hawaii!

okay, we are writing this from honolulu. we can't believe we forgot to mention that we were going, but here we are. more tomorrow, but for now, a picture of my mom and i. my birthday is on the 16th and my mom turns 60 on the 19th. we'll be celebrating all week.

post office: 1923-2006

you know when you frequent a place for a number of years, its demise is like losing a friend. today, our post office closed for the sake of progress.



this building, built in 1923, is being razed in a number of days. in its place, a skyscraper will be built to make space for more, ta-dah, luxury high-rise condominiums. the post office will eventually return when the construction is done in three to four years. but no longer will the place have that familiar, musty, attic smell that old post offices always do. instead, the future venue will look like a strip mall-type post office with fancy automated kiosks and lcd screens.



vernon will no longer be selling soda, chips, and the globe in the lobby. he, unlike the rest of the mail carriers and sorters, will have to find a new job come monday.



it seems that this is the way of the world; out with the old, in with homogeneity.

handmade junction

ann is off to pittsburgh, pennsylvania - home of this weekend's handmade arcade. last year we had a ball at this event, partially due to its unusual setting inside construction junction. part salvage/part home depot, construction junction is the place to go, let's say, if one needs to find a not-so-new and tremendously charming mantle, doorknob, or bathtub. this time last year, there we sat among a congeries of recycled toilets and castoff light fixtures with our table of goods. part of the fun was watching customers roll by with their carts full of tile and random buckets of paint. this year, ann hopes she gets a seat in the vintage wallpaper section.


on a related note, we're always asked about whether or not we make knitting needle cases, so lately, we've been trying to refine a recipe for one with a slanted pockets and flap. we've sewn a couple just in time for the holiday season, and we'll see how they do this weekend.

we just can't let the holiday die.

we love craftster. the ideas, the advice, the information. it's all good.

after stalking for awhile, we finally went and entered our halloween costumes in this year's halloween craft challenge. you might recall these:



right now, our russian asses are getting kicked by a giant ball of yarn, a creepy somethin' or other, and a couple of monster heads. all worthy.





oh, and if you choose to visit the site, take a moment to become a friend of craftster. the website's founder and upkeeper extraordinaire - leah kramer - is a real sweet girl. she runs the site with her own blood, sweat and tears, and deserves a lot of kudos and money for keeping such a great forum up and running for so many years.

mogo update

considering all the craft fairs we have been doing in the last few months, it's nice when the wholesale side of things heat up. we don't know how they found us, but we are grateful nonetheless...

we'd like to welcome the following fine retail establishments to the mogo family:

• exhibit a - a brand new store in the providence, rhode island


• home anthology - a home furnishings store specializing in mid-century modern in catonsville, maryland


• general home store - a gift and home accessory shop in east hampton, new york


• ruck rover general store - a cool clothing store for girls, guys, and babies in perth, western australia

lastly, while dutifully sitting behind the mogo booth over the weekend in milwaukee, dabney leafed through a complimentary copy of craft magazine's premier issue (thanks, craft!). lo and behold what does she see? MOGO - in vivid color (click photo below to embiggen). what a great surprise! thanks to the folks at etsy for picking little ole' us to feature.

canstruction

while walking around town on another beautiful fall day, one of the stops on my afternoon agenda was the boston public library to return a book. i love the bpl. you never know what (or who) you might into there - it could be a presentation on the hungarian revolution, a showcase featuring ancient maps, an exhibition of teen photographers. yesterday's encounter was this... CANSTRUCTION - a national competetion between design firms to determine who can build the most amazing object or scene using cans of food. all materials are later donated to local food banks.

here's a jack-o-lantern...


made out of pumpkin, of course...


check out last year's winners - amazing!

non-traditional: check.

dabney is off to milwaukee, wisconsin for this weekend's art vs. craft show. this hip alternative craft fair showcases emerging and established artists working in traditional and non-traditional mediums.

i guess you could say that we are more of the non-traditional variety. here is a picture of mogo's latest item: an eye mask (kindly modeled by feidler).

small town news

one of the perks of small towns is that when a new family moves to town, it's news. here is a picture* of me and my parents circa 1976 that appeared in the local paper (the only local paper; average size = two pages).

crazy bride, my sister, didn't come along until a few years later.


