POTT Montage 10/2/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My church hosted an open mic this past Saturday. It was absolutely amazing! Here's a little montage I put together from our spring event (March 2010).

Corrine Bailey Rae in RTP

Ahhh, my posts have been so sparse! News of the illustrious Corrine Bailey Rae coming to RTP brought me out of the cocoon. She'll be at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, Thursday, September 9, 2010.

Free Drive-In Movies

Poyner Place in Raleigh is offering free drive in movies on Thursday nights from now through the month of October. From the line-up on their official website, it looks like just about everything is family-friendly. Follow up on Friday nights with live music at the pond at Poyner Place, and your weekend is off to a great start!

Triangle Restaurant Week

Been chomping at the bit to visit the 42nd Street Oyster Bar off Glenwood South, but you lack the cash flow to really enjoy it? Look no further!

Triangle Restaurant Week is just days away. From May 17-23, the list of fabulous restaurants at this website will offer an one appetizer + one entree + one dessert for a flat rate of $15 (lunch) or $25 (dinner). This is quite the deal for some of these restaurants and worth checking out on date night with your love muffin or with coworkers/friends. With options in restaurants all across the Triangle, there's bound to be one near you.

Dance Festival in Chapel Hill - May 1, 2010

Looking for something to do this weekend? If I didn't already have solid plans, I would probably be attending the Arts On The Green Fair and Dance Festival this weekend in Chapel Hill. I enjoy dance in many forms, and this event sounds like a sure bet with performances in ballet, Bollywood, Brazilian Capoeira (wow, I've always wanted to try this), and more. There will also be artists and vendors selling their wares at various price points.

This event on Saturday, May 1 lasts from 10 AM to 5 PM, is free and open to the public, and has a rain date of Sunday, May 2.

For more information, visit the Southern Village - Events website.

Model Home Interiors Clearance Sale this Friday!

Bargain hunters in Raleigh-Durham, if you haven't heard of the MHI Warehouse sale yet, I am so, so happy to give you the scoop.

Here's how MHI works. The furniture you see in model homes at new housing developments is rented thru Model Home Interiors. When the builder no longer has a need for the furniture in a model home, it goes back to the warehouse to wait for the builder's next model. But when the builder no longer needs the items, they negotiate a price with MHI to sell it at deep discount prices. Quality, lightly-used items -- furniture, accessories, lamps, art, beds, etc -- are sold directly to the public. And voila - we score the deals.

Now, let's talk "real-life" logistics -- the stuff you won't find on the website. The sale historically happens on a Friday during a three-hour window. I got my email today (you can sign up for notifications on their website) for the event this Friday, April 2 from 9:00 am - Noon. The sales are held randomly -- at one point they were doing three-per-month, but lately they've been once a quarter, more or less.

As with so many deals, there are caveats. You may have to sacrifice some time to get a shot at the best selection, or you can keep your time (have breakfast at Bob Evans or Brig's) and take your chances with leftovers. From the email:

All Furniture Items Have A Three-Part Invoice Attached

• Only if you wish to purchase an item, write your name on the invoice.
• Take the TWO top copies off of the invoice leaving the Pink copy only on the piece.

So if you arrive late (meaning, around 9:01 am), you'll see quite a few pink slips on beautiful furniture. BUT around 11 am when most of the people are gone, the white and yellow slips go BACK onto the stuff people decided not to buy. And voila, you score a deal... leftovers, but still pretty good stuff! Example: we went later in the morning and found a two-year old Lane sectional sofa that retails for more than $3,000. Got it for around $600. I have friends that bought lovely dresser sets and armoires for a couple hundred dollars (or less!).

Parking is kinda crazy around 8:30, 9 am. Make sure you park in the designated places (the blue areas on the pic above, sorry it's so small), or you might get towed. Around 11, parking is a breeze -- you can post up right by the door.

Location: 2522 S. Tricenter Blvd, Durham 27713 (off Cornwallis Rd in RTP). Entrance is at the back of the warehouse.

FYI - they don't deliver. You can haul it away immediately, or they will hold it for you for free through Thursday of the following week. Any longer than that, and you pay a daily a fee. Debit, credit, cash and check are accepted.

Bring your coffee or cocoa, wear your comfy shoes, and have at it! :)

Shop Tour: Furbish in Raleigh

It's Friday, and I have the day off. Woo-hoo and Thank God! Whenever I'm off I make an effort to check out off-the-beaten-path shops and boutiques, if not to buy, then at least to soak in the artistry that comes in so many forms, the shapes and colors that inspire me to paint, make jewelry, etc. This weekend I'm hoping to visit Furbish, a new design store in Raleigh. I'll take pics when I visit, but in the meantime, check out this wonderful profile on the Decor8 blog -- Shop Tour: Furbish in Raleigh).