Last week, my column included some terrific shops and services located around Braintree, to get your shopping spee off to a good start. This week I will tackle the remainder of the Alphabet, M-Z! Remember, if at all possible, shop the small Mom and Pops! They are what make this country great! Massage – Body Benefits Massage located at 40 Pearl St. in Braintree has the perfect gifts for your most stressed (by the holidays?) loved ones. For a mere $45, indulge your friend with a 30-minute Massage therapy or Reiki session or for just $10 more ($55) one can obtain a Cupping session for 30 minutes…

It's time to get your holiday shopping list in order! What better way to celebrate your community (and conserve your energy) that to shop only in the locally-owned shops and services around Braintree! Here is a partial alphabetical list (A-L) of what to get and where to find them! See next week for Part Two! Art – In Braintree, we have wonderful original art for sale at Framers Edge in Braintree, everything from local South Shore artists to those who have their work hanging at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York! We also have a wonderful, new venue in The Color Loft, for superlative …

I will be the first person to admit that I have not been a salon loyalist! I have bounced between four different salons in Braintree, two in Jamaica Plain, a few in Quincy and even one in Randolph. But I can finally say that I think I have finally found a place I feel comfortable in. That place is The Snippery, located at 654 Washington St. in Braintree. Being a person with stick-straight hair, baby-fine in texture, I am finally through with fighting mother nature! You see, I have found "Gina," the owner of The Snippery and the master of the razor cut! Gina can work wonders with that razor, …

With the one day a year that we stop to give thanks, prior to the mad rush of holiday shopping and festive events, I thought I'd stop and take time to ponder life, existence and metaphysics – before succombing to blatant mass consumerism and the group delusion that material possessions are important. I have been watching Brian's Greene's PBS series on Nova, "The fabric of the Cosmos." It is fascinating! I can't believe how Math is the key to the equations that have led to new revelations about our existence – string theory, multiverses, an infinite expansion of matter! It kind of puts a whole…

OK, OK, you've heard me on this topic before, but I'm not going to rest until I see a turnaround on Main Street! What I'm talking about is my mantra of asking people out there to support the small business owner over the big boxes. And now is your golden opportunity, because on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, Small Business Saturday, started by American Express to promote local vendor shopping, is taking place all over the country. This is my first time ever being a retailer and I'm excited for this day. Why? Because it really puts this issue up front and center for people to think about. People …

It was about one year ago, that after having a one-year sabbatical from work (I had sold my business in September 2009), the boredom started to seep in. I was writing a blog, working on a business plan and cleaning my house constantly. But I felt like an unwilling housewife, craving a little more to my life, though not yet ready to take the plunge into my new business. That's when I saw an online ad for writers, for something called "Patch" which seemed to be popping up everywhere; and in Braintree, serendipitously! I knew we were in a new decade of wired-in everything when the editor told me…

This has been a busy year for me, in terms of home improvement. I needed to get my childhood home in Randolph spiffy for new renters, had some of my own home repair work and opened a business which required the entire store to be painted. Just like anybody, I like real, quality work. So I called around to some friends who were seasoned home repair-ists and got a few names. No problem, right? Well, lets just say that nobody calls back! You would think that in a slow economy they would be clamoring! So in my urgency, I reasoned to myself, "To whom do I go to who will be responsible, will call …

Have you ever seen the movie Hocus Pocus, at the beginning when the kids are all trick-or-treating on the street of the children who are the protagonists in the movie? It's a Disney version of what Halloween should look like? Well, that's my street, on Halloween. I don't know if its the prevalence of larger Victorian "haunted" houses that look like they could be out of central-casting (for houses) that brings the hoards to my neighborhood, but for some reason we have always been Halloween Central. My neighbors across the street for instance, cover their perfectly-round yew hedges with orange …

Last night, my husband and I traveled through rain and wind on a two-hour trip (both ways) to go and see my son in yet another of a series of performances he has been in this year. Seeing him up there playing a Norwegian intellectual in an Arthur Miller play adapted from Ibsen, Enemy of the People, filled me with wonder and amazement. Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that he was just a little toddler, who, like a sponge would take in every sight, sound and object with such enthusiasm and an almost scientific interest! I know exactly when he got bit by the acting bug. It was in the fourth …

I'm not going to lie to you. With all the thrill and energy one experiences in opening up "shop," there is the down-side. It is also absolutely terrifying! You put yourself out there for all to scrutinize, you sacrifice your own personal funds, and you put your heart and soul into the new business proposition, all on a wing and a prayer. There are no guarantees that you will succeed, and usually the first few years are very difficult; physically, financially and yes, spiritually. Thank goodness there are other out there who "get" it! I have been fortunate to have a circle of friends who care …

