This Week in Mayfair (10/01/12)

We all have those songs. You know the ones you can't help blasting in your car and singing in the most beautiful un-signed voice ever heard by man while the people in other cars stare at you trying to ascertain if they are witnessing passionate singing, a psychotic episode, or if you are having a seizure. Here's a little visual to remind you: This is you. Here are the songs that have a tractor beam attached straight to my head, heart and voice in no particular order and for no particular reason.


1. Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
2. All These Things That I Have Done by The Killers
3. Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley
4. So What'cha Want? by the Beastie Boys (and pretty much anything off of Paul's Boutique)
5. Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard (It always reminds me of summer camp and I'm not even kidding you when I say I think it's the ultimate stripper song. I have no idea why I just admitted that. Christ. Guaranteed my hubby has a pole installed, a fistful of ones and it cued up next time I walk in the house.
6. .Alone by Heart (I know, I know....but at least I have the balls to admit it. )
7.  Some Nights by fun. (my kids usually join me in the singing. It's awesome.)
8. Take it to the Limit by the Eagles
9. Somebody to Love by Queen
10. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
11. Anything Motown (Not only am I singing I'm probably dancing too which we all know is the safest thing to do while driving. And nothing puts me in a better mood.)

How I think I sound.

How I really sound.

I've been on an insatiable folk kick recently with Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men, and The Civil Wars on constant rotation since the beginning of the summer and I like to think that I have pretty varied musical taste.  But since we're playing the musical honestly game today and I already admitted to belting my heart out to Heart,  if anyone ever took my iPod shuffle they would swear a 13-year-old girl owned it. I use it mainly at the gym and it's dominated by Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga with a dash of Beyonce and other things I probably shouldn't admit to (Miley Cyrus, One Direction (sweet Jesus), Carley Rae Jepson).  Shall I go on? No, I shan't. That's enough self-humiliation for one day (N'Sync--dammit!!).

Now to work on redeeming myself in your eyes since you now know the dark bottom dwelling secrets of my musical tastes and are secretly judging me. I don't judge the fact that you listen to the "Phantom of the Opera" Soundtrack as soon as your wife leaves the house, do I? No, dick. No, I don't.

Never one to judge anyone's musical tastes and more specifically their beer tastes, Scoats and the fine folks at the Grey Lodge Pub are indeed connoisseurs of music. Most if it's stuff that no one has ever heard of but that's cool because that's what they do; trendset and then giggle when the rest of us catch onto it about a year or so later. Join them every Wednesday night at 8pm at Quizzo to soak up some of the fine atmosphere of cool and drink fab beers while flexing your mental muscles for your friends and much dumber strangers (haha! idiots).

Takin mah' lady to the GLP for some vittles. 10-4, good buddy.

Make sure you mark your calendars for their most recent beer event "10-Four Good Buddy". 10-Four Good Buddy will feature several special beer/food pairings dreamed up by Scoats and Chef Dave. Like music and a great party, all dishes and beers are guaranteed to go well together and compliment each other. Beer will be in small pours and the food will be small plates, so you can try several without breaking your wallet or your waistline this Thursday, 10/4/12 from 4pm to 10:30pm.  

And don't forget the last Mayfair Fall Festival of the 2012 season. Sunday, October 14 from 9am to 2pm. Be there or be hungry. Good stuff abounds and there is a new Facebook page dedicated to updates and vendor information here; Mayfair Farmers' Market . Get some of your Christmas shopping done early!

You want to talk bad music? Feast your eyes on this if you haven't seen it yet. You owe yourself to watch the whole video and count how many times you say "What the f**k??!" 

Gangnam Style

A Toast to Yuengling!!

Wow. This is just a one day thing? Talk about under-kill.

Tomorrow (Friday--YAY!!) at 6:30pm Dick Yuengling, via Comcast Sportsnet, will be leading a toast. Apparently, it's National Drink Beer Day which should be a national holiday but sadly isn't (disgrace). I plan on drinking myself into a coma as a peaceful protest. Ghandi would be so proud.  

