so long sodafine

I should have a rule: must do a blog post before browsing other peoples' blogs.

erin weckerle was one of the first people I met upon moving to nyc almost 7! years ago. my bff willie told me to look up her friend meeo when I arrived here. upon learning that I was a jewelry designer meeo offered to introduce me to erin, who co-owned sodafine boutique, which was then in fort greene. the three of us met for *rock n' rollerskate* at office ops in bushwick, and erin and I discussed selling my work at sodafine over drinks afterwards.

around the same time I also met jenny kwok, then owner of cut+paste, a pioneering online shop for handmade and indie goods. I also started selling my jewelry with jenny- but the details are fuzzy. was it upon erin's suggestion? don't know. but erin, who knits and crochets, was also selling her work on cut+paste. time moved on and jenny left nyc for istanbul. I saw her moving sale posted online and went to fort greene to have a look. it was there that I met another amazing talent while she was helping jenny with her sale, roxy marj. I found a bunch of great things, one of which I'm wearing now!

I always loved my trips to fort greene to check in with erin and inventory my work. In my second year in nyc I moved from Astoria, Queens to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. traveling the couple miles to the adjacent neighborhood was confusing and mysterious, being a fairly recent transplant. Brooklyn is sort of grid-like as Manhattan is, but large diagonals cut through the massive borough, dividing it into many different neighborhoods. Sometimes the division between two will be dictated by the direction in which the blocks face. so I was always a little lost when I arrived in fort greene via the g train, but it was part of my nyc education, learning the city neighborhood by neighborhood. de kalb avenue was just starting to come alive in the mid-2000's, so I loved to spend some extra time exploring the area. I always made a point to visit Tillie's coffee shop, which was right next door to sodafine.

Sodafine was unique in that it was one of the first shops to stock designs by makers involved in the burgeoning craft movement. as erin has stated, she sells work by people who consider themselves artists first. indeed many of the people who sold with sodafine early on had backgrounds in fine art, rather than coming from the design world. (myself included!) Erin helped introduce me to the diy world, which I was becoming aware of before I left L.A. for nyc. she designed her own website without having a technical background and encouraged me to do the same. in those early days I was fascinated by how artists were using the internet to expand their careers in ways that were previously impossible. or rather create careers for themselves that didn't even exist before. we spent hours discussing all of this and more, every time I visited. I also loved looking around Sodafine to see erin's amazing collection. I should mention that I met rena tom at sodafine's x-mas party, who was also selling her jewelry at the shop. when rena opened the first rare device in park slope, (which has since moved to san francisco) she also asked me to sell my work in her shop.

after a bit erin's partner at sodafine called it quits, so she moved the store to a smaller location in williamsburg. she did the store up right, using eco-friendly materials and custom- designed fixtures. again my visits to see erin were fun, because now I got to explore an even more happening neighborhood. as the years went by jenny kwok moved back to the states, then returned to nyc last summer, working occasionally at sodafine. I opened my store this past fall, and now sodafine is closing its doors at the end of the month. I needed to settle up with erin, and had an inkling she might have some inventory and store supplies and fixtures to sell. so b and I sloshed in the freezing cold rain today up to w-burg to meet with erin and her partner-in-crime jenny.

what an awesome afternoon it was. I fished through piles of treasures, amassing a nice little collection for ebmerc. I found tons of vintage dresses and other assorted clothing, vintage shoes, silk scarves, a giant collection of framed embroideries, various display items, a couple of pieces of furniture, wooden hangers, packaging and a whole box of x-mas decorations! before leaving I spotted a pile of knit hats sitting on the counter- most of them erin's creations, and three 70's ski hats. so as things have come full circle, I will be selling erin's purldrop designs in the store!

so much as I will miss sodafine, I am happy that erin has found the opportunity to move on and explore other adventures. the girl has a master's in sculpture from yale! and was doing incredible things with yarn when I first met her. I am glad for knowing her and the other amazing ladies I have met through that first initial suggestion from willie. cheers erin!

p.s. jenny closed the cut+paste shop recently too, relaunching the site as a personal photo essay blog.

mad for plaid

Now that x-mas has passed, we've had two weekends off in a row and survived SNOWMAGEDDON, we're busy as bees at ebmerc stocking the store back up with NEW and EXCITING merchandise. while b has been scouting out and restoring vintage lighters, I've been hunting for soft, warm and stylish clothing.

see here our clothing tree, filled with plaid flannel and western shirts, and nordic sweaters. I've also come across some great dresses that happen to be in mint condition, from the 60's through the 90's. (are 90's vintage?)

