learning, growing, and super comfy clothes

This weekend has been a little chaotic.  But it was sweet, challenging, and oh so exhausting.  =)  Let me recap.

My little-brother-in-law is getting married next weekend but this weekend was mostly about my youngest brother-in-law.  My in-laws have a tradition of a graduation to manhood celebration at the end of high school.  They started doing it with my hubby and have done it for all three sons now.  It is an evening of men gathered together to share their wisdom and insights about life with the "graduate" who is starting college or heading out to the work place.  Since it is for men only, I wasn't there but it was sweet to ask my husband and brothers about it and have them talk about the camaraderie and friendship that was kindled in those sharing moments.

And on Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to go to a fantastic PR and branding workshop hosted by Audrey of Conversation Pieces and taught by Tracy of Poi Planet (Do you follow me on Instagram?  Did you see the amazing baked french toast that Audrey made for us?).  It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done.  I loved every moment of it because I knew it was what I needed to hear at this point in my business's life.  But let me tell you, I have not felt that much brain drain since I was working on my largest projects in college.  At the same time, I learned the most from those intense moments.  The moments where you don't have a choice but get it together and keep up or give up and go home.  I'm not about to give up and go home so I am going to keep going!

With everything I learned at that workshop, I am working on some changes to the blog and business.  So keep visiting to see how things shape up in the next few weeks and months!  I am very excited about some of the changes but also more than a little nervous.  =)

And the comfy clothes part of the post?  Audrey runs her business out of her home where she graciously invited us in this Saturday and she gifted me the most uh-maz-ing shirt ever.

Seriously, I don't even know how to tell you how incredibly soft, comfortable, and breathable this shirt is!  Let me just say this - buy one and you will never regret it.  Be looking for a style post featuring this top very soon!  =)

And with that being said, I am going to go try to catch up on some stuff and start plowing through the week and hurry up to my brother's wedding!  

Have a beautiful day!

in defense of the happy ending

I'm not sure if it is because I am a parent now or because I am getting hormonal/sentimental as I approach the end of pregnancy #2 but I have been contemplating happy endings.  Today, I want to talk about how I firmly believe that the happy ending should be preserved in literature, television, and film.

There seems to be a growing section of the parenting and psychology realms who are not convinced that happy endings are healthy for children (or maybe it is the large amount of dysotopian young adult literature but that is another blog post).  Now, I am not an expert on psychology or childhood development or even literature.  But I am a fairly well adjusted woman with a definite affinity for fairy tales and fantasy literature and an absolute addiction to a good happy ending.  This addiction does not mean that I am a Disney princess freak (I actually have problems with some aspects of them) but I think that most of the works of classic literature that we still love hundreds of years later are the ones that give us the hope of happiness.

I decided to do a little bit of research into the concept of the "happy ending."  There is the Disney happy ending (perhaps the most common?), the psychological happy ending, and the happy endings that I would like to talk about.  From what I am reading, apparently these (especially the Disney endings) can make us expect real life to be the same way and to be dissatisfied with any other outcome.  While I can appreciate the logic behind such an attitude, I think such proponents miss the larger picture.

There is a new growth of research from psychologists that suggests that what happens at the end of a narrative or situation is what colors our memory of the situation.  Whether we remember a year fondly because of happy times with family and friends during the holidays or loving a restaurant experience because dessert was good, our overall thoughts and feelings have been most strongly influenced by the ending (for a little bit of "light" reading on the subject, check here and here).

While I can appreciate the science of the human brain and its interaction with our emotions, I think happy endings, especially other peoples' happy endings in books, movies, or real life, are necessary to a fulfilled, forward looking human experience.  Happy endings remind us of a necessary element of our lives - hope.  As we move through time, we are only allowed to look in two directions.  As we look back, we may become bogged down in the perceived failures.  When we look forward, we see...unknowns.  If those were my only options, I have to admit that I would have very little desire to get out of bed in the morning.

But happy endings - big or small - give us hope for what could be, what is possible still.  Whether I am reading my dearly beloved Jane Austen's novels, talking to a friend who is having a good week, or merely getting dinner on the table on time, I have experienced a happiness.  A happiness that is complete in and of itself, with no need of validation or analysis from an outside source.  Heck, as the mother of a toddler, even getting through my morning coffee is a happiness.

But the point is that there are people out there who think this is silly, or worse, unnecessary.  People who would seem to discount the value of a happy ending.  Let me be clear - I am not arguing for a head in the clouds, only seeing rainbows and butterflies kind of existence.  Rather, I am arguing that happy endings like you find in Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Anne of Green Gables, blogs, A Series of Unfortunate Events (books or movie), and others like these give you a realistic happy ending.  There is hard work, there is heartache, but there is triumph and contentment and satisfaction.  There is fulfillment in the situation they end up finding themselves in - because they stuck it out and it is their happy ending.  It is not always the princess marrying the prince.  Sometimes it is the school teacher who finds that marrying the principle and doing what he/she loves is the real place where joy and happiness reside.

