Favorite Things

Today is the Saturday following Thanksgiving, also known as Small Business Saturday, which I’m pretty sure is a holiday invented by American Express as a marketing campaign to get you to spend more money, but whatevs, I’m in. I’m so in. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and I do my best to make sure small stores are a part of my Christmas shopping. No offense Black Friday people – you go and get your 4am television set – I’ll be here chillin’ out eating doughnuts and quietly chatting with my neighbors at a local boutique, being cute and thankful we don’t ever have to battle a stranger in a store aisle for a television at 4am. This makes all of us winners by default. Hayo!

Given the occasion, I wanted to take a moment to profile one of my favorite locals stores, my neighbors at Stumble & Relish.

Stumble & Relish is a gift shop, but I hesitate to call them that because you won’t want to give away what you buy. But for Christmas – the season of giving – you can get it together and give it away. Maybe.

When you walk in door you are greeted by a swarm of twinkling lights, sparkly trinkets, and you don’t even know where to start. I start at the purses because duh IT’S PURSES.

One of the neat things about this store is they go out of their way to carry stock from independent designers, like these purses below, handmade made from a small circle of artisans in Detroit. You won’t find these in a big box store…

They have a lot of handbags. A lot!

Even more awesome than the handbags, the sparkle tooth situation in here in unreal. They sell a lot of incredible items at Stumble & relish, but one-of-a-kind jewelry is their primary customer favorite. I mean…

Did I mention their display work is rad? Yuh.

That’s Paulette in back. She owns the store with her daughter Jamie who I randomly met last spring when she was up a tree hanging giant potholders. Because, you know, that’s what happens here.

And this is Paulette’s hand. This bird ornament is the cutest thing and it’s handmade from SWEATERS. I know a thing or two about making stuff from sweaters, but this little angel of a bird is so teensy and cute. The artist also made cats. So, you know I like her.

Cat ladies unite! And on the yarn front…

Do you even see the string art up on that wall? Shazam. It’s vintage. Jaime and Paulette have a number of nicely curated vintage items around the store. They do sell the pieces, but the core of their inventory is new. Like the candles all over here. Do you see that green one in the goblet? Let me tell you…

This candle. Pine and Grapefruit. Who even thought of that combo? I don’t know. But it’s delicious as all get out and I bought two to give away but I’m totally keeping them. I might go back and buy more to give away. Or not. I’m nice but I’m not that nice. 

Are you even seeing all of this awesomeness? Above – hand crochet metal jewelry. Below – hand embroidered rainbow pug. I don’t even have a pug, but I want one just so I have an excuse to own this pillow. Those rainbow necklaces are teething necklaces. The beads are baby-safe and feel good to chew on. I’m thinking they would be just as fun without the baby, but I’m making a mental note for my next baby shower gift.

Are you familiar with the You Are Beautiful campaign? There are art pieces on billboards all over the world, especially here in Chicago. What an incredible message!

I love the idea of giving these as stocking stuffers, especially to young people. Speaking of Christmas goodies….

So many wonderful ornaments and holiday decorations. If you are a ‘one special ornament every year’ type of Christmas person, this is your spot.

So that’s the end of our little tour of the small but mighty, exquisitely beautiful, utterly nifty Stumble & Relish. If you are Evanston (just north of Chicago), stop by and say hi to these wonderful ladies. Bonus: you’ll find all sorts of independent stores nearby and scattered around our little not-so-little town. Interested in my Christmas shopping recomendations for Chicago at large? Cool – I got you.  And if you aren’t in my area (that’s most of you!), take a moment to consider the small businesses in your town before doing your Christmas shopping. Treasures abound, and shopping local is one of the easiest things we can do to help build strong communities.

Merry Christmas!

One of the things I love most about having a blog is getting recommendations from you guys – books, movies, restaurants…you name it. Y’all have great taste. And word of mouth is a powerful force! And since I forgot to do a Happy Monday post this week (see you next Monday – I promise!) I thought it might be a fun to share some other stuff I am digging right now – not on the internet, but in person. Just a handful of my summer favorites…

This thing. Let me tell you…It took me 30+ years to realize that I didn’t hate grapefruit, but it was worth the wait. And now we are besties! I love it so hard. It’s strangely refreshing and not nearly as bitter as I recalled, although I still like to mix it with something else. My favorite thing: grapefruit spritzers. How? Freeze grapefruit juice in ice cube trays then when it’s solid, put a few cubes in the bottom of a glass and fill up the rest with club soda. Add a pretty straw – it absotootly makes a difference. I sip on these spritzers morning, noon and night. It starts out as mostly soda water, but as time passes and the two blend, by the time you get to the bottom of the glass it’s like a sparkling citrus slushy. THIS is how you get through 9am in 60% humidity. Great news: it’s also a terrific base for a cocktail. Because the only thing that goes together as well as grapefruit and me is grapefruit and vodka. Not that I need it – I could get drunk off the smell alone. Last weekend at the market they were squeezing fresh grapefruit juice right next a big wall of those enormous white Casablanca lilies and the two smells together…!!!zomg!!!…whoever figures a way to put that in a bottle and sell it as perfume will make a mint. Take my money, please! TAKE IT.

