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A few weeks ago J♥ and I stopped in The Apartment, two rooms full of quirky furniture and knick knacks on 18th street. If you are a reader of Apartment Therapy this gold mine of a shop is one you’re most likely familiar with.
There’s much to be admired at the little yellow shop, vintage letter lighting fixtures, deliciously modern side tables, and random tchotchkes to name a few, but J♥ and I rarely pick any of these up. Why? Our apartment is just too damned small (more on that later…). For us the joy of Apartment Therapy is in the small things, namely the wall of photos, and what a wall it is.
The photo wall is divided up into categories which makes browsing easy peasy. J♥ tends to gravitate towards the old school architecture photos, and me, I tend to spend my time looking for either ultra nerdy, weird or glamorous people in the african american box.
Some of our recent finds:
The women with the big smile in the center totally reminds me of my mom when she was younger and her family.
So darlin’, what’s your favorite shop to score random goodies?
This entry was written by , posted on July 13, 2009 at 12:29 pm, filed under San Francisco, shopping and tagged The Apartment, the Mission. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Image borrowed from dollhousebettie.com
A few months ago I went on a hunt around the bay area to find the perfect vintage inspired corset, and to my sadness then, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. So you can imagine how super excited was I when a shop I was looking for called Dollhouse Bettie turned out to be a cute little lingerie shop!
I had no idea they were a vintage/ pinup inspired lingerie shop. I originally sought out Dollhouse Bettie because they are the only store in the Bay Area that sells Besame Cosmetics. The makeup turned out to be too light for me, of course, but surrounded by beautiful over and under bust corsets in amazing colors, and fabrics, sexy undies, and beautiful bras; that didn’t get me down one bit.
The lady and gent who were manning the fort were super sweet, and so helpful. As a first time corset buyer who didn’t really know what she was doing (does it go here or here? Ahh I’m bulgy!), I was more than grateful they were there to help me. The lady assisting me, whose name I didn’t get, I apologize, took my measurements, asked me what I was looking for and helped me find the perfect fit and color.
I walked out of this lovely shop with a black lacy number that enhances all the right curves and hides all the not so glam ones. There’s not a dame or outfit in the world that can’t be improved by functional, yet sexy, underpinnings. I guarantee it.
Image borrowed from the Dollhouse Bettie website.
This entry was written by , posted on April 1, 2008 at 6:36 pm, filed under San Francisco, shopping and tagged haight ashbury, underpinnings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Oh my dearest Rainbow, how I love thee. I have indeed counted the ways, and we are now at the last.
So far this week I have given 4 reasons why I have made Rainbow Grocery here in San Francisco my sweetheart, one for each day.
Monday – It’s 100% vegetarian friendly.
Tuesday – They have an amazing bulk section which allows me to cut down on packaging.
Wednesday – An awesome variety and abundance of Fair Trade, Local and Organic goods.
Thursday – Free recycling of batters, CFLs and Ink Cartridges
Today, the last and most important reason I am smitten with this little grocery store.
#5 Knowledgeable and helpful staff –
In almost all the other grocery stores I’ve been to there has been a lack of staff. I’d have to run to the service desk or flower department to have someone paged to the cheese isle, and run back to the cheese isle just to find out they have no idea what a Ski Queen is, let alone whether or not they ever carried it.
photo credit to Itzpapalotl
That doesn’t happen at Rainbow! No need to wonder what the most tasty bulk peanut butter is, what face soap might be best for your skin, or where they keep the exotic spices. Just look to your left or right and ask your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Grocery employee.
There always seems to be at least one person in every department who knows at least a little bit about the department they’re in. I’ve asked questions regarding frosting, local fruit versus non local fruit, peanut butter, potatoes (I can never remember what potatoes are for boiling and which are for baking and such), cheese, make-up, and many other things. Not once have I been disappointed in the answer I’ve received. Even when the answer to my specific question isn’t known, I’m left with at least a little bit of knowledge on the general subject or an A+ alternative to what I want. How’s that for service?
