Wrap it up!

I'm in an organizing mood! Call it "spring cleaning." Call it- "I'm so frustrated that I can't see my desk so I must go through all this crap!" I read so many magazines to find great stuff for the store (I plow through them quickly which sadly makes it more work than fun) so I'm always trying to pull out the pages I like for future (which often never comes) and then I recycle the whole magazine. I try not to keep them otherwise they'd pile up so quickly, I'd be buried. I do, however, have a few back issues of Domino, after I heard that they were sadly folding.

Anyway, I was flipping through my most recent In Style and pulled out a great shot of Katie Holmes wearing a scarf. I just love this transitional look. A thin, yummy scarf is just such a great way to keep you warm on those still chilly spring days and yet not look too much like winter. You can wear them over a tee with a cardigan or just over a tank top in the summer. My yoga teacher wore a great one to class today. The best scarf that I found was from Matta- their famous Dupatta scarf. It's a cotton / silk blend and it's so soft and has tassels on all four sides. Jennifer Aniston has been photographed wearing it many times. We only have a few left in grey and turquoise. We sold out of the gorgeous raspberry color, before I was even able to pull one for myself!



If you live in the New York City, Roberta Freymann always has gorgeous scarves also. And hey, before I forget, we are offering free shipping for all orders over $75.00, (for a limited time)! No coupon code needed. We just got in some great new bags from MZ Wallace, new decoupage from John Derian and a beautiful new soap line from Jaboneria Marianella. Check it out! Enjoy!

It's not easy being green.

I'm a few days past St. Patrick's day but green still feels right for this week. Today is the first day of spring and darn, I just remembered, I forgot to try the egg trick. Apparently on the vernal equinox, an egg will stand upright on its bottom and stay that way the entire day. Did anyone try that today? Does it really work? Did you take a picture? I'm so curious. OK, back to green. It doesn't have to be Irish green because although I'm Irish- that ain't a pretty green. Let's talk about spring green. It is a cool, fresh color like summer grass, new spring Maple leaves or a juicy tart lime. It can be soft and soothing like the color of a pear, the stem of a tulip or a green grape. It can certainly be olive or Hunter green like the head of a duck, a Barbour jacket or a pair of Hunter wading boots. Or green can remind me of the designs of the 70s- that pea soup green- very acidic and quite ubiquitous- the green ash trays, green sinks, green commodes, green tiles, green shag- uh what were they thinking? And hey, isn't everybody "going green" these days?

I've pulled some of my favorite green items. From now until March 31st, use coupon code: green at checkout and get $20.00 off your order of $50.00 or more. Happy spring!

Green facts:

• The color green can have dramatically different meanings in some cultures- in Islam- it is a celebrated color as it is thought that paradise is lush and green and in many other cultures, green denotes sickness, envy or greed.
  
• The Chinese term for "cuckold" is to "wear a green hat". Consequently, you will rarely see Chinese man wearing a green hat.
• Do you remember in the Wizard of Oz- in the Emerald City- everyone wore green tinted glasses so that everything looked green?
• And of course- who doesn't just love Kermit the frog? Did you know that the first prototype of Kermit was made in 1955 out of a green coat that Jim Henson's mom threw in the trash?

For a stroll down memory lane. Play this YouTube video of Kermit singing his famous, sweet, song, "It's not easy being green."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpiIWMWWVco

Juicy Orange

We love orange at Orange and Pear. Surprised? It's fun, fresh and still not overused. It pops any room and can brighten your day. it reminds me of the fun decor of the 70s and 60s. It looks great with metallic and pinks and greens. It makes me think of warm weather, juicy drinks and drippy peaches and the pending summer (that has to arrive sometime). I've compiled some of my favorite orange products. Hopefully they'll make you happy too.

The Sukie City notebook is free with any $40.00 purchase, add the notebook to your cart and enter code: Sukie at checkout and we'll send it off to you (while supplies last)!

Sukie, here from the UK, is a really cool and hip line of stationary, home decor and gifts started in 2000 by husband and wife team Darrell and Julia Gibbs. 7 years and 3 babies later, their line is still going strong. The name, Sukie, came from Julia's childhood cat (aawww). We are cat lovers at Orange and Pear so that's quite cool with us. Their designs are incredibly fresh, fun, whimsical and yet at the same time vintage looking.

Their hardbacked books with lined pages take their inspiration from notebooks found in markets across India. Check out our other great Sukie notebooks and travel journals.

The city image is just chic and fun. This is a great book to throw in your tote to write down your to do list, stories, notes, poems or the beginnings of your first novel and why not if it's FREE!

