Feeling Lucky Sale (1/2 Off the Whole Shoppe!)

We have never done a BIG sale before.  Sounded like a fun way to say THANK YOU for a great holiday season.  

Excludes necklace bar.  

See you soon!

Trend I Love: Stripes

Aren't you just loving the stripe trend?  I don't think I will ever get sick of it.  Stripes, stripes, everywhere.  Pants, shirts, dresses.  Love!  

Would you rock these fab pants?

This tunic from Sail to Sable is a keeper.

I have died and gone to stripe heaven.

How cute is this striped dress from Old Navy?  Love it!  (Although, I would pair it with red tights and black boots + the necklace below...)

Stripes pair surprisingly well with big statement necklaces like this one.  

Give it a shot.  You won't be sorry.

I hope the stripe trend is here to stay.  How do you stripe?

What I Wore...

In honor of our colorful theme for Friday Happy Hour this week, I am wearing lots of color.

Pants by J Brand from Anthropologie. Top from Target. Sweater from Betsey Johnson. Shoes from Tory Burch. Jewelry from Bon Lemon.



The Showstopper Hoops are great for evening, but you can wear them during the day too. Especially, with playful color. $24.

Pair with an arm party and a big cocktail ring and you ar set.

Sparkle on.

Friday Happy Hour: 20% Off ALL Rings

Lemon Topaz Ring

Come into the shoppe today (Friday) from 3 'til 6 and receive complimentary bubbly and 20% off all rings.



This kyanite one (handmade in San Fran) is 20% off.



This one with Swarovski crystals is 20% off.



This big, bold, pave flower ring is 20% off.



This crystal, cocktail ring fish is even 20% off!

ALL rings are 20% off. We will see you Friday from 3 'til 6 at the shoppe. 2938 Limited Lane, Suite C-1 Olympia, WA 98502.

Friday Happy Hour

I am currently down in Scottsdale for the month of March. (I know, lucky me!) 6 Par Farmer, my l'amour à vie, typically spends his winters down here. After he braved the rain, snow, and sleet in Washington for the first part of the winter, I agreed to accompany him down here for the last part.

I tend to prefer snow angels to sun bathing (I know, I am a freak.), but my favorite part about being down here is that people like to visit us. The rest of you people prefer 80 degrees and sunny. Weird. My second favorite part about being down here is happy hour. I love happy hour.

But don't think I am just sitting around sipping cocktails by the pool; with the help of my irreplaceable, creative team (read: my mom, dad, sister, and boyfriend), we have been coming up with all sorts of great ideas to spread the Bon Lemon love.



In honor of my favorite pastime, happy hour in Scottsdale, I give you the next best thing: Bon Lemon's Friday Happy Hour. Every Friday from 3 'til 6, we will be serving up champagne, prosecco, cava, or something sparkling (non-alcoholic options too...) along with 20% off a featured collection of Bon Lemon pieces. It might be earrings; it might be Big Buddha; it will certainly be fresh and delicious!



We can't wait to see you at Bon Lemon Friday Happy Hour! Every Friday from 3 'til 6 at the shoppe. 2938 Limited Lane, Suite C-2 in Olympia. Pop in for some sparkling wine. Pop in for something sparkly. Just pop in! It's where all the cool kids are at.

when life gives you lemons... put on something sparkly.

In the Know: Steals and Deals

So, who watches The Today Show? Have you seen Jill's Steals and Deals? (They have some really good stuff on there.) Well, all of Jill's Steals and Deals are available at Hip2Save, not your Grandma's coupon site. Collin hand selects all sorts of good deals and compiles them at Hip2Save

Since we at Bon Lemon love a good deal, this Friday, we are doing a giveaway with Hip2Save. They will be giving away five $50 gift certificates. After Friday, you can enter to win here.

We are super excited to collaborate with this great site. Make sure you throw in your hat to win some Bon Lemon swag.

I Want That: Grayling Magnetism Necklace

I want this necklace. Handmade in Portland by the ever-fabulous Grayling Jewelry. I can't decide... moonstone or black?



We will be getting both in just in time for your holiday parties. Ooo la love. Coming to www.bonlemon.com soon.

