Sharing joy on the sidewalk, one mug at a time

Some people take trips to far-flung locales when they celebrate milestone birthdays.

Not Annie Jakabosky. When she turned 50, she wanted to improve the area about 25 feet from her front door on 47th Avenue. 

Jakabosky wanted to build some sort of inspiration station outside of her home. She started following people on Instagram who erected those kinds of structures — think Little Free Libraries, but for artwork, poetry, and yes, mugs. 

One of those Jakabosky followed was Rachael Harms Mahlandt in Portland, also known as @pdxdinorama on Instagram. Harms Mahlandt was doing an Instagram giveaway of one of her mug exchange stations. Jakabosky won it. (The two have since become friends IRL.) 

Jakabosky and her husband, Aaron, put it up in February, not exactly the best time of the year for outdoor walking, but a good time of year to enjoy a warm beverage. 

Jakabosky, who is an educational assistant substitute, put the first five mugs in the station — on the hooks that came with it. There’s also room for others on the top and inside the handle. 

Then the neighbors did their thing.

“People have been really generous,” Jakabosky said. “I’ve had a couple of potters donate their handmade mugs.” 

The mugs, however, are almost beside the point. Jakabosky, who has suffered from depression, wants to do what she can to build community and help people forge connections. 

“I’ve lived in this house for 16 years, but there were a lot of neighbors that I didn’t know until just the last few months,” she said. “And it seems like almost everybody in the neighborhood now has stopped to chat about the mug exchange.” 

When she’s inside, sometimes she’ll look out the window and see people meeting, talking, and making friends.

“It lifts my spirits, and I hope it does that for other people,” she said. 

The latest addition to Jakabosky’s sidewalk is a magnetic poetry station, inspired by another Portland resident, Hallie Shapiro, who has a “really beautiful” one outside her house, Jakabosky said. 

But the mugs are, for now, the main draw. 

Jakabosky hasn’t taken any for herself. “I don’t know,” she said. “I almost feel like that would be cheating or something.” 

If you go: 

From Eugene, head south on Willamette.
Take a left on 47th Avenue. 
The Jakabosky residence is about halfway down on the left. 
Bring a mug, take a mug.