oh, and although I've neglected to mention it here (but you might have noticed from our events calendar) Felecia Maria's Open Level Yoga Class is a weekly occurrence. I have to tell you that I am LOVING this class. Just an hour long, it's the perfect mid-week refresher. Felecia teaches a class that is somehow gentle and challenging at the same time. She has a great flow, that varies and evolves from week to week. We get in all the basics like sun salutations and warrior poses, plus fun balancing tricks like half moon and headstand. Last night I did my first headstand in the middle of the room EVER! I think it's Felecia's gentle encouragement that allowed me to be brave and go for it.

we just installed a new window display, but Jenna's Origamitron show will be up for another couple of weeks.

so lots to see and do at Everbrite- come on down to Red Hook. You know you want to.

the back yard today!

want to come over for a snack on our patio?


the front window




plants doing well inside by the window


and the flowering azalea

after the hail storm

the garden on october 3

I had almost forgotten how spectacular the garden looked in early October. I was out there one day pulling the remaining morning glory off the chain link fence when I found this grasshopper family. They let me get close but were clearly aware of my presence and tolerated my lens for only so long.

meanwhile my friend the grey and white cat came out from behind the rear fence. It was not long before I heard hissing and saw a tiger-striped cat with a large, triangular head start to give my buddy trouble.

I walked to the east side of the yard and was amazed by what I saw- two enormous cucumbers growing over the fence from the neighbor's garden. I picked them and gave one to Bobbi and Carlos- they must have weighed a pound each. Easily the best cucumbers I've had- super crisp, with a lemony flavor.


Here's the vegetable patch. Okay, maybe my memory was a little fuzzy in saying that it suffered minor damage from the storm. Post-storm photos to follow.


basil, lettuce and thyme


the lettuce, while it was small



tomatoes


lamb's ear


the flower bed, near the house

the garden in december

it's been a great while since i posted about the back yard garden. As we spent about two months preparing the store to open, late summer turned to early fall. We were so busy day to day that the garden became a welcoming break- really the only way I could relax. I spent many mornings sneaking some time in, tending to the harvest and sharing the bounty with friends and my newly formed staff. We had piles of ripe, yellow pear tomatoes, tall stalks of lemon grass, voluminous basil plants and plenty of thyme and rosemary, and a bit of oregano. The eggplants grew tall and started to fruit a second time- but some critter came and stole the tiny fruits. I bought an already- fruited hot pepper plant and gave many of the peppers away, as I had no time to cook anything.

As I was walking home one day in the early fall, I passed Gowanus nursery and stopped in. I asked for some recommendations for fall plants and came home with two young lettuce plants and a packet of *French Breakfast* radish seeds. I had pulled the thyme out of the garden to pot and planted the lettuce in the emptyish bed. I never did have time to plant the radish, but the lettuce thrived up until our first frost, which was just a few weeks ago. Problem was, cats started discovering my now empty garden and used it as a litter box. I had heard that cat poop is toxic, so I was wary of eating the lettuce. I kept scooping up and discarding the poo, but it's hard to stop once they've started. In reality the poop probably didn't touch the lettuce or its roots, but the thought of it grossed me out. I sadly watched as the lettuce got bigger and made it through to December, but went untouched.

In the mean time, I gradually brought in the herbs that were in pots and moved inside some other potted plants. Since we live in a basement apartment, I thought it would be best to bring nearly all of the plants to the store, and that's what I did. But then... as the weather got colder I noticed some of the plants having a hard time in the icy cold window. The store might get more light, but it's gigantic and drafty. At the same time I noticed that the plants I left at home were doing well. So back on home they came! The plant pictured below, which never left the apartment, is beginning to flower. Our upstairs neighbor Aki, who moved out over the summer, gave me her plants and this was one of them. I don't know what it is. anyone? anyone? btw, it sure is nice to have my herbs at home and it makes me wonder why I didn't try growing herbs inside A LONG TIME AGO.





okay, so I almost left out one of the most important parts of this story. the day before our store opened, bobbi and carlos came down to help us with some last-minute things. before they left I cut them a bunch of stuff from the garden and they kept saying, "are you sure? it's too much!" to which I replied "take it! please!" my garden looked amazing on October 10- the peak of its beauty. then on the night of our opening party, as we were chatting with friends, the sky started to darken. a few of them had come on bike, and wondered if they should leave right then, before the impending storm came in. I went outside to check the sky, and I could see dark clouds coming from the north. Ariel decided to leave (on bike) and as a few others were making their way to their car, a huge wind started up and they came back inside. the group of us who were left watched as giant hail stones covered the sidewalk and with them, piles of broken leaves that were sliced off the trees.

