little emergencies.

i know i promised that i was done talking about gross medical stuff for a while, but what i really meant is that i was done talking about gross fibroid related medical stuff for a while. and i totally am. actually, things in that area appear to be going pretty well.

but as appears to be the law when it comes to my health, it’s time for something else to go wrong. nothing big, just a really amazing UTI. but enough to send me to the emergency again. i really need to get a big jar to save all of my hospital bracelets in. i’m getting quite the impressive collection.

but, i wouldn’t be bothering  you with the exciting details off my busted urinary tract if i hadn’t learned a valuable lesson or two in the process of peeing in that cup (pictured at left).

magical mystery tour- mittapheap international market & sakura electic hair & beauty

i’ve had it in my head for a long time, that i would start to run regular “store spotlight” posts of what i deem to be underappreciated businesses in the greater portland area. a little over a year ago, i wrote a little article about one of my favorite exchange street boutiques, toko indo. and then… NOTHING. oops. this certainly wouldn’t be the first incidence of me dropping the ball, but i think it’s due time i made an effort to pick this one back up. for my re-inaugural post, i’ll be taking you to a mystical little international market nestled at the bottom of munjoy hill.

because she’s kind of amazing, and because for some reason she makes a lot of southeast asian food, i invited my friend pam (aka @timorousme, she’s kind of twitter famous) to give me the grand tour. you can find the full photo documentary over here at my flickr, but here are some highlights:

get your local on- hungry for a picnic.

it seems like only yesterday that i was pimpin the summer picnic arts & music fest… but alas, winter is here. fortunately with the frosty ass weather, we also get a a second serving of our favorite local indie craft bonanza. thus, this week’s installment of my buy local last minute xmas shopping guide is dedicated to the fine local artists who will be rockin it at winter picnic all weekend long (saturday, dec 11, from noon to 8pm and sunday, dec 12, from noon to 5pm) at the maine irish heritage center (at 34 gray street and state street).

EMBLEM STUDIO: a long time ago, kris johnsen was an intern at a place where i used to work (that will remain nameless). i asked him one day if he could draw, and his answer was: “kinda”. well kris johnsen, you’re a fucking liar. little did i know that our mild mannered intern would grow up to be the most incredible poster artist in town. like HOLY SHIT good. and right now you can get his work for anywhere from $10-$40. and trust me, you want it.

i am deeply in love with this dress by LUSKIN. sophisticated but comfortable shapes in bamboo fleeces and cottons with unexpected printed details. yum.

STRONG ARM BINDERY makes me giggle every time. beautiful and infinitely clever letterpress cards,  hand bound books and other assorted treasures. i’m especially fond of their recent foray into faux bois.

i want JUSTIN RICHEL to illustrate my whole life. stacks of sweets and birds! powdered wigs made out of stags! i have a dream to some day commission a vintage globe covered in hand painted sweets. but until a day arrives where i can afford such a thing, i’m going to hoard all sorts of his prints. and for around $10 to $25 each, i could paper a whole wall.

did i ever tell you that i was a ceramics concentration in college? i actually suck, but i have a deep love for the clay that can never be broken. PATTICERAMICS knows what i like, and what i like are lots of gorgeous hand thrown vessels covered in charming mushroom scenes.

i don’t have time to talk about everyone, but i would also like to strongly encourage you all to stop by the booths of the fabulous kate sullivan-jones from sweet disorder (maybe to pick these up for me?) who will be sharing a table with the equally marvelous audrey of little eye designs, milo in maine to say hello to meanmama, and the goodwill of northern new england table to check out their sweet select vintage spread. actually, just check out everything. it all looks fantastic (picnic doesn’t do half-assed).

in short, it’s gonna be an kick ass amazing couple of days of shopping and live music curated by hillytown presents plus the maine radio project DJs (double musical pimps to my good friend galen/computer at sea). bring cash, bring your xmas list, bring your friends (admission is free!), and wear your best holiday sweater so that you can get your fucking picture taken with the yeti.

get your local on- pop & lock.

well, december is here. and that means that jerks like me who didn’t celebrate xmas shopping in july (and certainly didn’t sign up for any sort of xmas club) are all like “OH SHIT, i didn’t do any xmas shopping, and now i have no money and no time!” it’s last minute time folks, and the solution is simple- BUY LOCAL. we talked a little bit about it on plaid friday, but along with supporting/growing the local economy, shopping local has some additional benefits worth considering:

1. no exorbitant shipping rates. how many times have i filled my online shopping cart full of amazing discount goodies, only to find out that shipping will cost more than the merchandise. so not worth it. BOO!

2. no stress about things shipping on time. i spent last xmas tussling with an amazon.com call center employee over a lost package that didn’t make it on time and RUINED XMAS. ok, not really ruined, but gifts lose a little bit of their potency when not given on the appropriate day. if you bought local, you wouldn’t have to worry about the shame of lost potency EVER AGAIN. plus, you can do all your shopping on xmas eve.

