It’s here again.  It’s Virginia’s tax free holiday for school supplies and clothing.  The holiday runs from Friday, August 6 – Sunday, August 8, 2010.  Each eligible school item must be priced at $20 or less and each clothing and footwear item must be priced at $100 or less. 

Eligible School Supplies:                             

Binder pockets

Binders

Blackboard Chalk

Book bags

Calculators

Cellophane tape

Clay and glazes

Compasses

Composition books

Crayons

Dictionaries and thesauruses

Dividers

Erasers (including dry erase marker erasers and dry erase marker cleaning solutions)

Folders; expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila

Glue, paste, and paste sticks

Highlighters

Index cards

Index card boxes

Legal pads

Lunch boxes

Markers (including dry erase markers and dry erase marker kits)

Musical instruments, musical instrument accessories, and replacement items for musical instruments

Notebooks

Paintbrushes for artwork

Paints (acrylic, tempera, and oil)

Paper; loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board and construction paper

Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes

Pencil sharpeners

Pencils

Pens

Protractors

Reference books

Reference maps and globes

Rulers

Scissors

Sheet music

Sketch and drawing pads

Textbooks

Watercolors

Workbooks; and

Writing Tablets

This is an all inclusive list.  Computers are not eligible, however, some retailers may choose to pay the taxes for consumers who purchase this type of item. 

Eligible Clothing Items:

Aprons, household and shop

Athletic supporters

Baby bibs and clothes

Baby receiving blankets

Bandanas

Bathing suits, swim trunks, cover-ups and bathing caps

Beach capes and coats

Belts and suspenders

Bibs

Boots

Choir and altar clothing

Clerical vestments

Coats, jackets, and windbreakers

Corsets and corset laces

Costumes (sold not rented)

Coveralls

Diapers, children and adult, including disposable diapers

Dresses

Ear muffs

Footlets

Formal wear for men and women (sold, not rented)

Fur coats and stoles, shawls and wraps

Garters and garter belts

Girdles

Gloves and mittens for general use

Golf clothing, caps, dresses, shirts, skirts, pants

Gym suits and uniforms

Hats and caps

Hosiery

Insoles, inserts for shoes

Jeans

Jerseys (both athletic and non-athletic)

Lab coats

Legwarmers

Leotards and tights

Lingerie

Neckwear, including bow ties, neckties, and scarves

Nightgowns

Overshoes and rubber shoes

Pajamas

Pantyhose

Raincoats, rain hats, and ponchos

Robes

Rubber pants

Rubber thong/flip-flops

Sandals

Scarves

Shirts and blouses

Shoes and shoe laces

Shorts

Skirts

Slacks

Slippers

Slips

Sneakers

Socks and stockings, including athletic socks

Steel toed shoes

Suits

Suspenders

Underwear

Uniforms, athletic and non-athletic

Vests

Wedding apparel, including veils (sold not rented)

This list is not all inclusive. 

If you would like more information on the 2010 Virginia Tax Free Holiday for school supplies and clothing, please click here.

A day dedicated to one of the greatest inventions of all time.  But, somehow I always manage to be without my umbrella on a rainy day.  I have them stashed everywhere, yet, I can never find one.

Oh what would we do without our weatherpersons?  Funny thing about Fredericksburg area weather is that it’s not actually for Fredericksburg.  We either get Sterling, Virginia weather forecasts, Richmond, Virginia forecasts, or Washington, DC weather forecasts.  So, if a Fredericksburgian (did I just make up a word?) never looks prepared for the weather, there’s a reason.  We don’t know what the weather will be!

Once again Americans mess, I mean, enhance, with the original.  February 2 was also celebrated in Roman times, but not as Groundhog Day.  Hedgehogs are predominate in Europe and every February 2 the hedgehog would emerge from hibernation and predict the winter/ spring season.  If the hedgehog saw it’s shadow, then there were 6 more weeks of winter.  Since there are no native hedgehogs in the Americas, we adopted the groundhog as our most accurate weather predictor.  (Didn’t think you’d get a history lesson here, did you?)

On a bit of a side note, I owned a pet hedgehog in college.  It is very similar to owning a hamster except the hedgehog has a few bad habits.  Their spikes are very sharp and they aren’t afraid to use them!  They also take spit baths which are just gross!  But all in all, Blanche the Hedgehog was a fantastic college pet!

Oh, pie day!  I do love a good pie!  My favorite is Chocolate Chess Pie from The Angus Barn in Raleigh, NC.  Icecream and whipped cream on top is a must!  What’s your favorite pie?

(Okay, well technically Carl’s sells custard, but it’s close enough!)

July 18 marks National Ice Cream Day, according to the Bizarre Food Holidays website. So, in honor of this fantastic holiday, I recommend that you head to Carl’s at 2200 Princess Anne Street. Carl’s has been a treasured Fredericksburg landmark for over 50 years. What’s the difference between custard and ice cream? Custard contains more eggs than ice cream. Carl’s serves three flavors of frozen custard – chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, but that doesn’t mean your taste buds will be disappointed! You can also choose from a selection of sundaes, floats, cones, milkshakes, and malts. Don’t worry about the long line wrapped around the building when you arrive; the average wait time is between 10-15 min. It is well worth the wait!

Open 7 days a week!

(mid February- mid November)

Sun-Thurs 11 am – 11 pm
Fri. & Sat 11 am – 11:30 pm