NEW MONDAY BLOG!! In Honor Of The Most Wonderful Band In The World!

SUGARLAND!!!
*link takes you to their youtube channel. which is FANTASTIC!

Truth be told, I...er ..forgot it was Monday! Courtney is taking a few days off to celebrate her ONE YEAR wedding anniversary (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY COURTNEY AND DAN!)by heading up to Vermont to see Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes (another very very good band.. hit the link!)

Which basically means. it was up to Laura and myself to TURN IT OUT today! A non-stop Monday in the gallery/packing and shipping central, followed by a 7 pm painting session and culminating with an impromptu dinner party for "The Judith" on the deck! (This picture was taken through the window.. as I was inside.. slaving over a hot stove, while the Judith sipped wine and nibbled on carrots and hummus (*the way it should be)

ANYWAY.. all this to say.. WHOOPS! I forgot it was a blogging Monday!

You do know Giving Tree Jewelry will never break a promise to you, right?

That includes a blog every Monday! Even if it comes from a Eurostar train heading North back to Rome, asking for more time ;) (as it did last week!)

So what is today's blog about?
I'll shout it again...
SUGARLAND!!!

Band members Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush and manager Gail Gellman, have been friends of ours FOR YEARS now.. and we couldn't be more proud of their MASSIVE AND TOTALLY DESERVED SUCCESS...
but after being prompted by a customer today to find the necklace Jennifer wrote about on her site
www.jennifernettles.com



we were SO TOUCHED that the band took the time to celebrate us!
*Go to the 'friends' section of her site...

How lucky are we??

Here is a link to the necklace, BESS by Jeanine Payer on our site!

Jennifer and Kristian could be walking advertisements for Giving Tree Jewelry by now!

Gail created custom JEANINE PAYER BRACELETS when the bands single (Baby Girl) first went gold..
That's how Jennifer 'discovered' Jeanine Payer herself and has purchased about half a dozen pieces over the years!
Jennifer also wears TINY WISHES and Kristian ROCKS the Me & Ro FEARLESSNESS!

So this is a blog for a band we LOVE, people we ADORE (who have managed to stay wonderful, down to earth and true blue DESPITE THE FAME.. BRAVO!)

and friends like Denise Tucker, who offer inspiration when moments ago there was none!

HAPPY MONDAY! HOPE IT IS FULL OF GREAT MUSIC!
Rachel, Cape Cod, July 2010

NEW BLOG MONDAY*! "Tell me, what is it you plan to do...

with your one wild, and precious, life?"

The last line from the poem "The Summer Day" by my favorite poet Mary Oliver. I love this string of words together. The way she gently, but urgently, asks this utterly profound and simple question. A question that, almost ironically, it will take a lifetime to answer...

This is our belated Monday blog for YES. All week long we have been celebrating the power of this word. We have been asking for stories of when you said 'YES!' to something that may have been a bit unfamilar and outside of your usual paradigm of day to day living. (I will post some answers, as well as the entire poem, at the end of this blog!) We have gone through our collection of jewelry with meaning and created a section of pieces of jewelry that feel like YES! to us.. that give us the courage and conviction (the FEARLESSNESS!) to say the word.

Recently, I said YES! to an experience that would take me outside of my normal day to day experience, would take me out of the country literally, and more than this, into a space of just not knowing what to expect. I travelled to Italy with a new friend while she worked. I had no expectations and no 'plan'... this isn't easy for me! And even though there are much bolder, braver examples of saying YES!, about midway through the trip, I had this huge epiphany. I was just so happy I didn't let anything 'stop' me from the experience. Before I left, I had a list of about 15 reasons why not to go, and only one why I should... because I wanted to. I wanted to see another country, step into the unknown, ..LIVE..and not just 'exist'.


*PABLO VALENCIA 'ONE MUST LIVE AND NOT JUST EXIST' (in french) RING!
The result was magic. And i wanted to share it with you, because I think sometimes we 'forget' that we CAN say YES! That we can change our lives and claim our lives. Does this seem to obvious? Maybe... but if there is even the chance that anyone reading this has forgotten this simple truth, if anyone hasn't asked themselves as of late, the question that begins this blog.. I wanted my positive experience to be a reminder.

I am working on a little video of some of the things I saw on the short journey. I am putting just a few pictures here, because I actually didn't take many at all. I wanted to, but I also just wanted to 'be', with total presence, in every moment. My journal entries were short and to the point instead of long and 'processy' (yup, just made that up!)

"You will not be the same after this." Read one whole days only entry. Looking back, I know what I meant by it. I meant, I am answering Mary's question. I am choosing and changing and claiming my life. It's an awesome thing and if it inspires one person to do the same, this makes me very, very, happy!

