happy things: 21 seeds tequila

If you asked me what one meal I would enjoy forever it would be fresh, warm tortilla chips + guacamole along with margaritas, preferably served while looking out at the sea. There's something about salty air hair and margaritas that are magical together. 

This summer has been so hot here in Seattle that ice cold margaritas are a welcome start to the end of the day, even without the sea. While I usually use Patron tequila, I recently ordered the trio of 21 Seeds Tequilas: Grapefruit Hibiscus, Cucumber Jalapéno and Valencia Orange. I first noticed 21 Seeds on Instagram. While I liked idea of the flavors, I loved the idea that 21 Seeds is a woman-owned company that partnered with a tequila distillery in Mexico staffed primarily by women.  I ordered the trio of flavors from their website. 

When the package arrived, my friend, Heidi, invited me over to try out some recipes. Her backyard is reminiscent of a home (that you never want to leave) on the Mediterranean, complete with lavender and a Labrador who just wants to lay across your feet. 

We decided to start with Hibiscus Grapefruit and used the 21 Seeds Skinnyseed Paloma recipe  as inspiration. The grapefruit slant to tequila was a perfect pairing. Even as shots, the Hibiscus Grapefruit would be outstanding. Adding the spring of basil at the end, though, really made this recipe sparkle.  

We're poring over new recipe and in the next few weeks we'll be trying the other two flavors. Here's to happy summer afternoons!

The Happy Paloma Recipe 

For each cocktail add:

1 1/2 ounces of 21 Seeds Grapefruit Hibiscus  Tequila

1 1/2 ounces of pink grapefruit juice

 2 ounces of seltzer (we used Polar Orange Vanilla Seltzer)

Pour over ice and add a wedge of pink grapefruit and a spring of fresh basil

* The drinkers are from glassybaby in the colors rosé and vodka. 

Happy Things: The Diffuser That Makes Our Home Smell Incredible

If you had stopped by our home before Waverly was born, I think you would have liked our vibe. We always had a great playlist (Nantucket Beach House Sunset, Sunny Summer Mood, Breezy Summer Soul Weekend. . .). The Palomas flowed and a Tapas-style meal would be languid and lovely as our favorite candlelit scents wafted up the night in our ocean, dream and enchanted glassybaby votives. Even now, if I just take the top off the Kringle Candle Aqua votive, I'm drawn back to balmy evenings with friends. It's such a good memory.

Let's talk about scents + memory for a minute. In his novel, "Rememberance of Things Past," Marcel Proust said that when he bit into a madeleine dipped in tea, he experienced an exquisite pleasure and vividly recalled memories of his aunt giving him this sweet before mass on Sundays and thus spawned 3,000 pages of recollections in seven volumes. See, your sense of smell is closely linked with memory and often a trigger for a past event.  When your nose detects a smell, the scent travels along the olfactory nerve to the brain and limbic system which controls memory, emotion and behavior. This is why when you smell the cologne your first crush wore, your stomach probably makes the same flip-flop giddy thing that it did when you had your first dance. It's also why realtors sometimes warm chocolate chip cookies in the oven when they host an open house. This scent makes you feel happy, cozy and at home. 

Now, here in our home in the present day, the music is still pretty chill (thank goodness Waverly, now three years-old likes Yacht Rock), we've turned to rechargeable evie tealights for our glassybaby votives and we're more into seltzer and quick dinners before bath time. The one thing that hasn't changed is our desire to have our home smell inviting and happy.  For safety reasons (a toddler in the house), we still burn our favorite candles when Waverly has gone to bed or on the kitchen island when I am preparing meals but during the day, we now use a diffuser. 

When I decided to buy a diffuser, I had five requirements: 

-  The tank would be over 200 ml, enough so that I could let it go all day

-  The diffuser had to fit into the decor since it would be placed on the console table, the first thing you see when you walk into our home

-  It had to be under $40

-  It needed to have a light feature

-  It would need to be easy to clean with little possibility for mold

As I do for most purchases, I started with an online search for best diffusers. My first choice for product research is always Wirecutter. Their reviews have never led me astray.  In this case, Wirecutter's #1 recommendation was the Urpower 300 ml Aroma Diffuser ($23.99) but while the tank was a good size, I couldn't get past the basic white plastic design that reminded me of a clinic. Also recommended was the  Vitruvi Stone Diffuser which I discovered in a number of recommended diffuser lists. I loved the clean lines but the tank only held 90 ml and I just couldn't justify the $105 price point. It also didn't have a light.

