MERRY CHRISTMAS HO HO HO

Santa Alfie

Photography by Jack Bierschenk

There are many ways of giving.

Consider the gift of time. Say you were single and had
young friends with a child. As a Christmas present, you
might offer to take care of the kid or kids on a particular
evening so parents can go out for a night on the town. Write
down your gift proposal on best card stock paper and
wrap a pretty ribbon around it for maximum effect.

Food, especially sweets like cookies or a loaf of bread, makes
great gifts for young and old alike, more so if the goodies
are baked by you. An earthy soup presented in a tall glass
jar (you can find them at Marshall's for under $10) is sure
to be a welcome present for a workaholic friend, or working
couple. It can be stored in a fridge for a few days to be enjoyed
at the end of a long, post-holiday work day.  It will take
some of your precious time to confection these culinary
delights but think how much more meaningful is a gift
made with your own hands.

Not that there is anything wrong with storebought gifts,
though in this day and age of conscientious consumerism
it would be well to discard anything that smacks as being
profligate or not environmentally friendly.

A comeback for turbans

Recycled goods offer nifty gift options and the store
Len.T.Juela is a good stop over for vintage clothing and accessories. Among the items that caught our attention were colorful turbans (prices range from $12 to $20)
designed by Tahira for her brand Designs LalaLala
and a black vintage leather bag with lucite handles ($35) propped on a back shelf of this delightful store off Loiza St. (come next February, Len.T.Juela is moving to a nearby larger space directly on Loiza St.).

The vintage jewelry section -- notice the way shop owner Valeria Bosch uses a lampshade too show off her selection of decorative pins -- also includes contemporary designs like the pretty hand painted shrink plastic pins, earrings and necklaces handmade 
by London artist Victorija featuring famous personalities like Coco
Chanel and Marilyn Monroe and cute animals, like cats and panda bears.

Handmade brooches by London artist Victorija

You can play with blocks at any age.

At Love Is You And Me (The Concept Store) on Parque St., owner Carolina Leonidas has an unerring knack for finding imaginative products that beguile the senses of sight and touch, like the Balancing (wooden) Blocks produced by the New York-based contemporary design studio of Fort Standard. These blocks ($52) come in white or in colors and are sure to turn any adult or child into an architect or sculptor. Puzzlehead, a ($45) toy by artist Richard McGuire, looks like great fun to play, and CubeBot ($20; $30) is an intriguing puzzle that starts off as a cube and ends with  "a playful personality."

Artist Richard McGuire's Puzzlehead
started out as a doodle.

Len.T.Juela #1820 Jefferson St.
Telephone: 787. 408. 7111   11 am to 6 pm

Love Is You And Me #110 Parque St.
Telephone: 787. 503. 3003   Tue-Sat 11 am to 7 pm

Artwork by Lorraine Blasor

Life begets life.
Energy creates energy.
It is by spending oneself
that one becomes rich.
Sarah Bernhardt

A SIMPLE TIP: A chopping block is probably one of the most
used items in a kitchen and the best way to disinfect it is simply
to use a lemon.

Rub the lemon across the block and let it sit for 10 minutes,
then wipe.

Photography by Juliette Blasor

And at night I love to listen to the stars.
It is like five hundred million
little bells.

"The Little Prince"
Antoine de Saint Exupery

Photography by Juliette Blasor

"You give but little when you give
of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself
that you truly give."

Kahlil Gibran

©2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved

SWAPS, TIPS & a lamp

We forget all too soon the things

 we thought

we could never forget.

 We forget the loves

and the betrayals alike,

 forget what we

whispered and what we screamed, 

forget who we were.

-- Joan Didion

Photography by Denise Blasor

                          

                               TIT FOR TAT

      

Call it barter or trade or swap. 

Exchanging something for something else is popular these days.

Here in Puerto Rico, what with the busted economy and
high unemployment, such exchanges of goods are
gaining ground as a way to save money and as an
alternative to simplify life by getting rid of things one
no longer wants or uses but may be reluctant to consign
to the garbage heap. Swapping is a form of recycling:
you've had something for a while and now you pass it
on for someone else to enjoy.

One way of swapping goods currently in vogue is via

a Facebook group. Starting one is as simple as clicking
the "start a group" option on the Facebook page and
choosing whether you want the group to be open,
closed or secret. You might also include a brief
description of the group with a list of suggested rules
The Puerto Rico Book Exchange, which Isabel
Batteria recently started in San Juan, offers such tips
as don't offer books that are damaged or have loose
pages; follow up on your posts; let the group know
when the books have been sold; no pirating; courtesy
at all times; and  last, but not least, "let's have a good
time!"

