Hey all you 5 people out there who even know about this site. Just a quick note to let you know that both me and my wife have been through a kidney transplant. She gave and I received. It’s been 4 weeks and we’re not quite back at work full time yet, but we’re working on it. That said, things are going well and we both get a bit better every day.  Now about  the store. In the last few weeks we’ve had new shipments of LUG, Bauxo and some Little Mismatched. So if you’re looking for any of those, come on down. We’re about to order our fall stuff soon, so look out in the next few weeks for more new stuff to arrive. Also, we’ve put our sale stuff on 50% for the next little while. If you’re looking for some good deals, there’s definitely some to be had. All this and great coffee. What more do you need? I mean, other than food,  shelter, water, and a little love once in a while.

If you read the title, you’ve pretty much read it all. A year ago, we began this little venture. It would be awesome to say that we’ve come so far and learned so much, but the reality is we’re just a clueless as we were when we started. Something to be said for our inability to retain the important information. If it burns, that means it’s hot, which also means don’t touch. Oh, how will we remember it all.

But enough with the pleasantries. Let’s get down to business. One year. First year. What’s that? Congratulations? Well, thank you, but really if you’re going to congratulate anyone, it should be yourself. And not just because you’ve been able to stomach all I attempted to write, but because it’s you and your faithful patronage that have kept us going. So in a way to say thanks, we’re throwing a party. I’ve placed the invite on the home page. All you have to do is click on the image for the info, but if that seems like too much trouble, here it is.

Friday night, June 6, from 7-9 and all day Saturday, June 7th. We’ll have stuff on sale, there’ll be some give aways, and according to our son, the most important thing of all is, there will be cake. So come on down. We’d love to see you or at least someone who looks like you.

Oh, woe is us. Can you believe the weather. Can you believe we’re still talking endlessly about it?

“How about that weather?”

“Oh, man. Tell me about it.”

“Seriously?”

“No, I was just trying to make conversation.”

And that’s what we do here at the Wired Cup, or at least try to do. The endless art of making it all up. Except for today. Today we’re staring out our window into what appears to be a wind whipped wasteland. Snow, oh so much of it, piled high along the recently bare concrete, while more still falls. The odd figure, clothing held tight against the elements, stumbles past, looking for sure footing. It would appear that the street just outside our front door has made some kind of deal with the wind and is currently accepting the entire neighborhood’s snow accumulation.

So if you’re out and about today and happen to stumble down our street, please come in and say “hi”. We’d love to see and hear from someone. Someone, that is, other than our courageous mail person. If you did come it you’d be the first to see the cool new Monkey Jar bags we just received from our southern Albertan friends in Lethbridge (again, hurray for mail), and see that we just filled our Kerstin’s Chocolate display with all new goodies. That or you could join us as we sort through our 2007 invoices and receipts and help us do our taxes.

Wow, it’s been quite a week for deliveries here at the Wired Cup. We received shipments from SIGG (great new water bottles now in stock), Lug (a nice selection from the new spring line), Eugene Cloutier (an awesome collection of Laurentian Chief baby moccasins and toddler wraparound slippers and a few large men’s slippers), Nanna bags (super cool bags using vintage denim and twill fabrics, handmade in Vancouver), and some men’s and boy’s socks from Little MisMatched. We’re also hoping to make room for some new jewelry we’ve ordered, so all existing jewelry (except for consignment) is 30% off until Friday, April 4th.  

Wow, has it been a month since I last wrote in this here blog? I know you’ve been checking daily, waiting with keen anticipation for the next smarmy dose of nothing. Well, here it is. But now where to? Are you feeling that heartfelt disappointment, like when you look around your living room an hour after sunrise Christmas morning, all torn paper, bent bows and broken plastic that were once well intended gifts. Or is there a glimmer of hope, that maybe you might stumble upon something worth reading. Keeping reaching for the stars, I say. And while you’re stretching out your arms, you might notice that they need some adornment.So add a few tasteful dollops of jewelry to those barren wrists. We’ve just placed an order for some new Bauxo and I’ve got a hankering that it will look better on you than on our shelves. We’re also expecting a new order of SIGG bottles to arrive next week and in the coming days we should see some more booties from Laurentian Chief from Quebec. Speaking of Quebec, we’ve brought in some cool wall graphics from Montreal company AD•ZIF (check out their website at www.adzif.ca). The designs are by Edmonton resident Valery Goulet of Valery designwrks. We’ve only got a few, so check them out before they’re gone. Since we last spoke we got in a partial order from Canadian importer Muti. Some neat things for the house and home (more, hopefully to come later).All is not for the eyes though. We just received a shipment of Smencils — scented pencils made from 100% recycled newspaper. A fun gift for those who feel the desire to sniff while they write. 

Wow, the other day I saw something, something strange. I know I wasn’t the only one who saw this thing, for I heard others talking. I believe they called it the ‘Sun’, and this thing, the sun, felt strange. It was something I hadn’t felt in a long time and it took me a while to recognize what was happening to me. No longer did I quake and shiver in my ten layers of heavy clothing. Instead, I was encouraged by this heated mass of light to remove my coat — gasp! Thankfully and to the relief of all those around me, the stripping ended there.

But in my newly enlightened state, my wife and I felt inspired. And what does one do with such a feeling? Why, they go to the Alberta Gift show where they wander for hours on end looking for something, anything different and cool. You’d think that wouldn’t be too hard in such a place, but you’d be surprised. After some time we did spot some righteous items, right next to the booth stocked to the gills with plastic, furry kittens. If all goes well, we’ll even be bringing in some of those items (sadly,the plastic kittens didn’t make the cut).

In the meantime, we’re still waiting for our order of the new Lug bags (we still have some super cool Lug messanger bags in various colours). We also got our order of Littlemissmatched. Let the sock wars begin! And on the weekend we were paid a visit from the super cool Jen Rourke from Monkey Jar in Lethbridge. Jen creates amazing hand crafted leather purses and wallets and we’ve got a few real cool pieces (if my wife has anything to do with it they’ll end up on her shoulder). If we can figure out how to use our camera, we’ll load some pics this week.

My wife has told me to add to the blog, so here it is, the latest entry. We’re doing some retooling in the store this week in anticipation of our incoming spring stock. Our Mudpuppy stuff came in so there’s lots of great kid’s gifts: some new magnet dolls, puzzels and journals. What else do you need, I mean other than food, water and shelter.

We’re also doing the retooling to keep moving. I’m pretty sure that if we stop for too long we might freeze. At least outside. Here, in the store, it’s toasty warm. Warm enough to remove that excess layer of fabric and forget about the elements. And let’s not forget that nothing staves away the cold like a swig of a hot beverage — that or a roaring fire. But sadly you won’t find a fire here, unless you start one, which I wouldn’t recommend as they tend to get quite hot and extremely dangerous. One thing you will find here is some new handmade cards by Frugal Spendthrift using some fantastic vintage text and images, very cool. Also new are some original Valentine cards and funky prints by Valerydesign works. Check out her website at valerydesignwrks.ca

And when I say post, I’m not talking fence here. We’re talking events. Like what’s happening down the way at Edmonton’s coolest store. We’ve got some of the same old favorites — another shipment of SIGG water bottles from Switzerland is on it’s way, as well as new Mudpuppy and Little Missmatched — and we’ve got some new cool things that would look better in your house than our store. So make your way out of the cold and take a look around.

Wow! The wait is finally over. Put away those count down calendars and jump for joy. The Wired Cup finally has a blog page! Just give me a minute here. I need to compose myself, you know, grab a breath. So… what now?