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North Carolina NC Local Businesses
- BUY LOCAL!
BUY
LOCAL!
Support Local /
North Carolina Businesses |
We love to promote our local
North Carolina businesses who are making some of the neatest, coolest,
wowie things to make our lives easier, more fun, yummier (and yummier
and healthier for our pets thanks to The Pet Pantry), and (in the
case of Charlie's Soap), cleaner! Here are just a few local
businesses that we can recommend personally (based on our own
experience/use of their products).
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The Pet Pantry,
Apex,, NC

www.FeedYourPets.com
We "discovered" The Pet
Pantry 100% natural and holistic pet nutrition, made locally in Apex,
North Carolina thanks to featured discussions about healthy pet food on
The Allan Handelman show (talk
radio). (Allan Handelman is great; we love that he features
local businesses AND focuses on HEALTHY LIVING for people - by featuring
Dr. Joel Fuhrman on his talk radio show, and healthy nutrition for pets
by featuring The Pet Pantry and discussions about pet nutrition
regularly.) We had been buying expensive, holistic natural pet
food for our British Golden Retriever pup, but she just didn't seem to
like it that much. So we tried The Pet Pantry dog food after
hearing about it on the Allan Handelman talk radio show. We
ordered three different kinds/flavors from
www.FeedYourPets.com. We
were so glad to be supporting a LOCAL North Carolina business.
They also offer FREE SHIPPING to the Triad/Triangle areas of North
Carolina, making it very convenient and fast to order healthy &
nutritious pet food online. Our dog LOVES The Pet Pantry food; she
eats it eagerly and is thriving. |
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Charlie's Soap,
Mayodan, NC
Charlie's Soap cleaning products are made in Mayodan, NC, and we only
wish we had discovered Charlie's Soap much, much, much sooner! We
were looking for a good, clean laundry soap, without all of the chemicals and perfume-y scents and irritating detergent stuff. My
husband kept telling me that the towels did not smell fresh, even after
they had just been washed. Laundry is pretty much the ONE thing
that I do manage to accomplish (numerous times) on a daily basis - a
requirement with a bunch of children ages 3 to 10. So hearing that
the laundry didn't smell fresh despite my diligent work to keep
everything washed and folded daily was disappointing. Then
he found Charlie's Soap while grocery shopping at the Whole Foods in
Chapel Hill. He was intrigued by the logo and
interested to find that it is MADE IN NORTH CAROLINA.

We tried it. Very
shortly after switching to Charlie's Soap for our laundry, we noticed
that everything smelled fresh - not perfumed or like anything in
particular - just CLEAN. And the fabrics feel so much softer to the touch.
The front-loader laundry machine seems to stay cleaner and fresher.
This was several years ago and we haven't used anything but Charlie's
Soap since and wouldn't use anything else for our laundry. We are
looking forward to trying out all of the other Charlie's Soaps products!
Charlie's Soap is available
locally at Whole Foods (Elliott Rd., Chapel Hill), all of the Weaver
Street Market locations, Harry's Market at Whitecross, and others.
Visit www.charliesoap.com
to find the most up-to-date list of local retailers, and to buy
Charlie's Soap products online. |
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pHd Flying Pocket
Discs (crocheted frisbees),
Hillsborough, NC
Local friends of
ours invented the coolest frisbee-type soft crocheted flying discs, and
we are among their biggest fans. My friend said she must have
crocheted about 100 different prototypes until she came up with just the
right formula. (Can you picture it? Here's a beautiful, witty,
young mother of three who also happens to be a
formerly-highly-paid-DC-area lawyer, crocheting hundreds of frisbee
discs.) She got it JUST right! Now this family-owned
business (run by two best friends/local dads) has the discs crocheted by
mothers in Guatemala, giving them the opportunity to earn money for
their families while their children play next to them as they crochet.
Adults, college students and kids of all ages have a great time throwing
and catching the pHd crocheted frisbees.

My little ones were so
thrilled that they could catch them and throw them with ease.
(Hard frisbees are not so easy for little ones to throw and catch, but
the pHd's are perfect.) You can buy the
pHd crocheted frisbee discs at locally-owned, neat-o online toy
store, www.BlueberryForest.com,
and of course at
pHd's own website (for best selection of colors/styles). We
have also seen the pHd crocheted frisbee discs at Play It Again Sports
at New Hope Commons (next door to McAlister's Deli - across from the
Starbucks/FedEx-Kinko's that face 15-501 and Mt. Moriah). Quite
often the pHd crew can be found at our local annual festivals (we have
seen them at the Eno River
Festival in prior years, and at the Shakori Hills Music Festival.) |
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Cackalacky Sauce,
Chapel Hill, NC
What's "Cackalacky,"
you ask? Well, we didn't know what it meant (we're originally from
Virginia - not in the too distant past) but we were intrigued by a bold,
large sign emblazoned with the word "Cackalacky" near Cliff's Meat
market in Carrboro. Thus began the debate while we drove out to
Fearrington to let the kids hang out with the beltie cows and the goats.
Doesn't "cackalacky" mean from North Carolina? Is it a nice term,
or a not-nice-term if someone refers to you, or to something about you, as
"cackalacky"? We looked it up when we got home. (Jury's out as to
whether the term was originally a compliment or not when used as an
adjective for something/someone from the Carolinas... or used to
describe Carolina itself: "yes, she's originally from Cackalacky.")
We quickly found the
www.cackalacky.com website and discovered the sauce that bore the
logo we had seen on the large sign in Carrboro.

