The Business of Bees

Argentina. Art and Sandwiches.

2009-11-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a month of traveling around Argentina. I have never kissed so many cheeks. There was amazing graffiti everywhere. It's like it's legal or somethin'.

But oh my gosh, I also have to tell you about a food we had practically every other day -- The Lomito Sandwich.

Of course you've never heard of it! It's so crazy and delicious. List of the ingredients, lest you want to attempt this at home...

. Beef (thin and kind of chicken fried)
. Ham
. Cheese (melted onto the ham, of course)
. Fried egg (sunny side up)
. Tomato
. Mayonnaise

You can see why this would almost bring tears to Alvaro's eyes. It's a lovely combination.

Household Remedies.

2009-04-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Boot Bonanza!

2009-03-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, have you been to SHOEVILLE lately? We took a gazillion photos on Monday and I am loading them up even as we speak.

Hurry over for a peek, they're going fast.

YAY!

Coming Soon.

2009-03-10T21:40:00.001-07:00

Another etsy shop is in the works, and this time it will be filled with my beloved collection of vintage housewares.

Keep your eyes peeled!

Vote for BEES!

2009-03-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

So I just got an email from Etsy.com. It seems that one of my dresses is in the running for some sort of St. Patrick's Day item poll. Go here to vote for the Bees Knees Vintage! It's the KISS ME, I"M IRISH dress. I actually might be Irish, you never know.

My Thorny Past.

2009-02-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

I was just ten years old, in fourth grade and quite ill with chicken pox when The Thorn Birds mini series was on TV for the first time. I remember it well because my sister, who gave me those dang pox, was completely fine, eating my mom's homemade cookies, drinking SQUIRT (it's practically ginger ale) and staying up late watching TV with my parents. I, on the other hand, was sick as a dog. It was terribly unfair and well, the story of my life. When I get sick, I get really sick. Luckily, it's rare.

So anyways, I was at the Oakland Library with Alvaro this last weekend when I spotted it! On video-tape! And we since we still have a VCR, I snatched it right up.

It's almost as good as I remembered it to be. You get to see a young and exceedingly handsome Richard Chamberlain in his birthday suit (from the side, of course. Very modest, those priests) and the ladies clothes are pretty good.

Lord help me, it's 4 tapes long!

Oh, that dress!

2009-01-14T23:28:00.000-08:00

Jessica in a Bees Knees find.

Olives - I have failed you.

2008-12-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

Long story short. Last year on a Thanksgiving Day walk with Alvaro, I discovered OLIVES!

Free food!

Growing on trees!

Right there on my moms street just waiting for me to forage!

So we walked back to the house, found a paper shopping bag and filled it with pounds and pounds of olives.

Two days later, back at home in Oakland, I spent all day on the old internet trying to figure out a non-scary way to cure my new olive friends. I was determined to find some way to make them edible without bringing a can of Red Devil Lye (um, that's sounds safe!) into our kitchen.

After hours upon hours and reading a gazillion recipes, I found one where you soak them in a very salty solution for a long time and then one day, no more bitterness! Like magic or something.

We had those jars of olives clogging up our counter space for what seemed like months and to tell the truth, they weren't bitter in the end but they were so squishy, I couldn't eat them.

I stashed them in the cupboard covered in olive oil until one day Alvaro announced "your olives are moldy" sort of like I imagine him saying "your kid soiled his diaper again." At least with mold I had permission to throw them out.

But what did I do this Thanksgiving but say "hey AV, wanna go pick olives?"

It's like I completely forgot the whole 2007 Olive Debacle even though it's only been a couple months since I got the greasy film off of the bottom of the cupboard. Wouldn't it be okay to let Alvaro shoulder some of the blame since he didn't try to stop me or anything?

Exact re-enactment of last year including skipping down the street with my shopping bag, picking like a mad-woman, searching for curing methods, soaking in solutions etc.

But today I looked over at the jars of olives, no doubt getting squishier by the minute and said "ENOUGH!"

I am throwing them out, one and all. Olive curing is best left to professionals or folks with more counter space.

Shoeville Open!

2008-12-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't know what got into me. Hmmm, maybe it's having a zillion pairs of shoes that don't fit me and never will hanging around the house. I opened a bees shoe annex on etsy today.

It's called Shoeville so go snoop around and tell me what you think.

Update in the Works!

2008-11-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ugh, I've been editing photos for two days and let me tell you, it hasn't been easy.

I have no idea what happened, but the lighting in our normally "lovely, natural light filled" flat came out looking dark and stormy. Luckily, I just installed the Adobe Creative Suite and removed as many of the shadows as possible. Sheesh.