So, a toast to what you ask? Here are some suggestions:

1. A toast to how fabulous the Mayfair Fall Festival was. If you must know, it was. It's also the reason why "This Week in Mayfair" was non-existent this week. Sorry loves, I was wiped. If you didn't attend, I strongly suggest you mark your calendars for 10/14/12. 

2. To the ongoing good will and bipartisanship that are currently rampant in Congress...BWAHHAHAHAHA!

3. To Kate Middleton's boobs. Cheers guv'nor!

4. To the fact that 'Prometheus' and 'The Avengers' are out on DVD. Let's also toast the fact that "Homeland" and 'Dexter' are coming back on this weekend. YAY!

5. To the fact that despite their best efforts to become murder statistics, my children are alive, well, happy and thriving. Go me. 

Unfortunately, I have no influence over what the toast will be (Not yet anyway, I'm biding my time like Tyrion Lannister. God, I'm SUCH a nerd.)
  
Anyway,  at 6:25pm, the fine gentleman and ladies at the Grey Lodge will start pouring out a little free Yuengling Lager to everyone for the 6:30pm toast.  Be there or be this guy!!

Creepy sad clown wishes he had a beer so he could wash down the pieces of your flesh that he ingested.

Don't forget that Viriva CCU is hosting their 3rd Annual Charity Flea Market event on Sunday, September 30, 2012, from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM (rain date or shine) at their Warminster location (157 York Road, Warminster, PA 18974. Click here for our previous post about it that has more details! Viriva Charity Flea Market

Early Oktoberfest, Art and Water Ice at the Fall Festival!

Let's get right to one of the things I'm most excited about for the Mayfair Fall Festival and Farmers Market preview; The Grey Lodge Pub's Beer Garden or "Biergarten" for the true purist. 

 The Grey Lodge Pub and Scoats will be setting up keep and serving rounds of Philadelphia Brewing Company's Walt Wit and their fabulously named Kenz o'Lantern Pumpkin Ale (hilarious) on tap. Of course, since we are kicking off at the wee hour of 9am Scoats will be bringing orange juice to make Walt Wit Mimosas. Mmmmmm....beermosas + croissants + bagels = Sunday morning heavenly carb coma.

  

Scoats and crew will also be filling empty growlers and have a few empty ones for sale. Oh wait, what's a growler? Yeah, I had to look that up too. You would think with the amount I drink at times I would know what that is but Natty Ice really isn't considered "high class" even if I do drink it with my pinky out. Here's a picture:

We will be providing a couple of tables and some chairs for the Grey Lodge Pub beer garden, but you may be competing with the people sitting down and noshing at Lil' Dan's Gourmet Lunch truck (more about them later. Teaser: Gourmet Italian sandwiches. Prepare yourself.), or noshing and listening to our live music acts provided by Mike "SloMo" Brenner, The Father Judge Jazz Band, and Tricia Paffen with Nick Giannetti starting at 10am. So Scoats, being the brilliant, successful bar owner he is suggested that some people may want to bring their own chairs and make it Mayfair's very first flash beer garden (or biergarten if it makes you feel cooler). Either way it will be awesome.

 If you're a regular at the Pennypack Music Festivals you're probably familiar with Yo! Philly Ice. Theresa Colligan will be bringing her cart of delectable water ice and scooping for those of you who don't necessarily want to imbibe or are perhaps under the age of 21. Make sure you stop by and bring the kids by for one last taste of summer!




So now that we've fed your body it's time to feed your soul and broaden your horizons with art. MBA members and artists, Bill Becker and his partner Adam Elliot, will be attending with some original art from their store, Headquarters. Bill and Adam are amazing artists and if you haven't had a chance to stop by their store, do yourself a favor and get there to browse their licensed t-shirts, movie & comic book memorabilia, custom painted skateboards, sneakers, and anything else with a surface that you can paint on. I can't wait to see what they bring on Sunday and buy some new art for myself and get an early start on my Christmas list!

