May 17 2012

Green Faire

ION

Five MORE reasons to go to the Green Faire

Urban Oaks Farm – New Britain, CT

This Saturday, May 19!

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1. They spelled faire with an “E”.

Ohhh they fancy.  I don’t think this is a direct call to action, but it’s certainly an indirect invitation to come dressed in your renaissance garb.

might as well.

Break out the chain link armor, swords and floral head pieces.  It’s time to get weird.

Don’t actually bring a sword.  That’s a terrible idea.

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2. It’s free

Depending on where you get your news, we are either in the early stages of job recovery, on the verge of a double dip recession, or we’ve been in a depression for months and we’re all to naive to know it.

Who knows these days.  Play it safe and seek out free things.

This doesn’t include stealing the toilet paper from our bathroom.  That stops being free the second you put the entire roll in your purse.

oh yes.

This just in: A unicorn is having babies on the front yard of the white house.

Everyone else gets to make up news.  Why can’t we?

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3. Face painting

We noticed on the flyer that there was no age requirements – or limits – on this activity.

If we have anything at all in common,then you have been dying to imititate the Gotye music from the moment you saw it. Now is the chance to do it – for free, and in public! Grab a friend, fight over who gets to be Kimbra, and let’s do this.

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4. Celebrating Healthy Habits

We’re not sure how the celebration is going down, but we hope it’s in the form of a beauty pageant.

We can’t wait to see what “Washing your hands” and “Eating 5 servings of  vegetables” look like in the swimsuit competition.

We googled “healty habits beauty pageant” and  no relevant images came up. We’re not totally surprised.


5.  Rare Breed Goats

This caught our eye because it seemed random, and we love random.  How often do you see goats?  Every breed of goats is rare when you’ve seen about 3 goats in your life.

We look forward to visiting the goats and verifying their rarity.  Rarity as in scarce, not as in “how would you like your goat burger.”)

www.cutehomepets.com

See you at the faire.  We’ll be near the goats, dressed in renaissance clothing, singing “Somebody that I used to know” with our faces painted like Gotye.

no comments | posted in Events

May 17 2012

Green Faire – May 19th

ION

Two very exciting things happening at Urban Oaks Farm in New Britain this month!


The Annual Plant Seedling Sale begins May 18th and runs through June 16th. Stop by any Friday 12-6pm or Saturday 9am-3pm and get everything you need to grow your own organic veggies, herbs and flowers!

To kick things off, the Urban Oaks Green Faire is this Saturday, May 19th 11am-3pm at Urban Oaks Farm – 225 Oak Street, New Britain, CT.  There will be food, music ,art and fun activities for kids and adults.  Learn how to build a self-watering  container garden & compost in a city, compete in field games, and shop the booths of local vendors.

no comments | posted in Events

Apr 17 2012

shake it

ION
Every day’s a costume party
if you happen to be a salt & pepper shaker at ION.
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We were going to go with simple, elegant shakers.
But then we decided no, no we’re going to be
as flamboyant as humanly possible on this one.
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Should we paint pears on some of them? yes.
Do we need some to be shaped like acorns? that’s a fantastic idea.
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segways are our friends.
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Speaking of salt and pepper….our friends at BrightNest have once again
invaded our blog to give us tips for useful and unexpected
things we can do with spices.
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Read below for the tips, and visit their blog for cute spice storage idas.
they’ve got cute stuff. get ready to pin pin pin.
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5 Uncommon Uses for

Common Household Spices

brought to you by BrightNest

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  • Salt – If mildew is growing in your bathroom caulk, mix equal parts salt and lemon juice. Apply the concoction to the mildew and let it sit a few hours. Rinse well.
  • Pepper – To keep your “brights” from fading in the laundry, add a teaspoon of pepper to the wash load. Pepper prevents color from running in the wash.
  • Garlic – Instead of using harsh or dangerous pesticides in your garden, mix garlic gloves or extracts with water and a few squirts of hand soap. Spray the mixture onto your plants and the pests will stay away.
  • Cinnamon – Ants hate cinnamon! So, if you have an infestation, locate the entryways you suspect ants are sneaking through and line them with cinnamon.
  • Mint – Mice (and other rodents such as squirrels, rats and chipmunks) are allergic to mint, and because of their acute sense of smell, will avoid those areas. It’s like rodent kryptonite.

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Who is BrightNest?

They are our friends.  Give them a virtual high-five by visiting their site.

