258 cafe

b and I have been out on foot distributing everbrite mercantile co. post cards to coffee houses and cafes for the past week. we've had this gorgeous warm weather to take advantage of after all. on the first day we hit the obvious places, our neighborhood being adjacent to fort greene/clinton hill, and park slope being the next neighborhood down. on tuesday it was beautiful out again, so I suggested we get some lunch here in bed-stuy and pass out some more cards. we had seen 258 cafe mentioned on the bed-stuy blog but never ventured in. ridiculous seeing how close it is to our apartment, but we tend to either work at home or go OUT. we stopped in on our way to food 4 thought (which was closed for renovations, so it was peaches instead) and I met the very outgoing owner of 258, francine. she said she'd take a few cards, but insisted "try a cup of coffee!" I felt so compelled to obey her wishes that we stopped back by on the way home (to francine's amusement) and tried a cup of her joe. I'm not even a fan of flavored coffees, but I fell in love with her chocolate raspberry. just the thing for dessert. the three of us got to talking about the neighborhood and its burgeoning local businesses, and before we knew it, we had made a new friend.

francine said that she's had great success with local artists setting up a table in front of her shop to sell their goods, and asked us if we'd like to do it. the next time we came by to chat, she introduced us to frank, who was doing laundry next door. he's a jazz musician who played at 258's anniversary party, and francine invited him to play next sunday, november 1 while we were standing there. that's when it came together and we decided to set up our little table on the same day.

so stop on by. we have a neighborhood cafe! with live jazz! and coffee and treats!

november 1, 12-5ish p.m.
twofiftyeight cafe
199 malcolm x boulevard
@ putnam

A/C train to Utica Ave. Exit towards Malcolm X Blvd. and walk straight up till you hit it.


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then came bling

(posted by "and friend" of ebmerc.com)

Mollie is deep into rolling out a whole 'nother thing; pushing further and dishing out a brand new flavor of bling.

New pieces will be listed on the site soon. If you can't wait, then you'll need to pop on over to see Tiffany Porter at her Old Hollywood shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

She already has the latest molliedash selections as well as many other vintage finds, antiques, old-ish pieces and new items from other designers. She's got a magical little shop there in the old Polish neighborhood of Brooklyn.


m.dash busy in her lab

my new dress

look what i just ordered from frecklewonder. i've been following this site since the wee early days of internet shopping, like back in 2002. it has been a big inspiration to me in setting up my own site, in terms of ease of navigation and good photography. oh and good products too! and wow, it's my first frecklewonder purchase. usually her stuff sells out too fast for me to grab something. so psyched- hope it fits.

new designs

a whole collection of new items is coming for the website. I'm introducing pops of bright color, braided cord, and some mammoth pendants. and of course a new site design. so stayed tuned.

our favorite neighborhood spots

b and I were over in Long Island City yesterday, visiting PS1 and the surrounding galleries that were open on a Monday. we picked up a neighborhood map at PS1 that pointed out the neighborhood museums, galleries and restaurants. As we sat eating our lunch at the court square diner (best moussaka I've had yet!) b remarked, why doesn't our neighborhood have a guide like this! to which I replied, we could totally make our own. and so b did, forming a google map with our favorite bed-stuy neighborhood places. we just started it yesterday, so it will continue to grow. I need to put in the actual street addresses and links in case you're interested in visiting some of these places. so go on and check it out at ebmerc.com/our-town.

my 100th etsy sale

wow, never thought I'd get there, but it happened today. my 100th etsy sale. I've had a shop going since July 2006, just a year after the site launched. and man, have I had my ups and downs with it. the main advantage of etsy, the largest and best-known online "hand made" marketplace, is its ease of use and low start-up cost. etsy allows anyone who makes crafted or artistic goods, sells vintage clothing, jewelry or crafting supplies to launch an online shop in a matter of minutes. etsy's emphases on community building and technical innovation provide many opportunities for users to promote their goods within the site. the drawbacks of etsy involve it becoming a victim of its own success. started by a small group of 20-something crafters and techies, its founders were lacking in the maturity and business experience to handle its explosive growth in the past four years. etsy launched with a lot of fun and tricky visual tools such as searching for items from a color picker, a time machine and a geo locator. what etsy was lacking, and this is huge for an online marketplace, was a properly functioning search tool that uses, you know, words.

finally after four years, etsy has undergone a major organizational restructuring and has made a search function among its top priorities. there have been a number of etsy success stories, but they are far outnumbered by small sellers like me. I've tinkered with my product mix, and have settled on using my shop to sell "destash," those extra supplies that pile up in the studio, and some of my lower-priced vintage. I don't make a ton of money from my etsy shop, but it's a fun diversion, and a way to keep the extra supplies under control.

incidentally, the 100th sale was made to one of my best customers, who also owns a number of molliedash jewelry creations. thanks p!!!

still looking for an intern

yo.

