Homeless Lasagna

Our Small Group decided we would make Lasagna for Dinner Sunday night.  We mad e an extra pan and made up 10 "to go plates" and loaded them and a carton of cigarettes in a Destination Downtown Tote and hiked all over downtown searching for the homeless to give them to.  We walked up to the Commons, over to Riverwalk, almost all the way down the riverwalk, down to pizza joint, back up broad almost to the Disco Tech - still no homeless.  Our feet were beginning to get sore so we loaded up in two cars to look that way.  We went to 3 gas stations and finally found one man on a bike that we had seen downtown before - he is very nice and never asks for anything.  He was very excited about the lasagna and we were very excited that we had found someone to enjoy it.  We drove around for about another hour and finally decide we would leave the other nine plates on a bench and hope they were found.  After hanging out for a bit Jim left to take the long trek across the street to the Whites Building.  He spotted 3 homeless guys and told them about the dinners - they gladly grabbed one and one guy took the rest to give to his buddies.  Moral of the Story - the homeless problem Downtown is not as bad as seems :-)

The 3rd Annual Century House Christmas Party

     The Monday before Christmas on our 2nd floor we held our 3rd Christmas Party since buying the building downtown.  Ben & Josh fried 2 Turkeys as usual and everyone brought yummy side dishes and desserts.  We had almost 40 people at the party this year - very exciting!  but we ran out of turkey - next year we will have to go up to 3.  After dinner we played the White Elephant Game - there were lots of awesome gifts - for instance Wes & Sarah brought 2 live Goldfish they had named Ben & Claire, There was a Nerf Gun, a Spring Action Spoon to flick your food further, etc.  Some of the most fought over items were a Cracker Barrel Gift Certificate, Starbucks Gift Card, and some passes for Bowling.  I got some yummy gourmet Pretzels & Popcorn from Blue Magnolia.  It was a lot of fun and I can't wait til next years party!

Five Christmases 2008 - The Year of the Stomach Virus

Christmas Eve:

We always have a party with the whole family Christmas Ev

e at my parents house.  We have party food, eggnog (the real deal), & subs.  We have a Christmas Carol Singalong - Aunt Linda plays Piano and we all sing along.  We have a reading of the Christmas story and then its Bunko Time.  Bunko is a very noisy game with our family everyone is shouting out things to make the dice roll they way they want them - like ENERGY or MONEY, RING THE BE

LL or DON'T RING THE BELL :-)

Christmas Morning with my Parents:

Ben at I go over to my Parents around 8am to see what Santa left us and Open presents from them.  We usually have to go upstairs and come down so they can get a picture of us pretending like we live upstairs i guess - we didnt have to do it this year for the first time I think.  Mind you Ben and I are both very sick - we both have stomach viruses - yuck!  We opened presents and then headed upstairs to take a nap until time to be at our next Destination.  Uncle Allen & Aunt Linda always come over for Breakfast (Breakfast Casserole, Homemade Biscuits, & Cinnamon Rolls).  Sadly Ben and I could not partake.

Timmy & Keirsten:

We went over to Ben's ex-step dads house to give Timmy & Keirsten their Christmas presents.  Timmy was getting an Ipod & a Portable DVD player for Christmas so we got him a DVD of the Mummy & an Itunes Gift Card.  Timmy had to open his Ipod first so that the Itunes card would not give away the surprise.  He was so excited it was like a Americans Funniest Home Video Clip.  He went crazy screaming & shaking "I got an Ipod" over and over.  It was so funny!

Grandmamas House:

We were supposed to be at Grandmama's House at 2pm for Christmas Lunch but after going to see Timmy & Keirsten we went home to take a nap and overslept.  We woke up at 3pm and rushed there - they were still eating :-)  We sat in the den while everyone finished up and then we played the White Elephant Game - I got 2 muffin tins and some muffin mix and Ben got a Gift Card to Best Buy.  Everyone Opened their gifts from Grandmama and watched her open all her gifts.  Then we got our stockings - which is always a favorite because there is always a check.  I was starting to get a hunger headache so I figured I better eat something before I got a headache on top of the stomach virus.  I had a banana, a roll, and a piece of turkey.

Grandmothers House:

We went to Grandmothers House to exchange gifts with her.  She had made lots of snack foods - mini quiche, quesadilla, taquitas and custard pie.  The only thing i thought I might be able to hold down was a piece of custard pie.  Grandmother gave us a big basket of fruit and a check.  

After our big day - we went home around 8pm and went to Bed.

THE BUILDING FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE CENTURY HOUSE

As I said before we were told when we purchased our building that it was built in 1906 and since we bought it in 2006 that meant it was 100 years old at purchase so we named it the Century House - that has since been disproven.

