Happy Household Goods Hunting
"Candles" provide atmosphere like you wouldn't believe in this photo by Seattlest Flickr Pool member ~wesa~
Thirty dollars for a candle? Clearly, Archipelago candles do something very special, like fireworks on the Fourth of July. We turned a few over but all they did was promise the sophistication of the Amalfi coast, the charm of Charleston, or the money of Dubai. Further down, Tyler’s line of candles ($20) promised Celebrity or Cowboys. Cowboy, we determined after sniffing, smelled like leather. We’ll take Celebrity and Cowboy.
We liked the red pepper-shaped candle ($20) that hung out on a front table; it did not have a scent. Near it were other some unscented goods. We liked the kitchen towels buzzing with bees and the lemonade coolers ($135), in either yellow or pink. The lemonade ($11) came in only yellow.
From among the soap half, we picked out The Three Little Pigs ($23), removing them from Gianna Rose Atelier’s dog-infested line of soaps, and carried them a down a few shops. At Annie’s Affordable Art (2212 NW Market Street), we found out that a poster of Mr. Grumpy Pants (the thinker on a toilet, hence the grumpiness) cost $150 while President Obama retailed for only $20-$40. We decidedly liked the $28 Dracula movie poster. That we chose Bela Lugosi over the other two says something about our taste in men.
We had our choice of relaxation/stop smoking methods: we could either go Cold Turkey, the One-step Program, which provided a squeezable rubber turkey, or take up the Zen Tea Box, which provided everything we needed for Zen-like tea experience in a three-inch square box. And either was only $9! Much cheaper than Nicorette or yoga classes. Or, if we were still too cheap for the Cold Turkey route, we could get a glitter bouncy ball ($4.50) and take out our frustrations throwing it at a wall. Moving on.
Down the street, the wooden Norwegian alphabet blocks in the window of La Tienda (2050 NW Market Street) drew us in to investigate. We browsed through the store, which proudly identified the country of origin and even sometimes the artist of the glass, ceramics, and clothes on the price tags. How was it, we wondered, that the Kenyan salad tongs were $12 and the carved wooden scoops (looked perfect for rice) were $14? The salad tongs were two for a lesser price and only slightly smaller, but we feared that even the slightest of salad eaters would have to spoon twelve times before getting enough salad. We liked, though, the $84 cast-iron pine needle-ridden teapot from Japan, as well as the lidded eggplant-shaped tea cups ($11 each). We could have an eggplant in black, brown, beige, or eggplant.
And there they were: the alphabet blocks ($36). We (excuse us, a child) could study Arabic, English, Spanish, and Braille with these carved and colorful blocks in retro 19th century style. We (excuse us, some child we know) had to have them. A lovely gift, should any of our friends expect a child any year soon. We could wrap them in the cute goldfish-littered wrapping paper ($3) that hung out by the front counter. It was perfect. Now we were prepared for a birth or birthday with a gift. Now we did not have an excuse when that occasion arose to go shopping.