I did more research and stumbled onto the one I ended up purchasing, the Aroma Outfitters Diffuser ($35.99). I've been using it every day for two weeks and here is why this diffuser makes me so happy:

- The 230 ml tank lasts all day

- The LED light allows the user to change the color to your preference or no light at all

- The stream of ultrasonic mist is adjustable. We have an open floor plan so we set it to high and the scent wafts through our entire home

- It's beautiful. The exterior cover, which fits over the white plastic tank, looks like marble in shades of white and cobalt blue 

- Bonus! It comes with a remote!

 

I also researched essential oils and I bought several essential oils from Aromatech, including Love Affair,  The Hotel and Ocean Breeze . A 10ml of Aromatech essential oils is $29.99. It's an investment but the bottles are a generous size and you only need a couple of drops to scent your home for the whole day.   I also picked up organic eucalyptus, balsam and orange essential oils from Whole Foods.

Using this diffuser is easy. At 6am,  the first two things I do before I wake up Waverly is make an iced espresso and prepare the diffuser for the day which is really just rinsing our the tank, drying it gently and refilling it with water and a couple of drops of whatever essential oils I am in the mood for that day. (It isn't essential to rinse the tank out each time you use it. However, because I run the diffuser for most of the day, I like to start each day with a fresh tank and a new scent.)

Since we started using the diffuser, every morning when I wake Waverly up and we toddle together, hand-in-hand downstairs, she looks up at me and says "Mama, it smells SO good in here." That is all I could ever hope for - that when she is older and she passes by night-blooming jasmine or she bites into an effervescent orange that she is reminded of how very much we laughed and loved in our home. And someday, when we have friends and family over again, I hope they feel the same way too. 

The Valentine's Day gift: More True Love glassybaby

I believe in true love, true, wonderful, chaotic, happy love. I also believe in the power of glassybabies, these darling, sweet pieces of art. I've given them as gifts for graduations, showers, births and in lieu of funeral flowers. My favorite occasion, though,  to give a glassybaby is just as an I Love You present.

For Valentine's Day, I love this More True Love glassybaby. With its delicate gold etched heart, it's the perfect sentiment of "I was thinking of you and I want you to know that I love you. You're the best thing there is!"  Flowers wilt, chocolates have calories, champagne is gone too quickly, but oh, a work of art that will always remind someone they are loved? That's just the loveliest thing.

More True Love glassybaby, $55.

Happy things: saying i love you with glassybaby

It was a sunny day in May (2009) and I was curled up on the couch feeling sorry for myself when the doorbell rang. It had been a TERRIBLE week.  I walked to the door to find a delivery man holding a small vase of flowers. I sat down on the front step and opened the card. It read  "I'm sorry this has been a difficult time. I love you." I held up the petite vase of sweet peas and roses. Small and perfect. It was my first glassybaby.

It was from a girlfriend who knew that I was having the kind of week where you are incapable of doing anything other than hiding under the covers. This lovely gesture was exactly what my tender heart needed. I felt loved. I felt inspired by this act of kindness.

I knew when I received that first glassybaby that I wanted to pass the feeling along. glassybaby is my favorite gift to give. This object can convey what words often can't. It can say "I'm sorry. Forgive me. I was an idiot," "I know I don't tell you this often enough, but I'm lucky to have you as a sister," or "I'm so proud of you. Keep going!" (day one). I have sent a glassybaby to a girlfriend who had the sweetest baby girl (Baby). We recently sent Master of the Universe to a friend of ours who is just one of the coolest people we know who just survived a difficult year. I sent Home to a friend who loves the color blue and animals (10% of the profits from Home benefits the Reteti Elephant Preserve in Northern Kenya.)

Then there is Love, pictured above. For the price of flowers or chocolates on Valentine's Day you could send someone (partner, BFF, parent) this heartfelt red glassybaby etched with a heart. 10% of every Love glassybaby sold in February will be donated to Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington to help one child's wish come true.

I hope every day that you feel loved and inspired.


glassybaby.com
Learn more about Lee Rhodes, the founder of glassybaby. After seeing the beauty of a lit candle in a glass cup, this three-time cancer survivor found glassblowing artisans to create these objects of beauty and created her own company. Today there are multiple store locations and over 100 extraordinary colors.  Since the inception of the company (2001), glassybaby has donated over $3 million to organizations that directly help cancer survivors, veterans and animals. THAT is inspiring.

the "yes" experiment

this is Bella

This was an experiment in saying yes.

