Some Christmas Bling

... if, like me, you can't get up the Christmas spirit on your own this year, these designer Christmas trees just might do the trick. This Hermes one is my favorite. Probably because it looks less like a tree and more like a dream fort, the perfect hideaway, the perfect Narnia-style portal. Especially with that ethereal (read: slightly frightening) glow emitting from within!

Soon this 9-hour Christmas Eve shift will be over and I can escape to my own little family bubble, where we will smoosh onto the couch and read the hilariously 80s edition of The Night Before Christmas, and stare at the colored lights until they blur and it's bedtime. And then in the morning there will be Vivaldi and coffee cake and stockings to exclaim over. It is gift enough* to have this one last childhood Christmas with my family, though none of us are children anymore.

What traditions do you look forward to most?

Generic seasonal tidings,

Emily

*just kidding, Santa

Continuity

Just an old photo and someone else's words, today; not because I am sapped of creativity, but because it's not time yet (and I'm frightened) to see what would come forth.

To Papoo.

Love,

Emily

Photo taken at the cliffs of Kilkee, Ireland, in May 2006.

Dear Santa

If I were cleverer, I would have revived this blog weeks ago, just to make known my dream wishlist. But, I'm not, so here we are, only five days left and no chance of it being at all useful for anyone. Oh well, a girl can dream, right?

Moleskine 12-month planner,

to help me track my progress through the coming year.

And look at those colors!

Anthropologie bottle opener

to help me feel like a classy lady,

despite my love of beer

Modcloth headphones,

because my years-old iPod earbuds

just aren't cutting it, anymore

a Free People cardigan,

because a girl can never have enough cardigans

a book of stitches, because embroidery is

really hard when you have no idea what you're doing

the perfect Frye boots,

because, well, they're perfect.

In fact, let's just go ahead and add 'procurement of the Melissa Riding Tall Frye boots' to my 2010 resolutions. It will be done.

Glad tidings,

Emily

Renewal

Well, hello again. It's been awhile, to say the least. For months now I've been meaning to post again, maybe next time I've got wireless, but maybe after I grab some coffee, or when I find a killer photo to use as a metaphor... and then, just a minute ago, I read this astonishingly inspirational post by the lovely lady behind the blog Little Red Fox. Now, this blog is just incredible. For the most part I really only read fashion blogs, but one lucky day last spring I came across this one and I fell for it, like that. She's creative, enthusiastic, a great writer, and she sometimes shares stories about her experience working with David Hyde Pierce. How could I not love her?

Anyway, she revealed in this post that all of the beautiful things she creates and sells in her Etsy shop, all of the photos she takes, all of the posts she writes, et cetera, were all made possible by skills she has acquired in the past two years. Here I was, assuming she was this superhero, the next Martha, while slumped at my desk yearning for such natural prowess, when all along she was JUST LIKE ME a couple years ago.
Except for one (yes, just ONE) thing: she had the motivation and belief that she was capable of learning and doing and fucking up and then doing again and eventually getting exactly the results she had hoped for.

SO. This year has been a rather strange one. I graduated from college with a highly predictable B.A. in English -- I was always a bookworm, and writing was my only creative outlet -- but with no inspiration or energy for writing (even in my journal!), or interest in reading (I couldn't even finish my first attempt at Virginia Woolf!), or ambition in any career path. Then, I took a class in jewelry making and metal work and suddenly I was filled with inspiration and ambition and drive and... what have I done with it? Not much, at all.

Alright, you guessed it. This is a New Years' Resolution post. A little early, yes, but so very earnest. There will always be reasons not to do, not to try, not to fuck up and grow up. I will always have too little time, because life is short, but sweet for certain.* And it will be made all the sweeter if I finally grow the proverbial pair and just work hard. I don't know yet who I want to be or what I want to do or where I want to go, but I sure as hell won't find out without research, and work, and introspection, and the occasional failure.

