Cashmere Ballet Wrap in Bermuda Blue

Ballet Wraps and Fade Straw Bags

Plenty of other colors are available, including neutrals if all this color is making you twitchy.

Next, if you’ve been wanting to bring the beach house to your house, we have just the thing! Our weathered wooden trays hint at overexposure to sun and sand, and the featured sea creatures will sing the salt air right into your heart!

Sea Trays

Lobster Tray

We love these summery trays! They’ll look extra good with a pitcher of your favorite beverage on them! (I’m particularly fond of the octopus.)

Lastly for now, we are so jealous of these Little Girl Bracelets because they are too tiny for us, but they are too cute for words! Anyone who has a little girl in her life will find these irresistable. I’ve watched the process – she gasps how cute they are, she sees if it fits on her own wrist, she names the child who would love it, she puts it back, she picks it up, she tries to resist, she ends up buying three.

Little Girl Bracelets

That’s what’s tickling our fancy today, Sirens! Stay tuned for more!

 She starts with the hat. Tiny rosebuds!

It looks gorgeous!

Inspired by color

The bigger task begins

 

In the process

So Maria sets up her creative space in the store, taking over the Home and Gift area in the process – flowers everywhere! Note the beautiful Jane Woolrich corset that Maria uses to complement her work!

She makes it to the window!

Once we get the mannekin in the window with skirt intact, it’s smooth sailing!

From the interior at night

From outside at night

The window by day

Romantic!

The side window, featuring lingerie from Frances Smily, accessorized with Jan Michaels necklaces.

Sheer poetry... literally!

Last but not least, our front door window, featuring a love poem from Pablo Neruda on a beautiful antique easel…

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Filled with legends and meanings, blood is soaked with mystery‚ fascination and respect. It’s the most tested and studied part of human body and it guards a multitude of secrets that reveals our inner and unique way of being. BLOOD CONCEPT is a private celebration of the vivid and fascinating liquid that flows in our veins. Because blood is actually the river of life. A, B, AB and O, retrace the evolution of humankind through time and its record of information, history and mutation, so well kept in the vital flushing of blood. BLOOD CONCEPT is a mystic ritual with no flowers to be found: deep as primeval Africa in O‚ aromatic as the scent of familiar land in A, bold as unpredictable itineraries in B, bold and sharp as a metropolitan skyline in AB. Ending each time with the same subtle and mysterious note: a metallic vague suspicion.

It is true, there is nothing floral about these fragrances. It is also true that there is a just detectable metallic hit at the end. Intriguing - even for us warmbloods. The fragrances are most certainly unisex, though we’ve learned that “unisex” is a category that only Americans really care about. Everyone else seems able to just appreciate a fragrance on its merits. Blood Concept’s packaging is medical clean, and the fragrances are available in sprays or droppers, which we love – so in keeping with the whole theme!

Twilight fans, I was forbidden to make reference here to a certain vampire who shall remain nameless. The Queen of the Sirens favors the classic dark and twisted vampire over the new sparkly kind. But I feel you. And here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure, because try as you might to resist a trend, the vampire has been a sex symbol for centuries.

I love Giles (see above, with tea). Not a vampire, but what a good character! Feel free to tell me if I’ve missed your favorite vampire here. (Except for that sparkly one. Not happening.) In the meantime, we’ve all discussed it and we’ve come to the decision that Johnny Depp needs to do Vampire. Can you imagine? Why has no one thought of this? Why has this not already happened? It seems so obvious! Seriously, just think about it for a moment. A…MAZE…ING. I could die. Do you think he has something against vampires? I mean, it would have to be a great one. Complicated. Brilliant. Dark and twisted. Someone please get the man a script!

Blood Concept is available now at Siren. Come in and have a “taste”!

The Vogue write-up

We were so intrigued by all this that we decided to carry the whole line – Olio Lusso for the face, for the body, for the hair, and even the lip balm. Maria is swearing by the face oil already, crediting it for the new, bright perkiness to her complexion! Come in and try a few drops!

The Oprah write-up

There are many other fabulous items already in our apothecary of beauty, and more still to come. Stay tuned, sirens!

So here are three gentle reminders, and I make them with love.

Number 1: When a small boutique has a policy that all jewelry is final sale, please don’t buy jewelry, wear it to an event, and then come back trying to return it. Boutiques cannot afford to rent you jewelry. Maybe it works at the big department stores. I don’t know. If you insist on being cheap, try it with them. They can weather those kinds of things better. And if a boutique owner does happen to make an exception, out of the goodness of her heart, and take an item back, just be grateful that she’s bending the rules for you. Do not huff and puff when you get store credit rather than a cash refund. I mean really. This is why exceptions to the rules have become so extremely rare.

As a side note, if you lose something, or you (or your child) breaks something, no store owes you a free replacement. Yes, we’ve had people expect this.

Number 2: Please don’t come in yakking on your cell phone and proceed to look at clothes for an hour, yakking the whole time. It’s rude and it makes everyone around you want to, well, yak.

Number 3: We love your kids. Let it be known, we love kids. We know kids. We have kids. Kids are kids. Kids are curious. Kids like to touch things. Especially sparkly things. Please don’t expect people who are working in a boutique to watch your kids while you shop. To be frank, 99% of the time I’d rather talk to kids than to grown-ups. And 99% of the time, the kids we have the pleasure of seeing are exactly that – a pleasure. But there IS that 1%. And deep down – deep, deep down – you know if your little lovebug is in that 1%. Don’t ignore it. Come out of your denial. It’s ok. Let’s just call your child “spunky” – she’ll grow up to kick some serious ass because she knows what she wants and she knows how to control a room already! But please, please watch her. Engage her. Keep her with you. Honestly, we’ll probably just ply her full of candy anyway, and you’ll be stuck with your raving, sugared-up spunkster for the rest of the afternoon.

And so, with love, I also want to remind you that what goes on in a boutique is not brain surgery, and by that I mean no one is dying as a result of buying this pair of earrings or that. Let’s keep things in perspective and be grateful for all the wonderful things we have in our lives. In all that we do, let’s be kind to others, and we will get kindness in return. If someone acts ugly toward us, let’s remember that that person is undoubtedly struggling with something and is probably doing her best in that moment. We can’t control other people, but we can choose how WE behave. Let’s put our best faces forward, shall we? xoxo!

Cell Block

Cell Block

From higher up

This cell block is six stories high and consists of 600 cells, 2 men per cell. It looks like a huge wall of small cages. I can’t imagine what it looked like when occupied by 1200 men.

Officer's Quarters

Stairs in Officers Quarters

Fireplace for Officers

A Room with a View

The Author behind Glass

Of course the other fun thing about these events is the friends we get to meet and the people we get to see.

James meets the guys from Ghost Adventures (Travel Channel)

Yes, that’s my son with Aaron, Zak, and Nick from Ghost Adventures. I have to give them props – they were super nice to him the whole weekend!

Stop Following Me!

Maria and Aaron

 He’s silly. We like him.

Here we are with ever-charming radio personality Dave Schraeder, host of the event. Check out darknessradio.com to see (hear) him in action, and also if you are interested in these kind of events – they have some cool ones coming up in the next few months. That’s it for now… but Halloween is fast approaching, so who knows what lies ahead? Happy Fall!