Look out Bees!

Etsy Treasury.

2008-11-14T09:31:00.001-08:00

I finally got one after a-watching and a-waiting and a-watching... Check it out while it lasts, which is only till Saturday.
My Treasury

One of THOSE Ladies.

2008-11-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

This is what Alvaro said I was going to be when I showed him the 9 miniature animal figurines I got at the estate sale we went to last weekend.

Heck, they were only a nickel a piece!

Might as well start looking for a china hutch now.

I Love Kid Pictures...

2008-11-03T10:29:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's Barak Obama and his ma, but check out her dress. I think I had the exact one in the mid 90's but I chopped it off to "butt length" and wore it with Doc Martin 8 holes.

I still hoard those 60's floral dresses with a zillion pleats, but I wear them at their original knee-length these days.

Isn't it adorable that in Hawaii almost everyone is wearing floral print for their 5th grade class picture. I had always thought it was just made into clothes that tourists would take back home to the mainland so they had something to wear at bbqs.

I have a photo sort of like this from second grade where the class picture was taken on the same day as the Girl Scout meeting and all us girls are wearing our Brownie uniforms. Too cute. And I think that Heather has one like that too. Or was she the only little girl in her Brownie outfit?

The Rain is Here. Finally.

2008-10-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am finally ready to stop showing off about the gorgeous weather here and I have joined the rest of the world scampering around in my wool socks this morning and gazing out the window at the raindrops. It's really quite nice.

AV especially loves this time of year. He has a whole laundry list of things to laugh at/with me about. My slippers, my red cashmere robe, my "hippie" scarf... I'm a walking giggle a minute!

A couple years ago my friend, Suzanne, gave me an incredibly warm pair of boots. I think they are originally from Russia and are made of very thick grey felted wool. They are sort of like huge stiff knee-socks and I have to admit they are look just this side of ridiculous, but in the winter, I freakin' love them. Sliding into them after a warm bath and padding to the kitchen to heat up some soup or make a pot of tea is what I dream about all summer. And it's finally here!

We are both suffering from various cold weather ills on this first day of rain so we went out for Vietnamese chicken soup (pho ga) and then to the Numi Tea Garden where we picked out a bunch of loose leaf tea to try. Now we are back home sip, sip sipping away. Much better.

Hope you are all toasty and warm! Let me know if you need any hankies. I've got a ton just waiting to catch a drip or two!

Etsy Update. Newish Computer. Secret. Hint.

2008-10-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello! How are you?

We are in the midst of an amazing indian summer. I'm not even going to tell you how sunny and warm it is since it might just make you (hi heather and bee!) sad. On second thought, it might get your little bottoms out for a visit. You should see how lovely it is here! Maybe we could do a trade. As gorgeous as it is, I keep looking out the windows for fall.

But I have a ton of other things to be excited about right now.

1st:
I got a new computer this last week and have been happily working away taking photos of new shoes and such. Of course, it's not actually brand new but it is WAY fancier then my old one and I couldn't be more pleased with it's lilly whiteness. Oh, how I love craigslist.

2nd:
Tomorrow morning my friend, Amanda, is coming over and we will embark on a very new and exciting project. It's top secret right now but as soon as we have our first sample made, I will spill the beans!

Okay, here's a hint:
It involves vintage fabrics... aren't you shocked?!

3rd:
AV is making me a grilled ham, cheese and tomato sandwich even as I type this.
Okay, it's ready. Love you, bye.

The Passion of the Squirrels

2008-10-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

So my delightfully crazy neighbor, Jay, has several hobbies but my favorite is his obsession with plants - mostly orchids and passionfruit vines. He has a huge greenhouse so packed with orchids, it's almost like having the Conservatory of Flowers in your own backyard. It's warm and wet in any weather and is a great secret hideout when need to sneak off on your own for a while. And we have a monster passionfruit vine growing up our back porch. It grows so fast, I have to trim it back every time I go down the stairs to do some laundry.

Well this morning, I was minding my own business, reading a particularly creepy Ian McEwan book when I heard this scary commotion on the stairs. I though for sure someone was trying to break in!

When I got up the coutrage to actually take a look, I discovered it was two little squirrels and they were gorging themselves on the passionfruit with WILD abandon. There are seeds hulls spread all over the landing and up next, I can imagine there will be huge amounts of poo.

But they are so cute, I don't even mind.

Home Sweet Homes.

2008-10-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

So I just wasted so much time looking, okay, gawking at the photos on this site. It's called The Selby and is kind of like going into Anthropologie. Painful and delightful.

I want to get rid of everything I own and start collecting all over again.

