glassybaby tales

Light for Japan...Elephant in Kenya...Seattle Sunset Shines in Texas

 

 
We are all acutely aware of the heartbreaking suffering occurring in Japan as a result of the 9.0 earthquake and accompanying tsunami that struck the northeast coast of the country on March 11. This epic disaster has been described by the Prime Minister of Japan as the country’s worst since the Second World War.

On Thursday, March 31, 10% from all store and web sales will be donated to the American Red Cross to provide disaster relief and support for Japan, on behalf of the worldwide glassybaby community.

 

 

glassybaby travels to Africa: There is now an "elephant" in Kenya! Did you ever suspect such a thing? glassybaby "elephant" packed its trunk and went to check out its ancestors.

Thanks to Julie of Conservation International, this mellow, yet sumptuous glassybaby made the trip to bask in the equatorial locale of its ideological inception. We love her wonderful picture of the Maasai people joyfully holding one aloft!

And I think it feels right at home, don't you?

 

We also have a "seattle sunset" shining in the Lone Star State as sweet as the yellow rose of Texas. A friend, Sue, dispatched one down there to her brother and his wife. They, in turn, shared it with their dinner guests, who were so taken with its warmth and geniality that they all, then and there, went to the website to enjoy the charms of the whole glassybaby line.

Here you can observe Preben admiring the alluring characteristics of "seattle sunset":

 

As Sue noted at the end of her letter, glassybaby "is illuminating the world."

 

Until next time,

Alice

aliceblog@glassybaby.com

 

Spring Forward... Spring Break... Spring glassybaby

As instructed, I "sprang forward" this past Sunday morning.

But since then, my brain’s sleep center has been bitterly complaining about how it is always the last to know when these semiannual dastardly schemes occur. In fact, my internal clock has been downright disagreeable these past few mornings. 

                    

And I must say, the dogs are none too happy about it either. It’s dark when we get up and it’s rainy when I put them out. But, when they come in, we light a "wet dog" glassybaby to bring ourselves a smile and some cheer before breakfast. Sometimes you just have to laugh. (Doesn't look like Teddy and Beau are quite there yet.)

Is this the spring from Hades? But I jump ahead. Technically it isn’t spring until Sunday, the 20^th. Hooray!

Anyone for Spring Break? I’m thinking "cabo," "dolphin," "ocean," "pool" and "sea foam." Heck. I’d settle for a sumptuous "saturday morning" if the sun would come out.

 
 

If anyone’s travels consist of going abroad, just remember cousin Betty’s advice: "For a gorgeous passport photo: wear red lipstick and air kiss the camera." That girl knows how to do it. (Note to self: think next visa photo!) She always has a glamorous clique of  glassybaby going: "cognac" with "devil dog" and "smooch" for example on the sideboard. Or "peony," "jane’s caramel" and "raspberry sorbet" on her dressing table. Great combos. But more about combos later.

Do you have some favorites? Do tell! I’d love to hear. You can email me at aliceblog@glassybaby.com

Lindsey of our University Village store told a heartwarming account of a woman purchasing "baby" for her recently pregnant sister. The sisters then put their heads together and realized it was the perfect gift for the proud couple to announce the impending stork arrival to Grandma-to-be. What joy!

I happened across another U-Village customer who was, with Christina’s help, choosing for an auction a trio of glassybaby which would best connote the idea of spring. She plucked many from the shelves but settled on the combination of "cabo," "grass," and "smooch." Stepping into the store, I spied her colorful combo and noted aloud, "Wow! That is so SPRING." She was delighted that her chosen threesome suggested to a bystander just what she was after. (And I was just as pleased as she was.)

 

Tracy told me of a recent surprise birthday party at the Bellevue store. The husband planned the whole shindig for his lady-love--a delicious repast with drinks and desserts for thirty revelers all playing out in the lovely limelight of colorful glassybaby. Now, that’s my kind of story.

