NEW BLOG MONDAY! What A Week! Giving Tree Jewelry Has The Best Artists Ever!

Happy Monday!! And guess who is still tootlin' round the streets of NYC on her shiny red bike? :)
In fact, I'm thinking of doing a little art/joy project that involves snapping pictures of Rambling Red all around the city in the summertime. (Is it possible to fall in love with a bicycle? She muses...)

Here is Ramblin' outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art this past weekend!

It is true, just about the only thing that makes me happier than biking aimlessly around this city, is biking to meet up with one of our wonderful artists! On Tuesday, I had hands down, the most inspired lunch with PABLO VALENCIA ever! And that is saying quite a lot as EVERY meeting with this remarkable, ebulliant and transcendant man is FULL of inspiration.. but this time Pablo was on OVERDRIVE! The result is the debut of not one but TWO new lines from the fabulous Pablo over the next month! One came all from his gorgeous mind, the other, a collaboration we have been working on for over three years! (Trish Lanoue you 'reignited' the spark.. THANK YOU! *Giving Tree has THE BEST customers. in fact 'the best' isn't a good enough descriptive!)

*Pablo The Great!

*As gorgeous as it gets! My Rose Gold Bent Nail never comes off!

On Thursday, I was super excited to have lunch with Danielle Birrittella, the designer of ELLA POE! We hit it off instantly when we met in Los Angeles to shoot our 'Artist Of The Week' Video with Danielle, and not even a bike ride over and across town in the ridiculous heat was enough to quell my excitement over getting to see Danielle again, one of my favorite PEOPLE as well. Danielle had just returned from Europe and was stopping in NYC on her way back to L.A. She looked absolutely radiant in a summer red dress, (I just looked absolutely sweaty) AND she was wearing one of her new designs which I COULD NOT STOP OBSESSING OVER! This is the second time I have had this reaction to Danielle's work. The first is her ROSE GOLD BENT NAIL, which is on me now, and is always on me! Danielle asked if I put it on just for her. I told her it never comes off! Our lunch was filled with lots of laughter, story telling, and excitement over the new lines!

On Thursday evening, yours truly had a slightly decadent evening out on the town- and by decadent I mean.. OYSTERS! Best friend(and extraordinary artist) Kristin Jai Klosterman and myself dined with Rachel Minaya, her sister in law Sixta and her neice Amanda. Rachel is the wife of the METS general manager Omar Minaya. The moment I met Rachel I knew we were were destined to be friends. The fact that I have never seen anyone ROCK A PIECE OF JEWELRY more than Rachel rocked her 36 inch Me&Ro prayer bead necklace was just a bonus! This woman has styel to spare! The fact that the whole family is absolutely genuine, thoughtful, kind and considerate just makes me even more proud to consider them friends.

*RACHELS ROCK!

On Friday morning I hopped back on Rambling and headed to my new favorite spot, Chelsea Market, to meet, for the first time, Marla Wallerstein of MarlaStudio.
As I start to write this, I realize, words may very well fail me as I try to express the INSTANT connection I felt with Marla, the sense of 'wow this woman is AMAZING' and an overall respect and curiosity for everything Marla is. The mother of 3 boys, I only just learned Friday that Marla was a fine artist/print maker for years, went to grad school at R.I.S.D and taught at Brown in Rhode Island. Those are some serious creds! And when she laid out her newest collection for me, and we shot our next installment of our Artist of the Week series, I was completely, and utterly moved and impressed. I am also SO thankful I have Marla on film talking about her work, because I really don't think I can find just the right way to say, I was COMPLETELY blown away, by Marla, by her gorgeous jewelry, and even more glorious soul.

*NEW! Artist Of The Week Video with Marla of MarlaStudio coming FRIDAY!
(it's in the editing suite :))


Thank you Marla, and Pablo, and Danielle! You guys made this week an ABSOLUTELY INSPIRED AND INIMITABLE ONE IN THIS LITTLE JOURNEY OF ME IN NYC.
IT IS AN IMMENSE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE TO REPRESENT YOU AS ARTISTS, AND BASK IN YOUR LIGHT, AS FRIENDS.

