Handmade Holly Mart + Gift of Fab, Saturday in Mount Pleasant

Handmade Holly Mart; one of two local, indie shopping events this Saturday.

Saturday is shaping up to be a busy day in Mount Pleasant! And that's a good thing. 

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Saturday is the first of a two-day tree sale at Bancroft Elementary School. That's from 10AM-4PM Saturday & Sunday or until the trees sell out. 

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Past Tense Studios is once again hosting the Gift of Fab, right in the studio space. Saturday 2:30PM-6:30PM. Gift of Fab has grown into a nice little tradition of three years young this year. Past Tense --at 3253 Mount Pleasant St NW-- will play host to other small, independent, local businesses offering both services and retail products. Think of this as an alternative to last week's "Black Friday" ridiculousness. If you're like me, the holidays mean more gift buying for...... myself. Aaaaand of course close friends and family. Past Tense will have its own booth at the event; and here are the other vendors (via Past Tense website, thanks!):

bLuGrn design: Jewelry created using elements of sky, earth and water. Sterling and 14kGF jewelry pieced into unique and fun vignettes.

EngeryThreads: Quality handmade yoga accessories, using organic materials and local talent. Currently producing a Deluxe Yoga Mat Backpack and a special Third Eye Pillow. Will have the new hand dyed collection in time for the holidays.

Mirasa: Makes contemporary, handmade and eco-friendly toys. Looking through the eyes of a curious child, Mirasa products are built on the dual theory that tactile stimulation is crucial for infant development and that child-directed pretend play helps develop children’s early cognitive development.

Mt. Pleasant Massage: Enjoy a chair massage at the holiday sale or purchase gift certificates for table massage, chair massage, pregnancy/post-partum massage, infant massage training classes, and more.

Simple Girl Designs: Offers handmade, unique jewelry by local designer Nadine Naskoviak. Girly and sassy, made with quality gemstones and vintage trinkets to make truly one of a kind designs.

Skincando: Handcrafted organic skincare with products made for everyone with an active to luxe lifestyle. The new Miracle Cream (think organic La Mer) is the must-have hydrating face cream of the season.

Yinibini Baby: Handmade clothing and accessories for little ones. Handmade out of 100% cotton and cotton blended fabrics, some pieces are reversible, offering babies stylish flexibility

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In addition to Gift of Fab, Nana boutique is hosting its first Handmade Holly Mart, Saturday from 11:30AM-7:00PM. Nana opened earlier this year at 3068 Mt Pleasant St NW. This Saturday they're hosting a small group of DC crafters, designers, musicians and  artists. Some are veterans of the wildly successful Mount Pleasant Temporium, which was hosted in the Nana storefront, before the retail operation had actually opened. 

There will be a total of 10 vendors, selling a variety of art (wearable and not), screen print pieces, jewelry, handmade plush (they better have squirrels!) and more. I don't have the full list of vendors at this time, but if the Temporium was any any indication, you'll want to swing through this mart. We do know that music will be provided by the Felt Tips (awesome name!) and Nana is being nice enough to offer refreshments, too. Pretty awesome event.

There you go. Two awesome events organized by owners of businesses right here in Mount Pleasant. They're not just asking you to support their respective stores, but they're acting as a vehicle for other creative small businesses and individuals to get their great ideas, products and services out there. If you have to shop at this time of year, do some of it at one of these events. I will. And yes, I'm mostly shopping for other people, but am really liking the idea of being able to get a good massage in the neighborhood. I really need one! Ok, see you there.

Payless Closing, Cupcakery Opens in Adams Morgan

Payless ShoeSource is closing its Adams Morgan store at 1777 Columbia Road NW. This national chain sells shoes, accessories and some clothing. Payless operates several other stores in the District, including a smaller location just blocks away at DCUSA on 14th Street. Employees of the Adams Morgan location gave no reason for closure. However, they indicated that the store would close only after the current inventory was depleted. Yesterday afternoon the clearance included 20-40% off of all products in an "all-sales-final" sale. 

