REVEL PASTRY CO.

Charity Everett is the founder and pastry chef of Revel Pastry Company. She started cooking as soon as she could stand on a chair and reach the kitchen counter. Her earliest memories center around learning from her mother and grandmother the joys of creating in the kitchen.

Since then, that love of cooking has grown into a passion for baking and cooking with the seasons. At Revel, located in Atlanta, Charity creates both sweet and savory pastries inspired by the best local produce each season has to offer. At home, she draws on that same inspiration to create simple, healthy, and comforting meals.

Tell us about yourself: Charity Everett, Atlanta, Georgia, Owner + Pastry Chef at Revel Pastry Co. 

Inspiration for starting Revel? As I entered adulthood, I was struck by how easy it was to get bogged down by the pressures and struggles or mundanity of life and let the small pleasures pass by unnoticed. Spending time in the kitchen, creating something delicious from whatever inspired me at the grocery store and sharing it with friends and loved ones has always been an activity that allowed me to pause and take in the beauty around me. I wanted to use my passion for pastry to create something that would draw people into the beauty of the moment and give them joy.

What makes you tick? Spending quality time with the people I love, meeting new people, and creating beautiful and interesting food. I love to create experiences that bring people together and facilitate community.

Personal mantra: Surrender. You don’t have to get it right, you just have to live faithfully. 

Favorite form of release? Learning about and trying new wines + cocktails.

Pick a superfood: Sweet potatoes! I love them roasted with rosemary and garlic.

Best part about your community? I am new to Atlanta, but my favorite part has been the spirit of welcome and inclusiveness I have felt from everyone I have met so far. It has been so refreshing!

OPEN STREETS MACON

You may remember our fine-feathered friend, Rachel Hollar, from our 2015 post on Bike Macon. Now, Rachel and her crew, along with the City of Macon-Bibb, are coordinating the first-ever Open Streets Macon, which will take place April 17th. Open Streets Macon takes a valuable public space – our city’s streets – and opens them up for people to play, walk, bike, breathe, and make their own. Modeled on tremendously successful events from around the world, including Bogotá, Colombia’s Ciclovia; Paris, France’s Paris Plage; and San Francisco’s Sunday’s Streets, Open Streets Macon will be part bike tour, part block party, and a great time for getting active, interacting with your neighbors, and enjoying our amazing city. Bring your bicycle or just your feet, and get ready to explore your community in a safer, healthier, more livable way.

“Imagine a street full of people of all ages and backgrounds, walking, biking, creating and laughing, together. A street temporarily closed to cars, but open to people. Imagine residents safely enjoying their city, socializing with neighbors, and engaging in healthy activities. Imagine if all of this were free, with absolutely no barriers to participation. By the people, for the people. Sound good yet? Bike Macon is turning this vision into a reality by organizing the first-ever Open Streets Macon event.”

Here are some things you need to know before April 17:
It’s FREE!
It’s not a race and you don’t need a bike to participate. You can walk or skate to your heart’s content.
There’s no beginning or end. Start and end anywhere!
It’s from 2 PM – 6 PM.
The flow of participants goes both ways, just like regular traffic.

For more information about this event, visit bikemacon.org/openstreets

FINE FEATHERED FRIEND: SARAH GILBERT

Haley and I are so excited to FINALLY feature our dear friend, Sarah Gilbert! We may have grown up with this girl in the heart of Georgia, but she's recently become a household name as a contestant + fan-favorite on NBC's The Biggest Loser (season 17). Even after last month's finale, Sarah is staying fit and maintaining her healthy new lifestyle -- all while building her beauty empire, securing fitness endorsements with NOW and WOD, and being THE ultimate boss babe (in our humble, totally non-biased opinion). Check out Sarah's interview with us below! 

Name: Sarah Gilbert; freelance hair + makeup artist, stay-at-home mama (the best job).

Inspo for beginning Biggest Loser? I was at rock bottom. I felt terrible about myself and had given up hope that I could be different. My job and my marriage along with my relationship with my son was suffering. I knew I needed a catalyst for change. I needed a ray of hope. Then, one day, I heard an ad for the casting call in Atlanta and that was all she wrote.

