SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

Haverford’s new brew, a thumbs up for Devon Yard, a fitness flameout, sexting in T/E & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

I’ve long contended that the eastern Main Line was ripe for new Coffee Shops Not Named Starbucks. So naturally, I’m pleased to report that after a string of “soft opening” days in low gear, .Green Engine Coffee Co. is going full throttle in Haverford.

The hip new coffee bar on Haverford Station Road should appeal to commuters, college students and coffee geeks alike.

I dropped by Green Engine this week and liked what I saw: sunny bay windows, a plush couch and fireplace, re-purposed church pews and a most unusual piece of hanging art – an 81 sq. ft. “living wall” of ferns.

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Cornerstone, Wayne’s new “interactive” BYOB/market, Greene Street & Fancy Camper debuts & tidbits around town

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Wayne’s new Cornerstone Cheese and Charcuterie may just have the corner on cool.

Apparently, there are places like this all over Europe, Northern California and hip downtowns across the country, but I can’t think of a spot quite like it on the Main Line. The concept – a gourmet shop/BYOB/chef’s table hybrid – taps into the tapas trend and then some.

A jewel-box of a spot at the corner of North Wayne and West Avenues, what Cornerstone lacks in square footage, it more than makes up for in ambition.

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A Pilgrim’s Progress (or lack thereof): my Papal (mis)adventures

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Let’s just say my pilgrimage to see Pope Francis in Philly last weekend began a whole lot better than it ended.

In truth, I probably wouldn’t have gone at all if I hadn’t won tickets in my church’s lottery. The spirit was willing but my 50-something flesh was weak (and skeeves porta-potties).

My initial plan – to watch Pope Francis on TV with my devoutly Catholic parents in the comfort of their shore home in Longport – sounded pretty darn appealing.

Still, something made me put my name in St. Norbert’s lottery.

And Someone allowed me to win. God wanted me there, I figured.

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SAVVY Shorts: Papal honor for Berwyn baker, Company C Main Line & the (Jay) Wright Stuff in Wayne

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Talk about your sweet assignments.

While the hordes (me among them – yes, I’m going) jostle for even a glimpse of the Pope on the Parkway this weekend, a Berwyn baker and her family will get up close and personal with the pontiff.

Sweet Jazmine’s chef/owner Kim Cuthbert, her 12-year-old son, Jordan, and her parents, Anna and Jerry Davis, have been tapped to bring up the offertory gifts when Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Basilica on Saturday.

For those not Catholic: The four, all parishioners at St. Isaac Jogues in Chesterbrook, will process up the center aisle carrying the bread, wine and other offerings and will hand them to the Holy Father.

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Paoli gets a Scout & Molly’s, Wayne turns ‘InsideOut’, plus SAVVY Shorts

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

There’s a boutique boomlet in Paoli of late. The thriving Paoli Shopping Center now has six women’s fashion boutiques (seven, if you count Trove General Store): Polka Dots, Talbots, Chico’s, Loft, Francesca’s, and, as of last Saturday, Scout & Molly’s.

Trendy and somewhat upscale (with nary a hint of the prevailing Main Line preppy aesthetic), Scout & Molly’s specializes in statement sportswear and accessories, mixing familiar labels like BCBG Max Azria, Joe’s Jeans, Big Buddha and French Connection with lesser-known quality brands like Krazy Larry, Vroom and Lavender Brown.

Prices vary. Some pieces are quite affordable but many are in the mid- to high range. Put it this way: You can pick up a pair of skinny jeans for $80 or for $180.

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Life Time, a gigantic fitness & health “resort” chain (waterslides included!), wants to build in Wayne

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

A country club without golf? The Ritz Carlton of YMCAs? A spa resort minus the palm trees? It’s hard to find a perfect analogy for Life Time Fitness – the “healthy way of life company” – that plans to put one of its mammoth recreational facilities in Wayne.

But be warned, Main Line health clubs, fitness studios, spas and salons: Life Time is known as “a category killer.”

A Minnesota-based company with 117 locations and counting, Life Time wants to build its first Pa. facility at the corner of Swedesford and Old Eagle School roads, across from the Marriott Courtyard and within view of the King of Prussia Wegmans.