*and thanks Ramblin' for getting me to them! Tomorrow we go to the angel fountain at the park!! :)

With love and bright red joy!
Rachel, NYC June 28, 2010

BONUS BLOG! THANKFUL THURSDAY CALLING ALL LOVE

It was probably foreseeable and inevitable, but when we sat down for our meeting this week and threw out all our ideas for what the 'theme' for SUMMER 2010 at Giving Tree Jewelry was going to be...
the whole thing took about... 10 seconds.

It is, as simple and dated (1969?) as it sounds, and there are no two ways around it.

It is THE SUMMER OF LOVE!

Tomorrow we will debut a new element on the www.givingtreejewelry.com website. One that highlights this theme of LOVE! Included here will be things like our fun and joyful FRIENDS PAGE on Facebook, and our GIVING TREE-GIVING BACK charity page which includes our favorite creation to date, our CUSTOMERS CARING section.

In the very near future, we will be debuting our SUMMER 2010 t-shirt, a line of commitment jewelry by the incredible Marla Wasserstein of MarlaStudio, and a very, very, very special charity piece that could not be closer to our hearts.

All of this to say. We are absolutely overflowing with LOVE.

HOW CAN YOU HELP ADD TO THE LOVE YOU ASK? :)



Yesterday, after working with a customer for quite some time on a very special order, I received this email from her. I got it early on in the day, (about 7 am) and I just KNEW, I was destined for a great day! My mind, but more importantly, MY HEART had just been 'made up' by the love I felt from this letter from a customer.

I thank you so much for your efforts with this regard and can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you have done. In the past 20 or so years I have considered shopping at Nordstrom to be the benchmark in service, and now I have found an even better experience and that is you and your company. I am over the moon about my transaction with you. As I told you, I love the "Fearlessness" necklace, and haven't taken it off since I got it. I am a 73 year old woman who raised three children along without any of the legally ordered child support checks, and worked until a year ago May, when I was laid off. At first I thought it was going to be awful, but within a very short time I realized that I am now on a wonderful long "vacation" and am enjoying life. And now I am fearless!

This note went further than ANYTHING I could imagine, to make me feel FILLED WITH LOVE for what we do here at Giving Tree Jewelry.

So we are reworking/reviving our 'TESTIMONIALS PAGE' to be a less tersely named 'WORDS OF LOVE' :)
If YOU could share any small story, of how an experience with Giving Tree, or the act of giving or receiving a gift from Giving Tree- brought some love (and joy!) to you, we would be so grateful!
For every 'WORDS OF LOVE' submission we receive today and tomorrow, we will mail out a special gift to you. A THANK-YOU from us, filled with LOVE!

***Send WORDS OF LOVE to rachelandjudith@givingtreejewelry.com***

And Remember:


With So Much Love,
Rachel- nyc late june 2010 ie: The Summer Of Love

New Monday Blog! New Eyes For New York!To All My Friends On The 6 Train

As you can tell from the title this is yet another blog coming "Live From New York!" It is true, not only does my infatuation with this city continue, but it is seeming, strangely, to grow.

In fact the things I had always thought would deter me from pure love for this place (excessive summer heat, lack of natural beauty, CROWDS)I now find myself almost revelling in.. well, at least the last two of them!

As for the first, well, heat will be heat. There is not much I can do about that. But as for a lack of natural beauty, I have to say- au contraire! Ok, actually, I don't need to say that, because I just annoyed myself by saying it, so instead I will explain that two weeks ago I purchased a used but still super shiny (and super..red) bicycle, and have used this bike to take me to all sorts of gorgeous places. I should preface that statement by saying I can be made happy and sated by a two foot by two foot garden where the flower count is only .. two.. but here there is no need to be so undemanding! I have discovered gorgeous public gardens all along the riverside on the WAY upper east side of the city... while downtown holds the hi-line (all that beauty AND cupcakes? Sign me up!) Not to mention my now beloved 'Ramble' in Central Park (I think I will name my next dog, or first child, "Ramble" I just love the word!)

Anyway, as usual, I digress, wildly!

*New bike-now called 'Ramblin' Red'!

