Love is in the air!

Valentine's Day is approaching (two weeks)! Send your sweetheart to The Boulevard this year to pick up some reasonably priced handmade bling! As you may know, we have over 13 jewelry vendors here. One of our longtime vendors LB Lee (see picture) just brought in lots of new jewelry with pieces she acquired on a recent trip to Vietnam and Singapore. She has pendants with shards of porcelain dating back to the Ming Dynasty. All of her jewelry is made by hand with special attention to detail. Make sure to put this on your Valentine wish list. Stay tuned for more items to add to the list!

-XOXO Shop Girl

Who says I don't NEED jewelry?

One thing I keep hearing over and over again these days is the statement "I don't really NEED it". True, jewelry, art, gifts for your home or your pet are not essential to your physical need to survive. What about your need to feel good? I know how I feel in a new a pair of earrings, or how I feel when I give a special gift to a friend for no reason. These are the little things we need to embrace to get our hearts through tough times and big changes! I'm personally buying some specialty treats for my dog today. Does he need them? No. Will it make us both happy? YES! You have my permission to treat yourself to a little retail therapy. We all need it!

-XOXO Shop Girl

Gallery Crawl, be a regular...

Tonight's the night! Yep, its Gallery Crawl again. People often wonder if NoDa even has Gallery Crawl during the winter months and the answer is YES. I know the temperature is going to drop this evening, so make The Boulevard your first stop and grab a new hat, gloves, and a scarf!

I think a lot of folks are under the impression that if you've been to one crawl you seen everything. This is just not true! Vendors here are always adding new merchandise prior to the crawls (check out new Valentine's bottles from KayDeeKay, see pic), Lark and Key rotates artists frequently, as does Green Rice Gallery. There's always something to see and plenty of good places to eat in the neighborhood. (A Boulevard favorite: Cabo Fish Taco). Make yourself a regular starting tonight! Come by The Boulevard and meet the Shop Girls. Don't leave us hanging though, you have stop by for the next crawl too.

Let's keep NoDa's commitment to the arts strong and unique during 2009!

-XOXO Shop Girl

Resolutions and Winter hours

Happy New Year from The Boulevard! All the girls at the shop hope your holidays were relaxing and full of cheer. Have you made a long list of resolutions yet? I'm still scribbling down a few. In 2009 I plan to not forget to send my birthday cards to my friends (of course there is a never ending supply of good ones here, see picture). I will also continue my quest to support the local artists, local business owners, and local economy as much as possible. And always bring my re-usable bags to the grocery store!

Just a couple of notes for you loyal blog followers:

The Boulevard is now operating with Winter business hours as follows:

Wednesday through Saturday 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Sundays 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. We will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.

This will soon be updated on our website, please check our calendar of events for gallery crawl nights and other special nights. http://www.blvdnoda.com/

Check out this shop on Etsy and get nice grocery totes while supporting a small business: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5364229

-XOXO Shop Girl