Historic Augusta is still researching for more details on the early uses of the building but it is believed to have been built in 1836 as a mercantile building.  In city directories through the early 1850s the upper floors are consistently listed as a boarding house with the proprietor also occasionally listed as a confectioner or beer merchant.

.................................................

1879

D.H. Shehan advertised that he received a supply of T.W. Harper's Nelson County Kentucky Whiskey and that it was appropriate for social or family use.

1887

Gallaher Bros. agents for the Florida Fruit Exchange, operated a wholesale fruit and confectionary store for two years.  In addition to bananas, oranges, coconuts, apples, grapes, and lemons, they also sold potatoes, cabbage, onions, nuts, smoked sausage, canned goods, crackers, pigs' feet, tripe & sauerkraut.

1895

W.J. Cooney & Co. operated a wholesale fruit and produce business though the early nineteen hundreds.

1919

City Directories from this year through 1953 list Fred M. Stringfellow as being associated with this building.  The building is alternately referred to as Stringfellow's Lunch Room, the Do-Drop-In Restaurant, The Oasis, and Stringfellow's Place Liquors.  In 1929 Mr. Stringfellow was arrested in a police raid that seized slot machines in over thirty downtown businesses.  He was arrested again in slot machine raids in 1935 & 1939.

1953

Jay Jewelers & Music Center occupied the building until 1980 offering a selection of jewelry, watches, school band and other musical instruments, radios and luggage. Lessons and instrument repairs were also available.

1985

Bankers First Federal Savings & Loan Association purchased all of the buildings on the north side of Broad Street between Macartan and 10th Streets and dedicated them as Lafayette Center on December 31.  The $7.5 million project was the largest certified rehabilitation approved by the state Historic Preservation District at the time.  967 Broad Street was transformed into the Bankers First retail banking office on the first floor and two condominiums for overnight guests of the bank on the floors above.

2006

We purchased the building and the rest is history :-)

HAPPY CHRISTGIVING?

My Sister Olivia is in town for Thanksgiving and since she won't be here for Christmas we had Christ-giving or Thanks-mas :-).  We woke up early Thanksgiving morning and did Christmas with Matt, Olivia & Caleb.  Caleb, who just turn 18 months, was so cute opening his presents.  He would pull off a little piece of wrapping paper and then promptly went to the trash can to dispose of of it, so each gift took a few minutes to open but it was so adorable no one minded.  I got him a giant penguin stuffed animal - it was almost as tall as he is.  My brother in law Matt got a gun from my dad and of course being the boy that he is had to go outside and try it out - boy was it was loud!  (don't worry we were at the lake not Jones Creek).  Anyway then around 1pm the family started arriving for Thanksgiving Lunch - we had so much food - My dad smoked Chicken & my grandma made Turkey and we had Ham.  Then there were Corn Casseroles, Sweet Potatoes, Dressing, Broccoli Casserole, Homemade Bread, and a million other casseroles & desserts.  After Lunch we went on a hike through the woods and over a "mountain" that has been named Shirley Mountain after my grandmama because when my mom was little she used to take them on a hike after Thanksgiving Dinner over a mountain she named Mount Mitchell Junior - not sure where that name came from.  Anyway then we hung out a little longer and made the long trek back home.  It was a very nice Christgiving!

new name for the century house?

Our Building is being featured in the December Issue of Verge in the Past Times Section - so Julia at Historic Augusta has been digging to get more information on our buildings history.  She is still working but has found lots of interesting details - the most interesting being perhaps is that we have thought all along that our building was built in 1906 - since we purchased it in 2006 - we named it the Century House thinking the building was 100 years old.  But we may need to find a new name - historic augusta believes our building may have actually been built in 1830-1840.

more to come as the story unfolds...

MIA

Wow I haven't written anything on my blog since August!

Let see what has been going on.  

Funny Story first - the other day we awoke to this beeping noise, we couldnt figure out what it was - then we realized it was a car honking.  It had been going on for over an hour at least because I remembered half waking up several times and hearing a faint honk but went back to sleep.  Anyway Ben being the curious person he is came downstairs to investigate.  There was a guy asleep on the wheel of his car!!!  He had been drinking the night before and thank goodness didn't drive home because he had to be plastered to not hear the horn going off.  :-)

I had my 10 year class reunion which was so much fun and totally worth the months of planning & stress.  It was a lot of fun planning it & rebuilding relationships with former classmates.  Everyone pretty much looked the same.  We had a great dinner catered by Silver Palm (who was ridiculously patient with us) & an awesome slide show of old pictures that Shannon put together.  it was great catching up with everyone and finding out what they have been up to for the last 10 years.  I can't believe its been that long since i was in highschool!