HERE IS TO YES!!!!*
Rachel Nyc-July 2010

From Giving Tree Jewelry's WIN ON WEDNESDAY question of the week on Facebook

Question:
TELL US YOUR FAVORITE EXPERIENCE OF SAYING 'YES!' TO SOMETHING THAT SEEMED A BIT.. OUT OF THE BLUE, 'SCARY', INTIMIDATING.. ANYTIME THAT 'YES!' WAS THE PERFECT DECISION!"
Answers:

‎32 years ago, in 1978, after working almost three years for the Navy Dept. as a secretary (being an art student and tattoo apprentice after hours) I quit my job just three days before attaining permanent status to go to the very uncertain life of full time tattoo artist. I most certainly made the right decision! Leap and the net will appear!!!!

A year ago, I was an operational specialist who was thinking about applying to business school. Out of the blue, one my of high school buddies asked if I wanted to start a business with him in Asia. We've been working on it for the last couple of months, and we're launching in October. And if we fail, we'll learn from what didn't work and try again.

I said yes to... going to London for a semester in college, teaching for a year in Korea, to getting married on top of a lighthouse, having kids, and buying a sailboat... but the biggest thing I said yes-which-was-the-perfect-decision was, instead of going for a nice mundane degree in college; teaching/business/english - - I said yes to ART SCHOOL> What a challenging/infuriating/wonderful decision that was!!


I said yes to dinner with a woman on the opposing softball team in my freshman year of college. When we were shaking hands after the game, she grabbed my hand pulled me out of the line and asked me to dinner.......we were together for 10 years, till a car accident took her away. Unexpected yes's are good.


I said "yes" to a boat ride a little over two years ago, worked out wonderfully since he's the guy in my profile photo right now ! :)

Yes to having a baby was the most terrifying, exhilarating, wonderful "yes"!
Saying yes to my husband's proposal was scary. I had always been so independent. Turns out to have been a great decision!

Saying yes to a job working with adults with disabilities. At first I was terrified, but now I have found a community of people who are kind, fun to be around and will accept you for exactly who you are. I plan to work with this community for the rest of my life. They enrich my life every day and have taught me to be a better human being. I hope I've taught them half as much as they have taught me!

About 14 years ago..I was 34......I decided to up and leave the Federal Govt and figure out what else I could do.......At the time I was having GI testing done.was stressed.single mother of a boy age 9..divorced 5 years.ready to move on.When I walked out the doors of that secure building/job as a supervisor/training coordinator/facilitator since ... age 19.I was scared.......

I became a registered massage therapist and have never looked back! 12 years in Practice I enjoy every day of my life! My son is now 23! he knows that you can do whatever you want but it's important to WANT what you do! He's an artist, musician,thinker,man of few word, kind, gentle, practical.....I could go on.......


the thing i said yes to was getting married !! i never thought i would but i found a great guy who loves me for who i am....and it is perfect !

Said yes to the job I have now, not knowing nearly enough about it. Turned out all right. :-)

Starting a web design business with a self taught son, a husband with a full time job and me who had not worked outside the house in 20 years.

Saying "YES" to becoming a trainer for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Scary and intimidating because I did not have much training experience, but one of the most rewarding experiences ever!!!


Everyday I say yes to the challenges that face me, from the minute and mundane to the life-altering possibilities that raising a teenager continues to throw at me---I am
My "yes" was saying yes to the Army Reserves back in 1996. Very out of the blue, but I am definitely a spontaneous person. With the extra money I used it to go to college out of state and so many things in my life fell into place with my YES to the Army. I wouldn't change a thing!

Said yes to my husband when he asked me to marry him and again when he wanted children. SO glad I said yes to both. I can't imagine my life without either

I am in the midst of my 'biggest' yes moment to date............yes it scares the heck out of me, but, after years of writing to myself, about myself, about life, I am dropping my current business talents to pursue writing.....I am selling everything I thought I cherished and making a true step towards something that is big in my soul...

Saying "yes" to running R2R at the grand canyon...given my fear of the unknown I am pretty darn happy that I did it and had a wonderful time :-)))


I said YES to myself.and that's the most important person to say yes to!




The Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
-Mary Oliver




















*These pictures won't make much sense! The first few (dark ones :() are of the post art show DANCE PARTY! that was hosted by the most amazing, genuine, down to earth husband and wife, Angela and Massimo Laurie
HERE IS A BIT ABOUT THEIR COLLECTION

I have never felt more welcome anywhere! I said YES! TO DANCING ALL NIGHT!

