A Local Guide to Finding the Freshest Produce

Have you ever noticed there are things you were forced to do in childhood that you choose to do with pleasure as an adult? You know, like staying in, going to bed early, and even eating your vegetables? I have always been a fan of veggies, but even I can remember sitting in the dark at my parents’ dining room table until I finished a plate of (Canned! Plain! Cold!) peas I had staunchly refused. The peas and my parents won.

If you have watched any number of food shows or skimmed through one of many food magazines, you know that vegetables can be the main attraction on your plate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The best part is we aren’t talking about canned peas. Veggies these days are roasted, stuffed, grilled, sautéed and, no matter what, should be absolutely delicious. So good, in fact, that some days you won’t even miss the meat.

You can find some of the best tasting, freshest veggies at some local providers. Here are a few places you will want to check out.

Fresh Start Micros
Do you know Joe Dowdy? You will want to after this article—I promise! A few years ago he started a small greenhouse for vegetables simply to feed to his family. He began with tomatoes, peppers, green beans and lettuce. His plants took off, and they couldn’t eat nearly as fast as the produce was growing, so Joe began to give away all the extras. As he continued to hone his craft, Joe really “fell in love” with microgreens and began to reach out to local restaurants to see if anyone would be interested in purchasing from him. Thus, Fresh Start Micros was born.

“My staple microgreens is the mustard mix. It is a blend of different mustards that bring a spicy note to whatever it’s added to—salads, garnishes, wraps, etc. At peak, I was growing 30 to 40 trays at a time for local restaurants. They are grown indoors in a small indoor greenhouse. This allows the control of the environment much better than an outdoor environment, where they are very prone to diseases,” said Dowdy.

Staff at Isabella’s Italian Trattoria regularly use his microgreens. You’ll also find them occasionally at the Corner at Rivermont.

“I always welcome the opportunity to grow for anyone who asks and will continue to do so,” said Dowdy. “We have traded our outdoor greenhouse for a smaller container garden and continue to educate everyone we can of the benefits of homegrown, locally-grown, and the incredible benefits of microgreens.”

Dowdy is also working to teach his son about micros so that he may continue the business and hopefully expand it one day.

Want to get your hands on these microgreens? Just shoot Dowdy an email at or find him on Facebook. He is excited to share his passion for microgreens with our community. So excited, in fact, he will deliver them to your door!

Email Joe Dowdy at freshstartmicros@gmail.com.

Lynchburg Grows
Lynchburg Grows (LG) is sort of the coolest concept ever. The nonprofit is a seven-acre urban farm “dedicated to providing access to fresh, local, produce for Lynchburg residents, restaurants, and organizations, while also providing onsite vocational training for disabled and
low-income individuals,” according to its website.

LG says a quarter of Lynchburg residents live in a food desert, which is a higher number than any other city in Virginia. They are working hard through community gardens to make vegetables more accessible to everyone, and in a partnership with Live Healthy Lynchburg, they now support a mobile produce van that takes produce to areas around town with the greatest need.

You can support the LG mission and get your hands on their green goodness by signing up for a Veggie Box.

“Our summer Veggie Box is stocked with all the most delicious summer veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce (early summer), peppers, eggplant, onions… We grow everything we can on the farm, but supplement from other farms for things we do not grow like mushrooms, peaches, corn and melons,” said Shelley Blades, executive director. “We also try to highlight local artisans and give our Veggie Box members something unique like tea from Good Karma Tea Company or bread from Lorraine Bakery.”

The Veggie Box season runs from March 22 through December 20. The cost breaks down to $20 a week, and there are several payment options.

“Pick up is every Wednesday at the farm. We like the pickup method better than delivery. We find it gives customers more freedom to choose which items are most appealing to them and personally pick out their vegetables,” said Blades.

But what if I get my veggies and am stumped with what to do with them? I hate to waste food, especially fresh local vegetables. But Blades says they have you covered.

“We send out a weekly newsletter to our customers to let them know what their veggie options are that week. If there is a ‘funky’ vegetable (think colorful carrots or Chinese cabbage) we usually give a little description about that and provide several recipes.

But, regardless of ‘funky’ vegetables, a few recipes are always included,” she said.

Learn more at www.lynchburggrows.org.

