Touring Manhattan

In our set of friends, someone is always on the hunt for something. Whether it’s a new purse, new dishwasher, new boyfriend, or new apartment, it’s a never-ending battle. Today was not unlike any other as a friend mentioned she wanted a new desk for her apartment. After we hit the gym we decided to cruise around S. Tampa and see what we could find.

We started at Schiller’s Salvage. As you know, Nicholas is a huge fan of the salvage yard but I hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet so I was excited to get in there and see what all the fuss was about. We walked into the yard and were totally overwhelmed, and it didn’t stop until we left. There were letters, doors, window panes, chandeliers and mantels, but no desks. So we decided to move on.

Our tour got a little side tracked when we headed up N. Howard and made a quick pit stop at Arjuna Living, a local boutique which also has skin care products. We stepped inside and were greeted by owner Jen. We small talked about her shop and where she grew up in NY before our eyes darted towards the sale rack (were equally as surprised that it took us this long) yet it only took us about 5 minutes to find a dress, try it on and head to the register (the heart wants what the heart wants) Jen let us know that they also carry local jewelry from Motek + More. Can’t say we were upset at this pit stop.

Speaking of pit stops, we walked two doors down and met Al at Pitmaster’s Depot. He informed us that they have been in that location for about a month now after 3 months at the mall. Besides selling the smokers, grills, sauces, and rubs, they also compete in competitions and will be in Las Vegas to compete soon. They event invite you to come out some Saturday’s to test out their delicious ribs and pulled pork.

Andddd back to the task at hand: A DESK. It was a good thing we stopped into Arjuna Living and met Jen as she tipped us off about some local vintage decor stores on Manhattan Ave. so we hopped in the car and headed over. We turned right off Euclid and found some shops right in a row that we had to check out. Oh Whatever Decor at Forty Three Oh 3 and the Summer House Marketplace were just the kind of places we were looking for. We decided to visit the Summer House Marketplace first and as soon as we walked in it was heaven. We told the lady working what our mission was and she showed us a few options. And a few was right… she mentioned that with school starting a lot of their desks were already purchased, but they get new things every week so their inventory is constantly changing. We continued to walk around and couldn’t stop commenting, “that’s so cute”, “so and so would love that”, “I love this”. Needless to say there was tons of items we wanted to take home, but unfortunately… No desk.

We headed outside and took the short stroll over to Oh Whatever where we came across items much the same as Summer House Marketplace. There were vintage telephones, great garden furniture and gorgeous restored items. We were having tons of fun decorating our imaginary houses with our imaginary money but this wasn’t Monopoly and we couldn’t buy all the railroads in hopes of kicking our competitors ass so we had to move on. We scoped out the rest of the store and after no desk options were found, we said adios and cruised down to Oh Whatever’s sister store, Forty Three Oh 3.

At this point we were kind of over desk searching and were more on the hunt for creative ideas for DIY projects. We found a few but since this is a blog about local Tampa businesses and events we won’t bore you with our adventures in glue guns and painter’s tape. We weaved through the rooms and headed outside to the garden area past the succulents, furniture and potted plants before we decided to call it a day, but not before we crossed the street to Relic (another place Jen suggested)

I know that you’re hoping I’ll have saved the best for last and our quest for an amazing desk at a crazy good price will end here, but I would be lying. We made our trip to Relic a quick in and out. Not that they don’t have unique items that could have worked in both our apartments, but no desks were able to work for her so we hopped back in the car and headed for home.

It was a long day of searching with no results but we consider this day a win. We got to meet some great new people and discovered some great new treasure troves that we’ll be sure to visit in the future. After all, getting there is half the battle.

Happy Searching – Allison