By Ron Aiken May 9, 2014 Sitting at Le Pain Quotidian at Union Station in Washington,D.C., Chomp! is feeling fancypants. I’m one Cafe Americano and four mini tarts into this…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

  By Maria Fabrizio May 9, 2014     Jadeveon Clowney ready to make QBs cry after NFL draft tears See the related story here.         Wordless…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

    By Amy Coward May 9, 2014   My mother is beautiful. I know, you think “well of course you think so, she’s your mother.” But I really think…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

    By Jillian Owens May 9, 2014   Yes. The title of this article is also the title of a Tyler Perry movie. I have never seen this film,…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Cathy Monetti May 9, 2014   It’s nearly impossible to see into the bluebird nest, something I’ve mentioned before. This is a very GOOD thing, yes? Unless you are…let’s…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Jan Pinnington April 25, 2014 Healthy Hands Cooking     1/8 Tsp. lime zest Juice of 1/2 lime 1/2 Cup vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt 2 cups frozen (or fresh)…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Brian Maynor April 25, 2014 Fashion has always been tied to art and pushing the boundaries of convention, and today is no exception.  With Artista Vista this weekend it…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Cathy Monetti I’ll be the first to admit it’s a little obsessive, my love for the birds that share our little corner of the world. I spend an inordinate…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Ron Aiken Food! Pics! Yay! For as much as Chomp! Cooks at home – and with a new family of three, it’s more than he ever has in his…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Jillian Owens Spring is here. No, really. I think it actually is. I really and truly believe our 30-something degree nights are over (for real) and we can all…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Tom Poland  April 4, 2014 But Do So With Caution Once again a boyhood memory from my days working at Goolsby’s country store digs its way to the surface.…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

  By Jillians Owens April 4, 2014   One of the best things about making a new friend is getting  invited into their home.  You can never really know someone…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

Healthy Hands CookingBy Jan PinningtonApril 4, 2014Healthy Hands Cooking This Hippity Hop Pear Salad is easy, healthy, and fun to make for your Easter table this year! •    1/2 Pear,…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Joel Gillespie April 4, 2014       Oak Leaf Hydrangea Opening   Snowball Viburnum   Carolina Allspice, or Sweet Shrub     Cypress with New Leaves   Red…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Ron AikenApril 4, 2014 Airport Starbucks! Invasive TSA Screens! Mid-air Bathroom Fights! Sbarro? Chomp! is a traveler, a trotter of the globe, a person of importance needed from time…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Cathy Monetti April 4, 2014 This magnificent quote from Frederick Buechner (How have I not known about him?) came to me today via Arianna Huffington’s new book, Thrive, the…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By JoAnn TurnquistPresident and CEO, Central Carolina Community FoundationApril 4, 2014  With April Fools’ Day occurring this week, you most likely have had your fair share of jokes and trickeries.…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Temple Ligon April 4, 2014     Passepartout #2 and Rome, cont’d.   While Passepartout #2 was visiting in Rome over the 2012 Easter weekend, she had with her…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Dr. Tristan WeinkleSouth Carolina Veterinary Specialists and Emergency CareMarch 28, 2014 Each year, this innovative veterinary practice sponsors the Columbia Open Studios tour, which features a wide array of…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By JoAnn Turnquist President and CEO, Central Carolina Community Foundation March 28, 2014 Similar to many areas of life, learning to give takes practice. For many of us, giving does…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Tom Poland  March 28, 2014 When I was a boy a pile of crushed blue granite, kindly deposited by the highway department along the shoulder of the road always…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Reba Hull Campbell March 28, 2014 I caught a flash of a rust colored fan of a dog tail darting between two herbie curbies as I drove home from…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Jillian Owens March 28, 2014 What legacy do you want to leave behind after you die? It was a common enough early-dating question.  The kind of question you ask…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Temple LigonMarch 28, 2014    When I was told by the Indian consulate in Rome that my approved visa to take the train across India would be in my…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Cathy Monetti March 28, 2014 She’s tracing her roots is how my husband describes it when he tells people about the trip we took last weekend, back to my…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