Biggest takeaway from BL? Never underestimate yourself or your impact.

Fav superfood: Cacao nibs and hemp hearts!

Health trend you are loving: Drinkable beauty products. I'm currently obsessed with adding collagen to my daily routine. I typically do 1-2 servings a day along with other similar beauty tonics. 

Preferred activity: I love walking around my city before dawn in the morning. It's not the highest calorie-burn, and it isn't the trendiest exercise, but there is something about walking around a quiet city at 5 A.M. that just settles my mind and prepares me for the day.

Personal mantra: Let go. 

Veggies via The Little Farm + Photography of Haley Sheffield. 

RESOLUTIONS

In case you missed it, we officially turned ONE! We truly can't thank our followers enough for all of the support since first launching In FIne Feather. 

IFF's original intent was to showcase the movers, shakers and makers in health throughout the South, by bringing meaningful, helpful content to our online community. Over the past year, we have highlighted health, wellness and beauty in MANY forms. In the spirit of resolving to do the same in 2016, we are putting a pause on our posts until March 1 while we gather the goodness for our readers. BUT PLEASE don't stop lovin' us on our other outlets as we'll continue to keep those current with quick tips & tricks (here, here, here & here!) 

See you soon! 
-Tess + Haley

BIKE MACON

Cheers to the new year, y'all! First of all we are turning ONE this week (!!!) but more on that later. In the meantime, it's THE TIME of year when we resolve to change up our routines and reignite our relationship with our personal health and well-being (because Christmas cookies). If you live in the Macon area, Bike Macon is the perfect opportunity to get moving -- literally! We rode along with Rachel Hollar, founder of Bike Macon aka Macon's first grassroots bike advocacy group. The organization is committed to making Macon more connected, bikeable, and walkable through advocacy, education, and creative events that allow the community to become more comfortable with walking and biking around town. Read more about Rachel and her vision for Bike Macon below!

Inspiration for beginning Bike Macon? Participation in a fun, social bike event during Macon’s Cherry Blossom Festival Parade inspired me to start exploring the city by bike every day. I was having fun, saving money, and spending more time outdoors. Two months later, I applied for a fellowship to start a bike coalition because I wanted my neighbors to experience those benefits as well. In June 2015, I was selected as a K880 Emerging City Champion through 8 80 Cities and the Knight Foundation. The fellowship equipped me with the tools, networks, and resources to create Bike Macon. In just a few months, I’ve been able to engage a diverse group of stakeholders + team of volunteers to support my vision of a healthier, safer, and more socially-connected community. 

Benefits? I’ve been relying on my bike as an alternative means of commuting to work for about six months. I love that I can sneak in exercise during the day without taking extra time from my schedule. Additionally, through this group, I have met the most talented and dedicated individuals. I’m looking forward to the meaningful change this group is leading -- to help Macon become a city that embraces walking and biking as an essential form of transportation.

Personal mantra? “Mai Pen Rai” - it’s a common Thai expression meaning many things: no worries, it is what it is, it’s okay. I spent one year teaching English in Thailand and this is one of the traits I admired most about the locals. Their attitude encouraged me to never take things too seriously and face everything with a smile.

THANKFUL FOR COMMUNITY

Happy holidays, y'all! Couple of things: 

This Saturday, November 28th, is Small Business Saturday. If you've been with IFF since the beginning, you know that Haley and I created this blog out of two passions -- health and wellness + supporting small businesses across the state. Even our posts spotlighting friends overseas have focused on mom and pop shops. As advocates for our own neighborhoods (Atlanta & Macon), we were THRILLED when American Express launched #SmallBizSat in 2010 -- a rallying cry against the corporate consumerism of Black Friday and a way to celebrate Main Streets across America. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving + celebrating community, we would like to show our gratitude to our loyal readers by offering a gift basket giveaway! The basket will feature products from small businesses featured in previous posts, including Preserving Place, Meraki Botanicals and Pure Barre -- just to name a few. To enter, forward this post to one friend and then send us an email that you've done so (include their name + email as well). We'll select a winner at random and announce next week!