Moo Came Through.

2008-10-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

I finally got my business cards in the mail yesterday from Moo and they are so little and cute. AV already snatched up two so that means I just have 98 more to give out.

Who wants one?

Etsy Shoppe Update in the Works!

2008-10-07T18:53:00.001-07:00

It's hard to do an update while listening to the Presidential debate, but that just shows you how dedicated I am.

Ummm, did John McCaine just say he needed hair plugs??

New Chair, New Hair, Plane Fare.

2008-09-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

Ahh, what a great week! First, we found my new computer chair this weekend at the weirdest ever estate sale (old warehouse, semi-mildew stinky, VERY talkative gentleman). Its not only stylish, its also AMAZINGLY comfy. And I love the mid-century simplicity of wood and iron. Makes me very happy indeed.

And I got my hair cut, at last! I've been complaining for two weeks. I canceled my appointment with Alvaro (yes, I have to make appointments with him, he's THAT busy!) for taking pictures of all the new stuff after I got up, looked in the mirror at my head and wanted to cry. I always wait a month longer then I should when it comes to hairstyle maintenance. Sheesh.

But here it it, my new haircut so you can see if before it grows out. I've had this exact same one, well, a gazillion times since second grade when my ponies first got cut off. It seems to work especially well for super straight, fine, thick hair so I keep going back to it whenever I get sick of trying to grow my hair long (which never works and continues to make me mad). Best of all, it was practically free! Lisa was visiting from L.A. and agreed to gimme a new look for a few sparklie things, like rhinestone brooches and such. What a splendid deal.

And finally, I got tickets for our trip to North Carolina to visit Heather and Ben! Now I can take down all the post-its I stuck all over the house to remind me. Woo hoo, New Years in Durhamn NC!

The Story of Stuff.

2008-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

My friend, Rachel Cole, known to some as little Rachel (yes, that makes me "BIG Rachel"), sent me a link to this site last night and I was so impressed, I thought I would share it with everyone I know. And that means you, the three friends that read this blog. Yay for you!

www.storyofstuff.com

It totally supports my mission to buy all, okay most, things used or handmade and to keep using outdated gadgets as long as they still work. I had my first mobile phone for 5 years, much to the chagrin of many of the folks in my address book. Sorry.

And buying vintage clothes? We are soooo ahead of the game.

Now I realize that not everybody wants to spend an entire day going to garage sales looking for a dish drainer or a laundry basket, but here's what I can do. Send me an email with a list of stuff you need and I will find it for you. I'm serious.

Do you need a tea kettle or a bathroom scale or a flower pot? Imagine having a super cute little vintage Bauer pot instead of a new plastic one.
Give me a week to hunt it down and you will never have to step into Target again. Except for toilet paper. I don't think I want to thrift that.

There is one small wrinkle in this plan, you should probably be in the bay area. It would be silly to send something like a trash can through the mail.

Alright, send me those lists so I can get to work!

New on Esty.

2008-09-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get everything up and on Etsy but yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and today it is even worse. I guess I will be hanging out on the couch with the second season of Weeds for company this afternoon.

Waaa, I wanna go thrifting!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
thebeeskneesvintage.etsy.com

More Cuteness!

2008-09-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is just showing off... I love these photos!

Coming Soon!

2008-09-05T14:35:00.001-07:00

Oh, I had such a grand morning, despite getting hardly any sleep due to... bugs... the garbage man... and a zillion big rigs that insisted on screeching to a halt right beneath my bedroom window last night.

My new and gorgeous friend, Deborah, came over today and let me take scads of pictures of her. She looks so lovely. Here are a couple of the pieces that will be appearing in my etsy shop just as soon as I get them all edited and resized.

Thank you, Deborah!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

2008-08-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

My goodness but this week has been... well... one of those weeks when you wish you didn't wear the hippie deodorant. And why is it that I naturally gravitate to polyester mini dresses in the worst heatwave of the summer?

This morning I woke up to a gloriously cool and overcast sky. I can only hope it will be like this tomorrow when we pack up the car and drive to the mountains of Twain Harte for AV's birthday weekend.

So far the only plan is to eat cheeseburgers (AV's favorite food by a long shot) at the Diamondback Grill in downtown Sonora. Other then that, I think swimming is high on the agenda. And maybe a garage sale or two. And a couple very long naps. I can't wait!

Estate Sale Finds.

2008-08-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

Found this today in the most amazing little house in West Oakland. It had the original kitchen linoleum, wallpaper, tile... everything. I wanted to move in immediately, but it was already sold. At least I got to rescue this little juice glass in time. They were about to start chucking it all.

