A September Gardening DATE with my WIFE!

Yesterday I Tweeted and Facebook-ed all day how beautiful I think September is. To me, it far surpasses the other months in sparkle and shine! Saturday literally glittered when we took a family (dogs included) bike ride in our hood. Beautiful sparkly sunshine on palm trees and hand-washed cars! We had the humble, overall blue summer the northeast had last year, but September rarely, almost never disappoints!

So yesterday, in the month of catch-up-on-all-your-last-summer-bbq's, we washed our cars and gardened the front of our house. Man, does everything look fabulous and clean and bigger and brighter, now!

We washed cars with our 2 and 1/2 year old and when he layed down for a "rest"....(please nap, please), my wife and I dragged every gardening tool down the drive way to the front of the house to cut down unruly bamboo, overgrown bush grasses, dead HUGE sunflowers, and spider ridden Elephant-Foot palms...FUN!!!! It was so much fun getting dirty with my partner while Hudson napped...I've been unable to go up front and do this household chore alone, because Hudson would be too close too the street. And this chore matters so much more to me, because it involves appearance...and we all know I like pretty things...including my front yard!

But the romance of it was the pre-baby, "just-a-couple" nostalgia. While we adore our son, it was wonderful to bond over a task that brought us together for the first 4 years of our relationship. We built our courtyard, and regretfully planted that bamboo, and brought home those palms, and got OUR palms dirty together landscaping our home since April 2004.

We sat on the couch tired and aching together last night watching the True Blood Finale thoroughly connected and satisfied with ourselves and the new weeded state of our house....we sighed with the pleasure of gratitude over the things we HAVE, as opposed to another conversation about things we need, or need to do, or need to plan.

Ahhh, September! do you guys have anything you adore about September?

A Boutique Said No to my Jewelry? Ouch!

I know I'm supposed to be humble, and embody a sense of spirituality...like, "This is part of the Universe' plan for me"....but it hurt! My jewelry or home decor hasn't yet been turned down after showing at a boutique or store...it reminds me of an old painful sentiment - the first time someone broke up with me, after a little "Winning" streak of being the "breaker-upper".

Okay, wait...there was that one bridal boutique in Manhattan that Lauren introduced me to, but I wasn't all that crazy about bridal jewelry in the first place, so I felt like my energy had clearly contributed to never consigning there.

Yesterday, I walked in nervous, one arm around my Shell Trunk of jewelry and wares, the other gripping the shoulder of my 2 & 1/2 year old toddler. The latter was a BAD idea...my former angel of a son became a running lunatic in this high-end trendy and golden boutique, and I became an apologizing and distracted mother.

Like I posted on facebook, the owner turned me down in 4.1 minutes...I know because of the parking meter into which I had plunked more quarters than needed.

Bu this I'm sure of...my jewelry and winter Wreckollections Wreaths and Ornaments were perfect for her store, regardless of the fact that she said, "I can tell in my gut you're not a fit here."

I KNOW the fall "Cowboy" inspired chains and beads, and the vintage jewelry wreaths were gorgeous and fabulous. I'm filled with self-doubt like most women, but in my creations, I'm not...I'm very, very sure that they're the bomb.

So, I can wonder all day WHY I wasn't invited to sell in her store, I can assume it's as she said...that she holds tons of jewelry right now....but what this did confirm for me was the knowledge that my stuff for the upcoming fall and winter seasons are delicious! I KNOW it...:)

Here are some pictures of a mini wreath and lavender quartz crystals.

New Projects....like Babyshower Games!?

Hi friends and family!~ While Kim is still partly living in "Delirious-Land" fantasizing about our future move to Vermont's Green Mountain Forest for a year, I've moved on to making myself busy at HOME in San Diego with new creative projects....First, this is the first time in 20 years of making jewelry and ten years selling it, that I'm on time with production for the holidays!!

I usually wait for fall and winter inspirations to start creating jewelry for Christmas and Holiday shoppers, but then I'm rushing around with the regular hustle and bustle and the added stress of impending jewelry shows and awaiting boutiques!

This year, the planning began two weeks ago. I've scheduled babysitters to give this mommy time to create and ship at least the autumn jewelry in time for falling leaves and cooling weather.

The Crystal ornaments and WRECKOLLECTIONS Jewelry Wreaths have been laid out all over the floor of our shared office (mostly Kim's office...and she tip-toes through them to her desk patiently). I'm preparing final touches and choosing which wreaths get which junk broaches and beads. In other words...I'm ON TIME!

But this isn't enough busy for me! I need other projects, and when I resigned from the "moving to VT" project, I found another!

Baby Shower Bingo! Random, right?! Not so!! My friend, Lelli Hazard created Registry Bingo, and while she'd love to make Registry Bingo her full time passion, she's a busy working mom of a running toddler! So I'm going to help her market this fantastic Bridal and Baby shower GAME! Why not...most of my social gathering include showers...in fact, I'm co-hosting my cousin Natalie's baby shower with my mom and grandma in September, and I'm hosting one of my sister-in-law's baby showers after Christmas...so THIS PROJECT and ADVENTURE is APPLICABLE! While writing Natalie's invitations, it became imperative that I blog about this new creative outlet! I'll let you know how the games play out at the next shower...I have a feeling it will be so fun...especially if the BINGO!-winning guests win my jewelry!!

