It was a dark and stormy morning.

Kristen woke up and found that her apartment was overrun with ants. This was hardly surprising in Orono, a college town with lots of apartments that wouldn't appeal to anyone over the age of 21. So she threw on a raincoat and walked through the pouring rain to Park's Hardware. When she walked in, she noticed a handsome new guy. His name was Jason. He had just transferred to UMaine from Clemson. And the ants down there were fierce. They talked ants. One thing led to another.

Inevitably, Kristen and Jason got married. She worked as a lifestyle reporter, traveling around the state of Maine in search of the latest and greatest. He was a Renaissance man, as comfortable wielding a hammer and nails as he was running a business. In the spring of 2010, they had a baby. And the baby was so great that the duo decided they should combine their talents more often. A retail shop focusing on local products was the obvious choice, and, as fate would have it, a space opened up in the same building as Park's Hardware. In the fall of 2010, Maine Maven was born.

So far, everyone is living happily ever after.

The end. Or — should we say? — the beginning.