today

b and I are hanging out at stacy's, waiting for his mom to call. we got in to L.A. around 1am last night, and headed straight to In n Out Burger. After passing so many cattle on the trip up north, I decided I couldn't eat a hamburger and got just fries. Today we're getting ready to leave for Hawaii in the morning.

Leaving Eureka last friday morning, we toured the Humboldt Bay area, including the former logging company town of Samoa. We were fascinated by the peninsula town's uniform, but shaggy look. b had eaten at the samoa cook house years ago, and wanted to show it to me. we peered in the windows, but he advised against eating such a heavy lumberjack breakfast.






following the coast, the next stop was Trinidad. We could see giant, white rocks jutting out of the ocean, and were compelled to stop. It was lovely, and we agreed to spend more time there on another trip.




following the 101 north, we wound through mountain passes and dense redwood forests. we were amused by the many roadside attractions, including houses carved inside giant trees, and the mystery spot.

heading into oregon, the topography and climate changed. california's rugged hills gave way to pristine, pine tree-covered mountains. the chilly coast also turned milder as we made our way up north. still on the 101, we crossed numerous estuaries that let out to the pacific. we were amazed by the huge rock formations sticking out from the ocean.




all along, we passed through tiny towns, crossed old bridges, and saw many logging trucks. after passing through hours of untouched forest, we came upon the areas where logging occurs. It was quite jarring to see this- sections of mountain stripped bare, then various stages of regrowth, turning the wilderness into a giant pine tree farm.

the pacific northwest is known for its coffee, and there are all sorts of drive-through espresso bars in the region. they range from tiny, privately owned shacks to the giant dutch brothers franchise.

okay, it's now 10:35 pm and i need to finish my laundry. argh, I hope to catch up on my posts. see you in hawaii.

laura on the rings

santa monica beach, last tuesday.

stuff

we're in a cheap motel room with wifi in eureka, california. we left l.a. wednesday at noon, drove up to the bay area, poked around point reyes, arriving after it was too dark to camp. drove further north and spent the night in healdsburg, in the heart of sonoma county. the next morning, after a quick swim in the pool and dip in the jacuzzi, we headed into downtown healdsburg for breakfast and a walk through town. then into the dry creek valley for wine tasting. it was my first time in wine country, and I fell in love. sonoma is filled with small, family-owned vineyards, each with its own character. the vintners live right on their "estates," and often the tasting room is part of their home. we loved Preston of Dry Creek, which beyond being a winery, is a fully functioning organic farm. the tasting room is part of a market where they sell their eggs, cheese, bread, olive oil, and produce. guests are invited take the goods outside and picnic in their garden. not only did we pick up some wine and peaches at Preston, but b spotted a table down the road with an honor jar. it was put out by some local residents, and we got five fresh, crisp apples for a dollar!

well I should get to sleep, but lots more to tell and photos to post soon. heading up to portland tomorrow.


We stayed at the L&M in Healdsburg, a motor lodge owned by the same family since the 1930's.


Downtown Healdsburg


Dry Creek Valley

stacy and baby koa

b's sister and her new baby.

gua sha

I'm lucky to have friends who are healers. whenever I arrive in L.A., someone ends up doing some sort of alternative therapy on me. I have bad nasal allergies and a lot of tension in my back and neck, which are probably related. my friend Laura is a healer who is always learning new therapies, the latest being the chinese/vietnamese/javanese method of gua sha. the treatment involves scraping the skin with a jade blade and oil, to unlock tension and promote circulation. she asked me if I'd like to try it the other day, and I have to say I'm hooked. my back and neck were immediately looser in a way I've never experienced with even the deepest qui gong massage, chiropractic, or acupuncture treatment.