Other fun facts about Orange:

• Orange is the national color of the Netherlands. The royal family lives in the House of Orange.
  
• The color orange was used to highlight the violations of human rights in China during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
• Orange is listed as a word that cannot rhyme with any other word in the English language (although its half-rhyme is lozenge according to the Oxford Rhyming Dictionery)
• Hindu swamis wear orange robes because it denotes fire and burning of: the ego, their past lives and materialistic desires.
• Orange is known as a social color and in feng shui design, orange energy is used to promote lively conversations and good times with friends and family in your home!

The Silver Lining

Despite all the bad news coming out of the radio and into my email inbox on a daily basis, I'm determined to find the "silver lining." I know the economy stinks and it's still really cold (at least where I live) and that darn Groundhog saw his shadow and I've been sick for almost 2 weeks (hence the reduction of blog entries) but there are still fun things to talk about.

We need beautiful things in our lives.

We need to give gifts to our friends to celebrate their birthday, their wedding and to thank them for cleaning their house and slaving over the stove so that we can have a relaxing dinner- there is still a need! And I'm going to try to make it fun and little less expensive.

In March, since I'm half Irish and St. Patricks Day is around the corner, I'm going to post "color" articles. Now, who doesn't love a rainbow or a pot of gold for that matter (especially now that it hit $1000 an ounce, right)? So, each week or a few times a week, I'll post an article about a color and in each posting there will be a deal on one item, a category of items or a gift with purchase- who knows? Let's call it the "squeeze of the week" - you know the orange thing in Orange and Pear, you squeeze oranges- get it? Anyway, you'll have to check it out. I might even throw in some other offers (such as free shipping over $40.00, enter freeship at checkout). You might have to do a little reading but that never hurt anybody, right? Kind of fun? We'll see.

Let's talk about a "silver lining" around those clouds. I love silver. I love gold- hey anything metallic makes me happy (of course in moderation). But today, I'm jazzed about silver. I've selected a few of my favorite silver items that are just too beautiful not to share. They make chic, easy gifts for your friends or to update your surroundings. Check it out and don't forget to look for the "squeeze" of the week.

Other fun silver facts to impress your friends-

• Andy Warhol dyed his hair silver numerous times
• In English heraldy, silver denotes purity, innocence and virtue
• Everyone knows the phrase "he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth" meaning that he was born into money. In 1988, at the Democratic National Convention, Ann Richards, then the Texas state Treasurer (and later the 2nd female governor or Texas) changed the phrase a bit saying "Poor George, he can't help it- he was born with a silver foot in his mouth!"
• Silver was added to the Crayola box between 1949-1957

Ode to Heather Moore

I'm not sure how I first discovered Heather Moore, the fabulous illustrator and designer of Skinny LaMinx, perhaps I found her in a magazine or a blog. Regardless of how I found her, I'm so glad I did because I just love her work. So much that I imported her products from South Africa- quite a distance, since I'm based on the East coast of the United States. It was so worth it, her items have been among my best sellers as they are unique and just beautifully made.

Heather lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She studied English and Drama and "fell" into illustration when asked to produce the illustrations for a book. When creating her designs, she uses a lot of "cut-out" shapes in her work, "enjoying the clean edges and slightly wonky end result." She turns her designs and "paper-cuts" into a screenprint with the help of a computer and then has them printed in waterbased inks by a small screenprinter down the street from her studio. Her designs are printed on locally produced 100% cotton hopsack. Her influences are from Scandinavian and Japanese designs from the 50s and 60s. She also loves Irish designer Orla Kiely and New York designer Jonathan Adler.

I love the clean lines and wit found her designs and the colors are just perfect. Her aesthetic fits in a old home (sitting perfectly next to beautifully worn antique wood furniture) and in a clean, modern home. The red "Eep" tea towel just pops a black and white kitchen with stainless steel. I love finding beauty in the mundane. I do dishes about a dozen times a day (at least it seems to be that much) and I love using her tea / dish towels- it just makes me happy. I also love that her tea towels and aprons have stories behind them. She used a collection of her own and "borrowed" spoons as a design- for her "Borrowed Spoons" tea towels and apron- see the photo above. Also check out the photo of her vintage mugs- they served as the inspiration for her "Mugs" tea towel. I love this towel and her mug collection is just fantastic! Her tea towels wash beautifully and just get better with time.

