Mama Fu’s restaurant coming soon to Georgetown Texas
February 26, 2009 at 9:32 am , by Jenel Looney
According to an article in QSR Magazine online, Mama Fu’s Asian House will open at Wolf Ranch in Georgetown, TX in April and will be the first Mama Fu’s location to be decorated in the new, contemporary corporate prototype.
There are four Mama Fu’s locations in Austin. Georgetown’s location will be the first in Texas outside of the city of Austin. The Texas locations allow for online ordering, and it looks like they may deliver, too. Color me excited! I love when people bring food right to my door. To me, luxury is answering the door in my slippers to receive bounty from a total stranger. I’m happy to pay for this luxury, of course. If anyone from the Georgetown Mama Fu’s reads HometownGeorgetown.com, consider this one vote in favor of delivery in Georgetown.
Georgetown Chamber of Commerce launches interactive map
February 20, 2009 at 10:21 pm , by Jenel Looney
| The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce has announced the launch of their new online, interactive map. This map is too cool! The first page you come to shows the “big picture” of Georgetown. |  |
| Then you zoom in, and you start to notice business logos on the page. Hover over one of these logos, and up pops a window with more information about each of the businesses. Click some of the other tabs to find more information about points of interest, local parks, and even a broader map showing Williamson County. | |
| The map is very user-friendly. When you zoom in, you’ll see a blue box on a miniature map in the upper right-hand corner. You can click and drag this blue box on the miniature map in order to navigate the main map. | |
| You’ll find a smaller version of this icon in the sidebar here at HometownGeorgetown.com. I’m proud to feature this very useful tool from the Chamber! | |
Try the new Hometown Georgetown search feature
February 18, 2009 at 4:13 pm , by Jenel Looney
HometownGeorgetown.com is really just a big experiment of mine. When I started, I knew almost nothing about creating a website. I’m learning through tinkering. Today, I added a search feature to the sidebar. This is a somewhat customized search because of the filters I put into place. Go ahead and give it a shot. Most of the search results should be local (if I did it right, which may well not be the case.)
If you want to search just HometownGeorgetown.com, continue using the search box at the top of the page. If you want to search the web, use the Google search box in the sidebar.
Georgetown square becomes wi-fi hotspot
February 16, 2009 at 6:47 am , by Jenel Looney
 |
Georgetown, Texas has announced that the downtown square is now a free wi-fi hotspot, so you may see more laptoppers sitting around the square, browsing the web. I got a sneak peek of the internet access last month while working at Cianfranni’s coffee shop, and it worked great. If you have to work through lunch, just bring your laptop to any of the restaurants on the square, and you should be able to get a pretty good signal. The closer you sit to a window, of course, the better. |
| This is a wonderful service for the city to offer, as it shows how forward thinking we are as a community, which should help in the city’s efforts to attract more high tech businesses. This will make Georgetown more appealing to some tourists, as well. I recently returned from a quick vacation, and free wi-fi was one of the deciding factors on which hotel I chose. |
January home sales in Georgetown, TX
February 9, 2009 at 9:04 pm , by Jenel Looney
| I waited until February 9 to run the MLS report to give agents around Georgetown plenty of time to enter their January sales into the database. Even so, the number of sales for this January is lower than those of any other January this decade. |
 |
| 2003, the next lowest year, saw 45 sales in January. This past month, only 32 properties went to the closing table. (It’s possible that number could creep up a little bit if an agent or two has yet to enter their sales into the database, but we won’t get enough additional sales to bring us out of last place for the decade.) |
| Sellers, it’s time for a reality check. There are currently 617 residential properties on the market in MLS areas GTE and GTW. At the current rate of 32 sales per month, that means we have almost twenty months of inventory. Sales have to pick up to absorb some of this inventory. Interest rates are very low, but loans are hard to come by. There simply aren’t very many qualified buyers out there, and the ones who are shopping are looking for bargains. And so they should. Wouldn’t you? |
| And in fact, you still can. If you lower your asking price, you won’t pull out as much equity as you’d hoped on your current house. But…you’ll in turn get a bargain when you buy your next home. |
| My honest advice to sellers right now is, if you’re not willing to lower your price, then now is not the right time for you to try to sell. Pull your house off the market and wait until the market swings back in your favor. If you can’t wait, then price your house below the competition - as far below as you can handle - and make sure your house is as pretty as it can possibly be. With one buyer out there for every 20 homes on the market, you have to do everything in your power to make yours the best house that buyer can get for the money you’re asking. |
A lovely First Friday on Georgetown’s square
February 7, 2009 at 12:16 pm , by Jenel Looney
Last night, my husband, neighbor, and I walked to the square to enjoy the First Friday festivities. (With a major caveat: Because we’re all still trying to stick to our New Year’s diet resolution, we couldn’t enjoy any of the chocolate treats on offer in the Death by Chocolate event.) The downtown merchants, together with the Downtown Georgetown Association, created a very fun, welcoming atmosphere.
On the corner of Main and 8th, a small country band played music to entertain the visitors. Over on 7th Street, between Main and Church, a saxophonist offered a jazzier tune. (Because the musicians were far enough apart, you couldn’t hear them both at the same time. Thank goodness!) There was quite a nice turnout, and everyone seemed to be smiling.
