2 days 'til crafty bastards

tomorrow, we head down to washington d.c. to participate in the 2nd annual crafty bastards arts & crafts fair.

dabney and i just loved the adams-morgan vibe (and delicious ethiopian cuisine) when we were down in our fair capital city last year and we can't wait to head back.

if you're in the area, please come by and say hello - sunday, october 1, 2006, 10 am - 5 pm.

mogo welcomes romp and paper boat

mogo has two new stores to welcome into its fold.


paper boat boutique & gallery is a retail shop in milwaukee, wisconsin that features quality, hip, and funky handmade/crafted goods and artwork.


founded by a trained designer and new york mom, ROMP is a shop for modern kids in brooklyn that features a mix of toys, gifts, furniture and home products.

easy, indeed

we all know that people spend and save money in different ways. ann's refusal to take a taxi is legendary. i can't remember the last time i bought an article of clothing that wasn't on sale or at a discount shop; my relationship with filene's basement is the type of forbidden love only found in trashy novels. but we have been known to drop $75 on a meal, or on a night out with friends in a bar, in a heartbeat.

i think it has something to do with wanting to stick it to the man- the feeling that you are getting away with something, or getting something for nothing. we definitely get these tendencies from both sets of our parents. ann's dad regularly calls her from what he calls his "free phone" - that is, using his night or weekend minutes - or goes to great lengths to obtain black market satellite receivers so he'll get "NO-pay-per-view" movies. my mom is a devotee of her local recycling center, which actually a de facto salvation army. she'll leave the house with two bags of recycling and come home with four bags of books, dishes, and other sundries.

on monday, i think we finally hit a new high/low. while reading the boston globe on sunday morning, ann spotted an article about a well-known office supply store's customer appreciation event, during which they were passing out coupons for $7.50 per customer, for that one day only. (we won't name the store. we'll just call it "maples" for the purpose of this blog. we'll also ignore the fact that it really wasn't about appreciating their customers, it was about settling a class action lawsuit brought against them for violating state laws on pricing their merchandise.) despite the fact that we have orders coming out the whazoo, and multiple craft fairs to prepare for, ann and i decided to head over to "maples" to take advantage of the savings and pick up a few needed items.

to make a long story short, we wound up collecting about $60 worth of coupons and coming home with a mountain of items for free. we even resorted to hitting the same stores multiple times. at first, we just switched checkout lanes so the cashiers wouldn't bust us. but soon we were CHANGING OUR APPEARANCE to avoid attention at the door. jacket on, then jacket off. i even took off my glasses (because that'll throw them off the scent every time) and wandered blindly about the store looking for envelopes. at one point, i went back out to the car to GET my glasses, so i could actually see, and they gave me another coupon on the way back in. it was like shooting ducks in a barrel! i couldn't refuse!

our haul for the day:

• four glue sticks
• one 18" clear ruler
• three rolls of scotch tape
• 125 sheets of card stock
• one box of 6 x 9 envelopes (250 count)
• one box of no. 10 envelopes (100 count)
• one box of 2 x 4 mailing labels (1000 count)
• one packet of 1 x 2 5/8 mailing labels (750 count)
• one pack of sweet tarts

chicago recap

we're back from our crafty roadtrip to the midwest. we spent many an hour on the road and despite, our best efforts to mobile blog from our phone, it never came to fruition. so here, without further delay, is a quick recap from our week.

renegade chicago exceeded our expectations in everyway: number of visitors, pleasant weather, nice (and all-new-to-us) crafters, and great sales. we found a friend in our neighbor, megan, of generation t. she was promoting her new book that instructs the world on how to decontruct the plain old t-shirt in 108 ways: from halter top to ipod cozy. very cool indeed.

our sister, crazy bride, also managed to give us a special gift for our chicago debut that we just adored - a new spinny display for our passport covers. i enjoyed watching the colors whirl by all day.



these craft fairs always manage to bring people out of the woodwork. in the middle of wicker park in a city we had never been, we ran into not one, not two, but three friends of friends - a reminder of just how small the world really is.





