Squirrel Heavy

Happy holidays, people! Did you have a good one? I had a good one. Though I am technically Jewish, I love all of the trappings of Christmas--the lights, the colors, the multitude of presents on one day (don't even get me started on that pesky eight-day rule us Jews abide by)--and part of my family is Christ-oriented, so I jump on that bandwagon. Since BF and I have been together an eternity (five years plus a little), he knows of my jewelry fixation and thus asks me to narrow down what I would like to an easy list. This year I was more than happy to oblige because I had my heart set on a single thing:

It's an ornate (some might say gaudy, but those people are inevitably boring) garnet Victorian ring. As always, the present came attached with several trials and tribulations and I didn't get until the day after Christmas but my god, I love it. It's shiny and huge and perfect. 

________________________________________________________________

Now, a couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with the gorgeous (is it me or does she keep getting younger?) WendyB and we discussed many things, but also squirrels which I think are bound to come up in any interesting conversation, right? I told her that to avoid crying at movies, I think of squirrels. You know, frolicking and whatnot. It's fail proof. Wendy reminded me of her awesome squirrel necklace...: 

Wendy Brandes Squirrel Necklace, $125 (free shipping 'til Dec. 31st!)

...And then that very weekend, the BF and I were taking a morning walk through Astoria when I was bombarded with the city's version of nature. First, we came across a squirrel eating a slice of pizza:

I whispered to BF "Make sure it doesn't move!" and hauled ass back to the apartment for the camera. Then we came across one of the famed black squirrels native to Astoria Park (like a fat cat, right?):

Of course we then met this little diva, who was inches away from me (expecting pizza methinks), and he/ she pulled out all the cute poses in the squirrel handbook:

Lastly, moving away from ze squirrels--this house was in a row of similar houses, and the only one covered in birds. Looked very Hitchcock-esque:

There was also a falcon, but he'll be in another post.

Off now to squish a kitty and further admire my ring. Happy New Year!

Presents for People You Love (Part 1: Under $75)

I know I can't keep up on comments, but here's a quickie as I've been on the Christmas Present hunt: The following are all things I have bookmarked for special someones (or maybe a special post-Christmas here's-some-money-I-have-left-me (does that make sense?))

Stone & Honey Silver Pinwheel "Lana" necklace, $60

Anne Kiel Little Horshoe Ring, $65

Aster Bracelet by Bario-Neal, $75

Charmed Earrings by Mud and Mint, $21

Silver Lotus Ring by An Original Jewelry shop, $52

Oh! Also, we went to Cooperstown, NY for a weekend/ Thanksgiving trip and the BF kept calling it (accurately) Stars Hollow. Yes, that's a Gilmore Girls reference. This is the second year we've been--he's a baseball fiend and this time around I really wanted to check out the non-baseball stuff in town. Anyhow, if you are looking for a weekend trip (and live in NY), I highly recommend Cooperstown! They have an awesome Farmer's Museum (home of the Cardiff Giant: "one of the most famous hoaxes in American history!" and the incredible Empire State Carousel--they had an NYC rat to ride on!). The excellent James Fenimore Cooper Art Museum is across the street and had two surpisingly insightful exhibits: one about past presidential elections (ie homemade support items like a milk jug with the word "Hoover" painted on) and one about the stereotypical depiction of African Americans through history. Obvs, they also have the Baseball Hall of Fame which I was happy to drop BF off at ("I'll meet you in an hour!") and go wandering around the town.

And my favorite part (besides, of course, the romantic dinners and such)? All the museums had Black friday sales that continue until Christmas! People, I love my museum gift shops.

I forgot the camera and tried to take some nice shots with the phone... ah, the novelty of farmland to a city dweller!

If you end up going, or liked going, or just need a book to read, I'd recommend the book Monsters of Templeton. The author was/ is from Cooperstown and modeled "Templeton" on her hometown.

Don't Know How Long I've Been Missing You

I've started and stopped about a million posts these last two months and it just became easier to say, oh, it's been so long anyhow. To say, well why bother? But today I'm sick and sitting here thinking that I really should do something about this.

What's new with you? Since my last post I've:

-gone to San Fran; (more pics here)

Grace Cathedral was my favorite place...

-got food poisoning in SF;

-left SF early;

-seen Twilight, A Christmas Tale and at least one or two other movies, but still have not gotten around to Man on Wire;

Even Mathieu Amalric swoons over Mathieu Amalric in A Christmas Tale (pic from Film Detail)

-finished season 1 of Mad Men;

pic from Give Me My remote

-read a million books and liked about half;

-been sick twice;

-been recommended a no junk food diet by doctor once;

-bought boots that I love--this has been a years-long quest (omfg SO comfortable);

-made plans for a Cooperstown-style Thanksgiving.

