All Over Albany

Where to get whole sardines?

Apparently there's a bit of a neo-sardine movement because the fish are considered both healthy and sustainable.

Shadi and Jason:

"Where can we find fresh, whole sardines?"

Our first thought was to check with The Original Two Cousins fish market. So we called up the Newton Plaza location in Latham this morning. The helpful people there said they don't have fresh sardines -- but they do have frozen. A two pound bag is $7.95.

Anyone have other suggestions for Shadi and Jason? Maybe you've seen whole sardines in one of the supermarket seafood sections. Please share!

photo: Flickr user FotoosVonRobin

Good mortgage brokers, real estate attorneys, etc?

Following up our mention of this being a good time to think about refinancing your mortgage (seriously you could potentially end up saving many tens of thousands of dollars), -S asked:

My case. If somebody has experience with that process, or pointers, I'd really would like to hear about it. Thanks.

This is a good question because it's the sort of situation where some people might have a hard time getting started. Who do you call? What do you ask? And even on a refinance, there are a lot of separate costs (attorneys, appraisers, and so on).

So... know of a good local mortgage broker or bank? Have a good experience with a local real estate attorney? Please share! You could help -S -- and a lot of other people -- save a lot of money.

Paper Sparrow sold

Kate Eggleston, the owner of the fab downtown Troy shop The Paper Sparrow, has announced on her blog that she's sold the store. Her last day will be this Friday, August 27.

Writes Kate in the post:

I'll miss my customers, my neighbors, and the new friends I've made since opening these doors two and a half years ago. Troy is an amazing place, one that I'd given up on years ago, but it has come a very long way. It's so nice to be a part of such a fantastic community with great people and a friendly, welcoming environment. I hope to always be a part of it.

She says the new owner will be keeping the shop open, with a new name and look.

Earlier on AOA:
+ The Paper Sparrow: light and sweet

A first look at Fresh Market

Daniel B. Braved the opening day crowds at the new Fresh Market

You would have thought they were giving away shopping bags full of diamonds. Yesterday's grand opening of the region's first Fresh Market was a seething mass of humanity.

Traffic was snarled up for blocks at the intersection of routes 9 and 155, and their jumbo-sized parking lot was filled beyond capacity. There wasn't even a shopping cart to be found.

On one hand that was probably a good thing, since all of the people inside made it difficult to move around, and the checkout queues stretched all the way across the store. But on the other hand, The Fresh Market shopping carts seem to be a key part of the experience.

(there's more)

Remsen Street in Cohoes

Remsen Street in Cohoes

Lately I've been into taking little sojourns to areas locally that I've never really thought to explore. This weekend I headed to Cohoes in hopes of checking out the views of the falls from Falls View Park . Unfortunately, the lower sections were closed off, making for something of a boring trip.

While deciding where to go instead, I took a stroll down Remsen Street.

(there's more)

A good place for photo printing?

Martin emails:

My wife and I took a TON of photos on our honeymoon last year. So many that 1,176 made it to the "let's keep folder" (there were many, many more to begin with).

Now we'd like to print about a 1,000 of them as 5x7s and put them into albums.

My question is what service has the best deal for a bulk job for this? There's a 1000 services out there!

We suspect the best option might be an online service. But a local place could certainly have its advantages -- especially if you can stop by and talk with the people about exactly what you're looking for.

Any suggestions for Martin and his wife?

photo: Flickr user awshots

Felt & Wire

Despite (or, perhaps, because of) pushing pixels all day, we're total suckers for great paper products -- stationery, cards, tags, whatever.

So there was some smiling when we came across the Felt & Twine Shop recently. It's a designer-curated online shop of printed goods run by Cohoes-based Mohawk Fine Papers. There's also a blog.

It's not as expansive as Etsy (what is?), but it made from some happy browsing.

Earlier on AOA:
+ "I Love New York" by CAPow!
+ Lori Hansen's vintage letterpress
+ Paper Dolls
+ Susan Merrick

photo: M-square Press postcard

At the Warehouse is like a box of chocolates...

You never know what you're gonna find

An often strange (and fun) box of chocolates.

Not everything you find there will be to your taste, but you'll marvel at the wide variety of cool ingredients. At the Warehouse is a little bit Restoration Hardware, a little bit antique shop, a little bit craft store and a little bit kitschy history museum -- with a whole lot of je ne sais quoi.

On a recent trip to find some items to complete the AOA patio-office (one of our happy places) we stumbled on a few things that struck us as weird/fun/cool/bizarre...

(there's more)

A good cleaning service?

Lou emails:

Living on a busy street in downtown Troy, a certain amount of grime drifts through the windows. Though I'm a reasonably tidy divorced dad who was taught how to do cleaning chores as a kid, it'd be worth X dollars to bring in some pros a few times per year and pick up my slack. Folks who do this for a living and can catch everything up in a couple hours.

I know they're out there, but don't know how to find a good one or what it should cost. Natch there are mass-market franchise providers ("The Maids," others), and maybe they're fine. But I'll bet there are truly local, honest providers doing the same thing in Troy. I'd prefer that.

