If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, VA you can enjoy Memorial Day in Richmond this weekend. Rocketts Red Glare returns for its second year of fireworks and festivities at Rocketts Landing on Sunday, May 26 – just in time for Memorial Day. This weekend is the unofficial start of summer and you welcome summer with a bang!
The festivities start at 5:30 p.m. The Kings of Swing play at 6:30 p.m. And the fireworks are expected around 9 p.m.
Here's the full entertainment schedule:
5:30 p.m.- Mike Banks and Chris Norred
6:30 p.m.- Kings of Swing
9 p.m.- Fireworks
The food trucks from RVA Street Foodies will be there dishing up food truck goodness. Plus beer and wine will be available.
Participating food trucks:
Chupacabra
Soul Ice
King of Pops
Habaneros
The Dog Wagon
Curbside Creations Food Truck
Slideways Mobile Bistro
The Meatball Company
The festivities are free and open to the public. Bring a blanket and chairs to lounge and relax while you watch the fireworks explode over the James River.
Picnics are also welcome. Or you could go fancy and enjoy dinner at the Boathouse or Conch Republic while watching the fireworks – although we’re sure both spots will be hoppin'.
If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, VA, this weekend you can experience the nation’s premier outdoor sports and music festival. Dominion Riverrock, May 17 – 19, is the East Coast's premier outdoor lifestyle festival, bringing athletes, spectators, musicians, and even dogs to Brown’s Island for a three-day festival against the backdrop of downtown Richmond’s urban riverfront.
The festival features a variety of outdoor sports including trail running, kayaking, biking, bouldering, slack-lining, stand up paddle boarding, and dog jumping. Richmond and the surrounding area is a mecca for outdoors enthusiasts, urban life and outdoor life merging perfectly. The event was designed to promote Richmond’s unique riverfront, downtown trails and whitewater rapids to outdoor enthusiasts. As a result of the creation of Dominion Riverrock, there is a stronger appreciation for the value of outdoor recreation throughout the entire Richmond region.
While you are there, you will be able dance to live music everyday. Relax, have a beer and enjoy the music – another major component of Dominion Riverrock. All concerts at Dominion Riverrock, including the headliners on Friday and Saturday evenings, are FREE and open to the public.
If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, VA, there are an abundance of perfect places to take mom inRichmond for Mother’s Day. In honor of Mother’s Day, we’ve supplied you with a list of the top venues.
1. Maymont
This Richmond classic has beautiful gardens, a historic mansion tour with an upstairs/downstairs twist, butterflies, a carriage collection, and fluffy bunnies.
2. Afternoon Tea at the Jefferson
The Jefferson is the grand matriarch of all Richmond hotels. Take your own family matriarch here for fancy finger sandwiches, scones, tea, and even a little bubbly. You may reach favorite child status.
3. West End Antiques Mall
53,000 square feet of antiques. The issue with an outing to this West End staple will be getting your mom to leave. Wear comfortable shoes.
4. A Matinee at Hanover Tavern
Not only will mom love the historic, rural setting, you can rest assured that any play put on here will be filled with folksy, non-risqué family fun.
5. The Virginia Museum of Fine Art
Maybe your mother admires classic European paintings. Maybe she’s into pop art. Or maybe she would just really love to have a drink at Best Café on the outdoor terrace. No matter her tastes, there is guaranteed to be something at the VMFA that will your mom happy.
6. Bird-watching with the Richmond Audubon Society
If your mother has a pair of binoculars and a Birds of Virginia field manual she’ll love to go on one of the Richmond Audubon Society’s guided bird-watching tours.
7. Ashland Coffee & Tea
Out of all the nearby music venues, Ashland Coffee & Tea may be the most mom-friendly. The music is dependably great but fairly mellow. Everyone gets to sit down. She can order snacks and warm beverages throughout the show.
8. Segway Tour of Richmond
Bring mom on a ride on a segway around downtown Richmond. If she’s a history buff or a Daniel Day Lewis fan, she’ll love the Lincoln in Richmond tour.
9. Carytown
The best place in Richmond to turn a quick outing with mom into a daylong bonding session. Start with brunch at Can Can. Then shop until your feet hurt. Catch your breath with a matinee at the Byrd. Top it all off with a glass of wine.
