We’re heading to Martha’s Vineyard tomorrow to soak up the island and visit a few of our Monkey Bed retailers. If you’re on the Vineyard, we’ve got you covered. In Vineyard Haven, check out Rainy Day and ask Heather about anything in the store. Go score some gear or rent a surf board at The Green Room, it’s an outdoor lovers paradise. Head over to Edgartown and say hi to Danielle and Amy at Blue Fish at 11 Winter Street. Going to head out to Oak Bluffs? Stop by the General Store and say high to Mike at 24 Kennebec.
There you go, you’ve got things to see, places to go, people to meet. Get on it! Get out and enjoy the summer, hop on the ferry and soak it up, it’s easier than you think!
It’s July 2nd. I’m guessing for most of you here in the US, that signifies a certain pining for the long weekend ahead, fireworks, and a cold one in the park. While we’re excited for the July 4th
weekend also, and hey, it would be the perfect excuse to shamelessly promote Urban Blanket Bags as your perfect long weekend accessory, it’s also the day before our favorite annual event begins, Le Tour De France!
I know, I know, you just expended all the energy you have for ‘new’ sports interests on the World Cup, but now that our guys couldn’t stack up against Ghana, it’s time to tune into Le Tour! It’s this monkey’s opinion (and hope), that we’ve got an all-star year for American riders.
When I first got into following cycling, it was a pretty intimidating world with lots of names I’d never heard, technical lingo that seemed ridiculous, and short men in bright spandex. But then, I got my first glimpse of a breakaway move and it was lights out. I’m hooked. Here’s a classic Lance Armstrong video with one of his now infamous moments at 2:25 and a video of a Sandy Casar breakaway move that’s pretty jaw dropping considering those guys are already doing ~22 mph when he hits the ‘gas’ about 21 seconds into the video.
Ok, did that get your heart racing? Here’s some fun things to follow on this year’s Tour. Like every year, the route is a little different, so to give you some perspective, here’s this year’s route map. It’ll take these guys most of the month of July to complete it (you can watch live coverage starting on July 3 on Versus). One thing to make watching the Tour more understandable is to remember, this is a month long event based on the best overall time. So, there’s lots of talk about winning stages and dominating mountain sections, but it’s fastest overall time that takes the big prize.
Most of the hype this year will be around Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong. Why the drama? Last year, Contador won the Tour de France with Lance on the same team taking third place. This year, Lance has created his own team poaching a large portion of the riders from last year’s winning team. Adding do the buzz, Lance has also indicated this is his last Tour.
Besides Lance and Condator, a lot of the talk and coverage will go to British rider Mark Cavendish (a truly legendary sprint finisher who has proven just about unbeatable in the final push to the line) and the young American, Tyler Farrar, who will try again this year to crack Mark’s record of perfection. Here’s a really quick video of a Cavendish finish to give you a flavor for how insanely fast this guy can go:
There’s also going to be plenty of talk about team Saxo Bank and the Schleck brothers who hope to unseat Contador, not just in the mountains where Contador beat up on them last year, but to win the overall race (Andy Schleck came in 2nd in ‘09).
Ok, you’re almost there, you’re ready for the action to begin, now you just need an “underdog” to root for. Well I’ve got my favorite American rider and I’m hoping you’ll be rooting for him too, because I’ve got a feeling he’s going to be sneaking up on all these guys to take a spot on the podium. Christian Vande Velde is the name, and pure bad a** is his game. He’s no rookie. In fact, he was a part of 2 of Lance’s winning Tour de France teams and has plenty of accolades of his own. But in 2009, he showed what kind of toughness he’s really got. Less than 2 months before the Tour, Christian broke 7 bones (five vertebrae, a rib and his pelvis). Seven weeks later, he took 8th place in the Tour. Do I need to say more? Ok fine, I will. Even finishing the Tour is a major accomplishment with all that can go wrong in 3 weeks of intense riding. To come in top 10 is a lot of these guys dreams when they are completely healthy. Go show them what you’ve really got Christian!
Now go get outside and enjoy the long holiday weekend, but don’t forget to tape le Tour!
We boosted a car and headed up the coast. Ok fine, we rented a Sentra and buckled the “kids” in the back seat, but we headed north from SFO to our friends and rock star designers, Deviant 9 Studios, in Chico this past Friday. The visit was too short, but their hospitality has us pining for another trip. Especially if the lunches at Sierra Nevada brewery, the picnics in parks you could only find in northern california, and the distinctly not refrigerated and trucked across the country food keeps flowing! Oh, and did I mention, we pushed the ball forward on Monkey Bed’s next bag? I thought we were excited about the Urban Blanket Bag, but our new everyday bag due this winter has us tapping fingers AND toes with nervous excitement. More thanks than we know how to give to Greg, Michelle, Carrie, Wendy, and of course, Taos!
It was on to Napa where we got to hang with our old friend Clay and the wonderful Sonja, but not before Sonja gave us a behind the scenes tour of Artesa Vineyards. If you’re into design and architecture, even without the incredible single vineyard Pinot, Artesa is worth a long visit. Literally set into one of the highest hills in the area, the views inside and out at Artesa pretty much force you to stop and smell the oaky goodness.
Of course, how could any of that compare to the rocking beer-can chicken BBQ that Clay put on for us and a few friends. Life in Napa for Ollie the Bulldog seems pretty sweet! Thanks so much to Clay, Sonja and your charming family for such a relaxing evening soaking in the wine-country life.