And who doesn't need another juice glass, I ask you?

Ceramic Animal Friend of the Week.

2008-08-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama Likes Vintage Clothes!

2008-08-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

So I just spent almost a full hour (don't tell AV. He thinks I work in here!) drooling over the clothes in the archives at Dorthea's Closet
and found this picture of Barack Obama and Carol in a gorgeous vintage R & K Orginals circle skirt dress. Man, I gotta tell you, my heart swelled with pride.

Now, wouldn't he look extra good in a nice wide, hand-painted 40's tie? Or a skinny little 60's sharkskin?

Finally, something I can donate to his campaign (besides all that cash) and really make a difference!

Tiny Things.

2008-08-14T15:29:00.001-07:00

Found these tiny shoes this week while shopping for baby clothes.

No, not for me!

My friend, Kara, had a little baby girl last week. Lillian Starr. And of course, I had to put my thrifting skills to work looking for baby stuff. It's nice to feel useful.

Now I just have to find a tiny shoe lace...

Meet the New Beesknees Model!

2008-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Well, without little Heather here at the Bees, photo-shoots haven't been half as fun. Okay, they have been very "entertaining" and with AV's help, they have been just as good picture wise but the quotient of giggling has been severely diminished, as has some of the goofiness. And I tell you, every time I start editing, I miss the bejesus out of her. With no one to make fun of all the photos where I have my eyes closed, I've got to do a ton of pointing and laughing all by my self.

And I hate to admit it, but it's been hard to just get photos taken because, well, my guy is a very busy guy. Yesterday I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and this is what I am doing - using a dress form.

I searched and searched craigslist (a whole 10 minutes) and found one that is both lovely and vintage. She is hereby named Phyliss and though not bad looking, she's not nearly as hilarious to look at as a real girl. She is, however, available for photos anytime and lord knows just how far available can get you. Here's a little peak...

Now, for those of you who check the site just to see me (B-honey and Heater, that's you!), I will be back, just as soon as AV gets done with his million of projects and other stuff he's doing while bringing home my (Niman Ranch) bacon!

p.s. The clothes you see here are for sale in my etsy shop thebeeskneesvintage .

And They All Lived Happily...

2008-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been the best month ever here at the thebeesknees HQ. June was such an adventure!

On June 18th, under the cover of 6am darkness, we headed off to Maine for Miss Heather and Mr. Ben's wedding. It was the most amazing of times. Maine is beautiful as all get out, so lush and green. It reminded me of Washington, my beloved home state. I knew it even as the plane flew in when I looked out the window at the ocean and all the million little islands. I thought for sure we should just forget about going back to Oakland and stay for always. And with that idea and a few excursions in the rental car, we even found the perfect little beach house, peeling paint, overgrown garden, and everything.

We got to see B-honey and John, Heather's mom and dad. In fact, the entire Stewart clan was there too. (I should say here that I've been trying for several years to become an honorary Stewart. Every time I see them, I sort of joke about it. While they respond with a few polite giggles, I don't think they take me seriously.)

Even dear granny, who won my heart ever so long ago when I "accidentally" called her looking for Heather, traveled to see the joyous occasion. She dressed up special for the wedding in a pink 1950's frock with rhinestones for buttons and perfect little white gloves. Angelic. I was quite impressed. Though I pretended to be mad when Alvaro whispered to me that granny had out-cuted my outfit.

The ceremony was at a quaint little farm in the country, out in the fields with baby turkeys chirping off in the distance and little pink piglets watching the wedding procession as we all paraded through the grass to the spot where they said their vows.

We decorated the tables with all those cranes we've been folding for months. Someone actually counted and said there must have been 500 of them. (Probably mostly folded by Heather, but I recognized a few of my own too!) The cranes, along with jars and jars of wildflowers plucked from a field down the way by Heather's childhood friend Rachel and her beau Witt, made the two long rows of tables just plain heartbreakingly lovely.

After the ceremony and supper, there was some square dancing till dusk, and then a big bonfire and some bonfire music. Heather, Ben, and a bunch of friends got out the banjos and fiddles and guitars and made noise till the wee hours. It was the perfect day.

I don't think I've cried so much since A.V. and I got married in February. I still can't believe how the time has just flown by. It was terribly hard to leave. And not just because we got stuck in the airport for a gazillion hours waiting for the thunder clouds to drift away so our plane could take off. Oh, I hate being so far away from the folks I love.

Little Etsy Bees and more.

