this sort of mindless anti-bike ranting really irks me to no end. maybe i’m a little sensitive today, but the like-minded tirades i’ve been reading are so offensive and hateful that i actually found myself shaking in disgust.

as a former car owner, i have to say that while i would very occasionally be annoyed by a biker or two doing ridiculous things on the road, those riders were the exception, *not* the rule. drivers are far more likely to be doing something careless and dangerous than bikers and are much more likely to kill someone due to their carelessness. when i drove regularly, i understood that i was *sharing* the road with bikers and took the necessary precautions to avoid collisions, making sure i was always aware of who was around me on all sides at all times and anticipating possible moves by bikers (as well as other drivers and pedestrians). this is what you do when you’re driving an automobile. it’s part of your responsibility as a driver. i don’t understand the sense of entitlement that these anti-bikers have. where does it come from? and maybe more importantly, why are they driving around the city so regularly anyway?

while i am usually a model citizen biker, i’ve learned from a few of the incidents i’ve had in recent weeks in which i was almost smooshed *because* i was following the rules that sometimes treating stop signs and red lights as yields is actually much safer . tom links to a good article that addresses this sort of issue that drivers usually raise in defense of hitting bikers.

this is really one of those issues that shouldn’t even be an issue. my own way of thinking is so far from that of writers like the greenpointers lady that i can’t even think of what to say in defense of bike-riding that doesn’t seem completely obvious. i kind of just wanted to raise my hand to say i don’t agree.

we’re back from tennessee!
thank you for leaving such sweet comments and notes–my grandma’s funeral was really nice and i think she would have approved.
on the way down our flight (we flew from ny to dc because i am a spaz) was delayed so we slept late and decided to make the eight hour drive the next day, which gave us some time in dc. we went to the zoo and i was comforted by the fact that this place i loved so much as a kid, that had fallen into disrepair and was seemingly going to seed a few years ago, is now on its way to becoming really very lovely. the asia walk is great and they’re building a new enclosure for the elephants! here is ian checking it out from the bridge:

so i guess there’s a lot of work to be done over here as well, starting with some major cleaning. this dog of ours seems to be working on building a companion from a stash of fur he’s shed in the past week and we need to have a little chat about that.
there’s also this half-sewn pile of new stuff i need to finish up and post! new tops and undies are on their way in the next few days!

a mother of five, a softball coach, a fashion buyer, a seamstress, a finder of rainbows and able to finish any crossword puzzle set down in front of her, my grandma was a warm woman who called me darlin’ and let me sneak twinkies from her (locked cupboard!) private stash. she sewed up carebear pillows for my best friend and her brother in kindergarten after i bragged to the whole class that my grandma could *make* carebears. she gave me her beautiful husqvarna viking sewing machine and the inspiration to put it to good use.
we shared a birthday and some of the happiest years of my life.
my grandma grew up in a sweet brick house in charlottesville and died yesterday in knoxville.

i’m getting ready to head down for her funeral.
i’ll see you guys next week.
xo

i was sitting here facing my cork board and wondering whether or not it was whiny and small to blog about the pluses and minuses (point being to pay special attention to the minuses) of city life (because in all honesty, some days it’s intensely dissatisfying) when this caught my eye. right above the right corner of my laptop screen, under a ticket stub from joanna newsom’s last live performance of ys, adjacent to a thank you note from charlie of a minor thread and obscuring an address and directions to a long-forgotten job interview, this little swatch just waits patiently. the swatch and i should wait patiently and productively together. the scrap pile certainly isn’t getting any smaller.

one year ago i was working on a patchwork teepee for nike by way of lite brite neon. we were new to new york, nervous and frazzled and excited. now we are one year veterans, nervous and frazzled and excited.

today was an emotional trip, my friends. nothing dramatic, just some basic inner turmoil: what am i doing with my life? how old am i again? will i ever have healthcare? when am i going to see some pine trees or the beach?? the usual nonsense that prevents work. you know the drill. but! i shut it out with an iced coffee and a long walk around the neighborhood with one of my best friends, kathryn. oh those burning questions are still hanging in the air, to be sure. but their urgency has been at least temporarily abated. for lo! the sun it did shine and the friends they did comfort. life is good and always is. sometimes we just need a strong reminder.

so, “enough of this,” you say! “what was accomplished?” well, i will tell you.

1. we dropped off a small batch of dear birthday and valerian goodies to the amazingly sweet treehouse, where siri charmed us near-blind with her mind-blowing collection of vintage craft books for in-store inspiration (oh and i DID manage to find online a copy of native funk and flash that was not a million dollars!)

