i shop at owly's

Okay, back to Owly's. When I visited Daisye a few years ago, she and Laura had recently discovered that their ideal date was an antique auction. Always crafty, Daisye had begun fixing up her finds and arranging some of them into dioramas that were one part Grandma's house, one part Museum of Jurassic Technology. "Someday we'd love to open our own store," she said. I never would have imagined that "someday" would come so soon and so snazzily. There's something exceptionally rewarding and inspiring about watching a longtime friend turn a hobby into a passion into a business.

Now Owly's Wayside Nest is a funkily curated vintage goods shop that sells kitsch quite sincerely, with a special penchant for salt and pepper shakers, refurbished dolls, cat house coins, clocks and, of course, owls.


Daisye's Doll Hospital is a store-within-a-store. The girl in me who cried whenever she saw a stuffed animal in a trash can loves Daisye for rescuing these babies from thrift stores, re-stuffing them and giving them fab new wardrobes.

They even come with silver screen era names and adoption certificates. Just like Cabbage Patch Kids, but without the child labor.

Owly's is a work of art that sells works of art...

...and toys that will make you nostalgic for your own childhood or someone else's...

...and medicine-box magnets...

...and salt and pepper shakers of every likely pairing (and many unlikely ones).

Laura and Daisye turn vintage prints and vending machine toys into mini museums.

Laura's specialty is clocks. What time is it? Time for Mighty Mouse to save the day, that's what time.

The original Owly, a childhood toy of Laura's who is not for sale, though plenty of people have tried to place a bid. He shops at Owly's and you should too. Maybe it's a little optimistic to say "next time you're in Hoodsport," since it's a two-hour drive from Seattle. But if you make the trip, you won't find better hostesses than Daisye, Laura and Owly.