You have two weeks to get your mother a Mother’s Day gift. This year Mother’s day is in May 12th, don’t forget. Are you struggling for gift ideas? Here at The Gardens at Twin Hickory, apartments in Glen Allen, Va, we did some research for you for some perfect gifts for mom.
Pampering - massage, facial, manicure, pedicure
Pool resources with you siblings for a trip to a bed and breakfast
Designer handbag
Gourmet cooking classes
A series of Yoga or Tai Chi exercise classes
Picnic basket and blanket with a nice bottle of wine
Perfume
Pottery or a pottery or art class
Assortment of bulbs for the garden with gardening tools
Tickets to the ballet, theater or favorite sports event
Cappuccino maker and gourmet coffee
Designer pajamas
Digital camera
Gourmet cookware
Flowers of the Month Club or Wine of the Month Club
In the recent years following the housing market crash, would-be homeowners are warming to the idea of renting anapartment in Glen Allen, VA over owning their own home.
Many people still aspire to own a home, but most are still within the grips of the housing crisis. Because of this, some tend to assume the hard times are still upon them, or the worst is yet to come. Due to that effect, they may welcome the small recovery that has been seen recently in the housing market, but it does not sway them toward considering ownership of long-term properties.
"The old formula of buying and dying in your house is no longer the formula for many," said Peter Hart, chairman emeritus of Hart Research Associates. "The stigma of renting is no longer the case. When it comes to living the American dream, the overwhelming response (is) renting is just as appealing,"
There are, in fact, 57% of adults who believe that buying a home appears less appealing, while 54% believe renting has become a more appealing option in a recent study. Those numbers are based upon a survey over 1,400 adults.
Nearly half of all surveyed homeowners can see themselves becoming renters at some point in the future.
"You can still aspire to own a home but see renting in your future," said Rebecca Naser, a senior vice president at Hart. "It's not renting versus owning anymore. It's a continuum through life."
If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, VA, you can enjoy a spring tradition that has been going on for 20 years, Earth Day. The official Richmond Earth Day Festival kicks off on Saturday, April 20, 2013 from 11AM to 5PM at the 17th Street Farmers' Market in Shockoe Bottom.
Explore the enhanced and interactive areas:
Eco-Home presented by EarthCraft Virginia
Energy efficient home supplies
Contractors/builders
Eco-friendly clothes/fabrics
Eco-friendly home services
Eco-Outdoors
Eco-friendly lawn care
Eco-friendly outdoor supplies
Eco-friendly lumber/play sets
Eco-Kids
An array of hands-on activities for kids of all ages provided by: Backyard Farmer and Virginia Center for Latin American Art
Hands-on gardening activities
Games made out of repurposed materials
Eco-friendly art projects
Eco-Marketplace
Environmentally friendly arts & crafts vendors
Local food producers & farms
Local wineries
Eco-On-the-Go
Eco-friendly cars
Eco-friendly modes of transportation
Coordinated group rides to and from the festival, as well as bike experts on-hand from Carytown Bikes, Bysolar, Ride Richmond
Eco-Adventure Interactive
Rock climing
Segway rides presented by River City Segs
Sign up for exclusive colonial trial walks/slave-trail walks
Biking adventures
Interactive art demonstrations
Live music
Taking place throughout the day on two music stages including performances by:
Many people consider owning your own home the American dream, but no dream is one-size-fits-all.
While owning a home can increase your net worth, there are potential downsides as well -- additional labor, hassle and cost, to name a few. In many cases, renting an apartment in Glen Allen, VA makes sense.
How can you know which is best? Here's what you need to consider:
The minuses of homeownership: Owning a home is a huge time commitment. When you rent, maintenance is someone else's problem and repairs are solved with a phone call. When you own a home, you take on the rolls of maintenance and gardener. When something breaks, you need to fix it.
Homeownership also limits flexibility. When you buy, you should plan to keep the house at least five years, because transaction costs -- agent commissions and other sales expenses -- are high. Sell too soon and you won't recoup those costs.
The pluses: One of the joys of homeownership is investing time to make it yours and make it worth more. What you can do to customize a home you own is limited only by your imagination, budget and local zoning restrictions.
The bottom line: If you want to stay mobile, if you don't enjoy home improvement projects, rent. If you're staying put and watch a lot of HGTV, buy.
Money
The minuses: If you rent, you'll pay the first month's rent, a security deposit, and maybe a pet deposit. Buying means a down payment, closing costs, and other major expenses, including continuous repairs and maintenance costs.