You know how you can feel so right about something? Well, a woman came into the Bellevue store, politely insisting that she had to have "hampton". Tracy, a bit confused, finally realized that she meant "hudson"! They both had a jolly laugh. She knew what she wanted; only she had her New York names mixed up! I hate it when that happens. 

Until next time,

Alice 

 

 

Sweet Peas...Leprechauns...Rainbows

Top o the mornin’ to you!

Did you know that you can plant your sweet peas, without threat of reprisal, when the leaves on your lilac bush are as big as a mouse’s ear? I’ve done it every year with a multi-colored feast of dainty, fragrant sweet peas to show for it!

I dreamed of  spring colors after visiting our seasonally festive--thanks to Marissa--glassybaby stores, dressed in elegant rainbow arrays and cheerful, fertile greens. It all just spoke the word "spring" to me. Time to dig in the ground.

So, off I soldiered, in a driving, rain-spotted windstorm to check on our lilac leaves. I thought I could hear the "tap, tap" of a leprechaun’s little hammer as I made my way to my treasure of a mouse’s ear. As I rounded the house corner, there it was, but as I got closer, there it wasn’t! Not one leaf!  Did that little fellow snatch it away in an act of trickery? I’ll never know. But I thought I heard a giggle. There will be no sweet pea planting around here quite yet. 

No worries, though, when you’ve got rainbows.

 
As for those colorful arrays of glassybaby. I just want to take each color home: A big yellow "taxi," or a smoky "whiskey." Absolutely stunning! And the green glassybaby are to "dye" for, literally. And that means green beer, green hair, green fingernails, for if you don’t wear green on St. Paddy's Day, you may get pinched!

 

 
"kelly" suggests the wink of a merry eye, wise old trees, emerald isles--a versatile color for all seasons. But I think of springtime, shamrocks, and good luck when I light it and bask in its, shall I say, bloom.                  

If you see a "leprechaun," light it and you will have good luck all year or at least until your tea light goes out. (Not really...I was deceived into saying that by you know who. But though a trickster he may be, he is lucky to have a glorious, sassy, verdant glassybaby named for him.)

I'd like to send much love to our first-born, E.A., as he celebrates his St. Patrick’s Day birthday in Galway. Have a pint on us!

And here’s every good wish that you all find your treasure at the end of the rainbow, at this magical time of year as darkness begins to turn to light.

May the road rise to meet you.

Until next time,

Alice

 

 

 

 

 

March Winds & Hope

 

March has come in like a lion, but an impetuous lion: sideways rain and roaring like a gas-powered leaf blower, then fifteen minutes later all sweet and purring, ready to make nice with a sunny disposition. Next he is turning a cold shoulder with a shake of his mane, only to bear down with another monsoon as quick as you can say Jack Robinson. After that, we receive some atonement with a rainbow (double if we’re lucky) and some sun, only to have him lather, rinse, repeat. And that has been today, Wednesday March 2, in Seattle! 

Now, my point, you ask?  My point is "hope."  We hope that the old axiom is true, and we hope that if March starts off all tempestuous and all wind-tunnel-like, it will leave us as we enter into April, much like a calm, good-natured little lamb, whose fleece is "white as snow." (Oh, dear! Don’t say snow!) 

But the key here is hope: hope in all its guises. Hope personifies the human spirit. We hope the weather will be good for Kate & William's wedding; we hope the kids are good for the baby-sitter; we hope we win the lottery. And there are so many things we hope will come true, after we've made every possible preparation and things are out of our hands. 

                      
   

Our luminous glassybaby "hope" has a beautiful message:

"I live in hospitals and crowded school rooms. I'm there when planes and teenagers are late coming home. I am the future and people give me to those they care about.Some of those people refer to me as the light at the end of the tunnel.I am hope. I am  glassybaby."

Tonight, I am going to light a candle of hope.

We all hope for something. Or else what would we do when we blow our birthday candles out? (I hope we all are lucky enough to have many good birthday wishes come true.)

Here’s hoping you have a good March, whether it’s ferocious Leo or Mary’s little friend.

Until next time, with love and hope,

Alice