Lynchburg Community Market
Located downtown at the corner of 12th and Main streets, the Lynchburg Community Market is a place where you can choose from a plethora of fresh produce all year long. There are rows and rows of dedicated local vendors.

You may find something you have never seen before, and most of these farmers and sellers are excited to share with you easy ways to prepare their produce. I have been fortunate enough to have some very kind vendors help me figure out quantities of items I would need for serving a group at a dinner party, what to serve, how to keep things fresh and how to best prepare the veggies.

More than produce, these days at the market you can find handmade candy, homemade breads, local jams, eggs, meats, goat cheese, coffee and so much more.

From potatoes to squash, spring onions to juicy tomatoes, the market is an excellent choice to get all your local produce (and more!) from friendly farmers at even friendlier prices.

Learn more at lynchburgcommunitymarket.com.

By RACHEL DALTON

Store Owner Peg Breiholz’s Personal Farmhouse Style

I’ve always loved doing creative things,” states Peg Breiholz, local artist and owner of The White Brick House in Forest. From her upbringing to her current business, Peg has maintained a strong sense of self that drives all her decisions and inspires others to do the same.

Staying true to roots
The Minnesota native grew up on her family’s homestead in Springfield where they farmed livestock and crops; Peg remembers they “had acres and acres of strawberries and cucumbers in the summer.” As one of 13 children (she calls herself “the lucky middle”), she pitched in around the farm along with her nine brothers and three sisters. She attributes this lifestyle to helping establish and nourish an entrepreneurial spirit within the family.

Peg came to Virginia for the first time when she was 20 years old: “I worked as a camp counselor over in Goshen, a couple of hours away from here, and I just had this distinct feeling that this is where I belong.”

Raising a family
As soon as she and her husband married, he attended a technical school in Hutchinson, Minnesota and moved to Alabama for a brief time so he could complete his studies. “After he finished, he had a job offer there and one at Babcock and Wilcox, and I already had two brothers who were living here in the Lynchburg area, so we came here!” Peg explained.

That was 28 years ago. Since then, Peg became a mother of two, educated her children, ingrained herself in her artwork and family life, and opened several small businesses—it’s been a busy time of life.

The Breiholzes live in Forest along with their daughter, who just finished her master’s degree in counseling at Liberty University, and her cat Sasha. They also have a son who recently began a doctoral program in electrical engineering at the University of Virginia.

Tending creativity
Peg refers to herself as “a junker” because she loves finding objects that others might pass over and enjoys making them beautiful and useful again.
She acknowledges that “most items I work on aren’t visibly valuable; they often have minor cosmetic issues to begin with. I like to give them a new life.”

She found herself doing this so frequently that she and a friend began selling their personal creations at Peddler Antiques in Forest six years ago. This wasn’t Peg’s first foray into the world of arts and crafts; she has been an artist as long as she can remember, working as a graphic designer for a local newspaper before staying home to raise and homeschool her children.

As a young mother, Peg turned to her art as a fun and creative outlet. “I started doing pastels when my son was two—it was something I could pick up for a few minutes and come back to.” She especially enjoyed dabbling in pastels and watercolor, and her original work is not only on display within her house, but it has also made appearances and won awards around the area, such as Best in Show in Bedford’s Centerfest one year, a ribbon from the Bedford Council for the Arts, and several ribbons from the Lynchburg Art Show.

Around the time her youngest child was graduating from high school, Peg opened a small shop on Etsy, and eventually moved into business for herself and opened The White Brick House, a home goods store named for the building’s façade on Ashwood Park Drive in Forest.

The store carries goods made by Peg and several local artisans, most of which would fall into the category of farmhouse style, which has been a mainstay in American decor far longer than HGTV and Pinterest might indicate—and who would know more about authentic farmhouse style than someone who grew up on a legitimate Midwestern farm?

Building a white brick house
The owner of the booming Forest business calls a white brick house home herself. An easy drive down a pastoral Forest road leads to a lot with a clear view of a Blue Ridge panorama overlooking the rolling green hills of the neighboring farmer’s land.

It was that view that ultimately sold them on the lot six years ago and the landscape dictated many of their final decisions.

“The fireplace was originally supposed to go on the back wall, but we asked Deitz Lilly, our builder, to move it so we could add windows and really capture the view that we loved so much, and we wanted to bring in as much natural light as possible,” Peg explained.

