Shop At Moxie

the best or possibly worst Valentine's Day gift ever.

I've been making a huge effort to clean out our home closets/vintage catch-alls in the last couple of weeks.  Call it a Valentine's Day gift to my husband.... lol.  There is nothing he likes more than what he calls "getting rid of junk".  He is so stinkin neat and me, well it's an ongoing battle with myself to keep the piles to a minimum and to not let the boxes of stuff fill up all of the rooms in our house.  Some of you might think ... hey don't you have a couple of buildings you could keep your finds in??  And the answer is yes, BUT, I am one of those work very late or super early people and when the spirit moves me to take photos, clean, price, pack etc... I'm usually in pj's and slippers and that's how I like it!  I don't want to go off to a big old commercial building at 4 am because that is creepy and definitely not pajama optional.  

As I've been digging thru some of the boxes of stuff I'd shoved into dark recesses of our house I was recently struck by just how random my buying is and always has been.  I do have a love for vintage clothing, shoes, and linens for sure, but when I'm at an estate sale I buy whatever strikes my fancy at that particular moment.  And sometimes the moment never returns again.  For instance,  this book ....

I do remember buying it about 3 years ago.  I had never bought a book on tools before and I might never again.  But I'm pretty sure I opened it up and thought .... hey all of those illustrations would be pretty cool for collage projects.  And then it promptly got buried in a box with other randomness on top that I was unsure what to do with and flash forward 3 years it just got drug out and is now going to the shop having had nothing done with it.  I do that a lot!  My husband doesn't care at all about how much I buy so long as I DO SOMETHING WITH IT!

 My problem is that I have a million ideas and fashion myself some sort of future artisan/crafts  person. Ssshhhh,  lets not remind him about the GINORMOUS hoard of vintage beads I have hiding under the stairwell for my doubtful future as a jewelry maker!   But in reality I have rarely found the time in the last 20 years to make things.  And why is that?  Probably because I'm too busy buying cool crap to make cool crap .... isn't that ironic! 

How about this ...

See those three sticks banded together ... I bought those because there is pretty mother of pearl inlay on them and one of them has a fancy rhinestone top.  I wasn't, and still am not sure if they are hair adornments of something else entirely. When I can't figure out exactly what something is the item often gets delegated to storage.  Like I think the answer will come to me magically in the night.  Hah!  Never happens.  What does happen is that I forget completely that the item exists and then months or even years later I get to like it all over again as I discover it for the second time.   Sometimes (sadly) I don't have any memory of it at all.  When at estate sales I buy in a whirlwind.  And I never agonize over a purchase.  Buy it or don't!  I go with my gut.  So even the same day of a sale when I unpack my finds I'm surprised by what's in the box.  I'm beginning to see that this post should be entitled "Hey lady, you're crazy as heck!"  

So anyhoo...I am deeply in love and like with my dear sweet husband Bob and if me cleaning out the closets and hidden recesses of our once tidy home makes his sweet self happy then by gosh that's what I'll do!  After 21 plus years of marriage the love grows stronger but the gifts do certainly change.  In our house there is (by request) no flowers, chocolate or heaven forbid lingerie being received by me on Valentine's Day.  There will be a cozy delicious dinner, a heartfelt card and if the stars are aligned right .... the world's best back massage.  I could not ask for more!  

The book, mirror and pretty sticks???  are all being dropped off at moxie today.  Along with .... cutest chicken platter, big green hat, vintage floral print, black floral tole tray, faux snakeskin belt, turquoise and white pyrex bowl, funky swedish tealight holder, funky cute orange floral tablecloth, 3 family creative workshop books, a small globe, vintage picture frame and more.  As always if you are interested in seeing photos of what I'm bringing in on a more frequent basis please visit our Facebook page often.  You the people have spoken and I have listened.  You like photos!!  I have been a good shop girl and have been posting pictures at least 3 to 4 times a week for a month or so.  Just click the photos button on left side and it will take you to all of our recent photo albums.  If you visit our page I hope you'll "Like" us.  It makes us feel all happy inside when you do that.  A happy Valentine's Day to you all!!!!!!!!!  xoxo, Megan

NIU Tragedy

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families of the victims, and the students and faculty of NIU.

Sweet Dreams Desserts

I had heard that this Sycamore business made scrumptious cupcakes.  I serendipitously happened upon their Cornfest booth this weekend.  I decided that Bob and I had to give them a try.  The rumors are true.  Try one for yourself.

My sister Courtney just ordered 48 of them for our sister Ashley's baby shower.  She said they were 1.10 each.  A bargain!!

Cornfest 2007 Is Over

It was a very long 3 days for all of us at MMHG and moxie, but we are happy and thankful for the fact that the weather was beautiful and the local shops were super busy with fun shoppers.

Because it was such a busy weekend, I didn't get out to take as many photos as I would have liked to, but here are the few I got.

My nephew Danny(wearing the fedora) manning our outside space.  He has tons of friends and here he is chatting with a couple of them.  Thanks for your help Danny :)

Here are some of my other cornfest photos......

Have you seen downtown DeKalb lately?

If you build it they will come.

Having been a big fan of the movie Field Of Dreams....I have always been inspired by that famous line.  So much so that when I bought a rickety old building downtown DeKalb 8 years ago and decided to refurbish it I truly believed that if I and other liked minded individuals such as myself would do the same thing we could turn the historic downtown back into the vibrant retail and entertainment district it had once been.

Most people that know me will testify to the fact that I have more optimisim and work ethic than I have common sense.  I tend to go into things with a Mary Tyler Moore view of the world.  Or maybe it's just the "I think I can, I think I can " attitude of the little train that could.  Who knows...my influences are far reaching.

Anyway, I will admit that over the last 6 or 7 years it seemed like more businesses had closed than opened.  The average business lifespan downtown seemed to be about 9 months.  It was depressing for sure.  So I decided to buy a second building 4 times as big as the first one and 10 times  worse in condition and dive right into it with gusto.  Moxie was born. 

Serendipitously, right after that things downtown started to perk up.  Plans were being created to begin revitalization of the business district.  New businesses started peppering both sides of street.  Cute ones that were great assets.  Old peeling paint was being stripped away and replaced with vibrant new paint.  Empty buildings were purchased and have been gutted and are in the rebuilding process.  People started coming downtown in droves because they "heard that good things were happening down here" And all of a sudden the if you build it they will come philosophy was starting to work.

We (the community at large) are building it, and you (anyone within driving distance) should come on out and see what is going on. 

The building right next to Megan Morrison is getting completely gutted and redone right now and is going to be an Italian restaurant.  Two doors down from that is going to be a brand new Wine Cafe where the old Salvation Army building is.  There are many other plans being made for the business district and I for one can't wait to see what happens next.

Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday showing the spaces for the two restaurants they are currently working on. Take a peek.