I met them in line at the glassybaby sale. It was 4am and we were already arriving in line (as obsessive fans of glassybaby do) before the start of the sale at 8am. I had come alone. I was #28 in line. Just ahead of me were two friends sharing a headset, blankets and watching a DVD.  Behind me a group had arrived and was setting up. The small group of friends had chairs, blankets, magazines and the comforts of home. They even had a Yellow Lab named Bella. I sat quietly in my folding chair, with my headset on, closed my eyes and listened to my Chill playlist. Then it happened.

She sat on me.

Bella, the big Yellow Lab backed up into me and sat on my feet. My eyes flew open. Her owners were mortified. "Come here, Bella!" they said. She looked at them but stayed where she was.  I smiled and removed my earbuds "Is that OK?" they asked. "Yes," I said. "It's OK. I'm a dog person." I looked at Bella.  "Good Bella! Good girl! Who's a good dog? You're a good dog!"

And that was it. That is how I made three new friends, Bella and her owners Angie and Cynthia.

Angie and Cynthia were part of a group of six friends who knew each other well. They opened up their circle to include me. As an only child I am good on my own. I can entertain myself and be perfectly OK alone in a situation with lots of people around me. Typically if I am somewhere for awhile I'll listen to music on my headphones or read a book on my iPad Mini but this felt different. In that moment when Bella sat on my feet I could have smiled kindly at the group of friends and continued listening to music but instead, looking at this group of friends laughing easily with each other I wanted to open myself up to possibilities, to their light and joy.

I fell in love with this group of girls of all different ages including a mother and daughter (a little girl who patiently waited for the sale to begin). They were funny and smart and clearly loved each other. They knew each other's quirks and they had been there for each other through the good and the bad. At one point, we started talking about food (as girls do) and they decided what a wonderful idea it would be to send someone to fetch McDonald's Egg White & Cheddar McMuffins. When breakfast arrived they freely shared their bounty. I just loved this group. They welcomed a new friend easily and I was so happy that I had made that split second decision to get out of my shell that morning and open myself up to new friends.

hello, glassybaby

This was my fourth glassybaby sale and their first. We talked about strategy once we got into the shop. "Go directly to your favorite colors first," I said. "If you really like a particular glassybaby, pick it up and don't put it down. Someone else will pick it up and then nothing will compare to the one you lost. Bring a lighter or a flashlight to see the luminescence of each glassybaby. Do you have a market basket?"

They shook their heads no. I ran over to my car and grabbed my spare market basket I use for the farmer's market. (I always have two in my car. One for me and one for a friend.) They were ready. It was almost time. At 7:30am we put our chairs in the car and stretched. At 8am we entered the glassybaby sale with the crowd and promptly lost each other. The glassybaby sales are always so crowded that honestly once you lose someone in the crowd you may not find them again until you leave. After I successfully filled with my basket with new Aquamarines, I got in line to check out. That is when I saw the market basket I had loaned to my new friends, sitting there under the check out table. We hadn't exchanged information so I thought "How clever of them to leave it there for me to find!" As I walked to my car with my basket loaded down I was happy that I had spent the morning getting to know the coolest group of girls.

That is where I thought the story would end.

It didn't.

It turns out that Cynthia works with my husband and she remembered me mentioning his name and so she sent him an email titled "I think I met your wife. . ."As I drove home, Larry called to tell me he got an email from someone about a market basket and did I know anything about it. "Yes," I said. "I loaned it to the coolest girls. I have the basket here."

"Good!" he said. "They were worried that you wouldn't find it after loaning it to them."

When I got home I emailed them, thanking them for a great morning and we started to email back and forth. At the sale I had turned down their offer of a McMuffin because I was working hard on my fitness program. I told them about Disney's Princess 5K that I ran in February and Angie told me about Girls on the Run, a program she works with that is just filled with Happy girls. I asked if she would tell me more about it. Angie asked if I wanted to meet for lunch and I said "Yes." During lunch, I was inspired by these young girls who train hard to run their first 5K. I get it. I get what training can do for your body and your psyche.