Here's a preview of some of the Halloween themed art from Bill and Adam:

 

Mayfair Fall Festival and Farmers' Market Preview

Are you hungry for more? Are you dying to know what other goodies are coming to Mayfair this Sunday? Can you handle it?? Alright, enough teasing...here you go!

For the Farmers' Market my co-coordinators, Joe, Sue, and I had to do a lot of "research". I put research in quotes because usually that word is equated heavily with someone sitting in a room with a clipboard and pencil, asking boring questions. Our research involved going to different farmers' markets in the area and buying food to sample, talking with local farmers, and buying more food to sample. I would literally be sitting in my car stuffing my face with scones drizzled with local honey while texting them with sticky fingers about how good whatever I was currently eating at the time was. And OOOH! You're at Headhouse? Get me a croissant from Wild Flour...no WAIT get me 4!!! It was really tough work. 

Bagels

One of the things that we felt was noticeably absent was bagels. I don't know about you but I've often wondered "How does Mayfair NOT have a bagel shop?" For that matter, how does MOST of the Northeast not have a bagel shop? There's only one that I know of. I mean seriously, I'd rather go without instead of drive 20 minute but then again, I'm admittedly lazy.  And don't even try to convince me about Dunkin Donuts bagels. I'm just not a fan. So when we were thinking about ways to get the local MBA members involved, Sue had mentioned Shop N Bag's bagels and how good they were. I had never tried them and I'm never one to pass up a good bagel (Oh, it's a carb? Sign me up.) So I went, bought a dozen and was subsequently impressed. Impressed enough to convince Mark Gilbert, owner of Shop N Bag to offer them at the Mayfair Fall Festival/Farmer's Market Preview. What's better than a bagel on a Sunday morning? Buy a dozen and eat them or freeze them for later--that's what I'm doing!

Local Honey

Honey on a bagel? Yes! Sore throat? Honey in your tea! Cold season will soon be upon us and now is the time to stock up! I give a teaspoon of honey to my little guys when they have a sore throat and a cough since they really aren't supposed to have any kind of cough or cold medicine and it usually works! Plus, they love the taste of it so I wonder how many sore throats and faked coughs have happened just to get a spoonful of honey. Greedy clever little buggers! Although there isn't any solid scientific evidence to back this up apparently ingesting local honey is great for seasonal allergy sufferers. The theory is this;  your local bees are more likely to collect pollen from the local flowers in your area. That pollen will end up in small amounts in the honey produced. By ingesting that honey on a regular basis, the person eating the honey will build up immunity to the pollens from the flowers in their local region. Makes sense to me! It's also a good way of supporting the local honey producers who are working to help save the decreasing bee populations. Stephen & Nancy Alexeichik of Mill Creek Apiary in Medford Lakes, NJ will be at the Fall Festival selling all kinds of honey and beeswax products. They also have some bath and beauty products; lip balm, hand creams and honey soaps that they make. I'll have to make sure my kids don't try to eat the soap. Visit their website here to find out more! Mill Creek Apiary

Gourmet Dog Treats

Burger

and Bander, two of TPDBC very satisfied customers.

 So now that you've stuffed yourself, you have to trudge home, laden with bags to face your dog. Silly, we're a puppy friendly event, if your dog is in fact "friendly", and leashed! If you don't bring them along, they will most definitely give you a thorough once over with their nose and probably run up and pee on your bed out of jealousy. Whoa there, Loafy!! I got you something, pal!! Local boy, Jim Toughhill and his Philly Dog Biscuit Company will be there with all kinds of gourmet, homemade treats for your 4-legged pals. Jim's specializes in organic and all natural biscuits without any chemicals or preservatives and he and his dogs taste test every new flavor they make. Yup! If they don't taste good to Jim or his pets he will not sell them to you!! Jim also has vegan treats available so make sure you bring your doggies by and show them how much you love them. Visit Jim's website here,  The Philly Dog Biscuit Company.

Who else is coming? Come back tomorrow and Saturday for more about:

Sinful Cupcake & Cafe

Stan's Health Foods

Art by HQ

The Grey Lodge Pub's Beer Garden (Yup! You read that right!)

