This Is Framingham

 
Due to a number of people recommending the Artistic Edge Salon, and the fact that I needed a haircut, I decided to check them out. 
The owner, Jennifer Brumm has a comfortable salon set up at 79 Main St.  For me, getting my hair cut is like getting my car’s oil changed, I know I should do it but it always seems to be a pain to actually go get it done.  Since I needed to take advantage of a day off from work and just finally go get my haircut, I called and asked Jennifer if she could fit me in that day.  She was booked but she has a couple of other girls who work for her and use the same cutting techniques, so I booked an appointment with Gretchen.

(Kim, Jennifer and Gretchen)

I thought it was interesting that they specialise in “dry cutting” which is a technique Jennifer learned in Chicago, some places in Boston do it but she’s the only one in this area who does it.  I’ll admit, I was a little sceptical, and even thought they just wanted to save on water or something but I was really surprised later when I washed it, that my hair (which usually puffs out when it air dries) stayed “normal” looking.  I couldn’t believe it.  So I asked Gretchen to write a little something about why dry cutting works so well.  Here’s what she said:

“The reason cutting hair dry is so beneficial is because when you cut hair dry you can see were the hair falls naturally. When cutting hair wet you can not see a persons natural part, wave or kink especially people with cow licks and curly hair! Dry cutting curly hair is crucial. If you cut curly hair wet you can not see were the curl begins, if you cut curly hair with out knowing were the curl starts you ruin the cuticle and natural starting point of the curl which will lead to split ends and frizzy curls instead of healthy bouncy curls”.

Anyway, this was my latest discovery in hair salons in Framingham.  You can check out their site for more info: http://artisticedgehairsalon.com

Friday night I went to check out Luke Foley (pictured above, left) at his gig at the Eagle’s hall.  Normally I wouldn’t find myself at a 18+ event but I know Luke from work and have been hearing him talk about his DJing for a while now, so I finally got around to seeing him in action.
Being the old lady that I am, I got there when the doors opened at 8:30pm and stayed for about an hour.  It started to really get hopping when I was leaving (coincidence?) and there ended up being 250 people!  Luke knows how to get the crowd going and it was fun just to see the kids have such a great time.

Luke is available for parties, Bar Mitzvah’s, etc… and can be contacted at LightzOuttEnt@aol.com and by phone at 781 572 9894.  Great job Luke-ay!

I’ve only been to Cintolo’s once before to get some signatures to run for town meeting but I heard they sell great homemade sausage on Thursdays so I went to check it out.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Cintolo’s is a little neighborhood market that has been in business for 70 years and people who go in there end up talking with Mr. & Mrs. Cintolo for a while, sometimes pulling up a chair and staying a while.   The nice thing is that if they don’t know they don’t make you feel like you don’t belong there. When I went in to buy the sausage, Mrs. Cintolo was asking me how I planned on cooking it and gave me suggestions on different recipes. 
Also, I  though it was cute that even though they’ve been in business so long and have a regular clientele, she was interested in how I heard about them.  She was just so nice and easy to talk to.  I went in there to get one thing and ended up talking with her for 10-15 minutes and she asked me to come back and let her know how I liked the sausage.
I sauteed it with onions and peppers and it was dee-licious!

This is one of the most adorable small business in Framingham and worth making the trip for sausage.
Cintolo’s is at 371 Grant Street.  They don’t have a sign anymore, I forgot to ask if it was because of a storm or the ridiculously strict sign regulations in town, but you should be able to recognize it by the striped awning in front of the store.

Doug Stephan of Eastleigh Farm (used with permission)
According to their site, Eastleigh Farm has been okayed (again) to sell raw milk starting in March.
There are people who think it’s a good idea and those who think it’s a bad idea but what it comes down to is that it’s a choice people can make, just like people choose how well they want their burger done.
Personally I’m not a big milk drinker, but I do enjoy cheese made from raw milk and I know there are lots of people who prefer to drink raw milk. I think it would be great for Framingham to be known as a location where you can get raw milk and support a local farm. When I talk to people who don’t live in town they’re surprised when I tell them we have actual farms here - they think Framingham is just crime and shopping.
I had the pleasure of talking with Doug Stephan a few weeks ago and he said the milk will start off being available as milk shares and then in a few months most likely be available by the bottle and then move onto cheese, yogurt and ice cream as well.
Everything you’d want to know about this, like why people want to drink raw milk, and more about the farm can be found on their website: http://www.eastleighfarm.com

Tonight my friend Miah and I went out for sushi at Samba. I’ve gone here for hibachi and Ethan and I love their Pad Thai, but I’ve never gone here for a sushi evening so that’s what Miah and I did.
We sat in the lounge (also a first) and started off with some drinks, I got a chocolate martini and and Miah got something fruity that the waiter suggested.

We got some edamame and a sushi/maki combo for 2. This was really enough for 3, maybe even 4 and hasd a nice variety of nigiri and maki which was delicious.

I think the best roll was was the spicy tuna maki, which Miah agreed was particularly good.

We had such a great meal here and now have three reasons to go here. Whether it’s for hibachi, Pad Thai or sushi, I’d be happy to go here anytime and it’s good to see that so far Samba hasn’t succumbed to the failed restaurant curse that had plagued this location for previous businesses. Good job Samba!

I was looking to get my awesome Jordan Marsh print framed and I didn’t really want to go to AC Moore or Michael’s because there is something weird to me about always offering 50% off framing, they don’t do their work in-house and I like to use local businesses. I’ve never had anything framed before and some people recommended Framed in Time in Saxonville so I thought I’d check them out.
When you walk in, you can see there are a ton of options for frames.

Right from the start, the girl behind the counter was so incredibly nice and helpful when I explained what I was looking for and the budget I was working with. She picked out a few suggestions based on the colors of the print and the thickness of the frame that would be needed due to the larger amount of glass that would be need as this was a larger poster rather than a small desk top item I was looking to frame.

I picked a light wood frame even though the interior of our house has dark wood trim, I thought the light wood went well with the print. I went to pick it up today and when I saw the finished product I realized I made a mistake and I just knew Ethan wasn’t going to like it in the house.

As much as I hated to do it, I asked the guy “So….what if I needed this re-framed? How much would that cost?” and instead of rolling his eyes or sighing, which I was afraid he would do, he said “Oh, if you pick a frame that’s in the same price range, there’s no charge at all”.  I told him I was so sorry but now that I’m looking at it I just know my husband won’t like this and I guess I’m not crazy about it either.
The guy said no problem at all and that it’s big enough that he can cut it up to use for something else and that infact he just got a new frame in this price range that is the same thing but in a walnut color. He brought out the frame sample and it was perfect.

It was so nice of him to not only to be so accommodating to me changing my mind after the frame was done, but he didn’t try to up-sell me on a more expensive frame and he was really nice!
I know we’ll be happy with the new frame and I’m so glad I went here. Such a nice small business in town, they get to be filed in the “yay” category of the blog!

Check out their site for more info: http://www.framedintime.com

Yesterday I asked my boss where she got her scarf and she said Red Rover Clothing, which is  a building away from our work and she said “I should bring you over there sometime”.  Later in the day I was looking at it and asked her how much it was and she put down her pen and said “Lets just go over there!” So we walked over and she introduced me to the owner, Cindy, who makes almost everything herself and is really nice and showed us her workspace upstairs.
The shop is small but neatly stocked with all sorts of really cute fleece clothing, gloves, scarves, bags and jewelry.

Red Rover Clothing is at 9 Vernon St. and you can check out the site at http://redroverclothing.com