There's been more but being sick makes me blue (or green, I guess) and I can't remember all of the surely wonderful things I've been doing. Mostly I just sit around all day resenting San Francisco's hills.

But there's been some down time and I've found some new obsessions (jewelry-wise; we don't need to go into the whole Robert Pattinson thing here).

Victorian Garnet and Seed Pearl Ring, $150

Clasped Hands Ring, $245

Edwardian Garnet and Opal Ring, $340 (That unusual style of garnet is called "mine cut" and I've grown to really love it after looking at pages and pages of Edwardian and Victorian rings. It's a much sharper cut, and called such as the stones were literally taken from old mines. The style was popular predominately through the 19th c. Really striking reminder of how history repeats itself if you look at the stud jewelry that cropped up last year, I'm thinking most about Alex and Chloe's inverted diamond ring.)

Hannah Clark Ouroborus Ring, $500 (This is modeled after the engagement ring Victoria received from Prince Albert. The snake represents infinity--eating it's own tail creates a never ending circle.)

Sapphire Dome Ring, $88 (Also reminiscent of the Victorian "starburst" style like this one, which was also mixed with something called a gypsy setting that showed the gems recessed--or set under the surface level-- in the metal. Example here.)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Sat through Mon

We covered DFW; let's move onto brighter topics, yes? This past weekend was BF's b-day extravaganza, which mostly consisted of us lounging and then me cajoling BF into a Governer's Island trip, which was a-may-zing.

You take the subway allll the way downtown--past the ruined WTC site, past the Century 21 shoppers--right up until the subway car could hit the water. That's Whitehall Street. You get out and see the gorgeous, shining Staten Island Ferry (I'm not kidding). Look left. See that old fashioned building? That's where the Governer's Island ferry leaves every half hour. Free. You get on and take the 10 minute trip, twisting in your seat like a tourist. "Statue of Liberty!" "Waterfalls!" "Big old forts!" Once there, you walk around, in and out, looking at the wonderful art exhibits that cover the ground. Then you rent a 50's style Schwinn to bike around the island (Seafoam green for the ladies, silver for the fellas). Basket, bell, whole nine yards. Don't forget to say hello to the gigantic cat. (What can he possibly be eating to get so fat? And yes, we did call him guv'ner.)

What are you waiting for? The Island closes for the season on October 12th.  (UPDATE: Pics posted. You can see more at my Flickr.)

What else? Oh, last night? We saw My Bloody Valentine. I can't thoroughly explain how awesome and influential this band is. But anyhow, it was a totally mind-blowing experience. A little ear-blowing too; NY Mag suspects MBV "PLAY LOUDEST SHOW EVER" and I may concur. There was a 12-17 minute (opinion varies) wall of noise that exploded at the end of the last song. At first it felt exhilarating: like a 747 was landing on your head, but you were invincible. Then 3/4 I had to put in my free earplugs. I like being able to hear, I decided.

Okay! Jewelry! (No theme, except a perhaps personal theme which is: I found some new sites!)

Open Pendant Necklace with cognac Diamonds, $228

Abschiedsfest Ring by Constance Schreiber, $320

Campo Di Fiore Collar by Echo of the Dreamer, $950

(these folks are having a sample sale in NYC through the 26th. Information here.)

Coppertone Turquoise Ring, $148

Finite

Sad news on the literary front this week, so let me put this out there first: RIP David Foster Wallace.

Readers, I won't lie: Infinite Jest was my postmodern nemisis. I bought the book. It fell apart from my countless thows against the wall. I took it out from the library, worrying over a possible hernia from it's heft (almost 1100 pages), yet I persisted. That was sophmore year of college. Four years after graduation, the library edition is still sitting on my bookshelf, a tiny scrap of paper marking where I gave up. That's what it was, really. Giving up. The book defeated me, casually tossing footnotes and ceaseless wit at my poor 21-year-old head. Now I'm older, wiser and I may just give it another shot. Anyhow, part of me likes knowing I haven't finished Infinite Jest: it'll be an accomplishment when I finally do. (BTW, good college chum Mr. Bungle first implored me to read Mr. Wallace's landmark tome and even though I didn't get into the fiction, I'll always be thankful as DFW's non-fiction story "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" will always be one of my favorites things in the world.)

Jewelry update coming; too much to fit in one post...

Stephanie Nielson

Stephanie Nielson (aka Nie Nie) and her husband Christian. Photo from Nie Nie's blog.

Though only three days ago I mentioned I wouldn't be blogging much, I did want to write up a quick post for a great and generous thing Wendy B is doing.

