Favorite Things Friday

With evening monsoons and nearly unbearable daytime temperatures, there’s nothing like a nice event to take your mind off August’s continually bizarre weather.  If you’re plan-less this weekend, choose a few of these events to pack your calendar!

Experience the bittersweet, inspiring story of a group of students at New York City’s High School for Performing Arts as they discover prejudice, issues with identity, and self worth, and learn how to survive being young.  FAME, The Musical is presented by Albuquerque Little Theatre and runs at various times Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tickets are $15 for adults.

Expect the wonderful music of 2008 Best of the City winner, Le Chat Lunatique at the First Friday Patio Party at Plaza Sombra.  The old-style French café jazz group will entertain visitors from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight. Enjoy the atmosphere of Old Town and take in the sights and sounds of this very-popular monthly party.

Head out to Expo New Mexico this weekend to see an incredible selection and variety of antiques at the 12^th annual Great Southwestern Antique Show.  More than 200 dealers will fill the Lujan Center with antiques, fine art, and treasures of every shape and size.  Admission is $8 and the show is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Try the delicious wines of New Mexico while viewing the talented work of area quilters at this year’s Quilt and Wine Fair in Corrales.  Expect quilting lectures, arts and crafts, wine lectures, and book signings.  Admission for adults is $15, and the festival takes place from noon to 6 p.m. at the Corrales Recreation Center.

Celebrate being a New Mexico State University Aggie with the Isotopes this Saturday night as the ‘Topes take on the Sacramento River Cats.  Bring friends and family decked out in NMSU crimson and white for a great game and delicious baseball-park food and a little shameless celebration of your Aggie heritage!

What are you up to this weekend?

Favorite Things Friday (Fourth of July Edition)

We’re definitely looking forward to the three-day Fourth of July weekend.  And, you know you are, too!  So crank up the patriotic music and toss some franks on the grill, and then head out and celebrate the Fourth at one of Albuquerque’s wonderful events!

If you’re hoping to celebrate the Fourth a couple days early this year, Isotopes Park has you covered.  BBoy McCoy present fireworks following the Isotopes v. Oklahoma City Redhawks game on July 2 and First Community Bank sponsors post-game fireworks on July 3.

I can very honestly say, the Corrales 4^th of July Parade is unlike any other.  It has all the staples of a typical Fourth parade, vintage cars, firetrucks, horses.  Unlike (well, I’m assuming) any other, however, the Corrales parade often features a Kazoo band, kids walking unusual animals, and well, expect the unexpected.  The parade begins at 10 a.m. on Corrales Road.  This gem of an event is about as New Mexico-American as a parade can get.

The more traditional Rio Rancho Fourth of July Parade beings at 10 a.m. on Southern Boulevard near Country Club Drive and will end at Pinetree Road, near the Esther Bone Memorial Library.  Try a unique spin on parade going by participating!  Take the kids and their decorated bikes over to Joe’s Pasta House restaurant parking lot at 9 a.m. to register to ride in the parade.  There will be prizes!

The best place to watch New Mexico’s biggest fireworks display?  Where it happens!  Freedom Fourth takes place at Balloon Fiesta Park from 4 to 10 p.m. The event will feature five bands, food vendors and kids activities galore. The event is free to enter, but parking is $10.  You can avoid that fee by using the Park and Ride shuttles, which will pick up and drop off at St. Pius High School and Coronado Center and only cost $1 per person.

The City of Rio Rancho will celebrate 234 years of America with a fireworks show at Rio Rancho High School.  The high school football stadium will provide seating for the show.  Live music begins at 8 p.m. and the fireworks start at 9:30 p.m.  The event is free, but parking is $5, with proceeds benefitting the Rio Rancho High School Booster Club.

What will you be doing for the Fourth of July holiday weekend?

Favorite Things Friday (Father’s Day Edition)

Did Father’s Day sneak up on you like it did me this year?  Whether you’re ready or not, there’s a lot going on this weekend.  Check out these fun Albuquerque events!

Instrument, dancing, and singing, workshops, exhibits, arts and crafts, if there’s anything that can be arguably related to folk art, it will be at the Albuquerque Folk Festival this weekend.  Headlining tonight are Robin and Linda Williams and Their Fine Group, from Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” The festival expects 130 non-stop performances on three stages Friday evening and Saturday.  Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for children 11-18. Students and seniors receive a $5 discount.

Blues artist, Sonny Landreth is the first performance this season for the Rio Grande Zoo’s Zoo Music 2010. The concerts take place on Friday nights and showcase folk, ethnic, and roots music throughout the summer months on the large lawn near the zoo’s duck ponds. Not only do you hear the talented performing musician, but the wonderful sounds of the zoo’s many animals. Tickets can be purchased online or at the BioPark.

Art people won’t want to miss Corrales Society of Artists’ Arts in the Park this Sunday.  The society hosts painters, sculptors, jewelers, potters, and other artists on the third Sunday of each month in La Entrada Park in Corrales.  Visitors are welcome to stroll through the cottonwood-shaded park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Parking and admission are free.

