glassybaby tales

Madrona

   We are in...glassybaby has officially moved to verdant Madrona. It is a gorgeous neighborhood especially with Spring everywhere. Almost equal to the human interest in our new glassybaby store, those on their quotidian strolls, is the interest coming from their dogs. There is a buzz and a woof in the air that all seems to say...'you have arrived.'

   Flowers were ushered through the door on Friday, our first day open, from a lovely neighboring shop named Decor...chocolates came from another store named Jaywalk...so sweet. We may not be fully unboxed, in fact a staging area for our large inventory of shipping boxes looks like a Maya Lin sculpture...a beautiful mountainous shape, which disarms its need to stack elsewhere.

  This is a great new chapter...the store is up and running. Roy McMakin put his midas touch on the store design. You have to see it to know the kind of subtle brilliance that is Roy's trademark. It is a beautiful showcase for glassybaby. I loved the birch plywood that enveloped us at Greenlake; however the bar has been raised, now we are bathed in white, matte and semigloss. A bank of windows cascades light into the store, and a garage door, with a grid of windows, will put customers only feet away from the glassblowers.

   With baited breath we await production to be up and running. The glassblowing is nigh and even in Spring with furnaces burning we will have come full circle into our wonderful new abode in Madrona. Come see us...even on Sunday (10-3.) Brunch and glassybaby... what could be better?

   Until Next Time...Nicola

Katie's Big Sky

   A few weeks ago I saddled up to our Mac computer...the hub of our customer service emails. It is always an adventure in spam, color questions, wholesale query... a multitude of glassybaby interest is hosted there. When I clicked on an email from Karen Gerstenberger I met these words:

   "I am the mother of a daughter who is recovering from surgery at Children's Hospital in Seattle, and I am thinking that glassybaby would make a wonderful gift for our nurses and doctors. I would need to buy in bulk, since we have spent most of our time here since October 2006 (in the ICU on the Hematology-Oncology ward and now on the Surgical-Recovery ward...)

   What has unfolded since this moving email...Katie is home (welcome home Katie.) Her parents purchased 58 glassybaby in a plethora of color to give as thank you gifts, gifts of gratitude to Katie's caregivers at Children's Hospital.

   To illustrate the weight of their journey...Karen explained to me the rarity of her daughter's cancer. One in a million adults receive this diagnosis...it is rarer in children. The surgery that Katie underwent took a grueling 18 hours; however the outcome was miraculous in success terms, zero margins were left of the tumor that was partially attached to Katie's heart. This is such a personal, sacred experience for the Gerstenbergers. Karen was generously open to my sharing their story. I got the distinct impression that strength is gathered from the critical mass of compassion and care that they have received and continue to receive. (To learn more, go to: www.caringbridge.org/visit/katiegerstenberger.)

   Karen came for their order yesterday on the way to Children's Hospital. Katie was in the car. Lee offered a glassybaby to Katie as a kind of "go girl" homage. Katie chose Big Sky, which seemed somehow poignant to me as the world just beckons this brave kid to emerge cancer-free.

   Until Next Time...Nicola   

Post Sale, Pre Move, Ephemera

   With the end of March we continue to be shrouded in Seattle grey (although today is a stunner.) The reluctant Spring sun has definitely been tempting us, usually in the late afternoon, when the mountain horizon becomes electric. We tried to offer a little light with an earlier than before Seconds Sale/Moving Sale. It was marvelous as usual. More that 1,000 glassybaby embellished by minor to severe blemishes were sold. From the bird's eye view of the cash register...I find that witnessing the Seconds Sale is an utter joy. The anticipation and excitement of the crowd is palpable...the zealotry of loving glassybaby and loving a great deal is something after my heart.

   We are imminently close to moving Southeast to the Madrona neighborhood. Change is in our midst. Although the date is fluid we plan to open our doors in mid April. We will keep you posted.

   As ever, I find the customer notes on our web orders sometimes striking and regularly...adorable. A smattering from last week:

"We love Lee."

"Please include a note to say:'Thankyou for helping me get into graduate school.'"

"I received one glassybaby for Christmas...it's lonely."

"I gave everyone glassybaby for Christmas, now I am starting on Birthdays."

   I look forward to writing the next post. I will have the pleasure of describing two quite meaningful glassybaby tales. For now...welcome Spring, welcome change.

   Until next time, Nicola