Her inspiration comes from light, which she finds quiet, clean and peaceful. “I need a lot of white and bright lights, especially in the dullness of winter,” she admits, and even the briefest moment spent here makes it clear. Visitors who enter through her quaint front porch walk into a bright, open space, made to feel even more airy with high ceilings and flowing white custom curtains from every window.

Even though Peg lives in and loves the mountains, she enjoys decorating with the colors of the ocean: blues, greens and sandy beiges. She achieves this palette by incorporating jute rugs, white furniture and a striking collection of countless aqua bottles and mason jars that reside in a front-and-center hutch she rejuvenated with new hardware and paint, anchoring down the space between the foyer, living room and dining room in the open floor plan.

Sowing a sense of style
The dining room draws the eye up, beginning with hand-scraped hickory floors to its board and battens all the way to the blue ceiling “so it seems endless” like the sky. Vintage tablecloths hang on a wooden ladder, and antique corbels add a bit of old-fashioned charm. Peg designed the mantelpiece that frames the see-through gas log fireplace. She coated the chairs, mantel and hutch in Westhighland White (Sherwin Williams) for a crisp look that balances the other pieces Peg made over in the milk paint she carries at her shop.

Peg points out that milk paint helps provide the timeworn and time-loved chipped look on furniture.

Opposite the dining room is a small hallway and one of Peg’s own framed pastel drawings of her son as a little boy. The hallway leads to the office and a hall bath featuring Meador Blue walls, subway tiling, and glow in the dark tile as an accent. “I thought that would be fun!” Peg laughs.

Straight ahead of the foyer lies the family’s living room with an entire wall of windows highlighting the bucolic scenery that persuaded them to purchase the property. In spite of having a dining room and a kitchen nook, this is where the family typically eats dinner and relaxes with the view (or a show on the huge TV that sits atop a reclaimed buffet). She isn’t worried about spills or stains on the custom white slipcovers that adorn the sofas. “Even when my kids were little, I had white slipcovers. With upholstered furniture, if you spill something, you can’t always get the stain out.

With slipcovers, you just take ’em off and bleach ’em!”—and this practical nature is the sentiment behind farmhouse style.

In spite of all the white, the room doesn’t feel cold; it seems welcoming, cozy and warm thanks to a layering of textures and the comfortable couches.
For instance, a collection of skeleton keys rests in a wooden dish on an end table, and Peg’s husband fashioned the lamps from porch posts. Exterior light fixtures are hand-forged and made with hand-blown glass. A glimpse up the staircase reveals an original watercolor of Peg’s two children.

Harvesting history
Peg points out that she loves to tie in forms of local and personal history in all her designs. This is evident from old Bedford County license plates that hang over a doorframe to a pile of yardsticks placed in a primitive milk can bearing the name Roanoke and the old general store scale that provides a perch for a topiary. Of her massive collection of blue glasses, her most special pieces preside on a shelf over the kitchen table; these came from her parents’ home in Minnesota.

Peg loves to bake pies and cakes in her custom kitchen that displays a kitchen island her husband created out of a cast-off workbench; Peg ordered the zinc for its counter and added beadboard along the trim. Although her kitchen contains some modern, high-end features like the Carrera marble countertops, her favorite aspects of her kitchen are her farmhouse sink (“the raised sides make it look like an important statement, like art, instead of just a plain sink”) and her separate drink cooler (“it’s so helpful instead of having drinks take up room in the fridge”).

Would she describe her style as farmhouse chic? “Not chic,” she laughs, “just farmhouse style. Shabby chic isn’t really a term that people use anymore, and it differs from farmhouse in that it’s a more feminine style that uses pastel colors in a neutral palette along with small florals. Farmhouse is more simple, direct, and clean.”

Simple and direct—a perfect example of this comes from Peg herself: “I buy things because I like them, not because of their supposed value or because they’re considered antiques. I like old things with a history, I love seeing chippy paint, and I’ve always decorated with aqua.”

Peg’s sense of style and self is just as spot on as her intuition about living in Virginia. “I have always felt like this is where I belong,” she emphasizes.

A conversation with Peg and a visit in her personal home reveals so much more than figuring out how you want to style your home or how to pursue your craft, but how to stay true to yourself, your roots, and your own personal history.