Want to get inspired by some happy girls? Watch this video for Girls on the Run

Then she asked "Have you ever been to a Seattle Storm game?" I said "No." She asked if I would like to go and I said "Yes. Yes, I would love to go." And that is how I ended up at my first WNBA basketball game. I wasn't sure what to expect. Great athletes, sure, but these women had something more. The event had something more. In addition to the outstanding athleticism on the field, halftime included dog agility with numerous dogs racing each other over hurdles, loving every single minute of challenging themselves. We cheered on the identical Goldendoodles racing each other and smiled at the small puppy, long ears flapping as he tried to jump over each hurdle (he jumped each one on the way out but ran next to them on the way back!) During the second half I looked around and saw families out on a Saturday night, cheering on these unbelievable athletes.  I was having an incredible time doing something that I hadn't done before.  In that moment I was so happy that I let my guard down and said yes, yes and yes.

The power of yes is extraordinary. When you say yes, you allow your heart to open to possibilities. You have no idea what awaits you when you say yes to the universe, especially if you are accustomed to saying no. That morning when I drove top-down in the quiet early morning to the glassybaby sale, I didn't know about Cynthia or Angie or Bella. I didn't know that I would want to become part of Girls on the Run, to cheer on girls and help them achieve a goal that I just recently achieved myself. I didn't know but the universe did and so did one very pushy blonde named Bella.

What if you were to say "Yes!" today? What if? Try it. It could be a simple yes to the question of "Do you want spaghetti for dinner?" or a more permanent yes to "Will you be mine?" Today, say yes. See what happens.

casamigos tequila {review}

I have fantasies. 

These fantasies involve L. and I packing up our family and moving to a vineyard by the sea in the South of France where we can press our own olive oil and wine and on balmy nights by the Mediterranean we enjoy the fruits of our labor on the terrazzo. I thought perhaps our small batch olive oil and wine would be called Apres-Soleil (after-sun.) I have given this some thought.

Someone else who has given this some thought is George Clooney, who recently launched what was previously a friends-only run of their tequila- Casamigos (house of friends.) The story goes that George and his pal for 20+ years, Rande Gerber have houses next to each other in Cabo and their love of tequila is what encouraged them to launch their own brand along with their pal, Mike Meldman. Let's take a moment here and imagine these guys and their pals hanging out by the beach at night drinking tequila shots. THAT is a party to be invited to. Now it is kind of possible to join their party with the release of Casamigos.  Sold in both the Blanco and Reposado versions, Casamigos is slowly rolling out across the United States and as of today, is available in 12 states, including New York, California, Florida, Texas, Nevada and Washington. 

I appreciate tequila. In college I was a Bartles & Jaymes Fuzzy Navel wine cooler girl, then in my 20's I was a Cape-Codder kind of girl and now I am a tequila neat girl. Just a shot, with lime and salt on the side. No ice. Last year,  my friend A., taught me how to drink tequila properly as we sampled tequila flights (samplers) and I learned that Blanco (white) means a tequila is un-aged or aged less than two months.  Reposado (rested): The tequila is aged from two months to one year in oak barrels. Anejo (aged): Tequila is aged one to three years in oak barrels. A tequila flight is a great way to try new tequilas. In a sample tequila flight you can try a small (1/2 shot) of several different brands and intensities. By sampling tequila I wouldn't have tried in the past, I discovered I like either Reposado or Anejo. Both seem to have a more intense, robust flavor without the tequila 'burn'.

In the past my brand of choice is Patron. So, would Casamigos be enough to sway me?

Watch this short film titled "It Could Happen"

Casamigos: The Review

The Casamigos bottle is beautiful. It's clean and classic -- the kind of bottle that would look at home in Frank Sinatra's hand or propped in beach sand. Pop open the cork and inhale. There's a hint of oak along with the blue agave. I poured the tequila into a caballito ("little horse," Sp.), a narrow shot glass. I didn't opt for the salt because I wanted the true, pure taste of the Casamigos but I did prepare lime slices. I sipped slowly. I tasted tequila, of course, but also caramel and a bit of oak. I swear to God, I could almost taste the salt air.  This tequila instantly became my new favorite. Sure, it's fun knowing the provenance of this liquor but even without the star power behind this brand, this tequila is the one your favorite sailing-the-world-because-he-can uncle would bring you back from his travels just because he always brings you treasured things.

How to enjoy: 

Drink simply in a shot. I followed with a slice of lime and I could almost feel the sun on my face. 

We'll serve this at our next dinner party with tortilla chips and the Pasilla de Oaxaca salsa I made earlier this week.