Healthy Hands CookingBy Jan PinningtonMarch 27, 2014Healthy Hands Cooking   This hand-squeezed lemonade is fresh and delicious with no artificial colors, preservatives, or artificial flavors. Ready to serve in: 2…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Jillian Owens March 20, 2014 Columbia’s Art Scene is growing.  You might not have noticed, as it’s more of a slow decades-long tectonic shift than an eruption.   But…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Ron Aiken March 21, 2014 LaBrasca’s It is with a heavy heart that Chomp! comes to you this week. In the space of a month, one of my go-to…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Cathy Monetti March 21, 2014 I was having a retail moment—in passing through TJ Maxx on the way to something I actually need, I spotted an incredible pair of…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

Healthy Hands CookingBy Jan PinningtonMarch 21, 2014Healthy Hands Cooking Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps This wholesome wrap is easy and fun for kids to make themselves. Just keep peeled boiled eggs…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Tom Poland March 21, 2014 One of the detriments to overnight travel, to me, is today’s breed of hotel. Most look alike, inside and out. Most have an antiseptic…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By JoAnn Turnquist President and CEO, Central Carolina Community Foundation March 21, 2014 When my husband and I give, we often give locally. We are familiar with the nonprofits in…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

When author Andra Watkins launched her novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis, she decided on an unorthodox approach. She committed to walk the 444-mile Natchez Trace…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Temple Ligon March 21, 2014   On March 29, 2012, I left Paris on the train for Milan, eating up my 15th day, leaving another 65 to make it…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By JoAnn Turnquist President and CEO, Central Carolina Community Foundation March 14, 2014 Have you ever found yourself in a position where you’ve ‘bitten off a bit more than you…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Jillian Owens March 14, 2014 Right now you’re probably terrified of the dubious title of this article. Don’t worry! It’s not what you think! I can explain! As some…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

Guest Column By April Kresken March 14, 2014 Let’s make a first-food moment! Just a mere six months ago, my littlest friend, Lucy (aka Pickles), celebrated turning six-months old by…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

Healthy Hands Cooking By Jan PinningtonMarch 14, 2014Healthy Hands Cooking 1 head of organic romaine lettuce, torn 3 cups of baby spinach 1 cup of sliced strawberries 1/4 cup toasted…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Kristen Tice-Ziesmer,  MS, RD, CSSD, LD March 14, 2014 If you haven’t already heard, March is National Nutrition Month and this year the theme is Enjoy the Taste of…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

  By Tom Poland March 14, 2014  During my recent trip to Savannah River Site I toured the ghost town of Ellenton. Since I wrote Atomic Paradise last week Ellenton,…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Tom Poland March 7, 2014  I was stocking shelves with canned soup at Mr. Clifford’s country store earning 25 cents an hour when a man said, Yeah, he got…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Reba Hull CampbellMarch 7, 2014 My husband got a Green Egg grill for Christmas and smoked his first pork butt to make BBQ on it that weekend. As he…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Jan Pinnington March 7, 2014 Healthy Hands Cooking Easy Veggie Stir Fry Stir Fry your favorite veggies to make a delicious side dish or add lean protein and whole…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By JoAnn Turnquist President and CEO, Central Carolina Community Foundation March 7, 2014   With the beginning of Lent many people are considering things that they can temporarily live without,…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Brian MaynorMarch 7, 2014 This weekend the Columbia Museum of Art is hosting their 2014 Gala entitled From Geisha to Gatsby honoring their current exhibit Japan and the Jazz…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Temple Ligon March 5, 2014   Once in a great while it’s OK to blow it out in Paris   In the summer of 1996 when my travel companion…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Ron AikenMarch 7, 2014   On the joy of coffee,and the wickedness of its absence There’s a thing that happens in my brain when I have coffee,and there’s a…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Joel Gillespie March 7, 2014 Arterial Bleed I was very safely up on the ladder cutting a large limb off of a dying dogwood. Since the whole tree was…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life

By Emily Brady March 7, 2014 Citizens Can Vote to Bring Masterpieces like Matisse’s Teté Out of the Museum’s Vault and Display on the Gallery Wall A few floors below…

Posted in: midlandsbiz   Category: life