By Charlotte Farley
Photography by Tera Janelle Auch

Feedback
In our January/February issue, we took an inside look at the making of Shoeless Wonders, a movie about the Presbyterian Home’s legendary, barefoot football team. Terry Adams wrote on Facebook, “It will be interesting and informative to see this story on the (movie) screen. As always, I like stories with happy endings.”

Lynchburg Restaurant Week
The fabulous menu options and incredible deals will return June 10-17 for the 5th annual Lynchburg Restaurant Week! Look for more details at www.lynchburgrestaurantweek.com.

Best Of Lynchburg Awards
When our January/February issue hit stands, winners of the 2017 Best Of awards grabbed a copy and went to social media to celebrate!

We Want To hear From You!
Write to Feedback, Lynchburg Living magazine, 1035 Avalon Dr., Forest, VA 24551. Send e-mail to feedback@lynchburgmag.com. Correspondents must identify themselves; names may be withheld on request. Lynchburg Living may edit or condense letters.

Behind the Scenes
Photographer RJ Goodwin uses two cameras on many photo shoots, such as our Local Flavor profile that involved a variety of shots. One camera has a wide-angle lens. The other is better for those close-up details of ingredients and food.
Check out this issue’s Local Flavor recipe on page 100.

Quotables
“I buy things because I like them, not because of their supposed value or because they’re considered antiques.
I like old things with a history…” – Peg Breiholz owner of
The White Brick House in Forest.
Read about her farmhouse style on page 66!

#LynchburgLiving
Lauren Ferry shared her love for Downtown Lynchburg on Instagram.
She wrote, “I truly love this street. I love this town. I love our loft…” We love that you love your downtown life, Lauren. Thanks for sharing!
Include the hashtag #lynchburgliving on your posts and your photo may be featured in an upcoming issue!

The Benefits of the Growing Trend

Selling your home these days is a fierce competition. HGTV shows are popular; professional photography is expected. Upon seeing your listing in their inbox or social media feed, a buyer’s first impression is critical. It’s either, “Show me that home, now!” or “Not interested”—with very little gray area in between.

So, how do you make your home stand out? How do you make sure a potential buyer who sees your home’s listing…asks to see it in person? Then, how do you turn that showing…into a sale?

The answer could be home staging—giving your home a facelift that makes it more appealing to potential buyers. According to a 2015 report from the National Association of REALTORS®, 81 percent of home buyers say it is easier to visualize a property as their future home when it is staged.

RE/MAX realtor Nadine Blakely provides the service for free when a seller lists their home with her—something she has been offering since 2007.
“I’ve been trained to have a keen eye for the little things that make a big difference,” said Blakely.

She explains how “staging is different from decorating.”

“I don’t necessarily decorate your home but work with a client to help them show off the really good side of all aspects of their property,” said Blakely.

Staging in occupied houses for sale focuses on the elimination of “things” to attract buyers to the spaciousness, organization and cleanliness of rooms. And sometimes, they aren’t major tasks. For example, Blakely tells homeowners to take the magnets off the front of the refrigerator or, her pet peeve, remove cereal boxes from the top of the fridge.

“[Doing that] screams that the kitchen is too small to even store cereal boxes in the cupboards,” said Blakely.

If you don’t currently live in the home, Dan Vollmer, associate broker with RE/MAX, says staging is “incredibly important.”

“Buyers sometimes have trouble envisioning the way a space can be used, particularly if it’s empty,” Vollmer said.

But does all the effort pay off? In the decade since Blakely started offering free professional staging, she says, “It works.”

“Many of my homes sell in a matter of days, and even for more money, once I’ve staged them,” said Blakely.

More statistics from the National Association of REALTORS® back her up. Their report says 32 percent of buyers’ agents believe staging a home increases the dollar value buyers are willing to offer by one to five percent. Another 16 percent believe it increases by six to 10 percent.

But if you do choose to hire a professional to stage your home (or take advantage of a free service), Vollmer has these words of wisdom.

“You should rely on them and their guidance…” he said. “No one likes to be told their paint color choices or furniture or decor is anything less than beautiful! But if you take a step back, swallow your pride a little, and trust the person you’ve hired to give you expert advice, you’ll be much better off.”

If a professional is not an option, prepare to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. The elbow grease could pay off through a faster sale for a higher price.

Local Music Festival is Bigger Than Ever As It Celebrates 5 Years

It’s an unlikely story. Five years ago some music-loving friends decided to host a day of live music on Buchanan Street. With a wooden pallet stage as their only platform, four bands performed to a “crowd” of roughly 100 people, sustaining a broken generator after just the first set.