Yo! Philly Ice 
and
Lil' Dan's Gourmet Lunch Truck from Philly Mobile Food Association 

Stay Hungry My Friends! (At least until Sunday and then you can pig out!)

A Small Taste of the Mayfair Fall Festival and Farmers' Market Preview

 OK, here's my plan for the Mayfair Fall Festival and Farmers' Market preview being held this Sunday, 9/23/12 from 9am to 2pm.  I've pretty much planned on not eating after midnight tonight so I can stuff my face with all the goodies that will be available on Sunday. I will also be stocking up on as much as I can to hold me over til the next festival on 10/14/12.

Here's a preview of what's coming! Tune in tomorrow for more information on our vendors!

Produce 

Stern Farms and Grateful Acres Farms are bringing all the produce they can carry for your eating pleasure. The following is a true story about an experience I had with buying farmers' market produce. My kids are wild about blueberries. Usually I can't keep a container more than a couple of days. However, you know how kids are, one week they can't get enough of something, another week you're trying to feed them the exact same thing and they act like you're giving them rat poison. So of course the week my kids decided to be PIA's I had bought a HUGE carton of blueberries at a farmers' market.  I washed them, put them in the fridge and my kids refused to eat them (Gah!! Ingrates!). I literally ate blueberries every other day and close to 2 weeks after, when my kids decided they again loved blueberries, what I had leftover didn't have a spot of mold on them or any sign of rot. I was floored. Most of the stuff that is coming in from the farmers' markets was picked a couple of days ago or possibly the day before. You aren't getting anything fresher unless you go pick it yourself.

Stock up and enjoy the bounty of these 2 local farmers;

Stern Farms is based out of Cream Ridge, NJ which is not to far from Hamilton Township, NJ. Stern Farms is truly a family farm. I  originally spoke with Judy Stern about joining us and she passed along the information to her daughter, Julie. Julie and her husband will be bringing primarily tomatoes and all kinds of peppers and possibly some melons if they still have any left, homemade baked goods, homemade tomato sauces, potted mums, and other farm goodies. They also do Christmas trees on their farm and will be bringing a sample of those as well (because it WILL be here before you know it!!).

Alex Archambaultto and Grateful Acres Farms are Pennsylvania based and huge supporters of the "slow food movement" (opposite of the fast food movement--I'm serious!) and are regulars at the Rittenhouse Square Farm Market. They strive to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourage the farming of plants, seeds, and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. They deal with sustainable foods and the promotion of local small businesses (perfect for Mayfair!) and they believe that supporting a local farm makes a contribution to keeping the environment greener by reducing transportation of foods by as much as 1,000 miles. They don't use any synthetic chemicals or fertilizers either. Here's their Facebook page if you want to check them out. Grateful Acres. Update: Alex will also be bringing 30 half-pound bags of fair trade/organic coffee from Kutztown's own Global Libations coffee shop!!

Artisan Bread and baked goods

Wild Flour Bakery is Northeast Philly based and they make the most ridiculously good croissants that are about as big as your head and some of the best artisan bread around. They are THE bakers for some of the fanciest restaurants downtown and are Headhouse Square regulars. Their breads are SO GOOD I'm sure there have probably been several murders committed to obtain it...alright maybe not murder but at least a couple of wicked slap fights, a noogie or two, and possible Indian burns (that ish hurts!). You can bet your buns (puns! teehee) that I'll be picking up stuff to consume during the week and possibly freeze to last me til the next fall festival on 10/14 because they only deal directly with restaurants and farmers' markets---they have no storefront which is honestly probably a good thing for my diet (or lack thereof). Here is Wild Flour's Facebook page. Wild Flour Bakery.