the next day as the sun shone, the sidewalks of brooklyn were covered in lacerated leaves, and most of the trees were stripped bare of their still-green leaves. I somehow thought that since our back yard is usually protected from the wind, my garden would be spared. the west side seemed okay except for some minor damage to the vegetable garden. I was out there for a good while before I turned and saw the other side- and let out a huge O MY GOD! the potted plants on the east side looked like they were hacked up with a machete. the worst hit was the wandering jew- it had been so lush and full before, but it was now chopped down to its stem.

a lot of the potted herbs had been damaged a bit, and have since been recovering indoors. so anyways, it is great to be able to continue *gardening* through the winter, always discovering new things about plants and how best to take care of them. I've brought most of the potted plants back home, except for the large palm from Aki, which is hearty enough to thrive in the store. b even added to the indoor garden by buying a bunch of miniature evergreens. they are so darn easy to take care of! maybe next fall I'll have more time to do a proper transition out back, and I'll introduce some evergreens outside.

emily rothschild

emily rothschild is an industrial designer who just happens to make some of the most innovative jewelry around in her free time. we first got emily's pinky wings in the store, and they have been a great success. the wings can be worn on the pinky or ring finger and come in left and right hand orientation. they're made of cast bronze, plated in your choice of silvery rhodium or white powder coat.

when emily told me (rather excitedly) that she was coming out with some new necklaces, of course I wanted to see them. each great design contains its own form of trickery.

the whirlgig necklace is a tiny animation that you can wear around your neck. based on a 1920's concept, two slightly different images decorate each side of a rotating disk. We chose the Dancing Couple and the Lumberjack for ebmerc. they're made of brass and are hung on a fine gold tone chain.

the black box key is a particular favorite of mine, as I love surprises. Emily has made a series of necklaces, each one slightly different, from vintage keys have been powder coated in various colors. they come packaged in a black box, tied with ribbon and sealed with red wax.

and saving the best for last, we have the 2010 Mourning Locket. In another nod to the past, Emily tweaks the idea of a Victorian mourning locket, in which you would carry a photo of your dear, departed one. In this version the photos have been replaced by a two-gig flash drive. enough storage to hold all your photos if you like.

all items are available both in the Red Hook store and online.

new poketo

the donutsu and mushroom mugs sold out so quickly in the Red Hook shop, I knew I had to place another order with Poketo soon! we have three new styles of mug- the raygun is my favorite- and also three new wallet styles in stock. woo hoo! bright and cheerful Poketo gifts for $20 and under!


raygun mug- the best!


alien mug- this one's okay too.


elephant mug- b requested this one. it's cute.


bear wallet- it's my cute pick.

buddy wallet- c'mon!

unicorn wallet- lush and trippy

fyi the mushroom mug and wallet are both back in stock. the donutsu mug, sadly, is discontinued. I saw a photograph of it in the promo for Poketo's warehouse sale and I was all, "hey! no fair!" If you don't know Poketo, you should. This L.A.- based company makes all sorts of limited edition items emblazoned with the work of artists, illustrators, doodlers and designers. They are the ones responsible for the amazing SPACETIME wall art we have plastered on the walls of our store. so check 'em out.

new in the ebmerc shop

well we decided to consolidate my online shop with ebmerc- so look for a few items starting to appear on the website. b has some ideas for how the molliedash site should change and I'm excited to work on that. in the mean time:



we've received so many great, new items in the Red Hook store over the past two months. they are steadily making their way to the webshop, for those of you who can't make it to Brooklyn. We are particularly into the Jao Products and so are our customers! I just put Jao's new OutScent and perennial favorite GOE oil on the site. Also new are Italian bath products Tabiano sulfur soap, (yes, sulfur!) Omega Eucalyptus Shave Creme (no aerosol cans here) and shaving brushes with a handy stand. (coming soon) and don't forget a Van Brunt Street favorite- Star of David Kosher Soap in lemon-eucalyptus and honey-almond.

in the kitchen department we have three new styles of soy sauce pot. all made in Japan of porcelain in beautiful, functional forms.

new colors in the PlayForever bruno racing car, (royal blue) mimmo aeroplane, (army green) and enzo motorbike. (red and gunmetal)

very exciting is the introduction of Emily Rothschild's interactive necklaces. We have in stock the dancing and lumberjack whirlgigs- an image on each side of the pendant flips to make an mini-animation. and the truly outstanding 2010 mourning locket which replaces victorian-era trimmed photographs with 2 gigabytes of storage!

enjoy and I'll keep uploading!

origamitron

We are PSYCHED to announce Everbrite Mercantile Co.'s first art show. Our intern Jenna Kole is installing a collection of sculptures, made of hand-made and folded paper. Some are lit and some are sound-actived. They are starting to creep in around the store and the full show will be up Friday, December 10. Join us for a reception that evening from 5 to 9:30 pm.