Omoi Zakka Shop Visit - Philadelphia, PA

(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!.)

Knowing that I was going to the Philadelphia Pen Show earlier this year, several friends suggested that I visit the nearby stationery shop Omoi Zakka, since it is only a couple miles away from the show hotel in the Old City neighborhood. Since it was a bit chilly in mid-January for this California girl to walk there (and back), I took a Lyft for the short trip instead.

Omoi Zakka, or Omoi for short (it rhymes with “oh boy”), is a stationery and lifestyle products shop that has been around since 2006. I highly recommend you check out their About Omoi page to find out more including a brief history of the shop.

This cute storefront just beckons you to go inside!

One step into their store and you will see that it is neither too big nor too small to house a wide variety of products ranging from pens, inks, papers, stickers, and other stationery goodies to bags, clocks, books and more.

What a wonderful sight to behold when you walk in the door!

Is anyone surprised that I spent the most time along this wall?

Some of the fun stickers and ephemera.

Some Sailor, Y-Studio and TWSBI in this case but there are more pens in the shop!

Kawecos and Kakunos with inks, paper and some pouches from The Superior Labor.

Ferris Wheel Press inks and Tomoe River paper pad as well as the Yamamoto Paper Collection.

Midori, anyone?

10th Anniversary Stalogy notebooks/pads.

MOAR paper!!!

A nice selection of Bellroy bags and accessories to carry all your pens and paper!

In addition to stationery goods, Omoi has a bunch of “lifestyle” products like books, home decor and more.

Lots of cool products along the right side of the store.

Candles, slippers, lamps and more!

I love the “not typical” selection of books that they had.

Tick tock!

I didn’t intend to stay very long since I was tired from my red-eye flight but I ended up spending over an hour discovering fun new things every time I revisited different parts of the store. As with many brick and mortar stores, you will be paying retail prices but being able to check out products not found in typical stationery stores as well as the quiet, laid back atmosphere makes it worthwhile.

I picked up the Traveler’s Company Diner set for a friend and also got two Omoi postcards as well as their zine, “Heavy”.

You can find Omoi Zakka at 41 S. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA (between Chestnut & Market Streets), (215) 454-6910, or online at OmoiOnline.com. The store is open Monday - Saturday from 11 am - 7:00 pm and Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm (any last minute hours would be posted on their Instagram Stories.) Note: While there is no mask mandate currently, the staff continues to mask for their own as well as their customers’ safety. I appreciate that they also offer complimentary masks for anyone who needs one.

New Orleans Adventures

(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!)

New Orleans is such a wonderfully literary town, it's a shame it's so hard to write there. No, it's not a shame--I regret nothing. I only wrote one day on my trip, but I wrote about two thousand words. I've been playing catch-up ever since I got home, and I'm only at about 13,000 words total for the month so far, which is not where I need to be! Fortunately, I have some days set aside for writing time next week and a short break from my intense school schedule.

But all that is future me's problem. Past me's problem was that I had too much fun in New Orleans. And of course you want to see the sites, and the haul.

Official 2022 NaNowriMo Kit.

I didn't bring much with me. I'm a light packer in general, but I went extra light on stationery because I knew that I would only be focusing on one writing project. I had the Aurora 88 Utica Nera fountain pen I'm using as my one NaNoWriMo pen, and one Paperblanks blank book for writing in, and one Field Notes for making quick travel notes or journal entries. I brought one tactical pen with a Fisher Space Pen refill as my general use pen. That's it!

Until I went to Papier Plume. Twice. And then Scriptura.

Papier Plume entrance.

I was mostly good. I didn't buy any pens! Though I very much wanted the Bayou St. John Wetland Cypress pen from Papier Plume. It's gorgeous and the perfect local souvenir, but I exerted my self control. Instead, I bought their limited edition Rougarou ink, which is the most perfect shade of brown-black, and I got one of only two remaining werewolf wax seals that they used to stamp the bottle. I also got a classy magnifying hand lens, because I can't be practical all the time.

Inside Papier Plume.

Awooooo!

Papier Plume is such a charming shop. It's right in the French Quarter, surrounded by good food, fun shopping, and amazing art galleries. The whole quarter feels like it exists in another time, and the wares and decor in the shop highlight this effect. All of the furniture used to display items is antique and the walls are covered in local art. It's a nice place to be. I didn't get to see Patrick this time, alas. He wasn't working either of the times I stopped in, but I passed along my greeting. It's probably a good thing he wasn't there, because he'd have talked me into buying that cypress pen.

Scriptura is a good distance away, on Magazine Street in the Garden District. It is also a gorgeous, charming shop in a fantastic old building. This shop focuses more on paper than anything else, so of course I bought a notebook. And for a person who likes to travel light, I made a slightly ridiculous choice. A notebook with a wood and metal cover? I'm not sure I could have found anything heavier or bulkier to try and fit into my luggage. It was too strange and enticing to resist. I haven't tried this brand of notebook before, so I'm looking forward to trying it out and reviewing it for you all.

Inside Scriptura.

Notebook, or cutting board? From Bindewerk.

Apart from stationery shopping, there were also strange museums, amazing meals, a vampire ball, a private vampire Halloween party, and of course an author convention with a panel, a reading, and a book signing. This was my first time attending World Fantasy Convention, and I had a wonderful time. I got to see many old friends and met a few new ones. I got to shake hands or share tables with some of my favorite authors and editors.