Tucked off the square on Main Street between 7th and 6th, The Framers Gallery launched an art show that will be running for the coming month. Lots of guests milled around inside the gallery, moving from one exhibit to the next. Nick Ramos of Graphismo, a local graphic artist, offered a show called Happy Crisis. (Nick feels that many crises in life are really opportunities for change and re-examination, and often make one’s life better.) My favorite piece in his show is A Bird in the Hand. You can see one of his preliminary sketches here. To see the real thing, go to The Framers Gallery this month. Excellent work!
After visiting the art show, we wandered over to Diva, one of my favorite boutiques. At Diva, you can find elegant, quirky, and sumptuous home decor. Nothing run-of-the-mill. As part of the First Friday festivities, Silver and Stone Restaurant was set up in Diva, offering a chocolate cheesecake truffle (which I resisted) and a delicious red wine (which I didn’t resist).
First Friday events are held throughout the year on the first Friday of every month from 6-8 p.m. (During the hotter months, the time is usually moved back by one hour to take advantage of cooler evening temps.) Come have dinner and enjoy everything the square has to offer!
Georgetown now officially owns Austin Avenue
February 6, 2009 at 12:08 pm , by Jenel Looney
The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce’s blog today alerted me to an article on the City of Georgetown’s blog about behind-the-scene changes to Austin Avenue. The city has taken over ownership of the portion of Austin Avenue that runs from FM 1460 to Williams Drive. The rest of Austin Avenue is still owned by the state, but that means that these two segments are now unconnected spurs in the state highway system. No longer is any of it going to be called Business 35. Remember that, if you’re giving directions to someone coming into town. If they’re looking for Business 35 on the signs, they’ll be guaranteed to get lost.
Death by Chocolate on Georgetown square
January 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm , by Jenel Looney
Georgetown just put out a newsletter with ten romantic things to do in Georgetown over Valentine’s Day weekend. They’re trying to encourage more tourists to come to town to enjoy everything Georgetown has to offer. I would love it if our downtown area became as much of an attraction as Fredricksburg’s, and I think we’re heading in that direction. The Downtown Georgetown Association is certainly doing everything they can to make the square fun and lively. They’re having a fabulous event, tied in with the launch of First Fridays. This coming Friday evening, from 6 - 8 p.m., the public is invited to come to the square for Death by Chocolate. Local restaurants are providing delicious chocolate desserts in some of the stores on the square, and there’s going to be a drawing for a Death by Chocolate gift basket. Musicians will play live music, and you can bet there will be wine, too. Stop by Moreland’s if you’re out and about. I have it on good authority that the agents at Moreland’s will have some delicious desserts on hand, as well–for free!
Georgetown to be featured in Hill Country Magazine
January 28, 2009 at 8:53 am , by Jenel Looney
Hill Country Magazine is a high quality quarterly filled with wonderful stories and photos from right here in the Texas Hill Country. (Georgetown is, in my opinion, at the northeasternmost point of the Hill Country. In fact, I would say the portion of our town that lies east of I-35 is outside of the Hill Country. East of 35, we have beautiful flat farmland. West, we have those gorgeous rolling hills.) From what I hear, Georgetown will be featured in Texas Hill Country Magazine in their Spring 2009 issue. You can buy it at the Hill Country Bookstore on the square here in Georgetown, a wonderful little bookshop that has a great selection of reading material. (The bookstore itself was featured in Community Impact just over a year ago.)
Apartment available for short-term rentals
January 24, 2009 at 9:16 am , by Jenel Looney
This morning, I added a page to HometownGeorgetown.com to advertise an apartment that my husband and I have decided to rent out as a vacation rental here in Georgetown, Texas. If you know anyone who’s coming to town for a weekend, a week, or even a month, and they would prefer to stay in an apartment over staying in a hotel or bed and breakfast, please tell them to check out the “Vacation Rental” tab at the top of the page on HometownGeorgetown.com. Take a look at the pictures to see the quality of the apartment. I’m proud of how it turned out, as we did a lot of the work ourselves.
My husband and I lived in Saudi Arabia for ten years, and during that time, we did a lot of traveling. We rented vacation rentals in Italy, Australia, Spain, and even here in Texas. (In much of Europe, they’re called self-catered apartments.) We set up the apartment above our garage with all the conveniences we wanted when we traveled. The kitchen has a full-size refrigerator and stove so that guests can cook at home if they choose, and with satellite TV, they can even veg out in front of their favorite show while they eat. Our house is located in Old Town, with plenty of restaurant choices within blocks, so cooking is definitely optional. Guests can also order pizza or Chinese food to be delivered. When we travel, we don’t enjoy eating at restaurants every single meal. It feels hectic and uncomfortable, and it’s too darned expensive.
Another biggie when you travel is having a washer and dryer available. We’ve ordered a set for the apartment, and it should be in place in the apartment’s bathroom by April. In the meantime, we’re happy to offer our guests the use of the washer and dryer in our home.
Guests will have use of our swimming pool, lounge chairs, barbecue grill, and gazebo. We’ll provide all the kitchen utensils, dishes, sheets, and towels. We want people to feel that this apartment is even more comfortable than a hotel or bed and breakfast; we want it to become a true home away from home.
The apartment is set up for privacy. The bedroom is around a corner and down a short hallway from the kitchen and living area. We set it up this way especially for the convenience of guests from different time zones. I always felt very uncomfortable in a hotel when I woke up in the middle of the night because I didn’t want to turn on a light and wake my husband. In this apartment, guests will be able to go into the other room and turn on the lights and TV without fear of waking their partner.
The apartment is the perfect size for one to two guests. There are stairs leading up to the apartment, which are accessed through the garage. The garage is detached from the house, giving the apartment a separate entrance for added privacy.
