Dear valuable creatures

We visited the lovely U and G, and their ba-aad black cat, to view some of the jewelry that will soon be available in Magpie. Lapis lazuli, picture jasper, freshwater pearls, jade, carnelian, pyrite, diamond, gold, silver; earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings. I can't tell the full story (nor the full credentials of U and G) until the reveal is imminent, which should be soon. Meanwhile, Magpie is already full of lapidary and lustrous delights, so come by or "Come Buy" as the goblins sing in Christina Rossetti's poem, "Goblin Market." We want to see you walk in and hear you say:

This room is full of jewels as a mine,--
Dear valuable creatures, how ye shine!
Sometime to-day I must contrive a minute,
If Mercury propitiously incline,
To examine his scutoire, and see what's in it,
For of superfluous diamonds I as well may thin it.

Yes, if you come in quoting this joking piece of Keats, and get all six lines right, free 2" ceramic magnet?

Yesterday, during the sad quiet of Cornell's Spring Break, we had a Welcome Day open house at Magpie. Only after did it occur to me that we'd in fact thrown a decent party--all thanks to the friends and artists who stopped by and hung out. Despite the prevalence of magpies, no decorations were stolen, only sold: ach, it happens. In the photo, l. to r., Frank Muller, Ursula Richards, Jean Callahan. In the background, off in their own worlds, Proust's Odette de Crecy recreated in paint by the amazing David Richardson of Laguna Beach and imprinted on tile, and a tile mural of Tamara de Lempicka's art deco classic Printemps. Spring!