Flowers

Although we are bringing several vendors in from outside of our general area, we wanted to focus on supporting our local small businesses as well. Many of the owners of Mayfair businesses live right here in Mayfair or in the surrounding neighborhoods and are members of the Mayfair Business Association who are very active in the community.  Antoniette at Torresdale Flowers is one of them and has been planning and will be providing beautiful market bouquets for you to take home and enjoy! I can't wait to see what colorful creations she's come up with! Here's Torresdale Flower's website if you want to get a preview of what Antoniette can do! Torresdale Flowers






 Come back over the next couple of days leading up to Sunday for more about our other vendors!

Mill Creek Apiary

Philly Dog Biscuit Company

Sinful Cupcake & Cafe

Stan's Health Foods

Mayfair Shop N Bag

The Grey Lodge Pub

Yo! Philly Ice

Art by HQ

and Lil' Dan's Gourmet Lunch Truck from the Philly Mobile Food Association

This Week in Mayfair (9/17/12)

I had a kid free weekend, how about you? No? Haha, suckers. I would consider renting out my in-laws but we have precious little time left with them since they are going on a trip to Israel at the end of October and based on the sh*t-show that is the Middle East right now, the odds of them coming back in one piece are getting slimmer by the day.  I know I shouldn't think those things, but sometimes my brain is overtaken by that dark, demented teenager that lives inside me and likes to cut herself and wear heavy eyeliner. Actually, I blame the depression that is hitting me like a wave right now as I'm realizing my kids will be coming home in about 2 hours and I haven't finished half the crap I wanted to do.

Whenever faced with the realization that I'm not going to have kids for any amount of time over 60 minutes I go a little nuts trying to cram everything I've wanted to do but put on the back burner into that amount of time. Here's my list of what I accomplished from Friday night until about now:

• Get plants and supplies for gardening at the Mayfair Memorial Playground for Saturday.
• Drink a glass of wine and decide with the hubby "let's watch movies".
• Get movies at Redbox, have difficulty running credit card through machine, run into a friend who is also getting movies who suggests I turn the strip on my credit card to the other side and it will work. He's right.
• Become glaringly aware that I'm a lightweight based on issues with obtaining movies and credit card after one glass of wine. 
• Watch movies and newest Louis C.K. stand-up while drinking the rest of the bottle of wine and half a case of beer with my hubby.
• Pass out around 2ish, I think.
• Wake up slightly drunk (possibly sleep deprived) at 9:00 am, realize I need to eat breakfast and garden.
• Weed and landscape both one planter bed(s) at the MMP.

Pretty sure this is inappropriate for a playground.

• Completely sober up around noon. Realize I'm an idiot. 
• Go home, shower.
• Attend Fundraiser//Beef and Beer--ooh! Beer! Just 2 or maybe 4? *Shrugs*
• Go home and sleep.
• Wake up at 6:15 am in the GD morning (are you KIDDING me??) and proceed to have an allergy attack.
• Put all the clothes away prior to 9am in the morning and clean the kid's rooms.
• Church (Dear Jesus, I love my kids but I just need one. more. day.)
• Breakfast alone with the hubby with conversation that devolved from politics into "Wasn't this weekend awesome? Why did we have kids again?"
• Blog post

What I really wanted to accomplish:

• Shopping at every mall within a 25 mile radius (shoe, clothes, jewelry, homegoods, shoes, bags, etc.)
• Man/pedi/massage
• Learn to knit
• Detailed plan for world peace
• Climb Everest

Yeah, so the short form of that was basically when I wasn't gardening this weekend, I was in some state of intoxication. Not a bad place to be actually.

"I'm planting pansies in my bra!! Yeeeeaaaah bitches!" said in my best drunk sorority girl voice. Oh, you've never heard it? Remind me next time I see you.

Speaking of intoxication, The Grey Lodge Pub is still around. Why?? Because it's the best damn bar ever! That's why!!  AAAAnd...they host the BEST Quizzo in the city on Wednesday nights at 8pm. Added bonus to this Wednesday? It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So brush up one yer piratical lingo, me hearties and tip one back while ya answer questions for booty. If ye be wrong, you walk the plank. Seriously, don't blame me if ITLAPD lapses over into something more sinister at Quizzo because personally, if I'm talking like a pirate all day, I'm Method acting my way into pillaging your prize money and smacking beer wenches on the ass. Yeah, I'm well aware that the beer wenches at the GLP have a tendency to be hipster boys. Get ready gentlemen, this is the 21st century. Wear your deepest v-neck and prepare to be objectified by me and my eye-patch wearing friends. Arrrrrghhh!

