Community Forklift - YEAH!

Community Forklift is a non-profit that salvages and sells building materials. We can't believe it has been around since 2005 and only now is it a part of lives. Why are you people keeping this a secret?! Is this the sort of place that cool carpenters keep to themselves? We must come together and support this place. You can buy, scavenge, and donate!

This place offers so many elements architectural salvage. We found some very cool antique doors and industrial table legs on the CHEAP. Walking around it was very inspirational, seeing how all these parts that were once a part of something could be reused and remade into something totally unique, stylish, and functional. And you can find used practical stuff you really need like screws, exit signs, ceiling lights, toilets, and sinks. It's basically the home improvement version of a thrift store and it has given our shop's renovation the boost it needed.

love the yellow stained glass and the antique frames!

how beautiful is this wood ? instant fab coffee table anyone ?

can't get enough of marble and CF makes it affordable.

Eco Knowledge

We love reading the Bodkin blog for all the deep thoughts a fashionable lady can have regarding the production of clothing and its relationship to our environment. The options for ecologically-minded fabrics seem to be expanding exponentially lately, but we often find while hunting down vintage that a lot of pieces from the 1970s onwards have odd fabric content that sometimes takes a dictionary to decipher.

Here's a good run down of some interesting textiles out there right now:

• Cupro: I got wind of this guy while browsing the Acne selection on Revolve. Apparently "Cupro is not synthetic, nor is it a man-made fabric. It is considered a regenerated fabric, in other words, it is reclaimed from natural products."
• Lyocell:, or brand name Tencel, is basically tree pulp. Awesome!
• Acetate: our old friend (lots of wonderful '80s dresses are composed of this fabric) is also a regenerated fiber from tree pulp.
• Banana fibre: for kimonos. Need we say more?

If companies were digging on these eco fibers starting in the '70s (or less commercially since the 13th century Japan), why don't we see more mainstream iterations nowadays?

Spring Recycling!

Who doesn't have an old peanut-shaped Nokia taking up space at the bottom of a desk drawer? Last year's BlackBerry still hanging around somewhere? What about a PDA the size of a potato with one of those funky wands? Or God forbid, a pager?

Be rid of your dated technology. Tomorrow, you can take your phones to a couple different locations downtown and swap 'em out for a potted flower. (The event was supposed to happen today, but it was postponed due to rain.) I'll be recyling mine at Farragut Square Park between 11am and 2pm.

Kudos to the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District for organizing this cool event. More info is here.

Fandes

Hi guys. I started school on Monday!


(American Rhetoric.)

I am taking this really awesome class: the Anthropology of Food. Today, we discussed Andean farming traditions: how they've been in practice for thousands of years with no detriment to the soil or slackening in crop yields. These dudes have literally found the perfect way to farm!


(Ilhuicamina.)

They have also found the perfect way to dress!


(quintet.)


(Walking the Amazon.)

Note: sweet headgear, 50-inspired circle skirts, jewel tones, long braids, and baby-as-accessory. Listopad approves!

Beautiful Bounty

I feel very grateful that I can walk out the door every Saturday morning and in a few moments have access to fresh farmers' market fare. Luckily D.C. is situated so that we have access to great markets practically every day of the week for a good portion of the year. The Mount Pleasant market offers a wide variety of produce as well as dairy and baked goods. One of my favorite vendors there is Audia's Farm, which alongside herbs and potatoes, sells Kathy Audia's homemade dry tea mixes, preserves, and handpicked wildflower boquets. This market also features an "ATM"--if you are out of cash but have a debit card, you can buy tokens which are good for the entire season.

Aside from the Mount Pleasant market, which runs from May through November, there are two Sunday year-round markets in Dupont Circle and Takoma Park. The Foggy Bottom market on Wednesdays is great for mid-week produce, and if you miss that one there is a market in Penn Quarter on Thursdays. For more information on these and other markets, visit www.freshfarmmarket.org. For information on even more markets, as well as Community Supported Agriculture in D.C., visit www.localharvest.org.

For a million good reasons to buy food directly from farmers, read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Carlo Petrini's Slow Food Nation, and Alice Waters' cookbook The Art of Simple Food.


Eggs with goat's cheese, basil, tomatoes and bread.


Flowers from Audia's Farm.


Pizza with goat's cheese, potatoes, and rosemary.

Jesse Kamm

Hand-numbered clothes? Limited production with the environment in mind? Yes, please! Jesse Kamm produces only 50 garments of each of her design and preaches quality over quantity.


pic by abbey druckere

Hang On

Discovery of the week--your local Linens 'N Things has recycled plastic hangers. That are in turn recycleable. That are $1.99 for 10...cheaper than the normal plastic hangers. What a steal.

pic from Linens 'n Things site