Udipi Charlotte

Archive for the ‘Good Charlotte’ Category

Buying a new home can be an exciting time of a person’s life. The American dream is home ownership and can be attained in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before making a final decision on which home to buy, you’ll want to consider a few things. It’s a good idea to make a wish list to act as a guideline while looking for Charlotte homes for sale. You’ll want to choose wisely as this will be a long-term investment.

Figure out which home features and amenities you’d like in a home. This can actually be quite a detailed list. For starters, what kind of home do you like: bungalows, ranches, split-story, townhome etc.? You’ll also want to know how many bedrooms and bathrooms, how many stories, how many square feet, how much storage, and how old it is. Do you like a big kitchen? Do you mind if it’s remodeled or do you prefer a brand new kitchen? Do you want a garage or is a carport fine? These are the kinds of things you’ll want to know before you go out house shopping.

Amenities are other things you’ll want to be aware of when looking for homes:

Office Area Laundry room Patio/Deck Pool Security system Sprinkler system

If you’re not sure what you want, it helps to discuss it with a real estate agent to help you realize all the features of a home you could have. It helps to have a second opinion when looking for homes. Sometimes people buy a home and realize afterwards that it doesn’t have a certain feature that could have made it more worth it. So be sure to write out exactly what you want so your money is well spent and invested in a home you’ll love.

In search of the Carrie Bradshaw style…

Well unless you’ve been hibernating in Northern Alaska for the past few months it probably hasn’t escaped your notice that the long awaited big screen debut of television’s favourite newspaper columnist and her Mr Big is finally with us. Sex and the City fever is everywhere lately; I’ve even heard a remix of a hit R&B tune with the catchy Sex and the City theme song. If you haven’t seen the movie yet you undoubtedly know someone who has.

So what was it about Carrie Bradshaw and her group of New York friends that so captured the imagination? They certainly represented the ultimate in high style and fashion, and when the series was being shot the Sex and the City wardrobe (more particularly Carrie’s wardrobe) and stylist duo Patricia Field and Rebecca Weinberg were talked about almost as much as the plots and characters. In the recent SATC movie, Field estimates there were over 300 costume changes for the four women. “Everything that’s not borrowed I keep” says lucky actress Sarah Jessica Parker. Carrie’s style on the show was an eclectic mix of high fashion and the bohemian, seamlessly blending the vintage with the new, and always with those killer shoes. The show is well known for providing a huge lift for the profile of shoe designer (or should we say shoe artist?) Manolo Blahnik, whose high heeled creations Carrie was rarely seen without. As he puts it, “Shoes…help transform a woman.”

Now for some people, sadly, pregnancy seems to be a fashion no-go zone, filled with oversized t-shirts, shapeless smocks, and (horror of horrors) sensible shoes. Here at Queen Bee we have made it our mission to bring you maternity gear with is both stylish and comfortable. You’ll be glad to know that in our experience, the two concepts are not mutually exclusive!

So how to adapt the Sex and the City style for pregnancy? Learning to layer and accessorise is the key. Remember to mix and match; you may not fit into your normal wardrobe staples when you’re pregnant, but you undoubtedly still have scarves, knits, bags and jewellery which you can combine with some of our great maternity essentials to create a huge variety of looks.

Carrie Bradshaw could never be accused of being boring, and her fashion style is anything but shy, so we say if you’re pregnant, flaunt it! Don’t hide your belly, show it off with one of our beautiful tops or sexy dresses. Our exclusive 8 way Tamiko top and stunning silk wrap dress by LIL are colourful and vibrant with a high fashion look, and we love LIL’s Kara print top too. Our funky striped babydoll cami top is sure to get you noticed, while this sheer sleeve babydoll top in black or ivory is peasant-chic.

The Momzee paisley peasant dress is super cute, and like this great ¾ wrap dress, it comes in this season’s hottest colour, yellow. You could also have fun with this funky blue genie wrap dress by Fillyboo or black and white polka dot tunic dress by Childish clothing. For evening sophistication, this red and white patterned silk bell sleeve dress reigns supreme…at least until the next costume change. Now you know about Queen Bee, there’s no reason why you can’t be better dressed during pregnancy than you’ve ever been before!

And the word on shoes? Comfortable doesn’t have to mean unstylish. While sky high Manolo Blahnik heels may not be your first choice when 30 weeks pregnant, you don’t have to wear massage sandals every single day (unless you want to). Personally, I had a favourite pair of Diana Ferrari supersoft shoes which I wore throughout pregnancy to work as well as the occasional night out – they were super comfortable and stylish, soft black leather with a flexible sole, and baby-friendly 1.5 inch heels. The best of both worlds!

love queen bee

xx

One program in Charlotte Schools is focusing on the littlest learners. Recognizing that good learners begin early, education officials have developed an award winning preschool program called Bright Beginnings.

Bright Beginnings

The Bright Beginnings program involves full day, literacy based programs for four year olds in the Charlotte – Mecklenburg area. More than 3000 students benefit from the program at five education centers and fourteen elementary schools. Over time the program has spread beyond the public school system and has been integrated into preschool classrooms throughout the community by partnering with the Smart Start, Child Care Resources, Child Care Centers, and More at Four programs, which all target the education needs of preschool students.

Developing Pre – K Experiences

Teachers and program developers recognize the need for enriching experiences at the preschool level. Students at this age have very limited opportunities to explore the world around them, and the Bright Beginnings Program hopes to change that. By exposing children to new and different things, program developers believe that they can strengthen student vocabulary, a skill that they hope will carry over when the students learn to read. While many of these new experiences take place in the classroom, Bright Beginnings also encourages students with field trips to local learning centers, such as Discovery Place and ImaginOn.

Aligning Pre – K with Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction

Bright Beginnings has recently been incorporated under the North Carolina State Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction area. Teachers hope to build connections between what they do in the Bright Beginnings program and what students will need to do when they enter kindergarten. The new partnership seeks to produce students entering kindergarten who are better prepared to learn and kindergarten teachers with a clearer idea of what their students have been exposed to and how they can build on that knowledge as they move through kindergarten. The program has the potential to raise student achievement at every grade level, as better prepared students advance year to year. Bright Beginnings recognizes that as Elementary Education Standards increase, preschool student curriculum must as well. As the director of the program explains, “(Children) are expected to learn more. The standards have increased, not just in college and high school but in kindergarten too.”

Professional Development for Teachers

As part of Bright Beginnings commitment to preschool education, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has used federal and state grant money to ensure that the teachers working in the program are highly trained and qualified. All teachers must be certified in early child development, meaning that they have studied children from birth to kindergarten.

National Recognition for Bright Beginnings

Several years ago, Bright Beginnings sold its award winning curriculum to Pearson Publishing. Through this partnership, the curriculum has been distributed nationwide and continues to grow in neighborhoods far from the Charlotte – Mecklenburg area. The director of the program credits Bright Beginning’s success to the continued dedication of teachers and developers to work towards better learning practices. She comments, “We’ve started some new things and we’re going to continue to build them. We have gotten great marks for our curriculum for years. (Charlotte – Mecklenburg Schools) is a leader in the nation.”