A shot of my new favorite salad.. with BREAD IN IT!
my NEW FRIEND Greg having his limoncello
my seat mate on my solo journey out to Italy, LUIGI!
The day time shots are of the other collection and collectors home we visited. It was in a region of Italy called Basilicata, 6 hrs South of Rome. The family lives in the castle shown here (with fabulous MODERN art adorning the 700 yr old entrance way!) Again, I have never felt such a warm and wonderful welcome. In the picture if our host Pier Vittorio, next to him Bernard Picasso and his wife, and artist Aaron Young, who installed a show in a church in Umbria and whose work is breathtaking!

NEW MONDAY BLOG!!...

... To be published by Wednesday!!*


*because sometimes,
In the best possible way,
"Life" gets in the way...

And isn't that the point, after all?...


To endeavor to LIVE one's life??

I truly cannot wait to share a bit of this exquisite adventure,
One during which I have learned so much, and seen such beauty...it will be hard to describe,
But I want to try,
Because another 'point' of life, I think...
Is to share the good stuff...to try to bring a smile to another face, to celebrate
The richness of the world and as e.e. says..

The
Infinite
Possibility
Of
YES.


Until Wednesday, and with love,
Rachel, July 2010- Rome, Italy

NEW MONDAY BLOG! A Gift From A Friend

Happy Monday! As you know I get so excited for these blogs that usually the hardest part is choosing just what I want to write about each week. I was contemplating this very thing when my little red light flashed on my blackberry. An email from a very dear friend. She didn't include any explanation for sending, she didn't need to. It was just a gift, and more special than anything else I could have imagined receiving this morning, or really, any time. The gift of her friendship, put so eloquently, by a favorite poet of mine. Happy Monday. Happy Hot Days, Happy Heart filled with friendship.
Love,
The Girls of Giving Tree

Friendship IXX by Khalil Gibran

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unaclaimed.

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.

If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed

BONUS BLOG!! Giving Tree Book Club? Summer Reading Suggestions From Facebook Friends!

The Beach House by Jane Green- and it is set on Nantucket

Anything by Kristin Hannah! Especially Summer Island.

Eat Pray Love-Elizabeth Gilbert
*Jewelry tie-in Julia Roberts wears ALL ME & RO all the time in the film!

Real Girls Eat by Anthea Paul:) (great follow up to above! :))


In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.. 'cause I AM in DEFENSE OF FOOD! :)

‎

90 Minutes in Heaven - Don Piper

"Pillars of the Earth" (Ken Follett) or "World Without End" (Ken Follett)...two amazing reads...read them in order to get the full effect. Or "Edgar Sawtelle"...that is a wacky read but good nonetheless




‎100 Years Of Solitude -Gabriel Garcia Marquez


The Good Book by David Plotz. Who knew the Bible was so funny?


The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck- It is so much better reading it as an adult than a high school kid.




The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Laarson and the two sequels.


The Shipping News. Proulx again and again.


A great beach read is: The House on the Beach by Linda Barrett !



The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock n' Roll-- Mark Edmundson. It's good!



The Red Tent by Anita Dimant! Awesome book, read it in two days on the beach. Just started Julie and Julia on my porch this morning and im hooked!


"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot--EXCELLENT!




The ''Shopaholic' series by Sophie Kinsella! All the books are a breeze to read and are funny :) Also, they do inspire me to shop a little... LOL * "Yippee!"-R.S


Completely engrossed in the Twilight Saga...loving it!



favorite summer read right now is "Women Food and God" Geneen Roth- just to help me stop stress eating !! but the other books I go back to are the Harry Potter Series...or Flaming Flamingo



Emily Dickinson poetry. As an avid gardener, she wrote about nature so beautifully and lyrically. She challenges us to look at nature through her eyes.


Give me the latest "Women's Murder Club" by Patterson and I'm happy.


Every summer, I reread a part of Atlas Shrugged Then when I am done, it will be ready to start again. Then have to read some John Sanford, suspense type books.


Tender is the Night by F.S. Fitzgerald: I read it every other year, "Hunting and Gathering" (Anna Gavalda) was a great summer read, Stieg Larsson is hard to put down, and The New Yorker is always a good bet :)




A children's book called "The Pink Motel". I want to find it and reread it again. It was so different and cool.

I love Carol Goodman books. Just finished Arcadia Falls...


Great Expectations! ! A favorite classic!

Autobiography of P.T. Barnum!

Fun and yet surprising serious book: Kathy Griffin "Official Book Club Selection."

Inspiration and mindfulness: Open Mind: Women's Daily Inspiration for Becoming Mindful by Diane Mariechild.