*thanks to my cousin, aviation boy, for sharing.

white rabbit halloween

for halloween this year, we were a little lackluster about getting candy to hand out to kids.

first, i'll just say that halloween in boston's south end isn't the neighborhood candy bonanza of my youth. at the age of 10 or so, when i still lived in florida, i remember having to head home halfway through the night in order to get another brown paper grocery bag, because my other one was already full of sweets. my brother and i would return home and spend what felt like hours doing a marathon candy swap, an event only slightly less contentious than most trade union negotiations.

now in boston, ann and i pass out candy to a small handful of kids who brave the streets of mostly darkened windows looking for the few lit ones. you'd think the kids were mormon missionaries* the way our neighbors hide. the first year i lived here - before i knew the deal - i sat on the outside stoop at sunset with a full bowl of candy looking up and down the street for the hordes of kids that i knew MUST be coming at some point. after a couple of years of getting jacked up on sugar and waiting around fruitlessly for the costume parade, i've resigned myself to the fact that halloween here isn't what it was in my subdivision of talahassee. most kids don't even dress up. in a group of three, only one younger kid will have a plastic mask on. the other two will just stand there in their regular clothes, then open their backpacks to receive the candy.

for this reason, i only grabbed a bag of white rabbit while at super 88 yesterday afternoon. i can only imagine what the kids thought when they got home and saw chinese candy in their plastic pumpkins.

* or cookie man for you fans of noah baumbach's "kicking and screaming"

random thoughts on postal uniforms

you ever notice how freakin' adorable mail carrier uniforms are? last week while skimming one of boston's many free rags, i saw an advertisement for opportunities in the postal service. and i have to admit, the vain side of me made me linger over the page a little longer than the average reader thinking, "oh, at least i'd get to wear cute outfits!"

i have always been a fan of the blue-grey zippy cardigan and tuxedo-stripe shorts. it just so happens that today's spring-like temperatures inspired mike, our letter carrier, to choose this ensemble.


but c'mon! what other regular job (ok, fine, other than explorer or superhero) would allow you to wear a pith helmet, a fur cap, or a cape?

halloween is such good stuff.

this weekend was our second annual fright pint!

as of wednesday, we had no idea what our costume would be. on thursday we did some quick craft shopping and recruited jb and girlladyfriend. and on friday and part of saturday, we made these little beauties. no, we're not coptic red riding hoods - we're matryoshka dolls!



it wasn't a fun process, i must say. the four of us had a bit of a collective meltdown making them. no one knew, or could agree, on how it should be done. at more than one point, ann and jb checked out of the process and worked silently on their computers (and making this hilarious photo as a result).



but i think the end result, costume-wise, was really good. and the four of us are totally fine and had a good time that evening.

as usual, everyone else made us giggle with their costumes. some favorites:

the king and queen of hearts:


the greatest american hero, with his date carrie:


publishers' clearinghouse winners:


and salt 'n pepa:

moo

we had been waiting for weeks for them to arrive and when they did last week, they didn't disappoint. from moo.com comes these fantastic mini-calling cards culled from our flickr pro account. we just love their cute size and matte finish. you can get them, too. 100 cards (100 different images, if you want) for $20.

here our our ten freebies:

be prepared to be scared...

for all of you within screaming distance of boston this weekend...

click here (and make sure your volume is turned up)!

scaredy-cats

dabney and i hate to be scared. we avoid horror movies at all costs. in fact, the last one we got suckered into seeing was the blair witch project. after which, we slept with the lights on for three nights straight. hell, we'd probably hate halloween if it wasn't for the costume opportunities. as a result, it's amazing that we're friends with jeff, who ADORES all things creepy, gory, and spooky, but we won't mention the fact that he faints at the sight of real blood.


it's this love of our friend that lured us to gloucester, massachusetts, home of the castle of the damned. its name should have said enough. we don't know what we were thinking. despite dabney's recent malaise and our shared scaredy-cat tendencies, we found ourselves in line for a haunted house on a cold autumn evening.