Arrrgh! Yer hipster wench's tattoo be sorta dumb....

I just took this quiz to find out my pirate name. I'm the Dread Pirate Kidd apparently (pbbbbltttt!) Not as fear provoking as I wanted it to be.  I would have preferred to be Mia, the Murderous Marauder but the quiz speaks and I am named. Go ahead, take the quiz...your boss is late again and besides, dude's a over-paid jerk.

Antoniette at Torresdale Flowers is still having her $19.99 "Cash and Carry" dozen roses. Make sure you honor the cash part of that deal, pirate bretheren, not just the carry part. C'mon now! 

  

Set your sails for Viriva CCU. NO! You can't have all the money in the vault! Instead, finance your Vehicle Loan with Viriva Community Credit Union and get entered to Win Gas For One Month*! 

Get automatically entered to win a $300.00 gas card when you finance and close your Vehicle Loan with Viriva Community Credit Union between September 1, 2012 and October 31, 2012. For every $1,000.00 in new money you finance, you'll receive one chance to win. 

Vehicle Loan Rates Start As Low As 2.99% APR**. Click here to apply now. 

Purchasing a new or used vehicle does not have to be a frustrating experience! Before you buy, learn strategies and negotiating tips that can help you get a great deal on your vehicle purchase with our online interactive Anytime Adviser. You can also request to have our FREE Vehicle Buyer's Kit mailed to you by emailing marketing@viriva.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , while supplies last.

Click here for complete rules and regulations.

 And don't forget about Viriva Community Credit Union’s 3rd Annual Charity Flea Market Event happening on Sunday, 9/30/2012, 10am to 3pm at the Warminster branch!!

The Mayfair Civic Association is holding their general meeting Monday, 9/17/2012 at 7pm at the Mayfair Community Center. So stop your bitching and actually get involved and informed about what is going on in your neighborhood instead of whining about it on Facebook and expecting everybody to jump to help you while you sit on your ass and contemplate more ways to be annoying. You know who you are.

If a complainer complains on MySpace and no one is there to hear him, is it still happening?

This came up under the Google image search of "complainers". Not quite sure why.....thought I would share. You're welcome.

 Also, stay tuned for information coming up about this Sunday's (9/23/2012) Mayfair Fall Festival and Farmers' Market Preview at the Frankford/Cottman intersection from 9am to 2pm. You're going to LOVE it, so make sure to schedule some time to browse the farm fresh produce, honey, all the goodies and have a beer at the Grey Lodge Pub's beer garden while listening to some live music. Oh yeah! Can't WAIT til next Sunday!!

Happy veggies come from the Mayfair Farmers' Market

 

Who Loves to Laugh?

You know what isn't funny? The fact that I've been crazy busy all week with my kid starting preschool and it's thrown off my regular routing SO MUCH that I'm having a hard time adjusting. Please note: he's been there for a total of oh, about 2 hours this week!! I have serious issues (you knew that, though right?)

Alright, here's something for you to seriously laugh about. The Grey Lodge Pub is turning into a comedy club. No! Not permanently! No need to hoard growlers of specialty beer or anything so put the cooler down. Friday night they'll be hosting Comedy Combat Zone Productions Present: Comedy Night at The Grey Lodge Pub. Matt Reiss will headline a comedy show on the 2nd floor starting at 10pm and also appearing will be Dan Mahon, Darin Martinez, and Josh Jakubiw plus some other special guests. There will be a $7 cover charge for this one because comedians are greedy and won't work for just beer and drugs anymore. One more thing to blame on Dane Cook....

Viriva CCU Charity Flea Market!!

