a girl from queens

Yesterday i got a call from a customer asking about some jewels on the website.

She asked how i liked living in this country? and how i had no accent?

I was a little puzzled but realized that she thought i was from Italy-which makes perfect sense.

I told her the story of this blog and how it's title came to be.

While working in the cosmetics industry as an art director-i got a promotion to creative director. My boss asked me how old i was to have such a big job and i told her i was 27- she poured champagne and made a toast to me "not bad for a girl from queens"

About Queens
Queens is the eastern most of the five boroughs of New York City, the largest in area and the second-largest in population. Since 1899, Queens has had the same boundaries as Queens County, which is now the second most populous county in New York State and the fourth-most densely populated county in the United States. Queens, as well as neighboring borough Brooklyn, sits on the west end of geographic Long Island. Queens is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world with a population of over 2.2 million, 48% of whom are foreign-born, representing over 100 different nations and speaking over 138 different languages.

Gift with Purchase!

 

the Queen that Queens is named for

Hi, everybody. Finally blogger's recent 'technical difficulties' have been resolved, and I am the new owner of a 'password recovery system' so if this problem happens again, I won't lose access to this blog. Hopefully! I also backed it up, which I never knew I could or should do. Just in case you lost access, it's easier when you're a follower- so I suggest you join, and get as many friends to join to as you can.

It's been a Queens weekend, after all the royal wedding stuff I just felt like I ought to spend some time at the old homestead in Queens, NY! Our county is actually named for an english Queen, Catherine of Braganza, who didn't spend a lot of time on the throne with her king, Charles II in the late 1600's. I didn't find too many images of her, and so we're not getting a Queen Catherine necklace any time soon! The Kate's necklace is a genuine hit, those earrings she wore during the royal wedding are available on the website now too!

Our super-hit this week has been the vintage look, People StyleWatch features Blake Lively in our Vintage Fan Drop Earrings, a wonderfully sparkly, fun earring we've got in three colors. It's in the 'under 100' collection and qualifies for FREE SHIPPING, so take a look!

The rest of my vintage items this weekend were all sold yesterday, at the annual Douglas Manor all-neighborhood mega garage sale! This is a once-a-year event, all the neighbors put out their finest new and old garage sale stuff and part of the proceeds goes to the garden club to help keep the neighborhood looking pretty. 

Follow the signs on every tree in town!


I couldn't resist making sure OUR sale was the best, so we whipped up some Swarovski Crystal earrings to give to each customer as a gift with purchase. Yes, if you bought my brothers old soldering iron from the 1970's, or my Mom's ancient (and sort of funny looking) horse statue, you got some roberta chiarella earrings with your purchase!

It was a great way to spend a nice spring day, meet the neighbors and chat and eat pizza and sell and sell and sell. I just can't figure out why nobody bought the wine glasses but they fought over the purple and green picnic table plates, but hey, I only try to guess hot jewelry trends, not people's taste in garage sale stuff. It was a great day and we all had fun. Bye-Bye, Schwinn Bicycle, I enjoyed owning you for so many years!



Blakes earrings- much better than garage sale vintage!

 We capped off the day with a great dinner at BKNY, our bestest, tastiest, spiciest thai restaurant in town. Thanks to Joe, Thomas, Donna, Denise and my honey, Brian, it turned out to be a surprise birthday party for yours truly. Yes, Friday the 13th is a lucky day in the Chiarella family and I was so happy we all had such a good time. Ciao!

Happy Summer!

It's the start of the Memorial Day weekend so I hope you've made plans to enjoy the holiday. We've sold a lot of our Brava Bib Necklaces, and I know it's styles like these that make girls look summery and super-chic! Another great choice is the crystal coin cascade earring, filled with sparkly crystals in so many colors. Our summer jewelry has been a hit with jewelry editors, appearing on TV, in the New York Daily News and lots of fashion magazines. People Style Watch is a must read, it is on newsstands right now, and there's a special promotion going on with them, so it's worth a look!

We're planning to go to the Douglaston-Little Neck Memorial Day parade, billed as the largest memorial day parade in the country! I know the president is skipping out on the traditional ceremonies and heading back to Chicago, but you can participate in the holiday and see this spectacle for yourself on Monday. We've got Mayor Bloomberg and city officials and soldiers and bands, and we'll even bring Chicklet, Lulu and Boomer! What more could you ask for.

Take a moment of your weekend and say a prayer of thanks for all those in our armed forces who give years of their lives, and sometimes make huge sacrifices to protect our country and the freedom we enjoy every single day. If it wasn't for our great military men and women we would not be safe and feee, especially with all these crazy things going on around the world.

