We aren’t ones for keeping things around that don’t work anymore.  We are ruthless when it comes to cleaning out the closet.  And you should see the heap of goods we will be selling next month in our garage sale thanks to our recent move and remodel.  (Don’t worry you’ll get an invite!) Why keep something around unless it’s truly useful to you? Of course, the term “useful” can have many meanings.  Something can be functionally useful, utilitarian.  But things can be useful in an emotional way, too.  An object can recall happy memories of people and places and the aesthetic beauty of an object can literally change a mood from bad to good.  Wouldn’t you agree?

We found this old clock a while ago, put it in the shop and waited to see what would happen.  We waited to see if anyone else could love it for its emotional utility rather than its functional one.  Usually when something is broken, it ends up in our sale bin, but not this particular piece.  We bought it knowing it was broken and loved it anyway.  We loved its exposed face and its black and white and silvery-ness.  We loved that you could set the time and it would never change.  You’ll notice this one is set to 11:01 and the alarm hand is set to 6.  In fact, every clock we sell, working or not, is set to that very same time.  That’s because November 1, 2006 was our opening day.  We can look at the clock and be reminded of that first day and think about how far we’ve come since then. It’s a good (and 100% emotional) feeling.

That, friends, is how we get attached to “broken” clocks, among other “useless” things.   Leave a comment here or on our facebook page about something “useless” you developed an emotional attachment to and you might win a $25 gift certificate.  We’ll contact the winner next Wednesday, August 25th.

Even on the grayest of summer mornings, we find a glimpse at one of these little landscapes makes the day BRIGHT!  They are made locally by Bright Design Lab, a clever little collective who not only create these tiny terrariums but design and build all kinds of wonderful things and spaces.  We get new terrariums in every week and the images above are just a small example of what you might find at the shop when you come in for your next visit.

We know that all this Twilight/Kristen Stewart talk may cause many of you to judge us in a negative way but we don’t really mind.  We all have our biases. (Ours are against people who wear overalls while not employed on a farm and those who use the word “re-doubling”). We proudly admit that we are total suckers for all that teen angst, two worlds collide, true love mumbo-jumbo.  And for your information, Twilight was not the first or last story to have our hearts all a-flutter.  Other awkwardly lovely, teeny, star-crossed stories we’ve gone gaga over include:

Romeo and Juliet – (zeffirelli’s version is a classic)
My So Called Life – (in bed for days when they canceled this)
Dirty Dancing – (on a constant loop in the VCR during the summer of ’88)
My Life as Liz – (a recent single season goodie that had us glued to the screen)

Anyway…

Didn’t someone say something about a giveaway?

In honor of our crush on Kristen Stewart, the movie release of Twilight Saga: Eclipse and to all good things that create daydreams, we would like to give our blog visitors a chance to win a $20 gift certificate.  (Out-of-town entries will have the option to receive a surprise daydream-inspired gift.)  You can leave a comment here or head over to our Facebook page and tell us about the thing that you’ve been daydreaming about lately.  Now that you know all of our heart’s deepest secrets – it’s time for you to dish a few of your own.  You have until July 1st.

p.s. If you can get us a personal, face-to-face interview with Kristen Stewart, you automatically win the giveaway.  Plus a $500 gift certificate.  That is not a joke.

For the Word Nerd or Font Freak:
letter tiles, calligraphy pens,
a book that teaches us the long lost art of letter writing
and a glass tray with a swirly alphabet

For the Simple Scientist:
a glass cloche, porcelain petals, vintage pyrex-turned-vase,
and a love-filled test tube on a sweet silver tray

For the Wedding Guest or Happy Housewarmer:
a lustreware vase and pitcher, decorative spindles
and cards for corresponding

e met Anna Joyce this past Christmas at a local holiday show where she was wearing a pair of earrings from our shop that she had swiped from friend.  We liked her right away.  Once we had decided to do our big store remodel we knew she would be a perfect addition to the new space and that her pieces would bring a touch of spring into the shop despite the drizzly clouds outside.

As you can see, Anna makes some beautiful pillows ($24-$86).  But chances are, if you throw one on your couch, your bed is gonna be seriously jealous.  Luckily, the dining area and kitchen can even get in on the action, because she also makes table runners ($48) and aprons ($36).  Stay tuned, because we are working with Anna on some exclusive furniture collaborations for the shop.  If it all works out – things are about to get ridiculously stylish around here!

ave you ever appreciated and abhorred the same thing at the same time? Let’s face it, depending on the company you keep, hunting is either extremely cool or a reason to be publicly stoned to death.  It’s an especially fine line some of us walk here in Portland, where our Lewis and Clark loving-wild west winning side does daily battle with our dog park walking-veggie burger eating side.  Luckily, we may have found a solution to this inner turmoil we face as Portland-based Oregonians: the alabaster deer head mount.

For a mere $60 you can proudly proclaim your Pacific Northwest pride while being socially and environmentally conscientious (not to mention totally design-savvy!).

Typewriter Ribbon Tins:  We’ve been collecting these for the last year, waiting for the perfect time to reveal these little gems.  Can you imagine if computer ink came in packaging this amazing?

Brown Bottles: This sweet collection of tiny bottles make us smile every time we look at them.  We especially love the big round one.

Jungle Postcards: The imagery on these make us want to take off on Safari.  These are perfectly aged yet remain untouched by the written word.

Wooden Letter Tiles: These came from a game called “Keyword.”  Think Scrabble but more obscure and with way better playing pieces.

In the meantime, check out these pics of the new space and then get yourselves in here to see it in person!  We’d love to hear what you think.

Say goodbye to the green paint, the pink fridge and those cute hand-painted lights. Things they are-a-changin’.  You have probably already heard about our big Spring Remodel that begins this Sunday, March 21st and goes through April 5th.  But in case you haven’t – we, along with our bff Saint Cupcake, will be closed for two whole weeks to spruce up our spaces.  Now you know!

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes but we think you’ll really like what we’re doing and forgive us in the end.  Continue to check the blog for new updates or changes to the schedule.

May we recommend some of our favorite places to shop?  Perhaps you can patronize these lovely shops while we’re away:

Flutter
Porch Light
Artemesia
Flora
Tilde
Elsa & Sam
Ink & Peat

We received our order this week and along with the awesome cards that came (click here to see our favorite one), we also got two black and white prints that present a fantastical view of the ABCs and 123s.  So intricately awesome, we recommend you come by yourselves and see them up close.  We had our neighbors down at Luke’s Frame Shop put one of each design in a simple black frame to help show them off. Nice, huh?