NOFOmation Winter 2010

 

 

Happy New Year from all of us at NOFO, and thank you for shopping and dining with us in 2009. We were so pleased to have your support during the Christmas season and to hear your positive comments about our commitment to and our selection of products made close to home. We shall continue to search out and to feature the goods of Tarheel entrepreneurs, North Carolina food products and things made in the South. The recent economic unpleasantness has brought us all back to home base. Thankfully, for North Carolinians, the base is bountiful and folks are happy to be home.

 

 

Ode to Alice
Alice Wilson is retiring from NOFO. Alice and I worked together at Simple Pleasures and have been together at NOFO since 2001. We've enjoyed almost every minute of our side-by-side 30 years, and neither of us can believe we've grown this old.

Alice has been NOFO's face, our "artist in residence", our coffee-tea guru, and sometimes our conscience. She was recycling, reusing, repurposing and reclaiming things long before it was trendy, mainstream and necessary.

Alice's pretty head is always full of dancing colors and swirling images with the appropriate background music. She does not necessarily see things as they are, but as the could be. . . like maybe if you added pompom fringe or painted it blue or maybe paired it with a plastic gnome.

She's a classic. . . poised, smart, graceful and with a wonderful sense of humor. She has her own wacky style. She's part 50's - 60's Seventeen Magazine and part hippie flower child, with a touch of Wayne County for interest. She's the girl everyone wants to look like and everyone wants to be.

The most feminine soul I've ever known, Alice loves all things beautiful, is never without her tube of lipstick, her vintage handkerchief or her water bottle. She's sweet, compassionate, sensitive, caring and thoughtful and a staunch defender of what's right in the world.

Alice loves: spinach, singing, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, graffiti, birds, carrots, music, shoes, clogging, snow, donkeys and burros, cats, Tings, her toothbrush, stars, glitter, salmon, VW's the Obamas, peace, aprons, chickens, a good broom, long walks, small children, the occasional dark beer, other people's hair, Anthropologie. . . and Braxton. I wish for her long days filled with the things she loves and all that she can conjure up.

With her enamel mug full of Yorkshire Gold tea, and with our gratitude and our love, we send her out into the world to reclaim, recycle and repurpose herself. She leaves us a desk drawer full of glitter and glue sticks, an empty pair of Chucks, her patchouli scented aprons, and the gift of teaching us to see the hidden beauty and possibilities in all things.

I wish her Ocracoke, Jean Martin

Ongoing Goings-On
We've the prettiest way to keep up with all your goings-on. Hang our antiqued tin perpetual calendar. Set the month and dates with colorful glass magnets that'll hold notes of what you're supposed to do and where you've promised to be. Use the beautiful holiday and reminder magnets for the month's special occasions and appointments. You'll not have to purchase a new calendar every year or hide it from view. This one's pretty enough for all to see.

 

 

Cupid's Calling
There are many ways to say "I love you", and NOFO's full of both lovely and fun ways to express your feelings. Fill Fiesta's red heart-shaped bowl with chocolates or present several heart bowls for setting the Valentine's table. Give your sweetheart a pewter Blessing Bowl with its red glass heart and message scroll.

treat your one and only to a pretty Thea gown or robe, or elegant Shelley Kyle powder puffs and perfumes. Present bubbly bath products, sweet smelling soap and lotion.

We have plush bears with tags that read "I can't bear to be without you", and pretty pots of angel vine growing around a twig heart.

Choose the finest chocolates from Raleigh's WR, Moonstruck, Bliss, Frans or Godiva and fill a ballotin or heart shaped box. We've a wonderful selection of champagne and wine, beautiful jewelry, and such. . .

If you can't make up your mind, let us combine all your choices in a basket. It is something we love to do.

 

After Inventory Sale
At NOFO, January is a month for housekeeping. We're sweeping up glitter and fake snow, putting away the display trees, taking down the holiday garland and lights and counting everything from floor to ceiling. 

We find things in January. . . the last one of this, a mix-matched set of that. . . and we put these treasures all together and on sale. There are some great bargains, some thongs we hate to part with and some good stuff for your gift closet.

 

 

Hair Advisory
A friend, who has long suffered from hair deficiency, dropped by to wish us a Happy Holiday. He was wearing a big smile, a sun visor and hair! It made our day and his.

