A Word (and 2 deals) for Wednesday

erspicacious: having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning

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As in Mrs. Lillien's recent ode to Mrs. Pisces: "She's got a perspicacious imagination- one that butters up her every creation." Mrs. Lillien's Styling House blog is one of my daily reads, and a true piece of eye candy, you should check it out.

Definition via here.

Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische.

Snag these deals today:

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*FREE Dubliner Irish Cheese with purchase at Earth Fare. Click here for the coupon, good through March 23rd.

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*Go to Just the Thing wearing GREEN (TODAY only), and get 10% off your entire purchase!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Foxy Shazam and Things to Do

Columbia's St. Patrick's Day had beautiful weather, (albeit a bit chilly with the wind gusts), plenty of beer and food, and an eclectic line-up of musicians.

I started the day by running the Get to the Green 5K, which ended up being a pretty nice course--there were a couple little hills in the first mile, but miles 2 and 3 were flat and fast. Over 2,000 people participated in the 5K, so it was a bit crowded in the beginning, but thinned out quickly.
After the race, we joined my mom, dad, and nephew, Ben, to watch the parade down Devine Street. He was entertained, which was the point.
After a quick shower, James and I were on a mission to spend the rest of the day with friends, drinking, eating and listening to music in 5 Pts. And we did just that.

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The one band I was super-excited to hear was Foxy Shazam. The Free Times described them thusly, which piqued my interest and was the impetus for me to seek them out at the festival: "the band will be heading out soon enough to play Spin’s SXSW showcase, so I suggest you give their anthemic pop a listen or two. That way, when Bob Guccione Jr. gets around to putting them on the cover of Spin, you can say you heard them when."

The band is on SPIN's 50 Must-See Bands at SXSW List, and was on their 10 To Watch in 2010 List as well. Lead vocalist, Eric Nally, truly takes center stage; SPIN describes him as "Mick Jagger on a Red Bull binge." Their music is a bit hard and may not appeal to a mainstream taste, but their performance was over-the-top entertaining. Below are 2 pics that James snagged on his camera-phone, (of course my camera ran out of batteries on Saturday!)

Lead singer, Eric Nally, hanging over the stage.

And now hanging upside-down. If you look behind him, to the right, you can see the pianist standing on the keyboard...

We only heard them play for about 15 minutes, but I was sold. Bought the CD...and now I can say, "I saw them before they got really famous..."


Tomorrow night--head to Mr. Friendly's to the Humane Society's monthly fundraiser; 10% of all sales from 6-9 pm will be donated to the local Humane Society. Click here to print out the card to present to your server.

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Become a friend of Rosso Trattoria on Facebook...they are awarding DINNER for TWO to their 1,000th Facebook Friend. If you suggest the 1,000th Friend, you'll win Dinner for Two, also! Last I looked, they were at 977 friends...

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Go Do Stuff

The older I get, the more difficult I find it to sit still and just "be." At times when I seem restless and unable to sit still, my husband says to me, simply: "Stop doin' stuff, babe." It's pretty cute, and usually is exactly what I need to hear in those moments of frantic fussing about, not really getting anything done...

Anyway--today's post is meant to send just the opposite message--go do stuff, my dears!

Impending spring and the excitement of a big St. Pat's celebration in Columbia have me really excited for the weekend!

Here is a quick list of fun things to do around Columbia:
*USC baseball hosts 3 games against Brown, Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 4 pm, and Sunday at 1:30 pm.

*Of course, St. Patrick's Festival in 5 Pts. Click here to see my previous post all about that!

*Gervais & Vine has live jazz on Saturday night, no cover--and they always have amazing tapas and wine.

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*The Nickelodeon is showing Out in the Silence one screening only--tomorrow, March 13th at 7pm. Screening will be held in the lobby of the Fox Theater - 1607 Main Street. See the trailer:



*All shoes at Revente are 20% off through Sunday.

*All-Local Farmer's Market, 8-12 Saturday, with some new vendors, including Ryan's Veg House featuring Hydroponic Butter Crunch...um, sounds amazing?! Breakfast by Rosso.

*Free show by SoftSpot at The Whig on Sunday night--plus they have $2 burgers (and veggie burgers).

What are your plans?? This weekend, I'm doin' stuff, babe.

