THE wedding

OK, I admit it. I'm a royalty-watching romantic. I dragged myself out of bed at 5am this morning, staggered into the family room and turned on BBC America. I figured those Brits know all about their royals - why listen to American newscasters tell us about people they really don't know? (I had also dragged myself out of bed to watch the wedding of Charles and Diana years ago, before the advent of the DVR. I taped 2 different channels this morning, just in case I couldn't make it out of bed).

I thought the day was wonderful....well, beyond wonderful. Catherine, previously known as Kate and before that as Katie (we have a daughter who has also morphed from Katie to Kate), looked gorgeous, happy and serene. She carried herself with a quiet elegance, knew she was being watched by the whole world but was there for the right reason - to marry her love. You could see it in her eyes when she looked at William. And William looked dazzled when he saw his bride for the first time. Yes, beyond wonderful.

I pulled myself away from the TV and drove to Rochester where I attended a "Wedding Brunch" at a women's club where I am a member. The organizers of the event encouraged the guests to wear hats (I pulled out a beach hat and twirled a scarf around the crown, eliciting many kudos) and white gloves (tossed the last of those many years ago). We had a delicious meal while a tape of the wedding played on the big screen. Queen Elizabeth dropped in for a visit:

(Full disclosure: the "Queen" was actually my aunt, who played the part well, wearing a sparkly paper tiara along with a sash across her chest which read "Her Majesty the Queen."). The fabulous antique car and the Beefeater standing nearby added just the right touch.


Doesn't she look regal? Great job, Tay!

wear your veggies!

Most of us receive a gazillion catalogs in the mail, especially before the holidays. Many of them I toss without even looking at the first page, but others draw me in. Several months ago I opened a small catalog featuring handcrafted items...and discovered something so unique I needed to learn more. There were pictures of cuff bracelets - made of vegetables! And they were stunning. Completely unique. Environmentally friendly. Gorgeous. Good conversation pieces. JOOLZ material. I contacted the artist, Margaret Dorfman of Oakland, CA, and placed an initial order. The box marked "fragile", but not "perishable", arrived yesterday. Inside were veggies like you have never seen them before:

This is a 22" necklace made of slices of Thai green papaya. Margaret cuts the fresh fruits and veggies (over 40 different varieties) with an old fashioned slicer and super-sharp knives. Next the slices are cured, dried, pressed and aged in a 10-14 day process.

The slices are then fused to copper disks and finished with a non-toxic, water-resistant clear coat before being fashioned into necklaces and earrings.

The 18" necklace below features small disks of many different fruits and vegetables:

The colors and veins apparent in the pieces are not dyed or in any way color-enhanced. This cuff bracelet, one of 3 we currently have in stock, is made from slices of Mexican papaya:

Another show-stopper is this articulated necklace made of crimson-colored fruits and veggies:

Earrings can coordinate with the necklaces. These are made from blue cabbage and beets:

This Thursday, April 7, I am off to visit my daughter and grandson in LA. Marnie is a naturopathic doctor and her clinic is hosting a medispa from 5-9pm that evening. She asked if JOOLZ would like to have a trunk show as part of their evening event. I immediately thought of Margaret Dorfman's "healthy" jewelry. She's on board, and will be sending a shipment of delicious vegetable parchment joolz to LA for the event. If you're in the area, please stop in:

Balance Westside Wellness

11340 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 301

Los Angeles, CA 90064

See you in LA!

a sweet sale!

A SWEET SALE!

JANUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 19, 2011

JOOLZ is having its first-ever SWEET SALE! The more you buy, the more you save. Get coupons for $5 to $250 off a piece of jewelry from JOOLZ, depending on your initial purchase. We want to reduce our inventory so we can bring in new artists and new joolz. This seemed like a fun way to do just that. It all starts Tuesday at 10am. Ready....set...GO!

art walk - this friday, december 3

Twice a year, the art galleries and specialty boutiques of downtown Canandaigua host Art Walk, a wonderful evening to stroll Main Street and discover Canandaigua's cultural treasures. JOOLZ has been part of Art Walk since we were the new guy on the block. Now three and a half years later, we're one of the seasoned veterans.

We try to book our evening's guest artist as early as we can. This time was no different, but when the artist canceled on us with only a few weeks to go, we had to scramble. Hoping against hope, we contacted Kerry Bogert, a lampwork and wire work artist who was our guest artist during a prior Art Walk. We explained the situation to her, she checked her calendar and said YES! We're thrilled.

Kerry will be demonstrating both her lampwork and her wire work, will be bringing copies of her best-selling book, Totally Twisted, with her and has been hard at work in the studio creating new work just for this evening.

