Who doesn't love pizza? I can eat pizza every day. Seriously, I can. So you can understand why I was so excited to hear that Ricardo’s Pizza in Greendale made the list of the top 100 independent pizza joints by gross sales in the industry magazine Pizza Today. Ricardo’s ranked 80th on list, along with its second location Riverfront Pizzeria & Grill in Milwaukee. The restaurants together brought in $2.4 million in 2011. Other Wisconsin pizza places that made the list include Pizza Shuttle in Milwaukee and Glass Nickel Pizza Co. based in Madison. About Ricardo’s Pizza Greendale has been the …

I'm not sure if the Southridge area has ever experienced as much excitement as it did this year. Patch has been there from project proposalsto ribbon cutting ceremonies.  Walmart Greendale's Walmart process started in 2010 when rumors surfaced that they had their eyes in the old U.S. Bowling Congress building. After several open houses, planning commission meetings and board meetings, Walmart was approved by the Village of Greendale in summer 2011. Walmart construction started and ended in 2012. The 90,000 square feet store will have a smaller Supercenter format and is due to open in late …

My heart melted today when I noticed that a 10-year-old boy was asking for pants for Christmas on the Adopt-A-Family tree at Southridge Mall Starbucks.  So I grabbed the tag and headed straight to JCPenney for some pants. In collaboration with the Salvation Army's program Starbucks has Christmas trees with name tags of a suggested gifted for children who don't have much. Customers take a tag off the tree and bring the unwrapped gift back to the store by December 15 with the tag attached to the gift.  Gifts are suggested not to exceed $25.  If you feel that you might have a little more to …

Everyone, be jealous. I got to meet Jordin Sparks. That’s right, I got to sit next to the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. All humor aside, Jordin was one of the sweetest, most energetic people I have ever met. The 22-year-old recording artist, songwriter, and actress was a ball of energy as she sat down with me Friday in Southridge Boston Store, where she was promoting her new fragrance Ambition. I was starstruck. Who wouldn’t be with a beautiful and talented person like JORDIN SPARKS? I managed to keep my composure and act professional. Here's how it went: Me: Tell me about your…

When it comes down to it, behind just about every small business is an entrepreneur hoping to turn their passion into a paycheck. But, as many wise business advisers have noted: Hope is not a strategy. Business owners need support to turn dreams into reality. That's why Patch is pleased to announce a new partnership with SCORE, a nonprofit organization with 12,000 business experts nationwide who provide free mentoring to small business owners. The partnership makes sense because we believe that when local commerce grows, the whole community gets stronger. Patch already provides free listings …

I have a confession — I'm a "Gleek!" It's hard to believe that someone as serious as I am can be a closeted Glee fan. I just spent the entire summer catching up on the show on Netflix. Now you can understand how excited I was when I heard Glee star Jenna Ushkowitz, who plays Tina Cohen-Chang on the show, was going to be at the newly renovated Southridge Boston Store unveiling her new fashion collection by Wallflower Vintage. Before Saturday's debut, I sat down with Jenna for a one-on-one interview. Though I was a little starstruck, I managed to keep my composure and act professional. Here's …

As many of you are aware, I'm in town all the time, but I'm here and there, and sometimes it's tough to find me. So I'll periodically be scheduling weekly office hours, in a place where you can easily find me. And I’ll tell you in advance where I’ll be. For the most part I'll be scheduling office hours at Broad Street Coffee in the Village Center Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. If anything changes I'll make sure to tell you in advance on Facebook or on the Patch calendar of events. Otherwise send me an e-mail or call just to make sure.  This week I'll be at Broad Street Coffee from noon to …

So Valentine's Day is today. I wrote this same story last year. I figured what the heck, why not re-run it again.  Up until three years ago I always thought that this day was invented by Hallmark in a scheme to make money but that all changed on February 14, 2009. It was late January in 2009 when my friends and I thought it would be funny to attend a speed-dating event at my school, Marquette University. Also, it was a way to support my best friend’s fraternity who was hosting the event. At the beginning of the event we all got puzzle pieces and if your puzzle piece matched someone else's …

The day that many couples dread and love at the same time is around the corner.  Women are looking forward to those fantastic Valentine's Day gifts while most men are probably stressing about getting a last minute gift.  Men, I advise you to get something, anything! It's not true if a woman tells you that she doesn't need anything for Valentine's Day. She may not need anything but she wants to feel special. There is nothing worse for a woman than to skim through Facebook and see all the gifts her friends are getting while she sits at home empty-handed.  Flowers are always nice and there is …

I have a confession. For the past six years I have been one of those crazy people who stays up all night till the stores open on Black Friday. And yes, I have been known to elbow one or two people along the way.   Some might already know that I am from Chicago. Every Thanksgiving I go home to have a feast at mom’s house and then I stay up all night waiting till the stores open. The first time I went shopping was the first year the Chicago Premium Outlets opened at midnight. Bad idea. Friends and family all jumped into two SUVs. We get on the highway only to find an unbelievable amount of …

