I Love Skippack

Skippack Blogger and Debby AKA Mrs. Skippack Blogger (at right) with friends at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack: Brad DeForest, Web Design and SEO, and Kate DeForest.

La Villa Mexican Grille
4101 Skippack Pike
PO Box 120
Skippack, PA 19474
(484) 991-8085
Sunday – Thursday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

The Skippack Blogger is working hard, both at this blog you are reading and his day job. The Skippack Blogger’s wife is working hard too, at her job and at keeping me organized and out of trouble. So Sunday evening it was time for a break. My Web hosting, Design and SEO Go-To-Guy Brad DeForest and his wife Kate invited us out to dinner at La Villa Mexican Grille, which recently opened in Skippack and is becoming increasingly popular.

Our host was the restaurant’s owner and executive chef Rene Zepeda. My role as the Skippack Blogger gives me an excuse to observe life around me; I get a view behind the scenes. I sense how hard Rene works to make the dining experience at La Villa special and how much pride he takes in owning his own restaurant.

La Villa Mexican Grille Owner and Executive Chef Rene Zepeda: A warm welcome and a sophisticated meal, that perfect Skippack combo.

Rene put much effort into, and succeeded at, creating an environment that lends itself to relaxing, conversing and celebrating the moment at hand. The interior walls are bright orange, decorated with Mexican artwork, the tablecloths provide a contrasting white, and the overall effect is cheerful and pleasing.

Rene is a gourmet chief who won top honors in a cooking competition sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine. The menu is creative, and highlights the sophisticated side of Mexican fare, offering a fusion of the contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and savory Mexican flavors.

Brad and I work together on a lot of projects. It is time at last to clink wine glasses in a toast and talk of other things. Kate tells us a bit about their children’s experience at Perkiomen Valley High School, and then we move on to discuss church, synagogue, fishing, investing, eBay shopping, winter driving, Debby’s experiences learning to drive in New York, my travels in Japan and on and on. It is as if the conversation travels around the globe and then finds itself happy to be back in Skippack again, realizing how special the happiness is here that we have in our own backyard.

The Good Life: The Skippack Blogger and his Wife at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

I can’t let the evening go by without mentioning my beloved Skippack blog; let every man have his passion. Earlier in the afternoon, I was in a nearby supermarket and a woman I never met before walked up to me and said, “You’re the Skippack Blogger.” Wow. That is an experience that must be told to friends so that the memory, a few passing words in a supermarket aisle, will take on a more substantial significance and reality. I relish having an audience. If Debby, who witnessed the event, was not sitting beside me, I might have told Brad that the woman asked me for my autograph to see if I could get away with it.

Good company: Friends Brad and Kate DeForest at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

Too quickly the evening hour grows late; we are the only customers left, lingering over dessert and coffee. Time to go. Rene bids us a warm farewell and we promise to come back. I take a few more pictures for the blog, which provides an excuse to make the moment last a bit longer.

How many gifts are compressed into a single evening out in Skippack Village? Wine, great food, hospitality, a young restaurant owner making his dreams come true, the weekend respite from work, friendship, generosity, graciousness, laughter — all topped off by chocolate soufflé.

The Skippack Blogger can only say thanks to our host Rene and to my friends Kate and Brad, and to Debby for always being by my side. “Thanks”— a simple, common, ordinary word that must carry the weight of so much meaning. Then I awaken at 3 a.m., tiptoe down to the computer, and try to capture the moment in words and pictures, so it can be shared with you dear reader and so it is not lost forever.

Delicacies and Delights from La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack

The Appetizer: La Villa Salad, comprised of avocados, tomatoes, queso fresco, and bell peppers, in a vinaigrette dressing.

The Skippack Blogger's salmon dinner at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack, right before I devoured it.

My friend Brad who, when he is not indulging in gourmet Mexican food, helps market businesses online, from Skippack shops to Fortune 500 companies, had poblano, a boneless chicken in a house mole sauce with a side of rice and beans.

My friend Kate DeForest ordered chiles rellenos, comprised of poblano peppers stuffed with cheese and boneless short ribs served in a tomato coulis.

For dessert, a tres leches cake, a sponge cake in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream.

The irresistible finishing touch; a chocolate soufflé from La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

The Skippack Blogger with Rene Zepeda, owner and executive chef at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack. Thanks Rene for your hospitality and the great food and especially for coming here to Skippack.