It's going to be a fun evening and a great opportunity to find unique holiday gifts. Kerry will be with us from 4-7pm. Hope to see you then.

here comes the judge

This past summer I was a judge at Sonnenberg's Arts at the Gardens, which you can read about here. Even before that event, I was also asked to be a judge at this weekend's Canandaigua Christkindl Market, benefitting the Granger Homestead. I told Suzanne, the show's director, that I wanted to see how the first Judgment Day went before committing to another. My time at Sonnenberg was fun and a good learning experience. I decided I would do it again in November and told Suzanne to put me on the roster.

Now in its 4th year, Christkindl Market takes over the front lawn of the historic Granger Homestead on Canandaigua's North Main Street. The Federal-style home of Postmaster General Gideon Granger is a beloved landmark and historic house and carriage museum. Monies raised at the event help to maintain and improve the house and its grounds.




Gigantic tents are erected on the front lawn and house over 100 craftsmen and food vendors. While the European Christkindl markets, upon which Canandaigua's event is fashioned, are out in the open, the local organizers decided it would be too much uncertainty and stress to hold a craft show outdoors in mid-November. The giant tents are heated and lighted and make for a very comfortable setting:

Many familiar faces were seen, including Linda Connor Cass, one of our favorite jewelers who has her work at JOOLZ. This is Linda's last big show before Baby #2 arrives in 8 weeks:

Another familiar face was Scott Mackey, who with his partner, Don Stevens, owns Wick-edly Sent Soap and Candle Company, located on Canandaigua's Main Street:

(photo by Don Stevens)

Canandaigua award-winning doll artist Nancy Wiley also won the Toys and Dolls award at Christkindl Market. Known internationally for her exquisite handcrafted dolls, Nancy has also written a book which features images of her dolls telling the story of Alice in Wonderland.

Our group of three judges, all involved in the arts in Canandaigua, was thrilled to be able to present the Best of Show award to Canandaigua goldsmith Eileen Quinn DelDuca. Her work is superb and the award is well-deserved:

It was a good day and lots of fun. Thanks to Suzanne for asking me to be part of the judging team and for the opportunity to meet and learn about so many delightful exhibitors. I went back on Sunday to do a little shopping and was able to get a few things from some vendors who caught my eye on Friday. That 1.5 pounds of fudge will be gone within a nanosecond!! Meanwhile, Suzanne sat for a minute to chat with me before I left and she's still smiling. She should be - it was a beautifully organized and produced show. Congratulations, dear friend!

wine walk this saturday

Canandaigua's Main Street will be hoppin' on Saturday evening and you should be part of the crowd. Our monthly Wine Walks have taken off like a jet-propelled rocket - almost 200 attendees in March and over 400 in April. We have wide sidewalks in Canandaigua, but the April crowd filled them to overflowing.

This Saturday, May 1, JOOLZ will be hosting Billsboro Winery from Seneca Lake, just south of Geneva. Stop in between 4 and 7pm to check out our new store and taste some delicious, award-winning Finger Lakes wine. We'll be ready for you!

all decked out

It was shortly after 9:00am this morning...I was setting up shop when what to my wondering eyes should appear... but a lift truck rolling down the sidewalk, led by eight tiny reindeer. OK, maybe no reindeer, but definitely a lift truck, and it stopped right in front of JOOLZ.

Up went the lift and up went the strands of lights. Our building was being outlined in sparkling white lights, joining many others on Main Street in a new collaborative effort between merchants and building owners to light up downtown for the holidays....just in time for this weekend's Holiday Open House.

JOOLZ is decorated inside and out, from head to toe. Our cases are overflowing with wonderful, unique joolz, the holiday music is ready on the iPod and we'll be serving our yummy, hot wassail and homemade cookies this weekend. Plus, for the first time, we're having a drawing for 3 JOOLZ gift certificates. Register to win and use the gift certificate for holiday gifts; the drawing will be on December 7th, following Art Walk (Friday, December 4) and Wine Walk (December 5). Happy Holiday Fun!

skulls and skunks

Yesterday, under briefly sunny skies and with a soft breeze blowing, many of Canandaigua's young children marched along Main Street to collect Halloween treats from various merchants. Our own resident witch, Suzanne, was suited up and ready to hand out chocolate (of course!) candy to the kids.

Along came hippies, ballerinas, several vampires, firemen and cops. This frightening skull creature gave us a steady glare,

while our hearts were stolen by this potentially smelly cutie patootie:


Hope the kids had fun. We sure did!

fashion show fun

250 ladies attended the annual Thompson Hospital Guild fashion show this afternoon and most of them shopped at the boutiques beforehand. It's always a challenge to take care of that many customers in only an hour and a half, but Suzanne and Jill were there to help...and I couldn't have done it without them.

