11th anniversary party at Pomegranate

How did it slip by so fast? Tomorrow we're celebrating eleven years in business at our slightly off the beaten path location. It's been a great ride at our little Pomegranate shop: started on a shoestring (still on a shoestring) and learning as we went along (that never stops). Still having fun after all these years, and we still have our dear Mollie (VP of PR, aka Shop Dog Extraordinaire), even though she's limpy and lumpy (but so are we). Come see us tomorrow, Saturday, June 27 from 12-6! We'll be serving up treats, tidbits, and libations; giving out door prizes and offering specials for the day. And with a purchase of $15 or more, we'll give you one of our most popular french soaps: a round bar of verbena, fresh from Provence.

Our new pétanque/bocci court is ready for play! We plan to christen it tomorrow -- only problem is, we don't have enough sets of boules for general play... so if you have some, please bring them along. Bring your own pastis, too... You know where we are, right? Maybe not: part of the charm (and problem) of the place is our location. Even locals still tell us they never knew it existed, but it's an interesting bit of Bend history, tucked in under the pine trees and surrounded by big box stores. Just off 3rd Street, across from the back end of Macy's, on your way to Sun Mountain Family Fun Center. It's going to be a lovely day; stop by for a little pique-nique and browsing.

"...and STAY out!" [the travails of a shop dog]

If you've been in our shop, you probably know our dog Mollie. She's still our hard-working, loyal, loving girl after ten years. She adores babies, kids, pinecones, her cozy bed, cookies, and ropes to tug on. She's calm and sweet and happy.

But she hates mink oil. There's some pherome in it that drives her crazy, and if you've used it to oil your boots, she'll bark and bark and bark (in this piercing, insistent way) until she drives you out of the shop (is it her springer or border collie genes coming out?). There was a guy in the other day who set her off (it also might have had something to do with the rather large camera he had dangling off his waist), and as he turned to go down our little pathway, he said to her, "Fine! I'm leaving!"

Way to go on the customer service, Mollie.

And this is why we love Bella Notte bedding...

This is Mollie, our V.P. of PR, lounging at home. She loves our bed, made or not. The satin and silk/cotton pillows are her faves, and the linen toile duvet is very cozy.

Thankfully, it's all Bella Notte, and it's all washable, even the silk velvets. I love this company; they just keep coming up with fabulous new fabrics and looks. All made in the US, all washable, all made to mix and match, whether you want a simple, modern look or layered romantic feel.

Really excited about their two new fabrics coming soon , as well as an inspiration book which you can look through for ideas. Prices? Way more than the bed-in-a-bag stuff you get at big boxes, but waaay less than having it custom done or going with one of the European bedding lines. Here are a couple of new bedding looks, from simple to luxe.








Come see us at Pomegranate if you're in the market for well-made, beautiful bedding that will last.

Dog Café Society

Last night after hours we started work on our downtown Halloween windows (I know many stores have already put out Halloween stuff, but after all these years, I still cannot start on the seasons or holidays too early). It's kind of a time-consuming process, so we got the basics done on it, and managed to turned the entire store upside down. It's chaos in there, but I love playing around with new windows.

Anyhow, about halfway through, I started whining about how nice it would be to have a glass of wine while we worked. We considered the options: try to get a glass to go from one of the restaurants nearby. Nope. Illegal and they probably won't do it. Buy a bottle and open it in the store while we work. With no dinner, we might end up passing out in the window and becoming sleeping mannequins. Third option: close up shop, leave the mess for the next day, and hop down to Merenda to that nice little table outside, with Mollie the shop dog in tow. It took us about two seconds to drop our hammers, fashion a leash out of ribbon, and close up shop.

What a grand idea it was, too. Robert ordered a glass of very nice white wine from the Piemonte region of Italy; I got a lovely, pearish sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. Mollie got her very own bowl of fresh water from Oregon, and lots of attention. It was her first outing to a restaurant, and she loved it. Until last night, I had forgotten that you can bring your dog with you to some of the restaurants in town, as long as you're outside. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we were soooo happy and relaxed. After the requisite risotto fritters and sharing a salad, Roberto ordered a smoked bacon pizza (I have one word for it: OMG!) and I had a fabulous pasta (can't remember the name) that was like a tiny ravioli, stuffed with ground pork – very tender, in this wonderful sauce and covered with farmer's market mushrooms (I love all the chanterelles, maitakes, shitakes available now). I was in heaven. Didn't even have room for dessert. Mollie put on her best begging face (wish I had had the camera with me) and had a great time watching everybody walk by. She was almost as good as those quintessential French dogs who sit at cafés with their owners every day. By the way, kudos to the wait staff at Merenda; the two that were assigned to our little outside area really knew the menu and really knew their wines (the guy serving the couple behind us was like a total wine geek; fun to listen to him).

Earlier in the day, I met a woman in the shop who was in Bend for a job interview, visiting from a central California town. "You are SO lucky to live in this beautiful place!" she said, and indeed we are.

It's going to be lovely and warm for the next week or so, so treat yourself to some outside dining, bring Fifi if you're headed for a sidewalk table, and forget all your cares for an evening. It's one of the rewards of living here.

Letterpress Love

Just got finished with a two-day class on letterpress printing, and I feel like a schoolkid proudly rushing through the door with a clay turtle that looks more like an aardvark. Wheeee! Some time ago (four years? five years?) Robert bought for me an itty bitty table top press with all the little fonts and spacers and engravings and doodads (a whole new vocabulary; that word not part of it), and it's been sitting in a closet because we never got around to learning how to use it. It's been one of my little dreams to be able to print letterpress cards for our shops. I just love paper, love the look and feel of hand-printed cards and love love love typography.

Through the Art Station, I found out about the beginning letterpress class offered at Atelier 6000 here in Bend (very cool new space if you haven't discovered it yet), and couldn't be happier. Of course, I am still at the beginning level, where one only gets a glimpse of how very much more there is to learn, but did manage to print out my first project, a business card for our V.P. of PR, Mollie. It's very simple and doesn't look like much, but I am quite pleased with myself nevertheless. Tonight, I am the princess of printing. Yeah, right. We still have a lot to figure out (including finding a few missing parts for our press) and a whole lot to learn, but hope to be doing some tiny projects at some point in the near future.

I have a whole new respect for the letterpress process: it's unbelievably labor-intensive and detail-driven. It requires huge cabinets and rows and rows of drawers/cases filled with heavy lead type. The presses (mine not quite included because it's so dinky) are heavy and cumbersome. And, you have to have good eyesight (augmented by a magnifier) and good small motor skills. Oh yes, you also have to be able to read backwards and upside down. Yet, when the press makes that first satisfying click into position, and you pull out your freshly inked print, there's joy and happiness at seeing your little creation. I highly recommend it if you are interested in the art of printing: there are more classes and workshops available at Atelier 6000.

And if you're lucky, Mollie will give you one of her new cards when you visit Pomegranate at our River Mall Avenue location.