UPDATE (2018): Yada Yada is now closed. But Cobi, the owner, has opened a cute pet supply shop — Ziggy’s Pet Pamporium — in its place.

I dropped the ball on my Melville Snapshot series. I wrote the first post in the series six weeks ago, promising to publish a new Melville Snapshot every week or so. I’m just now getting around to post #2. Oh well. Better late than never.

Anyway, today’s Melville Snapshot is from Yada Yada, a clothing/gift shop on Melville’s 7th Street.

The interior of Yada Yada Gifts and Clothing.

In case you’re wondering, Urban Dictionary defines the expression “yada yada yada” as: “[a] conversation glosser-over, similar to blah, blah, blah”. This expression was immortalized by Elaine Benes, a character from the famous American sitcom Seinfeld. In a 1997 Seinfeld episode, Elaine explained to George and Jerry that it is possible to ‘yada yada yada’ sex. She recounted an incident when she went to dinner with a man, ordered the lobster bisque…yada yada yada…left the next morning.

Sorry. I digress. Back to Melville.

Over the last year, about a dozen new shops/bars/restaurants have opened on Melville’s 7th Street and the adjoining retail strip on 4th Avenue.  Some of the those newly opened businesses have already closed again, and at least a couple more will probably close before the end of this year. This is how things roll in Melville.

However, I’m confident that Yada Yada is here for the long haul. It’s been open for a year and seems to be going strong. Yada Yada is too cool and too well suited for Melville to go away any time soon.

I love Yada Yada’s exterior, which opens onto 7th Street. Incidentally, this mannequin resembles Elaine Benes. I like to believe this is intentional.

Yada Yada sells mostly women’s clothing and accessories, as well as some baby clothes and miscellaneous odds and ends. The shop’s signature items are its reversible skirts, which can double as dresses. Yada Yada also sells great scarves, hats, and jewelry.

I’m not much of a shopper but this is the kind of place that makes me want to buy things. The shop explodes with color, as most of the clothes are made from brightly hued African and Asian prints. Each item on display seems to be carefully chosen and although the merchandise is diverse, it all goes together. Also, everything is affordable.

Handbag made of recycled paper.

Odds and ends.

Paper parasols and feathers float down from the Yada Yada ceiling.

Cobi Meyer Domingos, Yada Yada’s founder/owner, has been a fixture in Melville for as long as I can remember. She used to be the manager at the Ant, Melville’s legendary pizza joint, before moving into the abandoned space next door and opening Yada Yada. The best thing about Yada Yada is actually Cobi herself. She has a special style and energy about her. I find it nearly impossible to walk past Yada Yada without stopping in to say hello.

Cobi doesn’t like to be photographed. So I pretended to take a photo of a scarf and snuck her into the background.

I currently own a beautiful knit scarf, a wool hat, and a pair of textured leggings from Yada Yada. I want to buy a skirt, a shirt, some earrings…yada yada yada…I’m saving my money.

Yada Yada is located at 4 7th Street in Melville, between the Ant and the IT Corner. Check out Yada Yada on Facebook.