And if you can't come to Queens to watch our parade, check out their website (link above) and consider a contribution to help this organization make it possible. I'll be there to cheer on the troops and thank any soldiers or sailors that pass by, you can be sure of that. Ciao!

a memorable memorial day

Today is Memorial Day, and I hope you took a moment out of your day to remember those brave men and women who gave their lives so that we may live in freedom. We should never forget the sacrifices that our soldiers made for us and our country.
We were lucky that what is said to be the largest Memorial Day parade in the country is just down the road from my brothers home in Douglaston, Queens.

The weather was perfect and the parade route was packed. The mayor was there, along with all the local politicians, marching bands, and veterans from all branches of the military.
The local cub scouts marched, and chicklet, who never met a kid she doesn't want to run towards, had to be kept under close supervision! After most of the marchers passed our observation post on Northern Boulevard, we headed over to the house for "the first barbecue of summer". It was a beautiful day, with great food and good company.

I was happy to have some time to relax, it has been such a busy week (in a really good way). Our trip to Florida to show my HSN collection was a success, and I have to say it is always a pleasure to work with the HSN staff. Rachel Huber is a great host, we had super models on the set. I was worried about the time slot, it was pretty late for the east coast, but the orders came in like crazy.

You'll never know how exciting it is to be sitting there when the last item of the batch has been sold. There is a bell that rings, the lights flash, the people taking orders have to stop in mid-stream and start saying "I'm sorry, the item has sold out" and my heart just skips a beat. I love what I do, and like most artists and designers, there is no greater validation of your work than to have people want to buy it. The feeling that came over me when I saw so many of my pieces sell out on the HSN show was one of pure joy. I hope every person who bought some of my jewelry is as happy as I felt during that show when their order is delivered!

Designing this collection was a challenge for me, as we don't usually have to make a design for a specific price. The whole idea of working with HSN is to offer people a high fashion item that is affordably priced. Sometimes, when you have an idea in your head about what a bracelet should look like, you are not always worried about how many stones to use, how thick the metal should be, what type of clasp will you use, because the idea is to design from the heart. Of course, this means that the design might end up to be more costly, and I'll sell less of them, but when we work with HSN the concept is a bit different- we want to give the best design money can buy, but carefully choose the stones, settings, and manufacturing process so that the jewelry will be reasonably priced. In this case, I think everyone connected with the collection agreed it was a hit.

I love a challenge, and making this collection with specific prices in mind was a biggie, but it worked out well in the end. I was thrilled to see the "Best Dressed" earrings sold out even before they got a chance to air and they were made a customer pick. That was so exciting and I am still smiling, I really liked designing that one, and to see that so many people liked it is amazing. The show went so well that we've booked a few more later in the year, and I've got to go back to the studio to get the designs firmed up so they will be ready in time.

But, that is for tomorrow. Today was a day for relaxation and family, enjoying each others company, taking the pups for a walk down by the water, and seeing the flag draped on houses and cars, and carried by little kids or tied to their bicycle handlebars. And, as they say- a good time was had by all. Ciao!

giving thanks on thanksgiving (it's not just a harvest meal)

That's what they called it, a harvest meal, enjoyed by the pilgrims after all the crops were in. To celebrate the completion of the harvest, the new england colonists went hunting with the indians and put together a real feast. In 1621, the year of the "first thanksgiving",the american colonists were celebrating the bountiful crops they had produced that year. Back then, it was easier to gauge the economy than it is now - if your crops failed it was a recession. You had to go borrow from the indians, and promise to pay when the next ships came over from europe. If you're curious, look up Edward Winslow's journal on the first thanksgiving.

One thing I love about thanksgiving is it is a holiday everybody celebrates. It became a national holiday during the civil war. Abraham Lincoln was looking for ways to unite the nation, and in 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving proclamation which declared the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving. Later, president Roosevelt wanted to lengthen the Christmas shopping season so he moved it up a couple of weeks. Finally, in 1941 congress decreed that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains till today. So, we have to give thanks to the congress of 1941 for defining the christmas shopping season. Of course, this year everyone will be watching to see how the shopping goes, hoping for some signs that things aren't as bad as we are hearing.

Besides the economy being as lousy as it is, there are still things I am thankful for. I'm healthy, and so is my family. Our dogs tails are all wagging, little chicklet sent the grim reaper packing and is back to her usual happy state. We're moving the jewelry studio down the hall of my apartment building to new quarters. And, I'm not cooking a thing for this holiday!!

