We're on board

Ok, Ellen, we're with you! I love the 3/50 project, I've registered our business with them (the website says it takes up to 10 days to post), and I'm wholeheartedly in support of their mission - SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES! Yes, it's virtually impossible to exclusively shop locally. Yes, I also find myself at Target weekly, stocking up on essentials. And it's hard at times to pay a bit more when chain stores have things for less. Case in point: our little store. You can go into Joann's or Hancock and find loads of fabric 30%, 40%, 50% off. We just can't afford to do that. We're not a conglomerate. But before you wonder if I'm sending you off to shop at the chain fabric stores, I'M NOT! We gals at Hip Stitch have a passion for sewing and crafting, a passion to get others passionate about it, too, and order fabrics we passionately love. (Can you guess the word of the day?)

I was off yesterday - Jen was at the store. We got some new fabric in, and I was dying to come over and see it. I talked to her just before the store closed, and told her it was so hard for me not to come in today!! I just love our store! But my day was meant to be a true day off - my 9 yr. old was home sick w/fever and cough (I don't think it's THE flu), and I had a day just being home with her. Just being a mom all day.

Soooo, to follow along with Ellen's Five for Friday (we're going to pretend this was published on Friday), here are my favorite local businesses:

1. Village Wools: Since I picked up knitting again about 2 years ago, I discovered this store and just love it. Love the help sessions. Love talking to the ladies. Met my dear friend Cheryl there. (I think our coversation started with changes women go through when they reach their 40s, and it was instant bonding!)

2. Frontier/Golden Pride: The owners are Larry and Dorothy Rainosek. I've never met them, but my husband went to school with their son. I'm always amazed that every single employee I've ever come across at either the Frontier or Golden Pride (I go to the one on Juan Tabo & Comanche) is pleasant, well-mannered, intelligent, and efficient. They have the best tortillas I've ever tasted - I buy a couple dozen at a time and stick them in the freezer. And the rest of the menu? Well, it's just fabulous.

3. Morris & Comanche: (this was my husband Dan's suggestion, but I wholeheartedly agree) Our car repair guys, who are located at, well, Morris & Comanche. Robert is the owner - he's a great guy, genuinely nice and honest. My mom started going to them when she moved here 4 yrs ago, and she loves chatting with Robert - I think she'd love to find him a nice girl to marry, 'cause she thinks he's so wonderful! Along the car repair theme, I also like El Piston Loco. Dan's old Toyota pick-up was losing the clutch this past summer. He'd be driving down the road and it would slip out of gear, rendering him unable to accelerate. It drove me crazy, and I was just about to take that old thing to a car dealership and trade it in when the custodian at his school recommended this place to him. (a friend of a cousin, or a cousin of a friend, or a cousin of a cousin - some connection he had) The guys at El Piston Loco told him to pick up the part at an auto store down the street and bring it to them. They put it right in, charged us a very decent price to do the work, and now that old truck is driving like a dream. Plus, it's so fun to say 'El Piston Loco'.

4. Papa Nachos: A delicious restaurant for Mexican food. Hidden between the gas station and the laundromat, it's a tiny place. We love the nachos, which have ground beef combined with a green chile sauce. Just down the street from Hip Stitch, south on Louisiana.

5. Rising Star: our favorite Chinese eatery. Just 2 stores down from Hip Stitch, I mostly eat there at lunchtime while I'm working. Orange Chicken is my favorite - it's hard to break out and try new things when I have a favorite. Great fresh food, Shang (not sure if I'm spelling his name correctly) is the owner, a really nice guy.

There - my list. Go local!