Anyone, anyone...Bueller?
I'm selling our previous coffee table because we got a new one from the IKEA Stockhom collection. Seriously, no bites on this beauty? Inter-net, I am ashamed of your lack of interest.
In other news that involved online things that are brown, I am stalking a new "grandma" house for sale in West Roxbury. If someone bought the coffee table, we'd have $65 more towards our current non-existent mortgage down payment!
What better way to tighten that belt on the finances than to buy economical yet unique holiday gifts at the Design Hive, an indie designers market in Cambridge?
The event is held indoor every Saturday from 10am - 5pm at:
Maria Baldwin School (formerly the Agassiz School)
28 Sacramento St. (off Mass Ave. @ corner of Oxford St.)
Cambridge, MA 02138
(directions here)
I'll be there with Wündercabinet this Saturday, 11/22/08, and the first Saturday in December, 12/6/08 -- come out and say "hiya"! The inaugural weekend drew a crowd of 800, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to sell the cabinet clean for winter.
Our last South End Open Market (Oct 5) was totally hoppin', mostly due to the Baked Fresh event, complete with bands and scads of college students. We hd a busy day in the booth and loved all of the great crowd energy. Plus, I made it into the "SOWA Style" photostream (see below)!
We only have one market day remaining: October 26, 2008, which is also the closing day of the SEOM and Market of the Living Dead. The day promises lots of fun costumes, a pumpkin carving contest...and perhaps some deep discounts to clean out the "cabinet" for winter, hmm?
Hope to see you on the 26th!
Some shots from Baked Fresh...
The booth, full of shoppers!
Wündercabinet table display (thx to A Classic Girl for all her help during the entire day; I couldn't have done it without ya!)
Shopgirl
Do these ladeez have crazy good style, or what?
Mark yer calendars for OCTOBER 26 -- the last market (for us, and in general.)
Last Sunday was Wündercabinet's second day at (South End Open) Market. The sun shone, and even though the morning crowd seemed more in the "Sunday strolling" mood, things picked up significantly in the afternoon, and we not only made back our booth fee, but also a bit more. I think that "the business" is now on the even with purchase vs. sales, so hopefully we'll make some actual profit on our next two market dates.
Plus, we met all kinds of fun people who loved vintage goods -- including the cute India, who wrote about us on her designer apartment blog, Apartment 528, and her boyfriend Jerome -- yea! The WC even made the South End Open Market Flickr set (start at the last page), even though they labeled our shots as "Artifaktori" -- boo!
I know I'm a little late to the game, seeing as today is Thursday already, but I wanted to note a few of my favorites from this week's Market...
The Herb Lyceum at Gilson's
This stand had so many great offerings like lavender, various honeys, actual live herbs, and other mixes like herbal teas and herbs de Provence. I've read about this place, and Gilson's son Will Gilson's restaurant in Cambridge, Garden at the Cellar, and have been meaning to stop in for dinner. I also love the website's intimate language: "David Gilson and his family welcome you to their hospitality and their passion for herbs. The Herb Lyceum at Gilson's, a masterfully renovated 19th century carriage house, is located in scenic and historic Groton, Massachusetts, on the grounds of the Gilson Family Homestead."
They also do weddings...hmm.
Artifaktori
Dame
Next up, two vintage clothing vendors, one of who has a physcial store, the other who does not. I've mentioned Artifaktori a while back in a post, and was excited to meet the owner, Amy. She even bought one of my clocks to have in her store. I can't wait to go visit the little yellow guy in his new home. Dame is close to the Ros in JP, but only has a virtual store . I'd highly recommend both shoppes as sources of skillfully curated vintage threads.
Fibrevolution / Sweater Hospital
This booth was caddy corner to ours, and I got to check out everyone trying on the cute hats and especially looped scarves (one big circle so you don't have to mess with ends, very neat and neat.) The proprietor also runs Sweater Hospital on Etsy, an artsy knitty rescue service for sweaters with unfortunate holes.