2008-06-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

It's June, it's June, it's June! I love summer. And boy, is it starting to get hot. As much as I like to complain about heat, it also rings in the season of BACON, LETTUCE and TOMATO sandwiches. You simply cannot have a proper BLT until the heirloom tomatoes hit the farmers' market. I'm praying it will be soon and I'll be stocking up on bacon today.

Thebeekneesvintage.com annex on etsy.com has opened and it is crazy fun! At first I figured it would be a great place to show off my collections of vintage handmade goodies and guys' stuff since I don't have any listed on this site. But before long, I found myself going all out and putting up everything. A little sampling:

The shop on etsy is called, of course, thebeeskneesvintage And I'm adding more vintage delights daily.

In other news, we leave for little Heather's wedding in exactly a week! I can't believe how dang fast this year is going. I know you always hear that time starts to fly by as you get older but jeez...

I can't wait to see Heather and B. She's gonna be the best bride ever. I'm packing up my emergency wedding kit even as we speak. Let's see... we'll need: 1 bottle of sparklie rose (aka: the boogie) from Kermit Lynch, loads of chocolate cookies (little Heather likes her chocolate chip orange Newmans cookies), sewing kit, extra lip gloss, powder for her cute little nose... Let me know if I'm forgetting anything. I just want to make sure she eats!

Biking with Wendy.

2008-06-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last month was my birthday and I'm old, very old. But, never you mind that. I still feel like a spring chicken! The important thing is that I got the best birthday present ever. I got Wendy.

I first spied Wendy more then a year ago. I saw her in the far corner of the living room in the house of my good pals, Kara and Chris. This might sound strange, but you can find bicycles there in almost every corner, even hanging from the ceiling. Chris is a serious master at restoring vintage bikes. And when I say restore, I mean, he lovingly, meticulously turns a rusting (but charming) old Raleigh into a thing just this side of amazing. He spends untold hours polishing the chrome, shining up old paint, oiling the wheels and gears and hubs. The action is so smooth, you would think you were riding one of those "retro" bikes from Anthropoligie. But unlike pretend old, it still shows all the wear and age that makes you fall in love with things vintage. If you look really close, you can make out an incredibly cute decal of a girls head and the letters W E N D Y going down the stem. So, I guess her name is Wendy.

I wanted to buy her months ago but was a little strapped. We were saving everything for our wedding and a new bike didn't seem like the necessity that finding a dress did. So I put it off thinking I would save up and get it when we were all done. And I promptly forgot about poor Wendy. But Alvaro didn't.

On the morning of my birthday, there she was in my very own living room with a tiny orange bow tied to the handlebar grip. I was so completely shocked that I jumped in the air and then immediately started crying. Later we went riding off down the street to get breakfast. And every last push of the petal was a delight.

p.s. if anyone needs a bike, shoot me an email and I'll ask Chris if he has any more like mine. I think he might have a whole garage plum FULL.

Folding, Folding, Never Stopping!

2008-05-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I am addicted! With my beloved Heather's wedding coming up in just over a month, I have shifted into high gear folding as many paper cranes as I can. And let me tell you, I never thought it would be so much fun/work! I was hoping to have at least a hundred done and I think I'm on about fifty.

There is nothing like drinking coffee in the morning and making perfect, okay, pretty good, creases in rice paper. I had to force myself take a break to shower. I just kept thinking, just one more, just one more.

Introducing the Rocket!

2008-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

So the bees have been going through some changes lately. You probably know that little Heather has been crazy busy lately. She's got chickens and a garden and her wedding is in just a few weeks! I can hardly wait. I've been shopping like mad for her dress. I can find one out there, I just know it. She has threatened to get something at Anthropologie if I don't come up with something soon. Well, she can't be serious, but best not to tempt her.

Anyways, I am now in charge of the blog as well as all the gazillion things Heather used to do before her brood of chicks took over her life and let me tell you, she did a lot. She is sorely missed around here at Beesknees HQ. On the bright side, she has promised to send me all manner of fruit and vegetable provisions once this garden of hers is harvested. I hope she planted enough melons. I wonder how you ship a melon? Bubble wrap...

The Bees West Coast news is that I FINALLY got myself a sewing machine. I've been coveting those fancy-shmancy new ones with the digital menus and all that for years but could not let myself part with those big bucks. Plus, I grew up using my mom's old Singer. She got hers for high school graduation and held onto it up until just a couple years ago when she traded it in so she could start quilting. I wanted a sewing machine without a bunch of plastic and what I got was the ROCKET! It's a 1961 Singer Rocketeer and it's just lovely. I found it on craigslist. It had been donated to one of my favorite thrift stores and the lady who was in charge, Sally, oiled it all up and it's pretty much better then new. See for yourself...