BrightNest is an eco-friendly home maintenance site that provides simple, easy advice about how to keep your home in great shape.

no comments | posted in Kitchens

Apr 13 2012

Fruit Lecture

ION
You don’t hear a lot of kids saying they want to grow up and become farmers these days.  And don’t even get us started on the shocking lack of aspiring clergymen.
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Come enjoy an educational class everyone (except  Monsanto) can get behind this Sunday at ION with a lecture on local farming given by Jerry of Sweet Birch Farms!
Farming is such a terrific way to work outside, give back to the community, and ultimately live.  We kind of wish we could go back to the days where instead of spending 9 hours a day in a cubicle, everyone owned, farmed, and revered their own plot of land.  But ION would still be ION of course.
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That’s not going to happen anytime soon, so in the meantime, we want to give a huge thanks and show all the support we can to our local farmers.
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At ION, we’ve recently strengthened our commitment to buy locally and increased our purchases from New England farms. We also have some big, top-secret events coming up that you’ll be very excited about.  Hint: A celebrity chef is coming to ION in May!!



But first, join us this Sunday at noon to learn about growing fruits in New England with guest speaker and agricultural professor, Jerry Travers from Sweet Birch Farm in Meriden, CT.
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Sweet Birch Farm has been owned by the Travers family for over 50 years and was developed on once bulldozed land.  The family increased the topsoil and mineral content of the land with totally organic methods, and new varieties of crops are grown every year on this experimental farm.  The Travers family closely monitors the ability of various plants to pick up nutrients from the soil and air supply and uses the crops to feed their family.  Luckily for us, they also sell the excess produce to local patrons!
.Interested in growing your own fruit in New England?  Learn everything you need to know at ION this Sunday at 12!
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You’ll learn how to grow your own small fruits, their environmental needs, and how to care for them. In addition to years of experience, Jerry will also be offering  four kinds of yellow, red, and black raspberries, wine berries, kiwis male and female, purple grapes and white grapes, and yellow carola seed potatoes.
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We will end the day with a group choir-like performance of Old Macdonald.  not really.  but if someone suggested it we wouldn’t say no.

1 comment

Mar 26 2012

Lunch Bags

ION

It’s hard to feel like an adult when you’re carrying a lunch bag.  Normally we don’t concern ourselves with silly things like maturity and self pride, but there’s something so lame about lunch bags that we  had to take action.

So we Pinterested and Etsyed for days on end. And we finally found ION-approved lunch bags that won’t make you feel like an overgrown 4th grader

Unless you are a 4th grader, in which case, you will love some of the kids’ designs.

These handmade awesome sandwich transporters come to you from the Needful Wishes Etsy Shop.

Features and benefits:

  • 6″ Handles
  • Poly Laminate Fabric Liner
  • Insulated to keep food hot or cold
  • Unique and colorful designs
  • Hand washable with cold water
  • Price: $24 + Shipping!

Visit our Facebook Page and tell us if you had a lunch box, brown bagged it, or bought from the cafeteria.

We like to know these things about your childhood.

One randomly selected winner will win the awesome Needful Wishes lunch bag below!

Win me!

no comments | posted in Art, Free Offer!, Gifts

Mar 15 2012

The Deck

ION

Rapture never came, but deck season has.

Welcome to the ION patio….where more is more.

The ION deck won “Best Secret Hangout” in Connecticut for the past three years.  It’s a very prestigious award that was created by us, that only we know about, and that we always award to ourselves.   We are so honored and would like to thank ourselves.

There’s a precisely a gazillion types of flowers, some bamboo, a tin chef, attack goldfish…Sometimes there’s dogs. Sometimes there’s several feet of snow because the deck likes to show off how strong it is, and because we don’t like to shovel.

And there’s always at least 3 flamingos.  You might not see them, but trust us when we say they’re watching you.

The deck is straight out of Narnia.

Sub sweet potato fries for turkish delight.

If you didn’t get that reference, then you need to raise your hand and let everyone know you didn’t read the book.

Here’s to a great spring.

Can’t wait to see you outside!

2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Customer Appreciation

Mar 8 2012

Goodbye Chairs.

ION

OK. OK. We caved. Thankfully before the furniture did.  The rumors are true.  We’re getting new chairs!  And Snookie is pregnant. We knew it.

We’ve heard rumblings that not everyone loved our seating arrangements.  As in they felt their lives were in danger.  So we decided to give you what you want – they’re strong, sturdy, and on all fours.  Everything a chair should be.

Say goodbye to these guys and come meet the new young things on your next visit to ION!

We were just kidding about the new chair fund.  Kind of.  I mean we wouldn’t have stopped you.

We did love our old chairs.  They were full of character, excitement, and panache.  But it was time for them to go, and we’d like to see them off with a final farewell.  We tossed some ideas back and forth. Chair funeral…..Chair scholarship…… Candle ceremony……

I think we’re just going to destroy one and maybe video tape it. Anyone have a favorite chair destruction method they’d like to suggest??

no comments | posted in Customer Appreciation

Mar 1 2012

Speed Dating

ION

Speed Dating Event at ION

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Ages 31-48
Saturday, March 3 at 4PM
Cost: $30 – Register in advance here!