It was a quick jaunt from Napa to check out Sonoma where I’m pretty sure Heather Margolis fell in love with that perfect combination of places like Fremont Diner (looks like a shack, tastes like a 5-star southern ho-down) and Buena Vista Vineyard where we scored a bottle of their ‘05 Pinot. Which reminds me, we found use #467 for the Urban Blanket Bag…wrapping your wine country purchase for the long trip back to bean-town!
Last stop, back to San Fran for a dinner with our friend Eileen from the good old days at RCA Records and her amazing better half, Mario. Once again, we were treated to an incredible and locally grown meal at Urban Tavern but it was nothing compared with getting to catch up with old friends! We boarded the red-eye for Boston Monday night already comparing calendars in the hopes of finding time for our next trip west. See you soon Northern Cali friends!
And since WordPress doesn’t want to cooperate with putting pictures inside paragraphs today, here’s a few shots from the long weekend!
The American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan was created to showcase traditional folk art as well as contemporary works from self taught artists from around the world. Like so many places in NYC though, it’s more than it seems! Of course they have constantly updated exhibitions, but they are also a passionate group offering lots of learning opportunities and special live events. One of my favorites? Stop by the Columbus Ave and 66th Street location any Wednesday at noon and you’ll be treated to some free live guitar from jazz musician Bill Wurtzel.
What’s with the American Folk Art coverage, monkeys? Well, of all the neighborhoods to have our first display window, NYC at Columbus Ave and 66th Street at the American Folk Art Museum store near Central Park was just something we dreamed about a few months ago! Yesterday though, we set up the window and even sold a couple bags on the spot! If you’re in Manhattan and stop by the American Folk Art museum location on Columbus and 66th, take a picture in front of the window, we’ll post it here and on our facebook page!
Thanks so much to the generous and passionate people at the American Folk Art museum for their help and support! Now get outside to central park and put the urban grind out of your mind for a few hours NYC friends!
Hey overworked Washington DC and Baltimore people, it’s Memorial Day. Summer is here! I think it’s time to get out of town for the weekend. Consider this your permission slip. Now hop in the car, and head 90 miles west to Shepherdstown, WV and check out the oldest town in West Virginia, stroll German Street, and look out for events going on all summer.
May is National Bike Month, but we at Monkey Bed think biking to work is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your community all year. REI asked the other day on their blog, Have You Tried Bike Commuting?, wondering what’s preventing 98.4 percent of Americans from commuting by bike. We won’t drone on here with all the environmental, health, and economic issues it helps address, but lets all nod our heads and acknowledge they are huge before we jump right in to shamelessly bribing you to bike to work.
That’s right, we have a bribe to offer bike commuters! We’ll be developing the next Monkey Bed product this summer on the streets of the northeast and we need your help. We’re looking for people in New England or the Tri-state area who commute to work on their bike, or even bike regularly on the weekends. If you’re already at it, reach out to us by e-mail, by leaving a comment, by tagging a Tweet with #bikecommuter, or leaving a comment on our Facebook page. We’ll get you all the details separately, but you’ll be asked over the summer for things like feedback on ideas and help testing prototypes.
In exchange you’ll get one free final product that you helped develop and a couple coupon codes for friends!
Space is limited, so reach out soon. For those of you wondering if now is the time to give bike commuting a try, it is. Start today and then e-mail, comment, tweet, or facebook us to be included in our small bunch of VIP Monkeys!
Thanks to everyone whose already ordered Urban Blanket Bags our first week out. You’re a bunch of really special monkeys! We’re also so fortunate to be working with some amazing retailers already.
Reports from Tarrytown New York and one of our great retailers, Whimsies Incognito, seem to indicate there are already several people strutting their stuff in the park with some Monkey Bed gear! Whimsies is a great boutique that is, in their own words:
“A fun place somewhere between a gift shop and a gallery.
At Whimsies, it’s not just shopping, it’s retail therapy.”
Stop in and say hi to Jackie at 35 South Broadway in Tarrytown, NY, she loves what she does and it shows in the fun selection and the total experience you’ll find shopping at Whimsies Incognito.
Oh, and if you do find yourself in Tarrytown, perhaps looking for a boost, you must check out Coffee Labs at 7 Main Street for some of the best locally roasted coffee we’ve had in a while!
A crisp beautiful day here in Boston just in time for Mother’s Day and Urban Blanket Bags to go on sale. It’s been a great winter developing the bags with amazing feedback from our community. Thanks so much for the early support and coverage from Urban Sherp and Daily Candy.
“Newton-based design outfit Monkey Bed debuts its line of nylon city-adventure satchels, each containing a water-resistant fleece blanket with room for four.”
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“As fellow Bostonians, we know that when you catch a glimpse of sunshine, you’ve got to get out and take advantage of it.”
We’re going to have a great summer outside, hope you’ll join us!
If you’re here in bean-town, I hope you got out to check out some of this year’s Boston Marathon. The weather couldn’t have been better for a run! Course records were broken and the crowds were out in force to show their support. As with every year, spectators seemed to divide into two camps…the inspired to run next year crowd, and the “not in a million years would I run 26.2 miles” crowd. Where do you fit? Anyone quietly commit themselves to be running it next year?
Heading to Martha’s Vineyard tomorrow to visit a few hot summer shopping spots. What, I needed a better excuse to post this picture of the bay in Menemsha? It’s my favorite spot for some fresh shuckums after all. What’s your favorite summer vacation spot?
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outdoor lovers paradise. Head over to Edgartown and say hi to Danielle and Amy at Blue Fish at 11 Winter Street. Going to head out to Oak Bluffs? Stop by the General Store and say high to Mike at 24 Kennebec.
