to sign up for the
newsletter, click here
Happy 2009!!!!!
Siga and I wish you all the best of the best for the coming year!!!!!
Our first exciting tidbit for the year is the introduction of “Chocolate for Breakfast,” my friend Barbara Passino's cookbook from the fabulous Oak Knoll Inn in the Napa Valley . The book is absolutely GORGEOUS and the recipes are.....well, you just have to try them!!!!! Many of them are so easy that you can whip them up (I do this with the Baked Eggs all the time) and let them cook while you are in the shower! AND....for those of you (and I know there are some!) who don't eat chocolate, there are just as many recipes for yummy savories! We have about twenty more copies that are autographed by both Barbara and Marc Hoberman, who is responsible for the spectacular (NATURAL, no icky tricks!!!) photography. Can you imagine that poor Marc had to eat his way through all of these fabulous goodies??? (Should I maybe take up photography???)
At this time of the year we are usually introducing spring, making us all feel hopeful about warm and pretty days to come. Well, this year we are going to go for NOW. We love the idea of instant gratification.....getting to wear it now and enjoying the day.
We love that Bodil calls her first collection for the new year “Cozy Spring.” It is the best of both seasons: comfortable, cozy cotton knits that really are wear-now. We have been looking for just the right casual wear to meet your expectations of easy, washable, packable, and cute. We think this is it. We have opted for charcoal instead of black, and we added a splash of red and white in the over-sized top. We had fun with the accessories too.....a gigantic dragonfruit pin from Glitterlimes, a fabric ball and paperclip necklace from Stickball, and a wonderful silver necklace from Patti Walters Wells. Instant gratification, no???
Before Marsha Theis took off for the no-freeze zone (she lives in Minnesota ) she sent us a new group of her whimsical recycled sweater vests. Now, these are just about perfect for today's weather.....warm and cozy AND a great conversation starter worn with a turtleneck and your favorite pants.....
I am sure that most of you remember those wonderful felted wool coats in bright, BRIGHT colors with holes like Swiss cheese?!?!?! Barbara de Jounge was the artist who made those for us, and we sort of lost track of her when she moved from Carmel to Southern California . We were talking about her not long ago, and when I went down the street to run an errand, guess who I ran into!?!?!? It was wonderful to get reacquainted with her and to see what she is doing now. Barbara has a fabulous sense of adventure and is always going on to the next thing. Well, we are lucky to show you the first few of what those new things are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First we have a really quirky sweater. Barbara is working on a design for a sweater that is actually two sweater halves that are worn together. That concept being a difficult display issue for me, she came up with this idea where that sweater halves are joined by a series of black safety pins that she has specially made in Germany. These pins have long been a fetish of mine.....I collect them large and small whenever I find them and pin them all over the collar of my favorite Lynn Mizono blouse. Actually, you almost get your money's worth in safety pins alone!!! This sweater is a cotton knit and comes in green or black (yet to arrive after we sold the first one!). It is one size but will come in a smaller version as well. This sweater first arrived a couple of weeks ago so we could try it out. First we got a green one that was purchased by the first customer who got to see it, and ditto with the black one. With the asymmetric bottom, it really is perfect with just a pair of your favorite black pants.....
The first of our new wool jackets is this gorgeous ivory one with its little tufts sticking out. I have tried it on to show Siga how nice it is.....and is it ever! More new designs will follow over the next several weeks.
.....then, there is the jewelry!!!!! These necklaces feature the other German safety pins, rows of them accented with little balls of felted wool in green or red or black.......
Since it is just the beginning of winter, we have decided to re-run a few of our winter coats for you. We have a nice selection of real wool coats for real winter weather. We also have a great selection of wooly one-of-a-kind scarves to accessorize them!
Krista Larson is ALWAYS in season. I was just in the mood to put together a really girlie, romantic outfit....I started with probably the most beautiful Pixie Bleu Vintage skirt ever (gorgeous ivory flowers on a black background give this jacquard a really antique look, and then we have the velvet ribbon and French silk tulle trim!), followed by Krista's paisley jacquard organza Sweet Pea Cami, which peeks out both above and below the striped silk taffeta Picket Fence Cami, and it is all topped with the velvet Emma Jacket with its extra beautiful unmatched buttons. A necklace from Diana Frey is the perfect accessory!
We are showing off another new accessory on our loden green Krista outfit. Patti Walters Wells designs and makes this scarf that combines cotton jersey with accents of kimono fabric, printed silk, and raw-edged velvet. We are showing it over an easy outfit of a Double Layer Net Tee, taffeta Origami Pants, and a velvet Short Wavey Slip.
We have had such a great response to our Nancy Lucia bags that we just keep ordering more patterns. Those of you who have them have been telling me that you are using them all the time and that they have become a part of your lives. It really is nice not to cart all of your belongings with you.....just the ones that you really need!!!!
This is just the beginning of what we promise will be a year of exciting new things. We know that we are looking forward to a lot of challenges in the year ahead, which makes us all the more determined to make things better and more exciting than ever. One of my sales representatives gave me this great refrigerator magnet that says “I refuse to participate in the recession,” and Siga and I are determined to make that true. We have been here for sixteen years and want to be here for that many more, and we want to make sure that all of the wonderful artists and other suppliers that we have worked with for so long will survive and thrive. And all of you as well!!!!!
Hope all is well with all of you, and if not, we hope that you will be able to make it better. This is the time to all pull for one another!!!!!
Look forward to seeing or hearing from you soon.
Love you bunches....
kati
415.362.3437
PS:. Thank you to all of you who have been signing up friends for our newsletter!!! You make it happen.....
PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS: