An invitation to Southern California readers, this Sunday is Patchwork, the premier indie arts & crafts festival in the OC! Please see details below the image.

SHOP: Over 60 local vendors featuring handmade goods for you, your family & your home

EAT & DRINK: Memphis, the Gypsy Den and the Crosby will be serving up barbeque, veggie delights and libations

LISTEN: Evocal, Kuci and Crew DJ will dish out live music

CHECK OUT THE MAP: It’s right off the 5 and it’s a Sunday so if you’re headed down from LA (only 30 miles!) or up from San Diego there should be very little traffic! If you’re coming in from out of town it’ll be a fun all day event and there’s lot’s to do around the area including: the Bowers Museum, the beach, the Discovery Science Center, the best antique stores in downtown orange, art galleries bars & restaurants in downtown Santa Ana

PATCHWORK SHOW
www.patchworkshow.com
2202 1/2 North Main Street
Santa Ana, Ca 92706
714.836.8727
May 4th - 11-5pm
hello@patchworkshow.com

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A brief ‘heads up’ for readers in the Bay Area: Modern Economy has another sale scheduled for Saturday, April 12, 2008 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. An excerpt from their site reads, “Modern Economy sales began in 2006 with a simple goal: to support independent designers by providing them with an outlet to sell their samples and overstocked goods. It’s truly a win-win situation for indie designers and consumers alike, especially for budget-minded design enthusiasts who get to furnish their lifestyle with the wares they crave while maintaining the sanity of their pocketbooks. Over the past two years, we’ve also extended this relationship to independent retail stores–helping relieve them of slow-moving stock or helping them with a store closing.”

While it is not a kid-specific sale, there are allot of great kids shops and designers that will be represented such as DwellBaby, Offi, Petite Collage, Boodalee bedding, Purebaby among many others. The lovely Meg Mateo Ilasco organizes the event which you can read more about here.

I’ve had a few kind but perplexed readers write to me in the last couple of weeks inquiring about membership in the Junior Society.

“How do I join?”
“What does membership entail?”
“Where do I sign up?”
“What does membership cost?”
“I’m having a difficult time learning the secret handshake. Do you have any tips or suggestions?”

Fear not my friends, all questions will be answered in this post. In all truthfulness, your regular readership makes you a member. Simple as that - no fees, no forms.

“Then, why,” you ask, “is there a membership sign-up box?” Good question. This sign-up box allows you to subscribe to a free, optional service called FeedBurner that emails daily Junior Society posts to your inbox. It’s a sure-fire way to receive some non-spam ‘happy mail’! To take advantage of this service, type your email address in the yellow box and click on the “subscribe” button. Easy!

Membership dues? There are none. Like most blogs, Junior Society is a free online publication available to anyone with internet access. I do accept advertising and the very nominal funds that I receive from this go into maintaining the site. If you have a blog or business that you’d like to promote to a smart kid-friendly demographic - sponsorship banners appearing in the right hand column (under the tire swing) are available in two sizes for very reasonable rates. Please feel free to email me at GrandPoobah@JuniorSociety.com for details. I also offer advertising through Blog Ads with larger banner sizes and the inclusion of text located prominently in the middle of the left hand column. Click here for more information on BlogAds.

And then regarding the handshake (illustrated below in 7 simple steps). You learn it the same way you get to Carnegie Hall - practice, practice, practice. And should you manage to master it, take a little video on your digital camera and email it to me - I’ll post it on the blog where you’ll receive accolades and applause from your fellow members, not to mention 15 minutes of fame.

So there you have it! I hope I’ve cleared up any vagaries about our little club. I sincerely do appreciate regular Junior Society readers and want to make certain you know it. As I like to say, membership is free and it builds character!

Oh Mister Rogers I miss you. I miss watching you change into your sneakers and cardigan, feed your fish, and your tours into the Land of Make-Believe. But what I think I really miss is a time when we knew the mail carrier’s name (Mr. McFeely), friends just stopped by (Chef Brockett, Officer Clemmons) and we knew our neighbors (Neighbor Aber, Lady Aberlin).

Today it’s easy to interact with our virtual neighbors, visiting friend’s blogs around the globe. But I’d like to propose a little project to get us out into our neighborhoods, exploring the cities and towns we live in…

Over the weekend I re-visited Kid Baltimore, a great blog written by Joyce a Baltimore resident who posts her findings in regard to kid-friendly places to go and things to do in her hometown. There are swarms of online city guides CitySearch, MSN, Time Out among many others - all great resources, but I love the personal nature and parental perspective of blogs like Kid Baltimore.

I know there are other great ‘what I do with my kids in my hometown’ focussed blogs so I’m putting out the call for links! Send me your recommendations and I’ll begin to compile a specific resource page arranged by geographic location. And this project is by no means limited to the US (where I’m based), International readers bring it on!

It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?…

It’s a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?…

I’ve always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So, let’s make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we’re together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Won’t you please,
Won’t you please?
Please won’t you be my neighbor?

Hello and happy New Year! I hope this finds you all well and celebrating the end of the holiday season. We spent Christmas with my family in Michigan and then rang in 2008 back here in Santa Monica with stuffy noses and fizzy vitamin drinks! Glad to be back in the clubhouse I’m now catching up on emails and returning to work on Junior Society badges for 2008.

So, just a quick post to thank you (over and over again) for your ‘membership,’ kind encouragement and much appreciated tips and emails in ‘07. To those of you who do not already subscribe to the site, membership is free (and builds character!) - simply enter your email address under the ‘Membership’ plank on the tree to your left and Junior Society posts will arrive in your email inbox as they’re published each day. Again, I wish you and yours a very happy and healthy 2008.

Are you sitting down? Here are a couple of great giveaways that give you and your kiddo the opportunity to win a fabulous new place to plant your toochis.

First up, I (in my role as proprietor of Mahar Drygoods) have partnered up with our pals at OhDeeDoh (the new moniker for Apartment Therapy: Nursery) to giveaway a Chick Chair and introduce the charming new line of furniture from Roebuck Studio - the brilliant collaboration of husband and wife team Kate and Barret Roebuck, both talented designers and landscape architects. Their furniture is beautiful, functional, affordable, and durable created in an environmentally responsible way. Visit OhDeeDoh to enter - and hurry, you only have until midnight eastern time this Friday, December 21st to enter.

And then we’ve learned that our friends at MomFinds are hosting a giveaway for a gorgeous Luca Glider by Monte. Featuring an ergonomic arm height for late-night feedings, high back for proper head rest and removable lumbar pillow for extra support, the Luca is the perfect place to nurse, rock baby to sleep, snuggle up with a good book or just sit down and relax. It will fit beautifully into your nursery or any other room in the house. Visit MomFinds now to enter, you must enter no later than Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 9:59 AM Eastern Time to be eligible.

Posted in Club Meeting, Giveaways! | 2 Comments »

Little Monster Market Update!

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

A reminder to LA readers, please join me this Saturday December 8th from 10am-3pm at Little Monster Market, LA’s only handmade market dedicated soley to items for the short set. However, please make note of this important update! LMM has paired up with Cool Baby a Westside children’s venue to host this special holiday event. Unfortunately Cool Baby’s facility was damaged when a construction crane fell on it - unbelievable but true - read about it here. So the market will now be located directly across the street from Cool Baby at 6136 Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035. This is a great opportunity to do your handmade holiday shopping! Free Admission. Click here for complete event details.

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LA’s Handmade Holiday

Saturday, November 10th, 2007

Like thousand of others I’ve taken the pledge to buy handmade this holiday season and am requesting that others do the same for me. If, like me, you live in the Los Angeles area I want to plug a handful of handmade shopping events taking place this month and next. But no matter where you reside, take a moment to visit the vendor pages on each of these event’s websites - many, if not most, of the artists, designers and craftspeople participating have online shops stocked and waiting for you!

Felt Club: XL Holiday
On Sunday, November 18, from 11am-6pm Felt Club is hosting 75+ artists, crafters, and designers from SoCal and beyond who’ll show off their latest and greatest D.I.Y. wares for your handmade-shopping pleasure! There will be fresh and delicious eats and drinks from renowned Eagle Rock eatery Auntie Em’s Kitchen and you’ll enjoy happy shopping music from our DJs, Dirty Robot and Lance Rock. With your $5 admission, you’ll receive a ticket to win a fantastic door prize, and the first 250 visitors will be treated to swag bags full of cool magazines, craft patterns, coupons, buttons, li’l gifts and samples from sponsors and vendors. Last but not least, they’re offering a full roster of hands-on craft classes throughout the day. Click here for complete event information.

Maker Square
Maker Square is the fair-within-a-fair - a mini version of the popular Maker Faire event - hosted by the staff of Make and Craft magazines. Maker Square brings together science, art, craft and engineering in a fun, energized and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. Expect to see demonstrations (often hands-on) in robotics, unusual musical instruments, soft circuits, microcontrollers, and more. The Maker Square portion of Felt Club will feature people like Mister Jalopy, who will demonstrate his Mobile Drive-In Movie Projector (featured on the cover of MAKE Vol.11), Jason Torchinsky’s “Super Stick”, a 5-foot tall Atari 2600 joystick (which actually works!!), Jed Berk and his Blubberbots, and many more. In short, Maker Square is DIY meets techno-nerdiness at it’s best!

Handmade for the Holidays
On Friday and Saturday, November 23 and 24, from 11-6pm The HomeGrownMarket.com will be hosting “Handmade For The Holidays” Art, Fashion & Crafts Fair at Fairfax High School on the corner of Melrose and Fairfax. This is the first year for this market but it looks to be not only well located, but well organized with over 150 vendors selling an amazing array of beautiful, creative, and thoughtful products. Find unique and one-of-a-kind fashion, jewelry, baby and children’s items, furniture & decor, bath & body products, art, novelty gifts, holiday items and more. FREE Gift Bags (while supplies last, valued $10-$250 each), FREE Gift Wrapping, FREE Parking, FREE Sit & Relax Lounge, FREE GIVEAWAYS every hour, great holiday music, free chocolate giveaways, Craft & Art Stations, & gourmet lunches and holiday treats. Admission is just $2. Please click here for complete event details.

Little Monster Market
On December 8th from 10am-3pm Little Monster Market, LA’s only handmade market dedicated soley to items for the short set, pairs up with Cool Baby to host a special holiday shopping event. Free Admission. Click here for complete event details.

Posted in Club Meeting, Celebrations | 2 Comments »

Jamboree Book Brigade!

Monday, November 5th, 2007

“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”
- Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

A book is always a great gift -which is why I’ve just finished doubling the size of this year’s gift guide by compiling a selection of literary favorites from Powell’s City of Books in Portland, OR - a favorite, BIG, independent book seller. The guide is divided according to age with some old stand-bys, a few classics and a handful of lesser known recent finds to add to your shopping list or to find during your next trip to the library. Visit the Jamboree and scroll down to the Book Brigade.

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Junior Society Jamboree!

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007

I am extremely pleased to present for your consideration the International Chapter of the Junior Society’s first annual holiday gift guide!

The illustration found above is from the coloring book Coloring Can Be Funny! by Junior Society Member S.Britt (who also illustrated our club house!) and be found here.

Posted in Club Meeting | 1 Comment »

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