Dear friends:

Two weeks ago, I had my wisdom teeth removed, and I’ve been in recovery ever since. Witty plays on the notion of wisdom will most likely ensue, but for now, I’ll just leave you with this little bit that happened while I was out. My ever-talented brother caught some national attention when Apartment Therapy featured his LA loft. We love the space, love the site, and love the positive feedback. Plus, we all got more than a little misty-eyed checking out the vintage Two Elle featured on his own site, www.daniellowe.com.

After a week in LA and a week of Adam’s Spring Break, this week Tweed Bunny and I started to unpack. Our belongings were all neatly housed in cardboard and spread throughout the abandoned home bedrooms of Danny and Mikey, but slowly they must find a way out of the box and into a different organizational structure. Our first order of business was to build an office in Mikey’s room.

Unlike packing, the unpacking process has very few surprises. While packing, for instance, I discovered that I own enough pens (and markers/crayons?) to last me a lifetime. If you ever spot me purchasing a pen or highlighter or file folder, please intervene. I also found forgotten treasures that I chose NOT to discard in the packing process. There was a first generation “small” pink ipod and both a DVD and VHS copy of The Last Unicorn. Those made it into the cardboard.

With these finds unearthed, I figured the unpacking process would be boring. I put the books from the “more likely to read” box on the shelf, I set up all the Missoni/Liberty for Target file boxes, and I placed the printer/copier on a pile of boxes deemed less important (#makeshift #notglam). And because life seems to go on even after you leave Wonderland, I got to work……until I had to make a photocopy.

There it was: the surprise, the reminder that as hard as you try to pack life away in a box, it’ll still sneak back in.

Nearly a year ago, as I was preparing for the wedding of my little Amanda (known as Mandi Roo in most parts of this website), I designed shirts (and an entire lingerie line) for her, Ryan, and all the bridesmaids featuring this drawing from one of their engagement photos. Apparently, the sketch remained in the copier. Its image had traveled to Chattanooga for the wedding, to Chicago with Amanda & Ryan, and now home with me to Arizona. It wasn’t in its place, tucked into a box of memories; it was right there, staring at me while I tried to cancel our store ASCAP account.

I had thought that starting a new life would involve a lot of bells and whistles. There would be giant going away parties and tearful goodbyes. There would be parades in my honor and video montages capturing the moments meant to cherish. But there weren’t. It happened quietly and quickly. There were a couple text messages and more than a few “where are you?” Facebook wall posts. My Nashville life and all that came with it took nearly 7 years to build, and then within a week the condo was sold, the movers had come, and Tweed Bunny was procured as the in-flight companion. It was over.

Over……but I never said goodbye. I left it all open and unanswered. I didn’t know where I was going, so I didn’t know how to say that I was going at all. With the exception of the necessary business or financial matters, everything was left as  a loose end. Only little Becca got an actual goodbye hug, but if it’s all the same, I’d like to consider that more loose than final. So, maybe, just maybe, that’s why I didn’t tie up the loose ends. I wanted to keep them free and untied. I wanted the questions to remain unanswered and alive. I knew that time and distance mean very little today; Roo & Ryan with their balloons are just as present today as they were a year ago, literally. Most things, for me, are too important to pack away in cardboard. I like to hold on tight.

And speaking of the family that I wouldn’t say goodbye to, it’s Passover, which makes me miss Jenny, David, Sydney, and Zoe (It’s family order, Zoe; I know you want to be first!). They’ve been my Passover buddies for years, and I know that if this were a year ago, they’d be popping in on their way to Whole Foods today. I’m sorry I never got to sit at your seder table. Can I come to the bat-mitzvah instead?

My love affair with Frothy Monkey is well-documented. Together we made a home on 12South, and its cozy walls housed nearly every would-be-employee interview (and a couple would-be-employees themselves). Frothy staff watched me open my store, move my store, and close my store. And it wasn’t just their latte art that made all of those things possible. But here is the truth that I now must reveal: Frothy, you were not my first.