Once these details are taken care of, invite like-minded
friends to participate. They, in turn, can ask their friends
and acquaintances to join in.

Next: start swapping away!

Of course, a group purely devoted to swapping is hard
to do since sooner than later people will want to sell
things. That's the case of Recicla, Regala, Recibe
Gratis (Recycle, Give away, Obtain for Free) which
Zoraida Lopez started in March of 2012 to promote
the concept of the giveaway. If there was to be any
selling, it would be secondary and at bargain prices.

Lopez is a familiar sight bicycling around San Juan
while doing deliveries for businesses and private
clients (her company, Bici Resuelve, was featured
in a post published last Sept. 17). She said the
inspiration for Recicla came from the Freecycle network,
a grassroots, nonprofit movement of people who live in
cities around the world and give stuff for free to fellow

citizens.

Giving away stuff is a good way to break that hoarding
habit that causes so many people to cling to
possessions. Lopez said she realized she would never
have enough time to read all her books a second time
around.So why keep them with so many new books
to read?

Similarly, she added, "I have things that I value but
use no longer and I didn't want to give them away to
just anyone." Instead, giving them to friends on
Facebook seemed a more agreable option.

The Recicla group, currently up to 978 members
(the number changes all the time), is pretty active
in terms of daily postings. A lot of the activity
revolves around people exchanging a particular
item for other things like fruit, or plants or
products needed around the house such as

toilet paper or a food processor. Recent postings
have included requests for cement blocks, lint
from washing machines, even dreamcatchers. 

But the site also includes for-sale items although
Lopez encourages the group to keep the lid on
prices.

As she emphasized, "The intention was to create a
freecyle and to interchange and sell second-hand
(though selling is promoted less)."

Mural by Juan Salgado

Let your capital be simplicity and contentment.

Henry David Thoreau

SIMPLE TIPs:
 ✿  ONE way to grow herbs is to use already-cut grocery
store herbs. Just cut off the ends of herbs like basil and
mint, put them in water, and when they start sprouting
roots, plant them in a potting mix.

✰ WANT to save on laundry energy costs? All you
have to do is flip the dial to cold water.

Photography by Denise Blasor

When I clap my hands
they echo with
the summer dawn's moon.

--Matsuo Basho

 ☛ EYE ON PRODUCTS


The jewelry and home accessories currently on sale at
Love Is Your And Me, on Del Parque St., are a study in contrasts.                                        

Filili collection at Love Is You & Me

For example, necklaces created by Luiny Rivera for her Filili
jewelry line juxtapose delicate elements with the strong look of
metal. The simplest ones feature words stamped on small rectangles
of brass hanging from a delicate chain, also of brass. The words
evoke feelings and states of being: suave, rawer, love hurts,
taken, glad all over, never enough ($40).

A sumptuous statement necklace combines leather, brass,
beads, and a semi-precious blue stone. It features a cascade
of brass chains, some ending in little round disks, and a
handsome turquoise pendant ($150).

Rogelio Baez  lamp

The Rogelio Baez lamp on wheels combines rawness
and sophistication. Its striking elliptical design
(the sophisticated element) and exposed wiring (its
raw counterpart) creates a strong visual statement.
Baez is a member of Constructo, an exciting design
collective based in Palmas St. in Santurce, The lamp,
which retails for $1,000, may be modified according to
the taste of the buyer.

Other Baez designs at the store include lovely wood
benches incorporating a small cement planter ($250)
and wooden stools ($55 and $65, depending on size).

LOVE IS YOU & ME
110 Del Parque St. (787) 503.3003

 ©   2013 LORRAINE BLASOR  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

           LOVE IS YOU & ME

Jewelry by Lucia Nieves Cortés

 Handmade things are magical. Even in the 21st century, when the technology of our times pushes the boundaries of the imagination with amazing gadgets like iPhones and iPads and Kindles, the simple grace of the handcrafted holds perennial appeal, especially if the pieces are original and well made. Which perfectly describes the goods sold at a uniquely named store on Del Parque St., off Loiza street in San Juan: Love is You & Me The Concept Store.