Overall, I existed in a fairy tale for a week, and coming back to reality wasn't easy. Literally or figuratively. It took me 22 hours to get home, over 15 of which were spent waiting out delay after delay at Charlotte Douglass Airport, where I counted more cockroaches than employees. I had to be at work less than four hours after I walked through my front door, and my days haven't slowed for a second since.

My next trip will be quite different. I'll be heading to my spot on the lake, where I bring nothing but writing and do nothing but write. Hopefully I'll have more word count updates for you soon!

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Flax Pen to Paper - Road Trip!

(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!.)

First of all, Happy First Friday of November AKA Fountain Pen Day! There’s a lot of stuff going on today/this weekend to celebrate FPD, but if you’re in the Los Angeles area on Saturday, November 5th, you can stop by the Flax Pen to Paper shop from 11am - 5pm to celebrate Fountain Pen Day with Kenro Industries and Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio. In any case, keep reading!

I recently drove down to Los Angeles, CA to check out Joey Feldman’s latest art show Of An Infinite Solitude - I highly recommend checking it out in person, showing now through November 9, 2022, more info on his website. Also true story, Joey loves the Montblanc 149 and he has several in different nib sizes, but I digress. While I was down there, I made sure to set aside time to visit Flax Pen to Paper, in the Westwood Village area of LA, not far from the UCLA campus.

I met Jeremy Saumure, Jaime Perez and Ryan Finnegan at the SF Pen Show a few months ago and had a great time chatting after-hours, so when I planned my trip to LA, I knew I had to check out their store. In 2020, previous owners Joan (granddaughter of Meyer Flax, who started Flax Art in 1931) and her husband, Phil, passed the Flax torch to Jeremy (right around his “5th year Flaxiversary” as he likes to say), who, along with Jeremy Schuster, Gabriela Acevides-Medes and Ryan Finnegan, have been running both the online site and physical store. True story, Jeremy Saumure is “Jeremy” and Jeremy Schuster goes by “other Jeremy” – if you say “hey, Jeremy”, you get Saumure and if you say “hey, other Jeremy”, Schuster will respond, lol!

Flax business partners ”Other Jeremy” Schuster and Jeremy Saumure.

What a wonderful sight to behold when you walk in the door! And this is only half the store!

Lamy pens in one of several well-lit glass displays.

There are multiple displays like this along on both sides of the store.

Ryan proudly showing off the swatch book in front of their ink station.

The back side of their ink station.

Let’s be real, I saw these gigantic pens before I noticed the inks. Jeremy/Other Jeremy, are these for sale?!?

S. T. Dupont - best snap cap in the business!

Diplomat Pens - their snap caps are pretty good too!

Kaweco BP, Pencils and FPs and yes, even pocket knives from Laguiole in the right.

The latest Sailor Manyo Pro Gear Slims.

2023 calendars, diaries and planners.

More stationery products like pencils, ballpoints, gel pens as well as stickers and other fun items.

On the other side of the store, there are more paper goods like cards, notebooks/paper, bags and more.

Individual greeting cards for birthdays, thank you’s, and whatever last-minute reason you need a card!

OMG, holiday plushies from JellyCat!

While Leuchtturm and Rhodia continue to be big sellers, Flax continues to expand their paper offerings. They have a nice selection of Traveler’s Company items as well as paper products from Maruman and Midori.

That’s a lotta Leuchtturm and Rhodia!

Traveler’s Notebooks and inserts.

Lots of Maruman (left) and Midori (right) in different sizes.

In addition to fine writing instruments, inks, stationery and paper, Flax has a variety of gifts and products for the home, including candles, the aforementioned Laguiole knives and even stuff for the pets! I really like that they carry stuff not typically found in your average stationery store.

Books, crafts and toys for the little ones.

I had to get one of the Paddywax candles because they smelled great and were beautifully made.

Flax sells a variety of items from Fritz Glass on Cape Cod - these glass salt and pepper shakers are so cute!

Doggos and Kitties need presents too!

I’ve been looking into tote bags lately but wasn’t familiar with Bellroy bags until I came here. Maybe it was the variety of bags in various shapes and sizes, or maybe it was the somewhat creepy mannequins that were showcasing them, but now I want one. I was eyeing the Tokyo Tote - I just need to decide on size and color!

Fred and George (or is that George and Fred) Weasley often spook visitors browsing bags and accessories. I’ve heard that their costumes change throughout the year too!

Bellroy bags & gear.

While no longer a cornerstone of their business, Flax still has a custom stationery department where you can have personalized cards, invitations, etc. custom-designed and created just for you. You can also buy individual sheets of specialty papers.

This is the kind of neighborhood store that I could easily spend hours in (as it was, I spent almost two hours here), browsing the latest products to arrive, flipping through the ink swatch book and chatting it up with whomever is working that day. As with most brick and mortar stores, you may be paying retail prices but being able to try out products coupled with the friendly service makes it worth it to me.

A tired Jean-Luc (yes, as in Picard) chilling out - he’s usually in the back with his dog brother Wesley Crusher who was being camera-shy during my visit.

I love this dog sign on their door - their sense of humor shows through.

I couldn’t resist the beautiful hardbound Flora sticker book, Sailor Manyo Fuji and Troublemaker inks that they just got in. They threw in some samples as well as some fun Flax stickers!

You can find Flax Pen to Paper at 1078 Gayley Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90024, 310-208-3529 or online at FlaxPenToPaper.com. The store is open Tuesday - Friday from 11 am - 6:30 pm and Saturday from 11 am to 5:30pm; they are closed on Sunday and Monday.