In 2010 the average annual homeowners’ insurance premium was $909. Property taxes vary widely depending on where you live, but run from hundreds a year to thousands.
The bottom line: If you don't have the money and/or credit score necessary to buy a home, the question is moot. But if you can afford to own a home in a desirable area with an expanding population, you'll probably be rewarded financially.
One way to run the numbers is to use buy vs. rent calculators. But, while those are certainly helpful, the answer you get from a calculator will depend on the information you provide -- some of which you can't possibly know.
For example, among other variables, most calculators will ask how much the house you're buying will appreciate annually, as well as how much equivalent rent will increase over time. These are questions you cannot answer.
Buying? Don't get in over your head, keep these thoughts in mind:
To lower the risk of homeownership, buy only what you need, not the most expensive house you qualify for. The average house in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Today it's more than twice that. Remember that whatever you buy, you're going to have to furnish, heat, cool, insure, clean and maintain it.
If you have bad credit and only qualify for a high-interest mortgage, it will cost you tens of thousands of extra dollars over the life of your loan.
The more you put down, the less you borrow and the less risk you take.
Finally, if you decide it's time to buy, hope for appreciation, but don't count on it. However, if the community you're living in has both expanding employment opportunities and population, prices are likely to rise over time.
If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, VA and you are looking for something to do in the Richmond area, there are plenty of arts and entertainment events going on around town.
Here is a quick glimpse at the upcoming Richmond area arts and entertainment calendar.
Art Openings
First Fridays Art Walk: Openings Friday 5-9 p.m. at galleries on and around Broad Street downtown.
West Main Street galleries: Openings Friday at Artemis Gallery; glave kocen gallery; Page Bond Gallery; Red Door Gallery; Reynolds Gallery; Uptown Gallery; and Visual Arts Center of Richmond.
DéCOR, 19 S. Belmont Ave. Reception 2-5 p.m. Saturday for “Saturday Showcase,” pen-and-ink abstractions by Tom Zuk. Through April 27.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard. Opens Saturday: “Pop Art and Beyond: Tom Wesselmann,” major retrospective of the works of the American painter famous for his “Great American Nudes.”
Concerts
Jazz Café: Victor Haskins Quartet, 6 p.m. Thursday at Best Café, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard. Free.
2nd Stage Series: Brad Spivey & the Honky Tonk Experience in old-time, traditional country tunes, 7 p.m. Friday at Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, 2880 Mountain Road. $12 in advance, $15 at door.
1964 .. . The Tribute: Foursome dubbed “the best Beatles tribute on Earth” channels the Fab Four at 8 p.m. Saturday at Carpenter Theatre, Richmond CenterStage, 600 E. Grace St.
Shady Grove Coffeehouse: Steve Smith & Hard Road – string-meister Smith, guitarist Chris Sanders and bassist Anne Luna — in Americana and bluegrass, 8 p.m. Saturday at Unitarian Universalist Community Church, 11105 Cauthorne Road.
Dance
Richmond Ballet Studio 3: “New Works Festival” offers up four new works from choreographers Starrene Foster, Sasha Janes, Darrell Moultrie and Amy Seiwert, 6:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. April 7, 6:30 p.m. April 10-13 and 4 p.m. April 14 at Richmond
Ballet Studio Theatre, 407 E. Canal St. opening night includes post-performance reception.
Richmond Choreographers’ Showcase: Dance works by 11 choreographers from the Mid-Atlantic, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. April 7 at VCU Grace Street Theater.
Theater Openings
“The Pride,” Richmond Triangle Players production of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s award-winning time-traveling play, previews at 8 p.m. Wednesday and opens at 8 p.m. Thursday at RTP Theater, 1300 Altamont Ave. $16 preview, $26 opening night, $21-$26 thereafter. Through April 27.
“Post-Black in the ‘Burg,” Sycamore Rouge Six Blocks series production of a collection of one-act plays written by students at the College of William and Mary examining “post-blackness” opens at 8 p.m. Thursday at Sycamore Rouge, 306 N. Sycamore St., Petersburg. $10. Repeats Friday.
“Sweeney Todd: The Play,” Theatre VCU production of Christopher Bond’s dark play about a barber who plots a grisly revenge against his enemies, opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Raymond Hodges Theatre, VCU Singleton Center, 922 Park Ave. Through April 21.