AOA-ers: What occasional maid service do you use in Troy? I'm not fussy and don't care so much about bonding, theft-safeguards, etc. (I'd stick around), just want good value for money. We're talking a ~1100 sq. ft. apartment.

Got a suggestion for Lou? Please share!

Beautiful -- and cheap! -- local flowers

EAC emails with what sounds like a great deal on local flowers:

I commented a couple of days ago regarding pick-your-own-vegetables in the area, and mentioned the $5 bouquets at Oreshan's on Route 9.

Today I got the kid out of the house early enough to snap one up! At the stand they sit on a picnic bench in old tatty labeled large cans... I wish I had something like that at home. There were several cars there first thing this morning. Took a photo of the bouquet on the back deck.

See? Oreshan's is the best. I'm also enjoying the 40 cent gladiola stems in vases all over the house.

Oreshan's is at 1242 Loudon Road (Route 9) in Latham.

Click on the flowers for a better look.

Ahh! They took Anthony Bourdain from us!

With the realization that there would be no more Dogs 101, there was unrest in the uptown office.

When we slumped down on the couch yesterday evening, we flipped on the TV and clicked around to the Travel Channel. Except it wasn't the Travel Channel. It was Discovery Health.

Who are these Discovery Health people and what have they done with Anthony Bourdain?

Flipping around some more, we found the screen above. Well... fine.

But here's the thing: we don't have digital cable. By choice. Yes, shocking. We have chosen to consign ourselves to 2002. We just never felt the need to pay the extra bucks to upgrade. The 70some channels that we already had seemed like plenty.

But now that means no more No Reservations. No more Dogs 101. No more random CSPAN2 wonking.

So we contacted Time Warner Cable.

(there's more)

Albany Jane's guide to stocking the bar for parties

Albany Jane game plan involves a few stops.

It's party time.

Say you're having anywhere from 5-25 friends, family, or moderately tolerable neighbors over for dinner.

What do you do about the bar? Wine, cocktails, aperitifs? If you can't hire a bartender for the night (and chances are you can't), you're on your own.

So here are a few stores that I enjoy patronizing for my party libations.

(there's more)

"I Love New York" by CAPow!

When we look at this, we get the urge to pronounce the county names they way they're depicted.

We really like this New York State print by local artist CAPow!. We came across it in this interview she did with Jess Lyons.

The "I Love New York" print is available in CAPow!'s Etsy store -- an 8x10 is $25. She's also selling 16x20s for $50.

She also has prints in the same style for: Albany, Troy, Manhattan and Massachusetts.

Earlier on AOA: RagamuffinDesign by Jess Lyons

image: CAPow!

Barber Poll: Mensroom

On Columbia Street, around the corner from B. Lodge.

AOA Greg was in a long-term haircutting relationship for the better part of the last decade. And then he wasn't. Suddenly unattached, Greg was at a loss for where to get his hair cut. So he asked the AOA crowd -- and it had a bunch of good suggestions. Now he's playing the field, in search of a new shop.

I had heard some good things about Mensroom -- and it describes itself as "a contemporary barbershop with an 'old school' feel." So, it sounded like a good candidate and I was looking forward to checking it out.

The before/after pics and more after the jump...

(there's more)

A good car detailer?

Sue emails:

I bought a used car from a friend who had a dog, and the car smells like dog...which isn't too great when it's hot and the windows are up because the AC is on.

Two different friends of mine have said I should get the car detailed, which I guess is an extra thorough washing, but I have no idea how to find a place...I am willing to throw down a few dollars to make the car fresh again, but would like to make sure that my money is well spent.

So maybe some of the AOA readers have some experience with this? Also, if they think a vacuum and some baking powder is the way to go, I welcome any DIY tips (although this is definitely one of those things that I would rather pay for).

Oof. We hope you have some suggestions for places Sue can get her car de-dogged. The Otto-mobile has also been kind of doggy lately -- so we could also use the tips.

Got a suggestion? Please share!

What's the new $10 bus ride to New York like?

A cheap ride.

As of today, the NY City Bus -- which runs between Albany and New York for just $10 each way -- has been up and running for a month.

So we thought now would be a good time to track down some people who've ridden the bus to give us the scoop...

(there's more)

Summer essentials for men 2010

How to pull off summer plaid, Don Draper style.

Summer essentials for men are, I think, somewhat harder than for women.

There is no sun-dress to turn to with endless silhouette options, and so the summer uniform for guys turns into shorts and some variant of shirt.

Rather than attempting to find sartorial inspiration for summer that delves outside of this, I went on the search for summer's essential basic items for guys that are somehow more than just the usual.

(there's more)

Union, RPI in top 20 for "return on investment"

Not(t) a bad deal?

An online service called PayScale has ranked colleges based on "return on investment."

Here are how the schools in the Capital Region stacked up:

Oddly, neither St. Rose nor Russell Sage Colleges were on the list of 852 schools.