MAP Boston
Finally, since I'm a total sucker for planners/datebooks, I had to check out Morgan First's Motion Action Planner (MAP) Boston, a "weekly agenda and city guide created to help make everyday life in Boston an adventure." The book includes:
- Information on over 100 off beat Boston destinations
- Weekly handpicked destinations
- Quirky Boston facts
- Weekly must do Boston events
- Insider Info Sidebars
Of course, I got to talking with Morgan (and her dog Josie, well, Josie didn't talk) and bought a planner -- thanks for the free bag, too, Morgan! I was particularly interested in MAP because Cho and I tried to self-fund and design a project similar many years ago, called "Pastiche," which never happened. I realize now that the main reason is because we had no revenue source=advertisers. Morgan seems to have figured this side of the business out, and is in her third year of doing MAP, which she started as a student at Emerson. Anyway, MAP Boston would be particularly good for students, or also anyone just moving to The Bean and needing to organize their calendar and social life...
Three more confirmed market dates left -- we hope to see you there!
WUNDERCABINET AT SEOM 2008:
SEPTEMBER 14, 28 & OCTOBER 12, 2008
One of the most interesting things about participating in the SEOM was meeting other vendors, chatting, and getting a look at life on the other side of the merch table. I wanted to highlight a few people/products that "made" my first market (Sun)day...
Alanna and Kate run toby+rei, a green biz offering "super-soft T-shirts, onesies, even lunch bags printed with robots, elephants, sharks, and flowers, as well as cotton/bamboo fleece baby blankets and accessories to cradle tiny new additions." They set up across from us and had such cute items -- I can't wait to buy something for one of the 2008 Blogorelli Babies! Also, Kate purchase some cool Russel Wright melamine cups and saucers from the WC, so big gratzie to her.
Directly next to us sat Olaria Studio, and meeting Amy and her hubby Ashley made my day. (Plus, we couldn't have gotten our tent up without their helpful tips.) Amy handcrafts beautiful necklaces and earrings from clay, using a specific style that she learned at the University of Montevallo. She finishes the pieces with "mid to high-fire clay & glazes, which offer...a range of finishes & natural variations" and "an array of slips, stains, glazes, underglazes, & even a few overglazes" A+A moved to The Bean from Birmingham, AL, and were just the warmest, best, "boothies" that I could have wished for on my first go around. Hopefully, we'll see them again this summer!
Finally, I only had a chance to briefly browse Looka Jewelry's booth, but her little envelope necklaces are completely precious. I bet they'd make a perfect gift for someone who is near in heart but far in miles.
Thanks to a bedtime of 10:30 last night, I think my exhausted 30-year-old bod (and mind) is finally recovered from the physical/mental toil of the first SEOM. I'm really looking forward to the next time, now that I know what to expect and have planned ways to be even more efficient.
Finally, I wanted to shout a THANKS! and HURRAH! to Little Kim, who came to cheer me on, and A Classic Girl, who hung out away from her baby, GretaBoo, for hours keeping me company, helping with merchandising displays, and just making sure I didn't take the whole thing too seriously. Last but never least, all my gratitude to The Prof, who was his usual rock of support and love.
I successfully survived both my first wearing of the Butter by Nadia dress and my first wedding with The Prof's muy grande familia...both events went off without a hitch.
After some experimentation, I decided on a style from the instruction card. The Prof helped me with the back section and we were ready to go. Initially, I was a little worried about "the girls" making a surprise appearance, but dang it if that 72% rayon/ 28% spandex mix doesn't hug the bod in right tight.
We attended the ceremony and the time had arrived to celebrate at the reception. Style #6 (halter with twisted center back) received rave reviews, and when I revealed the dress's switchable nature, many partygoers (and The Prof himself) came up with the idea of me switching the configuration during the reception. Never one to turn down the chance to please a crowd, I obliged, going into the bathroom and working up Style #3 (knotted straps, cap sleeves) about mid-reception. Again, the dress did not disappoint.
