narcisse featuring noa noa in the united states

***new hours***

we have new hours and i have no idea how to change them over there -> where our hours are listed!  i should take a class on this.  in the mean time here they are:

mon-sat 11-6 sun 12-5

old danish fish

quite often when we are in denmark and are being treated to a round of beers they will unwittingly be accompanied by a mysterious little bonus drink.  served either in a shot glass or a doll sized champagne glass, at first sniff this mystery drink will most likely knock a girl off her feet.  and that's before you drink it.

due to the travel and thick beer induced haze we are usually in neither of us have ever actually figured out exactly what it is though. 

we have narrowed it down to two possibilities.

 
(i had such a hard time finding info on fisk that the only photo i could find was from their facebook page.  that's right, their facebook page.)  
  
i'll start with the first.  fisk.  fisk actually means fish so appealing points are almost immediately lost as fish juice sounds rather repulsive.  i have been told the name refers to fisherman's friend cough drops being steeped in vodka which is apparently basically what fisk is.  seems as though danish fisherman were too lazy to have a shot and then go to the trouble of digging out a cough drop so they decided to kill two birds with one stone.  like a casserole kind of.  maybe.   anyway-information on fisk was limited online and all i could find was a recipe for fisherman's friend which seems like making fisk as you go along.  one shot a time.  and then calling it something else.  i don't actually know why you would make this stuff as it is similar to drinking nose drops but if you must here is what i found:

for a shot:

3/4 oz vodka

1/4 oz crushed fishermans friend

mix to dissolve

drink

make funny face

realize your throat has just been splayed

bottle:

1 bottle vodka

1-2 bags fishermans friend (does anyone else find these measurements vague?)

mix together to dissolve

let sit for a spell (apparently at least two days but longer is recommended)

believe me, you can wait.

although we did rather enjoy drinking it straight from the bottle being passed around the sailor bar we went to.  (remember? where we found this guy...)

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guess number two is gammel dansk which translates to old danish.  this seems to be a bit classier than fisk, but what do i know?  gammel dansk is a bitter blended from 29 herbs and spices from around the world that steep together for three months.  as with other bitters it was originally used as a digestive but apparently it is fantastic as soon as you roll out of bed if chased with coffee.

in fact the original wording on the bottle's label was:

hits the spot in the morning,

after a day's work,

while hunting,

on fishing trips,

or as an apertif.

a very utilitarian beverage.  this label was prohibited in sweden however, although i don't actually know why.  maybe they are anti-hunting.

the recipe for gammel dansk is a highly guarded secret and it is said that only two employees at one time know the recipe.  so i guess if you get fired you ultimately die.  i did find out what some of the herbs and spices were however:

rownanberry

 (legend has it that the company pays the children of roskilde to pick rowan berries for production.  sounds a little dark-ages-ey until you realize gammel dansk was born in 1964.  huh)

angelica

star aniseed

nutmeg

anise

ginger

laurel

gentian

seville orange

cinnamon

this sounds very much my like my mother's christmas ham recipe actually, but it doesn't much taste like it as it is, well, bitter.  the drink, not the ham. 

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so those are our guesses.

maybe the goal of this trip, besides buying clothes *focus*,should be to find out exactly what it is we are drinking with the locals over there.  whatever it is, i can tell you it leaves us with the ability to be knocked over with a feather. 

which is just what you need when it is 20 degrees outside.

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don't forget to come in and enjoy the sale while we are gone!  sale prices honored for orders as well.

 

 

while the cats away the mice will play

 

we're off to denmark again.  these buying trips to europe can get so annoying, you know?

note the sarcasm.

so as they say when the cat is away the mice will play...therefore we are having a "we're off to denmark to work really really hard sale".  plus we have a nice sized noa noa shipment on it's way and we need some room.

monday feb.1 - tuesday feb.9 the entire store will be 40% off.  (excluding handmade)

if you happen to be one of the sweet people who read our blog however, just let us know and we'll go ahead and let you in on the sale now.

happy weekend.

 

old people's furniture...

 just in case you didn't already know, we also sell furniture at narcisse.  and tchotchkes, and lamps, and pictures, and mossy cement birdbaths, and picture frames, and books. pretty much everything but our souls.

those are already spoken for.  long story.

anyway-we just wanted to send out a little reminder...

oh! and bathtubs...

(above couch was greta garbo in a past life)

~
   
 

   
 

tie a ribbon around your finger

don't forget our prodigious sale this weekend.  sale items are up to 75%off, and the rest of the shop is 20% off!

we are getting ready for noa noa spring 2010.  it's about a month away but i am too excited about it and here is why...

 

 
images via noa noa 

 we also ordered the most ridiculously cute shoes!  unfortunately there isn't a great shot of them here.  but trust me.  i'm just going to stop thinking about it now, because i don't take well to not having what i want when i want it.  so never mind.  i will tell you all about them when they get here.

***

prodigious became my word of the day.  i like it.
 

winter sale

so the sale season is finally upon us...time to clear out and make way for spring! 

clear us out by filling your closet with all the things you've been ogling over the past few months such as...

 

select sale items up to 50-75% off

friday january 8- sunday january 10 all regularly priced items will be 20% off as well.

(excluding handmade items)  
 
 
   

tiny black buttons make everything look so much better.

i found an 'outfit of whatever day it happens to be'...

dress: noa noa

underskirt: noa noa  

add black tights and boots or perhaps maryjanes and you're on your way.
 
 

baby! its cold outside.

we got a surprise yesterday...

***it snowed!***

everything is very dreamy when covered in snow...

even miss mina couldn't be bothered to lift her sleepy green eyes.

 

new hours...

so sorry.  we have been away for a bit.  back with a new post soon.  holidays and all, you know.

quickly though, we have new hours!  we are now open sunday from 12-5.  and our regular hours for mon-sat have changed to 11-6.

be back soon with somethin' good!

a room with a view

i finally have new photographs of the shop to add to the album...

so here they are.  maybe more will come later.  maybe sooner.

we at narcisse love vaguery.  it keeps things less stressful.

 

(photo by chloe hage)

fin
 

noa noa miniature

everytime we are in denmark we have to go into a noa noa shop.  it kind of feels like visiting extended family.  something like that.  its pretty interesting though to see all the things we have at the shop in other color ways and displayed in their beautifully crisp danish way.  but the part i love most is checking out the miniatures.

 

 
if only they would make this stuff for grown ups.  oh.  wait!  they do. 

anyway-due to suitcase restraints i can't buy my fill while i'm there, and then i come home to the hum-drum, used-to-be-cute-before-i-saw-noa noa miniature-collections over here in the states. 

unfortunately there is not a noa noa mini in the states.  heidi and i can't do everything you know.  although this adventure is on the front burner for future endeavors, for now at least i have the anthropologie kids collection.

i have really been considering gifting this little grouping to my only little one who will still let me dress her, but then i would eat her up.  and then where would i be?