Businessweek has the same rankings posted with a few more categories.

Here's the methodology, which is worth skimming. In short: the numbers were calculated using the 30 year median pay for a 2009 grad with a bachelor's degree, in a full time job.

MIT was ranked #1. The highest ranked public school was UC-Berkeley at #16.

(Thank, Fred)

Earlier on AOA:
+ Skidmore, Union, RPI among nation's most expensive
+ Capital Region college tuition

S&A West Indian Grocery

A lot of countries are packed in there.

S&A West Indian Grocery is everything you want an ethnic market to be -- not too big, and filled to the brim with tasty, yet hard-to-find items.

Tucked away off Central Avenue, the store specializes in African and Hispanic Caribbean products. It looks pretty tiny from the outside, but inside you'll find everything from Ghanian yams to Jamaican ginger beer to oxtails and cow feet.

(there's more)

Summer essentials for women 2010

Big hats are on the list, and they go great with sunglasses...

It's officially the first week of summer.

So AOA fashionista Kaitlin Ressler did one of her favorite things. She hit the mall looking for what she considers this season's essentials.

After the jump, essentials for women. (Next week, essentials for men.)

(there's more)

From here to... someplace else

That one at the bottom is Puerto Rico.

Check it out: the travel website Kayak has an "explore" option. You tell it where you're at, how much you'd like to spend, the season you want to go -- and it tells you where you can fly.

Here's the result for flights from ALB this summer under $400. (That's the screengrab above.) You can also sort by activity, language and weather (we're filing this away for January).

There's something about seeing all the spots mapped out like that gives us a bit of wanderlust...

[via Kottke]

Earlier on AOA: Daydreaming of a long weekend

Where to find shampoo bars?

Toni emails:

I am trying to find a local place where I can buy organic shampoo bars? Have any suggestions?

Our first thought was the Honest Weight Food Co-op. So we called 'em up -- and they said they carry a product called J.R. Liggett's Old-Fashioned Bar Shampoo. The product's website doesn't say it's organic, but it does use the word "natural" (of course, that could mean a bunch of things). HWFC sells the bars for $5.99.

Anyone have other suggestions for Toni? Maybe some local shops of Etsy sellers? Share, please!

Earlier on AOA: Jess tried out a locally-made shampoo bar from Serpentine Hair. Last we heard, the line had been sold -- and its website is no longer up.

Disclosure: Yep, HWFC does advertise on AOA. But it would have been the first place we would have thought of after hearing the words "organic shampoo bar" even it didn't.

Heldeberg Market

A new local online farmers market, called Heldeberg Market, launched today. Here's the setup:

1. On the market's website, you pick a basket of products available from farmers in the hill towns of Albany County -- everything from herbs to maple syrup to wool
2. Pay online
3. Orders submitted by Tuesday at midnight are delivered the Thursday of that week to either your workplace (during the day) or home (during the evening). There's free delivery for workplaces that have five or more orders.

(there's more)

Swimsuit shopping (yes, it's time)

Everybody into the pool!

Lately every day feels more and more like real-life summer than spring. Shedding our cardigans and one teeny layer after another, it becomes more and more obvious that we're eeking into bathing suit season. Whether it's for dips in the pool or weekend excursions to ponds, lakes, and oceans, the nagging want of a new suit pops up every summer, even if last year's faithful suit is just fine.

It's probably one of most people's least-favorite shopping trips, the bathing suit shop -- and it's certainly not a favorite of mine. But instead of trudging through the racks and feeling resentful of handing over my hard-earned pennies for the teeniest garment, I chose to run around as though a magnificent vacation was on the horizon -- even if it was just imaginary.

After the jump -- some of the suits I found for women and men.

(there's more)

NY City Bus -- competition for the MegaBus?

A new bus service between Albany and NYC started up today. The aptly-named NY City Bus is selling one-way rides to/from the city for $10.

That's cheap -- even cheaper than the MegaBus in many cases. A round trip ride on the MegaBus this week will cost you $60 if you bought now. (You can get it for as little as $18 if you book the same ride for a month from now.)

We had never heard of NY City Bus until recently, so we did a little bit of poking around -- and it looks like the bus line has a lot of similarities to the DragonDeluxe line. There are so many similarities that we wonder if it's connected to the Dragon. It shares the same pick-up (91 Colvin Avenue and 102 Central Ave in Albany) and drop-off (26 Canal Street and near Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan). And the two services seem to use one of the same operators (All State). The NY City Bus corporation was registered this past March and the listed address in Chinatown in Manhattan is different from that of the company that runs Dragon Deluxe, according to the listing on file with the state.

The Dragon Deluxe fare is roundtrip fare is more expensive -- $40 vs. $20. The NY City Bus site doesn't list the $20 fare as a promotion or sale or anything like that.

The NY City Bus lists a handful of routes around the country. Has anyone ridden it before? Anyone have the scoop?

Earlier on AOA: We broke down the travel options between Albany and NYC by price, time and ease.

image: NY City Bus