We have been rushing to get everything unpacked and put away because we have several Christmas Parties coming up & our building is being featured in the past times section of the December Issue of Verge so Ellie Benson is coming tomorrow to get some shots for the article.

We have lots of fun Holiday Events Coming up Downtown so I will be sure to let you know how they go!

Jake & Isabelle

We have two boxers - Jake and Isabelle. Isabelle is almost 6 years old and Jake is about 8 months old. Jake is almost as big as Isabelle.  I read that boxers are not full grown until they are two, so at this rate he is going to be huge!  Isabelle has calmed down immensely since we got Jake and he loves to annoy her as you can see to the left. Jake climbs all over Isabelle - this is her get this stupid little dog off me face.

 

Here are two pictures of them together one when Jake was just 8 weeks and one of them now.  

Anyway that's Jake & Isabelle - very cute, but very naughty!

Randomness

Wow! I did not realize it had been so long since I had written anything in my blog.  We are still wading through heaps of boxes to get through the halls - I cant wait until we can get everything unpacked.  I am never moving again - I have decided that when I am too old to climb the stairs we will just put in an elevator :-)  The last few days Ben has been working on getting Jim's place decorated and building an entertainment center that he designed for the space.  I had a First Friday Steering Committee Meeting yesterday morning.  Septembers First Friday is themed a Day for ASU and October's is BARKtoberfest which should be fun.  I wish Isabelle was a bit more calm around crowds so I could let her participate in fun doggie activities but she barks at everyone.  She is very protective.  Jake on the other hand gets along with everyone.  They are such a funny pair.  They recently started sparring which is really funny looking because boxers really do box.  They go from play fighting and looking like they are going to kill each other, to laying down on the couch kissing each other.  They love to lick each others face, they have been doing that since we got Jake - its so cute!  Anyway I am currently at the shop.  It has been a very slow Saturday so far, so we will probably close at 4 today.  The weather is pretty nice today so I may take the puppies on a long walk and grab some yummy coffee from New Moon while I'm out.  I can do that because I live downtown :-)

Downtown Living at Last!

We sold our house a few weeks ago and started the move downtown - finally! (its been a long 2 years)  We discovered while moving that we have way too much stuff (junk) for 2 people who have only been married 6 years.  I feel a downtown yardsale coming soon.  We have just about every possible nook n' crannie packed with stuff.  The halls are still full of boxes but hopefully we will have everything unpacked by - Christmas maybe :-)  We love love love living downtown.  I wake up every morning and take the dogs out back - in my pjs - then i get ready for work and walk downstairs and open the store.  We are saving so much on gas!  We can take a stroll and get coffee, go shopping, get dinner etc.  We actually walked to the post office to forward our mail.  Living downtown is all i thought it would be and more.  I highly recommend it.

Vintage 965 - New, Old & Unique

Vintage 965 opened its doors for a preview opening February of 2007.  We officially opened in March 2007 on First Friday.  Vintage 965 has evolved a lot over the last year and a half as we continue to discover what we want to the store to be.  It will continue to change and tweak to keep the shop current and fresh.  

We carry Handbags, Luggage, Vintage & Vintage Inspired Clothes, Gourmet Tea, Baby Gifts, Vintage Goods & Furnishings etc.  We continue to add new products and product lines all the time. Vintage means high in quality, enduring appeal, classic. & 965 is the address. We like to mix old with new - so the store has a little old, mostly new - everything unique!

The Century House (965/967 Broad)

Well it all began late summer 2006.  We had been looking at buildings downtown for a few years and kind of curbed the idea for a while and bought a house in Evans as an "investment".  Of course thats when we found it.  Ben was looking at properties online, as he did every now and then for fun, and saw it.  We set up an appointment with the realtor to come and see the property and we were blown away.  The other buildings we had gone to see needed so much work but this one was pretty much move in ready.  The first floor was retail space, the 2nd floor was just a big open space , the 3rd floor had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, & a small kitchenette, the 4th floor had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  

Then the realtor took us to the backyard - we would own a 3rd of Lafayette Center (what! a waterfall in our backyard) we had to put in an offer!  So a few days later we met with the realtor again to put in an official offer. There were a few more people interested but we won the bid.  So exciting! We closed in September a month after the house in Evans.  Since we had to live in the new house for 2 years before we would sell it and move downtown - we rented the space out to 4 of our friends (Jim, Burr, Josh, & Ben) We had the retail space for rent for a few months before we decided to open a business of our own - and Vintage 965 was born.  We call it the Century House because we bought it when it was exactly 100 years old.