A loss

My father passed away on Tuesday night, December 23rd. He had battled cancer for over four years, but the end was mercifully quick. Just under a month ago, he was told the cancer had spread to his lungs and we arranged for hospice care. He figured he had until the spring. But my mom and I felt it would be quicker, and it was. My mom took the picture below on December 13th. By the 19th, he was clearly in his final days. I always thought we'd have some final words together, but the last 48 hours of his life were very quiet, as he danced on the edge of consciousness.


On Tuesday, three friends of the family came over to eat dinner with me and my mom, as they had been doing for several days. As we sat at the table, eating and talking and laughing, I suddenly really needed to go upstairs and see my dad. Within the hour, he passed away, with all of us gathered around his hospital bed, holding his hands and whispering "I love you." It was a remarkably peaceful thing, the slipping of life, the turn between breath and stillness.

In a wonderful coup, two friends had arranged for my father to receive a special one-off printing of his memoir, which is still months away from publication. We got the books two weeks ago and showed him a copy on what turned out to be one of his last days of consciousness. When he realized it was an actual copy of his book, not just a mock-up, he said "I'll be goddamned."

His memoir, titled "Guts: One American Guy's Lucky, Reckless Life" will be published by Random House in May 2009. It's already available for pre-order here. (In one of the strangest assignments of my copywriting career, I got paid to write the jacket copy for my dad's memoir!) And you can read his obituary in the Boston Globe here.

My dad was a pretty extraordinary guy, quite smart and totally goofy; and though, like many dads, he could be annoying, opinionated, bossy, and stubborn, he was my dad--and I'm really going to miss him.

Back on, baby!

And on the seventh day, there was light.

The power's back on! That's right, the power was out for 7 DAYS. When it came back about an hour ago, I went around turning on every appliance in celebration--the dryer, the microwave, the Christmas lights! wooooo-hooooo...
...and just in time for the next big storm predicted for Friday. Why do I live in New England again? Oh, that's right, because it's home. :)

Ice, Ice Baby

and yes, too cold (too cold).


The last few days have been totally surreal. When the freezing rain started on Thursday it just seemed like a normal little winter icing. By late Thursday night, the sound of trees cracking and breaking all around the house kept me awake most of the night. We lost power and it hasn't come back on yet. But thank the gas-guzzling gods for the generator in the garage! Five gallons of gas yields about 10 hours of power, but appliances can only be run one at a time.


The amazing part of this storm is the way everyone came out and pitched in to help. The road was initially totally impassable, but neighbors went out on Friday with chainsaws to clear the large trees and tie up dangling power lines with twine, and when I walked down the mountain into town that afternoon I spent a lot of time clearing away the smaller branches. Now tree crews have come to town all the way from PA to help with the cleanup.


It's going to take a giant effort to get all the debris cleared away. But for now, the views are gorgeous. I took some videos, you can see them here.

Thank you. And repeat!

The first ever Clementine Black Friday Free Shipping Event was a smashing success--a record-breaking weekend for orders at my shop. Thank you!!

Now I just have that little task of completing, packaging, and shipping all those orders. I drank coffee at 10pm last night. I've never done that. Ever. But it was a good first, really. :)

Getting me through? Thao on repeat. And repeat. And repeat....

GIVING THANKS

Dude, I just ate waaaaayyy too much. You'd think I would have stopped eating when it was just me at the table with foot left, my parents just sitting there watching me. But no! I continued on, because that's what Americans do. We persevere. We eat much, much more stuffing than is appropriate. And then we moan.

But now that the meal is finished, it's time for me to give thanks in a much more appropriate manner. With free worldwide standard shipping in my shop! Yay! From now until 12am EST Tuesday (Dec 2), every single order will ship for free, anywhere in the world. Combine that with the big sale I currently have going on, and seriously, you can't miss it.

