Normal Office Hours?

I have to admit --I'm trying to adjust to normal work hours. The Boy doesn't have to be at work until 9a and he leaves at about 5p, and that is so strange to me. Do note that in Austin, The Boy and my brother's schedules were pretty much 12-hour work days, and so I worked 12 hours each day as well (sometimes more during busy weeks). But now I have much less time to work. Which means I have to be a lot more productive each day. Which means I should probably spend less time updating my blog, tweeting, and Facebook-ing. :(

In other news, the holidays are in full-swing and I'll be working late hours to get all of these orders made and prepared in time for Christmas delivery.

Remember to get your Ready-to-Ship orders in at the latest:
Dec 8 (outside US orders)
Dec 10 (Canada orders)
Dec 16 (US orders)

Otherwise they will likely arrive after Christmas.

Back to work!

Last Day to Save!

The Boy and I helped his parents put up their little Christmas tree and decorate the house yesterday.  I've already wrapped all our gifts since we completed our gift shopping already (a record, really). But it's not too late for you to order your bags in time for Christmas!

The Made to Order deadline has passed for guarantee Christmas delivery, but Ready to Ship bags can still be shipped on time! Check out the deadlines:

Domestic (US) Order Deadlines
Ready to Ship - Dec 16
Made to Order - Nov 26

International Order Deadlines
Ready to Ship, Canada - Dec 10
Ready to Ship, Everywhere Else - Dec 8

All orders must be placed and payment cleared by 11:59p EST on stated date to ensure arrival by Christmas!


p.s. Hubert looks pretty excited about Christmas. 

Happy Holidays!

Gifts For Him (But Really For Me)

Looking through AREAWARE for cool gift ideas, and clicked on the "For Him" gift guide and found that I would actually like all of those gifts.


Here are my top 3 picks:

Mechano Chair by Andre Klauser for Thorsten van Elten

Magno Medium Radio by Singgih Kartono

Tool Set by Jonas Damon

My dad would be so proud.  

I remember when I started making jewelry three years ago, I asked my dad for a set of pliers and he gladly bought me the Craftsman Professional Mini Pliers set for Christmas. I think every year I ask for something tool or building relating. I definitely take after my dad in that aspect that I would love to have a garage dedicated to power tools and furniture building.

I make jewelry? Why yes, I do. I'm working on a line, set to launch Summer 2011.  :)

My New (Temporary) View

If you're waiting for your Traveler to ship on the 28th, well you will be happy to know that it's coming a little early. I set up my very temporary studio in the spare bedroom of The Boy's parent's house and the view is so cute (lots of trees and a house that closely resembles my parent's house back at home in The Woodlands, TX). Better enjoy it before we move into our new apartment with a view of the parking lot of the building next door. :)

I'm getting quite a bit of exercise with this studio set up. I have boxes and boxes of supplies, hardware, leather, and fabric in their basement, so I go to the bottom 0th floor to do all my cutting, then go up 2 flights of stairs to the spare bedroom to sew everything, then go downstairs to install hardware. Phew. This will do until our new gym membership starts mid-December.

Hope you're enjoying these couple days before Thanksgiving! I'm responsible for roasting the turkey this year, so keep your fingers cross I don't burn it. :)

Holiday 2010 Deadlines

Christmas Gift Tags by DawnCorrespondence

Dear Friends,

It's that time of year to get your orders in early for Christmas delivery! Mark your calendars!

Domestic (US) Order Deadlines
Ready to Ship - Dec 16
Made to Order - Nov 26

International Order Deadlines
Ready to Ship, Canada - Dec 10
Ready to Ship, Everywhere Else - Dec 8

All orders must be placed and payment cleared by 11:59p EST on stated date to ensure arrival by Christmas!

I offer simple gift wrapping of brown kraft paper with a jute ribbon, free of charge. If you would like this simple gift wrapping on your item, please include message "GIFT WRAP" in the Message to Seller along with the To: and From: names. :)

Happy Holidays!!

Love,
Jenny

I start work Monday!

I've been living out of my suitcase for a past days since we arrived in Pittsburgh. I only brought Hubert, my clothes, and ready to ship bags and some shipping supplies. Everything else is in my POD.

Good news: My POD comes in on Monday the 22nd and I will finally get my computer, sewing machine, leather, fabric, hardware, tools, and tables back so that I can catch up on orders that need to be shipped on the 28th.

Meanwhile, The Boy and I have been staying at his parent's place until our loft is available for move-in on December 4th. Until then, we've been enjoying lots of Indian food and I've been working from my iPhone --which is really difficult.

I can't wait for Monday! All I can think about is work, and being separated from the tools that I need to be productive have made me really antsy and I've found that the best thing to do to keep me preoccupied is to go shopping.

Just kidding! My mom probably just had a heart attack after reading that. I haven't done any shopping. And by any I mean I haven't done a lot. :)

Image: The Boy and I hosted a little wine tasting party with his brother and sister-in-law last night. It was fun!

Hubert: Sleeping Poses Aplenty

We have moved to Pittsburgh! We spent 3 days driving approximately 7-8 hours each day covering 1,423 miles across the US:

Day 1: Austin, TX to Little Rock, AR
Day 2: Little Rock, AR to Louisville, KY
Day 3: Louisville, KY to Pittsburgh, PA

Hubert slept the entire way, and I wanted to share all of his many sleeping poses with you. :)

New: Traveler in Brown Tweed Suiting and Corduroy

I just love this look. Kinda makes me want a tweed jacket with brown corduroy elbows.

This one is ready to ship in the shop! 

Planning My Apartment

Besides finishing up all pending orders this week, I'm planning the layout for our new apartment in Pittsburgh.

We're finally moving into my DREAM loft! Ever since college, I've always wanted to live in a renovated warehouse with super-high ceilings, exposed plumbing, exposed brick, and everything concrete. What better place to find that than in the center of one of the US's most (steel) industrial cities? Exaaaaaaactly.

Since my studio will be integrated into the living space, we're getting some new furniture for my studio (i.e. not baker's rack shelves and mis-matched tables). I'm excited! We won't bring a TV so we can spend our time being more productive and use time after work hour to explore the city and work on our hobbies --The Boy is a drummer and avid reader, and I...well...sew. This will give me a lot more time to produce some of the new designs I've been sketching.  :)

Happy Friday!

Roast Chicken with Rosemary Red Potatoes and String Beans

This week has been pretty busy, so I opt for preparing dishes with very little prep time and require very little baby sitting so I can throw it in the oven and forget about it for an hour or so.

This is one of those dishes.  

During lunch, I took a whole raw chicken, washed it, cut out the backbone and cracked the breast bone so that it lays flat on a rack in a baking pan (breast side up). I slather half a stick of unsalted melted butter seasoned with rosemary, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chili powder and onion flakes underneath and on top of the skin. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours until 1.5 hours before the guys get home from work.

At 5pm, I set the oven for 350F and throw the chicken in there to roast. Set a timer for 1 hr 15 minutes.  In the meantime I prepare a batch of Travelers. Alarm goes off, I take another baking pan and season string beans and red potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, garlic powder, onion flakes, salt and pepper, spread them out on the pan and place it in the oven with the chicken. Crank up the heat to 375F (to get a nice crispy skin) and set a timer for 15 minutes.

Serve and done!

The Boy prefers white meat and my brother and I like dark.

It all works perfectly for this house.

Time Out NY Feature

I realize I'm about a month late in sharing this, but my Briefcase in Barn Red Corduroy was featured on Time Out NY and also in the magazine.  I'll try to get a hold of the magazine so that I can scan it for you to see. :)