In 2010, I will
- learn to sew (like, at all. Even just replacing a button would be a struggle for me, now.)
- continue to redefine my ideas about diaries, through my recently acquired and deeply beloved veryfirstever Moleskine sketchbook
- be a better pen pal
- begin dancing again
- actively research the artists and designs and methods and fields that interest me
- make a lovely home
- keep up with this blog; not for you, the anonymous, judgmental entity of my bad mood daydreams, but for myself, and the unknown others who may like me, and the things I like, and maybe this blog, too.

Emily


*Yes, I did just quote Dave Matthews Band, shutup.

hope

At long last, I have photographs of the pieces of jewelry I made earlier this summer. Without further ado:

You can't tell from this photo, but the stone is
a deep green, with little orange-red flecks. Clearly, this one is Pond.


The concept behind this one was Fiddlehead, but I didn't really get the shape I liked, in the end.
Still, I'm proud of that tiny bezel, and the way the bracelet loops perfectly around my wrist.
Again, the stone is green, but you can't really tell.


This one you've seen before. This was my final piece, another pendant.

I still haven't found a chain for either of my pendants, but I'm optimistic. I've contemplated stringing the latter on to a piece of black velvet ribbon entwined with a gold filler chain, but I think I'll keep searching for the perfect chain before I give in to that easy fix.

For now I'm without a space to continue working, but I've taken to carrying a sketch book with me to work, and keeping it on my nightstand, so I'll become a little more accustomed to drawing out my ideas. Haven't seen much improvement yet, but hopefully I'll be able to express myself a little better as time passes.

And that's all for today. Off for a week-long jaunt to the Garden State, then back to reality -- just in time for my mom and sister to go back to school and leave me all by my lonesome.

It's going to be a long, lonely descent into the endless Vermont winter; any distractions welcome. More boldly put, have I got any readers yet??

love to the anonymous (imaginary) masses,

Emily

baby steps

One of my coping mechanisms, when looking to the future and reminding myself that I will indeed be living with my parents for the next several months, is by renewing my promise to experiment in the kitchen and become a decent cook. I hope to be proficient and a little adventurous, even, by the time I'm ready to get my own pad.

The other day I started off slow, with this delicious 'Sunny Sunflower Spread' so generously shared by Little Red Fox. This woman is a domestic goddess, a real icon in my fantasies of becoming an accomplished homemaker (in my spare time, of course, when I'm not busy celebrating my wild success as a jeweler). Anyway, the spread is fantastic, especially as a condiment for sandwiches. I decided to indulge the strange form of narcissism that prompts girls like me to photograph every step of the food-prep process, so please, sit back and enjoy as I demonstrate how to make a simple sandwich:

Klinger's sourdough bread + sunflower spread


+ slices of orange bell pepper


+ thinly sliced cucumber

+ shredded crisp romaine

+ thinly sliced Hunter's Sharp Cabot cheddar
(made here in Vermont and always in our fridge)

+ voilà!

Well, it's not much, but it's a start! And man, was it good.

Go eat something delicious, I know you want to. I think I'm having corn on the cob tonight, my first this summer. :)

Emily

booties & beaches

It's been a month since I last posted, so there are a few items of interest today. For my own peace of mind I'm going to dedicate a post to each train of thought. So, here's the first:

This post (at Charade) on individuality and self-expression through fashion is now the most long-winded mantra I've ever had.

Though the soggy state of Vermont has robbed me of a proper summer, I have to say, there are now fleeting moments when I become so excited about the prospect of autumn. I haven't been home for a good leaf-peeping season in four years, I can't wait. And of course I can't wait to don again my fall wardrobe staples, old and new. I got some great grey boots at H&M the other weekend that I can't wait to debut. Though last winter seemed to last forever, already this Glamourai post seems exciting and inspiring, again. (Also, part of the appeal of the aforementioned H&M booties was their vague resemblance to her favored footwear, the Patricia Field for Payless booties.)

But, enough of that! Because, at last, I'm going to the beach!! Tomorrow morning I hop a train to visit the boyfriend in sunny New Jersey for a week. And on our lovely To Do list, underlined, italicized, and dreamily doodled upon is 'go to the Jersey shore'. I can't really put into words just how strongly I long for the seashore. Expect pictures.