Giveaway Winner!

The giveaway winner is Jan!  Congratulations.  I will ship your dainty 14k gold necklace with tourmaline cluster with your order this week.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated--such a grand start to my fifth year as an Etsy seller!  Who knew, five years ago, that I would still diligently be at it today: making jewelry, wedding goods, and offering writing services.  It's definitely been a creative (and growth) process, but I am so grateful for everything and everyone who has supported me along the way.  Thank you.

(If you're wondering, I had a graphic to post here, but Blogger has been acting up today, and not allowing me to upload images from my computer.  However, if you're interested, I was able to upload the image onto Instagram here.)

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Today is also Giving Tuesday.  The lovely Diana at Our City Lights wrote a beautiful post about this, which you can read here.  Ample food for thought this post-Black Friday and -Cyber Monday weekday.  My charity of choice is Feeding America--the proceeds from my donation items benefit this nationwide charity.  Now if only they would stop sending me junk mail.

Shop: Curator

Stripe Tee - Grey

I've been thinking a lot about the whole "made in America" movement lately, so this post, which follows this train of thought, is quite appropriate.

One of the my favorite "made in America" shops is Curator, a stylish-yet-affordable, San Francisco-based brick and mortar boutique that offers wearable, uniquely designed clothing for both the hip and comfort seeking (I clearly fall under the latter category).  The company, whose tag line is, appropriately, "Made in California," is run by two clothing-designer best friends who have their stylin' SF designs sewn by local tailors in small batches--the end product is a one-of-a-kind line of decidedly feminine, cozy clothing with a flattering modern edge.

Frankie Hood

The coziness of the gorgeous sweatshirt above (I never thought I'd call a sweatshirt "gorgeous"...) is an example of what I mean about Curator's unique balance of basic and trendy elements in their designs.  Who knew a sweatshirt could be more than lazy-day outerwear?  I sure didn't.

Or that a dress could be worn on multiple occasions and essentially dressed up or down?  The below dress would look absolutely delightful paired with mid-calf boots, and would look equally flattering with heels.  Throw on a cardigan of your choice, and you are good to go.  This piece would surely make a pretty bridesmaid dress, as well as a "date night" dress.

Classic Dress

These are only a sampling of designs from Curator, but they comprise some of my current favorites.  What I love most about the company, besides their "made in America" mission and minimalist designs, is the quality of their products.  I know that I'm not the only one who has purchased "made elsewhere" t-shirts (as an example) from chain stores, only to find that the already-thin material becomes flimsier with each delicate-cycle wash--that the tiny pin holes in these year-old shirts grow with each passing month.

Due to this experience, I continue to be amazed at how well my tops from Curator hold up to the wear and tear that I consistently put them through, both when worn and in the washer and dryer (on "handwash" and "low," of course).  I've owned these Curator shirts for a few years, and they're still looking like new.  Love, love this shop!

Visit Curator here.

Now off to not-so-secretly ogle Curator's stripe tee in grey...

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How's that for mindful consumerism?