TALLAHASSEE – For the last six years Mark Suber, the head chef and owner the Black Fig, which is located in the Market District, specializes in freshly prepared gourmet food. With a selection of local ingredients including, sweet rastari from Thomasville, organic chicken from Havana, handmade crackers from North Florida, and the locally famous Bradley’s sausage; each meal is hand crafted by exquisite chefs.

However, the Black Fig is not a dine-in restaurant. Rather, they offer a new dining experience where restaurant quality meets the comfort of your home. Services range from in-store pickup for family meals to full staff catering for large events. The Black Fig will work around whatever your needs may be.

A large part of the Black Fig’s mission statement is to establish a dinner table that is focused around family and fresh food. Parents now-a-days are always so busy, whether it is dropping off kids at soccer practice or picking them up after work, the idea of eating freshly prepared food as a family has almost become a tradition for older generations.

The entire family meal concept has been reinvented in this new age. Individuals do not have the time to sit down and eat at a restaurant. One of the two areas of The Black Fig is in-store pick-up, where consumers can delight in the ever changing menu, where no one day is the same.

“Each and every day we offer something different to ensure our customers receive the full blend of gourmet food. The Black Fig simply offers a new way of having your home cooked meal by six o’clock,” said Suber.

Dining habits vary from age to age. For instance, older adults may go out to eat once or twice a week and younger individuals may go out once or twice a day. This places a huge emphasis for culinary businesses to provide fresh, healthy, and affordable food; three things which the Black Fig were adamant about during the course of the interview. The Black Fig is located in the Steinmart shopping center and is ready to bring your family around fresh, quality, home-made meals.

Carol Frances Shaw or better known as her nickname “Sissy Shaw” given to her by her brother writes, plays, and sings music. Her favorite thing to do is write music and lyrics. As a senior, Sissy has already recorded three of her own songs.

While listening to her track “Hometown”, I could not help but take a step back and appreciate the God given talent that this Tallahassee native was given. With singing lessons starting in 4th grade from Dr. Leigh Stevenson and receiving a guitar when she was 13 for Christmas, her music career took a huge leap forward.

Click here to listen to “Hometown” by Sissy Shaw

Sissy is not the first one in her family who has a voice. Sissy told Tallahassee Reports in an interview, “My mom is where I learned to sing! And my mom’s mom, Nana, is a great singer too. You might not think it, but my dad and brother can also carry a tune.”  She continues by telling Tallahassee Reports about her support through the years, “My family has always encouraged me. My brother encouraged me to share my music with friends and family, and my dad exposed me to lots of different types of music when I was young.”

Away from music, Sissy has a few hidden talents. She loves to joke around. She claims that if she wasn’t singing she would be making jokes somewhere with her dry sense of humor. Among other talents are painting nails and braiding hair.

So what is in Sissy’s future?

Planning on attending the University of Alabama  this fall, Sissy intends to keep pursuing her dream of being picked up by a record label company after or during school. For a girl whose music is inspired by John Mayer and Norah Jones, I would safely place Sissy’s style in the same group as these two artists, with all  three of them focusing on a natural voice and guitar based backgrounds. Though she admits she loves all music. When asked if she could dabble in another genre, she responded with “I think opera would be cool to try”.

Personally, Norah Jones is one of my favorite artists because her music sends the audience into a deep state of sleep or relaxation. When I first listened to Sissy’s song “Hometown”, I was sitting inside a cafe drinking some evening coffee as the icy rain pinged the roof and froze to whatever object it struck. Listening to this song over and over again on repeat, I continually entered into a deeper state of relaxation and embellished into the lyrics. “Life is more than a song and a dance” This line really stuck with me because it made me acknowledge that while we may follow our most passionate dreams, wherever we may chase them, there is still something about getting back to our roots that we can all relate to whether it is positive or negative. The hometown that Sissy sings about made her into the person who she is today and she cherishes the moments at home that she misses chasing her dreams. Perhaps someday, one of those dreams will become a reality like  “singing at the Grammy’s”.

Some of you may know him as the kid from Capital City Country Club, others as the teen who shocked our city with his junior golf career, or the humble southern gentlemen that he is.

However you may know him, Hudson Swafford is a definite Tallahassee favorite on the PGA tour.

After graduating from Maclay in 2006, Hudson went on to the University of Georgia to play college golf. After having an astonishing career at UGA, Hudson decided to drive his game to the next level.

After what looked to be a stepping stone first year on the Web.com tour, Hudson finished 27th for the year’s money list and missed the PGA tour by two spots.

This did not defeat him though. If there is one thing that I know as a golfer, it is that anyone who can spend hours upon hours in the Tallahassee heat and humidity is not going to be thrown off their dream that easily.

There he was again in the driver’s seat heading into the Web.com playoffs and this year the result ended with the Tallahassee native holding a card.

Not just any card, this card is the card that every junior golfer dreams of having. It means that you get to play with the best in the world and that you are one of the best in the world. A little something that all of us golfers can be jealous of.

This year Hudson has one top ten and three top twenty five finishes. Playing some of his best golf of the year, Hudson has fought his way into the top of the leaderboard at this week’s Quicken Loans National at Congressional. A tough and unforgiving golf course for poorly executed shots. As the world looked on to the conclusion of Sunday’s round, I could only hope that there would have been come-from-behind magic in the air.

Only trailing three shots, it was not impossible, but on such a grueling golf course, it wasn’t in the cards this time. However, Hudson got close to his first victory on the PGA tour. From the kid that shocked us a decade ago with his golf skills, maybe just maybe he can shock us again soon.