I wouldn't try this right after eating: A painting depicting a bullfighter which hangs at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

Web Links

La Villa Mexican Grille Website

La Villa Mexican Grille Facebook Page

Brad DeForest Web Design and Social Media Facebook Page

A Blog Post about Brad’s Work in Skippack

Skippack Blogger with his constant companion "Jalopy" in his beloved town: We're in this together.

If you seek happiness, let go of the past. Live for today and look toward tomorrow. If there is a philosophy I hold by, that sums it up.

And yet, like most humans, I am not always consistent. I am reminded of my hypocrisy each time I get into my a car, a 2002 Mercury Sable that has logged over 152,000 miles. This vehicle is a worn and dented souvenir from the past decade of my life. It is time to trade it in and get new. The side mirrors are held by screws. When I open the glove box, the entire mechanism falls toward the floor. Heck, Ford has sad goodbye to the entire Mercury brand.

Still somehow, I can’t say goodbye. I rack up another repair bill and postpone the trip to the dealership. But although I haven’t gotten a new car, I have given my old car a new name: I now call it “Jalopy,” a term more descriptive of its current condition.

Dear reader, allow me to share the story of the Skippack Blogger and his Jalopy.

How I Met Jalopy

Closing the Deal: Buying a Mercury Sable Premium LS from my Dad in 2002.

Ten years ago, my dad, Bernie Shaw, was the sales and leasing manager for a Lincoln Mercury Dealership. When it came time to buy a new car, I went to see him. Even though I was grown up and long gone from home, it still gave me a thrill to see my dad at the showroom, beaming out his public persona, dressed to perfection in his suit and tie.

With characteristic self-confidence, he took me out to the lot and pointed to a charcoal grey Mercury Sable Premium LS, all shiny and new.

“There’s your car, Michael”

The thought occurred to me that I had been making my own living for almost two decades and I should have some say in the car I would buy and for which I would be making payments. I was going to ask my dad to show me some other models but the words never quite made it to my tongue. Let it stand, I decided, as a moment of filial piety, as I went for a purely ceremonial test drive with one of the salesmen. I thought to myself, “I’ll find something else to argue with dad about.”

I drove off  that day in a shiny new car, with upgraded wheels and a stainless steel dash, back to my own life. A happy customer with a memory of a beautiful transaction that will outlast the vehicle. My dad has since retired; a pleasure to do business with you, Bernie.

Jalopy Goes on a Date

Debby and I on our wedding day: Jalopy drove us to the wedding canopy.

Two years later: I am now over forty years old, still single, a lonely, awkward dude. Jalopy and I go on our first date with Debby. The movie wasn’t so great, why did we have such a good time?

Then came more dates, driving Jalopy to dinners, concerts, and coffee shops. Long conversations in the front seat. Debby’s sweet smile and words flowing easily between us, as easily as wheels spinning on a smooth highway. A power greater than ourselves seemed to be steering Jalopy, taking two lonely souls on separate paths and decreeing that they now merge lanes and travel together as one.

Memories of our youth and troubles of the past fall behind us in the rear view mirror, but where would the road ahead lead us?

Stop thinking about life Michael and take a chance: Time to drive to a wedding, my wedding, and stand under the wedding canopy. We don’t hire a limo, we climb into Jalopy; Debby in her wedding gown, I in my tuxedo. Life is a game. And the game isn’t over yet.

Jalopy Arrives in Skippack

Now married, Debby and I set about looking for a house, one we would buy together and live out our lives, with a garage for Jalopy. We start looking in familiar Pennsylvania territory, eastern Montgomery County, occasionally crossing County Line road into Bucks.

Debby and I on the plot of land where home would later be built, the Biltmore Estates development in Skippack Village.

Each time we look at a house, Debby’s intuitive woman’s eye perceives a fatal flaw: the bedrooms are too small, no sidewalks, a train runs too close by, a factory can be seen from the front yard, purple carpeting, too much traffic, or just an indefinable, discordant vibe. Each time we leave, Debby waits until the real estate agent or salesperson is out of ear shot and says simply but firmly “no.”

Throughout history “Westward Ho!” has been the cry of adventurous souls seeking a new beginning. So we headed west; about 12 miles west, steering Jalopy down route 73. As we approached Old Forty Foot road, Skippack Village seemed a new world with new possibilities. It was Jalopy who took us here for the first time together. We went to the sales office at Biltmore Estates, looked at a plot of land and newly constructed homes not yet occupied, parked Jalopy and walked into the village.