Fast forward to Spring 2017 and that unassuming day of music has grown to epic proportions—50 live bands, national headliners, five stages, dozens of food trucks and vendors, thousands of festival goers, and, best of all, a front row seat in the heart of Downtown Lynchburg.

“It was always about the music,” says Jonathan Smalt, co-founder and current director/producer. “It was about the art, and it’s about the community that starts when you are creating with other people.”

Riding the wave of this unlikely story from the very beginning, Smalt surveys the current developments with a mix of awe and excitement.

“When we first said our vision was to create a music festival that gives to the city and happens in the heart of Downtown Lynchburg—for that vision to be happening now is very humbling,” Smalt remarks.

THE BEGINNINGS
To hear him tell it, the first festival in 2013 was a long shot, but it clearly filled a void. At the time there were no regional music festivals to showcase local talent like Glass Oaks, of which Smalt was a member. So, as he says now, “If it’s not there, do it yourself.” By 2014, they hosted Lynchstock at Keep Colony, which at the time was a communal arts collective housed in the former Seven Hills School building on Rivermont Avenue. They sold over 800 tickets, but with open-air stages and an outdoor setting, Smalt says plenty of people snuck in, pushing their numbers closer to 1,200.
Going into 2015, the amount of time and energy invested in planning and logistics was rapidly growing, plus they were unable to secure a venue large enough to host the festival inside city limits.

So, in the interest of growth, they relocated to The Yard at Benjamin’s Restaurant in Forest.

“It gave us a concise festival footprint,” Smalt says. “We knew we were going to outgrow that space, but we did so in a way that we learned how to really run a festival.”

Things really caught steam by their fourth year in 2016. With closer to 3,500 people attending the festival at Benjamin’s, some food trucks were selling out completely while others picked up more burgers in the middle of the day just trying to keep up with demand.
“Several vendors said it was the best sales they’d ever had in Lynchburg,” Smalt recalls. “That is exactly what we wanted—everyone is walking away successful.”

This year, Lynchstock is poised to grow by even more leaps and bounds. Not only are they relocating to the heart of downtown—where they always wanted to be—the festival is also partnering with the Academy Center of the Arts to kick off a summer concert series.
“It’s been a slow crawl where we could get to the point of having national headliners,” Smalt says. But that time has finally arrived, and it’s a match made in heaven for both sides.

DOWNTOWN REVIVAL
In addition to being a lover of all things music, Smalt also champions the continuing resurgence of downtown life and culture in Lynchburg. Having spent his college and graduate years at Liberty University prior to moving to Nashville in 2015, Smalt now returns to town every few months.
“What’s been refreshing is seeing a lot of these new restaurants popping up,” he says. “We really think changes are happening in Lynchburg on the cultural front.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Geoffrey Kershner, Executive Director of the Academy Center of the Arts, who thinks anchoring Lynchstock in the heart of downtown is a “huge win.”

“The artists that Lynchstock will bring to downtown and the careful curation of the event as a youthful, community-building event will take our cultural life up a notch,” Kershner says. In a word, it brings “validity” to the concert series that both organizations are putting together.
Kicking off on April 22 with the Lynchstock Music Festival, the Academy’s Riverfront Park Concert Series will continue with a free concert on June 10. The remaining three concerts—July 8, August 12, and September 30—will feature a variety of musical genres at $10 a piece. While produced by the Academy, the series is organized by Lynchstock and is partnering with Lynch’s Landing and various community sponsors.

Kershner describes the purpose as two-fold: “accessibility and experience.” More people can come due to the size of Riverfront Park, plus community members will enjoy the cultural benefit of live musical performances “in a beautiful location where our city skyline meets the natural beauty of the river.”

Expanded arts events are a win for downtown businesses as well. “Cultural events like Lynchstock are extremely important to a vibrant and successful downtown,” says Lynch’s Landing Executive Director Ashley Kershner. “They increase tourism, drive traffic to local businesses, introduce new people to what downtown has to offer, and provide the vibrant, cultural scene that helps shape the identity of our city.”

For Smalt and Lynchstock organizers, having a partnership with the Academy has opened doors and opportunities they desperately needed.

