Happy Spring

It's april 16th, and the annual income-tax-filing ordeal is finished. I always try to file early when I am expecting a refund, and file on the last day if I have to pay. This year, it's a refund, and I actually got my little check a couple of weeks ago. The amount wasn't enough to save, so I spent it on our easter dinner.
We had a great family affair, lots of food and good company. The easter bunny made an appearance, and my brother baked an easter cake. This cake mold belonged to either my grandmother or my great-aunt, and had been gathering dust for eons, but thanks to the internet he found the perfect recipe and the lamb cake, sitting on green coconut grass, was a big hit!

New York is greening up, the flower bulbs on the park avenue islands are starting to bloom, and the pear trees that line so many of our streets are covered with pretty white blossoms. The stores are having sales like you wouldn't believe, trying to get some business even though most of us are scared to spend. The tourists visiting manhattan have another view, and see the city as one big bargain. I always wonder how they can buy so much, unless they fly an airline that doesn't charge outrageous fees for extra suitcases!

We've been working overtime in the studio, shipping out our "angie" earrings and rings as fast as the factory gets them here from Rhode Island. Bob is doing such a great job with these beautiful swarovski crystals! Who would have thought these items would be so popular, but considering the images we have of Angelina Jolie at the Academy Awards, I am not surprised.
Of course, it's a new season now, and the spring jewelry has gone out to the stores and the website is featuring the newest items, along with our mother's day collection. My mother always told me to 'watch your money' but never followed her own advice- you should have seen her jewelry box! In that vein, I wanted to offer really nice stuff at a price that makes it easy to buy something great for mom. At these prices, you can buy a few things and treat yourself as well as mom.

In my family, we don't really go for the idea that "it's the thought that counts", our moms want presents! This is not exactly in keeping with the origin of mothers day. In 1912, a woman named Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association. Ms. Jarvis used her powers as the creator of the modern mother's day to travel around the country and give speeches against the commercial nature of the day.

She sounds like a real grouch, and was against most of the mother's day things we do now, saying that sending a greeting card "means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world". She wasn't keen on candy either, saying "you take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself". She didn't mention that giving jewelry was a bad idea, so that's what I recommend. You can't eat it, it won't get thrown away a few days later and it will make your mom (or yourself) look and feel great on May 10th. You know, Anna, I'm fine with that. Ciao.