Yes, it’s true that while you’ll forever hold a rather significant piece of my heart, others came before you. I wrote a good chunk of the first version of my novel at the Starbucks at 47th & 9th in Manhattan. And I experienced the collegiate drama that fueled that first version at Willoughby’s in New Haven. But Hava Java in Phoenix is truly where the story began.

I first learned of Hava Java at the beginning of junior year in high school. I hadn’t started a major paper due the next day (a familiar scenario, so I cannot explain the panic). My friend Julie told me of this place at 32nd & Camelback where you could get something that would keep you awake all night. In the middle of Latin class, she passed me a scrap of paper with 3 words that would change my life: iced raspberry mocha.

Hava Java was perhaps my first wonderland. It was my escape, it was my reinvented reality, and it was my reunion spot. It was where I spent as many free moments as I could in high school. It was where I would take an elementary version of Adam for chess lessons. It was where I set up a tutoring business during my many leaves of absence from college. It was always the first stop post-airport. And now it seems the prodigal daughter has returned. I’ve traded in my Monkey for the point of origin. The trade, however, is bittersweet.

The coffeeshop, I’m coming to observe, is something of a neo-rehab. It’s a place where people of all age groups, backgrounds, status, and occupation can come together (and let’s not ignore the fact that they’re brought together by addiction). Relationships form in unlikely places, and secrets surface with greater agility. Some stay in this neo-rehab for longer than others, and some find a need to return after being away. For the sake of the metaphor, we’ll protect anonymity, but suffice it to say that my return has me rethinking the book I’m writing and itching to write about the “patients” I’ve found back in “rehab.”

One thing, however, remains true: there’s no rehabilitation like a little Monkey love. Sometimes settling into your new home makes you remember your old one even more fondly. It breaks my heart to look over at the espresso machine and not see Dylan, and Drew has been present for every quasi-date I’ve experienced in the past 2 years (not that there were many, but still). I even downloaded the Black Keys, because that’s what Frothy tweeted that they were listening to right now.

So, yes, I am newly rehabilitated, but here’s the lingering message to my dearest Monkey: I never said goodbye to you. That was intentional. Some goodbyes are too hard to say. I’ll just look forward to the next time we say hello.

Tweed Bunny and I are embracing the quotidian. We are the neo-Housewives of Scottsdale, Arizona. OK, truth: we’re not that glamorous. We are 2 fragile little souls who ventured north for the weekend to Prescott, Arizona for some R & R with my father. Saturday night dinner plans immediately gave way to more rest than reverie, however, when our tire fell flat. AAA to the rescue in the morning, and we were back on the road to Phoenix on Sunday so that we’d be local to face the trials of a Monday.

With both my mother and father on separate trips out of town, Tweed Bunny and neo-Dorothy were left to their own devices to figure out a way back onto that Yellow Brick Road. iPhone found me a Discount Tire with a Starbucks across the street. I packed my bags and began the journey. And here I sit. Green straw, green pen, yellow bricks awaiting.

These may seem like simple challenges, but to a toy bunny and a recovering superhero/shopgirl, they are uncharted. I hit the little button so that I could cross the street, I found an outdoor table in the perfect 72 degree weather, I ordered my green-strawed, suburban iced americano, and I said, “This is life now. This is the new wonderland. This is how the next adventure starts….with a flat tire.”

Dear friends:

Mr. Carroll did not write a guidebook for this one, so I suppose from here on in, I shoot without a script. [I'm sorry for that; littlest brother arrived home on RISD spring break far more musical theatre savvy than I remembered him, and the effect lingers. Hi, Adam.]

Like Alice, and really all reckless, scrappy fairy-tales girls, I triumphed over the Queen and climbed my way out of Wonderland. For a moment thereafter, I napped, and when I awoke, I found myself in unfamiliar territory. The flowers were no longer teaching me lessons, colorful characters were no longer stopping by for tea parties, and even the caterpillar had stopped asking me to self-define. Wonderland was over.

