how can you begin to count the stars in the sky?

even though we are many months away from moving into our new space, dabney is on a rampage for interesting and affordable furniture. upon my suggestion that we should hold off until we are actually moved in, dabney retorted - she would not, repeat NOT, say no to a bargain.

thanks to craigslist, she got wind of a local antique store liquidation that listed an eames lounge chair* in its inventory and pounced.

we picked up will, who is always up for an adventure, drove thirty minutes away, and soon discovered the antiques store wasn't just antiques but 20,000 square feet of the most random objects ever assembled under one roof.

the owner, fred, was our guide and keeper. he kept us on a short leash during our visit.





there was an area devoted to brass fittings of every type - perfect for restaurant and bar owners.



there was a nautical room, there was a medieval-themed room, an art gallery, and even a DJ booth...



and in amongst all this stuff, we found some treasures.

a herman miller wall unit that was too big to take home


a mysterious set of solid wood chairs that are reminiscent of danish modern


here they are together. we can't figure out what the funky chairs are on the left, but we thought they were interesting.


and of course, the advertised eames lounge chair.*




now, i am not sure if i live in a house or a furniture store.

*the craiglist description of the chair read like this actually: "eams [sic] style chair - like the one of frazier [sic]"

google geek

between googling, gmailing, and google reading, i have been living in a google world.



i love being able twist and bend these products with all sorts of customizations to make life a little easier. i keep finding more and more goodies. here, i'll share a few:

for those of you who are both gmail and firefox users, this one might be the best. the gmail manager is a firefox add-on that alerts you to new gmail within the status bar of your browser. the days of keeping a tab open, BE GONE.

for those of you who check multiple accounts through gmail, it is now possible to respond with customized signatures tied to different addresses. this one has been really handy for me and my work email account while on the road. click here and just download the script. easy peasy.

for all of you who are addicted to google reader, like moi, don't forget the simple keyboard shortcuts that make it EVEN EASIER to read all your favorite blogs. namely, j = next item, k = previous item, v = view original

got any others you like? please share.

true story...

...that should have come straight from stuff white people like.



oh this? i bought it through craigslist from a young couple who inherited it from their aunt years ago. ann and i drove an hour from st. louis to some small town in illinois to pick it up last month. we got it for $75, and the next week saw a similar one on ebay for 400 bucks. it's swedish and probably mid-century. i know, how great is that?

this old store

the current owners never let go of the building's hardware days literally. its inner sanctum revealed a stash of nails, screws, and hinges that your local home depot would covet.







don't even get me started on the cans of paint.








the basement was a graveyard of old rusty machinery.


an automatic retoother


a remington typewriter


this thingamajig


and this doohickey

the current owners were kind enough to give us dibs on anything we wanted, but our search for any old signage or other paraphenalia from the old hardware store was fruitless. dabney and i took a few boxes of wood screws as souvenirs. the paint and the rusty machines, we left behind. oh, but we did find a couple of amazing items in that basement.



according to the owners, the building was built in 1899 and was originally a meat market. we think that this marriage certificate might have belonged to the market owners. the "svobodas" were from bohemia (currently czech republic) and were married in south st. louis in 1880.

here's another picture of mrs. svoboda we came across. we thought we'd just leave this one in the basement to frighten future treasure hunters.


such sweet eyes

adventures in real estate, pt. 2

after having extended our stay not once, but twice, we thought we'd end up going back to boston empty-handed. this wouldn't have been devastating, but certainly would have thrown off our plans for the upcoming summer.

as a last ditch effort, dabney and i even succumbed to driving the streets of certain STL neighborhoods hoping to find that perfect piece of abandoned property. we overlooked the inevitable hassle of locating the owner and crossing our fingers that s/he would sell. this tactic was more frustrating than anything (not to mention, car sick inducing). there were just so many to pick from.

just when we were about to give up. we stumbled upon an old building with a "for sale by owner" sign on it. not only did it appear to be the right size, lo and behold, the building is even in the exact neighborhood in which we had hoped to settle.

it was love at first sight.

yes, folks, we bought an old storefront. what was once "schwarz hardware store" will be our future home and studio.*








*to answer the obvious: no future mogo store is in the works for the space.

adventures in real estate, pt. 1

st. louis has a rich and varied architectural history. frankly, this is part of its allure for us. every urban neighborhood, regardless of location or demographics, teems with gorgeous, original, and built-to-last brick houses - whether they are gingerbread abodes, arts and crafts bungalows, or victorian dwellings.

homes in st. louis can be had for a fraction of the cost of a place in boston or in any east coast city for that matter. comforted by the fact that any house we'd come across would be less than a one-bedroom condo in our current neighborhood, we trudged forward in search of THE house. THE house would have preferably three bedrooms, with space for a workroom/studio, and an actual garage. a garage! yes, you heard that right, fellow bostonians and manhattanites - available, plentiful parking.

we looked and looked...



we saw so many bedrooms...



so many bathrooms...





breathtaking craftsmanship...


original fireplaces


doors with original working transoms


gorgeous staircases


colorful stained glass


butler pantries


i just love this: a woodworker's ode to "mom" over a hallway

for two days or so, we convinced ourselves that this bargain of a house located a bit off the beaten path (make that, waaaay off the beaten path) could be perfect. the house was a former church rectory.



complete with...


six pristine fireplaces (2 not pictured)


working intercoms still labeled "father pippitone", "father barnes," etc.


mail slot


and even a cubby for the religious icon of your choice

the only problem with the rectory was that it also came with a kooky church run by a pastor who revealed he was not so crazy about "people of [our] persuasion" - a serious case of love the sinner, hate the sin. ugh. strike one.

as we continued our research, we discovered that the state of missouri provides large tax incentives in certain districts for those willing to rehab homes and follow historic guidelines. further research revealed that as a small business running out of such homes, we'd be eligible for even more money toward construction. BINGO! no longer where we looking for a turnkey home, we needed to find a shell.

armed with this knowledge, we looked for places like old warehouses and storefronts. many can be had for less than most regular houses and make great live/work spaces. sure, it may not have the original fireplaces and details of a traditional house, but it would be a surprising place within an old shell. who doesn't love a good surprise?

we thought this place would be IT.


cool old storefront, double lot, even an faded advertisement on the side.

unfortunately, this property was not within an eligible historic district. we learned this fact moments before we submitted an offer on the place. dodged that bullet. strike two.

curious about what we ended up with? find out on monday...

ann-&-dabney-ville

we just returned from our second st. louis house tour. thus, our long blog break. what was supposed to be a 5-day trip ended up being a 2.5-week adventure in real estate. more about that tomorrow.

our first trip was back in october when dabney explored, and i re-explored, possible areas of st. louis where we might want to live. while i always thought i'd want to live in the city's sophisticated central west end, or amongst the hipster students and intellectuals of university city, those places didn't feel quite right this time around. the CWE reminds us much of our current neighborhood - a once-upon-a-time gay neighborhood that has in recent years been overrun by overpriced shops and chi-chi bistros. been there, done that. and even though it's home to the city's best art-house movie theater, u. city didn't have that sparkle for us either. coming from boston, living near a major university... eh.

instead, we found our true "home away from home" in tower grove.



besides being nestled next to one of st. louis' most beautiful city parks, tower grove has a plethora of cheap eats, pubs, and one sizable and very well-stocked asian grocery store. 'nuff said, right? i'll just add that there also happens to be a great lesbian-owned martini bar, lesbian-owned coffeehouse, mid-century vintage shop, and public library - all within walking distance.

might as well call it "ann-&-dabney-ville."

and if you're still wondering why... st. louis? perhaps this article says it best.