Suphaphone Sounkongsee
Viriva Community Credit Union
215-333-1201 Ext. 214
215-305-3920
ssounkongsee@viriva.com
www.viriva.com

Viriva Community Credit Union’s 3rd Annual Charity Flea Market Event

In 2008, Viriva Community Credit Union relocated its corporate office to 157 York Road, Warminster, PA 18974. The property contains a sizable parking lot that the Viriva team members thought could be put to better use, on occasion, to help both members of the community and local charitable organizations and so decided to host a charity flea market for local residents and merchants.

Accordingly, Viriva Community Credit Union is hosting its 3rd Annual Charity Flea Market event on Sunday, September 30, 2012, from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM (rain date or shine).

In our efforts to include local businesses in this community event we’re inviting you to take advantage of this affordable opportunity to rent selling spaces so as to further promote your products and/or services to those attending. Think creatively and consider using the space for fun games, face painting, or arts & crafts, as these will draw attention to your station/business.

Selling spaces can be reserved for a recommended minimum donation of $10 per space, with all rental proceeds being donated to The Sunshine Foundation, the original wish-granting organization for children! Tables are not provided and one rental space is equivalent to one average size car parking space. Send an email to
“marketing@viriva.com” or call 1-888-7-VIRIVA (215-333-1201 for local calls), extension 130, for more information.

Viriva Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial institution serving anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in the Pennsylvania counties of Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Delaware. We even provide loan and deposit services to local businesses. To learn more about Viriva Community Credit Union, please visit “www.viriva.com”.

Member Profile: Stan's Health Foods

Stan's Health Foods is one of those little niche shops that you typically find in "trendier" neighborhoods that we are lucky to have right in the heart of Mayfair. I had read some articles recently about the chemicals in kids shampoos and soaps and had freaked myself out enough that I practically ran to Stan's at 7161 Frankford Ave. I mean, I've known it's there but I never actually went IN the place mainly because I thought they only sold body-building stuff. I was on a mission to find some organic shampoo and bath and body products and was pleasantly surprised to find a whole bunch more!

I got to meet Lisa, one of the workers at Stan's and she let me wander around the store aimlessly, and ask dumb questions like "What does this do?" and "Is it true that peppermint oil is a natural bug repellant?" (it is!). She humored me the whole time and was very knowledgeable about all of the products in there.

No need Liam Neeson, just get some peppermint oil.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet the owner, Sharon, in person but she was nice enough to give me a call so I could get a little bit of background on Stan's.

Stan's was started by originally opened in 1984 by 2 brothers who wanted to open a health food store. Sharon, who was a Philadelphia police officer, was a customer during the early days. When she wasn't protecting the city she picked up a part-time job at Stan's and worked on her days off and weekends. After several years, the brothers decided to sell the store and they proposed that Sharon buy it. She agreed and went from being a  customer, to an employee and finally to an owner.

Sharon is still frequently found behind the counter along with her mom, her sister, her neices and many members of her family who help her run the place.

My poor kids on a summer's day. Mosquito buffet, no more!

So what kind of a treasure trove did I find at Stan's? One that I will definitely be returning for. Of course they have body building products, vitamins, supplements and all your healthy lifestyle needs but they also had all kinds of essential oils. I picked up some peppermint oil for my mosquito-bait munchkins and also some lemon and lavender oil to put in their vaporizers during cold season. Parents, you know it's coming and it really does help with coughs and colds, not to mention it makes the room smell great!! Stan's also has loose and bagged teas, speciality food items, natural honey, anti-aging products, and healthy snacks and drinks to go.  They also had the organic bath and body products I was looking for: soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc. TONS of stuff that you don't know about until you actually go in.

Mmmmmm...gluten free and teeming with little girl germs. No thanks, I'm good.

