this.

But I also understood that what Chef is out there doing every week is about more than shopping to feed his guests, it’s about community, and that seems to be what Park and Market is bringing to life for me.

What Makes a Place Home?

An interesting slice of observation about life at Park and Market Apartments comes from asking others how long they’ve lived here and where they have come from. The variety of answers to those two simple questions suggests there are enough stories to write a book, and that what we have in common is our enjoyment of a distinctive way of life that is new for Midtown Raleigh.

When we arrive at a place where everything is new, what transforms that place into home?

• Is it the school bus that arrives each day just outside the Park and Market leasing office? (Feels at once familiar and goes oh so nicely with the colorful awnings at Zoes Kitchen)
• Is it discovering Christine selling her home-grown sweet roses from the Flower Market in front of Vivace on a Thursday afternoon? (Sweeter yet for her offer to give me the jar as well as the flowers when I mentioned I had not yet unpacked my vases)
• Is it the voice of Ferenc, who shines the common areas of Park and Market with energy and a smile, mop in hand, calling out, “Welcome Home!” as I come through the lobby?
• Is it meeting a neighbor on the elevator and within minutes showing each other our apartments comparing what drove our choice, or being loaned serving dishes for a party when mine were still in one of the endless packing boxes? (Favor was soon returned with a couple bottles of the secret ingredient for a family recipe)

When you live at Park and Market, every step brings you closer to home.

The Chair that Followed Me Home

In my first post, I talked about choosing to reinvent myself in a new way of life, one without a car at the center of things, and how that might change my perceptions of the world around me.

What I couldn’t have predicted was how easily I would begin to let go of things that had occupied space in my home for years. Layer upon layer of family furniture, rooms and closets filled with things that had more or less grown up around me over the years, who knew what I would choose if I could start over? And so I did.

With a little encouragement, I chose the purple accent wall for my new apartment, sent my furniture to a consignment store, and created the space to see who and what might emerge. What art for the wall? What new pieces to make the long room that opens into the sky between here and there come to life?

Last Thursday after a fabulous evening at Piola enjoying free appetizers at the bar, my friend and I went for a stroll around North Hills, when it caught my eye. There in BeyondBlue Interiors a stunning copper wall hanging with riffs of that same steely purple hue, I recognized myself in it instantly. Imagine my surprise when the next day I bought instead the store’s own gently used, phenomenally priced leather barstool that completes my kitchen in a way I could never have imagined. Ironic isn’t it, finding myself in a piece that had been someone else’s first, but after all that’s what makes re-discovering ourselves so much fun.

Bringing Art to Life

Walking around North Hills, you may come upon one of the plein air artists, bringing streetscapes to life for the sheer joy of it and the possibility of a Blue Ribbon in the upcoming Plein Air Art Festival. Jean told me her story one day while dabbing her brush intently, how she connected the dots in her life moving from Napa to Raleigh, finding her present group of plein air artists in a magazine on the plane as she traveled here.

Follow your heart and it will take you places. Laura longed to prove the doctors wrong after an accident and taught herself to paint. Now she wows folks every Saturday at the Farmers Market with her combinations of watercolor with pen and ink. Yesterday, I got the chance to show her how North Hills is blooming across the street. Seemed only natural when we arrived at Park and Market to see my new apartment, she was the missing piece that Josie had been looking for on our well-rounded social calendar. Stay tuned for exploring your artistic side, perhaps poolside, soon!

Have you ever noticed how life comes around full circle, connecting people and events in ways our minds could never make up ahead of time? Maybe all it takes is showing up for life, being present, and learning to look around with a painter’s eye.

Who Let the Dogs In?

At Park and Market it’s Who let the dogs in… not out! To be honest, it took me a day or two to remember to stand back when waiting for the elevator because odds are on when the doors open a good-looking dog will be leading mom or dad back home. These are dogs about town, making the most of life at North Hills.

Thursday evening when we all gathered in the VIP tent on the Commons to enjoy the weekly Beach Music concert, who do you think had front row seats? Two adorable little handful-size pups and their mamas, wrapping them in their own shawls as the night grew cool.

Someone asked me recently if I plan to get a dog. Seems like I have plenty right here to adopt, and I’m having fun meeting them all. Leave me a comment about YOUR Park and Market dog. After all, it takes a special breed to know cool city living when you find it!

Spinning to the Top

You can’t miss them, and they want it that way. Those engaging sign spinners just seem to have it all – winning smiles, great moves, and the skill to flip and spin their signs in dizzying displays of bravado that make you wonder if they ever drop one.

They’ve been out in front of North Hills in recent weeks, letting everyone know the new Harris Teeter grocery and Bruegger's Cafe and Espresso Bar are open, and they also practice their moves in boot-camp style training on the big lawn across from Park and Market North Hills.

Like so many things lately, this small detail became real life yesterday afternoon with boot camp in session just as a few dozen friends dropped by to see the view from my new 6^th floor home. Makes me wonder what I’ll discover out there next!

Neighborhood Farmers' Market

Standing at the main entrance of North Hills Tuesday afternoon, waiting to cross the street with my reusable bag containing strawberries, baby lettuce, rosy radishes and a long golden baguette riding along on top, I felt smart. Not intelligent smart, although I did make a great decision moving into Park and Market North Hills – chic smart, Parisian smart, walking home from our neighborhood Farmers’ Market.

I found myself remembering the first time I reinvented myself, boarding a plane for the south of France to live in a French home and go to school, where my one semester of French left me stuck in the present tense with a vocabulary that most household pets exceed. Soon the rhythms of daily life filled in the gaps, and France became my home.

Didn’t know we have a Tuesday market? Learn more at NorthHillsFarmersMarket.com.