Handmade Holiday

Marichelle of Heart Handmade has put together the prettiest zine celebrating the holiday season. It's out today, you can download it here or read it online here. There are sweet mini-interviews with tons of great artists and makers, and downloadable treats -- gift tags, prints, great stuff. See if you can spot me in the pages :) I also contributed recipes for Dark Chocolate Truffles and Coconut Macaroons--you'll die, they're so yummy.

Pre-Holiday SALE!

Okay, I'm facing facts. My shop is jam-packed with jewelry and I literally have a huge stock of great holiday pieces that are just waiting to be posted--but I've got to get some older items cleared out before my store bursts at the seams.

So you know what that means! Big pre-holiday sale. Most items are reduced by 20 - 30%, some up to 40%--and the sale includes some long-time favorites (Archeologist Earrings, anyone? :)


So come on in an get 'em before they're gone.

Poppytalk Holiday

This month's Poppytalk Handmade market is the biggest and bestest ever. I've picked out a few favorites...

the Big City Linen Bag by Tortilla Girl has been on my wishlist for a while now. $75



UR beautiful dish by mudpuppy, $25


Lace ornament by Megan Auman, $18

Small Things Book, vol. 1, by James Spicer $18


Linen lavender pillow by Jill Bent, $10

getting me through the day

"Young Bride" by Midlake. It's been getting me through the last few gloomy and rainy days. I always forget how terrible the weather is in November. It seems perpetually overcast and windy. What gets you through the dark days of late fall?

Just arrived...

...my purchases from Wren & Chickadee. Unbelievably, they're even prettier in person. I love Ez's soft, ethereal aesthetic, and the vignette that her daughter, Miss K, put together is so quirky and chic. Now I just have to find the perfect spot for them...

I'll give you a tour...

Come check out the tour of my home/studio at Poppytalk!

Happy Election Day

Lulu says: put on your fancy shoes and vote!

Unbelievable.

They call this butter?

I laughed myself silly over this one. What can I say, I'm easily amused.
via FailBlog.org

Rainy Day Clunk

I've been a little obsessed with Psapp's Hi for a while now. It's part of a little mini-genre called clunktronica, which employs all sorts of bits and bobs in the creation of fantastic rhythm. It's so catchy it's almost sinful.



Bonus: gather all your pets in one room, play "About Fun," and watch them all eye one another suspiciously, like "who's making that noise? Is that you??"

love, Etsy

Cupcake Bird
Shirley

Clara

I just love the clever anthropomorphism of these sweet birdies. So pretty, with a giggle. All three prints are $35 from kwilson544

Tea + Talk

Head on over to Melissa Loves to read my interview in the Tea + Talk series. Yay! :)

The Last Bouquet

The frost has held off so far, but this could well be my last bouquet of the year. It's always when you're picking the last of the flowers that you appreciate them the most.


The vase is by one of my favorite Etsy sellers, Shoshona Snow. I just noticed that she's including a special gift with every order until she reaches 900 sales--fantastic!

Closing in on 1000

I'm getting very close to my 1,000th sale in my Etsy shop. *squeeeeeeel*

I want to offer a giant, heartfelt thank you to each and every customer who has helped to make my experience selling online such a delight. I've met some lovely people through my Etsy shop, and I'm so grateful for it.

In celebration, I'm giving away a special prize to the person who purchases item #1000: a choice of one pair of either the Snow Blossom or Radiant Daisy earrings, to be shipped with rest of the winner's purchase.

Thank you all so much!

UPDATE: We made it! The shop is at 1002 sales. THANK YOU!

I'm old.

I'm old.... according to the Haverford College Magazine. Remember when you were a "young alumn?" You were still a little psyched to drink in public, and you were heady with your new job, so much better than the one you had right after graduation. You were getting engaged, maybe moving to cities in far-off coastal regions. Then, suddenly, it was 10 years since you graduated. Now, "young alumni" are Class of 1999 and up. The rest of you? No better than Cloris Leechman, "dancing" on national tv.

I might as well don a tracksuit and buy a condo in Boca.

And so it begins.

On the heels of three steady days of rain, autumn has officially arrived. The chill feels permanent, the trees are gorgeous, and the green is fading quickly.