So, my dear blog reader, keep reading blogs.  Keep cheering people on who have found a way to make a living doing what they love, moms who are keeping families together and finding personal fulfillment, and communities that are strengthened by one member's happy ending.  We will keep people hoping in a better day tomorrow and the world filled with happy endings.

And with that, have a beautiful, happy ending, day.  =)

Wine Wednesday :: A Dinner to Remember part 2

Happy 4th of July, everyone!  I hope you have wonderful plans for time with friends and family and to remember the great gift we have of freedom and liberties in America.

But here, ladies and gentlemen, I finish the saga of our "Foie-maggedon" adventures.  Last week, you heard me write at length about a great many wonderful dishes.  The best are yet to come.

 And this is the main event.  These two dishes were what we came to see - and more particularly, eat.  The first two pictures are of the foie gras pate and porcini mushroom ravioli in chicken consumme.  You would not believe how amazing that dish was.  Doesn't it look like a simple thing?  One ravioli, a little bit of foie gras tourchon, and chicken soup.  A little taste of what Wolfgang Puck might make for himself when he was sick.  I don't know why you would make this when you're sick but it was so supremely wonderful that you can't help wishing you could get it when sick. =)  


The second dish is the classic saute foie gras.  It is moist, warm, and succulent.  This particular preparation was served over a piece of sweet bread and a bed of cooked peaches.  Along with this classic dish, we had a traditional wine pairing.  Or rather, three...  =)  I have a friend who likes to over do it with wine sometimes.  Ok, not really.  We were celebrating the end of our freedom to eat in California and took advantage of it.  So we had three Sauterne wines from the same maker but different vintages.  Chateau Lafaurie-Payraguey makes some heavenly sauternes.  If the foie-gras wasn't enough, this certainly put us into other worlds.  We had an 1986, 2003, and 2005.  If you have never had a 25 year old bottle of wine at any point in your life, I would highly recommend you try.  If you have never had a 25 year old sauterne in your life....well, I think you might be out of luck because we all went hunting for more bottles after this dinner and came up empty.  But you should definitely try tasting at least some sauterne if you have never had it.  


Wines like sauternes pair wonderfully with rich dishes.  A sauterne is often times more viscus of a wine than your normal red or white.  It has a more honey-like taste and feel.  Often it is complimented with wonderful citrusy and exotic flavors that make it the perfect compliment to something so fatty and succulent as foie-gras or other such dishes (certain cheeses and even fried foods go well).  Or if you just want it for a wonderful dessert wine, this is a good start!

And our journey is almost over.  These last three dishes were the end of our evening (and my camera phone was not playing nice for these).  The first picture is of a corn potash (a thick soup) with shaved black truffles and drizzled in truffle oil.  Holy cow...almost as good as the foie-gras. Almost.  =)  The last two pictures are of our dessert.  Panna cotta.  The food of gods and an amazing finish to this meal.  Vanilla, perfect texture, creamy, and paired with an almond biscotti...we were all about ready to die when we finished.  The last picture is of my new friend, Amelia.  She is one of the owners of Marche Moderne and the maker of this divine dessert.  She came and checked on us and we kind of gushed about everything...Peter wanted a picture with his hero.  =)

All in all, an evening to remember.  Ironic that it is the 4th of July and there is now a ban on this food.  =)

I hope you all have a beautiful day and wonderful bottle of wine!

the hazards of being in the jewelry business

One of the goals I had always wanted for my blog was to educate people about jewelry.  This may seem silly but there is a lot of information out there.  Like why some jewelry you buy at Forever 21 eventually turns green on you and other things that might be mysteries at the beginning.

But going back to my jewelry education.  One thing that has been changing quite a bit lately is the price of metals.  I work exclusively with sterling silver because it has (up until now) been much more reasonable than gold.  But things may be changing for all of us women (and men) who like to indulge our accessory whimsy.

One of the biggest jewelry suppliers in the US, Rio Grande, ran an article on their website last week about rising silver prices.  I thought I would share it with you because it had some generally useful information: http://riograndeblog.com/2010/12/bam-silver-prices-again/.  But to summarize the big points, it is essentially saying that silver jewelry and other items made with silver could be getting more expensive in the near future.  Historically, silver has stayed in a specific ratio with gold based on price.  With gold shooting up the way that it has been, silver could follow as more people invest in the cheaper metal.

So that is my friendly silver public service announcement.  =)

Have a beautiful day!