The closing store still has a bare-bones Facebook page, but no longer appears on the locator tool of the main Payless website.  I wonder if the new store is making more $$$ per square foot while drawing customers from the Adams Morgan store. No word on what could replace the large space, but it joins  nearby empty but high visibility storefronts at 1760 Columbia (Pizza Hut) and 1805 Columbia (Blockbuster).

So, a national chain closes, but a local small business opens! Sweet Themez Cake and Cupcake opened earlier this November at 2318 18th Street NW. This was the original location of Crooked Beat Records (since moved to 2116 18th St NW). 

Sweet Themez keeps it pretty simple: they offer custom wedding &  event cakes, cupcakes and cake pops. That's pretty much it. The small retail space consists of sales counter and a wall display of the day's available cupcakes. I imagine most of their business will consist of special orders and wedding cakes. I didn't count, but they offered about 15(?) cupcakes which are always available--two were vegan. In addition they offer another 4 or 5 rotating flavors. I had the plain vanilla vegan cupcake with chocolate frosting. Lots of frosting and on par with other plain vanilla cupcakes offered around town. Great to have a new non-restaurant/bar business opening on 18th Street. Good luck! 

Friday Fun Post: 90s Redux

Happy Holidays! For me, this was actually a quick November. As in it is flying by. It'll be 2012 in no time. Here's A Long December by another 90s favorite, Counting Crows. Have a great weekend! Don't buy anything (lame)!

Arlington National Cemetery

Mt Pleasant Tree Sale is December 3-4

Yes, this photo was my tree topper last year.

The annual Bancroft Annual Holiday Tree Sale is happening the weekend of December 3-4. As always, the tree sale benefits the Bancroft Elementary PTA. I'm not sure which type of tree I purchased last year, but this year there will be Fraser Fir, Balsam, Douglas, White Pine, and Scotch Pine. I was much more concerned with the tree topper last year. I chose to put up a photograph of Boo the dog. Best tree topper ever. 

Threes and select accessories will be on sale 10:00AM-4:00PM Saturday and Sunday or until the trees sell out (a real possibility... come early!). Last year there was also limited "delivery" service, but I'm not sure if that's happening his year. It consisted of a few kids and adults who wheeled the tree to your door on a red wagon for a small fee. Nice add-on.

Bancroft Elementary is located at the corner of 1755 Newton St NW in Mount Pleasant. The sale happens on the playground, accessible via 18th Street. If you're getting a tree this year, do it here!

Friday Fun Post: 90s Redux

OK, so technically this is a song from 1988, but it has a definitively 90s sound. I was listening to Q94 before school one day and taped it. On the bus ride in, I played it over and over and over in my HUGE Sony Walkman portable cassette player. It was HUGE, and yellow. The buttons were rubber and knobby and the thing was HUGE. Not even really sure how I carried it around. It was... yeah, much bigger than an ipod. But cutting edge at the time, let's be honest. Anyway I loved this song in middle school and I love it now. It's "Cult of Personality" by New York's Living Colour. Have a great weekend.

Occupy Kabaret Street: Puppet Underground

Photo courtesy of Puppet Underground

Our friends at Puppet Underground are back in action this Saturday to support of the Occupy movement in general and Occupy K Street in specific. From the organizers!:

"WHO:  Bread and Puppet Theater is coming with their newest show... about the Occupy movement! One of the oldest activist street theater troupes in the country, Bread and Puppet can make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to occupy!

The Occupy Wall Street Puppetry Guild lends us the fabulous puppeteer and musician Jo Robin, who will bring a paper circus of economic proportions!

Puppet Underground will present a new show about a local organizing struggle to make housing a human right. The show will take us from a look into the past through to the present and into the possibilities of the future!

The Shadow Senators will be performing a song and cranky show!

Quique Aviles brings us a performance from his one-man show "Los Treinta"!

Zein Elamine will share his poetry about DC!

WHAT: Historical characters and roving musicians will lead you from Occupy K Street to other locations downtown with significant grassroots organizing history where you will see puppet shows and musical acts that will start your heart a-pumpin'! Join us to celebrate social justice movements in an exciting cabaret that will send you running to your nearest General Assembly! Wear comfortable shoes, be prepared to walk, and we invite you to stay after the show for OccuPie eating at our Occupy After-Party!

