About Time
When Nathan Resnick was a kid, he turned a profit collecting and selling his neighbors’ unwanted junk on eBay. That business spawned others for the Chevy Chase youth. Now at 19, he has launched a new endeavor: the Yes Man watch.
Resnick, a Bethesda-Chevy Chase grad who attends the University of San Diego, came up with the idea last summer while interning at a sports merchandising company in Rockville. The internship was a snooze, so he decided to pour his after-hours energies into an idea for a watch with an adjustable leather band.
Most leather watchbands have holes, which limit sizing options and can damage the leather. Working with a design-savvy friend in San Diego, an engineer in Budapest and a manufacturer in China, Resnick created a watch with an adjustable buckle on its leather band. That means you don’t have to struggle to find the right hole, sizing is more flexible and the leather doesn’t get worn out.
Resnick sees the watch as inspiration for chasing your dreams. “It is a way to consider your use of time,” he says, and “to do more with it.” The watch face reflects those sentiments. A martini glass-evoking logo appears at the 5 o’clock mark, and the words “Be a Yes Man” run across the top.
Resnick was selling the watch through a Kickstarter campaign in January. Afterward, the watches were scheduled to be available through beayesman.com for about $200 each.
Cuff Me!
The statement cuff can dress up jeans and a sweater or add a bit of edge to a runway-worthy gown. Fashionistas like to play with the trend by wearing a cuff on each wrist, stacking cuffs or clamping one on a forearm, but a single cuff at the wrist is all you need to pack a stylish wallop. Here are some of our favorites.
Oui Books
Call it a bookstore within a bookstore. Bonjour Mama is a pop-up children’s book dealer in the Kensington Row Bookshop in downtown Kensington. The catch? Most of the 300 books are in French (with a smattering of Spanish and Mandarin titles).
The “Mama” behind Bonjour Mama is Jennifer Fulton of Kensington, who began selling French children’s books a year ago at bonjour-books.com as well as at local markets and events. Fulton, who is raising her 6-year-old son, Zach, to be bilingual, was struck by the difficulty in getting French-language children’s books in the area. Price was an issue, too. Fulton says that international shipping fees range from $8 to $10, which means you often pay double the price of the book. At the pop-up there are no shipping fees; online there’s a flat rate of $5, with free shipping for orders over $50. The pop-up debuted in early December and was such a success it will stay open through at least April.
Fulton, a self-described language lover, calls Zach her “best reviewer” and says he decides where to display his favorite characters’ books. Her website, blog (bonjourmama.blogspot.com) and Facebook page (Bonjour Mama DC) are all aimed at connecting with other local parents with similar aspirations for their children. Now the shop is part of that effort, as well.
“I want it to be a welcoming place that people can come to and read stories, sing songs and play a game of French Scrabble or French Monopoly,” she says.
Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington, 240-383-9163, catalansdc.com
