Julia
I was born with a love for jewelry. One Christmas when I was pretty young, I was asked what I would like Santa to bring for me. My mother tells the story of my slurred wish for a hello kitty “georgy” box and how they had so much trouble trying to figure out my request. My father still warns my husband of my younger days, when I would bring my father an ad from the Sunday paper of a diamond ring that I had carefully picked out. There is something magical and sweet about little girls and their love for dressing up and being beautiful. That is what inspired me to make a mother and daughter necklace set for one of my favorite set of girls.
Julia
As I have gotten older, food has evolved into a more and more important part of my life. In Jr. High I would take the money that my father gave me for lunch and purchase an nutty buddy bar, then put the leftover dollar seventy five in a stash that my brothers were sure not to find. Food was just something that kept my stomach from growling, and the more sugar, the more fun to eat. It took a few sarcastically over the top anatomy teachers before I really started thinking about the repercussions of a nutty bar diet.


There is something that is honest and truly lovely about something home cooked. It is something that is treasured by many and should be cherished by everyone. You feel like you know the logistics of the ingredients that are going into the master piece. But do you? I am a fan of full disclosure and transparency of large corporations. I believe that it should be noted on the side of the can, how many times the products were processed, where they came from, if they were “lab-ricated,” what was sprayed on them, how much was sprayed on them, and what they were injected with. But they don’t do that so I have to wonder around the grocery store like a health nut, looking for products that I pre-researched, just hoping that that doesn’t cause cancer too (because everything causes cancer). So where does the blame fall when the food and agriculture industry gets so carried away and greedy? Does it fall on the corporations that are pocketing all of your cash and not selling you the nutrients that you intended to purchase? Does the blame fall on the government because the FDA let the reins get too loose? Or should we blame the consumer, because after all, this is a capitalism driven country? The answer is yes, yes, and yes, with less emphasis on the last yes.

It’s crappy that it has come to this. I mean, how could you not cherish a lovely nutritious bowl of split pea soup, paired with a grilled Muenster sandwich in its entire deserved honor?  With all the love that went into making and eating the food that warms our souls, the same effort should go into growing, raising, preparing, and packaging that food.