· By Phoebe Carpenter Eells
Fully Fall at elSage
 Fully Fall
October 22, 2026
The end of October in brick and mortar life means boxes start to pour in with beautiful gifts and holiday cheer. With both Paige and I buying for the shop it is a real delight to open packages and see what's inside. We're ever-focused on independently made goods (paying real people is waaaay better than paying corporations) with color, quality, and humor as common threads. We will have stellar options for your gifting season and hope that you will consider shopping small this holiday. See the beanies, bandanas, journals, jewelry and cards that arrived this week in our New Arrivals section.
Keep an eye on us in the coming weeks as we release fresh curated goods AND new designs from both Jonathan and me.
The end of October also means it's VOTING SEASON! We hope you're excited to vote and maybe have already turned in your ballot? If not, we have voting resources for you here, here, and here. Check out our IG voting highlight that includes a snap of what my ballot looked like after using all of these resources to inform my decisions.
We are approaching our first Valley Made Holiday Market of the season on November 14-15. November 14th is also the wine walk in downtown Mount Vernon so you can hang with me all day if you want! Grab your wine walk tickets while they last!
Valley Made Market line ups for all 3 holiday events are out now! Find your favorite makers and make your lists. We hope to see you at all 3 shows.
Don't miss this Saturday's pop up with Emily from Zach's Ceramics! 10am-2pm at elSage. More details here.
In other news, the Mount Vernon Downtown Association is hiring a new Executive Director! Downtown Merchants are really excited to see some fresh energy come into this position. The MVDA Board of Directors extended the application deadline to October 31st and has posted the salary at $83k+. I am not affiliated with the hiring of this position but I have worked with the MVDA for 13 years and would be happy to share anything that I know about what qualities would make a great fit for this position and where I think the MVDA could shine brighter. Find the job posting here
We remain ever-hopeful that our country will choose people over chaos. That our favorite small businesses will make it through the current economic landscape and that our kids will have access to brighter futures than what the current landscape is providing. We keep fighting in ways big and small for the change we want to see. This could look like protesting in the streets or running for office but it could also be as simple as keeping dollars local, serving on a community board, or voting for change. There is a collective power that we're starting to realize, let's keep it going and be the change we want to see!
In solidarity and hope,
Phoebe
|