Doing the right thing

Bario Neal's engagement and wedding rings have been making quite the splash since they arrived to us a few weeks ago. ALL of Bario Neal's jewelry is made with reclaimed precious metals and conflict free diamonds. Sweet. We've got more in the shop, and we love mixing and matching and playing with jewelry. Come. Hang out. Maybe the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck will be parked out front. It'll be fun.

Day for Knight

Were you to wear this 5" cast sting ray tail affixed to the lapel of you suit jacket, you might be the most dashing man in all of Williamsburg.
Elizabeth Knight Sting Ray Brooch, $130

Staff Picks - Rony

As you might imagine, it is really hard for me to pick any favorites at my own store. Here are a few a things I love right this second. I think I have about 20 staff picks in me, so stay tuned.

Nancy Kraskin Long Drop Earrings in Gold

These are my everyday earrings. No one wears things more everyday than I wear these earrings. No joke. They have been on my ears for years now. That's a lot of bang for my buck.

Saipua Saltwater Soap

I really surprised myself by how much I love this soap. I know! Patchouli?? I said the same thing! But guess what? The scent you remember from high school, emanating way too strongly from the dead head corner...that is a far cry from the sexy, earthy, slightly manly scent of this sultry soap.

Elisa Solomon Ancienne Ring

If only I had more fingers. I could twinkle like a rich bohemian artiste residing in a shack in Big Sur for a season.

Catbird Tiny Chain Rings

My everyday teeny sparklers. I've worn the same two for years now.

Catbird First Knuckle Rings
silver $28 / gold $58

I often wish I had more fingers so that I could wear more rings. These babies solve that problem. I first put a toe ring (GROSS!) on my first knuckle about 9 years ago and I never took it off. That was the inspiration behind these. Makes you look bad-ass without trying. And who really has time to try?

Flotsam & Jetsam Spanish Galleon Ring

Also bad ass. And actually totally comfortable. (Really!) I wear it on my pointer finger when I am feeling like a frump and it helps me out a bit, spiritually.

Knight Rider

One of the newest designers in the store, Elizabeth Knight, is quickly becoming a staff favorite. First off, Elizabeth herself is a ray of sunshine. Don't let the dark and slightly creepy jewelry fool you. My personal favorite is the finely articulated frog skeleton hand holding a pink pearl. Now available on line.

Tops to Tails

Marlow & Sons, one of my absolute favorite eateries in Williamsburg, is making this vegetarian quite happy: they've started a line of bags using the skins from the house-slaughtered cows and pigs. While I'll happily stick to my market salad when I'm there, I am even more devoted to Marlow & Sons, for their holistic approach to carnivorism.

Rings from Catbird and matching tattoos from Saved

Williamsburg is growing up.  To wit, our wedding business has increased many, many fold.  When one of our clients requested a black velvet box, the kind that snaps open and shut with a satisfying "snap!" we knew it was time that we grew up, too.  And so we present Catbird's totally all grown up black velvet ring boxes.

Randolph Engineering

They're BACK!!

Randolph Engineering sunglasses - supplier of sunglasses for the US Military, Air Force and NASA -and to the gentlefolk of Williamsburg. When I was placing my order and asking my sales rep, Rick, about different styles, he made sure to tell me which styles astronauts preferred. (The Crew Chief)

Randolph Engineering products are famed for their quality and durability. Each pair of our sunglasses goes through more than 200 production stages – mostly by hand. We even make our own solder flux. As a result, our frames provide unequaled strength and solder joint integrity.

We feel so strongly about the quality of our products that we will repair or replace any broken solder joint for the lifetime of the frame (assuming normal use). That is one of the many reasons we call ourselves “serious equipment”.

I love when people take their work seriously.


Did I mention the maintenance kit that comes with every pair?

(From $99-$113)

And your point?

My point is the point.  I'm having such a moment of love for jewels with a triangulated pokey tip.  Sounds a little dirty.  It's not.  Unless you'd like it to be.  Really up to you.    (Katrina LaPenne old world diamond ring, in store and online soon, Katie Diamond moonstone Astrid studs, $128)

Whispering Ticket

These old business and calling cards have rendered me speechless. Whispering Ticket? What could that MEAN!?? Also, cheese + graph paper. Together at last. Sigh.

From ink_ling's flickr page, found via Oh Hello Friend.

Seed Bombs, Random Acts of Gardening

Muslin bag of Seed Bombs, $7.50 (in store only, soon now on line)

The weapon of choice for guerrilla gardeners everywhere! Toss them onto barren, abandoned, or otherwise inhospitable land, including construction sites and abandoned lots, or... into your own yard.

Stationery Show

Here's a small preview of some of the goodies I collected for you all this week at the National Stationery Show. Some old friends, some new. Can't wait for it all to start coming in. Please note the Austin Press Cat/Bird gift tags inspired by Catbird!!

Japanese Tape

Claire, one of out newest Catbirds, got crafty with the new Japanese Rice Paper Tape. Pretty nifty, eh? I never thought I could love tape so much. What did I ever do before it? Thank goodness the tape ambivalence has ended. PHEW.

Night of Joy

Looks like we've got a new watering hole: Night of Joy, from the owners of Dove in the West Village, come complete with aviary wallpaper, a roof deck, and a 5 minute walk from my house.  I do believe this ought to be the locale for the next Catbird cocktail night.

Shout out from Refinery29

Refinery29 wrote a really great write up of engagement rings showing a great selection of 20 cool ones, four from yours truly.

Carla Caruso Willow Ring with White Sapphire, $112 Katrina LaPenne Old World Ring, $800, Blanca Monros Gomez Three Diamond Band, $430, Yayoi Forest Lucky Seen Diamond Ring, $560

Sweet, like mead and mink

Gucci is sponsoring the restoration of La Dolce Vita, and this morning I'm wondering if the vivacious Anita Ekberg would've smelled more like Tocca's Stella or Cleopatra when that little white kitten (or, Marcello) nuzzled in her neck. I'm going to mull it over today with our resident nose, Joanie, who, by the by, has been working her little nostrils into a heavenly fatigue, helping Rony with the Catbird signature candle line. It's coming, and it's going to be grand.

Sometimes, you just wanna shriek!

New/old Shara Porter leather goods back in stock. Everyone needs a dash of cute.

Unearthen, uploaded.

There's the crystal/bullet combo, the intricate packaging which will look beautiful on a shelf near your plants, and the way the necklace looks with, um, every piece of clothing you own. Unearthen is back in the store, and now on line, and we are in awe.

I have been wearing the Citrine necklace myself and, aside from benefiting from the ego-enhancing compliments I have already gotten on it, I hope to also reap some crystal benefits as well. Blood, get circulating! Thyroid, get balanced!

Animal planet.

1. Digby & Iona Caged Bird Necklace, $240 // 2. Cloven Hoof Beetle Wing Earrings, $172 // 3. Jezebel Ant Studs, $290 // 4. Catbird Seahorse Studs, $160 // 5. Vermeil Snake Studs, $28 // 6. Stephanie Simek Quail Egg Necklace, $175 // 7. Brass Talon Candlestick, $53 // 8. Catbird Ram Ring, $380

Sexy Saipua

Saipua's new Basil soap is going to do something to you.  Or somethings, I should say.  The first: it will make you clean.  The second: it will make you feel special, in a special way.  It is one sexy soap. ($8 in store, up on the website shortly - now)

Crystal Cove

Children, we did really good work yesterday.  The druzy madness coming our way in a few weeks is going to make you dizzy with want.  In the meanwhile, we've got a fresh stock of an old favorite, Unearthen.