I can also see sipping Casamigos while slipping into a hot bath scented with Jo Malone Orange Blossom after a stressful day. 

Just enjoy. Enjoy. 

Clear Shooter glasses by Libbey

Votive candle holders by glassybaby in dream

Bust by World Market

december's twinkling happygirl giveaway

Oh, December, with your twinkling white lights and that whole feeling of goodwill towards men, you are just the loveliest month. While the Coppertone days and Margarita nights are just a wistful memory, this month is filled with mugs of hot chocolate (with marshmallows, obviously), snowmen building and present giving that just makes you feel wonderful. And warm. And happy.

Here at The Happygirl, during this very special month of giving, we'd like to spread love, joy and goodwill with our best giveaway yet. We included some of our favorite things like:

• A twinkling glassbaby (our signature gift)  in aqua verde 
• Heavenly chocolates from Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador. . . (Trader Joe's)
• Our favorite Lulu Lemon headband in the brightest pink
• The prettiest polishes from Essie (fingers: adore-a-ball toes: cute as a button, of course.) 
• A very ladylike and cheeky "Let's do Lunch" card holder from Kate Spade 
• Our favorite new before bedtime tea (Wellbeing: Rest) from Tazo
• Jo Malone's heavenly holiday candle in Pine & Eucalyptus that we're burning in our studio right now. See the Jo Malone box? It was decorated especially for The Happygirl by an artist at a Jo Malone event in Nordstrom (Bellevue, WA.)
• An elegant silver laquered tray (which would perch perfectly on an ottoman with appetizers)
• And the following items handmade in our studio:  An aqua satin headband (directions here), Happygirl elastic hair ties (directions here) , our signature aquamarine and 14k gf Happygirl Bubbles necklace and creamy caramel toffee.

One very lucky winner will win this December Happygirl Giveaway! To enter, tell us what your happiest moment has been in 2012. Just comment below by 11:59pm PT on December 31, 2012.

From all of us here in The Happygirl, thank you for being on this Happygirl adventure with us! Do you have suggestions for what you'd like to see us cover on The Happygirl, send us an email at Taylor at the happygirl dot me.

Happy Holidays!

the august happygirl giveaway

Oh, August. The sunshine, the family time, the late night talks outside by moonlight and fireflies, the way we try to treasure every last drop of lemonade summer. August.

I love August. I love the way the sun feels against my skin on a morning walk by the sea. There is something about the way candlelight  moves in a glassybaby on a hot evening too, almost languidly as if it was just too much trouble for the flame to dance in the heat. August means a canvas Lands' End bag instead of a purse, heavenly coconut, pretty ponytails, s'mores, family game nights with popcorn and a pretty aqua pedicure that chases the waves. It's the way orange blossom smells on your neck after a cool shower.

It's all in here, the August Happygirl Bag. These are some of our favorite things here in The Happygirl Studio and we want to share the sunshine with you.

The August Happygirl Bag includes:

-Lands' End canvas bag (purse size with handles and strap. Style/color combination no longer available.)
-Uncle Woody's Truffle Salt Popcorn from Seattle Popcorn
-Turquoise glassybaby
-Jo Malone Orange Blossom Body Cream (travel size)
-Essie Turquoise & Caicos nail polish
-Tazo Wild Sweet Orange tea sachets
-Butter Baked Goods Toasted Coconut Marshmallows
-24 Elastic hair ties in Happygirl colors (aqua blues) Click here to see how I made them.

To enter, leave a comment here telling us what's been your happiest moment of the summer so far. The giveaway is open through August 31st, so after your dip in the pool and before you fall asleep to the sound of a fan, tell us your thoughts.

And happy August!

happy july: win a whisper soft glassybaby

Congratulations to Barb Hintze Curtis, our July winner!


I am the soft iridescent swirly pink inside the shell you found on the beach that summer on Nantucket.

I am the much loved whispered silk ear of your childhood stuffed bunny, Sam.

I am a blush peony that reminds you of your grandmother's smile when she closed her eyes to inhale the scent.

I am the raspberry sorbet glassybaby. 

    ................................................................................................................................................

One of the things that makes us consistently happy here in the happy girl studio is the glassybaby, whether in aquamarine, sunshine or wet dog, we get blissed out just looking at these artisan-made handmade pieces of art. We use them for candlelight, of course, but we also love them for cut flowers, to hold our hairbands, seashells and even for emma's puppy treats. The glassybaby is the gift we give for a new baby, an engagement or simply  as an "i love you" gift.

