Happy Halloween!

Living in the West Village of New York City Is truly Halloween Central. We have the largest parade in the whole world right at our doorsteps. And while having a million plus people descending on the normally quiet(ish) corner of the city can be really disruptive, it is an absolute visual feast and ultimately tons of fun. I just wanted to show you here some of the local shops’ windows that have delighted me for the past couple of weeks. I will definitely miss them when they come down in the next few days!

And just to keep the Halloween spirit going all year long I will certainly wear my birdskull and snake with black diamond earrings frequently!

I hope you had a great time this Halloween! What did you do?

Furry Friday

Welcome to Furry Friday Halloween Edition. I have no idea how the cat became the signature Halloween animal, but there you have it.

As soon as a cat arches its back it is immediately identified with Halloween, right?!

I also have no idea about how I ended up sharing my life with not one, but two of these creatures (actually I do know – I rescued them from their imminent demise in the gas chamber and couldn’t find anyone else to take love them). My older male cat is Ezra. He is a master of getting into odd spaces. Sometimes unable to get out of them.

He is very entertaining as are most cats, which is one of the many reasons they have endeared themselves to humans for 10s of thousands of years. They love us, we love them, and since the times of Ancient Egypt we have worn replicas of them on our bodies.

I love this ancient Egyptian amulet necklace by Mark Loren Designs  with a faience (the blue material seen so often in ancient Egyptian artifacts – kind of like the first precursor to plastic) Eye-of-Horus (Circa 200 BC) accented by two new 18 karat Yellow Gold Bastet Cats. “Cats in ancient Egypt were revered highly, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats - which threatened key food supplies - and snakes, especially cobras. Cats of royalty were, in some instances, known to be dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from their owners' plates.”

And wouldn’t you love to wear the adorable vintage cat ring from Tanya’s Treasures?

Probably the most iconic cat jewelry was created by the fabled jewelry house of  Van Cleef and Arpels.

These brooches from the 1950s represent the whimsical, stylized representations of animal and plant life for which the company was famous.

You probably run the risk of being labeled a crazy cat lady if you wear too much of this stuff, but there is cat jewelry for every design aesthetic; from the very representational kitty from Macklowe Antiques, to the lovely abstracted form from the Hmong tribe, a hill tribe people living throughout SE Asia.

Pssstttt! I've got some good GOSSIP!

  And heeeeeeeeeeeeerrrre it is!

Just Kidding! Sarah and I are not joining a roller derby team. Yet. No, ever. But we did get a wonderful write-up in our favorite jewelry blog Gem Gossip, and that's much safer better! Danielle is so knowledgeable about all things jewelry and has a great eye for what's cool out there. AND (and here's the really juicy part) there is an Aroc Urtu giveaway going on! As in FREE. Free jewelry, you ask? No way. Yes, way! And it's a diamond - a lovely, sparkly, edgy black diamond. Just for you! Well, you, if you go to Gem Gossip, follow the rules, and are the lucky winner (and don't forget to leave a comment on her blog or she won't know you entered). I truly hope you enter, and I really hope you win!!

Wear it alone or layer it with more of your lovelies.

And a big HELLO to all my new friends and compadres from the Blogging Your Way class!

Happily Ever After

It’s an unexpected, but very welcome surprise that Aroc Urtu jewelry has become popular as an alternative choice for brides. There are so many ways in which couples are now celebrating and expressing their unions. Sara and I are so glad to be part of this movement of creating more unique and personally fulfilling ceremonies. This past weekend two of my very dear friends, Zara and Andreas, joined their lives together in a stunning and seriously fun NYC wedding. I want to show you a few quick pics!

 

This is the amazing hotel suite where all the prep work (and early, nerve calming sips of champagne) took place.

The sliced ruby and sapphire necklaces looked better than ever on the gorgeous bride!

Some of my favorite sources for all things wedding are Green Wedding Shoes, Well Wed, and 100 Layer Cake. Been to a great wedding recently? I’d love to hear about what made it special!