This is going to be the nine hundredth time I use this blog to praise Australian television and movies, so pardon me if you have heard it before, but seriously: these people know how to do it! Wentworth is a television series based on a women’s prison, and before you say “That sounds like they ripped off Orange is the New Black!” they didn’t – they ripped off (or “reimaged”) another Australian show called Prisoner from back in the 80s (which I have not seen – but don’t worry – I will). Unlike OTNB, Wentworth does not sugarcoat prison life. You get all the unpleasantries in your face and then some. I’ll confess to covering my eyes at least once per episode. It is gritty, hilarious, and occasionally heart-breaking. It’s not a comedy but each of the characters is humorous in their own specific way. My favorite character, Jax (centered above), switches likeability gears at least twice per episode — something you would NEVER see on American television because American audiences don’t give themselves enough credit to follow along.  I am telling you, these characters are complicated. Messy. Strange. Compelling. I devoured the first two seasons on Netflix this month and I’m furious that they have yet to acquire the third season that premiered down under in April. If you have seen it, don’t tell me what happens. You can tell me if it’s good, but don’t tell me. Okay? It’s been a long time since I have been this invested in television characters and I’m going to be hella pissed off if something happens to one of them!

The New Bohemians by Justina Blackney came out a few months ago and it now has a permanent spot on my shelf of favorite décor books. The title hints at ‘bohemian’ but I might call it something closer to ‘gypsy’ or ‘hippie.’ It’s like, you know how everyone knows someone with a cousin in California who joined a cult after college but then they got out of the cult but still refuse to use real coffee mugs? Yeah. It’s like that. None of these homes have Garfield coffee mugs hidden away on a top shelf or anything. There are potted plants dripping from the air ducts. Macramé toilet roll holders. Paisley print boot mats. Every object is infused with energy. Style. Wisdom. My personal style veers a little closer to traditionalist Dorothy Draper-ish formulas, but I so admire this banquet of eye candy. Splendid!

My summer soundtrack of 2015: Jack + Eliza. Childhood friends from New York, they grew up to form a band with an eerie knack for harmonies. If you know your ’60s jams you’ll hear influence from The Mamas & The Papas or perhaps The Beach Boys. There is something very baby boomer groovy about them, but also very fresh and interesting. They have that ‘millennial edge’ that you can hear from new artists but it’s hard to put your finger on it. It’s my go-to album of the season.

Also, while we are on the subject of music, my favorite summer Songza mix lists (If you don’t know Songza yet, check out my favorite apps):

A Badass Summer in the ‘90s. It’s like the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack but better. Really great 90s B tracks – everything from Better Than Ezra to The Notorious BIG.

Cottage Bound. Vintage hits and little-known favorites. Little bit of everything, but each has some serious road-music vibes.

LL Bean Summer Soundtrack. Don’t let the LL Bean label fool you – it’s not turtleneck music. It’s folk and upbeat Americana acoustic. LL Bean is known as a New England brand but this feels very Midwestern to me, which is something I love to hear in music but rarely find.

Here is a problem I share with a lot of people: my stomach doesn’t register that it has eaten a meal unless there is something hot involved, but, in the summer, I really don’t want cook hot food. It’s already hot enough inside my kitchen and I pay too damn much on air conditioning to run an oven at 450 just to make lunch. My answer to this problem: stove salad. I wrote a post about this a couple years back and I periodically get comments and emails from people who are still using it. The crux is this; I make some sort of protein and carb on Sunday (chicken and rice or pork and quinoa…you get the idea) then batch the leftovers into baggies. Next time I want a meal I can just microwave the chicken situation then toss over some cut veggies and arugula. Maybe there is a little dressing involved? Maybe not. It’s good hot or cold, but you get a reasonably nutritious and filling meal without heating up the kitchen. Plus, there is something about arugula in summer. I started liking it when someone told me that French people serve arugula in lemon and olive oil at every meal and that is why they are all so skinny and never get fat. So far this theory has not worked on me, but I am not opposed to continuing the effort. Stove salad, folks. It’s a keeper!

###

So that is what I know. Do you have any summer favorites? Good books? Secret cocktails? Holler. I’m always on the lookout!