Inspiration/writing: Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America by Natalie Goldberg


Seriously, the best summer read is The Thorn Birds. An oldie but a goodie.

We were the McMillan's by Jonta Davis


Just finished a re-read of John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany", and re-loved it.

Anna Quindlen "Every Last One"--fabulous she is one of my favorite authors.


does US Weekly count? *

*Absolutely! If it makes you HAPPY it counts with us!


The greatest summer read is the trashiest gossip mag that I can find. I do love reading my books but find reading People, OK, etc is so much more enjoyable on the beach:)

With Love and slightly soggy, salt stained ,sun drenched pages of JOY!
The Girls of Giving Tree-

NEW BLOG MONDAY! A Celebration of Independence and Inspiration!!

One of my favorite reading rituals of the week is the Sunday New York Times Weddings/Celebrations section. But then again, how could it not be? Stories of love found, love honored, love lasting... in a word, everything I love :)

My favorite weeks are when the section feels well balanced. I am always excited to see at least one gay male couple, at least one lesbian couple and at least one interracial couple. I don't even want to call this progressive because I would rather believe it is simply a reflection of our collective reality, and that soon, these still noticeable anomolies will not stand out at all, but rather blend in, seamlessly, as they should.

This Sunday, July 4th was extra fun because the cover story was about a wedding in Iowa (I was already endeared) between Mitchell Gold and Tim Scofield. Even before I started to read the article, I knew something was familar. Sure enough, the "Mitchell Gold" is the one half of the "Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams" ("whose logo looks like something two lovers would carve in a tree") of the furniture company name and fame. I used to live close by to a store of theirs in Boston. I couldn't afford anything, but would always pass by the windows, stop, and think "oooh pretty!"

The point of all this isn't actually the love story part of the feature. (Especially because I was confused.. one would think "Mitchell and Williams" got married, but they did not. They broke up. Mitchell Gold found the second love of his life, and married him.) The point for me (and I usually always have one, it's just the getting there!) was one line in the article, about the company Mr. Gold co-founded.

"The company makes couches and armchairs that are hip in an everyman way. Its Web site reads like a friendly blog, with the two founders writing about the importance of giving back to their communities, staying curious and avoiding mean people."

It was THIS line that caught my attention. and after smiling through the rest of the article (now all about the love) I went to check out the site:

Please, if you have time, check out the ABOUT US ON MITCHELL GOLD + BOB WILLIAMS SITE!

Personally, I only made it about half way through the "Who We Are" before I got teary. And then, moving onto the other sections, especially the GOLD FAMILY ALBUM
I understood that these were to be tears of JOY and INSPIRATION.

On our journey's in life, it is always a blessing, I think, to find something that speaks to you and inspires you to go, and grow, and work harder. That is what this website did for me this early Monday morning.

Every once in a while someone will ask me what connection some of the things we do here at Giving Tree Jewelry has to with...well, selling jewelry. Why so many charity endeavors? Why these (tiny) revolutions, and the SEEDS section, and a book about "How To Avoid Being Sad" and c.d's and WHY pictures of a silly red bicycle outside random sites around NYC?

Now, this morning, because of this website, arriving into my consciousness via one of my favorite things- I know the answer (I sort of always did)
Because this is the kind of company Giving Tree Jewelry wants to be! It may not be traditional, or familar, or even always make a lot of sense- but it's heartfelt, and earnest, and true, and endeavoring to do so much more than just sell jewelry. Giving Tree Jewelry wants to bring its friends and customers that support us, some JOY, some HOPE, and some INSPIRATION. And now, after seeing another site doing the same (and doing it SO MUCH BIGGER!) the one thing I can promise you for sure... Not only are we not going to stop, Giving Tree Jewelry is only going to GROW!

So THANK YOU MITCHELL GOLD & BOB WILLIAMS (And congratulations Mitchell and Tim!)

THANK YOU faithful readers of this blog, and our FACEBOOK friends, and our customers and visitors. THANK YOU! We do this, only, ever, with your support and love.



*And Laura and Courtney, don't worry! I'm studying the scholarship programs on this site. By the time Ellen is going off to college, and Courtney and Dans someday kids are ready to go.. the Giving Tree scholarship fund WILL exist! Mark my words :)

And now, since we know it doesn't need a specific 'purpose'- Check out the growing album of Ramblin' Red in NYC. All photo destination spots suggested by YOU!

*Become a fan on FACEBOOK and see all our albums!
I hope everyone feels as much independence and inspiration as I do right now.
Love,
Rachel July 5 2010, Cape Cod Ma