It's actually the other "reasons why Rachel could never love NYC" fallacy I want to address most explicitly. The crowds! I have recently decided, as is the case with so, so many things (Proust put it perfectly, and JEANINE PAYER perfectly put it on her BENNETT RING!)
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

*Jeanine Payer's BENNET RING- And my bday present to myself this year!

Well, my eyes must indeed be brand new, because this voyage, here in this ultra crowded city, is just about sublime.
Again, my shiny red bike (oh, let's call her.. Ramblin' Red :)) really comes in handy for this. Now, instead of being overwhelmed by all the people in Central Park at say 9 am on a Sunday morning (the time of my bike ride today), now, with my new eyes, I look upon these people as just.. more to entertain me! I love watching the way people sit on their bicycles, the way they run.. do they trot, or gallop, or ramble/amble along? And then there is the way I must move (gracefully, I pray) around so many of them! What would be 'just another bike ride' in any other city, in NYC, in Central Park, in the summer, becomes this gorgeous, dance of sorts, me and ramble, paired with everybody else. Every morning before I depart, I program a new playlist to fit my mood, and the heat of the day, (still shamelessly taking recommendations,Kyle!) and I depart for the dance. Check out this super blurry picture I took in honor of one of our coolest, most fit and inspiring customers- Christine Crosby Taylor, an avid runner and racer. I felt like a salmon swimming upstream against this tide of thousands, all seeming to have smiles on their faces while they ran (maybe that was in my head, but it's how I 'saw' it, and that's what we have decided counts for the most!)

*A horrible picture, but I was moving, on my bicycle! Don't try it!

OBVIOUSLY, I could go on and on about my rambling in this city, but I will eventually try to get to the title point of this blog!
Another of my favorite things about being here on a more frequent basis, is that most of the people I visit with here also happen to be artists at the Giving Tree, and this makes me RIDICULOUSLY happy! We carry their jewelry not just because we love what they create, but because the pieces are created by some of the most alive, inspired, creative people on the planet! A large majority of them living and working here in NYC! Between studio visits with amazing designers like ALEX WOO, long lunches followed by diamond district visits with PABLO VALENCIA to work on custom wedding bands we are designing, and awesome 'collaboration meetings' with PAM FINK OF GOOD CHARMA (just WAIT to see what we have planned!) I couldn't ask for better company!

And about that title, my 'friends on the 6 train'. Well, when I am not on my bicycle, I seem to be.. on the 6 train, heading from one end of town to the other. I always pack a book or newspaper to read, but most of the time, I end up just looking around me, at all the people. I have to wonder if it is possible to feel like I am having a love affair with about 3 million people, because everyday, I see .. something.. that makes my heart feel just a little more full. Some small act of kindness or even just..awareness of other human beings.

And just so I don't completely fall off the cliff of 'sappiness' that I always seem to be dangling precariously on :) I will also say that I see some KICK ASS FASHION on these trains!
I have come to 'see' these subway rides as research. What are people wearing these days? What is hip and new and trend setting, right NOW?
There are many, many answers, but two I am seeing quite a lot of are a LOT of multi material LAYERING of bracelets on wrists- as in leather meets sterling meets gold, meets beads and wood and string.

PERFECT example, these ONYX PRAYER BEADS BY ME & RO, paired with the awesome sterling silver ORIENTAL BANGLES FROM GOOD CHARMA and maybe even a new leather cuff from CHRISTY LEA PAYNE! YEAH!

The other thing I see, although I've been calling it for QUITE some time now, are men wearing rings on leather necklaces. I swear! I have seen three this past weekend alone!

I told PABLO about this some months ago, and he set to work making this piece for me, which not only looks RIDICULOUSLY sexy on a guy (OR GIRL) but ALSO represents the single most beautiful, most precious thing I have experienced in this city of New York. HUMANITY.

THE ACT OF BEING A HUMAN BEING
THE ACTION OF CARING FOR OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
HUMANUS.


I can't think of a better thought to end this once again 'too long' (sorry mom!) blog on.

HUMANUS. May we feel it, embrace it, and be it.
With so much love from NYC, on the FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!
Rachel

NEW BLOG MONDAY!! Which means.. a new blog!

