from the email (if you don’t get it, sign up on the website):

hallo! now that spring is sufficiently underway we can confidently look ahead to summer and all that it shall bring: limeade, sandals, outdoor eating and dresses! and lest you find yourself unprepared for such merriment, well, i’ve got some of those for you! dresses at least…

but first! we’re changing things up a bit around here, so i’d like to let you know of a few things before i send you along.

number one! www.dearbirthday.com will now serve only as an online “look book” showcasing most of each season’s styles. this way you can see what they look like on an actual person (who happens to be one of my best friends, kathryn!) and enjoy the site without a lot of cluttery paypal button nonsense. all orders will now be accepted through our etsy shop:

www.dearbirthday.etsy.com

or by contacting me for an appointment (nyc residents only): info@dearbirthday.com

we will also be slowly increasing our presence in bricks and mortar shops, though for now we can be found mainly at sodafine in williamsburg.

second, we are so excited to introduce the very small beginnings of what we hope will become a most excellent collaborative project between me and my dear beau, ian. we’re calling it valerian and it’s cards! well, for now it’s card. but soon it will be cards and even textile prints designed by us two! these will be available in the dear birthday etsy shop shortly.

third! finally! we hope to see you at the renegade craft fair in brooklyn, june 14 + 15! if there’s anything you’d like to see in person, just drop me a note and i’ll be sure to bring it along!

thanks guys! and oh! the etsy shop will be updated much later tonight/tomorrow morning with look book items. just wanted to show off the new site in the mean time.

much love to you,

valerie

ps (you may have to refresh your browser when viewing the new site…just a tip!)

hi hi! yesterday was Undies Day and i spent the ENTIRE DAY cutting, screening and sewing undies. many were produced, but i did not hit the 50 mark, which is perfectly fine because that was an insane (and only half-taken-seriously) goal and i will definitely have way more than 50 done by the time renegade rolls around. hooray! i do hope renegade shoppers are in the mood for underwear when they stroll by my little tent, because i’m going to have a lot of it. lots of other stuff too. but heaps and piles of undies. hooray!

oh right. so! the point: there are three new undies prints in the etsy shop this morning.
though i suspect that Pace (the carousel horses) will be the most popular, my favorite is Wiltshire, a classic Liberty print that i would not mind having on everything. i can’t explain exactly why i like it so much…it just speaks to me, i guess. sometimes i worry that i have some seriously flawed old lady taste. maybe that just means that when i’m a granny, i’ll be so awesomely in my element? only time will tell. ha!

my friend kathryn modeled for the dear birthday summer photo shoot today. here is a tiny preview!

expect a site/look book update as well as an etsy update later this week.

my bike, 1999
ian in virginia, 2001 (i think)
karie in amsterdam, 2000

this week has been nutso. at least in my head, which is a total jumble. tomorrow morning i’m photographing look book images for the next site update. hopefully i will be able to get the second dress finished by then, but it may have to wait. still adjusting to my new non-dear birthday work schedule. eeeeeeeeeee!!!

sale!

hello! could it be sale time already? it could. it is!
i’ve marked down the liberty baby cord skirts in the etsy shop, 50% and have dropped off a few other spring items at sodafine, including circle skirt sun dresses, which are also on sale, as is the spruce moose jacket!

it’s time to make room for summer items, which will appear in the etsy shop early next month. i’ve sent the kat dress over to sodafine as well (not on sale, it’s new!) so if you’re interested, head over and check it out! it’s so cute, i definitely need to make one of those for myself.

i’m hoping to do a little photo shoot this weekend in order to create a little “look book” online to show off the summer collection. i’ll be changing up the online structure a bit this time: dearbirthday.com will serve as a look book/info site and all sales will be handled through etsy or in brick and mortar boutiques. i’ve been feeling lately that the online presence is sort of disorganized, so hopefully this will serve to streamline it a bit. additionally, the look book will be a handy reference for fit, since i’m not able to photograph every item on a model. this way at least every *style* can be viewed on an actual person, it will just be colors/patterns/sizes that will vary. that makes sense, right? right! well, it’s a start.

how was your weekend? it was so amazingly beautiful here in new york. the kind of weather one dreams about all winter long. today’s pretty nice too. i sat in the park and shared a sandwich with erin, talkin’ shop and dodging errant baseballs. it was great! but a little on the chilly side.

