Thanks to my amazingly beautiful and sweet customer, Lindsey, for sending me these photos of herself in this dress:
This was a personal favorite in the shop, and I'm so glad it went to Lindsey- she wears these super colorful and artful vintage 1960s dresses so well. I think Lindsey could have a serious calling as a model if she was not so busy studying Music Production at college! The world better watch out for this talented lady... (-:
The last time I was in the Bay Area, I went to a great show at a commune in Oakland (yes, a true commune smack dab in the middle of the city!) where there were a multitude of wonderful people assembled under the roof of the "art barn" as Larkin Grimm and Faun Fables ripped it up on the little wooden stage:
The woman running the Tarot table looked so familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place her face. Later the mystery was unraveled, and I realized that she was none other than Etsy's The Tarot Woman, aka Janina Angel Bath.
Janina just opened a Boutique in Berkeley (3140 MLK Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA), and next time I am down I am definitely going for a visit. Meanwhile, I discovered that she is a musician herself, and I am head over heels in love with her tranced out, dreamy, drone-y songs. You can check out her music website here, and here is a fabulous song off of her last album, Gypsy Woman:
I love all of the Bay Area nature in her videos and photos- all of that magical fog and ocean and rolling hills. That's the mystical maritime world that I grew up in!
Janina is currently working on a new album, and rumor has it that there will be a tour... maybe even up to the foothills. Hooray!
An Imbolc/St. Brigid's Day gathering, with homemade beeswax candles, homemade bread, and homemade CREAM PUFFS!
(that's violet flavored sugar sprinkled on top!)
A skit-ual by candlelight... and then a walk down the dark country road, carrying candles as little beacons....
...wearing a new favorite dress...
From one of my favorite books, Herbal Rituals by Judith Berger:
The goddess Brigid eventually came to be called Bride, the matron of poetry, smithcraft, and healing. The priestesses (and later nuns) of Brigid were known as brides, for they vowed themselves to this goddess as one would in a marriage bond and kept a sacred fire burning for her at all times.
Most likely the fire that was kept kindled at Brigid's shrine was the huge fire of a forge, which burned meltingly hot in preparation for smithcraft, the domain of this goddess. The unfailing attentiveness to the fire by the nine priestesses of Brigid (and later Hestia and Vesta) underscores fire's fragile aspect, the potential of this extremely important source of our light and heat to be extinguished if we neglect to feed it with new kindling. The brides remind us to tend to all that the fire represents: our creative lives, the passions that keep us vital and joyful, our sexuality, the love and care that kindles our hearths and invites intimacy, and the power of loving nurturance to magically resuscitate that which, left unattended, had seemed to die.
And a very wonderful cherry on the cake: while we were making our candles and eating our creampuffs, one of my very dearest friends gave birth to her first child, a baby girl! Congratulations Celeste!
(...and Happy Imbolc to all!)
When I first heard this song by First Aid Kit, I literally could not believe that they were from Sweden- I mean, their country twang is perfect. This is a really sweet song pining away for a love that's like Emmylou (Parsons) and Graham (Nash) or Johnny (Cash) and June (Carter). Sigh...
The thing that puts it over the top is the strong, bell-clear voices- holy wow, those Swedish cowgirls can sing!
Okay, I am going to give you this one little sneak peek:
...but to find out more about this story, you are going to have to read over to the fabulous Honey Kennedy blog to read my guest post. Get ready for some love magic!
Our household has a new band- Mt. Whateverest! That's my hunny Chris front and center, shredding on the guitar; and our friends Jonah on drums, Steven on the keys, and Jacob on the bass. I am the big ham in the hippie dress, playing tambourine and singing back-up. Enjoy!
This week I was visiting my parents in San Ramon. San Ramon is a sleepy suburb located in a broad valley about 45 minutes East of San Francisco. It is an area famous for fantastic moonrises and for the ashram where the famous Indian "hugging" guru, Ammachi, makes her twice-yearly West Coast visits.
View from my parent's house:
Mt. Diablo overlooks the valley:
The best thing about San Ramon, in my opinion, is the beautiful oak-studded hills. I took a walk on a beautiful misty day in the Blackhawk Open Space Preserve, admiring the natural beauty:
If you are in the Tri Valley/Contra Costa County area, I really recommend a visit to the hills.... it is an inspiring escape from the cacophony on the valley floor.
We have been waiting for a long time for the rains to come to Northern California this winter. The past few days a big storm finally blew in, with bits of snow and hail at the frigid start, and tons and tons and tons of water in the middle. The wind was so lusty and gusty in the middle of the night that it was hard to sleep in the loft upstairs, with the tree branches bending and creaking all around us and making it feel like we were in a captain-less ship on the high seas.
I just love all of that water washing the air clean, stirring things up, moistening the ground, filling the ponds in the meadow behind our house, and making the frogs sing. It also made the moss suddenly turn bright green and lush on every tree, like this huge oak tree that grows right next to our house:
I hope all you residents of the Northern Hemisphere are staying cozy out there in Winter Land....
I just heard the news that Etta James passed. The world has lost one of its major musical talents.
I discovered Etta James in my 20s, working a job that I hated with every cell of my being, which involved doing laundry and ironing and washing fancy flatware from shmoozy dinner parties for two very creepy yuppies (one of whom was a real lech). I worked alone in their house for part of the day, and I'd discovered a stack of CDs in the rec room covered in years of dust, which contained a lot of crap and, somehow, miraculously, a collection of early Etta James. I would blast the CD their BOSE stereo in the kitchen while shaking a tail feather like nobody's business, feeling like I was Myself again.
If anyone doubts that art can save lives- or at least turn a mood around in the face of all obstacles, they just need to listen to some real music. Godspeed, Etta.
This photo is just in from my beautiful customer Lynda, who bought this dress and made it utterly her own!
Love the accessories... and love that rose floor.
Thanks so much for the photo, Lynda!
*If you like seeing my customers in their Astral Boutique finery, you can look under the category "I Heart My Customers" in my blog Archives to see all of my previous posts! And if you have a photo of yourself in something you bought from me, please send it in- I'd love to see it.*