A super busy Monday at Giving Tree, which began even before the sun came up! A wonderful sculptor, Karl Saliter, (www.rocksolidsculpture.com- LOVE THIS MAN!) arrived late last night so he and Rachel could do an early morning sculpture move. Only, as we realized at about 6 am, Karl had wildly OVERestimated at least Rachel's strengths (she suggested his next piece be made of...feathers :))
Luckily, the kindness of strangers (really and truly) got the job done!

And then there is the matter of Rachel's (tiny)revolutions charity project, which debuted on our SEEDS page on Friday, and will soon have Facebook and Twitter pages as well. However, this will require her to STOP PAINTING long enough to build the pages!

If you have time though, please take a moment and read what her newest obsession is all about- Over 5,000 (tiny)revolutions already exist, and there is, really, no end in site! For just a small donation, you can have a one of a kind piece of art, and know you are supporting a dream, and a really special charity vision-come true.
Read About And Shop (tiny)revolutions!


*A small selection of (tiny)revolutions...ready to be packed and set out into the world!

All of this to say, it was a good but long day. The kind of day that at the end of it you feel just a little bit.. whacky. You may even write an entire blog in the third person.

Worse yet, you may even document your exhaustion... just because the way the light was hitting, just then, when you went to sit on the patio... you wanted to share it with people you care about. You wanted to finish the blog, because as (tiny) a thing as it is, the promise to do one every Monday, some things really matter to you, like keeping promises, and sharing beauty with friends.
WATCH NEW BLOG MONDAY-RACHEL AND BEAZIE LOOK FOR BIRDS INSTEAD OF WRITING THE BLOG VIDEO NOW!
HAPPY MONDAY NIGHT EVERYONE,
Rachel, appearing this evening, in the 2nd and 3rd person!

*Thank you Laura and Courtney for putting up with the 3,000 (tiny) revolutions all over the office. And with me!

And this is why today is FEARLESS FRIDAY... An essential "Bonus Blog"

Sometimes, we hear or experience something that puts everything in perspective, reminds us what matters most, and changes the entire mindset of our day.
On Wednesday of this week I received this email from our customer Portia Hinshaw, and I knew I had to share.


Hello Rachel,

You have been on my mind for the last few days; I knew it was time to write you about the power of your jewelry...

On the last day of school, May 26th, Jhamal and I were heading home all set to enjoy the beginning of our much needed summer break. The day before, Jhamal had received seven Academic Excellence Awards and BEST of all - Citizen of the Year! I told him that being smart means nothing if you are a jerk:-)! Bill and I are so very proud of him. As we headed up the Canyon that late afternoon, we were hit by a drunk driver. Both of us walked away from the accident with injuries but nothing severe. The car was totalled.

After the CO State Patrol arrived, he informed me that my defensive driving skills saved both of us and the other guy. He said, "You are truly fearless." AND guess what necklace was around my neck ... yes, Me and Ro's Fearlessness. That night Bill told me over and over again how brave I was. AND what bracelet was I wearing? Me and Ro's Courage! I truly believe that the power of wearing jewelry with meaning evokes certain qualities in a person ... especially when those qualities are most needed.

I am still in quite a bit of pain; my ribs were badly bruised. I am relaxing, healing ... and car shopping! Jhamal, on the other hand, is doing great! He ran a personal best in the Bolder Boulder 10K Race five days after the accident, and he heads to Yellowstone for a Wolf Trek tomorrow morning. We feel grateful and blessed! My hope is that the guy who hit us will use this experience to change his life. I am daily journaling the positives that have come out it.

Thank you, my dear friend, for the loving and compassionate part that you play in all of our lives.

I hope you are well!

I still cannot get through the letter without crying. I am so grateful that these two beautiful, incredible people, Mother and Son, were able to walk away from such a horrific event, and that their bodies will fully heal. And I also can barely express the sense of pride I have to know this family, even if it is 'cyberspace' supported, I have been so inspired and encouraged by Portia's wonderful disposition and sense of humor, her grace, and yes! her FEARLESSNESS. This woman LIVES life, and she is truly a hero to me.
And she and her husband Bill are raising their son, Jhamal with the same values, strength of character, and compassionate nature that I feel so strongly from them.