I was in a bit of a crunch to find an intern before leaving for last week's vacation. Truth be told I should have interviewed more applicants. The (two) that I hired ended up seeking full-time work instead. so, if you're still interested (or know someone who is) scroll down to the sept. 2 post to read up on the details.

today

•malcom x farmer's market. bought 8 pounds of tomatoes for making sauce.
•appointment in chelsea
•picked up some garlic at the union square green market while passing through.
•L train to williamsburg to see don't become the things you hate, marial seasick maher's show at stand alone gallery on 6th street.
•Q54 bus to sizzler in forest hills. yes, you read that right.
•walked to trader joe's then another couple of miles along metropolitan, to the M train. found a stretch of dirt trail along the cemetery. yep, a couple of long blocks in queens with no sidewalk.
•home

bushwick farmers' market

I had a bunch of packages to ship, and it was finally a good day for us to check out the bushwick farmers' market, which is near the post office. also nearby is our favorite cheap cuban restaurant, collado. as we approached, we were so pleased and happy to see several tents, not just one or two, and there appeared to be a crowd of mid-day moms and grandmas shopping, some using their wic checks. (bushwick also accepts the wic swipe cards) the market has a perfect location near the gates ave. J train station, using the sidewalk around the linden-bushwick community garden. today there was one vendor each selling vegetables, fruit, fresh baked bread, honey and desserts. one booth made smoothies on a bicycle-operated blender. there was also an information booth and a cooking demonstration, which was making ratatouille while we were there. this might seem small to most farmer's market shoppers, but for our neighborhood it's huge. You might also be thinking, I thought mollie and b lived in bed-stuy. and we do. but one of the closest places for us to walk is broadway, which lays on the bed-stuy / bushwick border. if you'd like to know what the major difference is, bed-stuy is mostly black and bushwick is mostly latino. not that there aren't some of each in both, with a smattering of most every other race and culture you'll find in nyc. (we seem to have a *little india* developing a block away from our apartment, and there are more indian families as you keep heading in that direction)

so anyways, it was super great to be able to take a short walk down to broadway and be able to buy fresh, local produce and bread. I'm in love with the bushwick market after one visit because of its vibe. it's the combination of the vendors who are eager to bring some good food to the neighborhood and the customers, who are happy to have it there. one woman was so excited, she was making sure everyone knew how great the market was, recommending the smoothies and ratatouille, and keeping the vendors in line! ha ha.

because nyc's such a walking city, it's easy to see when there's a clustering effect among business. it seems like this stretch of broadway is really starting to come up. my previous apartment was very close to this area, so it holds a certain nostalgia for me. my favorite small market, (when I remember to go) ralph ave. market, is over there, as well as the above mentioned collado. there are a couple of new men's clothing/sneaker shops, an immaculate mexican-run butcher, a decent hardware store, the post office and a new walgreens.

oh, and the bushwick farmers' market is holding a *harvest fair* on september 23. see you there?

wednesday freebie on green L.A. girl

green L.A. girl is one of my long-standing favorite blogs on the net. being a former L.A. resident and one who's concerned about the environment, it's hard not to see the city as an example of how not to do things. From its dependence on water that travels hundreds of miles over an aqueduct, to its reliance on the automobile, Los Angeles has become the perfect subject for an environmental blog. In response to the city's inherent inefficiency there are myriad innovators figuring out ways, large and small, to handle the region's environmental concerns. People all over are re-imagining the way L.A. could operate, and Siel, "green L.A. girl," is always on the pulse of these ideas and innovations.

So I'm more than happy to be contributing to the twice-weekly *freebies* feature on green L.A. girl. Siel has given away a number of green items such as clothing made from sustainable materials, books on gardening and cooking green, t-shirts with green messages, body products, and of course the ever-popular canvas shopping bag. this wednesday's item (deadling is sunday) is the molliedash chevron bracelet. all you need to do is comment on the blog, and you will be entered into a drawing to win the bracelet. it's that simple!