In her words after having just read Alain de Bottons, The Architecture of Happiness, "beautiful aesthetics help us to connect with those things about ourselves that we value and aspire to, and can remind us that human beings are filled with great potential to imagine and create amazing things. Well-chosen colors and surfaces and well-crafted things of quality can remind us of our best selves: individually, culturally and as a species. So a tea towel can do lots more than just dry the dishes!"

How to say "I love you"

We are thrilled to be selling Paloma's Nest, a design company started by Caroline Colom Vasquez. Caroline was inspired by her mother who was an art historian and museum educator. She has been involved in art and crafting for as long as she can remember. Her mother always kept her enrolled in art classes, brought her to museums around the world and allowed her to turn her bedroom into a studio at the age of 12!

While growing up in historic Mystic, CT, she was taught the importance of appreciating things that were made to last and to treasure items that held their own history and have special meaning. It is from these ideas, she developed a passion for creating special gifts and created Paloma's Nest as a way to create what she calls "Modern Heirlooms" tm.

Caroline is known for her small bowls that are made out of white ceramic and then hand-stamped with phrases such as: "I love you", "I miss you" or "Cherish". All of the ceramic bowls in the collection are completely formed by hand with a technique that she has developed over the years. She does not use a wheel and her alphabet stamps are a vintage collection that her mother gave her many years ago. All of the text work is stamped one tiny letter at a time. This requires much patience and concentration - it connects her to every piece and makes the process quite meditative.

Her wood designs, such as the inspiration block is made out of recycled and reclaimed wood and then hand-cut making each piece different than the last.

She is inspired by symbolism in Early Latino, European, and Mexican art. We love the simple heart symbol called a "milagro" which means miracle in Spanish and found on the "Cherish" bowl and the "Love" bowl.

All of her items are unique and special. They make lovely gifts for Valentine's Day or as a thank you, Mother's Day or get well gift. The collection is well-priced also, ranging from $15-$54.00-perfect.

Each piece is handcrafted in her studio (see picture above) in Austin, Texas that is also powered by wind-energy! We love that.

Saving Ourselves

Delphine Polar Bear / Penguin journal, Roost water bottle, Ige Design metallic pink pig canvas bag and Smock Paper bamboo cards
























We are pleased to say that we sent our first check to the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) in January. We plan to send many more. Why do we like the NRDC? Well, they are the "nation's most effective environmental action group, combining the grassroots power of 1.2 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals." They are a powerhouse for the fight to "green" (I think it's considered a verb now) this country and this world. Their priorities are:

• Curbing Global Warming
• Moving America Beyond Oil
• Saving Wildlands Across the Americas
• Reviving Our Oceans
• Stemming the Tide of Toxic Chemicals
• Accelerating the Greening of China

Check out: http://www.nrdc.org/about/. There is plenty to read and learn and a good quick video narrated by Robert Redford.

We do our best at Orange and Pear to be "green" but we still have a lot of work to do. Our electricity comes from a wind farm (and is therefore free of carbon output). This is actually very easy to do. Check out:
http://www.coolthinking.org/little_money.html- my husband Tom started this site in 2007 (it has since been out on hold to focus on Orange and Pear but it has a lot of great information). This will help you understand how you to can ensure that your electricity comes from a wind farm. Our boxes, wrapping paper and packaging filler are all recycled. We select vendors with current "green" practices and many of our products are made in the USA (which saves on fuel used to ship).

There are so many terrific books and movies now about the environmental challenges that we are facing and some are listed here: http://www.coolthinking.org/reading.html.
The movie that made the largest impression on me is Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th Hour. I highly recommend you see it. The most powerful quotation to me was that of Kenny Ausubel, founder of Bioneers, who says "at the end of the day, when we all talk about saving the environment, in a way it's misstated because the environment is going to survive, we're the ones who may not survive or we may survive in a world that we don't particularly want to live in." Here's a clip (but definitely see the whole movie):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhjJ7DvwNcA

Without our basic resources- clean air, water and uncontaminated food- we won't survive. David Orr of the Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College, says "as we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves."

Just a few things to think about.

On a lighter note, we offer some fun gifts for those who want to help "save ourselves" and still look good. See the photos above. The journal from Delphine is gorgeous reminder of some of the animals whose habitats are threatened by climate change. The water bottle and glass is a great way to curb that addiction to using plastic water bottles in your office and it looks better. The canvas bag is just one way you can leave CVS without a plastic bag and look chic (with a sense of humor). See also one of our favorite websites about plastic bag facts:

http://www.reusablebags.com/vision.php?id=8

The "cheers" card is a wonderful line of stationery that is letterpress and made out of bamboo which is sustainable and renewable resource.

Enjoy! Thanks for reading.