These are pictures from today's kayak at Savoy Mountain State Forest. There was a bracing wind at the boat launch, which made me catch my breath a little. The sky was dark but the colors were beautiful.

First Aid Kit

Two Swedish sisters, aged 15 + 17, covering the Fleet Foxes, adding haunting harmony and bringing a lovely song to life. I enjoy the original, I *adore* this rendition.

Thank you, For me, for you, for the introduction! Visit their myspace page for more.

Torino Calling

I just happened upon this shop and was absolutely bowled over by the product shots. LOVE. So beautifully composed, so fresh. And that hair!!! I'm totally jealous.


Made in Torino, Italy by designer Ninu, the bags are simple, roomy, and very limited edition—only 10 bags are made from any given pattern. All pictured here are the SHELL style, $65 each.

shopping with the girls

I love a good challenge! Ez at Creature Comforts issued a Chic for Cheap challenge: put together the perfect outfit for an afternoon shopping with the girls, on the cheap. She might as well have sent me an engraved invitation: shopping + bargain outfits. So I played around in polyvore for the first time and put together my perfect fall outfit, featuring my favorite color combo right now: purple and black.
Links:
Top by Forever 21
Jeans by Wet Seal
Scarf by Dorothy Perkins
Bucket Bag by American Eagle
Ballet Flats by Old Navy
Yellow Felted Bangles by OnTheRound

Want. Love.

An old-fashioned frame clutch has always seemed like the most feminine of accessories to me. With no handles or straps, it requires you to keep hold of it at all times, rendering one hand useless—and requiring others to do all those mundane things for you, like opening doors and paying at the register. Really, it's the ultimate throwback—but when paired with such modern, lush fabric as this, it takes on a new life as a must-have piece.


Refined but not at all staid, these bags by redrubyrose make me want to render one hand useless ALL. THE. TIME. Just look at the gorgeousness. And each one is lined with dupioni silk. *swoon*

YOUR MESSAGE HERE.

The crafty and creative duo behind Something's Hiding In Here has a brilliant new project, an installation in a window at Urban Outfitters in Philly. An old-fashioned marquee complete with lights and bright letters, the board will feature a different message every day, supplied by their blog readers and shoppers at the store. Simple, ordinary messages that take on new meaning when posted for the world to see. How cool is that?

Go on over to their project blog to enter your message.

Mine?

Come find me.

the letter C

I love the way Kristine styles her photos, always as cool and refined as her wirework. The letter C, $15 from kristinemays

take pity on me

I can't knit (crochet? I don't even know) to save my life. Please make these for me. I'll send you jelly beans. and kittens. Kittens stuffed with jelly beans. Jelly beans stuffed with kittens. Red Coral and Gentleman Prawn patterns, $3.50 from wunderkammer

love, Etsy

"Deer in the Forests of White Birch" is an original, one-of-a-kind paper sculpture by mollyjey. $160

Mass MoCA

"Tree Logic," the iconic upside-down maple tree installation at the front of Mass MoCA

Given that it's only 40 minutes away, it's criminal that I haven't visited the galleries of Mass MoCA before today. I'd been to the building a number of times, but never dedicated the hours to touring the whole place. My friends Brooke (a Western Mass native, like me) and her husband Adrian are over from London and we thought some "crazy-ass modern art" (Brooke's words, and she's a Ph.D. in modern art!) would hit the spot.

Adi entering the head terrarium

Steinkamp

A converted set of mill buildings in North Adams, Mass, MMoCA is all about installations. It's got the space to do them right, and the building itself has so much character it often begs the question: where does the structure end and the art begin? It's not the Guggenheim, and that's the point—these were buildings that were built for industry, not art. And yet they manage to nearly steal the show...nearly.

Projections, Jenny Holzer

The highlight for me (and Brooke and Adrian too) was Jenny Holzer's "Projections." It's only there thru November 16, so if you've been thinking of seeing it, now's the time.