Peace, love, and rocks,

Lauren

Sleepy Sunday

I can’t wait to tell you about my friend Zara’s wedding yesterday. It was stunning, sophisticated, elegant, and still a whole lot of undiluted fun. And, wow, was the bride gorgeous – I am honored that she chose to wear only Aroc Urtu jewelry!

But while I’m organizing photos I wanted to wish you a happy and sleepy Sunday. Enjoy it!

(my friend Lauren’s adorable and oh-so-relaxed kitten, Weasel)

Peace, love, and rocks,

Lauren

Furry Friday

I just realized that I’m not exactly sure what constitutes fur. Are goats, cows and horses considered furry? It doesn’t sound right to call them hairy either. There is a difference between fur, hair, pelt, skin, wool, but I’m not going to go there. Unless it’s feather’s, I’m calling it fur – as in your new boyfriend is really furry, isn’t he? So here’s the roundup of animals and their jewelry pairings for the week. Enjoy!



These golden goats date all the way back to the Achaemenid Empire.

I didn’t take this photo of the Navajo horse, LIAMRW did. I love it.

The jewelry of David Webb has always enthralled me and has been a source of inspiration for many years. If you're not familiar with his work, do check it out, his animal jewelry in particular is incredible. How amazing are these horse bracelets?

And cows? Well, bulls especially have been depicted in jewelry throughout history; from the very first metalsmiths through the most contemporary.

 

A vintage cow skull pendant, A PAIR OF GREEK GOLD BULL HEAD EARRINGS HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2ND CENTURY B.C., and good old Bessie in black and white diamonds.

Peace, love, and rocks,
Lauren

Duck, Duck, Goose, and Other Feathered Friends

I took a day trip up to visit the Catskill Animal Sanctuary in Saugerties, NY.

“Catskill Animal Sanctuary was founded in 2001 with the mission to rescue farm animals in need, educate the public about the devastating affects of agribusiness, and encourage people to adopt a cruelty-free lifestyle. In the ten years since it was founded, the Sanctuary has rescued over 2,000 farm animals from life or death situations and had shown people that these animals are so much more than what they are perceived to be. CAS’s 80-acre haven is located in Saugerties and offers weekend tours, overnight lodging, event space, educational events, speeches, and vegan cooking lessons for the public.”

If you live or visit the upstate NY area, do stop in. It is not only beautiful, but a very uplifting experience. Seeing these animals ,who have survived unimaginable abuse, thriving and happy got me thinking about how throughout civilization our connection with all God’s creatures has been expressed in jewelry. I am a huge sucker for animal motifs of any variety, so I am going to run with this topic for a while. I think I’ll call it Furry and Feathered Fridays. So here we go!

Firstly, I want to show off my new BFF, Hannah. Who knew turkeys were so adorable and affectionate?!Since meeting her and the other animals at the sanctuary I've come to the conclusion that one of the main underlying uniting conditions of all of us is that we are all, regardless of our species, itchy. All we all want is some great scratching and rubbing. Would you scratch my back, please?

Turkeys are seriously underrepresented in terms of jewelry. There are zillions of other bird jewelry pieces out there – from abstract to extremely lifelike and detailed, but turkeys are just not a hot item. But here’s something that if we squint could look like an ancient turkey.

The roosters strutted around like they owned the place. I guess that’s where the expression “he ruled the roost” comes from… The big guy on the bottom left’s name is Rambo – muy macho.

And who wouldn’t want to rock something like this?

The ring is made by Balinese artist Nyoman Rena, and check out the lovely vintage finds in penorus' Etsy shop.

And geese? We’ve been wearing little representations of these guys since the time of the pharaohs.

Yes, I know this is not a goose, but a close(ish) relative.

Peace, love and rocks,

Lauren

P.S. I just realized that I had the settings set to not allow comments – DUH!!! But I’d love to hear from you, so please comment away!!!