Amanda W.'s Profile

Old Time Pottery is one of my favorite places to find gifts and little treasures. They have an incredible selection of wall art ... paintings to wrought iron sculptures. Their bedding and bath linens sections are also fantastic. Great for outfitting a first apartment!

I'd love to give this place a glowing review. The owner is SO nice and makes beautiful cupcakes. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the chocolate cupcakes tend to be a bit dry. The vanilla ones are much better. Of course, as with most cupcake shops of this type, you better like ICING and LOTS of it -- because it's certainly more icing than cake overall. The other downside is that the shop is only open weekdays, and not very late into the evening.

One of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Hendersonville. They're open late and on warm evenings, they have a patio to sit out on while you dine. Prices and portion sizes are great and their wait staff is friendly and attentive.

I've loved the Oakwood since I used to come in with my grandparents as a kid. Every time I'm back visiting the area, this is the one restaurant I *insist* on going to every time. Their stuffed chicken breast is by far my favorite, even though they're known for their ruben sandwiches. Their stuffed peppers, city chicken, chicken & biscuits, and hot roast beef sandwiches are also to-die-for. You also can't beat their pricing, especially considering the huge portion sizes. YUM!

Stopped in for lunch and tried the pecan-encrusted cod. The portion was HUGE and very tasty. Unfortunately I can't review the nightlife aspect at the moment but I'd love to go back in the evening for dinner and/or drinks. I can say that it's a great spot for a quiet lunch that's a great value and great-tasting.

All I can say about Tangles is ... WOW. What a treasure to have such an excellent salon in Hendersonville so you don't have to go all the way downtown for great service. I highly recommend Benjamin but all the stylists are great. I went in for a "total makeover" and couldn't be happier with my color, cut, and style. I have people stopping me all the time now asking who did my hair, and I always send them to Tangles!

I have very long, VERY thick, naturally wavy/curly hair, so I usually spend a TON to have it colored. I had all-over foiling done in 3 colors, plus a cut and style, and it cost me LESS at Tangles than simple highlights and a cut at SuperCuts!  (No joke!)

I adore Itty Bitty! Their hours are sometimes confusing (and change) but it's worth calling to see if they're open! My favorite by far is their chicken salad sandwich -- which I don't even *like* from anywhere but Itty Bitty! Their desserts are also fabulous!

When I moved to the Hendersonville, TN area in January 2007, Banfield was a pretty great veterinary clinic for simple care. Their insurance plan was wonderful and came in handy with our dog and cat.

HOWEVER in the past year and a half, their quality of care has plummeted. Whenever I go in, there are different veterinarians and vet-techs.

My first bad experience was when my 2-year-old cat was sick. They examined her and determined it was an infection and sent me home with antibiotics. Two days later (a Saturday evening), I was at the all-night emergency vet with a dying cat in my arms... and they were unable to save her. Banfield had basically patted me on the head and said it was nothing to worry about and sent me on my way. Going back through the papers from that last visit, they hadn't even bothered to do bloodwork on her -- the only notation was that they listened to her stomach and it was "gurgling". I felt partially responsible that I hadn't DEMANDED a more thorough examination - but at the same time, I expected the vet knew what he was doing and when they were confident she'd be OK, I felt like I could trust them.

After she died, I tried to cancel the pet insurance I had through them for my dog and my now-deceased cat. They wouldn't let me cancel EITHER insurance plan! The dog, I understand. However, I was told I'd either have to let the insurance I'd carried on the (dead!) cat run out for the year contract or I'd have to back-pay all the discounted services I'd received already that year. (Which would have been several hundred dollars more than continuing to pay for insurance on a dead cat for 4 more months!) I found that just plain SICK. However -- this reflects on Banfield CORPORATE, not this specific branch.

Finally, as I said, my dog still has insurance through them (it runs out in December and clearly I will NOT be renewing). She was due for a checkup and teeth cleaning. Had she been SICK I'd have rushed her to our NEW vet, but I thought that for a simple check up and teeth-cleaning I may as well take advantage of the insurance that I'm stuck paying $24/mo for.

I took the dog in and get a call a few hours later saying that they can't get a catheter in her and that she keeps ripping it out (which she's never done before) so they'll be unable to clean her teeth.  Ok, FINE.  I don't really care. I go pick her up, and the poor dog is TERRIFIED. She's never had a bad vet-experience before but she's just not herself.

... Needless to say, I'm NEVER taking her back there for so much as a toenail clipping. I don't care if I had to pay insurance for the rest of forever, I'd never USE it ever again. Truly if you love your pets, don't take them here.

I made my first trip to Gardens of Babylon today and my first reaction is that I could quite quickly and happily become their best customer.  

My husband and I bought our first home earlier in the year and I've since taken a great interest in growing our own organic vegetables and herbs.  I am FAR from having a green-thumb, though, and I'm still doing a lot of learning.  I was super-excited to find so much help at Gardens of Babylon.  

I was wandering around with some organic fertilizer and a rosemary plant when one of their employees, Deb, found me and asked if I needed help.  I was hesitant to say yes at first, fearing being pushed into things I didn't want or need.  (Hey, I'm a born and raised Yankee -- I frequently forget that people here just tend to be *genuinely* nice, talkative, and helpful!)  

First Deb helped me with some lavender plants and then she helped me pick out some heirloom tomatoes.  She taught me what to look for in a good healthy plant.  She also talked to me about raised-bed gardening and using organic compost.  She made mention of the store's products, but didn't try to pressure me into buying any more than what I'd come in to find -- clearly, their interest is to EDUCATE first and make money second, which is incredibly commendable.

Unfortunately I didn't get to browse as long as I'd hoped because I was there during my lunch hour.  I plan to go back tomorrow afternoon to browse a bit longer!  

I'd highly recommend this shop to anyone interested in organic gardening.  They also had a great selection of flowering plants and shrubs but admittedly I haven't explored those as much as their vegetable and herb selection.

I recently acquired a Holga 120N camera which takes 120mm film.  I had to ask some friends where I could get it developed and they pointed me to Prophoto.  

Their staff was super friendly and laid back when I dropped off my film.  When I picked it up a couple days later, they told me unfortunately I'd underexposed all the shots (which I figured I'd done anyway - it was my first roll and I was experimenting).  They were nice enough to not charge me a dime for developing it.  I'll definitely be going back here, hopefully with some more successful rolls of film next time.

My only complaint about the store is that their parking lot is a bit difficult to navigate -- you have to pretty much back out directly on to the street which can be a bit dangerous Mon-Fri during the day!