Suggested sliding scale donation of $5-15. 

WHEN: Saturday, November 19th. Show starts at 12:30PM. Tours of Occupy K Street at 12:00PM.

WHERE: Meet at the statue in McPherson Square (15th and K St NW)" 

Photos: 14th and Irving

District History: A Photo Challenge!

From our friends at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. comes a cool DC-based photo challenge. If you recognize these District locations and can answer the queries, you know more than I! Seriously, if you know what's up with these photos, leave your response in the comments section below. The first to answer correctly gets a sweet prize. 

The Historical Society of Washington, DC. is an educational, research and archive organization with a vast collection dating to the 1700s. HSW is located downtown at Mt. Vernon Square; in the old Carnegie Library, 801 K St NW.

From, the organizers:

"DC History Nerds! A Challenge.

Do you think you know a lot about DC? Do you recognize any of these places? Each of these archival photographs are from the Historical Society of Washington D.C.'s huge collection. The first commenter to correctly identify all three photos wins a cupcake from Sticky Fingers Bakery.

Sweet manse, yeah? Formerly occupied by a 3-time failed presidential candidate. Where in NW was this house located? The lot is currently home to an apartment building with a great view.

Who is this big guy? And do all children bother him? Name where he lives and his moniker.

Look familiar? No, it’s not from OccupyDC. This isn’t the first time DC has seen a tent city—where was this encampment built, and when?

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Your cupcake’s on the line so start the guessing! Any questions can be sent to hswphotos@gmail.com.

All images courtesy of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C."

UPDATE: Answers listed below in the comments section.

Friday Fun Post: 90s Redux

Yay! Pavement was one of the many stellar bands on the great, great Matador label. Here's the wordy and quirky "Stereo" from 1997's Brighten the Corners. Have a great weekend!

Park Regent

Everlasting Life Cafe: All Vegan, All Day

Within the District there are four all-vegan restaurants, that I know of: Elizabeth's Gone Raw, Cafe Green, Soul Veg, and Everlasting Life Cafe. I try to support each of these establishments when I can. All are either bikeable from Mount Pleasant or a one-bus trip.

I have to give a huge shout out to Everlasting Life. The restaurant at 2928 Georgia Ave NW was remodeled in the last year and can now seat about 40 people. There is a stage in the front of the space facing Georgia Ave for performances and a new sleek juice bar, too. The original space did feature food service, but also housed a health food and retail store. In the remodeled  space, the focus is definitely on the food.

So many choices on the menu. And they're all vegan. I'm not a raw foods person, but they have, maybe, a dozen raw dishes, mostly in salad form. I recently had the "fried chick'n" sandwich (definitely not raw!). OMG. It was so, so good. Basically a breaded tofu fillet, fried crispy with L&T and sauce. I will be back for this sandwich again and again. In addition to the sandwiches they serve various, rotating main dishes and sides from the hot bar. Among my friends the macaroni & cheese and bbq tofu are the favorites. If you're vegetarian, vegan, or otherwise, give this place a look. A true pleaser!

Friday Fun Post: Louise Attaque

Obscure 90s French art rock bands are not really my forte. But, this band in particular was bought to my attention via mix tape from a long, long time ago. I heard this song, Léa, and fell in love with Louise Attaque. Too bad it doesn't actually have a video to go along with the song. But the song is just... so good. Even though I don't speak a word of French. Enjoy and have a great weekend.

Photos: 5th Street, Chinatown

St Mary Mother of God, 727 5th St NW

Downtown Detail

Owners of the Woodward & Lothrop building have recently begun detailing the exterior ironwork of the former department building. Encompassing an entire city block, the old flagship "Woodies" store is located  in NW DC bound by 10th, 11th, F and G Sts. 

The spaces inside the building have been redeveloped over the last 10 years, including ground floor retail of clothing stores Forever 21, H&M, Zara and tourist destination Madame Tussauds wax museum. Most recently, these patterned ironwork pillars (wrapped around the lower floors) were painted a uniform forest green color. The new paint job adds another layer to an already gorgeous building. This is a neat and I like it!