Connecticut’s Date Doctor and author of the popular book Crush,  Amy Blazynski, will be there to host!

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What to expect?

Complimentary vegan food and several rounds of 5 minute “dates.”  At the end of the night, everyone writes down who they’re interested in seeing again.  If there’s a mutual attraction – and only if it’s mutual – both parties will be notified of the match.  How you choose to handle your match is up to you, although we suggest a second date at It’s Only Natural.

Join us in the cafe and meet your match. literally.

5 Reasons to Speed Date ION Style!

1 - I know if I like you right away. And you know the same about me. Within 3 seconds, we’ve pretty much got this covered and can sit back and relax for the remaining 4 minutes 57 seconds.
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2 - No getting rejected. If you don’t like me, that sucks.  But at least you’ll never know I liked you, and I’ll never have to hide in shame when I see you at the grocery store.
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3 - No rejecting. I’m incapable of overtly rejecting others. To the point where I will instead make up excuses of why not to hang out with you until you give up.  Safe to assume this is the case when I can’t go to dinner because my grandmother has a soccer game I need to attend.
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4- Stories. I love stories, and there has got to be at least one strange person who is going to say something ridiculous and provide me with a fantastic story.  Which I will promptly use as a conversation starter for the next five minute date.
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5 - Reality check. If you pick everyone and nobody picks you, now might be a good time for some self evaluation.  If everyone picks you, you’ll have confirmation that you are as awesome as you always knew you were.

no comments | posted in Events

Feb 11 2012

Valentine’s Day

ION

We LOVE love.  And we’re celebrating Valentine’s Day with a special menu and a special guest!

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We tried getting Ben from The Bachelor to come but he was busy.  So we got someone even better – Mary the Psychic!  Come get a lovely (or not so lovely, depending on your fate) Valentine’s Day reading  while feasting on our special Valentine’s Day dinner!

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Valentine’s Day Menu

Butternut Sage Ravioli,
Whole Wheat Rustica Bread & Raspberry Sage Truffle Oil
Chocolate Lava Souffle,
Wine & Beer Specials,
Plus: lots of vegan chocolates and spoon and fork jewelry for last minute shoppers!
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Psychic Readings with Mary!

$20 for 15 minute readings with Mary
No refunds if she tells you something you wish you’d rather not known…..ah!

Unique Gifts at ION!

no comments

Feb 10 2012

Kitchen Organizing

ION

5 Kitchen Organization Tips from BrightNest
+
5 Kitchen Must-Haves from Etsy

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Who is BrightNest?

They are our friends.  So be nice to them.

BrightNest is an eco-friendly home maintenance site that provides simple, easy advice about how to keep your home in great shape.

Use promo code “WelcomeHome” to sign up for a free account. Plus, visit their Facebook page for more sweet tips!
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Enjoy the tips from BrightNest and our very own Etsy kitchen wish-list!

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1. Reorganize Your Dishes

Some dishes just get more love, so make it easy on yourself and reorganize your pantry. Place the most-used dishes on the bottom rack, and the rarely used pieces higher up. If that gravy boat from Aunt Michael hasn’t made an appearance on your table yet, it’s not going to anytime soon. Put it up top.

Find this Emily Dickinson quote dish on Esty –> here!

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Emily Dickinson Quote Plate

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2. Designate Zones

When you’re storing supplies, pair like-tools together. For example, have a “baking zone” and a “skillet zone.” That way, you won’t be digging through woks when you’re looking for your shortbread pan.

Find these sassy silverwares –> here!

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Sassy Silverware

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3. Break Out The Label Maker

Label most-used items with a label maker to eliminate confusion, especially if you store them in unmarked containers.

Find this ready-to-use-labels on Esty –> here!

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4.  Spin A Lazy Susan – In your pantry, consider organizing your sauces and spices on a Lazy Susan. That way, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for quickly and do a brief audit of your hot sauces before you run to the store. If your collection is exceptionally large, consider using two Lazy Susans: one for sauces and one for spices.

Find this Lazy Susan on Etsy –> here!


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5. Install A Coat Rack for Aprons

You’ve purchased stylish aprons and hand towels; so don’t hide them away in a drawer. If you’ve got it, flaunt it! Plus, you’ll be more likely to reach for your apron if it’s in plain sight.

Find this Apron on Etsy –> here!


Now go sign up for more tips at BrightNest and get organizing!

no comments | posted in Customer Appreciation, Kitchens