Specs Optical New Years Eve 2010

Join all of us at Specs Optical on New Years Eve!

Friday Dec.31st 10am-5ish

Come see us on December 31st, 2010 to help us ring in the new year. We will be poppin’ champagne and servin’ up treats and coffee drinks. And, as long as you’re in, feel free to let one of us show you some of our latest and greatest new pieces from the eyewear collections you have come love as much as we do.

It will surely be hoppin’ at Specs Optical, as many are trying to use up the last of their flex spending accounts (HSA) before the year’s end….are you one of them?


Even if you are currently not in need of new specs (never happens as far as we’re concerned!), drop by and grab a flute of champagne, a coffee, and some treats and toast to the New Year with us. We will see you soon! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

SPECS OPTICAL and SEVA FOUNDATION – Gifts of Sight

Give the Gift of Sight

SEVA FOUNDATION | GIVE THE GIFT OF SIGHT

SPECS OPTICAL is happy to spread the word about a remarkable non-profit that provides eye care services to remote areas of Tibet, Nepal, Cambodia, Guatemala and other parts of the world. SEVA FOUNDATION accepts donations of all levels to:

  • Sponsor a cataract operation and restore sight to a blind person in Tibet, Nepal, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh or Guatemala.
  • Help a woman living in a poor rural area get the eye care services she needs. From outreach and education to transportation arrangements, donations ensure that she avoids low vision and blindness.
  • Train local doctors and rural health care workers to deliver desperately needed eye care services to the people of Tibet, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Guatemala, Egypt and throughout Eastern Africa.
  • Provide a child with specialized pediatric surgery. Now able to attend school, eventually work, and care for their own family, a child’s life is changed forever.
  • Support the screening and provision of eyeglasses to twenty people in remote regions. Glasses help children to read and stay in school and elders to maintain their independence.
  • Provide training, tools and specialized equipment. A trained eye care team will be able to prevent blindness and restore sight to thousands of people in underserved communities.
  • Restore sight to at least 30 blind people in remote regions of Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia and Guatemala.
  • Support a 10-day eye camp and provide over 1,000 eye examinations and 300 sight-restoring surgeries in remote communities where there is no other access to eye care.

Seva Foundation’s One-Day Eye Camp

SEVA FOUNDATION | Eye Care Services

SPECS OPTICAl is sponsoring via SEVA FOUNDATION a full day of mobile eye camp services in a remote region of Tibet, Nepal, Cambodia or Guatemala, restoring sight to as many as 30 blind people. Mobile eye camps are an innovative way to deliver quality eye care to remote areas where there are no hospitals.

To learn more about how you or your organization can GIVE THE GIFT OF SIGHT, visit SEVA’s website.

About Seva Foundation

SEVA FOUNDATION | DONATE EYE CARE FOR REMOTE AREAS

Seva Foundation is most widely known for its innovative eye care programs in Asia and Africa, which have helped nearly three million blind people to see again through affordable cataract surgeries. In Guatemala and Mexico, Seva works with indigenous communities to provide the tools and training needed to sustain clean water systems, health care, and educational opportunities. Here in the U.S., Seva partners with Native American communities that are committed to building healthy communities, sustaining cultural values, and protecting the environment.

Specs Optical 2010 Gift Certificates

Even though it’s been asked many times, many ways…how does Santa make it all around the world to all the children (and grown-up children) in the span of one special night? Well, there is only one logical, science-based answer to that…..MAGIC! (oooooh) Quite frankly, though, it really is not our problem, it’s his. So, let’s focus back on our loved ones here in a non-fantasy land called the real world.

During the holiday season, some of us give gifts of pure decadence, some of practicality, some from the heart, and others walk into the local Super America, grab a random item off a shelf and toss it in a somewhat festively-decorated box (thanx again for those gas station gloves former coworker). But many still choose the route of the gift card or, now considered to be from the old-timey days, the gift certificate. What? Paper, not plastic?

Sure thing. Here at Specs Optical, we still offer up hand written gift certificates in any denomination in a beautifully designed card and envelop.  They are actually available year-round, but tis the season, right? A gift certificate is practical, a little decadent, and most importantly…not from a gas station, I mean….from the heart! Show a friend or family member that you care about the health of their eyes as well as their fashion sense with a gift certificate from Specs Optical. And, FYI, they never expire, so there’s no pressure to use it or lose it, like your flex spending dollars…HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all!

Kudos to Alchemy Architects and Salmela Architect

Specs Optical Store Facade by Alchemy Architects (Minneapolis)Click here to view a PDF of AIA Honors Awards 2010 that details Alchemy Architects’ design concepts for Specs Optical store facade.

The Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects handed out several Honor Awards to some of our friends recently. Jennifer Bjorhus of the Star Tribune reports that Alchemy Architects won awards for their work on the Blair Barn House in Blair, Wisconsin; and for our store facade here at Specs Optical. Salmela Architect won for their work on the Bagley Classroom at the Bagley Nature Area of the University of Minnesota – Duluth. Congratulations on all of your efforts.

Halloween – Complete Your Costume

It is inevitable that every year….oh, about a day or two before Halloween, we start getting panicked clients calling or stopping in, trying to find just the right pair of specs to complete their Halloween costume. So, here are a couple of early suggestions for pieces that might just do the trick:

Above left: The Dita Flight-S. A fun flashy aviator sunglass to complete your Top Gun pilot get-up (always an easy standby costume choice.) Above right: The Rapp Rosalind. A dramatic sculpted cat eye to perfect your naughty secretary or 60′s diner waitress outfit. It is currently available in 8 colors!

Below: RetroSpecs R#3305 by American Optical. This is a real deal vintage original, not reproduction. Ideal for all those Mad Men enthusiasts. Or, pair them with a lab coat (perhaps blood-stained) for a mad scientist look.

….and there are countless other possibilities. Let us know if there is a specific look you are working on. Otherwise, come see us soon, if not just for a Halloween treat. You may even catch one or more of us in costume. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

IVEY AWARDS

I went to the ‘Ivey Awards’, Minnesota’s version of the Tony Awards, this September.  On and off of the red carpet, I saw many faces I recognized from SPECS OPTICAL. I stayed off the red carpet (my luck is I would slip, trip and fall.) Many of our eyeglasses were seen as well. I saw Kirk Originals, Rapp Limited, Francis Klein and Lindberg, all on people dressed to the nines for the awards show. The room was filled with tons of local celebrities, and celebrity watchers. I hope to see the pics in the local magazines!

Lyle and I went, prompted by his friends James Rocco and Jeff Scott, and we had free tickets (LOL). I’m glad I dressed up, because Lyle Jackson and his business partner Ellen Roeder of  TULLE and DYE received the first award of the evening. The costumes they designed for the Ordway’s  Beauty and the Beast were ‘beautiful’, ‘dazzling’, ‘amazing’. My personal favorite from the show was the cheese grater they designed and built. We were both surprised, shocked, and very happy.

Thanks for the surprise Jamie and Jeff!

Steven

p.s. I hope to add pics!

Specs Optical – Color You Happy

COLOR

Ok, y’all…the weather has been drab as the summer winds down and we head into the fall/winter seasons. It’s time to brighten things up a bit. Daring colors are more popular than ever in fashion and your eyewear is not to be excluded. Check out some of the fun new colors and styles we are showing right now.

Above, from left to right, are the Kirk Originals Martha in S11-P114, Anne et Valentin Amy in 1010, and the Kirk Originals Otis in S09-P130.

Below, from left to right, are the Francis Klein Marcus in B98-1, Anne et Valentin Factory Seven in 0805, and the Theo moser in color 8.

These colors are truly brilliant and certainly fall into the category of ‘showstoppers.’ Are you daring enough to try one on? Stop on by Specs Optical any time….we WILL brighten your day.

Page Foster

I have been listening to new artist Page Foster’s new CD “Where and When.”  Page is a friend and client of mine at my other job, Terrace Hair Neon Beach, and a SPECS OPTICAL friend.  Love her music! She will be having a CD release party August 8th at NICK and EDDIE’S off Loring Park. I am going there for a free performance by this terrific artist and very lovely woman. If you see me there, say “Hi”. I hope to post, or ask one of her biggest fans to post more info on the release party for me here. You can check out her out at http://pagefoster.bandcamp.com/
Lets support a local kid!

Steven Hopp

Spotted in THEO

Who will be spotted in this THEO sun glass?

Would you dare to be spotted in your THEO?

I dare you!

“Spotted” at SPECS OPTICAL

Have you been spotted at Specs Optical?  As you can see Kelly was spotted.

On June 28th you may have spotted Rama, of RAMASSIA in our shop.  Ramassia is one of our distributors. Rama and his wife Assia, help us keep Kirk Originals, Theo and Anne et Valentin on our shelves.  Rama is the son of Anne and Valentin.  He took time out of his busy schedule to visit and show us some of the goods he reps.  We were treated to a terrific dinner at La Chaya Bistro.

Maybe you spotted Renee Kraft, Tracy Terbell, Matt Braun, Bonnie Breeding, the Queen of England, Salvador Dali, or did you spot Elvis?  You just never know who you will spot.

Shouldn’t you be spotted? Maybe in sunglasses by Tim Van Steenbergen, maybe a new Kirk Originals. Really, shouldn’t you be spotted in something by Specs Optical.