Because it makes us so happy, in today's Monday morning meeting we decided we want to share the happy. So each month through 2012 we will be giving away a favorite glassybaby because we want you to be happy too.

To enter to win this month's glassybaby in raspberry sorbet, leave us a comment telling us what you love about July. Is it the vacation at Cape Cod? The way the air conditioning hits you when you come inside from a hot muggy day? Or perhaps it's the fresh produce at the farm stand? Leave your comment by July 31 and we'll select a winner at random on August 3, 2012. The winner's name will be posted here.

Here's to a happy, safe July!

Want to know about the glassybaby story? Watch this video to see what makes glassybaby so very special.

about glassybaby

When the first glassybaby was created in 1998, Lee Rhodes, glassybaby creator and founder, was raising her three small children and fighting what would become a 7-year battle with a rare form of lung cancer. She had endured surgery, countless rounds of chemotherapy, and was searching for a few moments of serenity to escape the fear that encompassed her life. Inspired by the beauty of these elegant vessels, Lee filled them with tea lights and scattered them throughout her home. She found great hope and healing in their color, light and love.

this giveaway is not sponsored by glassybaby. we just love them.

win a glassybaby!

We LOVE glassybaby here in the happygirl studio. We love aquamarine of course, but we also love these citrus tones that remind us grapefruits, oranges and limes glittering in the sun. It makes us happy to fill them with candles, clear glass marbles or seashells. When we give a someone a glassybaby, we like how they smile when they discover what's in the box. It's kind of a giggle, really! We want to share the sunshiny giggles that glassybaby delivers! So, we are giving a glassybaby away!

To enter, simply comment and let us know what color makes you happy! Enter by June 17th! (US and Canada only please.)

* Congratulations to Erika Isler for winning a Glassybaby in aquamarine!

Don't know what a glassybaby is? Read this happygirl feature.

(aren't these beautiful little votives sweet even without a candle?)

pretty little poseys all in a row

When I was in LA I sometimes brought Sprinkles cupcakes (oh, their darling heavenly lemon coconut treats are our favorite here at The Happygirl!)  to meetings with studios, networks and labels. Today, though, at a partner meeting in Seattle I brought three glassybaby poseys for three very special people in their company's colors. They came out swell, didn't they?

(the glass marbles hold the peonies in place.)

  

the happygirl guide to making a glassybaby bouquet

Here is how to make your own glassybaby bouquet:

You will need a glassybaby, flowers, small beads/stones (available at craft stores) scissors and water.

 

1.) Rinse your glassybaby under water and pat dry.

2.) Cut flowers (on the diagonal) to 4 inches.

3.) Add the small stones about 3/4 of the way up the glass. (The stones will help keep your flowers in the vase. Without the stones, the flowers will slip.)

4.) Add water filling just past the stones.

5.) Carefully insert one flower stem at a time, cutting more of the stem if needed. Add flowers until you’re happy with the arrangement.

charming things: why we love glassybaby

In the South of France on the Cote d’Azur is a small town called Antibes. In May, in the warm pink evenings, the heady fragrance of Night Blooming Jasmine is carried on the breeze with the scent of the aquamarine Mediterranean Sea. The combination is almost too lovely to bear. Off the coast of Maui in the town of Wailea, the ocean water is so unimaginably blue that snorkeling can feel like an underwater scene from "The Little Mermaid." In Cancun, swimming alongside dolphins in the blue sea is literally a spiritual experience. I am a water baby. I am.

As a reporter I have traveled almost a million miles interviewing celebrities around the world. It sounds exciting, doesn't it? But in reality I have spent thousands of hours navigating airports, answering email in taxis as we jerked along in city traffic and sitting in hallways waiting for my interview slot.  Typically on trips I would see the airport, a screening in a dark theatre, the interview suites then back to the airport. Sometimes I would forget what city I was in. However, whenever I could I would take a swim. When I am in the water diving under the aquamarine frothy waves watching the bubbles rise poppity pop pop to the surface or sliding into a hotel pool for a quick morning swim as the sun rises above palm trees I am at home. Cutting the surface of the water with the sun warm on my face is when I am happiest.