If you have a bunch of showers celebrating your friends, too...check out: registrybingo.com

Origami Mobile

Hi friends! While on our desolate and heart-warming Vermont Vacation this summer, my college best friend Lauren came to the woods to hang out with me! Lauren is an art teacher in the Hudson Valley, NY, and brought Origami papers to host "arts and crafts" with me. We folded fancy papers into dolls...and the dolls became a mobile for Justine's Baby Girl, whose shower we were attending that weekend in Maine!

I dug through the previous home-owner's wood collection for the hanger, we cut up an iridescent, lavender, hippy-dippie skirt for dangling branches, and finally sewed on lime-yellow faceted beads.

FUN time! I LOVE arts and crafts...and to know that our friend's new baby girl (due in November) would set her eyes on this project made us happy.

I'll post pictures of Justine opening this whimsical homemade mobile at her alfresco baby shower next....

Probably not going to move to VT for a year...

I'm in my most "favorie-tist" HIPPY restaurant in Rutland, VT...(post-meeting, "Acceptance" being the topic, and pre-picking up Lauren Walling...coming to Vermont for a visit!) Lauren is my best college friend, and we get to celebrate another best-friend's baby shower in Kittery, Maine this Sunday.

Right now Lauren's train will pull into Rutland in 25 minutes...so I knew to bring my laptop to my favorite restaurant here!! 'Back Home Again'...a member of, "The Twelve Tribes" group....I gather they're a communal living/spiritual group dedicated to homegrown foods...and tonight I ordered a pizza with Sauerkraut and Red sauce! YUM!

And yeah...I don't see us living in Vermont in our little Granville house for one year....at least not there...maybe in the Northeast somewhere sometime...but this mommy needs at least a small town of sorts, and Granville seems more like a zip code than a town...Gorgeous, though.

We're having amazing days in steamy, stormy, sunny, rainy, breezy weather. But, I haven't made a piece of jewelry in days..I lack some tools and findings, and I'm just too lazy this summer here in the woods to creatively challenge myself. Although, Angela Stevens just visited and brought me old jewelry I've given her the last few decades as well as some fading JCREW pieces...so now i have little more junk to work with...my favorite!

God I love this hippy joint! I'll upload pictures asap...and guess what?!?!? They just told me they opened "The Yellow Deli" in Vista, CA....you must go see this crazy great food for yourselves!

Making Green Mountain Forest Jewelry

I forgot to say we are having a wonderful time hanging out with each other...I've already given Hudson all the meaty attention I've been wanting to give him.

I have also found time to make Forest inspired jewelry!

Lauren Walling gave me old seed pods strung on her grandmother's necklaces, which I combined with some tiny crystals bought in Portsmouth, NH for a Justine creation last summer.

I incorporated pink resin and old brass for a fabulous double-wrap natural and sparkling necklace.

$30!

Is Vermont in America??..a CA perspective!

Hi friends!!

I have been saying to Kim the last few vacation days, "Aren't we in America??" I guess we are...we are just rural!

Monday, the internet guy came out to our house and informed us that there is no room on the satellite for our little connection/house. We aren't getting internet at home right now. We do pass DSL Fairpoint trucks on famously scenic route 100....the proof that infact DSL interenet will be made available to us soon...we won't be able to move here for our experimental 1 year with no web access...this is how Kim would run her SD, CA business from the woods!

While that guy was on our roof, we lost home phone/land line. Kim was on the phone with the satellite people, and the phone went dead. It always comes back, though!

We have no cell phone reception, we've chosen not to pay for voicemail service, and the power went out all last night. We DID catch Top Chef on Bravo last night...but right after it ended, an error message interrupted the screen reading, "Satellite loss due to rain and cloud coverage,"....

We are REMOVED!! However, we are having a restful, fabulous time! Apparently, after some desolate reflection, I needed rest from the dizzy spin I do in SD. And we all know Kim needed rest from a haunting EDD audit this last year and a changing business.

WE visited a Wells College friend of mine yesterday in Plymouth, VT...ten minutes outside Woodstock. Anneke's historical family home is a 200-something year old farmhouse, with authentic basement mud floors and low ceilings! It was so interesting to be inside a real old American house.

I'll post pictures of Anneke. Our meet up was inspired by our sons' need for a playdate...they're both two year old toddlers... Collin even taught my Hud how to say "Mine-s", and his dad, Chris, a professional painter taught Hud how to paint!

I'm in Waitsfield, VT right now at a cafe, Kim walking Hud around before we get groceries and host Angela and Jason for the weekend. We're making blueberry pies with all the picking berries we collected yesterday! And, if the sun comes out again, we'll lay out on our wood deck and then walk the creek! Till the next wifi!