At Tuesday’s University Park City Council meeting, public works director Bud Smallwood proposed changes to the intersection at Hillcrest and Daniel avenues that would include a dedicated left-hand turn lane from Daniel onto Hillcrest.

I know I’ve sat in a long line of cars backed up on Daniel  and into Snider Plaza as the one at the signal waits to turn left on Hillcrest, so the turn lane is great news. According to the memo, another justification for changes is the “number of pedestrian-vehicle accidents” at the intersection.

Smallwood said the signal work will cost $25,000. “The other ancillary work would be the work associated with curb and gutter, and some concrete work to basically move the curb and gutter south approximately six feet,” to accommodate the new turn lane, he said.

Adding in the removal of a Live Oak tree that impedes construction, the total cost of the project tops out at $48,000.

The City Council approved the concept, and the Public Works Department will bring in Dannie Cummings of C&P Engineering to draw up plans for construction.

Snider Plaza boutique Nest is, well, flying from the nest. In celebration of its fifth anniversary (says spokeswoman Kelly Fordham), the home decor and gift store is moving to a 5,000 square-foot space on McKinney Avenue — and also launching a new logo, website, and private label line. The relocation is planned for next month, with Nest to reopen for business in early October.

In the meantime, my friends, a great big sale is on the horizon. No word as to when exactly it’ll start, but keep your eyes peeled: Discounts will be as much as 75 percent.

The Jonathan Adler lamp above (in all its multifaceted funkiness) is currently about $800.

UPDATE: Sale’s on!

A blueberry mojito from Dive was just what I needed on a hot Friday afternoon.

I stopped in at Dive, Franchesca Nor’s new Snider Plaza outpost, for a take-away dinner last Friday mostly because it’s WAY too hot to fire up the stove right now. I have to say that their blueberry mojito (made with prosecco!) was just what I needed to take the edge off the heat. My husband believes her Ahi tuna wrap reminds him of our blissed-out vacation to Key West, which is, unsurprisingly, exactly what Nor is going for.

At about a quarter past six on Friday there was a line pushing up against the door and kids keeping themselves out of trouble at the Kid’s Korner (below) as I noticed the servers shuttling umpteen glasses of chilled white wine throughout the restaurant.

In all, it looks like the Nor’s slice of Snider Plaza is becoming the cool place to keep cool.

Yeah, that’s right. A bouncer. A gigantic one who can kick people out of the store.

On Saturday I stopped by Lone Star Shipping Company, the private postal center in Snider Plaza. These guys have the convenience thing down. You run in, BAM, you’re out.

But on Saturday there was a woman at the counter with about a bajillion things to mail. She handed each unaddressed package to the man at the register and told him where to send each one. She spelled every word several times and repeated the zip code. She checked his work for accuracy and added scotch tape to every square inch of the padded envelopes. Total. Beating.

After about 6 or 7 minutes I abandoned the mission and took the kids to Mustang for a donut. We returned. SHE WAS STILL THERE. There was a man behind her in line doing the huffy eye roll thing. She wasn’t even almost done.

So I took the kids to run one more errand and returned. Still there. Waited. Abandoned.

I returned for the final time to find that she was gone. But she’d been replaced with a lady who had a big pile of stuff to mail. Fine. But when it was more expensive than she’d planned, she had the guy remove particular items, reweigh, and provide new quotes. She did every possible combination. My favorite statement, “Remove the Dr. Peppers and tell me how much how that’ll be. I bet those glass bottles are heavy.”

Official rules of conduct for shipping store patrons in development phase.

Franchesca Nor is certain that you’ll love her healthy coastal fare over Dunkin Donuts.

We received several questions from readers regarding the new tenant in the former Snider Plaza Dunkin Donuts spot at 3404 Rankin Street. If you’ve been waiting for a fast-casual seafood fusion joint with a 1940s vibe to move into the spot, well, you’re in luck. Dive Coastal Cuisine opens today, and you can grab some super fresh ceviche with plantain chips, a watermelon and arugula salad, or an ahi tuna wrap with coconut rice (all pictured above).

Perhaps you’ll want to wash it all down with some of their cool sangria, or perhaps a blueberry mojito, two of their delicious cocktails formulated by a real-live mixologist.

Find out more about the restaurant and its owner, Franchesca Nor, in this week’s Park Cities People.

At the request of PCMom:

If __________ left Snider Plaza, I would be really bummed.

Family businessman Max Fuqua has been a strong advocate for UP’s commercial areas.

I can’t really say that I was shocked to find out that Max Fuqua, owner of Plaza Health Foods, chairman of the city’s Commercial-Retail Advisory Committee, and member of the University Park Merchants Association, was the sole finalist for University Park’s annual citizen of the year award. The only thing that surprised me, really, is that he was.

Instead of hoarding the glory for himself, Fuqua accepted the honor on behalf of “all commercial property owners and merchants who are working together to make our shopping areas even better.”

Congratulations, Max!

My photos fail to convey the full beauty of the story that unfolded before my very eyes at around 9:30 this morning. A guy, maybe in his early twenties, emerged from the alley between Milton and Rankin in his bathrobe and nothin’ else. He picked a crepe myrtle bloom and stood (not so steady) on the egde of Hillcrest holding the flower up, shouting sentiments of  peace to cars zooming by.

When he saw me across the street he yelled, “Hey love, come here” in a british accent and stumbled a bit. Then several University Park cops came screeching up on two wheels to bust up the show.

Developing.

UP residents are even closer to getting a hassle-free cold one inside the city limits.

Just spoke with University Park’s most famous certified nutritionist, Max Fuqua (who, if you missed his comment, is offering deliciously free froyo to those mentioning this humble blog). He says that on Friday, Open Up For UP will present plenty more than the minimum signatures required to put both proposed ordinances on the Nov. 2 ballot.

“We got all the signatures we need,” said Fuqua, “and a pretty good surplus.”

For those keeping track at home, Open Up For UP is facilitated by the University Park Merchants Association and hopes to not only abolish the private club restrictions in UP restaurants, but get retail beer and wine sales in stores throughout the city. The organization needed a little more than 2,500 signatures from registered University Park voters on each petition.

The driver of this SUV must be having some sort of emergency, right? I mean, to park sideways across three storefront spots in Snider Plaza there must be a super good reason. Not so much. She was just grabbing a cup of coffee at Creme de la Cookie.