Turns out the sauce is
made right here in Chapel Hill, NC, and it's made from all sorts of good
healthy things including SWEET POTATOES. Most of all we were
tickled by the Cackalacky theme song on the website, and none of us
(including my sister who was visiting, and all of our kids) have ever
forgotten the theme song even though we only heard it that one evening.
The words and tune were so catchy I can sit here and sing it in its
entirety right now. We like the part where the dog joins in the
chorus. "Cackalacky, cackalacky, cackalacky all day long.
Cackalacky, cackalacky, cackalacky's where I belong ...woof ... woof."
Accompanied by some nifty guitar playing. Advertising Execs on
Madison Ave. NYC need to hire whomever wrote this catchy jingle ... it's
amazing how it has stuck with us. Next day we went out and bought
the sauce at Weaver Street Market in Carroboro. And it is really
good; very different from the same old ketchup or hot sauce; probably
healthier too; a nice kick to it. And we like the logo. And
the theme song. And the fact that it's MADE IN CHAPEL HILL, NC.
(Bon Apetit magazine called Cackalacky "Chapel Hill's Answer to
Tabasco.") What's not to like? By the way, here's a link to
the (Library-of-Congress-registered)
Cackalacky theme song
(you know you wanted to hear it!)
Correction:
I just listened to the
Cackalacky song
after not having heard it since several years ago. The dog
does not just join in for the chorus; no! The dog barks in the
background for the entire song. : ) This reminds me of my
friend's dog who, at her gold rush-salon-bordello-era theme wedding
outdoors on her ranch in Volcano, California howled soulfully only
during one particular country-love-song. That song just got
him every time - but not any of the other songs. (We tested
the song on him the next day ... sure enough, it struck a deep
chord.) But that's another story.
Check out the
Cackalacky website for recipes,
ingredients, where to buy, the latest Cackalacky news and all things
CACKALACKY. (I'm going to make the
Marvelous Mushroom Chili
Con Cackalacky!) |
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Ride the Canter - Pony Hats /
Horse Costume Hats,
Hillsborough, NC
RidetheCanter is
a local business in Hillsborough, NC that makes the most adorable pony
hats/horse costume hats. They are made with a soft cotton baseball
hat, with a beautiful "mane" sewn on and coordinating horse ears (my
daughters' RidetheCanter caps have ears that are made of soft satin
inside, and durable corduroy outside). Little girls LOVE to wear
them, which is great because the hats keep them nicely shaded from the
sun too!

My daughters (right and lower left) with
their friend/fellow camper and Ginger
at Blue Skies of Mapleview Summer Camp
You can purchase the hat
at their website (they are located in Hillsborough, NC), and the website
also features links to horse-related websites as well as free horse
sketches to print out and color.
www.ridethecanter.com |
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(1) Make a fairy like
this one using the
instructions in the
Wee Felt
Folk book
(book available at Blueberry Forest);
(2) Go Blueberry Picking and bring your hand-made fairy along for the
ride!
(See our
Local
Berry Picking Guide)
Locally
owned online toy store
Blueberry Forest carries among the largest selections of European
toys and handmade US toys in the world, along with reproduction cookie
molds, shortbread pans and lots of lovely, wonderful gifts, games and
treasures. |
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Shoo-Fly Audio Magazines
for Children,
Carrboro, NC
(and everybody who loves
great stories and great music!)
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Piedmont Farm Tour
The ultimate in buying local: our
wonderful local Farmer's Markets in Carrboro, Hillsborough,
Fearrington, Raleigh, and beyond. You can also find a wide selection of locally-grown fruits and
vegetables at the Weaver Street Market, and local produce often is
used in local restaurants. The Carrboro Farmer' Market
features an abundance of delicious, locally grown fruits and
vegetables fresh from the local farms. Every year local farms
in Carrboro/Chapel Hill/Orange County/Hillsborough and surrounding
areas participate in the annual Piedmont Farm Tour (the largest farm
tour in the nation!) Visit local farms, meet the farmers, and
sample the local fare at this wonderful annual event celebrating
local farms.
Orange County Artists Guild Annual Open Studio Tour
Every year the Orange County Artists
Guild Open Studio Tour offers the unique opportunity to visit local
artists in their studios (you can follow the map published by the
Orange County Artists Guild; signs are also posted pointing the way
all around town and Orange County directing the way to the artists'
studios). Marvel at their amazing work and meet your local
resident artists! (Carrboro has been referred to as "Paris of
the Piedmont" for good reason!)
On a related note: Are you
inspired to awaken the artist within yourself? The
Carrboro ArtCenter offers an amazing selection of art courses,
from painting to photography, sewing to jewelry making,
sculpting and pottery making, among many others (weekday and
weekend classes available; also classes available in day and
evening). We have met some of our favorite artists at
the Carrboro ArtCenter (and on the Open Studio Tour); we highly
recommend trying an art class there and taking some time for
yourself! The ArtCenter is a very COOL place to visit just
to visit. They usually have amazing local artwork featured
on the walls, and the ArtCenter features a beautiful theater
where musical luminaries visit and theatrical performances keep
the arts very much alive in Carrboro!
More great
local products MADE LOCALLY in our neck of the woods in the Chapel Hill,
NORTH CAROLINA area: LOCOPOPS, MAPLEVIEW ICE CREAM ...
more coming soon ...
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