quality nana time

Quality "Nana Time" is hard to come by when your grandchild lives on the other side of the country in LA. And when you own a business and really need to be there, it's a major decision to leave for a week to "play". But I did. And it was great!

One of 5-year-old Q's favorite places is San Diego, with all its wonderful theme parks, animal kingdoms and zoos. Off we went on Friday afternoon, avoiding most of the rush hour traffic. Saturday morning was bright, sunny and chilly. I was ready for high 70's, but the temps were in the 40's. Despite that, Q went swimming in the hotel's outdoor pool after breakfast. His lips turned blue but he smiled the whole time.

After warming him up (and us, too), we took off for beautiiful Balboa Park. Q was ready for action and immediately climbed the nearest tree:

Then we were off to explore the park and its many museums:

This guy was making balloon creatures and Q really wanted a Hulk balloon:

Nana caved:

The orchids in the botanic gardens were magnificent:

We left culture and sophistication behind when we took off for Sea World. The dolphin show highlighted both the dolphins and their trainers:

and was followed by the Shamu show in another arena, currently undergoing massive renovation:

After hours and hours of walking, it was time to go back to the hotel to put our (my) feet up. Next stop...Legoland!

prime real estate

In today's real estate world, it's definitely a buyer's market. How about a buyer getting the building lot for free? Even better.

We left our Christmas wreath up while we were away and came home to find the beginnings of a nest within the wreath. With a fake cardinal standing guard, a real sparrow has finished building his dream house on this free lot. Now he perches on the porch railing and tweets for a honey to come join him in real estate heaven:

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!

christmas in april

It's Christmas in April at JOOLZ! My many hours spent looking for new work to bring in for our spring/summer season came to fruition today with the arrival of several packages of delicious new goodies. We are adding a number of new artists to the fold, two of whom are shown here:

Jill O'Reilly, from Lexington, MA, has been making updated-classic sterling silver jewelry for a number of years. I first met Jill in Las Vegas 2 years ago and have been waiting for the opportunity to bring in her work. Her cuff bracelets can be carefully adjusted to fit just about any wrist size and her workmanship is superb. We have these and several other bracelets, along with some great-looking post earrings:

sterling 5-band bracelet

sterling cuff with gold-filled wrap

sterling cuff with sterling wrap

Also placed on display today were these fun pendant necklaces by Zillah, WA artist Cheryl Myers. Cheryl takes commonly-seen road and construction signs and makes them into resin and metal pendants on silver chains. Fun to buy, fun to wear, fun to start folks talking. (Cousin Leslee, this bike route pendant has your name on it).

And watch out that you don't get shocked by the high voltage!

The UPS guy dropped off two other packages this afternoon. The Christmas in April fashion show will contnue as soon as I shoot some more pix.

off to "the ding"

One of our favorite things to do while on vacation in Sanibel is to visit the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We try to plan our visits to coincide with low tide, and a low tide near sunset is even better. The many permanent-resident and migratory birds fly in to feed on the exposed sandbars and then nestle into the branches of the mangroves to roost for the night.



I caught a shot of this large, white beauty flying toward me:

and was delighted when it came to rest nearby.

We drove along the shell-packed road at under the 15mph speed limit, stopping frequently to take pictures of the birds enjoying their dinner-time. The sun was setting in the west and it was time to return home. Another beautiful day in paradise.

room: a novel

Vacation means lots and lots and lots of time to read. I love to immerse myself in wonderful books and travel to places and times both familiar and unfamiliar. Holding a book, turning the pages, letting my imagination go and "seeing" the characters and locations in the book is truly one of my most favorite pleasures in life. And sitting on our lanai, listening to and seeing the waves splash up onto the shoreline, makes reading on vacation in Sanibel even more delicious.

Sanibel is not a big place, but it has the most wonderful library - up to date and chock full of recently published books. Renewing our visitor's library card ($10 annually) is one of our first stops on the island. My record for books read on Sanibel is 15 in 4 weeks. I just finished book #11, with a week left to go.

Book #11, recommended by my friend, Wendy, who works at the library, was Room: A Novel, by Emma Donoghue. Wendy and another library employee both raved about this book and said I had to read it. What a treasure! This book quickly took my heart and is now one of my favorites. Here is the book's description, as taken from the jacket cover:

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the world.

It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack's imagination - the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells, the imaginary world projected through the TV, the coziness of Wardrobe below Ma's clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night in case Old Nick comes.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held since she was nineteen - for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack's curiosity is building alongside her own desperation - and she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Told in the poignant and funny voice of Jack, Room is a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child. It is a shocking, exhilarating, and riveting novel - but always deeply human and always moving. Room is a place you will never forget.

If you love to read, this is a book you should put at the top of your list.

on the job!

Yes, we're on vacation, but I am on the job! Today was my annual trip to the Bonita Bay Promenade for the March Bonita Springs National Art Festival. As you can see from the above photo, the weather was perfect - low 70's, with blue skies and abundant sunshine. The crowds were also abundant - I had a hard time finding a parking space and I got there 5 minutes after the gates opened.


Security was out in force, but this guy was already sitting down on the job. Watching all the shoppers go by can be exhausting:

Actually, the security guard is a life-size polyester and resin sculpture! Pretty amazing.

Jewelry artist Jayne DeMarcay was again at the show. I love her work, but unfortunately, she only sells retail through art shows:




I did discover a husband and wife jewelry-making team from Springfield, Illinois who work with stones and laminated glass, creating interesting pendants and necklaces. We'll try to bring them in once we have some space available, perhaps in the summer.


Meanwhile, I purchased a fun shadowbox collage for myself, entitled "Cowgirl Rules":

The RULES state that cowgirls

• tell the truth
• cry when they need to
• are true to their partners
• ride fast
• shoot straight

Love it!