In the final weeks of the store, you all asked me the same question: what next? I took it as a compliment and joked my way through the laundry list of tasks that go into closing a store. The truth that my valid list masked was that I didn’t have an answer. I knew I wanted to go west, closer to my family, but that’s as far as the plan extended. I remained fixated on the list at hand, as I often do, and continued to work, hoping that somewhere along the way another white rabbit would emerge and lead me to my next adventure.

And he did.

Tweed is one of my favorite places in Nashville. This should speak volumes about Maggie, its owner, because Tweed is a baby store, and I have no babies in my immediate life. The last time I went into Tweed (but I refused to tell Maggie that it was the last time, because I had already cried too many times in her own little wonderland), I spotted this bunny. As we all know, I’m a sucker for branding, so I obviously needed him. Plus, I knew that my flight home was looming, and, truth be told, sometimes the xanax just lacks that personal touch. I needed a buddy. So, I bought a bunny.

Tweed Bunny, as I’m now calling him, has not left my purse (the J.Crew Tillary bucket bag, sold out in neon yellow, btw). As the first step in our journey, he took me to L.A. (ok, my brother Danny did most of the driving), where we plan to make a new home for ourselves when the time is right (Did I say time? I meant  money.). We’re home in Phoenix now, but we’re ready to get back to bouncing.

Now, although I cannot fully answer your question about what is next, I know that it involves telling my story, and crawling out from my post-rabbit-hole nap to begin writing to you in the middle of the night is the obvious move. But that doesn’t mean, dear fans of the wonderland formerly known as two elle, that I intend to leave you alone at the tea party. I’m hoping to take you with me, because my first lesson in life after wonderland is that we all need a little help along the way. When I stumbled into Tweed, I needed someone to tell me that there would be another wonderland in my future, that there would be a light at the end of battling the Queen, that my storybook would have another chapter, and that, most importantly, my story was worth telling. Maggie delivered. And with her hug and well-wishes, she deposited a new friend in my bag of tricks, a friend who will keep me company when threatened (aka, airports) and keep me bouncing on when I feel like stopping.

However, while Tweed Bunny is lovely at holding my hand, he’s really quite terrible with establishing connections or picking up a bill, so here’s what: I’m hoping that you, dear friends, will send me any words of encouragmentment or advice and that if you know of anyone who would pay me to tell my story (or act it out, or sing it, or build it, or style it, or style them, or….), then you will kindly send them my way (rachel@twoelle.com). Our stories are now intertwined, so join me (and Tweed Bunny) as I begin the task of telling the tale of what happened behind that magical curtain we once called home.

And here is where the telling begins. Tweed Bunny has brought me home. I don’t know where the new home will be, but for now, he got me on a plane and took me to where it all began. So, here, as I have so many times before, in the warmth of sunshine and Mexican tile, I begin to tell the story. But, most importantly, I begin again.

Lately, I’ve been adding bits and pieces to the wall to better reflect the changes and the journey. But sometimes, despite my best efforts to write the story myself, a once-hidden truth reveals itself without my help. Earlier today, forever friend Arnold purchased 2 of our racks. As we cleared off the clothes and wheeled them away, nestled under images of days and bands passed, was a message I had written years ago: No time like the present.

In April of 2007, a small group of friends and family pulled late nights at a little house on 12South to open a new concept store. During the summer of 2009, a far larger group of friends and family pulled late nights at the Hill Center to, among other things, write our story on the wall. Today, I stand alone, a girl who stumbled upon a grand adventure, picked up some colorful characters along the way, learned from the flowers, played her cards right, and found her way back from wonderland. And today, my writing on the wall speaks for itself. There is no better time to climb out of that rabbit hole and write the next chapter.

And so, dear friends, we close our doors. The rabbits will surely continue to hop, and I will continue to follow them.

