Recently in Lifestyle Category

You may commonly hear only about their community service and accomplishments, which are always extremely impressive and admirable, but these young women are real people, like you and me! To spotlight this, we asked them a few questions that are more on the "fun" side so you could get to know them even better... (and if you already know one of them, maybe you'll find out something new about her!)

Krystal Rose Studio and Shannon DeCelle Photography are teaming up to offer Capital Region residents a unique venue - a new salon and photography studio now open in East Greenbush - just across the river from Albany.

As two separate businesses come together to offer a truly unique studio with a central location, everyone wins. Customers have the freedom to select from the services of either business according to their needs, or they can choose packages that combine services from both businesses at discounted rates.

With all the hype surrounding Trader Joe's recent opening and Whole Foods coming soon.... Honest Weight answers back with a new store of their own. Groundbreaking for this natural food specialty market just began at 100 Watervliet Avenue Extension, Albany, NY.

Did you know downtown Troy's Riverfront Park is undergoing a complete transformation?

Elizabeth Young, Executive Director for the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District (BID) toured the park this morning and was inspired by the progress taking place there. Young takes us on a journey through the newly developing Riverfront Park in downtown Troy, detailing what she saw and the future of the park, along with a couple of photos.

Congratulations to the three winners of the Downtown Albany Blues Music Competition held last Friday night.

These top three blues acts get to play at Alive @ 5 this summer:

• The George Boone Blues Band
• Joe Lowry & The Second Miles Blues Band
• Blackboard Blues

The 1st Annual Blues Music Competition consisted of thirteen acts playing in thirteen different venues throughout downtown Albany. Those in attendance were free to tour the venues and vote for their favorite acts.

The three acts with the most votes at the end of the competition won an opportunity to play at Alive @ 5 during the Local Blues Night on July 5. Wondering who played where? Read on...

Everyone's talking about it on Facebook and off. There is a Whole Foods coming to Albany!

Whole Foods Market is the leading retailer of natural and organic foods and America's first national "Certified Organic" grocer. The company currently has 324 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Now, locals are ready to welcome an Albany Whole Foods Market with open arms.

Albany has been considered as one of the greenest cities in the country according to The Daily Beast.The website recently looked over some data from a market research, Experian Simmons, and was able to conclude what are the greenest cities in America.

The new ShopRite supermarket in Albany is set to open Thursday, April 26. There was a soft opening event last night, which was invitation only, and Albany.com's Rick Marchant was on the scene to give us a sneak peek at what we can expect.

"Walking in to Shop Rite's soft opening Tuesday evening, attendees were greeted initially by most every senior member of their staff," said Marchant. "We were given samples of Boar's Head meats, NYS locally made cheeses, seafood selections, a carving station and too many good sweets to choose from."

The new store also features row after shiny-floored new row of fresh produce, giant freezer cases, a gluten free section and a great selection of beer.

ShopRite also goes over and above to meet their consumers' needs... and I mean over and above...

The ValleyCats are looking for a talented individual (or group of individuals) to perform the National Anthem at the Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy this season. The winner will be selected by a process reminiscent of an American Idol judging / public voting system.

Got some pipes? You can audition at the ValleyCat's 2nd Annual National Anthem Tryouts on Saturday, May 19 at Crossgates Mall from 9 am to 1 pm. You can audition with either the National Anthem or God Bless America, and only non-electric accompanying instruments are allowed.

A panel of judges will select five finalists.... and then the public voting begins!

Due to the warm weather coming a bit early this year, the tulip bulbs shot up early, and now there are thousands of beautiful tulips in bloom in Albany's Washington Park.

Though they're a bit early for the Tulip Fest, they are every bit as magnificent. My husband and I took our 2-year-old daughter to see them over the weekend, and she was so excited. She caught glimpse of them as we approached and then took off, eager to see the vibrant blossoms and stick her nose into each one.

It seems my family wasn't the only one with the idea to see the tulips this weekend, though. The park was buzzing with families and groups of friends out enjoying the tulips. Almost every group had one thing in common -- a camera in hand!

There is no question the tulips make beautiful photo backdrops! Actually, a couple years ago, I snapped a few engagement photos for my brother and his wife (see one of them below), and the tulips made such lovely shots.

But perhaps the biggest question on everyone's mind is... will there still be tulips around for the annual Tulip Festival in three weeks?