This is what fifteen looks like in Phoenicia. It rocks! Michaela and Hailey couldn’t wait to try on these vintage 1970’s matching “Miss Ingenue” hot pink and orange checked knit tops ($22.) and vintage front patch pocket Wrangler jeans ($28.). The vintage purses completed the ensembles.

(Did we happen to mention that Michaela writes and plays the ukulele, and that Hailey is a former boxer who is now attending college? Did we happen to mention that they are fifteen? Don’t you feel old right about now? We do!)

Zach Alford may have great taste in music (as a drummer he’s toured with Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, and the B-52’s) but his taste in fine art is questionable, at best. We caught him admiring lovely ladies Carmelita and Esquerita in the Mystery Spot Black Velvet Nude Lady Art Gallery. (Though an absolute bargain at only $85. each, or $150. for the pair!)

Our good friend Storey is four years old. She loves to go to the zoo and she really loves to collect elephants! She’s wearing a shiny gold elephant necklace ($12.) and a simply adorable pink and orange 1950’s party dress with a crinoline lining ($28.) that her parents got for her.

Why are Erin and Jason smiling? Is it because they just bought this groovy Fifties Sputnik metal mod table lamp ($95.) and other assorted treasures? Or – maybe – is it because the night before, Jason proposed to Erin on the banks of the Esopus Creek (yes, a classically executed one-knee affair), and she accepted? (Note ring!). In any case, we were thrilled to see romance blossom once again in the aisles of The Mystery Spot, and gave them an early wedding gift of the Vogue Sewing Book.

We were thrilled when Mary Randolph Carter, the world’s foremost authority on junk (and the author of “American Junk,” “Big City Junk,” etc.), dropped by for a visit. She not only bought lots and lots of stuff, but featured The Mystery Spot on her website, www.carterjunk.com. (Go to “On the Road” and then “Junker’s Journal,” and you can read all about Carter’s visit. Lots of pics!). A great website, a dedicated junker, and her books are a must-read!

Neil Finn of Crowded House dropped by the Mystery Spot a while back and bought all sorts of stuff. He even obliged us with a photo for our archives, muttering something that sounded like“Pineapple Head,” as he graciously posed.

Lovely ingénue Julia Mason recently graduated from the American University of Paris and now interns at the Time Magazine offices in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. She popped across the pond this summer to visit Phoenicia (also known as the Fashion Capitol of the Catskills) where she found this stunning Frank Starr Fifties party dress ($60.). She took it back home to the City of Lights to show those Parisians a thing or two about chic.

Our friend, jazz clarinetist Don Byron (a Mystery Spot regular) took a liking to this cute little vintage Desenex tin ($4.).

Emmy Bunn is a designer for Ralph Lauren Polo and made out like a bandit here at the Mystery Spot! She went home with a mint Sixties Christian Dior faux fur hat ($35.), gorgeous Fifties black and gold brocade cocktail coat ($65.), killer vintage stilettoes with stacked wood spike heels ($45.), a black patent leather purse with lucite chain link handle ($35.) and a signed original oil painting from our personal collection of a Mermaid and King Neptune playing poker under the sea ($45.).

Let’s all say it together: come back soon, Emmy!

It warms the cockles of our heart to know that the kids of today have impeccable musical taste! A quartet of twelve year-old cousins – Audri, Ali, Tessa and Emily – gives a shout-out to their favorite vintage vinyl offerings by Joni, Zeppelin, AC/DC and of course, Janis ($6 – 15).

Funny Boy David Ilku all wrapped up in his latest purchase – early schoolhouse music rolls from 1905. This one is entitled “Nature.” We found a barn full of these wonderful antique children’s musical couplets and are offering them for a mere ten – twenty dollars each!