Wanting to share in the fun, we snurked around and found these fabulously tacky sun visors with hair attached. the black visors are available with blonde, brown, and gray hair for men, women, and children.

They are not only fun, they'll help keep those hairless heads warm this winter.

 

  

Get Rid of the Gray
Winter's so dull and dreary. Adding color to your surroundings can lift your spirits and improve your outlook. 

Boldly announce your territory with a gaily painted tin letter. Or add bright print covered napkin boxes to your bar, your kitchen counter or your table for a jolt of color.

Choose a new lamp and shade from Slip. These affordable lamps will brighten any space.

Add color to your wardrobe with pretty scarves and gloves, or choose one of the SweetTea's long sleeved t-shirts with a sassy saying.

Who says winter has to be dull and gray?
 

 

A Robe for His Royalness
There are times when one wishes to cover more than one's highnie. Recognizing this, the folks who make the world's best boxer shorts decided to make a robe.

Available for men in s/m and l/xl, the robe's made from 400 count pima cotton just like the boxers. Perfectly styled in white with navy trim, it's a classic. Just like his royalness.

 

 

Plates with Punch
Back when, we had lots of mixed up Fiestaware colored plates and serving pieces. For everyday meals, we chose random place settings. But for special occasions, holidays, or on a whim, we would set a color themed table. We may have chosen blues and greens to match a table cloth, or perhaps, we chose to set a Valentine's Day table using reds, pinks, purples. 

It was fun and simple to do because we had the basics on hand. Start a collection today and you can join in the fun of easily setting the mood for a family meal, a holiday dinner or a special party.

NOFO is an open stock Fiestaware dealer. We can order any piece you choose in any of Fiesta's 15 colors.

 

 

From Peonies to Print
We first met Jean Coleman when She She Me was our 5 Points neighbor. She'd drop by when visiting her daughter, Katie, She She Me's creator.

Jean's from Washington, NC (Little Washington to Tarheels) where she had a thriving flower business and tended her two acre garden all by herself.

From plowing the soil, planting the seeds and weeding the rows, Jean learned more than horticulture. She grew alongside her flowers, and she tells her very own personal story in her new book, I Met Him in My Overalls.

We carry Jean's book at NOFO @ the Pig and we're hosting a signing so that NOFOlks can meet and talk with her about her experience. Check out event calendar for dates and times.

 

Three Generations of Dips
We've been a fan of Mama Dips for years. We love eating at her Kitchen, often use her recipes from her two cookbooks, and sell her BBQ sauce, Poppy Seed Dressing and her Cornbread Mix.

We've recently gotten to know her daughter, Annette, nicknamed Neecy. Annette wrote Mama's Dips cookbooks; and has written The Recipe about her family and it's recipe for success. It's an interesting and worthwhile read. Annette also produces Sweet Neecy's Cake Mixes, which you will find our market.

Tonya Council is Mama Dips granddaughter, and Spring's daughter. This industrious young lady works full time at the restaurant and makes the most delicious cookies.

These three beautiful strong Council women are proof that the Councils' recipe for living life works. Check our event calendar for their tastings and signings.

 

Let Them Eat More Cake
We've carried Caroline's Cakes for years. Folks clamor for her 7 layer Caramel and Southern Chocolate, her 4 layer Montana Gold and Coconut Cloud cakes. Caroline is now able to ship us her 4 layer Red Velvet and Carrot cakes with cream cheese icing. Try Red Velvet for Valentine's Day and Carrot for your Easter luncheon, if you can wait that long.

 

Breakfast with Santa
Our breakfast with Santa, Elfie, and the Snow Princess was as much fun for the adults as it was for the children. Brady, Katherine and West were the most believable characters!

David prepared a delicious breakfast and the children ate and spent time coloring, talking, with each other and asking very hard questions of our three special guests.

We raised some money to help Wee Care purchase books for the ten children in their program. Brady dressed as Santa, paid the Wee Care kids' classroom a surprise visit the week before Christmas.

We can't wait to host this event again next year.

Check out the pictures of all the fun that was had by all at http://picasaweb.google.com/nofomarketcafe

 

 

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