grammar girl

We think everyone has an inner child. It’s the part of you that likes to collect and stash things in secret hiding places. It’s the part of you that still imagines what you’ll be when you grow up even though you’re already in your thirties. It’s the part of you that instinctively reaches for the crayons to draw on the paper tablecloth at your favorite restaurant.

We definitely have an inner child and she’s the one that convinces us to buy the occasional vintage toy. She’s been popping up a lot lately and we realized we should probably point out a few of the special things she’s brought into the shop in the last few weeks:

We have an army of real-deal, lead soldiers, a stuffed giraffe wearing a vest and gold chain (we call him Griffith), a cash register bank, and the piece de resistance…a red, baby-size, baby grand piano. We’ve already sold the toy accordian she found, the toy typewriter, the Noah’s Ark animal set, and all the old wooden building blocks or else they would be in the picture, too.

If any of these things sound good to you, maybe your inner child and our inner child should meet up for a play date. She’s really good at sharing.

Local gal Gretchen Vaudt came to Noun a year or so ago selling her ceramic pinch bowls and cuter than cute heart charms (or as we like to call them, Love Tokens). We’re suckers for simple and white anything and when you throw in local and charming, we were just about dumbstruck. Gretchen’s work was a match with Noun right away and we’re happy to announce her newest creation: porcelain and earthenware pendants.

When they arrived we had a bunch of visitors start oohing and ahhing over them and we all got into a funny debate about what they looked like. One said “seashells.” Another said “candy and cupcake icing.” Then another chimed in with “ancient runes.” Whatever you think of when you look at them, everyone agrees that they’re pretty great. To us, they look like the perfect summer accessory for a neck that is finally able to come out from under all those layers of turtlenecks, wool coats and thick scarves.

We live in a pretty rainy place. There are lots of clouds that bring the rain and so we need a few more artificial light sources than our friends in sunnier, southern climates. As a result, we sell a ton of lights at the shop – mostly cool, old ones. But as we’ve said before, one cannot live on vintage alone. So a couple of years back we found some NEW lamps we thought looked real nice snuggled up all close to our vintage decor. The company who makes them is called SLIP and they make the lamps in Hickory, North Carolina. That’s right. These lamps are actually made in the USA. That never happens anymore!

SLIP lamps are characterized by their colorful bases (about 30 different colors in all), their fun, printed drum shades (about 40 fabrics to choose from), and their beautifully shaped bases (about 50 styles to drool over). We mixed and matched to create the ones you see in the picture and others you may have seen in the shop. But the real fun is when you come in and customize your own lamp. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to do a special order, but we think it’s worth the wait. They not only shed a little light on a cloudy day but they can bring some much needed life to a hum-drum hallway.