But for tonight, I say goodbye, old friend.

xoxo,

rachel

For years now, we’ve been telling you our stories, drafting our graphic novel with our home-grown ad campaigns. And now, on our last Sunday, we offer our history for your own homes. Not only can you buy the furniture that has graced our space or the books that have lined our shelves, but you can now buy our images and truly own a piece of the story. Surely, the stories will continue, and we will keep telling them. You have one week, though, to bring the real thing home.

xoxo

There have been a lot of questions lately about what’s next for us, and all of this pressure has Frank up in arms (pun….intended). For 5 holiday seasons, Frank has served as the 2L gift advisor and security detail, but it appears that he will soon be out of a job. He is in the process of updating his resume to include swordsmanship and uniform bedazzling. We know it’s rough out there, and we fear Frank would get trampled in an Occupy Wall Street situation, so if anyone hears of any opportunities, do let us know. You can reach Frank with job offers at info@twoelle.com. And, for that matter, you can offer Rachel, Ricky, Becca, and Sara jobs at that address, too!

As we prepare to Bid our aBode farewell, we’re going Back to Basics. With But 2 weeks left Before goodBye, I’m engaging in my own celebration of my favorite things. This Sunday celebrates my favorites in a classic B&B: Books & Becca.

As the road Begins to Bend, we Better appreciate our Basics. For me, Books have always functioned as something of a Ballet Barre. They Bring me Back. They remind me who I am. And they show me the way to move on. Becca, a Balanced combination of Beauty and Brains, has Begun to function like a Ballet Barre herself. Although she entered my life as a Barista, her powers of inspiration and compassion far exceed anything a soy latte could conjure. This journey would Be significantly less meaningful and less personally successful without this B standing By my side, encouraging me to Be Brave and Be Better. In short, Becca has Become a Basic.

So, this Sunday, join us in celebrating the Basics that make Two Elle what it is. You can Buy the Books, but noBody’s taking my lil B!

You heard it here first; Beatrice has left the building.

Like all of us will be soon, she has found a new home (and rest-assured, dear friends, that it’s a good home). Regardless of the circumstance, it was a sad goodbye.

Things are moving fast, and racks are rolling out of the store on a daily basis. The $10 bins are becoming empty, the mannequins are finding new homes, and bit by bit the pieces that defined our space are lining the shelves of your own homes.

Who will we say goodbye to next? Our bet is Chester. He came to us in the fall of 2009 straight from Mitchell Gold. He’s an 80″, distressed leather moment of luxury, and he could be yours for $3500. Come visit him, or email info@twoelle.com with any questions.

With one month left, it seems only appropriate that we begin a little two elle retrospective, but this time we want your help.

Our Good & Fair t-shirts (still great holiday gifts and now on sale. just sayin.) beg us to remember that there’s a story behind every wardrobe, and we couldn’t agree more. My story plucked me out of Manhattan and set me here in Nashville. It plunged me down a rabbit hole and began the journey that you’ve all been a part of with me. This journey, while thrilling, took me away from the worlds I knew and asked me to create a new one. I’ve missed a best friend’s wedding, and I’ll miss another in a week. I’ve sold clothes for 10 out of my last 15 Christmas Eves, and I’ll do so one last time for you. With the sacrifices, however, came great joys. I’ve been afforded the opportunity to dream. I’ve turned a white box into a wonderland. I’ve found a staff that makes it so that I can’t take a day off, because I don’t want to miss a day of their company. And, of course, I’ve created the bunny and Nashville shirts that are now filling my closet.

So, here’s what, bunny lovers: SHOW US YOUR TWO ELLE! Send pics of your faves to info@twoelle.com with perhaps a couple choice words, and your story will be added to ours.

You’ve been listening to ours for all these years, but now we want to share yours! TELL US YOUR STORY!

Friends,

When I set out on this journey, I knew that I was building something, but I’ve come to learn that instead of building a clothing store per se, I was building a home. What I’ve realized since announcing the closing is that this wasn’t just a home for me. Today, I give thanks that I was able to build a home for you, too. You’ve all helped me realize in this past week that far greater than the loss of a clothing store is the loss of a place we came to call home.

The staff that stands with me today came from various places (ok, 1 from American Idol and 2 from Frothy Monkey), but I’m so thankful that this is the home they settled in. Sometimes you hire people because you need to fill a time slot or because they’re “right” for the job. And then sometimes you hire them because they beg you while they make you coffee or because they were on one of America’s most-watched television competitions. I can promise you, though, that I never anticipated that those 2 exceptions to the hiring rule would be the ones holding my hands at the finish line.