In May of 2009, I was laying on the couch feeling sorry for myself after my job as Celebrity Events Host at Microsoft was eliminated. My life literally had become a cliched country song. I lost almost everything. I was feeling bad for myself. I was depleted. A few days after I lost my job, the doorbell rang. When I answered the door a very nice Grandpa (not mine) handed me a tidy, sweet bouquet in a small glass vase, snuggled in a box surrounded by newspaper. I carefully removed the vase and I sighed. Oh. Oh! The small vase was aquamarine. It was the color of the sea. It was the color of happiness.  Looking at this vase it looked like someone had scopped up the aquamarine water from the Cote d’Azur and frozen it into this lovely little globe. I opened the card and it was from some friends at Microsoft who wanted to say “Love you. It will be OK. It will.”

In that moment, I had an epiphany. It will be OK. It was OK. The wonderful moments I had in the past will always be there. I will always be able to close my eyes, smell jasmine on a balmy night and I will be back in the South of France. Whatever wonderful things that happened in the past were still there. I was lucky that I got to experience the things I did. For a girl who grew up poor in a trailer park, being able to even visit a place like Antibes or Wailea, I knew I was lucky. In that moment I appreciated everything I was able to do. Just because something is over doesn’t mean you are lost. What it means is that you were lucky enough to experience wonder or love or contentment with a job or a person.

Yes, the epiphany was from looking at a vase. I called the florist. I was over the moon for this vase. They told me it was a glassybaby votive holder. I looked glassybaby up online. I read about Lee Rhodes, the extraordinary creator of glassybaby (Entrepreneur's Magazine's 20011 Entrepreneur of the Year) and her extraordinary story of starting her company after surviving cancer. I read that glassybaby gives a good percentage of profits to charities (over $900,000 so far). I needed to be part of something this good. I found that the studio and store were located in Seattle. I decided to go see where my little glassybaby came from. Walking into the store is a sensory experience. You can see the glassblowers making each glassybaby by hand. Watch them. Their focus and passion is evident when you hold a glassybaby in your hands. That artisan's passion transfers to the glass. It does.  The day I was there, there were several dogbeds lined up along the wall in the studio with dogs curled up watching their people work (yes, it is safe for them). The store is simple. White with dozens and dozens of colorful glassybabys. The candles flickering in glassybabys lit up the store.

Looking at the colors you think “That cobalt blue (lady di) is exactly the color of my Nana’s waterglass she kept on a table beside her rocking chair.” “That brown is exactly the color of George's coat!” (and interestingly enough it is called wet dog!) There are ballet pinks (tutu), innocent whites (grateful), vibrant reds (happiness), vibrant greens (verdant). Walking around the store I picked up the aquamarine, held it cupped in my hands and up to to the light. There were also dolphin, seaglass and ocean, all the colors of the sea. I looked around and I saw the same grin that I realized was on my face, on others in the store as they held up glassybabys in purple, orange, olive, red, grey and yellow. That day I bought dolphin and grateful. When I got home I put dolphin, grateful and aquamarine together. I lit the candles in the votives, dimmed the lights and I told L. that they represented us, our family, L, me and our dog Emma. And thus started my love affair with glassybaby.

I am not alone in my love for glassybaby. Collectors are passionate about their favorite colors. They will stand in line in the rain for hours at the glassybaby Seconds Sale (January and June). glassybaby fans use their glassybabys for candlelight but they also get creative, using them for ice cream sundaes and for flower arrangements. Here, at the Happygirl studio we have glassybabys all around the office. This week we found peonies at the market and made bouquets for our desks.

As I write this I am looking at my very first glassybaby that sits here on my desk, never far from me. Right now it is filled with peonies. Later this week it may hold a tealight. Maybe someday it will hold a little Cheerios necklace that my daughter makes for me.

Maybe that’s what makes glassybabys so special. They hold dreams.

     

         

The Aquamarine glassybaby is our signature gift here at The Happygirl. In fact, we liked the color so much it inspired the happygirl logo! We send glassybabys as thank you gifts,  shower gifts (wedding and baby!) and as "We love you! You are a true happygirl/happyguy" gifts. We really love them!

If you purchase your own Aquamarine glassybaby, 10% of the proceeds of this color goes to the Marsha Riven Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. We love that.

And because we love the Aquamarine glassybaby so very much, we’d like to give one away to a happygirl or happyguy! Leave us a comment before June 16th, 2012. Tell us your favorite color glassybaby, or what your glassybaby means to you. We’d like to hear what you think. One winner will be chosen at random on June 17th and announced here.