It’s been at least six years since my husband and I took a vacation together, and since I seem to be finding fewer and fewer opportunities for leisure as time goes by, it probably would have been another six years before we actually made it happen if it weren’t for the clever scheming of a great friend of ours. When he and several other close friends attended our wedding in Siena, Italy twelve years ago we promised we’d return together to one particularly idyllic spot on the Maremma coast at a secluded, “singing beach” called Cala Violina. The warm, shallow water stretched out seemingly forever, and we rolled up our pants and waded giddily in the waves until after dark, the “singing” sand squeaking between our toes. On the way, one pair of friends had unbelievably, almost magically, taken a wrong turn and happened upon another lost pair of friends on foot by the side of the road (they had tried to meet up with us by taking a bus from the airport to the closest village). Rarely do such moments of true relaxation and guiltless pleasure arise in life, and we plotted ways to recapture this bliss later on.
The ten-year reunion of this happy event came and went, and our friend decided to take matters in his own hands. Out of the blue, we received an invitation from him to his own Italian wedding this summer–at that very spot. Of course, there was no way we could refuse.
I’m beside myself with glee. A trip to Florence, Siena and the Maremma, with some of my favorite people ever. I’ve got to start planning my travel wardrobe, don’t you think? I had some fun with Polyvore, putting together an inspiration board with organic, sustainable, eco-friendly apparel from Rag & Bone, the Podolls, Stewart+Brown, Edun and Kim White to wear with okomido jewelry. If you’re a Polyvore fan, you can even access the jewelry images I saved there and use them for your own creative wardrobe styling. Hope you enjoy!
I was reading one of my favorite children’s books to my son a few nights ago, and I realized how appropriate the sentiment is for this time of year. Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present is not actually about Mother’s Day, but it is about a little girl’s quest to find the perfect gift for her mother, assisted by the charmingly rakish Mr. Rabbit. Charlotte Zolotow’s lilting prose and dreamy watercolor illustrations by Maurice Sendak bring to life our heroine’s brilliant choice: the gift of color, represented by red apples, green pears, yellow bananas and blue grapes.
My family knows why I love this book so much. Every mother desires her children to put as much reflection and ingenuity into finding the perfect representation of their affection for her. Amidst all the chaos and activity of my busy work- and family-life, I take refuge in beauty and simplicity wherever possible, just as this endearing present suggests.
I hope the mothers in your life receive as thoughtful and evocative a gift as this one. They deserve it.
One of the most adorable small-town features of this area is the Apple Blossom Parade and Festival every spring. You know I’m fond of this gorgeous time of year in Sonoma County, when the rolling hills have just been furred with green and acres of heirloom Gravenstein apple orchards are adrift in white blossoms, and apparently I’m not the only one who finds it worth celebrating. They pick a theme every year, some of them wackier than others (this year’s: “Blossoms On Safari”, in an unlikely pairing of apple blossoms and wild animals). Crepe paper blossoms are everywhere, and home-made floats abound. Charming old-fashioned tractors and 15-foot-high bicycles are followed by dancing dachshunds and guys in gorilla suits, with a few cardboard elephants thrown in for good measure. Too cute for words. My family adores it.
photos courtesy of Debbie Wiegmann
In honor of the season, I also just had to share with you a stunning photo I stumbled across by photographer Ed Buziak, because it just looked so jewel-like. Isn’t it amazing?
So, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and my family has already been “celebrating” all weekend. No, not breakfast in bed for mom and dad prepared by the kids, not time set aside early for a romantic date night. No, I’m talking about the boxes delivered last week from the annual candy fundraisers for school.
Isn’t it amazing how store-bought candy makes its way into every holiday? There are bags of candy given out to ghosts and ghouls, bags used for decorating gingerbread houses, boxes of candy given to a sweetheart and more baskets of candy coming just ’round the corner courtesy of a large flop-eared bunny. Candy, it appears, is very versatile.
We haven’t got room for it all anymore–not on the topmost shelf of the pantry where we stash the lollipops and candy bars uneaten as soon as everyone’s attention has turned to something else. I imagine how nice it would be if I could melt it all down, refining the scrap the way I do with metal, to become something new again. Instead it all just sits there, gathering dust until I throw it in the trash.
To be clear, I think our sweethearts deserve their SweetHearts. (And, my appreciation for artisan-made truffles has been chronicled here on this very blog.) Still, I can’t help but think that the message we give to our children is a little confused. We tell them that we’re celebrating an event, or a person, by giving them something special–but we water the specialness of it down from one holiday to the next, until it’s nothing more than a recurring sugar rush and a head start on tooth decay.
What can be done? Is there no more creative solution?
Of course, if you or your sweetheart is wrestling with this same dilemma, I recommend a chocolate gift that will last forever.
New diamond-studded versions of our super sweet Vineyard Stacking Rings, in 18K, sterling and chocolate shakudo, of course. Aren’t they yummy?