Our first walk in Skippack together. We felt the enchantment of the Village, the quaint shops and restaurants, the signs that advertise them, and the buildings that house them, each with its own unique design and structure, so special and different from other neighborhoods we had seen.

We were not long on our walk when Debby turned to me and said, “What are you waiting for? Give the salesman a deposit.”

About six months later, construction was complete, and we drove Jalopy to his new home, a roomy, two-car garage. On most weekends, Jalopy gets a Sabbath rest, as we walk to our activities in town.

We love our new home. But if I ever raise the issue of buying a new car, Debby looks at me with big, sad, brown eyes and turns away. And then one day it dawns on me — when we were dating, Debby didn’t just fall in love with me, she also fell in love with Jalopy!

Before We Say Goodbye

Skip from Skip's Garage, an auto repair shop in Skippack: He believes Jalopy will be able to carry on, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

“Jalopy, we’ve been through a lot together, bud, haven’t we? Some crazy trips, some funny, some sad. No one will ever know. Hey, I’m not one to turn my back on a friend. Let’s go one more round together. I’m taking you to Skip’s Garage.”

Skip Dickey and his son run Skip’s Garage, a local auto repair shop in Skippack. Skip is also a fellow member of the Skippack Historical Society, and a soft-spoken gentleman, a pleasure to be around. State inspection, emissions testing, lube and oil change, some repairs. Skip says the mechanics didn’t see much rust. Barring any unforeseen events, Jalopy should be able to carry on for a while.

“Ya hear that Jalopy? Skip says you ain’t so bad off. Tell you what I am going to do next: Take you to D&D’s Unique Detail and let Dan Tuturice Jr clean you up and work his magic. He’ll make you feel like new. You’ll sparkle yet again Jalopy. Never say die.”

I still believe that the secret of happiness is letting go of the past, with its mistakes, bitterness and regrets. But if the past had bitterness, there was also love, compassion, and kindness; moments more precious than a king’s ransom. Hopefully, Jalopy and I can make it together through the winter. We’ll enjoy one more spring together for old sake’s sake, happy to have Debby with us in the front seat. Come summer, I’ll buy a new car. Maybe.

Before and After:
Jalopy Gets a Makeover from D&D’s Unique Detail

Jalopy from the inside, before getting the makeover from D&D's Unique Detail.

Jalopy gets a wash down from Dan Tuturice Jr, owner of D&D's Unique Detail in Skippack.

Let a pro handle it: Kevin DeFrancesco of D&D's Unique Detail working on Jalopy.

These wheels gonna shine: Dan Tuturice Jr, owner of D&D's Unique Detail, shining the wheels on Jalopy.

These two photos show the Jalopy's driver's side door before (left) and after (right) getting some help from D&D's Unique Detail. Click the photos for closer inspection.

Self-discovery: Jalopy inside the D&D's Unique Detail garage, looking all shiny and like-new after the detail. Thanks to Dan Jr and Kevin, Jalopy has rediscovered his true inner self. He is again the self-confident, beautiful Mercury Sable Premium LS I purchased a decade ago.

Back home: Dan Tuturice Jr and Kevin DeFrancesco of D&D's Unique Detail return a revitalized, sparkling Jalopy/Mercury Sable Premium LS to my front door. Thanks, guys!

Links

Skip’s Garage (Yahoo Local listing)

D&D’s Unique Detail Facebook Page

D&D’s Unique Detail Website

D&D’s Unique Detail Blog Post

One of Eight Million

Debby and I in Skippack, February 2010, shortly after I lost my job. We faced an uncertain future, but held onto each other.

The first snow of 2012 has fallen in Skippack, Pennsylvania, taking me back to a time, not too long ago, in fact almost exactly two years ago: February, 2010. Another snowstorm in Skippack. I just lost a job I had held for 10 years. A quick Google search indicates that I was one of about 8 million people in the United States who lost jobs between 2008 and 2010.

My former company sent me to an outplacement service for help with job seeking skills such as resume writing and networking. I remember sitting across from a white-haired, middle aged man at the very corporate-looking conference table they provided for us to meet and discuss our progress and challenges in finding a new job. This gentleman was coming to the end of his severance pay and the end of the time period for which he was eligible for outplacement services. He had no immediate prospects for work, no innovative idea about what to do next, no way to pay his bills, health issues, brewing tension at home with his wife, and, likely enough, more problems of which I was not aware.

We all live close to a thin line that divides us from that dark, engulfing sustenance; despair. Sitting in the outplacement center, listening to this gentleman, I thought, “Will I cross that line in the upcoming months?”