*Jhamal and his wonderful work with the Special Olympics in Boulder, Co, inspired our THANKFUL THURSDAY on Facebook yesterday. Thank you Jhamal!

*Lori's FEARLESSNESS tattoo!


Today is also the birthday of another dear friend, and hands down, one of the most FEARLESS, and (sorry, but it's true!) KICK ASS women we know! LORI G. is an amazing woman, who uses her FEARLESSNESS every day as a social worker rescuing children from horrendous situations, giving them hope, saving their lives. Lori also works to shelter and place homeless dogs, and there are not enough words to express how much I respect what she does, who she is and how she lives her life. We are wishing her a year that returns to her all the good things she puts into the world!

And on Monday, June 14th, Cynthia Bender, SUCH a huge part of the Giving Tree family and the very first to create a CUSTOMERS CARING page... is doing the triathlon to raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer. Already a FEARLESS force in the world, we just wanted her to know we will all be with her if she needs any extra strength!! We all KNOW you can do it! *and your necklace will help!

In truth, there is rarely a day that goes by that we don't hear of at least from at least one FEARLESS woman out there, who shares her story, shows her strength and inspires us through the way she lives. Today, there just happened to be many.. and we LOVE IT!
SO,

HAPPY FEARLESS FRIDAY EVERYONE!
May you feel the power of FEARLESSNESS in your self!

Random Thoughts.. And.. 'What Does A Buddhist Listen To?"

It is almost silly, or, it IS totally silly... just how excited I get when I start to think about writing this blog. I say 'start thinking' because the process begins usually around Wednesday or Thursday. I start taking notes, and snapping pictures! Little 'journal entries' in the book of me...
"Dear world and everyone in it...once again, today, you took my breath away..."

or something like that.
It started, this week, with the actualization of a piece designed by Pablo and myself at the SPECIFIC REQUEST of one our dearest and most fun, funny and supportive customers, Trish from Maine. She asked if there was "anything we could do to help the wildlife in the gulf of Mexico." I loved this instantly for two reasons, there was something we could do, and for the fact that Trish, when thinking of places/things that could be open to hearing her very pure and beautiful need to express her sorrow and desire to help in this tragedy...my email came into her head... All the fame and money in the world couldn't match my pride in THAT!

*Charity piece, inspired by Trish- THE SOAR AND BIRD TINY WISH!

And then the week just kept rolling on in beauty and what felt to me like a very 'raw' 'real' and "human" energy. At one in the same time, it felt as if the universe, the cosmos, GOD, whatever you believe in.. was painting the canvas of the world this week, to look like a Jackson Pollack painting!... LOTS o' stuff, energy, transition etc going down! But also, there was a lot of reflection in the air.. a 'deeper' quality to everything, only amplified by the sweltering heat (in NYC atleast!). I share this because I snapped some pictures of things befitting of this latter energy. As I remarked on our FACEBOOK PAGE*(*Become a friend of Giving Tree, we have so much FUN!), the gorgeous solemness of the world this week, reminded me of this Rumi line "Let the beauty we love be what we do, there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

Maybe it is something like the oil spill that makes us realize how precious and precarious things are, and also, that there really IS a dichtomy to be recognized, if not so much of a 'good' -vs- 'evil', at the very least, this disaster, and the cold, failed, response of the corporations at fault for it, is a VERY clear example of the ineffectiveness of these giant businesses going after the thing with, only 'money', only redistributed blame, only 'head'.. what is missing, is the heart. .THE HEART!*(I could go on and on)
Go to Facebook for more pictures, oh and tell me what you think this Buddhist in the picture is listening to!! (I feel a Win on Wednesday in here Courtney!! and notice how I am shameless in inventing ways to get new music recommendations!:))

Finally, and as always.. THANK YOU for taking the time to read this. I cannot tell you how much I look forward to writing it every week. Maybe it is because I know FOR SURE there is one faithful reader out there, and just the thought of her reading these silly little soliloquys, and smiling.. well, that fills me with more joy than I can even express.

To make someone you truly love, smile. Really, does it get any more simple or good or important than that?
With so much love,
Rachel- June 2010