Velvet Verbosity

Life gives us so many memories. The beautiful, the ugly, and everything in between. When prompted to write about my favorite day, several things sprang to mind, mostly relating to time spent with loved ones, like the time I took my youngest sister grocery shopping and we walked arm in arm down the aisles singing, and I introduced her to mangoes. Or the time my two children rode their new Easter bikes, hand in hand, down our little country road and I thought my heart might split down the middle from the pressure of the love explosion happening in my heart.

Forced to choose just one favorite day from a lifetime, one day of personal transformation and triumph, I would choose my first day at Smith College. Could a first day at school really trump my children’s births or any number of days spent filled with the nourishment of love? No, not necessarily, but the truth is, my first day at this college was a long time coming and it fulfilled a yearning that had burned in me ever since I could remember. On that first day at Smith College, I wasn’t a traditional student. In other words I wasn’t in my late teens/early twenties when my feet first hit the pavement at Smith. I was 32 and a single mom.

Where and when I came from, kids just didn’t go to college, much less a college out of state, and certainly not a private college. In my graduating class, there were only three of us that went on to college at all, and we had all been advised to go to the same small state college a mere 45 minutes away from our high school. Even though I had dreams of other, grander, academic institutions, my experience and my environment made going to any of those colleges seem as attainable as packing a duffel bag and hitchhiking cross-country to Hollywood to place my bets on becoming a famous actress. I didn’t know any better, and no one was helping to enlighten me. So off I went to this small college that my other two classmates and I had been funneled into.

The college didn’t suit me at all. I found neither challenge, nor inspiration there. I dropped out after the first semester, and made a promise to myself that I would return to college when I found the right one and the money to to fund it. I was under a lot of mistaken impressions back then, one of the foremost being about how to finance college.

It took me one marriage, two kids, one divorce, and thirteen years to get back. So the day I stood on the Smith College campus for the first time as an enrolled student I could barely stand it, much less believe it. That first day, I gazed at the campus and my professors the way a young girl dreamily gawks at her favorite rockstar. I was in love.

I was also alive with thought, with energy, and ambition. There I was, at last, getting the education I had dreamed of since I was a young girl. While other girls had played House and Barbies, I had climbed trees, tried to read fat books, and prayed that I would grow up to be a genius. I didn’t dream of diamond rings or my future wedding and what particular style of dress I would wear like most other girls I knew. I dreamed instead of becoming an eccentric, fat-brained genius. Yes. I was odd.

I walked around the campus that first day with my eyes and ears wide open. I wanted to drink it all in through my senses and make the moment last forever. I craned my neck to stare up at the trees on the campus designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. I beamed smiles at passing students who, from the looks I received back, must have thought I looked slightly deranged. I didn’t care. I was at Smith! I owned a piece of this place! I belonged here! I was home. I wanted to scream and stomp and hurl myself toward the sky with happiness. If anyone had told me that day that the feeling wouldn’t last, that it was impermanent and I was just being a sentimental fool, would have been met with a crazed look of joy and a swift kiss on the cheek. Nothing, nothing, could have knocked me down that day.

In fact, if you had asked me how I felt, I would have lent you a pair of headphones that jacked straight into the internal dialogue of my heart and this is what you would have heard:

“Oh my God, I am here, here at Smith freaking College! My feet are walking up this path, to that building to go MY class! Look at the trees. Look at this beautiful campus. I’m in love with that brick, and that one, and that one too! I am Master and Commander of My universe, and in that universe I go to Smith College! Look at all the people. Look at all the women! I can’t believe it, a fantastic, brilliant college full of fantastic, brilliant women. And I’m one of them! I’m one of THEM! Happy, happy, happy!! I am home at long last!”

So on my first (real) day of college, I wasn’t so much a fat-brained genius as I was a giddy fool. And that feeling never did diminish. I still get twinkles of pride and joy when I drive by the Smith campus during my morning commute.

First up, a funky, fab digital camera tripod.
Cool factor #1: You can wrap the legs around things.
Cool factor #2: It’s named the Gorillapod.
Yeah. I know.
$25 from the MoMa Store

For your traveling geeky-sexy, sexy geek.
A mini travel alarm clock.
Self contained, built in flashlight, teeny, sleek, and uber cool.
$25 from the MoMa Store

This USB 2.0 hub has it all.
Functionality
Style
Usability
Style
and
Style.
And it’s pretty cool too.
Also $25 from the MoMa store.

Introducing the Velvet Verbosity Note Card of the Month! In the age of blogs, email, text and instant messaging, handwritten notes and letters are more precious than ever. I spent a year away from most technology and during that time I wrote handwritten letters to family and friends. Many expressed how delighted they were to get “real” mail. Send 10 people the rare and precious gift of a handwritten note in the digital communication age.

