jenny's top 8 no. 8
Spring is SPRINGING! I text one of my knowledgable best friend’s, Is it a later bloom than usual this year? I text her because I am suddenly worried that the wild pink rose bush behind my house is not yet budding. She tells me it is. I wait impatiently to see the buds; I’m nervous they will not bloom. I watch the potted geraniums grow unevenly and messily toward the sun; they make me happy every time I remember to look at them. I tell people who lost everything that I am sorry, because there is nothing else to say.
I stumbled upon a Mary Oliver quote the other day that I have never seen…
“Listen - are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?”
It is nearly Spring. The flowers are blooming. Maybe soon in The Hudson Valley,where I grew up, the daffodils will show their little heads and shine despite the the still cold winds pushing them around. Are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?
I wonder if we can let Spring bloom in the anatomy of our broken hearts.
I am so excited to see what Spring has in store for you!
1. SIGAL LOVE necklace 2.0! Well. I thought I only needed one Sigal Love necklace but then I put this one on. I got to see Sigal on a recent trip to Maui. I met up with her on my 12th sober anniversary, and this just seemed so fitting. So much of my sobriety has been about learning to hold more love, from myself, from others, from the universe. I feel just a little sad when I have to take it off at night, but so excited when I get to put it back on!
2. Colleen Herman’s NEW WORK at Sarah Brook Gallery. YOU HAVE TO GO! The show is on view until March 22! If you’ve ever spent five minutes with me you know I am IN LOVE with Colleen’s work. Colleen is also OMG a chef’s kiss! It has been an absolute honor watching her work shift, explode, explore and dominate over the past several years. To me, she is blood and heart and roadside flowers and big ideas; her work is the chaos and beauty of living to the fullest and nothing is better than that! GO!
3. I’ve taken up watercoloring to calm my nerves. I’m joking, but not really. I am in love with watching the water transform the little postcards I paint on. One afternoon several years ago I was walking down Canyon Road in Santa Fe and saw a little sign in the distance that said LDBA. When I walked in I saw so many paintings and colors. L’Ecole Des Beaux Arts hand makes their paints at their Santa Fe shop. They also have workshops and an occasional Marlow & Sons product. That’s a real IYKYK.
4. LONGING LONGING LONGING. Layli Dyes Hard T shirt is an absolute must for anyone who has a pulse. Also REMEMBER and MEMORIES sweatshirts. These T shirts are a side project to her already awe some hand dyed sweatshirts, socks, blankets. Years ago I got an indigo dyed sweatsuit for a friend having a hard time and Layli put a blessing in it; I mean, C’mon!
5. The Calleen Cordero Mini Mare bag makes me feel like 90’s adult I always wanted to be. This April marks 25 YEARS of Calleen Cordero! She has always been committed to making beautiful handmade and consciously sourced shoes, belts, and bags. Calleen was the stud queen of Los Angeles before anyone else, and it shows in her unique and timeless designs. I fell in love with her products the moment I caught a glimpse fifteen years ago. I have been lucky enough to collaborate on campaigns behind the lens and chances are I’ve got a Calleen something on or about to go on most days!
6. Okay. So Colleen Herman was wearing so many of the prettiest rings, and when I asked her about them, she said, OMG, you have to go see Edward Bess At Dover Street Market downtown. I went the next day. When I got there I asked where I could find them, and the salesman said, I’ll go get Edward, and out walks an absolutely magical person who filled me with joy and laughter while I tried on A LOT of rings that he has collected at Paris Flea Markets. Also the perfume, and I haven’t even gotten to trying the lipstick yet! Go see Edward or Edward’s stuff! Then have a Hojicha Latte; that S&%$ is DELICIOUS!
7. I had to give up sugar for one month because these are so good. I don’t think anymore needs to be said. But I will say this is my favorite flavor, they are gluten free and maybe don’t panic and buy six bags because they are constantly selling out; maybe just trust The Bon Bon process.
This book has been helping me remember everything I will always forget since I first read it in 1999. Pema Chodron was the first person who introduced my very self critical mind to a Loving kindness.practice.
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. ”
― Pema Chödrön
I don’t think I can top that!
xoxo, Jenny
