Renegade Reminder!

qylaar (another craft duo we love), at the RCF 2006 Holiday Sale

Here is your official reminder about Chicago's 5th annual Renegade Craft Fair. It's this weekend and it promises good times and great shopping.

Info:
Sat 9/15 - Sun 9/16, Noon to 10pm
Working with Do-Division Street Fest on Division St, btwn Damen & Wood


Porcelain & Formica will be making an appearance on Sunday and Bamboo & I will be representin' our favorite vendor, Alison Rose, by working at their booth all weekend long. Stop by and say HELLO!

Lusting for velvet

Hutton sofa, available at Room & Board

Loring sofa, available at Room & Board

Once Hardwood and I finally move into a condo, our first big purchase will be a new sofa. We've been crushing on the Loring sofa from Room & Board for quite awhile. I love the slopey arms and the metal detail on the legs. But then Jordan and Abbey made my head spin when I saw the Hutton sofa in a gorgeous blue velvet. You already know all about my love of velvet! Plus this sofa is LOOOOOOOOONG!! 98 inches long!!! I think I'm going to have to start saving my pennies.

Forever Postal

About a month ago, I came clean about my love of stamps. By doing so, I embraced my inner lameosity. To now prove that I am Queen of Dorkdom, I have to tell you that I penciled into my calendar a reminder to show you the Jury Duty stamp as soon as it was released.

Without further ado:

Jury Duty, $.41 stamp

Hilariously wonderful, wouldn't you agree?

Death of Design on 9/11

Photograph by Tom Spencer of Soul of the Garden

I had an eye-opening experience the other day. I was waiting for the bus to take me home. There was one other woman waiting there with me. I noticed that she was wearing a polo shirt with a business logo on the lapel. She had her arms full of watering cans and her nails were crusted with dirt. We exchanged a few grumbles about the bus always taking forever and then she broke open my heart a little bit.

We got to talking about work - maybe because it was mid-afternoon on a weekday, which is a time when most "normal" people were at work. I asked her about all the gardening gear and inquired if she was in the landscaping business.

She was. Well, she still is but ever since September 11th, 2001, things have drastically changed for my fellow commuter. She told me that she used to have a great job with a successful horticultural firm whose clients were mostly large companies. She enjoyed planning, planting, and caring for all the lobby arrangements. She found joy in her job and she got benefits.

And then there was 9/11.

She claimed that within a matter of days, nearly all of her employer's big accounts pulled out and wanted nothing more to do with indoor plants. I stared at her for a few seconds because I wasn't making the connection. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "What can you hide in a big planter...? A bomb."

Since 9/11, my bus buddy was laid off from her dream job. She tried, in vain, to get another job in a similar setting but it seemed that every company in her field was struggling. She's gotten by with part-time jobs (which she has now) but, in her opinion, her days of stable employment with good pay and benefits are behind her.

Her story simply sunk in. I didn't know anyone who died in the 2001 terrorist attacks. I don't even think I know anyone who knew anyone. When it first happened, I remember reading all the painful first accounts and about the subsequent memorial gatherings. The misery hit me hard then but at such a great distance.

But meeting an everyday woman at the bus stop, with her dirty hands full of what her life used to be...I don't know... it just hurt.

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191