“Geoff has been speaking for us and going to bat for us and really helping establish Lynchstock as a festival for all ages,” says Smalt. It’s a goal they both hold tightly—to reach young and old with great music.

This Year’s Festival
Pops of pink and turquoise greet visitors to the official Lynchstock web site, a purposeful rebranding choice. Smalt and his co-organizers asked, “How do we make this year really fresh and celebrative and fun?” The vibrant redesign is one part of their overarching goal of cross-demographic reach. “Kids are the future artists and musicians,” Smalt says of why the festival is free for those 12 and younger; it also makes it easier for families to attend as a whole.

Inclusivity and creativity go hand-in-hand for organizers. “We want to make this as cool and unique an experience as possible for everyone,” Smalt says.

Headlining this year’s festival is classic rock band Dawes—“one of the best in the nation today” Smalt says—and Oddissee, an “up-and-coming, hip-hop sensation” who is in the midst of a national tour. This year, Smalt explains, “We are wanting to diversify and be more accurate to what the community wants.”

The festival will include a stage dedicated to metal and hard rock—a “huge scene” in Lynchburg according to Smalt—plus blues, soul, folk, singer-songwriters, EDM, electronic, and DJ sets.

And while national acts bring a level of credibility to Lynchstock as a whole, it will still include the best of local music, a foundational element of the festival from the beginning. Local musician Lee Campbell and his Indie/Emo Rock-inspired group, Quick On My Feet, were one of the bands selected to perform this year—no small feat. Smalt says choosing talent is one of the hardest aspects of the entire festival especially when you have more than 250 submissions like they saw this year.

“I love that it has become more versatile and dynamic,” Campbell says of Lynchstock. “It really allows individuals to gain a larger appreciation for different styles of music, sheds light on unique artists that are coming out of Lynchburg, and puts a spotlight on the music scene here in the Hill City.”
For all the effort and months of planning, one thing remains to be seen, and that is the weather. Regardless of what Mother Nature decides, the show will go on rain or shine.
Says Campbell, “This year has many more diverse bands and allows the city to come together under the umbrella of music and arts, which seems to spark an interest in other creative endeavors here in Lynchburg.”
View a short documentary about the festival’s complete history at
www.lynchstockmusicfestival.com/about.

By Jennifer Redmond

…At The Old City Cemetery

Old City Cemetery’s 27-acre public garden includes the largest public collection of antique roses in the state of Virginia.

This spring, see the beautiful blooms for yourself during the 22nd Annual Antique Rose Festival. Get the best selection of this year’s inventory on Saturday, April 15. The festival also includes workshops and guided rose tours in May. View the full schedule at www.gravegarden.org. Photo Courtesy of Old City Cemetery

Occupation: Adjunct Faculty, Central Virginia Community College

A little more than two years ago, you were 125 pounds heavier. What was happening in your life that pushed you to make a change and stick with it?
I looked in the mirror (and photos) and didn’t like what I saw. I was 45, had two small children, and I was so uncomfortable in my body that I didn’t want to go out in public, couldn’t get out and play with my kids, or even find clothes. (I am a diva at heart.) My blood pressure was high, and I ran the risk of developing diabetes.

And your job at the time was making you feel even more guilty—right?
Absolutely! Here I was teaching my students nutrition and wellness, but I was morbidly obese. I was the teacher that the kids always came to talk to about their problems, and yet I wasn’t practicing what I was preaching. I taught them about healthy relationships, etc.—how could I expect them to listen to me talk about being healthy if I was so overweight?

You chose the Atkins diet to help you shed the weight. Why?
I always joke that I am a fat kid at heart. I love to cook, and I love to eat! Atkins allowed me to continue these passions and lose lots of weight. It was easy for me to remove things from my diet (especially after seeing the results and how I felt). Instead of focusing on what I couldn’t eat, I began to eat healthier—vegetables, real food, healthy snacks.

Describe what life is like for you now.
I am a new person—not just physically, but mentally. I challenge myself to try new things (i.e. running a 5k). Because of my Atkins low-carb lifestyle, I take half the amount of blood pressure medicine, I haven’t had a bout of cystic acne in two years, I have energy,
I can play with my kids, I have confidence, and I can shop in any store! There are no words to describe how life is so much better without all that extra weight.

