Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

I guess I am late to this particularly brilliant bandwagon. I was lucky enough to spend an evening playing poker and listening to vinyl. (If only I were luckier at poker.)

Our most gracious host played many old faves, and Sharon Jones, recorded in this very millennium, fit right in with the playlist that hovered mostly around 1976. Recorded practically around the corner in Bushwick. Hats off.

I am very anti outdoor music, but I can't wait to see them live in the park later this summer.

Yay for Brooklyn!

In case anyone was wondering...

Guest blogging on ESB. Again.

As we basked happily in the afterglow of our last guest post for East Side Bride, I exclaimed, "Let's do 30 more!" ESB replied, "careful what you say to me.....!" And so, here we are. Not quite 30 more. Not yet at least.

Scosha "thou shall not talk shit" necklace, $194

The kids are growing up.

For those of you who like to do it classic and cool, we've got a new collection of Catbird classic wedding bands. There's roughly a bazillion options of widths, materials, engravings, but we've got it all streamlined and nice. Relax. Have a seat in our zebra chair. Enjoy the air-conditioning. Have a glass of wine before. Or after. Or both. This is going to be fun.

Catbird classic wedding bands begin at $200 for 14k and go on up based on designs and materials (14k yellow, rose, white gold, 18k yellow, rose, white gold , platinum, and sterling available), in store now, online shortly

OMG

Just a wee little bitty sneak peek of the package that I snatched greedily from the hands of the UPS man yesterday. St. Kilda's dark, gorgeous, poetic wedding line is in the shop. We are shooting it today, and will have it up on the website sssssssshortly.

St. Kilda Endless Love snake ring, blackened 18k white gold, diamonds, $1705

In the cool, cool, cool of the evening

Sunday 14 February 1915

It rained again today. I cleaned silver, which is an easy & profitable thing to do. It so soon shines again. -Diary of Virginia Woolf, vol. 1

Most unlike our contemporary February 14s, I should say, but a pacific & instructive notion. Like hand-washing one's finest in a sudsy, fresh scented tub. Mundane tasks are easily conquered, & don't that feel divine.

jewelry polishing cloths, $5

The answer.

This band looks absolutely pitch-perfect with every single engagement ring we've tested it with. I'm also wild about this band on its own. Ask me how I feel about it with some rose gold, or with an eternity band? I might squeal. Except I'm really not a squealer. But if I was, I would.

Blanca Monros Gomez 8 diamond band, $680 (available in white, rose, yellow gold, made with recycled gold and ethically sourced diamonds)

Guest blogging on ESB.

East Side Bride, (le non plus ultra of cool wedding bloggists?) asked Leigh and I to guest blog. Here is what we (ok mostly Leigh) came up with. It's romantical, don't ya think?

And a little explanation of how it came about.

Cutting Room

"Operating room in Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital."

New York circa 1900

Shorpy, via Me Melodia

Radish

Yeah, so I'll come clean. I haven't actually been to Radish. But, Anne's been, and I stuck my fork in her food, and it was delicious. Their menu looks like perfection- I've got my eye on the picnic lunch for two. You and me? Okay.

Spreken zie deutsch?

I was sent what I will assume is a lovely blog post about our fair burg. She managed to get some great interior shots in our postage stamp sized store.

Ghost Gamblers

Shoulder-grazing feather earrings, decolletage-loving chainworks, and chunks of peridot and garnet rolled in this week from Gather Jewelry of Nevada City, California, onetime home of Lola Montez, birthplace of Joanna Newsom, progenitor of gold rushes & ghost stories.

Father's Day Gift Guide

Dad's Day is right around the corner. While it's mostly too late to order on line, here are some dude-friendly items we have in the store right now. And remember the guy you just had a baby with? Well, he's a dad now too.

1. Old School Stationer's Card (in store)  2. Digby & Iona Tree Trunk Ring  ($170) 3. D.S. & Durga Barbershop Cologne  ($85) 4. Mounted Spider Webs ($33-110) 5. Elizabeth Knight Mink Jaw Necklace  ($148) 6. Whale Scrimshaw Box  ($44) 7. His/Hers/Ours Decanter Sets $98

Catbird Chamber of Commerce

We get asked for brunch suggestions, lunch suggestions, dry-cleaning & tailoring suggestions, manicure suggestions, which stop on the L to live at suggestions. Many, many ways to skin a cat(bird), many ways in which to answer these questions. That being said, one of my favorite places in the neighborhood is the Roebling Tea Room, with their perfect soundtrack & mellow, easy good vibrations.

photographs by Kwannam Chu, We Could Grow Up Together

Wonderful weevils in tweeds & topcoats

Not sure if you've noticed the zoom feature on our website, which allows you to get real up close and personal with our wares. I like zoomin' in on the stuff I see all the time- its like looking at jewels under the loupe, but digital-style. This new beetle brooch from Cloven Hoof is particularly wonderful to zoom in on - check out the face on that guy! I'd like to make him a real mini Digby & Iona moustache necklace. Now that would be one debonair beetle.