Ricky & I have spent the past week doing what we do best: blasting showtunes and prepping the store for the final sale that will launch tomorrow. There has been heavy lifting, heavy red-lining, a couple of tears, and a lot of laughs. That is the home that I’m thankful for, that is the home that I will be sad to leave behind, and that is the moment that I will take home with me. However, if life were only moments, then we’d never know we had one. Thank you for our moment, and let’s make it last until the end.

xoxo

Friends, we’ve filled your closets, but have you ever wished that your home looked a little more like our rabbit hole? Well, we’re making that dream a reality by selling every piece of this little bunny bunker. Seriously, every non-living thing you see can go home with you for a small fee (aka, Frank is not for sale). Some items have already sold, so come by soon or email info@twoelle.com. We’ll miss you, Nashville, but this way you can take a piece of us home!

Mannequins: $300 each

Hand-painted rolling racks: $100 each

Mitchell Gold leather Chester sofa: $3500

Custom jewelry case/coffee table: $750

Pool table: $1700

Antique pinball machine: $1200

The bar: * email info@twoelle.com

Friends, now that the cat is out of the bag, you’ve all been saying such wonderful, heart-warming things with such sad, pouty faces. You should know, dear friends, that pouting is not our style! So, let’s see if we can replace that frown with a Cheshire-like grin and remind you that 1) we’re still here, and 2) we still have so many of your favorites! For example, rumor has it that we’re one of the only stores left in the country with stock of the Tarina Tarantino Hello Kitty pieces. A little Tarina sparkle should be enough to ward off any pouty inclinations……at least for the time being!

Keep visiting us and saying nice things, kittens. We like it when you smile!

Dearest friends, family, and loyal followers:

Once upon a time, a girl had an idea. She envisioned a wonderland where people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds could come together. She began this journey in a small house with a red door on 12South. While there, she met many of you, shared many joyous walks through the neighborhood, and collected treasured moments. Then, in 2009 she moved her wonderland to The Hill Center. There were new treasured moments, new red doors, and new cherished family and friends whose impact have further defined and personalized what this journey is all about. Now, after Christmas this wonderland will close its doors.

We will officially begin our close-out sale on Black Friday. Surely, there will be deals, but our bunny and Nashville shirts and sweatshirts will not be marked down. They are now becoming collector’s items and are already quickly selling out. We also encourage you to ask us about our furniture and fixtures. Perhaps you can now create a little wonderland in your own home.

And so, as is the case in all good stories, this chapter has come to an end. The girl will crawl out of the rabbit hole and press on to her next adventure. Your kindness, support, admiration, and compassion will inspire each step we take through the looking-glass and beyond. For that, we cannot thank you enough.

It’s been a lovely fall, bunnies, but the time has come to say goodnight.

Friends, on this, the morning after, we can hardly contain our excitement. Last night, we had the privilege of attending a sneak peak of The Container Store at the Green Hills Mall. In our humble opinion, it was the party of the decade. Sure, our prom (last decade), was pretty genius, but truly The Container Store put us all to shame last night (mainly because founder Garrett Boone is the best dance partner in Rachel’s dance career to date). Their Green Hills Mall store officially opens this Saturday, and they’ll be donating 10% of Nashville sales this weekend to the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, so now is the time to get yourself organized and do a little good for the world (a cause we always support!). Oh, and if mobile storage is your game, visit us while you’re in the area and grab a tote. $35 with either Nashville or our bunny printed on them.

Have a contained weekend, Nashville!

xoxo

Oh, Nashville, we’ve noticed an undeniable truth: we are perpetually ahead of the trends. We were, for example, selling Pan Am bags back in 2008, long before Christina Ricci was a 90-pound flight attendant on ABC. Right now, we’re all about casual, cozy, and conscientious: soft sweatshirts (the more of an 80s/90s tribute, the better) and fashion that serves a global function. And for those of you on the Pan Am kick (as we still are with our 60s-inspired Emily & Fin dresses), we have some lingering Pan Am notecards. Yes, we’re all about the classics, and if handwriting someone a card isn’t a nod to times past, then we don’t know what is!

