Well you know I love birds

It is true - I will buy almost anything with birds on it. My pal Megan gets fit to be tied as she is much more hip than I and she does not share my affinity for birds and can not understand my fascination with them. Really, I can not understand it either because I am afraid of them - you know when they fly around I get a little nervous! However, bird images - oooh I love that. Birds outside the window - love em. Iron birds - I got about 10 placed in various nooks and niches around the home. I have a Frank Capra style black crow forever perched on a large dried Manzinita tree in my dinning room. I even have a bird on my Anthropology apron I got for Christmas from Miss Nina.

So I had to have these Anna Corba Bird Image Photo Books just as soon as I saw them. I like her work - Lauren Mumford mentioned her on her blog once (I miss Lauren's blog) and that is where I saw them. Anna is very nice and I am excited about being fortunate enough to offer some of her designs. I was extremely please when the items came in as they look even more beautiful in person than in the photos. I know you will love these new goodies!

A Call To Worship...

Sometimes on my way home I take the coast. It is just a small step in trying to break out of the grind. I love pulling off the freeway and refusing to deal with San Diego traffic. It makes the drive longer but the view is worth the length of time it takes. I have to admit that I am blessed to live in such a wonderful place. While most of the country is freezing I am blissfully cruising along the seaside.

There is this wonderful little phenomenon that I witness as I head home on this route. The people that gather each evening to watch the sunset – it’s like a passion. I have an hour long drive going home so I pass through La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Cardiff by the Sea, Luecadia and Encinitas until I hit Carlsbad.

Never fail are the people that gather every night, every town and at every stretch to watch the sun go down in all it’s glory. They gather in their cars just as I pass through La Jolla, some sit inside and talk on the phone or read the paper until the magic moments. In Del Mar they gather up along a cliff like edge near the railroad tracks and stare west. All along the coast there are joggers that keep pace along with the sunset. There are different glimpses of the sea and each town has a different manner in which people gather. Some are couples or familes, some with their dogs, but I really like the single people who just stand there and stare. I like the fact that this is an important place for them to be. I like that no matter what has happened that day it seems there is always a collection of people willing to bid farewell to this day and it’s daylight hours. It rained this week and they gathered with umbrellas and coats braving the stormy and threatening waves. They are always there.

They remind me to value the ending of a day and the beginning of a new one. They demonstrate for me the ritual of closing and moving from one activity to another. Sometimes I get so busy and caught up with the stress of everyday that there literally is no let up. One day melds into the next and one deadline into the next. But like the motion of striking a match and lighting the candle, watching the sun melt into the ocean is a sort of call to worship.

It is absolutely shameful...

the way I have behaved! I have been missing from the blogosphere for so long, flying way below the radar if you will. It seems like the merchandise arrived for Christmas, the relatives soon after that and then the parties, the food, the wine, the orders and also the big project I have been working on and well….. I have all but tossed my blog aside. How rude and I hope I can be forgiven.

I check in with Amy at least every other day and the guilt over reading her blog and not updating my own has been tremendous!! And I see my blog sliding down the list of her favorite blogs (you know they are ranked in order by updates) and I am damn near the bottom! I guess it brings out some competitive spirit lurking within.

It is not as though I have not been thinking about each and every one of my friends out there. Why, just last week I was at the LA Market looking for fun, new and wonderful goodies for spring and trying to imagine just what it is that you would all like to have. That is by far the most fun part of this blissful endeavor – the buying! We had a very successful December tag sale so we will be bringing in some beautiful new indulgent gifts very soon.

I contemplated writing about New Year’s Resolutions – but really… why? Most people have tossed those by now and they are usually designed to chastise us or make us feel guilty for what we did not seem to get around to doing last year anyway. Lose weight, exercise more etc. How incredibly boring is that? So I have decided no more guilt-ridden resolutions ever again. This year I resolve to love myself more. I resolve to try to listen more and speak less. I resolve to try to help just one person at a time if I think I can truly be the one to bring the “light”. I resolve to try something new every week it can be anything as long it is new. (This could be really fun). Oh, and I resolve to have a lot more FUN! That’s all.

2006 was an interesting year I learned so much, evolved and changed so much. I am thrilled to see it GO! Lets face it learning, evolving and changing can be very uncomfortable – hell it hurts!! But it is what growing up is about and I am sure one of these days I will be all grown up but until then I know there will be a lot more learning, evolving and changing. So onward with the journey I say. I will continue the red badge of courage journey – but I really need better shoes for this year’s path that is for sure!

Lollia's Believe and Inspire

I am happy to report that the first of the new Lollia lines "Believe" and "Inspire" have arrived! This has been a much anticipated event. I really feel that this line is the perfect gift line - well, if you are giving a gift to someone of the female persuasion that is.

Lollia offers bath and body goodies as well as luxurious candles. The fragrances are unique and soft. The new fragrances are Cabbage Rose Citrus for Believe and Inspire is a medley of Mimosa, Violte Leves and Rose. The packaging is unsurpassed. In fact it is the packaging that slows up the process sometimes. This designer, Margo Elena uses no stock packaging elements, everything is designed to perfection: vintage letter press, layered designer prints, elegant wine bottles and crystal adornments. This can sometimes take a while to get the product out but it is always worth the wait.

Check out the new goodies from Lollia in the Fine Bath and Body Preparations and the new candles in the Home Store sections of our store and check back often as new products will be arriving shortly.

Luv n these new pj's!

Finally we got some merchandise! Christmas always panics me as you order your things well in advance and you are at the mercy of organized or disorganized manufactures. Never the less we have wonderful new PJ’s from Pinecone Hill up on the site and I love them. Resist is my favorite. A classic cut with a hip print - we offer the lime and pink. Perfect for a slumber party!

I have to say that I am still waiting for an entire line of goodies to arrive. Wonderful new Lollia lines are on order and I can tell you from the competitive shopping I have done almost no one has them in stock. I may not even get them in time for this year’s Christmas gift season. This is sad because they are lovely and make stunning gifts. At the show the crowd was overwhelming to see what the new goodies would be like. Wonderful perfumes, hand crèmes, candles and soaps. Buyers were writing orders heavily. Indeed, it was the only reason I went to the show - to see what was new from Lollia. I am guessing that production is slow or surely every one would have them. You cannot find them on the web and I have not seen them in boutiques yet. I would love to offer them to you but we will just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that they arrive very, very soon.

As I get more goodies in I will post here as well as the store so you can be the first to see.