this creepy man, who claimed he was hannibal lecter (with business card and all) scared the bejesus out of dabney. davey and jeff got a kick out of him, as you can see.

despite the company of friends, dabney couldn't relax after that.



fake fear while waiting in line


post-castle terror

feeling funk-y

i am in a funk. i am avoiding friends, driving ann batty with all my moping, and definitely not doing any work. it would be fine if there a reason, but there's no good cause for the foul mood, which makes me even more frustrated.

ann made a good call and got me out of the house on saturday and we had a great day at the arnold arboretum. it was beautiful out, and feidler had a great time.

now, my body seems to have taken a cue from my mind and got itself sick. i slept until 11:30 today.

dog in therapy

if you didn't know by now, feidler, our beloved springer, is over 14 years old. due to his arthritis, we must now pick him up to put him in the car, lift his back end as he trudges up the stairs, and even hold him by the tail while he poops. ah, the life of an old dog. poor puppy. not to mention, poor us.

in an effort to stave off the effects of old age, we've recently begun to investigate some therapies for his tired old bones. when someone mentioned water therapy to us, we knew he had to try it. he's a spaniel after all, a water dog through and through.


here he is contemplating his fate. that purple thing he's leaning against is the water therapy contraption. it looks like an instrument of torture, but it's really kinda cool. don't worry, he may look sad, but he has no idea what's about to happen.



there's nothing like a pre-swim massage to get your muscles all warm. surprisingly, feidler was quite indifferent to this treatment.


therapy in action:



after the tub is drained, feidler thanks his physical therapist.

techno tim

in honor of last night's project runway finale...

techno tim!

mogo @ the sneakery

one again, we'd like to welcome a new store to the mogo familia - the sneakery - seattle, washington's newest and hippest shoe store. if you live in the pacific northwest and you're looking for some cool kicks, go check it out! and while you're there, pick up a cell phone cleaner or two or three...

a shout out to our dear friends, jb and isaac, who attended the store's opening last week. here, they stand near a glass case replete with mogo goods.

big drawn-out sigh.

byot! was another really disappointing craft fair. elijah and rhonda, the organizers, were sweet enough and did a fine job organizing the event. i think this was just a classic case of poor fit. the folks in town for salem's bizarre bazaar (never to be confused with this bazaar bizarre) weren't really an "indie" crowd. they were far more interested in the witch-themed sweatshirts and crystal balls being offered at the street fair. it was marketing 101, and this craft fair failed the class.

but, there was some pretty good people-watching, which kept us entertained for part of the day. a good number of souls roamed the streets in the capes and costumes, soaking up the pre-holiday vibe, in what is surely the halloween* capital of the world. oddly, we ended the day with only this photo:



too bad they weren't about to buy what we were selling. while on a break from the fair, ann was discussing our dismal day with a local store owner, who said, "oh honey, i know. unless they can put it on their heads, or in their mouths, they just aren't interested."

i think i know what she meant:



a big shout out to molly, who was our neighbor during the fair. the mogo booth was positioned near the front door, and we were the first line of defense in fending off the peeps who came to our booth looking for either the bathrooms - or someone named pastor phil - all day.

anyway, molly sells these lovely necklaces, bracelets, and earrings with beads each made by hand. if you are in the market for some nice jewelry, you should check her out.



so, now we know. we've learned our lesson twice so far this year. we are definitely going to be a lot pickier when finding events in the future, and will do some more rigorous questioning of organizers. we'll start with no more fairs that are just tacked onto other events.

*the curmudgeon in me thought it was a little sad to see a town with such a rich history being cheapened by all the plastic toys and crappy costumes being sold on each street corner. i don't think it's sour grapes doing the talking here.

something hairy this way comes

as you might have guessed, there's nothing we love better than a good fake moustache. so we thought we'd make our own - just in time for halloween.

if you'd like one of your own, visit us tomorrow in salem, massachusetts - home of all things witchy and this weekend's BYOT craft fair.


dabney sporting the barbershop style - always a favorite.


here, ann shows off the "mark twain"