Its hand crafted jewelry, clothing and accessories vie for the visitor's attention the moment you step into the airy store decorated with flair and a vivid sense of color by owner Carolina Leonidas Rivera, a statuesque 27-year-old with a broad smile and an easy going manner.  Some of the furnishings, including the dreamy white lace tent that functions as the store's single "fitting room," serve to display the wonders that Rivera chooses with care.

The "fitting room"

"I select things that I fall in love with," says Rivera about her curating process which also takes into account craftsmanship and the impact of a piece; that is, "Does it say anything?" Rivera opened the store in partnership with boyfriend Dante Arroyo. Though once headed to a medical career, Rivera, whose family is in the restaurant business, switched over to marketing, apprenticing the retail business by working in stores and helping to sell the work of artist friends. Two years ago she conceived a pop up store, a type of business that doubles up with a stand-alone store.  Recently, the desire to set down roots led the couple to scout a location around Loiza St., currently undergoing a quiet transformation with new restaurants, bars, boutiques drawing a young crowd to this formerly honky tonk area of the city. Once they found a space, they set about transforming it into their ideal store, doing all the work themselves...with some hands-on help from Arroyo's dad.

The inventory at Love is You & Me offers a broad range of imaginative pieces yet it is small enough not to overwhelm. For sheer drama you can't beat designer Beatriz Lopez' neckwear, multiple loops of long, cotton jersey strips highlighted by a single colored stone. Available in a palette of pale pink, black and white, the loops frame the neck in the manner of a collar (prices: $25 for the short version, $40 for the long). Also on hand are a few samples from Lopez' Consuelo clothing line, built around natural fabrics such as silk and organic cotton. One particularly attractive piece from the line is a girlish white halter dress with an asymmetric flounce cascading across the side. (Consuelo clothing retails between $55 and $300)

A sense of theatricality pervades Luiny Rivera's jewelry line, named Fililí.  Her intriguing necklaces are like architectural pieces which one could choose to wear or, perhaps, hang on a wall like artwork. Combining and juxtaposing different materials such as bronze, stainless steel, stones and fabric, each necklace is put together as if it were scaffolding, creating intriguing geometric shapes highlighted with stones and fabric. A newer collection by Rivera recycles vintage pieces to transform them into showy, rhinestone-studded neckwear. And then there's her fun and playful word necklaces built around favorite Spanish words like "tropical," "suave," and "amor."

Iacoli & McAllister jewelry

Geometry is at the heart of the simple yet elegant bronze jewelry produced by the Seattle-based design team of (Jamie) Iacoli & (Brian) McAllister, whose line of furnishings and house ware Rivera plans to add very soon. One houseware item already available is a strangely shaped bottle opener made out of bronze that is practical tool, fancy artwork, and conversation piece all rolled up into one (price $55). Rivera's lineup of some 20 artists, both from Puerto Rico and off the island, also includes Berlin-based Lucia Nieves Cortés, the creator of eye popping and intriguingly shaped acrylic and silver rings and necklaces. The rings are ideally worn stacked; buy more than one and it gets you a discount: The first ring is $25; the second, $23; the third, $20.

Rounding out the store's offerings are select vintage clothing items and cotton t-shirts decorated with a small pocket in vintage fabric. The whimsical tweaking is the work of none other but Carolina's boyfriend (The line is called El Pocket). The store likewise carries hand painted cards by Hélène Pe, a French artist living in New York; tile coasters by Aslan, the noted Puerto Rican street artist; and CDs and vinyl records by Puerto Rican singer Mima, whose latest music is a mix of Afro Caribbean rhythms, folk and jazz. Love is You & Me offers a truly fresh take on things. Visiting the store is an aesthetic experience of the most enjoyable kind.

Love is You & Me, Condominio Balmoral, 110 Calle del Parque, 787.503.3003

 Hours: Tue - Sat. 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Monday by appointment

Photograph by Denise Blasor

"By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. If it was good you could only fill it by finding something better."-- Ernest Hemingway

A SIMPLE TIP

The tops of Old Fashioned Quaker Oats 18 oz cartons are made out of paper ringed
with plastic and, once you have polished off the oats, make practical lids for half empty cans of cat food, like Friskies. The tops also make convenient, graphic coasters to use under cold or hot drinks.

"Our revels now are ended...We are such stuff
as dreams are made on, and our little life is
 rounded with a sleep."
  William Shakespeare
"The Tempest"

Copyright ©2012 Lorraine Blasor, All Rights Reserved