If you live in Los Angeles, you can contact Laura through her blog for an appointment.

first day

ahh...just woke up from the nap that cured the jet lag. had an unbelievably bad flight last night. was supposed to leave jfk at 5:05 pm via virgin america. soon after the initial welcome and safety announcements, the pilot got on the p.a. to inform us that there would be delays. lloyd, a nice guy and superb pilot, was a poor communicator of bad news. seems the hurricanes that swept through texas and residual bad weather had delayed flights and sent a ripple effect through the takeoff queue. through a grueling eight and a half hours on the tarmac we were given confusing information which changed course a number of times. no food or drink was offered except a ration of a half sandwich each brought in from the airport, and if you walked to the back there were bottles of water. later on I was able to get a coke out of the flight attendants. when we finally got in the air at 12:30 am, the flight was turbulent most of the way, making it hard to sleep.

but alas, b and I spent my first day here at hermosa beach, which made up for the rough night. for those of you who might remember hermosa's gritty past (b kept wondering where the wafts of pot smoke were) the beach town has come up a bit. like I said on my last trip to L.A., south bay is a great alternative to the congested nature of the main part of the city. the beach was nice and quiet compared to santa monica, as we could hear french being spoken by happy tourists as we laid on the sand. on va à la mer.

now...for some dinner?

taking off

hello friends!

I'll be leaving for the west coast tomorrow afternoon. As stated before, I'm leaving my assistant Felecia in charge of shipping orders. And I'll be checking email periodically. (probably more often than I should)

take a look at my sale section, as a few items have been marked down.

when I return, I plan on streamlining the site and gearing up for fall. until then, adios.

heat wave sale!

it's currently 94 degrees here in in nyc, so what better way to spend a heat wave weekend than by cozying up to the a/c and taking advantage of summer internet sales?

I've got select items marked down 15%-20% through Monday, July 21.

check 'em out here.

*note* after Monday, certain items will move into the sale section, which will return to the site. Others will go back to full retail.

up to my eyeballs in inventory control

I'm getting ready to leave on a long trip and for the first time ever, I'm leaving my assistant in charge! or leaving anyone in charge, since she's been working for me for a relatively short time. b had suggested taking my inventory with me as I had over the holidays, but the jewelry and my computer added a lot of weight to my bag. I really want this to be a vacation, and I couldn't envision taking that much work with me.

so in preparation for all of this, I have to make sure that a) she has enough projects to work on and b) all of the inventory listed on the site and on supermarket is either 1) here and ready to be shipped or 2) left in pieces for felecia to assemble. it's a lot to think about and prepare for.

I decided that I will take some samples to show to potential wholesale customers. there are some L.A. shops I have in mind.

okay, that's it for now. I just needed to take a break from all of this left-brained activity.

and I will be posting about a special website offer soon, so stay tuned.

my grey hairs

okay, this is something I think about updating you readers on every time I look in the bathroom mirror. but then I think, oh the most recent photos of me are on b's computer, and b's in L.A., and yeah b could email them to me, but then I'd have to ask him, and then I just talk myself out of doing the post altogether. so maybe i'll just do the post and then it will motivate me to get my mits on some pics.

this is what I think whenever I look in the mirror, now that there are many inches of grey grown out and only a speck of hair color left on the ends- it's not nearly as grey as I thought it was going to be. after ten-plus years of keeping it under wraps, sure that the grey would be shockingly noticeable- I come to find out- not so much. here's something to keep in mind if you are trying to grow out your color- the roots you see look greyer than they actually are because they are next to a solid band of color. here's something else I've realized- my grey is predominantly on the first few layers of hair, starting from the crown. All of the hair underneath is dark brown. It's like the opposite effect of greying at the temples. I suppose each person's hair has a different pattern.

I'm still fascinated by just how many people, especially women, color their hair. Seeing someone who is grey is strange to the eyes. Adjusting to my new appearance isn't easy- many times I'm tempted to run into the Duane Reade and buy some hair color. And I avoid looking at myself in the mirror in certain stores that have unflattering lighting. I hope I'll get over my hangups sometime soon. Maybe my appearance will inspire someone else to stop coloring his/her hair. and before you know it, it won't be such a strange thing.

watching the woodstock movie made me long for a time when people looked more natural. I was only three when the concert took place, but I remember the era stretching well into the 70's. maybe it's time for a new era of peace, love, and rock n' roll?