My cousin Diane is doing the honors and having us out to her new home in New Jersey. Uncle Ernie and Aunt Frances will be there, in her role as chef emeritus, making sure we have lots (and lots and lots) of good things to eat. There will be cakes and pies and some wine, and of course, football. In our family, we love to celebrate thanksgiving ! Hopefully Donna will bake, and we'll get to enjoy each others company and have a good time after catching the parade. We'll hang out with Carly, Jason and Michael, and their dog Coco.

Being the start of the holiday shopping season, the stores have unveiled their elaborate display windows. Take a walk down fifth avenue you will be amazed by Lord & Taylor's windows, this year the theme is my favorite holiday traditions, with a show that you won't find at disney world! In Manhattan, tourists are everywhere, taking in the sights and crowding into the stores. People are decorating, and beginning to feel the holiday spirit.

So, even if all you are thankful for is two days off, it is a nice time of the year. Give thanks for the for the special people in your life, for your family or anything that makes you happy. And if you can work in some shopping, retail therapy is a good thing.

American made jewelry (hint, hint) keeps more of our money here in the USA. Money spent on American Made products brings our workers more work to do and helps fight the deficit. I want to thank my friends at Swarovski for making me part of their crystallized elements affairs, they were so elegant. I thank my friends and hosts at HSN for some great shows, and hope I get to thank them some more when they realize that my customers, mostly working women, are only available to buy my line when they are home from work.

I'm thankful for the health and happiness of the pups, Lulu and Boomer (and thankful for the dog walker who gives them a chance to stroll around the city). I am thankful for my husband Brian, my brother and his partner Thomas. They've all been a great help with the business and getting this blog up and running.

I thank my wonderful associate, Liz, and Jose Luis, who help me keep the place hopping, take orders, charm customers into gift sets and handle returns or repairs with a smile. It's good to have so many things to be thankful for. If you're in the city, come and meet us at our holiday sale next week December 2nd and 3rd at the affinia hotel, 155 East 50th Street, in midtown manhattan. Ciao.

stepping up with kids from queens

If you've never heard of the step up women's network, check out their website-http://www.suwn.org/. I have been involved with them for a number of years. The Step Up Women's Network is an organization that helps teenage girls grow into empowered adults. Along with enthusiastic participants like me, Step Up runs programs for underserved girls- read that as girls coming from parts of town or from families where resources are limited.

These programs help kids get the tools they need to create a better future for themselves. Not everyone has friends or family who can teach or mentor them, to make sure they understand and know what is expected of them as they become adults and enter the workforce. We try to mentor them to become the girls that colleges want to accept or that employers want to hire.

Step Up Women's network ran a workshop here in the city recently, and I was thrilled to be in charge of the bracelet design class. Of course, it's not just a bracelet design class, as we get to bond, socialize and hopefully they learned a thing or two from me about what it takes to succeed. Their motto is "Invest, Involve and Inspire" and I hope i inspired the girls that were in my class.

Amazingly, this workshop consisted of a group of girls who were all from queens - even though it was held in manhattan. We queens kids stick together, I told the group that one of my first jobs was at Clinique, and the owner of this brand was Estee Lauder. Although most people think of her as descended from european royalty, she was born Josephine Esther Mentzer and was born and raised in Corona, Queens (just like me). Her family called her Esty that became Estee after a school official misspelled it on some paperwork.

They lived in the apartment above her father's hardware store on Corona Avenue, which these days is the street where you'll find my two all-time queens favorite places, the Parkside restaurant and the lemon ice king of corona.

So, with a bit of shared geography in common, we had a fantastic time. I love working with kids, you hope you can give them some advice, inspiration and tools to help them as they grow up. They were curious about my background, and I explained that as a kid i participated in a similar program run by the city of new york, the student art league which met every Saturday at a school in queens. With my parents help and encouragement from my teachers, I found my future and consider myself blessed.

Through something as simple as a jewelry workshop, you can help teenage girls build self-esteem, help them find their dreams and learn to stick with it despite the odds against them. Step up helps kids focus on thier health and well-being. And, in this workshop, I got to show these wonderful teenagers some examples of super-succesful women who grew up on the same streets they live on now- queens was the home of Ella Fitzgerald and Dr. Joyce Brothers. The borough president of queens, Helen Marshall is the first black and the second woman borough president in history, and we got to discuss what it takes for people like these to make it in new york city after growing up in queens. After my day with these kids, I know that there are plenty of future success stories in this group of kids from queens! ciao.