Posts filed under Travel

Lamy NYC - A Quick Visit

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I was recently in New York City and wanted to check out some pen stores that I hadn’t visited before. One such store was the Lamy NYC Flagship Store in the SoHo district. I went to the flagship store in San Francisco when it opened 5 years ago so I had an idea of what to expect but considering this was in New York City, I thought maybe it would be different, but as we all know, Lamy’s gonna Lamy, lol. Located at 452 W Broadway, Lamy NYC is pretty easy to miss because it does not have a large storefront like one might imagine from a flagship location. If you missed the banner above the store, and depending on which direction you were coming from, you could easily walk by and not see the 5 foot tall Lamy LX Rose Gold in the doorway. (I know it’s an LX, Bossman, but this counts as #alstaralways, lol).

Inside, the shop had sleek, clean (as in uncluttered) displays of their writing instruments as well as a station in the middle for you to try out their pens.

Lamy Urushi — *Lamy Dialog Urushi Bright Leaves FP.*

Since I’m pretty familiar with their fountain pens as well as some of their rollerballs, I decided to check out something different. I tried their “Safari ncode”, which is a Safari-shaped ballpoint pen that allows you to write on the LAMY digital paper notebook and have it show up on a computer or tablet via their Neo Studio app.

Lamy ncode — *The Safari ncode is pretty neat - stuff showed up on the tablet in real time as I’m writing on the paper!*

Not pictured is their ink display, which was occupied by shoppers when I visited. They have their usual lineup of inks and refills (sorry, no Lamy Dark Lilac here!).

As of this writing the store is open Monday - Saturday from 11 AM - 6PM and Sunday from 12:00 PM - 5PM. They can also be reached by phone at +1 646-998-4244 or via email at sohostore@lamyinc.com. While I wouldn’t necessarily make a special trip to visit, if you’re going to be in the area, the Lamy NYC Flagship Store is a neat place to check out their offerings.

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Lamy, Travel.

Meininger Art Material (Denver, Colorado) - A Quick Walkthrough

I was recently on vacation in Colorado at my in-laws up in the mountains (you really should visit Summit County if you get the chance) and whenever I’m in Colorado, I try to finagle a pen meetup while I’m there. Huge thanks to the Colorado Pen Posse for organizing a great meetup! It was so much fun that I barely had time to check out the Meininger Art Material store in Denver on my way to the airport! I’m not positive if the shop is “Meininger Art Material” or “Meininger Art Supply” as their website makes reference to both, so I’m just going to call it “Meininger”.

Meininger has been a family-owned business since 1881 (wow!) and have two locations in Colorado: Denver and Colorado Springs. I visited the Denver location at 499 Broadway; their store hours are Monday-Saturday from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM and closed on Sunday. I believe they recently moved their other location to 814 S Tejon Street in Colorado Springs and may be opening up soon if they haven’t already - please call or check their website for more information if you plan to visit their other location.

First and foremost, Meininger is an art supply store. And a huge one at that! As soon as I walked in, I could see that this would be a fun place to spend lots of time (and money). There are two floors of art supply goodness here - which I didn’t have time to explore - from paper, to canvas, to paints, brushes and more, they have pretty much anything you need to unleash your inner artist.

I didn’t have much time to explore, but let’s be real, I came here for the fountain pens and inks and things! So as soon as I snapped up some pictures, I headed straight for the stationery section.

Meininger has really started developing their stationery section in the last few years with the help and input from the Colorado Pen Posse. They are open to adding new brands or products and it’s pretty common for folks to make their way to the shop after a pen meetup (we ran into several others while we were there even though the meetup was 20 minutes away). They have a variety of pen brands including Esterbook, Kaweco, Pilot, Retro 51, Sailor and TWSBI . They have a lot of different paper and accessories brands too, including Endless Recorder, Rhodia, Fabriano, Midori, Nebula, Lochby and Rickshaw Bagworks.

Due to my limited time as well as the impending spending at upcoming shows, I showed some restraint and left empty-handed, but not before experiencing the friendly customer service from one of the folks behind the counter (for the locals reading this, it wasn’t Patty because she had already left for the day). They checked in with you, answered any questions and let you look around without stalking you for a sale. Their online section is somewhat limited (at least for fountain pen-related items), so don’t judge the store based on what you see (or don’t see) online. For example, they only list the Colorverse 50 States ink on their website and only 10 colors, but they actually had 15 in the store along with some from the Project series, Joy in the Ordinary series, etc.

So, if you’re in the Denver area and want to shop for pens, inks, paper and more, definitely go check out the Meininger store in Denver or check out their Colorado Springs location and let us know what you think!

(Neither this article nor my brief visit was paid for nor sponsored by Meininger. I’m just a shopaholic with a stationery affliction and LOVE pen stores!)

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Travel, Pen Store Visits.

Stationery While Traveling

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Packing for any trip is a challenge, and I love it. I especially love packing minimally, ideally with just a backpack, occasionally with a second carry-on bag. My May travels were a particular challenge, though, because my trip was going to include: airline travel, a family reunion, farm chores, bus travel, painting, lots of driving, some Ubers, big city rambles, public speaking at readings and panels, luncheons, private meetings with business professionals, an awards gala dinner and presentation, a film festival, a book signing, a private party at a very fine house, more driving, hiking in the mountains, dodging mountain lions and cacti, and napping. Also writing--lots of writing.

I wrote out my schedule for each day, important dates and times for picking people up from airports and confirmation numbers for shuttles and hotels. I wrote down notes from panels and quotes from speakers. I wrote out my own reading material. Made lists of more books to read. I recorded thoughts and feelings and passing poems. I worked on novels and story ideas.

I still managed to do it all with one backpack and one rolling carryon suitcase. But that's not the impressive part. The impressive part is that I did it all with one pen.

Okay, and five notebooks.

I know, I know. "Five notebooks does not sound minimal, Sarah." Here's my reasoning: a Kokuyo Field Sketch Book as my trip book--that's where the notes and lists and things went. The planning notebook for the book I'm editing (Graphilo), as I'd be meeting with the agent I'm revising it with. The novel I'm currently writing, because I knew I'd have writing time (Barnes & Noble leather journal), and the planning notebook for that novel (Field Notes Dime Novel). And my short story notebook (Nanami Seven Seas Writer) that contains my short works in progress. Several of these are small, so the story notebook, trip notebook, and both planning notebooks traveled in a Lochby Field Journal. The novel draft was solo. Now, did I use all of them? No. I did not actually get any work done on the new novel--the largest item I dragged around through several states. I did use the other four, though. And I SHOULD have made time to work on the novel.

As for the singular pen, it was my new addition--the Schon Dsgn Pocket Six fountain pen. I did bring other pens: a Pilot Vanishing Point, my Spoke Roady, and a ballpoint. But I never got those ones out. The Schon was almost always already in my hand and I used it happily for everything. It was durable enough to go in any pocket, and the very EF point could handle any paper. It's the ideal travel fountain pen.

I'll also note that despite all these travels, airplanes, and over 10,000 feet in elevation changes between my locations, I experienced zero pen leaks or burps with either fountain pen.

The trip was wonderful and successful. I saw family again, and my writing community, bonded with my horror fam, and celebrated with them. I communed with nature, breathed mountain air, and did not get eaten by any apex predators. My writing career nudged forward a bit and there are exciting things on the horizon! I also did nothing that could be defined as work or homework. Amazing.

Returning from such a trip is hard. As I write this, I have six tabs of homework open and a long list of chores and tasks in front of me, as I count down the hours till my day job shift starts. And I count down the days, weeks, and months till my next adventure.

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