The thing I was most excited about were the gluten free foods that they offer. About 10 years ago, my dad was diagnosed with celiac disease which is a gluten allergy and if you have celiac disease you find out that gluten is in practically EVERYTHING!! Bread, pasta, many canned soups, foods, beer (I hope it's not genetic!) and lunchmeats. When he was first diagnosed, the only place we could find that really carried a selection of gluten-free stuff was at Whole Foods. Well, that was a hike and a pain in the butt to get too. So now I have a place very much closer to home to go to and get him stuff. They have baking items, snacks, everything! Gluten-free stuff isn't just for those with celiac disease. Many parents of autistic children often put their children on gluten free diets and report improvements in autism symptom. One of my best friends, who is also a type 1 diabetic has recently developed in intolerance to gluten. She found out that about 10% of type 1 diabetics also develop some form of a gluten allergy and tries to stay as gluten free as she possibly can. Get yourselves to Stan's Health Food for all of your gluten free needs!

Awwww! Thanks Ryan Gosling, you're the sweetest. Now take your shirt off.

Stan's is open 7 days a week and they have a newsletter that you can subscribe to by coming into the store, calling them to sign up, or by going to the website.  They also have a Facebook page here that you can "Like": Stan's Health Food and a website to check out more of their products and information: Stan's Health Food. Stan's offers a discount to police officers, firefighters and active military as a way of saying thank you for protecting and serving all of us.

Sharon is also a HUGE animal lover. She sells natural pet products and LOVES to have doggies and their owners visit the store! Sharon is extremely supportive of animal rescues and any animal related cause she can get involved in so grab the pooches and take them over to give big, wet, slobbery kisses to Sharon!

Ummmm, human that I love? Can we go to Stan's to get the good stuff? This isn't really doing it for me. Yes, I'm aware I lick my own butt.....

This Week in Mayfair (9/03/12)

Woo-hoo!! Our 200th post!! Is it coincidence that it's also my birthday AND Labor Day? Nope. The stars have truly aligned  and the fates are smiling to bring us this most precious and momentous occasion on the same day.

You will have to forgive me if this post is somewhat short as it's Labor Day, my birthday, and my youngest (Neutron Bomb) is also in the midst of a slight stomach flu. I was greeted this morning by him vomiting into my hand before I even had the chance to pour myself  a cup of coffee. I knew something was wrong with him when he wouldn't eat his favorite breakfast (pancakes) and told me and my mother-in-law that he wanted to go back to bed to sleep (he had been up for about 30 minutes).  He did rally somewhat around lunchtime and is currently yelling my first name at the top of his lungs because he's completely exhausted but refusing to sleep. Kids are the gift that keep on giving.

You'll have to also forgive the lack of pictures as Blogger's image uploader appears to also be taking Labor Day in stride and is currently not working either. 

Quizzo at the Grey Lodge this week is on Wednesday starting at 8pm. Teams of 4 on the second floor!! Get there!

I got a chance to go into Stan's Health Food Store at 7161 Frankford Ave this week to take a look around and see what they are selling and it's ALL good stuff! I'll be doing a feature on Stan's this week to give you the lowdown. As I mentioned previously they sell organic bath and body products along with vitamins and other healthy lifestyle products. They also have a LOT of gluten free items which I'm very interested in as my dad has celiac disease and isn't supposed to eat anything containing gluten (he cheats a lot though)! 

Don't forget to stop by Torresdale Flowers and pick up dozen red roses for $19.99. I'd get my little Neutron Bomb a "get well" bouquet but honestly, he'd probably just try to eat them and then there would be more trouble. Maybe we'll just look at pictures of flowers here. Torresdale Flowers


Mark your calendars because Viriva's holding a Flea Market for Charity on Sunday, September 30, 2012 from 10AM until 3PM at their Warminster (157 York Road  Warminster, PA 18974) branch. I know I said last week that I'll do a separate post about this (I forgot--oops!) to include all the info Viriva CCU. I promise to get to it this week!

 Keep going to Mayfair Shop N Bag so you can be one of the weekly winners of the $50 or $100 free gas gift card at Mayfair Shop N Bag. There's one $100 winner weekly and 4 $50 winners! See the store for details!

Also, stay tuned because I'll be bringing you more details about the Mayfair CDC and Republic Bank sponsored Mayfair Farmers' Market preview days scheduled for Sunday, September 23 and Sunday, October 14 from 9am to 2pm.