I will be featuring a new note card each month to inspire you to put pen to paper and express your thoughts, your gratitude, and your love to the people in your life. December’s image is, yes, the familiar heart and cross image from my blog. Enjoy!

These truly classic hand pulled candy canes are beautiful.

There is simply no comparison between these and
those $0.99 a box candy canes every department
and drug store sells around this time.
My two teens look forward every year to
finding one or two of these really good candy canes in their stockings.
$15 for six.

There’s not much to say about this next batch,
except that they’re CHOCOLATE FILLED.
I repeat, they are filled with creamy, chocolaty goodness.
$16.50 for six.

I’m not sure exactly how you would eat this
hand-pulled candy cane christmas tree,
but it sure is festive looking.
Hand-pulled candy tends to be easier on the teeth
and melts in your mouth in seconds,
so I imagine this wouldn’t be as hard to eat as it looks.
And it looks yummy.
$32

What would a holiday be without chocolate?
Not very happy, that’s what. What is the point of all that
shopping and cooking and family visiting if someone
doesn’t give you at least one box of bona fide gourmet chocolate?
Give the gift of chocolate (trust me, if you weren’t already
in their will, you will be after this) from Recchiuti of San Francisco.
This box of 8 features burnt caramel chocolate with elegant winter designs.
$18

Also from Ricchuiti, their famous Fleur de Sel Caramels.
I need say nothing here except “bliss”.
16 pieces, $22

No one enjoys the holidays like the wee ones! The way their eyes light up when they open a gift makes all the shopping worthwhile. Don’t spoil the wee ones in your life with too many flashy gadgets or noisy toys. Let the simple gifts shine so that this generation can have the same warm memories of generations past. Velvet Verbosity’s Holiday Gift Guide for Wee Ones focuses on the simple, the beautiful, and the engaging.

This Newborn - Red Pixie Cap ($24) is the epitome of cute, bordering on the devilishly cute.
From Etsy seller shescrafty. Order now, there’s only ONE!

If there’s anything cuter than pixie hats, it’s penguins.
Come on, penguin daddies suffer bitter cold and harsh winds to
protect their one precious offspring and they come
dressed to impress every day!
This little fella is safe for newborns and safe for your wallet at $16.

I’ve always been a fan of the Waldorf style dolls.
I can imagine I would have adored one or two of these
sweet little Wee Pocket Babies ($7.50) when I was a girl.
Each doll is custom made to order by germandolls of Etsy.

If this Tall Bear ($35) with his big ears, and tiny little smile doesn’t
make you grin, I don’t know what will!
Each one is handmade from “new and vintage”
fabrics by whileshenaps, another Etsy crafter.
(Are you noticing a trend here? I love Etsy!)

If you didn’t like the hip Tall Bear, you probably prefer these
more traditional stuffed critters from The Land of Nod.
Even my 15 year old loves these guys.
$12-$24

The great thing about hats and mittens like these
is that young kids will love them because,
“OMG, I can wear a monkey on my head” and older kids
will love them, well, because, older kids are just so
cool they know where it’s at!
These sets are from Garnet Hill with a price range from
$24 - $50

Finally, a bright take on some classic games.
Make 5 is a two-player game for 8 and up.
Travel sack and self-contained makes it great even for the car.
$20

Due to blogger’s terrible image layout capabilities (either that or I’m more of a luddite than I thought), the Velvet Verbosity Special Holiday Edition Gift Guide will be brought to you in installments.

Let’s kick it off with my favorite holiday cards this season. These are all from Etsy, so supplies are limited. Get em while they’re hot…off the press that is.

First up is this adorable set of 8 “Hip Bird Cards” from Ink Drop Design for $11.00.
Festive, hip, elegant, and simple.

Also up from Ink Drop Design is another set of 8 bird cards ($11). I mean, what are the odds, really, that I would like two different items from the same designer? Strange as it is, I bring you “Bird on a White Winter Tree” holiday cards because there’s just no need to buy cards with glossy, shouting letters that spell out PEACE ON EARTH when you can have these instead.

If cute makes you want to hurl, and elegance just ain’t your thang, maybe you’ll like these Hate Mail cards from Carol Lee Designs. With messages like “Time to Get Out the Fat Pants” and “Mistletoe Schmistletoe…I’ve got Mace”, who needs to be merry? Choose your favorite holiday snark. (Prices and quantity vary.)

STAY TUNED for the next installment: “Velvet Verbosity’s Holiday Gift Guide for Wee Ones” set for release December 3, 2007!