merger

i stopped by sodafine this evening and brought the lovely miss erin a new collection. she is the only one who sells my earring singles (sorry, no photo) and they are damn dramatic. i've been moving in slo-mo this summer, a little burnt out i fear, but working my way through a recovery. going to the beach does amazing things. if you live in nyc and have yet to explore the nearby beaches, it's really worth getting out there. i visited long beach on monday and totally loved it. i took the J train to the jamaica LIRR station (sutphin blvd. on the J) and thanks to austin corbin, the train runs all the way to the beach. if you buy your ticket online or at the LIRR station, a day beach pass is included in the ticket price for $1 extra. the usual price of a beach pass is $10. i am going to quote myself in a recent email on why I loved long beach:

"a) nyc transportation friendly-no transferring to buses required. it's about a half hour ride on the LIRR from jamaica. b) nice mix of old, young, city folk, long islanders, different races, families, discreet partiers, etc. [by this i mean people quietly drinking beers so as not to attract the beach patrol, and the beach patrol not bothering them] c) clean beach with plenty of rest rooms. the beach is narrow enough that it doesn't draw the enormous crowds. [but then again i went on a monday] d) nice friggin beach. nice water. nice sand. a little rough for swimming, but it feels sort of like of like a spa because the water is constantly moving."

basically, it's close enough to the city so that you're not traveling all day, but far enough away that it feels like nature. it's just so miraculously relaxing to get out of the city, hop on a train, and arrive there.

so two of the stores i sell with, sodafine and rare device, will be sharing rare device's south park slope shop as of august 1, and the williamsburg sodafine store will remain open. i will continue to sell at both stores as usual. i am looking forward to seeing how the shop is transformed by erin's carefully chosen collection of independently designed clothing. rena tom will be returning to her beloved bay area, and plans on opening up a second rare device there.

see how that works?