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Stepping out for sarcoma with Herzlich and Maher, Ardmore’s hot condos, heroin hits Wayne & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

I had one yesterday when Mark and his lovely new bride, Danielle, joined fellow sarcoma warriors, family and friends at a “Steps For a Cure Walk/Run” at Chesterbrook’s Wilson Park.

Mark and my son, Shane, were playgroup pals in their preschool days, so seeing Mark healthy and whole always warms my heart. He stood head and shoulders above his buddies even then; of course, he would grow up to wear a Giant-sized uniform.

Mark told the crowd if he had been diagnosed five years earlier he might not have been standing before them. Still, there’s a long way to go before every warrior with this rare and insidious cancer becomes a survivor, he said.

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Here’s hoping the just-opened Malvern Buttery churns up new business for King Street

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Quirky coffeeshop? Hip bakery café? Yes and yes but the surprisingly spacious Malvern Buttery is more like your favorite aunt’s enormous eat-in kitchen – assuming she’s a terrific scratch cook, uses state-of-the-art equipment and likes company by the carload. Fresh, pure, local, green, whole – there isn’t a healthy-eating buzzword the Buttery doesn’t embrace. Fruits and veggies come from Lancaster County farms; meats and dairy are grass-fed and organic.

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End of an era at Main Line Health & Fitness; Conestoga teacher wins top U.S. honors

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

After a 40-year run, there’s a new regime doing the heavy lifting at Main Line Health & Fitness.

The area’s original Iron Man, Roger Schwab (pictured above) has sold his Bryn Mawr fitness mainstay to the real estate group that owns The Sporting Club at the Bellevue.

So, naturally, MLH&F is being rebranded as The Sporting Club at the Main Line.

New owner Tim Rubin tells SAVVY that members will likely get reciprocal privileges in Center City at discounted rates. And some of Bellevue’s best instructors will lead special workshops in Bryn Mawr.

Rubin says he’ll take a few months to evaluate the place before he comments on any other changes – although he did hint at a facelift of the monolithic building, which he now owns.

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What we can all learn from Jane Pauley

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

64 doesn’t sound old to me.” So declared veteran TV journalist Jane Pauley in West Chester Friday night to plug the paperback version of her book, Your Life Calling: Reimagining the Rest of Your Life.
“Dateline” Jane is now 64. But you’d never know it – at least from my rear-mezzanine vantage point for the finale of West Chester University President’s Speaker series. She has the same silky-smart-but-warm voice, the same placid smile and the same sun-kissed hair ­– sans the girlish pony tail she sported nearly 40 years ago when she first replaced Barbara Walters opposite Tom Brokaw on the “Today” show.
Can you imagine a 25-year-old anchoring “Today” today? No how, no way.
Jane wore a sleek solid-gray dress and leg-lengthening pointy-toed nude stilettos. (Tres modern classic chic, a la TV first lady Claire Underwood.)
Her appearance is not my primary purpose here, however. (Funny – and a bit worrisome – how we gals can’t help but size up other women’s looks.)
Instead, I’d like to share some of Jane’s provocative (and occasionally funny!) pronouncements. Among them:
On aging:
I have the memory of an Etch-A-Sketch.
We are recalibrating the meaning of getting older; middle age is stretching out to decades. Death is the new old age.
60 is a lot more active than 50 was 10 years ago.
On hitting the big city and its bright lights as Today’s anchor at age 25:
My deficiency was youth; but I got over it.
Perhaps the luckiest day of my life: the day I didn’t make the 10th grade cheerleading squad and joined the speech/debate team instead, paving the way for a career in broadcast news.
On finally giving herself some credit for her early career successes:
I used to think it was all luck. But now I know it took courage.
On her most surprising interview subject.
Joan Rivers was much deeper thinker than any of you would have given her credit for.
On redefining ourselves in midlife:
Necessity is the mother of re-invention.
Sometimes we need to be re-introduced to ourselves.
Say yes more than you say no. The hardest part is going from “maybe” to “yes.”
“Doing” is more important than “thinking.”
Inspiration is everything: you just have to be looking. 

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