And you’ve noticed your behavior is rubbing off on your family too.
I have lowered their sugar intake and incorporated more clean foods into their diet. But the greatest thing was how this affected my daughter. She, like most people, thought there was no way she could live without carbs. She was an athlete in high school and had gained weight in college. Eventually she tried it, loved how she physically felt and starting losing weight. A little later she had some health issues and found that eliminating sugar in her diet would help prevent complications.

What’s next for you? Do you have any more personal health goals?
My trainer wants me to compete in a Spartan Race, but I would be happy with another 5k or 10k race! I would like to lose another 20 to 25 pounds, but ultimately I would like to share my story with those who have struggled like myself—let them know it is possible and it’s worth the effort because you will feel better physically and mentally!

5 Things You Shouldn’t Skip!

After being cooped up inside for several months, there is something satisfying about deep cleaning your home—but man, is it a lot of work. “A lot of our clients just don’t know where to start,” said Kathryn McDaniel, owner of Polished to Perfection Cleaning Services.

So if you’re pressed for time, what do you really need to clean? We asked McDaniel to help you out. Below, she explains the top five Spring Cleaning tasks you should fit into your schedule.

#1 Windows
Her advice? Divide and conquer; start with a bedroom or two and go from there. Don’t attempt to do all the windows at once because you might burn out. “Windows are a beast! I hate cleaning windows!” McDaniel joked.

Screens are tough to dust or wipe. For the best clean, McDaniel suggests removing your screens, taking them outside and spraying each one with a water hose.

#2 Kitchen Cabinets
Yes, this means you take all of your items out of the cabinets. Everything. Every cabinet. Every drawer. “Start with that cluttered catch-all drawer. We all have one,” she said.
Then, McDaniel suggests using Murphy’s Oil Soap on both wood and laminate cabinets. This is also a great time to declutter the kitchen. For example: throw out those pieces of Tupperware that don’t have lids.

#3 Baseboards
McDaniel says this is often one of the most overlooked spots in a home because there are several steps involved. But you don’t have to spend hours crawling around on the floor.

“We will actually sweep the baseboards first. Then, we go back with an attachment on the vacuum cleaner,” McDaniel explained. She finishes the job with an inexpensive mop and Murphy’s Oil Soap/water.

#4 Indoor Fabrics
Dust loves to hide in your curtains, couch cushions, etc. Most of these can be washed in your washing machine. Nicer, more expensive fabrics may be dry clean only. If you can afford it, take those to the cleaners. If not, try to spot clean.

McDaniel says a carpet cleaner, like a Bissel Green Machine, works great on your couch cushions.

#5 Declutter
Just like with the windows, break this down by room. Start with the kids’ rooms then go from there. And McDaniel says—get your children involved in the process! “It’s a teaching moment. Explain how there are tons of nonprofits that take donations that can really use them,” said McDaniel.

Even adults have a hard time letting go of things. McDaniel’s rule of thumb for clothing: “If you have not worn it in two years, you aren’t going to wear it.”

For those family members who have a hard time letting go of things, allow them to pick a select number of items from the pile to keep. That makes them pick what’s really important to them—then the rest has to go!

At Millie’s Living Café

I love this time of year in Lynchburg because there are promises of spring everywhere. A lot of us tend to cook lighter meals, eat more raw foods, and focus on a healthier diet as summer approaches.

One of my favorite places to eat clean but easily fill up and fuel up is Millie’s Living Café in Wyndhurst, which opened in April 2015. “The inspiration has been the fact that there were little healthy options in Lynchburg. I had always wanted a café within our store (Health Nut Nutrition) and the passing of my mother in 2012 inspired me to go forward and name it after her,” said owner Dave Thomas.

Thomas has always lead a healthy lifestyle. But after spending some time in California, he got a few ideas that he brought back to Lynchburg and incorporated into the Millie’s menu. The plant-based options are endless and delicious, but the top seller and my personal favorite is the dragon bowl.

Thomas describes the dragon bowl as “a superfood smoothie bowl. It includes fresh frozen fruit featuring the superfruit pitaya (aka the dragon fruit), strawberries, banana, almond butter, and plant protein powder blended together and topped with granola and more fresh fruit. It is naturally sweet with no added sugar or other processed ingredients; it is low in calories and super healthy. It is heart healthy, fiber rich and high in antioxidants.”
And so, so tasty.

You can get the same flavorful sweet treat in smoothie form, just ask for the Pitayalicious.

By RACHEL DALTON