Lingering in the Splendor of Fall

Is it just me or have retailers been pushing christmas and gift-buying a bit earlier than usual this year? Seems that emails about getting a jump on Black Friday and the holidays and “last chance” opps are triple what they have been in the past.  Yes, I’m a retailer…but I’m not ready to push the holidays just yet! I remember, back in the late 70s (yes, I am that old) when I had my Country Peddler brick and mortar stores, my clients would clamor and beg for holiday decorative pieces to be put out in September instead of the first day of November. I made the mistake of sharing with a few of them that all of the holiday items were ordered the prior January, received in July and were sitting in the Country Peddler warehouse, tagged and ready to go when I made the switch from fall to Christmas and Hanukkah! Big mistake! The second year, I did acquiesce and changed the shop over to holiday on October 10th!! Loyal customers were parked out front waiting for me to open the doors at 10:00 just so they could get first dibs on all the delightful goodies.

One Bracelet -- Five Looks in Black & Brown

A long time favorite of mine – the combo of brown and black. I know…for years we were told not to mix the two; but, I still say, rules be damned. It doesn’t really matter does it? If you like it and it makes you feel good you should wear it, right? When I first found a variety of these gorgeous works of Mother Nature in Tucson many, many, many moons ago, I was immediately drawn to them. Not only are the mother-of-pearl beads lovely to look at – they are so smooth and cool that I think they make great touchstones.

Online Shopping?

Crystal Quartz & Pearl Three-Strand Bracelet

This evening I thought it would be fun to go to the outlet stores and take a gander at a few of my favorite stores – J. Crew, Tommy Bahama, Converse and Nike. While I do live out in the boonies, for some reason long before I called this home someone had the idea to build an outlet shopping center right off the freeway here in town. And, over the years it has changed dramatically and has become quite the destination spot for people on vacation during the summer. I guess people really like to shop!

Lavender & the Color Purple

Every year, when I harvest my lavender I bring it into the studio to dry for several months before removing the little buds or whatever they are called from each stem. I love having the lavender inside especially when I sit at one particular location of my workbench. As I work, my feet jostle the ends of the stems under the bench and with just the slightest movement the soothing scent of lavender is released into the air. It’s heavenly.