Do What You Love and Listen

Developing ideas for the I Love Skippack blog.

A simple phrase that my father, Bernie Shaw, said to me still sticks out in mind. He said, “Michael, you have to work.” With the instinctive communication that takes place between people who love each other, even if they don’t always agree, I knew exactly what he meant. Not only did I have the challenge of paying the bills, I could not, recession or no recession, stop being what I am — a writer and editor. It was my identity, not just a paycheck, which I had to go out and rebuild.

I loved creative writing as a kid; when Debby and I started looking for a house, I sensed that Skippack, with its unusual shops, social gathering places, and restored nineteenth century buildings, was a place that might inspire me to write. The idea of the I Love Skippack blog was starting to take shape in my mind. But how would this solve my immediate problem, finding employment?

Skippack Village, Winter 2012: The first snowstorm of the year. A lot has changed for me in two years time.

A professional employment recruiter told me that my blog would be of value to potential employers as long as, rather than advocating a personal agenda, my writing helped support business. If my writing helped promote Skippack’s economy, culture and community events, I could use it to strengthen my resume and provide potential employers with up-to-date samples of my work.

My conversation with this recruiter crystallized the idea for I Love Skippack in my mind. I had already built friendships with local shop owners in Skippack. I dedicated my blog to supporting locally-owned businesses, community life, events, and non-profit associations in Skippack, such as the Skippack Historical Society and Playcrafters of Skippack, our community theater. Even if no one had asked me to do it and no one would pay me for it, I would make Skippack, its people, places and events, my job as well as my place of residence.

Not long afterward, I found real, paid employment from a well established, national company. I had a great new job as well as a blog to maintain. I had my identity back. I was Michael Shaw again and now, the Skippack Blogger as well.

Only in fairy tales do we get a “happily-ever-after” ending. In real life, the best ending we hope for is the prizefighter’s reward, the chance to do battle another day.

The Days Become Months, the Months Become Years

Skippack Village, Winter of 2012: So much to see, so much to learn. Never has this beautiful village failed to inspire me to write.

From February 2010, now going into February 2012: Up from a time of darkness. No coincidence, perhaps, that the Skippack Blogger’s birthday is in February. This time though I took the first step out of darkness with my wife by my side. This time, for the first time since I left my parent’s home, I did not face it alone.

Along the way, I met wonderful people. Some Examples:

• Art and Jane Berger, Lowell Steinberg, Jack and Eileen Berk, Kristin and Bob Sullivan, Jean Curtis, Judith Barrett Johnson, Hassan El Assri, Craig Wolfe, Dan Tuturice Sr. and Dan Jr., Rene Zepeda, Catherine Green, and all the amazing Skippack shop and restaurant owners. Man, you make this town special.
• My favorites, the local musicians: Dean Garofolo, Gabe Schick, Ken Battista and Anna Silvestera, and all the others who entertain in Skippack and about whom I hope to write. I will always have a soft spot for musicians. Music is life.


All good: Good to be alive, good to be working, good to be in Skippack.

• Bob Biddle, the first person I interviewed for the blog, and the folks at TH Properties and my neighbors at Biltmore Estates; celebrate recovery (Paul Rein, are you reading this?)
• Ben Webb and the rest of the folks at the Skippack Historical Society, Lauren Rozensky Flanagan and the talented people of Playcrafters of Skippack, Ted Locker of Skippack Township.
• My loyal readers who provide comments and Facebook likes: Kathleen Shepard, Donna Deering, Trisha Tuturice Helbert, Deborah Fulmer Tuturice, Jon Stolpe, Marc Lombardi. Karen Atwood; indeed, anyone who has left a comment or given me a Facebook Like. I hope this group grows.
• Brad DeForest, who started out helping me with hosting and search engine optimization and has become my guide to the brave new digital age, patiently teaching strategy for online publishing and building my fan base on Facebook. Brad and I are planning some I Love Skippack surprises for 2012. I know you like to keep it professional bro, but it means everything to have you on my team.

The great thing about life on this spinning planet is not that the night is temporary, but that the night contains blessings that we don’t see until the light of day.

What is the point? In the words of Bernie Shaw: You can’t give up the battle.

Your Support Is Needed

Please support community blogging in Skippack by clicking Like on the I Love Skippack Facebook page, if you have not done so already.

Also please click Like on the Facebook page of our talented and clear-sighted social media and digital-age publishing go-to guy Brad DeForest.