it was a whirlwind trip to the windy city. (a quick HOLLA to our bud, JB, who made the trip and was a great sport when it came to our early morning setups and being there when we needed an extra set of hands.) before we left, we did manage sneak in one morning of sightseeing that ann's mom would have appreciated in that much of it took place from the comfort of the new mogo wagon - hopping out - snapping photos - jumping back in. here are some of our favorites:

anish kapoor's cloud gate, but more affectionately dubbed "the bean"


a photographer's dream, we just couldn't resist taking as many photos as possible in the few short minutes we were there.







and in one last swoop to see the best of chicago, we took a quick trip to nearby oak park to check out some of frank lloyd wright's residential work. oak park happens to have the highest concentration of wright's work in the country. with so little time, we picked one street to walk down - a pretty impressive one at that.

mogo in apartment therapy

greetings from the midwest-

dabney and i were thrilled to find that mogo has made its apartment therapy debut.

click below:

chicago or bust

we'll be taking a short break over the next week or so as we make our way to chicago, illinois, birthplace of the renegade craft fair. oh, there might be the occasional post; dabney pumping gas, feidler sleeping on a motel room bed, ann oohing and ahhing still stunned by how much their new station wagon can haul. but really this is the beginning of a very long, crafty road trip...

see you in chicago!

and the color was orange....

this past weekend we returned to my home state of vermont for the wedding of one of ann's friends from college.

ann got to see a bunch of folks that she hadn't seen since graduation, and spend more time with folks she has seen since, which made her happy.



and although this weekend was all wellesley, it was also all about my high school past*. over the course of the weekend i saw my old french teacher (bonjour madame! ca va bien?), who now lives next door to the bride's family, and a former classmate who filled me in on all the doings and divorces of friends long past. i kept expecting to run into my field hockey coach next, or at least my 16-year-old boyfriend wearing a benetton rugby shirt.


*ann never lets me forget that my high school mascot was the WASPS. the woodstock WASPS.

mogo in time out new york

we came home from a weekend away to some good news and an inbox that overfloweth with orders - mogo is featured in this week's time out new york.

click to embiggen:

another happy mogo customer

thanks to brand-new mama for sharing this adorable photo of her daughter sporting a mogo baby tee.

more moustaches

this year's event hairier than ever!

we had a great time at saturday's wig & moustache bar crawl. there were a lot of new hairy faces this year, many of whom went above and beyond the call of duty with full out costumes. they definitely raised the bar for next year.

oh! we almost forgot!

if you are in the boston area this weekend, come to join us for an evening of revelry and, of course, fake hair.

more junk in the trunk

crisscrossing the atlantic seaboard in a medium-size sedan with 300 baby t-shirts, 100 baby bibs, 100 craft cases, 75 modular bags, 200 passport covers, 300 cell phone cleaners, 1 EZ up tent, peg board, 3 folding tables, and 1 very large springer spaniel has been taxing to say the least. it's a wonder we are able to cram everything in each time.

so much so that, after a seventeen hour road trip, stuffed into a 2 foot square space, feidler often ends up looking like this:



so, here it is. we give up. throw in the towel. very soon, we will be driving around in our very own...gulp...station wagon.

at the premature age of 15, ann began her driving career in a chevy caprice - an auspicious start.

to this day, she can parallel park a mack truck, if wants to.

but honestly, she's always been jealous of claire's station wagon/hearse on six feet under.

can you just imagine us pulling up at the renegade craft fair in this bad boy? all it needs is a HUGE spool of thread and a needle on top, and we'd be good to go.

easy come, easy go

just when we thought it was safe to sit back, roast marshmallows, and watch the leaves turn red, orange, and yellow...POOF. as easily as the vacation house came, it went. yes, folks, my mom's house in vermont has been rented for the next few months.

in preparation for the dreaded take-over, and because i love my mother, i spent forty-eight hours this past weekend getting the house ready for its new tenant. this meant sorting, tossing, and organizing my mom's belongings. she didn't expect anyone to rent the place, so the house looked like she had merely stepped out for the evening instead of moving to hawaii.

hello, my name is dabney, and my mother shamelessly hoards hotel soap and shampoo. it was everywhere. in baskets. in closets. in drawers. in ziploc bags in drawers. totally unopened. halfway spent. days inn. westin. sheraton. i swear they were breeding.


this was just ONE basket. there were more. oh, there were more.

other accumulated things that merit mention (but fall just short of grey gardens crazy-lady hoarding classification):

1. soap (regular bars, not hotel size). i was able to fill an entire drawer.


