help haiti, have fun

Tonight you can have a blast and satisfy your benificient side by heading over to Big Poppa's Bar and Grill (corner of Fairmount and Streeper). Featured in Baltimore Magazine's "On The Town" nightlife blog (go patterson park!), this benefit is sure to draw a good crowd of neighbors and outsiders alike.

Here is the scoop: Starting at 6:30 p.m., Big Poppa's will donate all of its profits to the American Red Cross's Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Coordinated by one of our own, the fundraiser will also offer free food and entertainment as well as a presentation by David Bersh, of whom I blogged a few days back.

A $5 minimum donation is suggested, but you can also give a lil' more and get some great raffle tickets! So come on out, bring your checkbook and a big heart. See you there!

love k

dogs on parade

BARCS annual fund raising festival, BARCStoberfest,  was rescheduled for Sunday after being rained out two weeks ago, and boy did they luck out this time! Abundant sunshine, changing leaves, and warm weather made this a really fantastic day to "Strut Your Mutt." With vendors galore, doggy contests, and pets ready for adoption, it was a day all about dogs (and some cats!).


A coworker and I had a booth for our company and had the fortune of being right in the middle of things with a great vantage point for watching the contests and all the passing pooches. Here are a few photos from the day:

Our table had a bounty of furry-friend goodies!

Ravens' Cheer-dog - gotta love it :)

Remember that dog I found in the Park and returned? We had a reunion at the fest'!

The Mayor gave a great speech!

I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage people to consider adopting from BARCS or a similar local organization - our city is overwhelmed by homeless dogs brought to the shelter by those who find them or those who can no longer keep them. With today's housing crisis still a bleak reality for many, animals are being forfeited to shelters at alarming rates as owners lose their homes or are no longer able to care for their pets. Please take a moment to see if your heart and home have room for one more. Adopting an animal is rewarding and heart warming... just look at this face - how could I say no??

love k

benefit bonanza

OH what a party it was! Friday night saw the culmination of two months of hard work for me, with my Masquerade Benefit taking place and raising about $1000 for the Creative Alliance! With cocktails, nibbles and masks galore, neighbors and friends celebrated until three in the morning.

Rather than prattle on, I think you'd all prefer a few pictures instead?

A HUGE thank you to everyone who came and donated so generously! 

love k

a befitting benefit for halloween

Have I mentioned the neighborhood benefit masquerade cocktail party (aka NBMCP) that I'm planning? I haven't? How rude of me! I'm practically bursting at the seam with excitement, friends. It's all my favorite things rolled in to one event - shall we break it down?

• NEIGHBORHOOD! As though you need me to tell you how much I love Patterson Park and it's awesome residents
• BENEFIT! The Creative Alliance, like so many local non-profits, has faced the loss of donor funding to support their fantastic events which keep local art and creativity thriving. The Great Halloween Lantern Parade is an annual event beloved by children and adults from within and outside of our neighborhood boundary. Donations from this event go directly to supporting the Parade's continued success
• MASQUERADE! Oh, the mysteries of the masquerade just add such an element of old school class, don't they? I, for one, purchased my mask weeks ago, while others are making their own.
  
• COCKTAIL! What better way to start your weekend that cocktails and hors d'oeurves?
• PARTY! Decorations, food, drinks, candy, masks, cocktail dresses....need I say more?

Excited doesn't even begin to portray what I feel about this. Truly, the opportunity to help support one of my favorite neighborhood (nay, city!) events is one I welcome wholeheartedly. Hosting a worthy benefit with my favorite friends in attendance while dressing up with a mask is just about as close to heaven as it gets for me. If you are interested in attending or donating, please visit the event website to RSVP. love kimi

of the arts and the 80's

For the first time in Baltimore history (or at least as many years as I've lived here), the weekend of Artscape was just gorgeous. With over 150 artists, great bands neat performers, and delicious food vendors, it's no wonder that Patterson Parkers were out in full force to take in America's largest free arts festival. In no time, we'd found each other (both by plan and coincidence) and did what we do best - socialize! Here are a few pictures I snapped that evening:

The rest of the week disappeared in a blur of settlements, contracts, and listings (Woohoo! Yay market picking up up up!), but this weekend more than made up for it. Friday brought another gorgeous evening, so N and I had a lovely, leisurely dinner at Three... With the sun setting over the park, great food and drinks, and neighbors stopping by our table to say hi and help us with our crossword, I got my regularl reminder of why I love where I live so very very much. Saturday was a little more on the go, however, with a neighborhood association board meeting (more on this another day) at my house, a listing appointment down the road, and then two great neighborhood parties. The first was a good ol' fashioned neighborhood house party, made better by it being put on my a fabulous host - truly, we had fantastic food and drinks in a beautiful home with the best roof deck I've ever seen. This roofdeck offered a pretty rad view of the storm rolling in over the city-scape.

But alas we could not dally too long, for we had a fundraiser to get to at Three..., benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A neighborhood resident plans to run the Baltimore Marathon in October, donating all the funds he raises to the LLS. A great crowd attended, with a nice mix of familiar faces and newbies partaking in delicious beverages, hitting the dance floor, and entering a raffle.

Oh, did I mention it was 80's themed?

love k

if you're in the giving mood...

...there are plenty of opportunities coming up around here to do just that. Currently hanging in Three...Restaurant is artwork by Andy Schwartz and Jason Derck, much of which depicts life around Baltimore in prints of various sizes. Stop by Wednesday evening to grab a drink and check it out. If you should wish to purchase any of the pieces, you can do so knowing that proceeds will be donated as seed money for a food co-op we have in the works (more on that later). Charitable intentions aside, the art is straight up amazing.

Later this month, Mike Mitchell (of both our neighborhood AND Habitat for Humanity) is hosting a fundraiser party to support the work of the Megaphone Project, an organization that makes films for nonprofits and causes that support changes in thought, policy, and
greater social justice. The party will showcase some of MP's short films, as well as introduce party-goers to the Executive Director of the organization.

And finally, June 28th is the New Balance Baltimore Women's Classic 5k, so ladies get out your running (or walking) shoes and join your other female neighbors on the Patterson Park Princesses team to support women's health initiatives. Thanks to Heather H for organizing our neighborhood team!
Good times, good company, great causes!

love k