2. our perennial favorite sodafine also received a new installment of dear birthday items and erin offered up some advice on topic #3…

which is (3.) the difficulty in tracking down a screen printing shop that will print yardage. ugh. this has been a major frustration of late. but i think i may have finally come up with an economical/local solution (which involves doing the printing myself) but we shall see.

so that’s the news! and now to finish my ill-advised late night coffee and last minute sewing before twitching my way into dreamland.

goodnight!

oh today. today was so great and so naturally, i did not have a camera on me. i thought that once i had my lovely little pocket-sized point and shoot, i would be snapping up moments non-stop. alas, not so. too much else going on, i guess.

so today we got up early, walked sir geoffrey to the park, picked up some pastry breakfasty things, ate them back at home with coffee and chai. then it was errands time, only we realized that we were out and about a little too early for most things in williamsburg on a saturday, so we just sort of wandered around a bit until we arrived at sprout home, where i bought yet another little green friend for our apartment. i don’t think it’s really possible to have too many plants and i plan to put this theory to the test. we can only benefit from cleaner air and a more welcoming dwelling, no? oh! and also i bought a hula hoop to use as the top of a little burlap dressing room i’ll be making for the renegade craft fair. so we carried a plant and a hula hoop over to marlow and sons, which in our past year as brooklynites we had somehow managed to avoid, in spite of hearing nothing but rave reviews. i won’t review, but i will rave. love. that is all. and then ian bought a giant plank of wood. and then i decided that although the day had been perfect so far and although it was like searching for…well, the holy grail, i decided we would go out in search of a radio flyer wagon because once a thing enters my thoughts, well. it’s there until it isn’t. i won’t go into the frustrations and crankiness suffered in this fruitless effort however, because just when we’d given up all hope and i was feeling quite peeved, we randomly ran into some friends who treated us to vegan milkshakes and friendly chattiness in a park in manhattan and all was well again.

later, back in brooklyn, we met up with g who was with j (in town from dc) and they watched us eat pizza and walked home with us and gushed over the already-made pile i’ve got going, making me feel much better about my progress. that and an amazing email from wendy moop have me much more happy/excited than my previous nervous/excited. so yeah. in spite of mercury being once again in retrograde and in spite of randomly feeling that dark cloud of foreboding that hovers over me inexplicably at times, all is quite well and lo! i found the radio flyer on ebay after all.

this morning i added two new henry blouses to the etsy shop–one medium in the same fabrics as the original and one small in blues (scouts print + peacock feathers.)

counting down the days to renegade and starting to freak out a little bit! i have exactly one month, but really only 10 full sewing days. eeep. i think it’s time to start drinking coffee again. hooray!

oh heck yeah!

ok, that’s the super polite version of what i just exclaimed as i checked my bank statement. all i hoped to find was a tiny little direct deposit from one of my part time jobs, but lo! behold! that evil tax refund has arrived! i know, i know. bad idea. such a bad idea. but hey, it will help pay my rent, so i’m not turning up my nose. i woke up this morning to the sound of rain, the apartment had cooled (it gets so hot in here as soon as the temperature hits 65) and i just felt so inexplicably happy about the day to come. and now! rent money! hooray!

in other news! tonight from 7-9 sodafine in williamsburg will be hosting the first in a series of openings for artist-designed window installations at the shop! the inaugural window was put together by jason estrin and you can see a sneak peek here. the lovely erin shopowner is hosting an in-store get together with wine and fun timez. please stop by if you’re in the neighborhood for gallery night–i know cinders is having a group drawing show opening. hooray for art!

sure it’s blustery out there, but i for one am welcoming it. damp down that itchy pollen, i say!

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!)

it’s april, which i guess means we’re one third of the way through the year, but it feels new to me in a way that january never does. it must be spring. anyway, i was looking at my flickr page to remember what i was doing this time last year (that right there is a statement of sorts) and i found this. daffodils along route 66 east, heading from fairfax, va to dc to visit ian. it seems like ages ago and i definitely feel infinitely older than the girl who took that photo. in a good way, for sure. but it’s so strange the way time just speeds up every year! i know i must sound like a total doofus…

anyway! i’ve been busy sewing, as usual, but also trying to find another little part time job. it’s going to require a serious balancing act to not let dear birthday fall to the side, but it must be done and i believe i can do it. yes! plus it’s spring now and warmer weather is a great motivator.

ok, so that’s the news! well, there will be more soon. that’s the boring news.

but in non-boring news and speaking of major motivation, check out my pal wendy’s storque interview on etsy! the lady is a powerhouse.