The other day I was in line at the bank and the guy in front of me was messing around with a map app on his phone —I asked him what it was and not only was he willing to tell me, he was excited to share. And then I found out about the app (Waze) and I got excited too! And then the two of us were excited about mapping traffic patterns together. And it was awesome. And then his mortgage guy called his name and the moment was over. End of story.

But. It occurred to me that the only way to get great recommendations on apps is ask other people and offer my favorites in return. So I’ll share mine, you feel free to share yours. Or not. I’m not a tech person, so I can’t tell you how these translate across the different smart phones or carriers, but these five have made a big difference for me and I want to talk about them. Here goes!

Dark Sky
Okay, most smartphones comes with a basic weather report that is already way more accurate than any television weatherman, but, when skies are looking ominous, or when the weatherman says today will be a “30% chance of rain in some sections” and you are like “NOT EXACTLY HELPFUL, WEATHERMAN ” Dark Sky is what you want. It maps your exact location and indicates not only if it will rain in your zip code, but when, how hard, and how long it will last. Same with snow. You also get the basic stuff like temps and a fast-loading radar (<<something I have struggled with on other weather apps). It’s also great for people who are nuts about well-designed charts. That probably means everyone. For the days you are not worried about rain or snow but still want to know what’s going on, I recommend Weather Kitty.

Evernote
Someone explained Evernote as a “digital filing cabinet” and while that is true, it does not reflect its full capacity. At all. I think of Evernote as functional/practical version of Pinterest. I store everything in here that is worth keeping, and it’s all in little piles that I can sort or sift or build whenever I want. You can store documents, emails, PDFs, calendar items, text, images…just about anything you want, !BUT!, the cool thing is that you can tag every item so it’s easy to organize and find later on. So much easier than trying to sift through desktop folders. I didn’t even use this function the first three years, but now it is saving my butt at least once a day. At least. Also, you can login to your account from any phone, tablet or computer, but it is SOOOOOOOOO much more effective than the search function on my Mac (which rarely indexes more than 50% of the total capacity – no clue why Apple doesn’t address this – and PCs aren’t much better). Evernote also has an incredible search function — not only is it able to search the text in the documents, Evernote will scan the text in images and find it for you. As someone who is self employed and has to deal with contracts all the time, this function alone is worth the effort. The free version is awesome, and the only reason I pay the yearly fee is because I upload a lot of images and there is a (more than reasonable) space limit on the free version. If you are using Evernote already but haven’t joined cult status, it’s probably because you don’t know how rad it is, in which case, this podcast might be helpful.

The Book of Awakening
This is the part where Imma get woo-woo on you. The Book of Awakening started as a traditionally printed, spiritual daybook (which changed my life and highly recommend) but now it’s also an app. The first thing I do every morning is reach for my phone and read the daily passage, usually a couple of paragraphs or less. What is it about? It’s hard to explain. But the words are beautiful. Contemplative. Easy to understand. The author is a respected poet, but this is not a poetry book at all. There is zero preaching or brow beating. I’m tempted to call it self help, but it’s more of a compass to help you see your surroundings in a different light. Is it helpful? Sure. It’s a touchstone. A guidepost. I love starting my day with it – it’s like oatmeal for the human spirit. I have purchased this book as a gift for several people, and while it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, if you are an open minded “seeking” type, you will dig it. You will dig it deep.

Camera Plus
There are oodles of great photo editing apps (shout out to Afterlight) but this is my favorite app for taking photos. It allows you to control the camera on your phone like a DSLR. You can manipulate depth of field, exposure, etc. Your regular camera app is great for daily snapshots, but when you are wanting something artsy, Camera Plus is the bomb dot com.

Songza
First there was Pandora. Then there was Spotify. Then both Pandora and Spotify crawled back in their ugly stepsister dungeon because the royal carriage rolled up and the true princess stepped forward: Songza. This is not an app, it is a lifestyle. Literally, since the day we met this spring, there has been a Songza playlist going on in the background of my house at least 5 hours a day, more like 10 or 15 on weekends. AND IT’S FREE. And you don’t even need a phone – you can listen on any computer! Why is Songza better than the others? It does not use algorithms to estimate your personal taste (a totally useless strategy for people with interesting-but-erratic taste), but hosts thousands of playlists curated by world class DJs and music lovers of every spectrum. You can search by artist or genre, but the best way is to let it guide you through based on your mood. Or just search a random word like “milkshake” or “Roger” or “cats” and see what comes up. There will probably be something rad. Explore around — it is a rabbit hole like no other. My favorite Songza playlists right now:
Winter Thaw
Mom Jean Jams
Vintage R&B Cocktail Hour
Emerging Canadian Indie
Andy Warhol’s Record Collection
80s Wedding Dance Party
Southern Soul BBQ

If you are having a party, or run a shop or restaurant and want to play some ‘mood building’ jams without having to curate a playlist, Songza is your girl.