It’s hard not to notice all the construction going on outside of Southridge Mall. If you’re a mall-goer you probably also noticed the construction inside the mall. In December the Village of Greendale approved a $16 million dollar TIF district to help the $52 million mall renovation. Since then about five stores have renovated, Macys announced it opening, H&M opened its doors and Boston Store also jumped on the renovation bandwagon with the help of a $2 million dollar TIF district. What’s going on now with the mall renovations: Southeast and southwest mall entrances are in the process of …

Is it me or does it seem like the Halloween costume prices keep increasing every year? For the past five years I've spent no less than $50 a costume and they've been nothing fancy. Last year I went economical and made my own Princess Jasmine costume. I ended up spending more on the material and accessories. The bright side was I made my boyfriend’s Aladdin costume with less than $10. I can only imagine what it is like for families with two or more kids to dress up.  Knowing kids these days recycling costumes year after year is a no-no. Who wants to be seen in the same costume as last year? A …

As a child I learned to type on a Mac computer. Before the age of 14 I didn't even know how to use a PC. I'm a Mac lifer. It was with great sadness to hear that Steve Jobs died. Typing on my MacBook Pro and looking over at my iPhone I can't help but wonder what life would have been without Jobs. It's like one of my Twitter peeps said, "My iMac, iPad, iPhone, Apple tv, Mac mini, MacBook.... All pointing to the sky .... RIP Steve Jobs." I can't remember the number of times that I've had random people approach me at coffee shops looking to learn about Apple products. I always answer with the …

Yesterday I was standing outside at the Greendale Football stadium for no more than 20 minutes. I felt drops of sweat. That's is rare for me. I hardly ever sweat. Then I started to get dry mouth and nauseous. I'm not a big water drinker so I had no one else to blame but myself. Needless to say, I quickly hurried on home to my air conditioner. During hot weather I start missing winter. Then again during snow storms I miss summer. I posted the question on Greendale Patch's Facebook page, "Do you prefer this heat wave or a snow storm?" Four Facebook fans preferred the heat and five fans …

The third Sunday of June has arrived — Father's Day. Did you get your dad a present? Have you made any special plans with him for today? Would you consider him the best dad in the world and why? We asked you to tell us what makes your father special for a chance to win a $30 gift card to the restaurant of your choosing. Here are the essays which were read and judged by Patch Staff: Crystal Robin Carter wrote: "My Father is an amazingly funny, bright, proud, colorful, free-thinking man who lives to help others...some how managing to dodge the potholes that life puts in front of him- actually …

I know it's almost nine months later but I just got in touch with the Patch editor in Greenbelt, MD. and she shared the following link with me. http://greenbelt.patch.com/articles/sister-city-greendale-tours-greenbelt#photo-1969280 Members of the Greendale Historical Society visited the Greenbelt community in September of 2010 even before Greendale Patch launched last December. For those of you who don't know Greendale is one of three greenbelt communities built under President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal after The Great Depression. The other two are Greenhills, OH. and Greenbelt, MD. It's …

It's hard to eat out when you're on a limited budget. Usually Milwaukee downtown restaurants are out of the question. My favorite restaurant in downtown is Sabor, but I only go once a year. Can you really blame me when it's $50+ for a meal? Just thinking about it right now makes my mouth water. This week is different....It's dining week! A number of fancy schmancy restaurants will have specials. For example, dinner at Sabor will be $30 instead of $50. If you work downtown take adavantage of lunch specials. Sake Tumi will have specials at $10 instead of $20. Click here for a list of a …

Greendale Patch is looking for bloggers, and strong community voices like yours are needed. Patch is more than a news site, it's an online conversation about your community. Are you passionate about something in Greendale? Contact us. Whether it's food, family, history, schools, government, business, social issues, shopping, running or hamster training techniques— if it's your thing, we'd like you to consider blogging for Patch. Greendale may be a small community but it's a loud one. There is plenty going on. People can touch on redevelopment in the village, cooking recipes from Reiman's …

The top story today in most news outlets is that Osama bin Laden is dead. Reactions seem to be mixed. Some people seem relieved and feel slightly safer. Others don't agree that killing someone corrects the awful crimes that person committed. Some think bin Laden is just another bad guy on a list of many other bad guys that need to be caught. Others wonder whether this will make gas prices go down. Others rejoice. When I say rejoice I mean just that, rejoicing and celebrating, even partying. People celebrated last night outside of the White House and at Ground Zero. A local Greendale High …

I have to admit that I was a bit worried when first agreeing to participate  Greendale and Greenfield Patch Social Networking Challenge. My regional editor, Dustin Block, asked me, "Are you sure you want to do this? Greenfield is twice the population of Greendale."  I didn't think about the populations differences when we  first announced the competition, however, after seeing the passion that was put into the AVA Walk I knew there was nothing to worry about. In my short time here in Greendale I realized that Greendale may be a small community but it's a loud one. Greendale kept its lead …