By the end of the night, I was three g+ts and dress styles in, modeling #10 (a Grecian-esque one shoulder arrangement.) No one got any pictures of that one, and I'm sort of glad...because a certain drunky someone caught said amazing dress in the car door on the drive home. However, I did get up and go to work the next day, so the old gal's still got it.
Beginning:
Middle:
End (clearly not me, but this is the style):
...and not just in "classic", retina-burning white cavas, either! Keds has stepped up their fashion consciousness considerably in the past few years (they even have a collection designed by Nanette LePore) and they seem to have produced the first pair of shoes I'll buy from the brand since eighth grade.
"Inspired by our 1950's Kedette collection, the Keds Do-Si-Do Linen Wedge is pulled from our archives and updated for this Fall. The new laced high wedge, in linen, combines timeless femininity with a sporty look."
I ordered the shoe in two sizes just in case (since shipping was free) and am excited to initiate them into my Fall wardrobe. Disagree with me, but I think the wedges will look fabu with jeans, "slacks", and skirts (i.e. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.)
Keeping my fingers crossed that these shoes aren't awful in an orthopedic-looking way upon arrival...
(Below, the other contender, which was eliminated for possibly not being neutral enough. Heh.)
My old hood 'Da Ville continues to build a (dare I say?) hip and thriving retail district with the addition of a little store called Artifaktori on College Avenue, which carries antiques, clothes, and shoes. More details from a Decor 8 post...I can't wait to check out this place!
On the Saturday while my mom was visiting a few weeks back, I made two just, well, tremendous purchases sharing a common theme: butter.
I've wanted to Believe The Hype about French-style butter crocks since I saw an über-cute hand sculpted one on Etsy a few months ago. Unfortunately, that crock sold and all the others I've seen looked too chunky and big. We took my mom into the Boston Cheese Cellar (watch the video, really, it is too fun and adorably pro-Rozzie) to show her where The Prof threw my surprise 30th birthday party and -- wham -- right there, in the window, The Original Butter Bell! I immediately bought the matte white version (although I wouldn't mind having some of the "mini bells" for brunches.)
Basically, you put 1/3 cup of cold water into the bottom of the crock and smooth softened butter into the lid. The lid turns upside down, goes down into the very top of the water, a vacuum seal is made...and the result is delicious soft butter for all your spreading needs. We tried the bell when we got home and have been using it since so I can truthfully gush: genius! I love having soft, fresh butter every time. Plus, keeping the butter in the crock on the counter feels so European somehow. Finally I can stop microwaving the butter dish, which was attracting much contempt from Bobby Crocker (a butter connoisseur) and The Prof (who disliked the resulting hills and valleys in the stick.)
One warning: if it's a bit balmy, the water must be changed every three days to avoid spoilage, and if the butter/room temperature reaches higher than 80 degrees, the yellow stuff will slip out when you raise the lid. I lost one stick of butter in this way last week.But no harm, no folly...a little time in the fridge to firm up, and the bell was back in service.
Now, what could possibly top and still thematically link with The Butter Bell? Why, Butter by Nadia's Signature Wrap Dress, of course. I happened upon this amazing garmet in the store Bliss when we daytripped to Portsmouth. I will be wearing the dress to all remaining weddings this season -- but in what configuration? Guess the world will have to wait and see, since the slightly shimmery, nylon cloth can be wrapped, knotted, and tied into 15+ combinations. This dress so flattered my "bod" that I almost want a jersey version in some fun color (or basic black) for everyday.
Do I mean "Take Your Dog To Work Day with PoopFreeze"? Why yes, yes I do.
I'm a few days back on the official TYDTWD (June 20) but I couldn't miss commemorating the occasion without encouraging dog owners to "Frost it and Toss it!"
At first, I thought this was a viral video gag, but turns out the company is legitimate and "Pet owners can now buy the first freeze-spray aerosol made for animal waste pick-up" right on the PF website, for $9.95 a can. They even sell a carry Poop-Freeze Carry Tote, for those pet owners who think they're hot shit, not cold...well, you get the idea.
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