Looking for a great Father’s Day activity?  How about heading down to the Rio Grande Zoo for this year’s Father’s Day Fiesta? Along with all of the zoo’s normal exhibits and creatures, there will be Latin music and prize giveaways.

If you love your dad, and your dad loves to run, make sure to check out the Father’s Day 5K Run/Walk presented in conjunction with Sandia High School Thirst Project.  Funds raised by the 3.1 mile run help to provide wells and clean water to Ugandan villages.  The run starts at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Finish off Father’s Day with a New Mexico Jazz Workshop jam session.  Ryan Montano Quartet will perform on the rooftop of Seasons from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.  It’s a family friendly event, so everyone is welcome to enjoy great music, great food, and a great Father’s Day!

Where will YOU be this Father’s Day weekend?

Favorite Things for this HOT Friday

We’re all workin’ for the weekend, and oh-so-lucky for us, it’s almost here!  ATM looked far and wide for the coolest events this first hot June weekend.  Here’s what we found!

1.  It’s going to be a gorgeous weekend. There’s not going to be a nicer weekend to get outside and walk!  Instead of just walking for fun, check out the Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory Walk, and do it for a cause!  Since 1989 the walk has raised more than $300 million. Registration begins at 7 a.m. on Saturday, or preregister online!

2.  When it comes to music, Albuquerque artists are hard to beat.  As part of the “Buy Locally, Eat Locally, Celebrate Locally” initiative, Locally Grown Music will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 5, at Robinson Park.  Various Albuquerque groups will accompany all of the other wonderful locally grown products the Grower’s Markets always offer.

3.  In cooperation with Partners for Health, a Haitian medical group, Albuquerque artists have donated handmade bowls to generate emergency funds benefiting the earthquake-devastated country.  Bowls for Haiti takes place on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Harwood Art Center, and the event is free.

4.  Grab the bleacher chairs and ‘Topes gear—our very favorite baseball team is back for June!  The Isotopes take on the Memphis Redbirds at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, June 5, at Isotopes Park and 1:35 p.m. Sunday, June 6.  Be sure to stay until the end—there will be lovely post-game fireworks!

5.  If all your garden is lacking is inspiration, the Corrales Garden Tour is certainly the best way to find it.  Nine Corrales gardens will welcome visitors on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Tickets are $10 and are available in advance at Village Mercantile, Frontier Mart and Oasis Coffee and Tea.  Tickets can also be purchased on Sunday at the event and information headquarters, Madeleine’s Place.

That’s what we’re doing with this weekend.  What are your plans?

Favorite Things Friday (Memorial Day Edition)

School’s out, the pools are open, and what were windy, temperate spring days are emerging into the still, hot days of a New Mexico summer.  As always, the Albuquerque area has a plethora of exciting events to celebrate the last weekend in May.  We’ve compiled a list of events to check out over your three-day weekend.

1. We’re still looking for Albuquerque’s Hottest Singles. As part of our tireless search, we’ll be at Casa Esencia in Hotel Albuquerque from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. tonight.  So, if you’re hot, single and 25 or over, come out and apply.  Not hot? Not single? Only 24?  Bring one of your eligible friends and peer pressure him or her into applying!  If you can’t make it, be sure to submit applications and nominations online before June 4th.

2. “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” opening Friday at Albuquerque Little Theatre, is the perfect excuse to pull out those cowboy boots and Texas it up for a few hours.  The play “recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known since the 1850s as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas.” The show runs at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays through June 20. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and $18 for students and can be purchased online.

3. What better way to welcome the blazing hot days of summer than with some local wine and live music?  The 2010 Albuquerque Wine Festival takes place from noon to 6 p.m. May 29 to 31, at Balloon Fiesta Park.  The $15 entrance fee includes a souvenir wine glass. Not looking forward to monster entrance lines? Jump ahead by purchasing your tickets online beforehand.

4. Handmade craft items, fresh, local produce, wearable art, yard art and treats of all kinds make up the Idalia Road Marketplace in Rio Rancho.  The market is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through November 29. If local, local, local is what you crave, make sure to stop by the market sometime during the long weekend.

5. We’ve voted it “Best Place to Hear Classical Music Outdoors,” for two years in a row, and, well, we don’t hand out those titles for nothing. Symphony Under the Stars continues this weekend with “Stars, Stripes and the 1812 Overture,” featuring great American favorites as a tribute to the Armed Forces. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 29, at the Rio Grande Zoo. Tickets range in price from $15 to $50.

6.There’s no better way to feel connected to your food like buying it from the person who grew it!  Support local farmers by stopping by the Corrales Grower’s Market on Sunday.  The market’s “homegrown only” policy brings fresh produce, local honey, farm fresh eggs, plants and crafts. Tie it all together with live music by The Bleeker Street Boys, and there’s no better way to spend a Sunday morning.

7. To so many, Memorial Day is a much-needed 3-day weekend, but let’s not forget what the holiday is all about. Rio Rancho’s annual Memorial Day Parade begins at 10 a.m. at Country Club Drive and ends at the Rio Rancho Veterans Monument Park, next to the Esther Bone Memorial Library. Following the parade is a remembrance ceremony celebrating the lives of those who served.

That’s what we’ll be doing this weekend.  What are your plans?