2. jumbo-size cans of tomatoes. my mother doesn't cook. and when i say she doesn't cook, that means she does not cook. ever.


3. orange jello. i threw a tower of boxes before thinking to snap a photo. tell me, what adult eats orange jell-o?

4. anything and everything from the christmas tree shops. if anyone just loves a bargain, it's my mother.

when in doubt, post cameraphone pictures

sometimes blogging is a bitch.

today, superette will tell the tale in pictures.


this week, we bid adieu to interravision


carrrrrrmen, dabney, and american boy embarrassing themselves in public


ashbloem and interravision hamming it up


over the weekend, i spent a lot of time in the back seat with this little guy. since we couldn't necessarily carry on a full conversation, i entertained him with the shiniest thing on me - my cameraphone.


click - click - click - click - click - click - click -click - click


once again, we sailed on lake champlain. it was a gorgeous day. notice: the glassy surface of the water in the background.


some gauge that i felt the need to photograph


our captain


superdabney


hanging out wasting time

mogo in the wild

last week we got an email and photo from our friend dave, who had an actual sighting of mogo goods in the wild at magpie in somerville.

sssh. if you are real quiet, you'll be able to just spot a mogo baby tee. the shirt's white background helps it to blend in with other t-shirts - to escape notice - but its distinctive blue markings and mogo label give it away.



mogo goods can only been spotted in precious few locations throughout the country, so we feel lucky to have had this rare opportunity to see it in its natural habitat. many, many thanks to dave for sharing.

new mogo cell phone/nano bag

and voilá, from the deep, dark recesses of dabney's mind springs this - a new mogo item - just in time for the upcoming renegade craft fair.

a cell phone/nano bag


we just hate digging around our cluttery bottomless bags looking for our cell phones. with this stylish and functional pouch, we can just barely disguise our inner geek. works great for a nano, too. available on etsy.

fred flare cameo

our favorite guys at fredflare.com have just released part one of their FOUR-part podcast focused on the renegade craft fair. if you don't blink in the first five minutes, you'll see a shot of the mogo banner.

but please, please, ignore the shot of us dancing in the final minute of the show...


your hosts, keith and chris

see it here.

we fear future episodes.

dabney's turn

dabney's familia had its own wedding to celebrate this past weekend. this time, dab's own dad was the groom. after a solo wedding in maine last month, dad and his new bride brought both sides of their families together for a casual picnic at the home of some good friends in central mass. we spent the day outdoors eating italian food and wandering around their land, with its turkeys, sheep, chickens and bunnies.

of course, we didn't get the memo (thanks again dad) that all the other attendees would be in shorts, so there we were playing horseshoes and whiffle ball in our full wedding attire, complete with make-up and strappy shoes. even feidler went dressed in his finest bow-tie.

we think feidler had the best day though. when his new step-dog walter took off deep into the woods on a little adventure, feidler followed, and both dogs had to be chased and led back by their collars. poor feidler was so worn out after his jaunt that he passed out for most of the rest of the afternoon.



it's not every wedding celebration that you walk away with farm-eggs and maple syrup, but that we did, courtesy of our lovely hosts. we think that's the best wedding reception favor we've ever received.

a sign from above?

last night while putting out the trash, i noticed a book sitting on the sidwalk as if it was left there for me.



is it a sign?

then i thought someone put it there as a joke, like those fake dollar bills on fishing line, to be whisked away as soon as i bent down to pick it up. but i looked around to see if someone was watching me, and no one was there. dabney was inside the apartment, and certainly not giggling behind a nearby tree, waiting for me to take the bait.

now, dabney and i have found the odd thing here and there on trash day, but that was no sign. at least, i hope not.

nope. it is all clear. i ought to be playing more golf. much. more. golf.