3. everyone buys the same crap at amazon.com, and frankly, you’re better than that. screw the big label mass market consumer goods this year, and get your friends and fams something that they can’t get anywhere else but here. state pride doesn’t have to come in the form of a black bears sweatshirt (although it certainly could if you’re into that sort of thing), and there are tons of great local shops, companies and artisans hovering all around you just waiting to sell you the perfect gift.

anyway, this month i’ll be spotlighting some of my favorite local businesses where one can purchase thoughtful, exciting, and original merchandise at the very last possible moment, and never have to pay for shipping. today’s focus is on my very favorite food of all time- POPCORN.  fabulous flavored popcorn is a great xmas hostess gift, inexpensive gift for co-workers, stocking stuffer, or treat to put out at your holiday shindig (i’m over you potato chips!). or, if i’m on your xmas list- a garbage bag sized sack will do just fine. coincidentally, maine is packed full of gourmet/boutique popcorn poppers- and they know their shit. here are my favorites:

portland’s greatest hits.

remember that time i posted about all the things in portland that have been going out of business lately, and how bummed out about it i am? well, i’m still bummed out about it (north star- nooooooooo!), but i’m willing to let  it go… as long as the following 5 businesses promise me (blood may be required to seal the deal), that they will always be here. ALWAYS.

now, i didn’t just go for places that are fancy or popular. in fact, many of my favorites didn’t make the list (i’m sorry caiola’s and rosemont market, there just isn’t room for everyone!). i wanted places that were iconic, and integral to the structure that makes portland porltand. do you remember when jennifer grey got that nose job, and then she looked like nobody anymore and we all forgot about her? that’s what would happen to portland if these businesses went away. i’m THAT SERIOUS.

in no particular order…

1. material objects: first of all, we are extremely lucky that there are a lot of great consignment shops in this town, especially now that shit is going down with the economy. but material objects is the king of them all. i love that it still looks exactly like the 90s in there. i also love the fact that pretty much everything in the store is less than $20. friendly, unpretentious, and always stuffed full of dirt cheap fashiony goodness. love.

2. paul’s food center: ok, totally shifty- i would probably/definitely never buy produce there… but there’s just something about a sketchy independent grocery store plopped in the middle of town that warms my heart. it feels like the land before time in there, but with more drunks.

3. bill’s pizza: hub for late night wasted snackage, this is another kind of gross one for the list. their pizza isn’t very good (so salty), and kind of pricey (for a single slice of kind of shitty pizza), but they have beer and orange soda on tap, and if you’re lucky, you can hear drunk people having sex in the bathroom.

4. videoport: as a complete netflix whore, one wouldn’t figure that i’d be singing high praises to a video store,  but videoport feels like home. probably because it consistently employs the very best people in town, and last time i checked, netfilix didn’t have an “incredibly strange” section. it’s a cinematic archeological dig in there. i don’t care if all video is going online, videoport needs to stay open FOREVER. are you listening dennis?

5. yes books: YES. BOOKS. everywhere. piled into corners and on the floor. dusty and disorganized, like a vaguely alphabetical treasure hunt. i love the musty used book smell and the ornery owner. to me, it’s portland’s own tiny musty version of the embryo concepts bookstore from funny face.

honorable mentions: the eastland park hotel, geno’s, old port candy, and ferdinand.

what local landmarks do you refuse to live without (you don’t even have to live in portland)?

toko-awesome.

ah yes, another fuzzy and only marginally flattering “iphone in the bathroom mirror” photograph! (we haven’t seen one of these since bingo night). anyway, ignore my “serious photo face” and turn your gaze downward (not that far down perv) to my amazing necklace. now please keep in mind that i am absolutely not the beaded jewelry type. i don’t know if it’s the configuration of my face (so pointy!), or something coded deep down in my DNA, but there are 2 looks that i can absolutely not pull off:

1. sporty. put me in a pair of wind pants and a fleece vest, and i automatically look like i’m wearing a bad sporty spice halloween costume.  it’s tragic. even when i’m actually being sporty, i still look ridiculous.

2. hippie/boho. again, maybe it’s my angular architecture, or something in the snark center of my brain that physically rejects the earnest peace and love vibe of peasant skirts and flat sandals, but whatever it is, it DOES NOT WORK. patchwork, corduroy, fringe, earth tones, and especially beads. all a big NO GO.

so you can imagine my confusion when i wandered into toko indo on exchange st. in the old port, and instantly wanted to buy everything in sight. you wouldn’t think that a store where 90% of the merchandise is hand beaded in bali would appeal to me on any level, but i got dragged in by a friend on a lunchtime shopping binge, and i was shocked at how MODERN everything was. it was like a candy store of 1960s refrigerator colors… avocado green, robins egg blue, tomato red… all monochromatic, with the focus on the architecture of piece itself. no rhinestones, no jangles, nothing extra- just perfectly edited shapes from the simple to the more baroque. along with the necklace that i ultimately bought (and visited it on at least 3 separate occasions before i finally took the plunge), i am also particularly enamored with their beaded stretch belts with wooden closures, multi-strand cuff bracelets, and a bunch of other stuff like wooden rings and beaded bubble necklaces that are frustratingly not pictured on their website!

however, there are many many stores where i want things (and without them i wouldn’t BE broke207), but not too many of them are well priced enough to be featured on broke207.  now, toko indo isn’t garage sale cheap, or marden’s cheap, but for an exchange street store full of beautiful stuff, it’s exceptionally reasonable. most of the necklaces are under $20, with rings and bracelets going for around $5-10. my necklace was priced at $22 (which seems like a steal to me for something handmade from glass beads), but the cashier accidentally only charged me $15. i pointed this out, and she let me have the lower price for being honest. SCORE! also, she was super nice and let me take a ton of pictures- no questions asked.

so if you don’t have a ton of cash, and you need to buy somebody a really nice gift, or you just want something inexpensive to help put your outfit on the zazz train to zazzville, wander down to the old port and hit the toko indo. even if you’re not the batik prints and questionable showering habits type (who needs to bathe when you can just throw some patchouli on there!), i think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.