Cloven Hoof beetle brooch with peridot, $136

Sew great.

I am hesitating posting this in case it gets picked up by Racked, then the AP, and then this genius mom gets too busy and I will never have a chance to utilize her work.

Andiemarie will take your child's artwork and embroider it onto canvas for you. For $29. Whaaaaat?

Seriously the best gift ever.












 (found via Loeffler Randall's blog.)

Gold & Gunmetal

This past winter we carried Whiting & Davis bags in the store, and online. I unearthed my grandmother's Whiting & Davis bag in my closet at my mother's house, in the original box. Unwrapping the tissue paper I had a gorgeous synchronicity and a cross-cosmos moment with my grandmother, née Gilda May Tandy , the Brooklyn girl with a name that makes me think magnolias and sweet tea. Sweet she.

Tar Beach

This post is brought to you by the letter "ahhhhhh" and the song Mozambique, by the great topical songwriter, Bob Dylan. In lieu of the pool that we might have if we traded our beloved city for the suburbs we all came from, we offer you votive receptacles in swimming pool shades.

Father's Day is June 20th

Card (in store now) by one of my new favorites, Rifle Design. More men's jewelry coming really soon.

Renegade Round Up

So many of the designers at Catbird show at Renegade that I just shmooz my way through the crowds, saying Hi to people I mostly email with. It's loads of fun.

Margaux of Black Spot Books had such an awesome, well thought out booth. And her husband was wearing a leather apron! The book necklaces are back in stock now at the store, soon on line. 

Eva & Kirk of Sycamore Street Press, maxing and relaxing.

Rebekah of Flotsam & Jetsam in her beautiful booth, with her beautiful work.

Clearly Catbird should be carrying these soaps.

Erica Bradbury of Species by the Thousands and her awesome new kids shirts. I got a shark one for one of my littles and it is the new favorite. They will soon be at Catbird.

Jordan from Enormous Champion, and their new Brooklyn onesies which will be at Catbird in a hot minute.

I finally bought myself a crocheted necklace from Wren Handmade, whose booth I always visit.

I got to meet Liza from Morris & Essex whose cards we have carried before and now that she has left her BREATHTAKING house in Argentina and is now in Maine, we will be carrying them again.

Just your garden variety wackadoodle marching band.

Leigh shared a booth with Robin (below) and showed her moody and beautiful Jezebel wares.

Robin from Bittersweets basked in the blazing sun with her bad-ass baby clothes and even badder-ass jewelry.

The Catburglar, revisited.

We were really surprised at the amount of attention this post got. Coverage included Gawker, Daily News, Gothamist, Village Voice, Racked, 1010WINS, (which I really wish I heard) and NY1 read it out of the paper this morning. (New Yorkers -you know what I'm talking about.)

To clarify, these were tiny little lockets in a bowl on a table. A kid could think they were free. He didn't sneak into a case or anything.

Was yesterday an especially slow news day?

Incendiary

A little post I dashed off while waiting for my asparagus, lemons, and tomatoes to broil has quite unintentionally caused a bit of a furor. Tonight, we turn our gaze to things slightly less uproarious than child-rearing and the penal system: matches. Pretty, benign matches.

passion flower matches, $3.50

Meet the staff: update

Emine of Cloven Hoof asked, "What about Teepee?!" So, Teepee answered:

Teepee is a native New Yorker, her favorite design is the Teepee bracelet by Bittersweets, bien sur, she is currently reading Horton Hatches the Egg, she is watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox (her favorite movie), you do not want to know what she is smelling, and her favorite place to eat in Williamsburg is everywhere!

photo: Teepee after a long day at work

The Little Thief

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Or, at least the cost of a $15 locket. Have you seen anything sweeter?

Meet the Staff

Get me the latest P+L report, collated please, grab me a coffee, black, and click here to get to know your local Catbird gals, including our favorite places to eat in the hood, some things we're up to and some staff picks. STAT.