We even scattered gourmet peppermint lollipops around the display for some extra added enticement. Seemed to work!

Many of the joolz you see in these pix, taken before the opening bell, are no longer available and found new homes today. Thanks to everyone who attended and who made a stop at the JOOLZ display. We had fun and hope you did, too!

art and music festival this weekend

Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be busy along Canandaigua's Main Street - it's time for the annual Art and Music Festival.

Craft vendors, food vendors, not-for-profits, musicians - they're all headed to Canandaigua. Slap on your sunscreen, wear comfy shoes and prepare to have a great visit in downtown Canandaigua.

And while you're here, stop in at JOOLZ to have a glass of lemonade and check out all our new loot. We're bursting at the seams with beautiful baubles!

wine walk this saturday

It's Wine Walk time in downtown Canandaigua - Saturday, June 6th from 4 - 6pm. JOOLZ will be one of the stops and will be featuring wine from Casa Larga in Fairport, one of the Canandaigua Wine Trail members.

Look for the purple balloons at participating stores and restaurants. Hope to see you then!

april 30 glass jewelry artist lecture at the MAG

New Hampshire artist Linda MacNeil will be giving a lecture, open to the public, at Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery on Thursday, April 30th at 7:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend! Specializing in the fabrication of glass jewelry, Linda is a featured artist at the MAG's current show, GlassWear.

JOOLZ is happy to help underwrite Linda's lecture on Thursday. We love glass jewelry and have a good selection right now, with more coming in this spring. Each glass jewelry artist finds a unique vision, some very contemporary and others a little more mainstream. Whatever your taste, it will be interesting to learn about Linda's artistic process and see what can be created with a material we all take for granted in our daily lives.

Hope to see you there!

sale starts tuesday

JOOLZ is having a SPRING CLEANING SALE beginning Tuesday. We need to make room for all the new joolz coming in later in the month. Come find some great bargains and take away a few treasures. And come in soon to get the best selection. When the joolz are gone, they're really gone. You'll want to grab your favorites before someone else gets the chance.

holiday open house this weekend

Downtown Canandaigua will host its annual Holiday Open House this weekend. Scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there will be decorations galore, free wagon rides down Main Street, a holiday drink/recipe contest, a chance to enter a drawing for a $1000 shopping spree, free stocking stuffers and an elf on Main Street distributing "Canandaigua Dollars," to be used as free money at participating shops and restaurants.

We'll be serving warm Apple Cider Wassail, both with and without the added kick of light rum and we'll have copies of the recipe available, so do stop in for some holiday cheer.

PS Did I use the word "free" often enough? There really is a lot going on that doesn't cost a cent!

happy birthday to Q

All my family knows...watch out if Francie starts to sing! It kinda sounds like a sick, howling cat. But today is our grandson, Quinten's, third birthday....so here goes:

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, dear Q,
Happy Birthday to you!

Now that wasn't too bad, was it?

ho ho ho?

We are located in the Finger Lakes area of New York and our weather can be spectacularly gorgeous or spectacularly terrible -- sometimes both in a 24 hour period. We've already had snow in the air and on the ground. We've had a couple of hard freezes and the leaves are mostly off the trees.

For the last few days, however, we've been having summer weather - blue skies, temps in the lower 70's and a need to turn on the air conditioning at the store (black ceiling, lots of lights -- it gets HOT fast).

But the kicker is that we need to be decorated for the holidays -- the semi-annual Art Walk starts tomorrow afternoon and goes through the weekend. So the trees are up and lit, the red glass ornaments are shining throughout the store and Joolie, our inanimate shop dog, is wearing her holiday bow. However, I just could not start playing the holiday music yet - Michael Buble crooning on the iPod was as close as I could get. Am I nuts, or did the kids trick or treat less than a week ago?

trick or treat

Soggy, rainy, ugly weather does not lend itself to a parade of happy kids trick or treating through downtown. The 400 kids that were expected turned out to be about 25, along with drenched parents and lots of umbrellas. But Suzanne, my assistant at the shop, was decked out in her witch outfit, ready to hand out candy to any and all trick or treaters. And the kids were adorable, despite the fact that most had costumes hidden beneath raincoats and in some cases, large garbage bags. We'll hope for better weather next year and will do our best to eat the leftover candy!

omg, there's snow in the air!

First snowflakes in the air this afternoon...and I am NOT ready for winter. Just bought tons of candy for the 400+ kids who will march down Main Street on Saturday at noon, decked out in their Halloween costumes and gathering up mountains of candy from all the merchants. Also got a couple of "emergency" backup bags of chocolate candy to be held in reserve. I'll just have to eat the candy myself if we run out of kids...such are the wiles of a confirmed chocoholic!