A bear a day

Seriously, this blog is turning into my personal version of Wild Kingdom. But I just realized I failed to share these pix from my recent Close Encounter of the Bear Kind.


This lady (I'm pretty sure it's the momma of the cub I sent scurrying up the tree a couple weeks ago) came right up to the house in broad daylight the other day. She went to climb up on the deck, thought better of it, walked thru the Wisteria arbor and sat under it for a moment (clearly appreciating my expert vine training skills, right?) and then walked away down the slope into the woods. I, of course, ran around the house like a freak, jamming the memory card the wrong way into my camera and running frantically to take her picture before she disappeared. Then, yesterday, I was driving home and I caught her hanging out in the road. She's clearly the neighborhood bear. Where are my manners? I should totally invite her over for tea and honey.

On the Hudson

On Friday evening, after the ceremony, the wedding party boarded a boat on the Hudson for a booze cruise. Nell and I hit the top deck and watched the moody sky blaze into nothingness.* We were amazed by the beauty of the bridges and the water and the trees and the sky. As the bass sounds of "Brick House" floated up from the first deck, the boat chugged from Troy to the port of Albany and then turned around and headed back again. When the sky got dark, we joined the fray below.



*yes, I just quoted an Indigo Girls song. I'm cool like that.

get your ad on

Join me today over at Heart Handmade for my Making It! column. I write about advertising on blogs, and what types of ads seem to have the most impact. Come share your blog advertising experiences—I'd love to hear from you!

A Wedding

Here are some pictures from Courtney and Kain's lovely wedding on Friday. The day started stormy and ended that way--yet the sun broke out just before the ceremony and lasted until after the reception. That was when Court removed her shoes, where her mother had taped an English pence coin for luck. As soon as the shoes came off, it started to pour.

Of course, you can see neither my shoes nor my jewelry (except a glimpse of earring) in these pix, but I wanted to share anyway. Thank you all for giving me tons of ideas and input! :) And a big congrats to the Courtnerd, a fabulous friend since age 12.


Top photo: Kain and Courtney after the ceremony at the Albany Country Club
middle: Courtney with her parents, Sue and Tom (age 92! look how handsome!) behind her
bottom two: Friends since elementary school, from l to r, Leah, Courtney, Nellie, and me

Here Comes the Sun

Join me over at Poppytalk Handmade this month. It's the Here Comes the Sun summertime marketplace--and wow, do I hope that's true! :)

I'm like the baby wild animal whisperer

...except, instead of taming them, I send them scurrying up trees to safety.

This is from last night. It's a baby porcupine in a tree. A tiny tree. I'm noticing a trend here....

Early Summer Walk

Late afternoon on Friday, I took a walk. Here's what I found: a snail. a weed. a blue geranium.

And then, there was this little guy.


Can you see him?


The story: We came to an intersection of two small trails, and Zeke went nuts. Suddenly, there were two brown blurs crashing through the underbrush--one was Zeke, the other, I had to assume, was a bear. I rounded a corner and found the littlest bear cub I've ever seen climbing frantically up a thin-trunked Hemlock. He stayed there for an hour, quivering. Mama never came back when I was there, but I imagined a teary reunion just after I left. At least I hope so.

Summer Without Sun?

It's been a miserable, misty week without sun here. Quick, while it's peaking out briefly today, I want to do this:



and this:

and a lot of this:

Happy Weekend, all! I hope you get at least one toe wet today.

images all via http://imgfave.com

Fashion Challenge: Winner!

Y'all, this was a HARD decision. Everyone came up with such fabulous options! I found it so fantastic that both Nicole and Amy suggested the same adorable shoe from Seychelles as their option # 2. And all of you who created photo collages! My hat is off to you, seriously. Too, too wonderful.

It was really, really close for me, but ultimately I chose this winner because of the way she explained her choices, she put so much thought into each element and how they went together:

Shrimp Salad Circus said...This is such a fun way to pick out an outfit!!!

Okay, I would go with these New York Transit strappy wedges http://www.dsw.com/dsw_shoes/catalog/product.jsp?index=19&category=dsw11cat200012&prodId=183347&brand= from DSW (free shipping!). The low wedge is sensible and clumsy-proof for wedding dancing, and the muted 'jewels' tie in the purple from the dress, bring in a few extra summery colors, and dress the shoes up a bit, and they're nude to blend with the jacket!

For jewelry, I love your Honeysuckle earrings http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18790140 to add a bright pop of color and serious 'bling' above the dress. I would not wear a necklace because you don't want to detract from the darling jacket or from its beautiful neckline if you ditch the jacket, but you do want to add another punch of color and to show off the cute short sleeves, so I would add this Midnight at the Oasis ring http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18790140 because it's a real statement piece. Both jewery pieces echo the jewels and jewel tones in the shoes without detracting from the outfit.

Good luck picking something out!!!

So Congrats to shrimpsaladcircus! I'll be getting in touch later today. And a big thank you to each of you for helping me dress myself! You all have fantastic taste :)

Fashion Challenge

Okay babes, start your shopping engines: I've got a fashion challenge for you! My dear friend Courtney is getting married (yay!) to Kain in a small ceremony at the Albany Country Club in a few weeks. It's a Friday at 2pm affair. I've got a dress and a little jacket combo from the Gap that I just love. But I'm stumped on the shoes and jewelry!



That's where you come in. Please help me find the perfect compliments to this outfit. I'd like you to find me a great pair of strappy sandals, mid-height heel, comfort is key. :) And I'd like you to decide for me what jewelry I should wear from my line (can't pass up an opportunity to share my work with strangers, right?)

The best part? If I pick your combo, you'll win a Set Adrift Necklace from Clementine. Sound good? Yay! So just leave a comment with the links to 1) your shoe pick and 2) your Clementine jewelry pick and your email address (you can enter it like this: name [at] address [dot] com to avoid spammy spam). Contest is open until this Friday, June 5th at midnight EST, and I'll announce the winner on Monday!