There is a new book on the market entitled Locavesting: the Revolution in Local Investing, written by Amy Cortese, a former editor at BusinessWeek, who has also published articles for the New York Times Magazine, the DailyBeast.com and Mother Jones. I was prompted to buy it this summer, after continuously hearing all the negative reports about the stock market, the depressed housing market, and reading the stories of frustration experienced by everybody whose “nest eggs” were cracking! “Surely there must be someplace to invest and make a little money," I reasoned and invested in the book (…

When it comes to dieting and carb monitoring I am pretty good. Err – except for one category. Pizza. Thanks to my husband, who prefers to have pizza over every other food, we probably have it at least once per week! Living in Braintree does not help my dilemma. For in Braintree, there is no scarcity of pizza venues! What are some of my favorite spots? Well, being a North Braintree resident, we tend to go someplace that is within quick driving distance. For excellent quality and convenience, our default is Bertucci's. Although they do not have delivery, Braintree Five Corners is a short …

I find great comfort in hearing stories about young people finding their way successfully in life. Back in the eighties, during the time of Gordon Gecko and "Greed Is Good," everybody was jumping on the MBA bandwagon and donning the trappings of success – fancy cars, $1,000 suits, penthouses. Thank God those days are over. I find it heartening and refreshing that today's young person will often seek their bliss in the things that move them. Case in point: Braintree native Josh Raymond. Josh, a graduate of Mass College of Art, works by day for a metal fabrication entity in the design district …

It's 4 a.m. and I can finally feel the Tylenol PM pill that I took at 1 a.m. finally kick in. There's only one problem – I'm at the Milton Hospital Emergency Room and need to stay awake! That's because, my mother, aged 84, who has lived in my Braintree home for one year now, just fell, as she got up out of bed to use the commode in her room. For a boomer like me, this is certainly not the first time this has happened and it won't be the last! In fact, between my Dad's long bout of decline from strokes (which finally "took" him four years ago) and the numerous hospital, rehab and medical …

With the figures for unemployment in the U.S. still at a record high, many people who had once been productive and busy suddenly find themselves on hiatus, with time on their hands and way too much time to think and obsess! It isn't easy to be in this state of limbo. I see many of the same cast of characters at the library, searching jobs online, working on resumes and just generally trying to read and keep themselves open to new ideas – perhaps reading up on an alternate career path. I've been in this boat, and I know what it's like. I've seen friends and family in this position as well. It'…

The signs of September are all around us. Groups of kids on bikes have been replaced by backpacked clusters of children at corner bus-stops. Dunkin' Donuts is proclaiming that "Pumpkin is back!" and serving up iced and hot apple cider. And alas, the pool guys have begun the yearly ritual of closing up the pools – prompted a little early, thanks to Hurricane Irene! Yes, we still have summer until Sept. 21, but our behaviors indicate that we are moving on to fall rituals. Since we already know how crazy busy we will be with school and sports schedules, I would prefer to talk about taking a …

If you have read my column over the past year, it's easy to see that I am a big proponent of small and local business. It's not that I'm totally against big box stores, for surely they offer cheaper priced goods to people who need the savings. However, when they start to control our markets, the quality of goods, choices and the macroeconomics of the world, I get a little nervous. It reminds me a little of the state-controlled regimes of Communist Russia! (You know, people standing in line for hours to get the one and only product available.) If we allow it to run amok, then the Capitalism …

For those of us who suffer from food allergies, gastro-intestinal disturbances and diseases of the digestive system, the right foods, which inhibit the irritation we experience, can be a godsend! So it is a real boon to anybody who suffers these problems to know that a short five minute drive to Randolph will deliver you to ALLCANEAT Bakery and Cafe at 937 North Main St. ALLCANEAT Foods Ltd. opened it's doors a mere 15 months ago and business has been uphill since then. In this economy that is an anomaly! Owned by five partners – Geoge Moufarrej, Diane Sterrett, Andre Summers, David George …

Because I am a business columnist, who covers new and/or interesting businesses around town, I will often pop in to some of the businesses that I've interviewed in the past just to see how things are going. I also "friend" many of these places on Facebook in order to keep up with any special events that may be upcoming, so that I can report on them. So, although I've had a gut feeling about this just from observation, I wasn't surprised to hear about how "dead" Braintree has been! Four of the businesses I covered all exclaimed about how "nobody was around," or "where do they all go in the …

One of the ways to distinguish your business from the crowd is actually quite simple, and yet it seems that nobody really takes advantage of it. It is the power you can gain in the marketplace by surprising your customers with some clever little gift, value added service, or anything, really, that will bring a smile to their faces. Here is a case in point. Recently I had some time on my hands and decided to treat myself to lunch. I remembered that O'Brien's Bakery was now located right beyond the Crown Colony Place on Centre Street, so I thought I'd check it out. I ordered a grilled cheese …