Marge and Bruce Doing It Downtown on Mothers' Day

Marge and I spent some time in downtown Wilmington, NC, today, taking a break in one of our favorite places to wander. We stopped into the newly opened Fire & Spice Gourmet shop in the Cotton Exchange because I wanted Marge to see the store. When we got there co-owner Tommy Cooper was behind the counter so I took this shot.


After chatting with Tommy a bit we couldn't resist going upstairs in the Cotton Exchange to the Crescent Moon art glass gallery where our friends Joan and Mike Loch reign.

They were both excited to show us some new tiny metal flea sculpture professional and athletic them pieces they have in the gallery. They'd only recently put them on the shelves and had sold a bunch. The flea sculpture sales are really jumping!

Marge wanted a shot of Joan, Mike and me so she took this one. And no that's not a lampshade on my head, but the color and shine of my sunglasses do kind of blend in the with the vase on the shelf behind me.

I noticed they'd thoughtfully set up a TV for a couple of their glass pieces to watch, which shows how nice they are. Looks to me like that guy is trying to levitate the bowl on the table, but maybe it's a glassblowers talk show?

This piece caught my eye from across the gallery - is it gorgeous or what?

And as we were leaving Mike made sure I noticed these End of Days pieces. Surely you've heard the expression, "When pigs fly!"

Down by the Wilmington Riverwalk the cruise ship was docked. A local artist displayed her work on the walk while her small white dog enjoyed the shade in the chair.

Cruise ships are becoming more common at the Wilmington riverfront. The easy walk to the stores, restaurants, and historic district are all good draws. There was also a taxi line waiting to take people to the beach.

So we had another fine time in downtown Wilmington, as always. The weather was perfect and there were healthy crowds everywhere.


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Wilmington Professional Group - on the River! July 8, 2009

The Wilmington Professional Group meets on the second Wednesday of each month. July's meeting was both on and by the Cape Fear River in Downtown Wilmington. Sponsored by Ayres and Thurman Burgess of Jubilee Snooze and Cruise Bed and Breakfast on the Riverwalk and Ray Baca of Baca Photography at Evolve Image Studios located at 18 S. Water Street, the monthly meeting was well attended at both venues.

Below, the foredeck of Jubilee's 45-foot Sea Star provided at good spot to see and be seen.


Inside the airy and hip Evolve Image Studios Ray Baca, the guy with the black shirt below, kept moving to be sure people had plenty to eat and drink.

Sarah Barbee of Fuss Budget Promotions and Ray Baca. Sarah helped promote this event via social media. Sarah works hard and does a fine job wearing many hats in promoting Wilmington area events, especially downtown-focused happenings.

Ayres Burgess of the Jubiless, with a bright smile, good food, and happy people.


Michael Bird of Word Wright Web website design firm.

Shannan Bowen, social media beat reporter for the Wilmington Star News and Sarah. Shannan is a great friend who covers the use of social media in all aspects in the greater Wilmington area. In her spare time she also covers crime and breaking news.

Jennifer Warren of Warren Consulting and Shannan. Jennifer was an early business owner in Internet commerce and who now runs a powerful business consulting and service operation.

Designer Brooke Foreman of Right Left Studios. Brooke's a west coast transplant who does simply wonderful design work.

Award-winning videographer Matt Davis of Your Best Sales Person (he and his wife Melissa also do killer wedding throughout the southeast). I met Melissa a couple of years ago, but had only communicated with Matt before online, it was great to see him in person.

The ever-grinning Dr. Arian Kelley of Choice Healthcare.

Jon Hicks, Director of Design at Ethos Studios. I met Jon for the first time at this event. His firm focuses on multi-layered product advertising, marketing, and design.

Meanwhile, on the boat, Pierre Smith made sure everything was cooking nicely!

Jennifer Warren stopped by the boat's banner for hopping aboard.

Shannan Bowen and Heike McDoniel of Ocean Thoughts Yoga. Shannan and Heike have traded messages on Twitter for months and months but had never met in person. I was happy to finally meet Heike, too!


Jenn Beddoe and Gayle Taybor of Glynne's Soaps. Their soaps were just featured on Chris Brogan's fantastic social media marketing blog .
As I left the Wilmington Professional Group meeting, I said good-bye to the boat last.

This networking event had all the right ingredients. Some interesting new folks to meet, some good friends and previous acquaintances to see again, a couple of real live folks I'd only previously known online, great food and drink, and a scenic, cool locale. Add it all up and it works for me.

Vanity Post - Bruce Brown, Exploding with Energy and Loving Leland

Thanks much to Kristy and Justin Williams for including me in the Behind the Business feature for the summer issue of NBM Magazine. Hilary Brady, who wrote the piece, and Logan Wallace, who took the photos, both did outstanding work and I've only had positive comments and feedback.


If you're interested, to read just the text, you can click here Bruce Brown: Exploding with Energy and Loving Leland

To see the whole article including photos in the magazine (with a nifty online magazine viewer that turns pages just like you were reading the real thing, click on this link) NBM Magazine Online Viewer.

The article is complimentary and I appreciate that, but it also demonstrates the first class publications, professionals, and services we have in Leland and how we work to support each other in this dynamic place during these exciting times.