Wendy is auctioning off her exquisiste Diana Necklace to raise money for Stephanie Neilson, a blogger who was tragically injured (burned on over 80% of her body) in a plane crash last month. The flight instructer died and Stephanie's husband, Christian, was also burned.

Wendy is doing an awesome thing, so please please please head over to her blog and read the details and bid. Get in on the good karma towards Stephanie and Christian and know that you'll be helping a fellow blogger--this is a community, after all.

Waiting for Greek Food...

Here I am! It's been a long couple of weeks full of awesome book parties (at which the joint was so crowded, I couldn't even find the table to buy said book [said book being Cringe put together by the amazingly talented Sarah Brown of Que Sera Sera]), not enough sleep, the US Open (sexy Federer) and the boyfriend's new professor gig. So, you know. Busy.

Last post I insinuated that I would be closing up shop here at In Yr Fshn. Some very nice comments gave me pause in my hasty decision, but seeing as how I promised a post this past weekend and now it's Thursday, I don't know that I am actually capable of keeping the blog--no matter how much I may want to. As I told the fabulous Wendy: I clutch my spare moments to my bosom as if they were diamonds or something. Appropriate simile, right?

For now, I will try to keep things going here, but I know that posts will be few and far between (twice a month?), so please bear with me. Hopefully things will calm down a bit and I can start thinking about things I actually like again.

Today's post will be a two parter: some pictures of kitties and such, then some jewelry. And here we go...

Fattiepants Magee

Miss Stella

Pretty Sky at US Open

Hot BF at US Open

And now! I feel like crazy layered necklaces in all sorts of mixed metals and media become the "new thing" every September, but I'm really digging them this year... a few favorites....



Justin Giunta Subversive Locket Necklace, $760

Heavy Metal Necklace by Cassandra's Beads, $45

Kim and Maki Goth Layered Necklace, $245

Neawear Chain Necklace "10", $35

When You Know

Alright, who knows how much longer this puppy is gonna be around, so check back for a great big post by the weekend. It may be my last, for now at least.

Initial Here

No more complaining about work, I promise. This weekend we caught up on sleep and explored Long Island City, which is about 15 blocks south of us (we're in Astoria). What a weird place with it's crammed in luxury highrises full of nobody and empty streets teeming with hip restaurants. I assume they will be soon be marketing the town as the "new Manhattan" or some such ridiculousness, but until then, it'll feel like a really hip ghost town full of soulless shiny buildings and great boutiques.

Today we ventured to the mall, a rare treat when you move out of suburbia. This first necklace looked lovely on a mannequin in Urban Outfitters and it inspired a whole post. It's good to be back.




Urban Outiftters Monogram Necklace, $18









Scrabble Charm by HeistJewelry, $45

Sterling Initial Necklace by Jennifer Zeuner, $220

Art Nouveau Inspired Initial Necklace by IstanbulDesign, $65

Custom Initial Copper Charm by Amy Cornwell, $20









Copper Initial Necklace by Wiyomu, $15

Gold Block Initials (vintage deadstock), $20 at day-lab [only limited letters, but day-lab always has a ton of deadstock initial necklaces, so it's worth a look around the site]

Boleyn Necklace by Wendy Brandes, $300 for sterling silver (also available here in gold)

Sign Language Initial Charms, $5.50 each (pewter) by Talking Hands


And if you have hours to kill, please feel free to click here for the etsy search of "initial necklaces" which I left at page 40, though there were still about 100 pages left to peruse. I had to tear myself away so we could catch up on Project Runway.

Zzzzzz

I'm not gone! Sometime this weekend, I'll be doing a new post! And commenting! And sleeping!

Oh, god sleep. I miss you, my sweet beautiful sleep.

Hump-day, as they Call it

Alright, kiddos! Time to anounce the winner of the ever-so-loverly bloggiversary contest... (drumroll please)
The Clothes Horse!

This contest was all official and vetted by my bf ("Honey, pick a number between 1 and 6 please?"), so if you have a problem, talk to him. Congrats, Clothes Horse!

Now, to all the rest of you kind folks who expressed interest, I would be happy to send a little treat in the mail if you are feeling particularly sorrowful about not winning. (I love sending packages and I've got some lovely jewelry goodies just waiting for the right owner.) Just drop me an email at urbanvintagenyc@gmail.com.
In other jewelry news, I am digging this today:

White Flower Bracelet by Metamorph, $40

also this one:




The Square Prince Ring by Senayakin, $250 (oxidized silver and aquamarine)


And in non-jewelry news: oh, people. Work is rough, but at least I get to wear dresses, right? I'll be setting up a proper update around these parts on Friday, and I'll finally get to read my beloved blogs. (Can you tell that etsy is one of the few sites I have access to?)

'Til then...