So that’s why I ♥love♥ my local co-op grocer. There are many other reasons I could have gone on about when it comes to Rainbow Grocery, but these are the most important ones for me. I hope I have at least got a couple people out there to look into their own local market/ co-op. I feel it’s important to support and be patrons of little places that are doing their best to take care of their employees, their cities citizens, their community and their world.
If you want to know more about co-ops I would check out Cooperative Grocers Magazine’s “about co-ops” section, or do a Google search on “co-op grocers in the US” or wherever you happen to call home. If you’re looking for a co-op near you CoopDirectory.org might help get you on your way to a spectacular local grocer. Want to know more about Rainbow? Check out their website.
photograph taken by Itzpapalotl and used under creative commons.
This entry was written by , posted on March 21, 2008 at 5:43 pm, filed under San Francisco, shopping and tagged food, market. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Three reasons I am oh so fond of Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco covered, two more to go. For those just joining me in this numerated list of love, let me share what’s going on. This week I am letting everyone know that my grocery store, Rainbow Grocery, an employee owned co-op, is far better than any other grocery store anywhere, ever.
Reasons for love Monday through Wednesday -
#1 – It’s 100% vegetarian friendly.
#2 – They have an amazing bulk section which allows me to cut down on packaging.
#3 – An awesome variety and abundance of Fair Trade, Local and Organic goods.
Thursday is a good day for number 4, which actually has nothing to do with food, but other awesome services my darling Rainbow provides…for free.
Photo credit to Armisteadbooker
#4 Recycling for batteries, used ink cartages and CFLs – How many of you know its important to make sure your compact fluorescent light bulbs get to your local CFL recycling/handling facility? Until a few months ago I had no idea.
CFLs contain mercury, and while in small doses it’s not terribly harmful; if you drop one light bulb it’s not the end of the world, having millions of CFLs in landfills cracking open can poison ground water, and end up in our oceans and lakes. They can also break in garbage cans, trucks, and in storage containers, exposing anyone who handles these items to a toxic chemical.
No need to fear though, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area you can drop your used bulbs off at Rainbow Grocery! It’s in the mission, which is pretty much in the center of everything, so it’s likely at some point you will be passing it. If you don’t live in San Francisco, a few IKEA stores will take your used bulbs off your hands, or you can check out Earth 911 for somewhere in your area.
More on how Rainbow captured my blood pumping muscle to come!
photograph taken by Armisteadbooker and used under creative commons.
This entry was written by , posted on March 20, 2008 at 5:11 pm, filed under San Francisco, shopping and tagged food, market. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
It’s Wednesday and we’re midway through my reasons for making a local co-op by the name of Rainbow Grocery, here in SF, my sweetheart. I’ve given two reasons already which were…
#1 – It’s 100% vegetarian friendly.
#2 – They have an amazing bulk section which allows me to cut down on packaging.
Today, reason #3 -
Lots of Fair Trade, Local, and Organic goods –In their book, A Slice of Organic Life
“Air-freighting fresh produce has more than trebled in the past 20 years and, if the current shopping trends continue, we may rely on foreign imports for most of our everyday goods.”
While I do believe this statement is more about Goldsmiths native country of England than it is about other countries, it’s something I believe we should all keep in mind. According to A Slice of Organic Life “… the UK could meet over 70% of its eating needs by using food produced in that country, currently half of all the food consumed there is imported.” Why?
Rainbow carries Jams and jellies from California, honey from Marin County, artisan soaps from San Clemente California, Northern California Cheeses, local bakery treats from Kika and other local sweet makers, tasty San Francisco and Napa Valley beers and wines, and tons of organic fruit and veggies from here in California and neighboring states in the US. The list goes on and on.
I’m not saying importing and exporting is bad, it’s an integral part of the world’s economy and relations between countries. What I am saying is I think all countries could benefit from being a little more self sustaining in all aspects of life, you know, fewer pointless wars and such.
This entry was written by , posted on March 19, 2008 at 4:35 pm, filed under San Francisco, shopping and tagged food, market. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Looking for "The Project 1001 : 101 goals in 1001 days" list? It's over here! Thanks for your interest!
showed these in support. coolnes 
http://tinyurl.com/lvmxan about 7 by 7 by nine – pride (in color)!