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Columbia Rocks St. Pat's

Having grown up in Columbia, I always took it for granted that we had a St. Patrick's Day festival. But at this point in my life, I have spent some time in other cities, and there are not many that do-it-up for St. Pat's like Columbia. I haven't been to St. Pat's in 5 Points in probably 4 or 5 years, but I am making a day of it this year!

Here's a run-down of what you can look forward to this weekend:

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8:30 am- Get to the Green 5K: My husband and I are signed up for this, (much to his chagrin), and with our race registrations, we also get a t-shirt and FREE entry to the day's festivities! (A $15 value--sweet).

10 am- St. Pat's Parade: Parade begins at Dreher High School and travels down Devine St. to 5 Pts.

10 am- 6 pm- Children's Carnival: so much fun stuff for kids-- Mad Science, puppet shows, face painting, rides, double dutch, dancing, karaoke...

12 pm- 6 pm- Live Music (everywhere): there are 4 different main stages in 5 Pts. Click here to see the line-ups at each one. I am not familiar with many of the bands that are playing, but live music is always exciting...I do know Robert Earl Keen and Jet however--they're each playing different stages at 4:45 pm.

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Keeping St. Pat's Green...Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation, Sonoco Recycling, the Five Points Association and the City of Columbia teamed up with local civic groups during the 2009 festival to keep St. Pat’s in Five Points green.

Recycling receptacles were stationed throughout the festival area for the recycling of aluminum, glass, plastic bottles and cardboard. Nearly 3,000 pounds of bottles and cans and 1,200 pounds of cardboard was kept out of our landfills during the 2009 St. Pat’s in Five Points festival because of the recycling program. Now that’s keeping it green!

Bottom line for the day--there is something for everyone; go support our local festival--and the proceeds support local charities, so drink green beer knowing that you're helping others!

Click here for a cool interactive festival map.

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Columbia Weekend Guide

Check out my suggestions for an awesome weekend:

Thursday, March 4th (because let's face it, the weekend should always start on Thursday night, right?):

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Go to Cellar on Greene to take advantage of their Thursday night special--order any 2 personal pizzas and a bottle of wine, all for only $25!

Friday, March 5th:

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Attend the official "Kick-off to St. Pat's" event in 5pts. This features the annual dying of the fountain green, Irish dancers and music, and a scavenger hunt for the kids. The 5 Pts. merchants will also be having a Sidewalk Sale on Saturday, March 6th. While you're there, go ahead and purchase your tickets for next Saturday's St. Pat's extravaganza--buying early saves you $4. Here's where you can get them:

Frenzy - 926 Harden St.
Good for the Sole - 631 Harden St.
Loose Lucy's - 709 Saluda Ave.
Parrot Heads - 734 Harden St.
Yesterday's - 2030 Divine St.
Village Idiot - 2009 Devine St.

Saturday, March 6th:

First thing, go to the Fatz Cafe Pancake Breakfast to benefit Hidden Wounds, a non-profit dedicated to providing peace of mind and comfort for military personnel suffering from combat stress injuries such as PTSD, TBI, and other psychological post war challenges. The event will be from 7:30-10:30 am at the Fatz at 5590 Forest Drive; tickets are $8 each. To-go plates will be offered.

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Then, go to the grand opening of the new Owens Field Skate Park...it's been a controversial expenditure of City money, but I, for one, think it's cool as hell that Columbia has a skate park now. The opening will take place at 10 am and the skate park is located at 1351 Jim Hamilton Blvd in Rosewood. Click here to read an article in the newest Free Times about the park.

Sunday, March 7th:

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Try a new brunch spot--I think I'm going to try Cock n Bull's brunch...the description of their brunch specials on their Facebook page last weekend piqued my interest, and I've heard they have a Bloody Mary bar!? Yes, please.

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Then, after your post-brunch nap, head to the Nickelodeon Theatre for their annual Nick Oscar Party. The event starts at 6 pm and includes heavy hors d'oeuvres and signature drink. Cost is $25 for members, $30 non-members, and pay $45 and get a ticket to the event as well as a 1-year membership to The Nick! Co-hosted by Patti O'Furniture and The Shop Tart; click here to purchase tickets.

What are you up to this weekend? The weather is supposed to be nice...

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