Groceries & Markets in Mauldin

Students should bring: Yoga mat and towel or blanket to sit on
Average class length: 60 minutes
Number of Staff: 1–5 people
Class location: Indoors only
Established: 2014
Registration required: Yes
Good for beginners: Yes
Guests allowed: No
Parking: Parking lot

Q&A with the Instructor

Exercise is challenging, and people frequently give up on their fitness routines. How do you keep clients motivated?
I continue to support students even when they give up on themselves because I don't give up on them. I'm their biggest cheerleader.

Do you run your gym according to a particular exercise philosophy?
Yoga is non-competitive. The benefits come from patience, acceptance, compassion, non- judgement and calm presence. We encourage this attitude in every class.

Is there anything else you want to add that we didn't cover?
These classes are gentle and appropriate for almost every body. Expect to relax your mind and release tension from your body. Classes are in a comfortable wellness center and kept small for more individualized attention.

Independent licensed optician Steven M. Pitman personally designed Spec's Optical Boutique, filling it with a massive wall grid of designer frames and abundant mirrors and employs his more than 25 years of experience in overseeing every element of fitting faces with frames. He and his wife, Gwen, demonstrate their lens-crafting acumen and devotion to customer service by happily outfitting wearers who bring in even the most difficult of prescriptions. An on-hand designer helps to pair patrons with frames that flatter their facial shapes, sense of style, and inner child.

For the past decade, Blue Sky Café owners Julianna and Mark Pletcher have continually added to a menu nearly as big and cheery as the restaurant’s namesake. Cooks are proud of their hefty, hand-formed burgers and their chicken—each served in a dazzling array of preparations—but there are just as many health-conscious wraps and salads and vegetarian and vegan dishes. A recent development is a creative, sweet-and savory brunch service, where cheese and garlic turn grits into a bowlful of decadence and prosciutto and parmesan put the Sicilian in a Sicilian frittata.

Kids get their own, more-flexible-than-usual menu, though they’ll have to weigh whether to dig in or finish what they’ve been drawing with provided crayons on the paper placemats. A further draw for tots is the playhouse that stands on an oasis of a patio, whose tall wooden fence encloses hanging lanterns, huge umbrellas, and plants trailing from every wall as they toward their goal of trying the sweet-potato fries everybody keeps talking about.

The Artisan Gourmet Market and its adjacent deli celebrate epicurean urges with a panoply of organic produce, fresh meats and cheeses, fair-trade coffee, and wines from around the world. The meat counter lures health-conscious carnivores with a selection of local and natural meats, such as certified Angus strip loins ($7.49 per lb.) and marinated, natural boneless, skinless chicken ($5.49 per lb.), and a collection of well-traveled cheeses, such as Boar’s Head colby ($7.99 per lb.), encourages daydreamers to climb the swiss-cheese Alps. Time-crunched shoppers can also fill their market-cruising carts with already prepared meals and items from the daily special list, including five-pound bags of fresh ground beef ($1.99 on Mondays) and fresh salmon by the pound ($2 off per lb. on Fridays).

West Village Market & Deli fills pantries eco-responsibly with fresh groceries plucked from local suppliers wherever possible, and the deli creates symphonies of flavor with harmonizing legions of fresh ingredients. The Roast Beast sandwich folds roast beef betwixt a whole-wheat hoagie, accenting its rich flavor with horseradish mayo, roasted red pepper, red onions, spinach, and cheddar ($7). Herbivores and the herbi-curious can delve into a Tempeh's So Asheville sandwich, layered with grilled local tempeh, banana peppers, red pepper, red onion, leaf lettuce, dill havarti cheese, avocado spread, and pesto mayo, all delivered to their grisly fate by local kalamata olive bread ($7).

Owner Marcy Lanier and her crew of stylists take pride in creating the right cut and color for each of their clients at Willows Dream. During appointments, they apply their collective creative energy to help each person look and feel their best with a hairdo that flatters both their face shape and personality. Meanwhile, the team's aesthetician, Ginger, tends to the rest of the body's beauty needs, performing quick waxing treatments, vegan mani-pedis, and Xtreme Lashes eyelash applications. Her caring, professional touch has resulted in regular clients, and even earned her a spot on Mountain Xpress' Best of WNC 2012 list.

After treatments, guests can peruse the inviting gift boutique, a destination in itself, which is stocked with whimsical accessories, jewelry, local art, and high-quality hair products.