And speaking of television shows, here’s a little-known fact: when not trend-spotting, Rachel’s eyes are glued to the tube. Her fashion may be found here in our rabbit hole, but her TV musings are found at goodnightwonderland.tumblr.com.

So, come fly our friendly skies. We’ll always keep you within a few years of what’s happening live.

Here’s what, Nashville: we’re trying to make sure that your holidays are the happiest by keeping you well-informed. You know how you love our Nashville tees and were planning to give them to all your loved ones as easy, $30 holiday gifts? Well, if your mission is “at large,” then you need to move swiftly. We have very few larges left, and we won’t be getting more before the holidays. So…..buy now. And don’t say we’re not looking out for you.

Maybe it’s Betsy & Iya with their love-themed jewels. Or maybe it’s the wedding love mix we’re currently playing in the store courtesy of one Ryan O’Connor (who ate his feelings on our stage and then with Oprah last year). Or maybe it’s that gentle chill in the air that makes us want to cozy up to loved ones. Regardless of the reason why, it feels like a love story over here at two elle. And making that love story even sweeter is our newest addition to the family, one Sara B. She has felt like family since her days of making us lattes at Frothy Monkey, but we’ve finally made it official. In addition to being a fabulous makeup artist, this honeybee is now officially a bunny.

Well, you said it, Nashville. According to The Scene’s annual Readers Poll, we’re one of the top 3 places to buy a guy a gift. Given this recent delivery of Good & Fair boxers, we’d have to agree. As you know, we’ve been trying to save the world with the clothes we wear (remember our FEED bags and scarves?), and, as such, these boxers are produced by fair trade and with organic cotton. We have a limited supply of them, so we suggest putting together a little holiday pack now (perhaps in a FEED bag? Or coupled with a Good & Fair organic cotton tee?). And don’t worry, ladies; we’re keeping you good & fair, too. Just click on More Pictures.

Yep, you can feel it in the air. It’s definitely fall, which means we’re definitely in layers. Chaser is our new best friend, but we suggest getting here soon, because they go fast. And boys, we have a brand new shipment all for you! Feel that chill, Nashville; we love it.

Sorry, friends. Everyone seems to have something to say about today, but for once I don’t have the words. I’ll just let my mannequins do the talking for me.

xoxo, rachel

Well, the gloom and doom of the past few days seems to have gotten to our mannequins. When our new Chaser shipment arrived, they overlooked the Journey, Grateful Dead, Cheap Trick, and Nirvana in favor of something from a sunnier state. Perhaps they’re hoping their choice can function as something of a sun dance, or perhaps they’re just wondering when Danny and Britten are going to get 2L L.A. up and running. Either way, it seems 2L Nashville is currently celebrating the sunshine state.

We’re a subtle bunch over here. But seriously, just go here & do it:

http://ww2.nashvillescene.com/promotions/

And vote for all of your local faves. And do it as many times as you want. But you only have until Mexican Independence Day. That’s September 16. Obviously. So, do it now.

Friends, this fall we’re striving to make the world a better place, and you can join us in the movement! We’ll be stocking a number of world-friendly products, and these are the first in the series. A purchase of this $40 white FEED tote bag (which comes with a drawstring burlap pouch) provides 10 school meals for children around the world. The $48 FEED plaid scarf provides 10 school meals to children in Kenya, and the $58 FEED Love bag provides 25 school meals to children in areas with high HIV/AIDS rates. These are all great causes, and they’re only the first in this 2L movement. So, we hope you’ll join us as we try to help people around us while looking fabulous at the same time!

xoxo

Friends, it seems like we’re all packing up for something these days. Most of you are preparing to head back to school or off in search of a change in scenery, but Rachel is packing her bags for the upcoming nuptials of one Mandi Roo (yes, her name is Amanda, but we choose to disregard such formalities). Roo wandered into Rachel’s life 2 days before 12South opened, and she’s been standing by her side ever since. It will undoubtably bring tears to her eyes when it’s finally time to hand her off, but at least she’ll be fully prepared with a bunny backpack stocked with kleenex. So, throw on an Emily & Fin party dress and fill your bunny pack with supplies, because a change is in the air. And dearest, darlingest Mandi Roo, no matter what your name is or where you hop off to, you’ll always be a 2L bunny!