Other Stuff
RavenCon: Science-fiction, fantasy and horror genre convention with authors, gamers, workshops and more, opens with registration at noon Friday and continues Saturday and April 7 at Holiday Inn Select-Koger South.
Cinema Classics: “The Sound of Music,” hit musical starring Julie Andrews screened at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Henrico Theatre.
Southside Virginia Heritage Days: Commemoration of the Civil War Battle of Sutherland with 18th- and 19th-century civilian and military living history, tours of the 1803 Sutherland’s Tavern and more, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 7 at Historic Fork Inn.
Black & White Affair: Dancing, hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, casino games and more, 7-11 p.m. Saturday at Children’s Museum of Richmond-Central; benefits KLM Scholarship Foundation.
If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, Va and you are looking for something fun to do on Easter with family and friends, head to the Easter Parade in Richmond. It is hard to believe it’s Easter already! But in Richmond we never turn down a chance to party.
Sunday, March 31st, from 1 to 5, is Easter on Parade, and this is one of our favorite festivals. Why? It’s free, we wear funny hats and stroll down Monument Avenue listening to music coming from front porches, we socialize with friends and have a good time.
More than 25,000 people come to Monument Avenue every Easter for music, arts, crafts, children’s activities, food, balloon artistry, a petting zoo, and of course, people and pet watching.
In case you’ve never been, here are a few tips:
Wear a hat. Decorate it however you wish.
Ladies, if you’d like, wear that spring dress. You won’t regret it.
Get there early. It can get a little hairy at the height of the festival.
A lot of people carry their own plastic cups….
Bring a laid-back attitude. This festival is all about the stroll.
The Pet Bonnet and People Bonnet Showcases held at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., on the Main Stage at Allen Avenue is one of the highlights of the festival. There will be food and festival fare from vendors throughout the four-block radius.
Some of the Performers and activities:
Zayde R. Dotts Main Stage ( Monument & Allen Avenues)
1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Upper East Side Big Band
3 p.m. Pet Bonnet Showcase
4 p.m. People Bonnet Showcase
Special musical performances by the cast of Cotton Patch Gospel, along with appearances by Nutzy, Bonnie the Bon Secours Bunny, and Richmond Raiders players and cheerleaders.
Question: What issues should I consider in deciding whether to continue renting versus buying a home?
Answer: As financial decisions go, the decision regarding if and when to buy a home is pretty challenging. You've got plenty of financial considerations to contend with, as well as personal issues.
You probably have already heard some arguments regarding the supposed financial benefits to owning a home. These include the notion of buying and owning a home for the tax breaks as well as the thinking that paying rent is analogous to throwing or flushing your money away.
The biggest homeownership costs (mortgage interest, property taxes) generally are tax-deductible. However, these breaks are already largely factored into the higher cost of owning a home. So you should never buy a home just because of the tax breaks.
Renting isn't necessarily like throwing your money away. In fact, renting can have a number of benefits, including:
Renting sometimes costs less (sometimes much less) than buying even after factoring in the tax benefits of owning).
You may be able to save more toward your personal and financial goals if you can rent. You can invest what would have been a down payment in other financial assets.
Renting has potential psychological rewards. You usually have more flexibility to move on as a renter. As a homeowner, you have a major monthly payment to take care of. To some people, this responsibility feels like a financial ball and chain.
As a homeowner, your largest monthly expense (the mortgage payment) doesn't increase, however, your property taxes, homeowners insurance, and maintenance expenses are exposed to inflation.
You will face significant costs when buying and selling a home. You will probably need at least five years of low appreciation to recoup your transaction costs. On top of the transaction costs of buying and then selling a home, you'll also face maintenance during your years of home ownership.
To cover all the transaction and maintenance costs of homeownership, the value of your home needs to appreciate about 15% through the years that you own it for you to be as well off financially as if you had continued renting. Counting on that kind of appreciation if you need or want to move elsewhere in a few years is risky.
Grab GAR RSS Feed
If you live in an apartment in Glen Allen, VA you can enjoy Memorial Day in Richmond this weekend. Rocketts Red Glare returns for its second year of fireworks and festivities at Rocketts Landing on Sunday, May 26 – just in time for Memorial Day. This weekend is the unofficial start of summer and you welcome summer with a bang!
In the recent years following the housing market crash, would-be homeowners are warming to the idea of renting an 
If you live in an 
Question: What issues should I consider in deciding whether to continue renting versus buying a home?