ok, back to work!
let me know if you have opinions re: the proposed new structure. i really love to hear thoughts about such things. do you guys dig etsy? is that better/easier than the independent site? do you prefer to see things in person so that you can try them on?

just a little reminder to stop by and say hello and have some snacks tomorrow if you’re over williamsburg way! popomomo, sdn and dear birthday (moi!) will be hangin’ with erin at sodafine from 1-7. all of dear birthday’s spring items will be on sale and there will be a nice selection of brand new summer things as well. oh! and shirts for the men! guys are more than welcome! this is not just a girly tea party! oh no. there will be dear birthday shirts and sdn will have beautiful handmade organic cotton jeans (uh-mazing) for guys too.

in other news, i made a new pattern for a breezy summer tank last night. the finishing touches will go on today and i’ll try to make at least one more for tomorrow. no sneak peeks though–the camera needs to be charged!

ok, see you tomorrow!

i just spent a nice hour putting together a little muxtape mix for my gentle readers but when i went to upload i realized that i have no idea what i am doing! apparently my songz are mp4s? and they need to be mp3s? huh?

oh well…i need to be sewing anyway.

but i had a color theme for spring and everything!

marquez votre calendrier!

*******

lovely weather we’re having up here in north brooklyn–it’s incredibly hard to stay inside these days, what with all the sun and the chirping and the bike in the hall calling, “take me for a spin! you need practice!” i’ve found that early rising + coffee + sunshine = productivity overload.

this morning i finally got the first valerian drawing to the copy machine, made a gocco screen and printed up 50 cards. we’re hoping to have at least three designs available by june, which brings me to:

the dear birthday calender of events!

• saturday april 19th: (this upcoming saturday) please come say hello at the trunk show/sidewalk sale! i’ll be at sodafine in williamsburg from 1-7, along with popomomo and sdn. spring items from dear birthday and my etsy shop will be on sale 25% off and i’ll have brand new summer items and a few of the above valerian cards with me as well. sodafine is located at 119 grand street, between berry and wythe. L to bedford or G to metropolitan. a saturday afternoon in williamsburg is just what you need–biking kids! happy dogs! coffee!
• site update coming in early may with lots of new summer things. sign up for the newsletter to be the first to know.
• RENEGADE, DUDEZ!!! it’s totally coming in june! closer than we think. let’s make a date for a meet and greet, shall we? i’ll be in the pool june 14 + 15 from 11-7. more details soon.

a few things!

1. in honor of yellow pants everywhere (and daffodils a’bloomin’) i posted my first wardrobe_remix shot since moving to brooklyn:

2. my dear friend genevieve is a founding editor of the new online magazine triple canopy and will be among those hosting the launch party this saturday night at the gowanus studio space. a $7 donation gets you in for an evening of art, beer and rad timez!

3. i ordered a bike helmet!
that is all.

have a great weekend!

i think i’ve mentioned my fear of city biking before. my inexperience, coupled with my total out-of-shape-ness (which is magnified by my stuck-in-third-gear-ness) leads me to worry quite a bit about safety. yet, probably unsurprisingly (there seem to be lots of other riders like me out there) my bike safety ignorance hasn’t disappeared simply because of the anxiety. so! after getting a few dirty looks from some other bikers today (was it my lack of a helmet? riding the wrong way in the bike lane down berry? both?) i did a little research and turned up this super helpful guide.

i have to admit that i am, apparently, a weaver. if there is a car on my tail, i try to squish over as much as possible or hop onto the sidewalk to make them go around me. this is totally a recipe for being doored, but i’m super out of shape and really slow uphill so i get too self conscious to force them to deal with my presence for any length of time. however! it is true that bicycle riders have a right to ride. just because cars are faster, heaver, stinkier, doesn’t mean they have a claim on the streets. i will curb myself no longer!
well, we’ll see.

it is really scary around here though. it’s not just cars and suvs driven by frighteningly entitled new yorkers, but there are GIANT TRUCKS everywhere. huge giant trucks carrying all manner of huge heavy cargo. while i am fully aware that we might need the things these trucks are hauling in and though yes, i was a car owner until last fall, i still can’t help but long for an automobile-free city. can you imagine how wonderful life would be?? just like heaven, i think. maybe we could just put them all underground. why not?

anyway, i’m researching helmets right now. i want one that isn’t too aerodynamic looking, but also won’t make me sweat too much. any suggestions