Well, it’s that time of year again, Nashville. We’ve been through many years with The Scene’s annual Best of Nashville Reader’s Poll, and you’ve shown us lots of sometimes appropriate and sometimes bizarre love. In 2007, you named us the Best New Retail when we were the new kids on the 12South block, and the praise didn’t stop there. We’ve been everything from Best Men’s and Best Women’s Boutique to Best Place to Meet Single Women AND Best Place to Meet Single Men. Last year, we made a play for Best Place to Shoot Pool, but, alas, no such luck. So, here’s what Nashville: this year we’re trying a new approach. There are a lot of local faves asking for and worthy of your vote, but we’re no longer campaigning. We’re just going to give you the tools:

http://ww2.nashvillescene.com/promotions/

Go there. Exercise your freedom of choice. Sing the praise of all the local businesses that make up this community we call home (we’d list our favorites here, but instead we’re just going to go vote!). And who knows! Maybe, come October, we’ll celebrate together by clearing off that pool table and letting it fulfill its purpose in life.

So, that’s the 2011 campaign, Nashville: freedom of choice.

xoxo

Sure, at some point in here we’ve probably claimed that Black Friday is our favorite holiday, but here’s what, Nashville: Tax-Free Weekend celebrates shopping AND school! It is therefore our ultimate favorite holiday. Starting this Friday and running until Sunday night, you won’t pay any sales tax on apparel under $100. And unlike our friends and neighbors, we offer you ONLY apparel under $100, so everything in the store is tax-free. And yes, of course we have Nashville and bunny shirts in new colors to celebrate the holiday. And yes, of course we have summer items on sale. And yes, of course our A/C is cranked up. And yes, of course we printed bunnies on backpacks.

See you this weekend!

Although this summer has been more about the small than the big screen, we are of course movie-lovers here in Wonderland. So, when asked to join our Hill Center comrades Billy Reid, H. Audrey, and Cosmetic Market in raising money for the Belcourt, we had no choice but to jump in.

So, here’s the party plan:

This Wednesday, July 27, starting at 5:30, the nD festival will come to life at the Hill Center. You can purchase tickets for $10 at Billy Reid, and there will be treats and festivities at all participating stores. Rumor has it we’ll be home to the Yazoo and veggie display (something for everyone!). So, come celebrate cinema with us, but be sure to shop, too, because at the end of the night, we’ll all be donating a portion of our proceeds to the Belcourt.

Let’s go to the movies, Nashville!

Despite the variety of options, lately many of you have been gravitating toward the original 2L tee, the one made popular by a certain Pico vs. Island Trees frontman and the one currently seen on Biggest Loser Runner-Up Hannah (who’s actually quite lovely!). So, I decided to dig deep into my closet through my collection of 2L tees past, and there it was. At the very bottom of the pile, under the countless Nashville tees and even under The Suspenders, the Gingles, and the Lil B, there was the original: the “I bunny 2L.” It debuted at the 12South Grand Opening in 2007, took in a couple Thursday night Vanderbilt law reviews on Demonbreun, and resurfaced for our 1-Year birthday party before finding a resting spot at the bottom of the 2L tees pile.

So, this search brings me to tonight’s poll question:

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE 2L PIECE OR MOMENT, PAST OR PRESENT?

Tweet me your response @twoellerabbits or @twoellerachel, write it on my Facebook wall at Twoelle Rabbits, leave it here in the comments, or if you’re really craving live interaction, call us at 615-269-9954 or come chat with us live at The Hill Center. And yes, maybe I’ve been watching a little too much Andy Cohen and Summer by Bravo. Mazel!