Other apps I’m digging right now; Office Lens, IFTTT, Best Parking, Wunderlist, Field Trip, The Dirty Cursing Generator and probably a dozen more I can’t speak to at length. Do you have a favorite phone app? Tell me about it!

Someone very smart once said, “Stress is recognizing the distance between where you are and where you want to be.”

Two weeks ago I was very, very far from where I wanted to be. I was holed up in front of the computer, running late on multiple deadlines, wearing the same pajama pants I put on the week prior. I ran out of toilet paper and resorted to using torn up Chipotle napkins. I was 80% sure I had not showered since the weekend and 100% sure I did not care. I’d tell you to save your judgements but I’m sure you have been to this place before: Crazytown.

Ten years ago I would have power slogged my way out of that sort of situation with a cigarette and diet coke fueled all-nighter, and even six months ago I would have been okay with constructively destressing with a jumbo scoop of raw cookie dough…but now that I am trying to be all adult like and not resort to unhealthy habits (HOLY CRAP IS IT ANNOYING) and the only unstressfull-ish thing I could think of was to go for a walk. Not a dog walk. Not a health walk. Just a walk that nothing to do with anything in particular. Take a camera. Get my mind off stuff for half-an-hour. I know, I know, how boring does that sound.

But. You know what? To my utter amazement, it worked. It absolutely worked. I need to do this more often. Of course, it does help that my neighborhood has some serious niftiness going on right now…

Okay. Okay. Okay. I have talked about how much I love Evanston before, but seriously. Who lives in a place where shopkeepers dress the trees in homemade sweaters? And not just trees — parking meters too. Pretty much anything that stands still has a fun new outfit.

Now, I had seen yarn bombing, and that’s great, but this is better. So much better. This is a community effort. Each one of those circle sort of shapes comes from a different person – many of them children – and then they are zip-tied together in these gorgeous, undulating, Pippi-Longstocking-colored tree cozies. Some of them are just braided rope. Some are garlands of flower-like creations. Some of them look like the pot holder I made in home-ec in 1992.

For real. I’m pretty sure I saw my potholder.

So, obviously, I was wondering, WHERE IS THIS ALL COMING FROM? And don’t you know, I walked right into her. She was half way up a tree, working her fingers to the bones on those zip-ties.

This is Jaime. Isn’t she precious? If you are ever wandering your neighborhood and find someone tying weird stuff in the trees, this is what you want them to look like. Jaime and her mom, Paulette — who is also very lovely, run the cutest store ever, Stumble and Relish. I’m tempted to call it a gift boutique, but it’s more like a little island of magical misfit toys. And by toys I mean jewelry. And candles. Cards. Soap. Handmade artsy bits that make you happy.

Jamie and Paulette collected hundreds of these knit circles as part of a community art project. I’m ashamed to admit, I did not contribute. I didn’t know about it in time. I had seen the trees going up but assumed it was an individual effort. Had I known it was a community project (and my community no less!) I would have gotten busy with some yarn. Jaime told me this wave will be up for a while – or maybe long term – and hopefully there will be a second wave down the line. In the meantime, I took out my shame and admiration by puttering around in their store.

I mean. How cool is this place?

PS: Did you see that? You know I love a good yarntastic wall hanging.

PPS: Are you in the Chicago area? Come up to my neighborhood in Evanston (the corner of Dempster and Chicago) and see these beauties for yourself! There are scads of great shops in the area here, but I’m especially fond of Stumble & Relish (and not just because they are revitalizing the neighborhood) (or because they were nice to me when I was wearing pajama pants in public) –they have great stuff. Go see for yourself!

PPSS: If you are up here in the next month, you can also see my friend Dale’s photo exhibit now on display at the Evanston Library.

PPPSS: Happy weekend!

With Fat Tuesday coming up next week, I am itching to flex some Mardi Gras spirit this weekend (albeit from afar!). It’s been a couple years since my last visit to New Orleans, but, rest assured, my bead stash is still holding strong. I told myself I wouldn’t schedule another trip to NOLA until I used it up, so it’s high time I get going!

1. rainbow necklaces  2. bangal bracelets 3. wreath
4. sailor’s valentine boxes 5. ceiling light cover 6. beaded chandelier 7. bowling ball mosaic
8. diet coke mosaic (it sold!) 9. statement necklace  10. ornament display

Do you have an interesting way to use or display leftover Mardi Gras beads? Let’s hear it!