Felt Club/Nickel Diner

Really these two deserve their own posts but I enjoyed them back to back so you can too!

First rule of Felt Club is that you talk about Felt Club.

Well, it seems that everyone important was talking about Felt Club before the event. I didn't feel the need to toss my two cents in before. But, now that its over, I'm happy to chatter.

Since most of the outlying areas of L.A. seem to be burning, creating this creepy orange-grey look to the sky, there was no one on the road. We left the house late, circled for parking4 times, bought bagels and then headed over to Felt Club. My thinking was that I didn't want to stand outside for an hour for a swag bag so I might as well just get there on time and saunter in. Yeah. Right. I got there at about 10:30 am (opening was 11am). Right when we jumped in line I saw a blue car that I was about to point out to Todd that looked like Regina's. Turned out, it was Regina's! She had the same plan I did...get there at 11am. Yeah, traffic from the side of the city she was coming from was just as light and she got there hella early as well. And we all ended up with a swag bags. Woo!

Ok, onto the show...

Thankfully it was at the Shrine this year. And I say thankfully because the last Felt Club event I attended was in a venue so small that the Fire Department was dispatched. (Hey! Felt Club! Over here! How about Santa Monica Civic next year? Just an idea.)

By getting there early, we actually saw all the vendors and their merchandise. As the day wore on, we literally made our purchases and ran as it was getting more and more crowded. I mean really crowded, push-through-people crowded, hey-I'd-like-to-look-at-that crowded. Anyone who questions the power of craft right now, need look no further than Felt Club. Crazy crowded. But, I would do it again, in a heartbeat. Yup the vendors were that strong.

Here are my favorites...

Ex Libris: Seriously brilliant. He takes old books and turns them into journals. He even keeps the pages and tosses them in with the blank pages. And, the dude was nice. Regina snagged my absolute favorite...a book about lawns. That's ok. I grabbed Dehydration Made Simple. I was happy to see that although a few of us were just buying one or two, there were people buying ten to twelve at a time. I hope he sold out of his entire stock yesterday.

My Imaginary Boyfriend: She has these log pillows and even kits to make the log pillows. And, seriously, the cutest robots EVER. Freakin' brilliant. I saw one little girl holding her robot like a doll after her mom bought it for her. That little girl couldn't have looked any happier with her robot. It was awesome. If I ever do get my own house, you are all buying me log pillows. I want a stack of them. I'm not kidding. And really, that's the only reason I didn't buy the kits myself. I couldn't stand the thought of them just sitting sadly waiting for a place to be put.

Biggs & Featherbelle: So I got bath salts & soap & Todd got lip balm. Todd's working in Albuquerque today so I can't ask him to comment on the lip balm, but Oh. Mi. Gawd. I love the bath salts. I have the Muscle Soak. Not only does it smell yummy but it is amazingly relaxing. I know, I know, baths are relaxing in general. But this stuff is way better than what you're buying in the stores. Once I run out I either have to mail order, go to some yoga place in Hollywood or call Twin Cities Green to make sure that they really are carrying everything from Re-gifts and send Todd over to dreaded Uptown to pick up some more. Hmmmmm....

I Melt with You: Sadly, only their candles are up on their site. (Not that there's anything wrong with their candles, they just have so much more.) I picked up the yummiest smelling body balm ever, Mint Mango Tea. I don't know what it was about this scent but everyone in our group agreed that it was the best ever. They also had a clean laundry scent that made for the best candle ever. And, like all of the othe vendors I mention above (even if I don't say it in the individual write-up), they were just so nice and excited to talk about their product. And, for me, that's what makes shopping and gift buying fun.

With our purchases and swag bags in tow we headed over to Nickel Diner. Horray! I finally made it! I'll be honest, I'm not sure what I liked more...the food or the vibe. We'll start with food and you can decide later.

The menu is fabulous. There were at least six things I wanted to order, and that's really saying something. Three of the sandwiches looked good, the French toast was tempting...hey, I'm making myself hungry again. Anyways, I settled by trading half of my sandwich so I could try two different things. Oddly, I loved both. Usually, I'm all smug that I ordered better. Yeah, wasn't so sure. And the french fries are worth the tightness of my waistband today. And the desserts.... So, she left the desert tray right in our field of vision. Not cool. We kept staring at it. Wondering what was on the side we couldn't see. Finally, she saw our drool and brought it over and introduced us. We were all in love. Homemade pop tarts, ding dongs, red velvet cake, chocolate cake, the list goes on and on. Everything we ordered was great.

The vibe was cool and I don't mean in an eastside hipster sort of way, which was going on as well. I mean the owner works the door and greets her clients like friends....completely old skool. In my opinion, that intimacy has been lost in restaurants today. It was incredible to see it back. She knew her regulars, greeted them immediately, seated the new kids, made sure everyone had what they needed, cleared a table because the busboy was busy...it was a very cool ballet to watch.

I don't spend as much time as I used to in Downtown but I can tell you that I'll be back to Nickel Diner. There are too many things on that menu I need to try and maybe one day I'll be greeted at the door.