Hump Day Half-Off Special: Boho Chic Earrings in Bronze Berry

The Boho Chic Earrings are one of Bon Lemon's best selling earrings. (They were recently featured on La Dolce Vita, a popular blog written by the ever-fashionable Paloma Contreras.)

Today's, Hump Day Half-Off Special is for the Boho Chic Earrings in a great colorway for fall: bronze with berry. These earrings are surprisingly light and comfortable to wear. I find myself wearing mine all... the... time. Chocolate is THE color for fall jewelry. Update your wardrobe the affordable way.

Regularly, $24. Today, only on Facebook, $12.

Nevada City, California Wedding Going

I have friends spread out across this great land. I am in my early 30's which means lots of my friends have either tied the knot or are getting the itch do so. Put these two things together and it equals a booked wedding calendar. This weekend, I am in North San Juan, California, just north of Nevada City, California for the wedding of a high school friend.



I have described this part of the world as the place "where rednecks meet hippies." This wasn't based on a brochure or any factual information, but just my best guess. I have to say, I have been pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the landscape, the friendly people, and the cute shops and restaurants. (There are lots of hippies and rednecks, and lots of yuppies too.)

Today, I arrived in Nevada City in the late afternoon, with just enough time to browse the main drag. Nevada City is filled with the charm of an old mining town turned hippie haunt turned trendy vacation spot. I found it absolutely lovely. I even found a new jewelry designer for Bon Lemon. (This wedding trip is now a tax write off. Woo hoo!)



The local jewelry designer uses cameos produced in Europe with metals, resin, crystals, and stones to create handmade pieces in her Nevada City workshop. They feel vintage and modern all at the same time. Look for these new pieces in the shoppe and online next week. (P.S. The shoppe gal, who was likely in her 70's, was about as fab as you could get. We chatted for at least an hour about hard work, family, and not being too matchy matchy. Loved her!)



As I walked down the streets there was live music playing in the watering holes (filled with patrons), people setting up for tomorrow's farmer's market, a man setting out the sandwich board at a French restaurant, and random hippies playing hacky sack. What else do you need?



I am now in North San Juan getting ready to head to the rehearsal dinner. The sun is shining and there is a light breeze on the deck. Things are more laid back here. The doors aren't locked at the bed and breakfast. Those guests not staying here are camping. And sun dresses and flip flops are the wedding attire du jour. Should be a great contrast to the traditional weddings I know and love. More pictures to come. Come to Nevada City. It is really quite great. (Anywhere with yuppies, hippies, and rednecks is a winner in my book.)

Mexican Winter Collection

I have always loved travelling and finding treasures in unexpected places. One of the best things about Bon Lemon is my ability to pass those finds onto you! After a week in Mexico, I determined I could buy higher quality, less expensive sterling from Thailand, but I was very impressed with the local bead work. So, I found a good sample of bracelets, belts, clutches, and coin purses to bring home to you. All are handmade in a village outside Puerto Vallarta, providing sustainable jobs for local residents. There were a handful of other modern pieces I was drooling over, but they just weren't a good enough value to make the Bon Lemon cut. Sexy and fabulous, but a bit overpriced. The exception were the layered, silk earrings I found. Although, they aren't inexpensive, they are reasonably priced, high quality, and super chic! Bon Lemon in a nutshell :) Here's a little video preview of what we will have for you in January. Come by the shoppe, check us out at a trunk show, or call us to reserve your favorite piece (or pieces :).

Technical difficulties... Video won't load. More pics coming soon!

Grayling Jewelry and Nelle Handbags

We are super excited for two new lines we will be carrying for 2011.

The first is Grayling Jewelry out of Portland. It is drapey, urban, and fabulous. (And the designer is from Montana!) You will love her combination of metal and stones. We can't get enough. Coming in January!

We are also picking up Nelle Handbags. These clutches are great for evening and handmade in Minnesota. A 2008 finalist in the Independent Handbag Designer Awards and available at Henri Bendel in NYC, these bags are both artisan made and tres chic. Our favorite combination! (Thanks to Calliespondence for the recommendation :)

Check out these new pieces at our shoppe or at a trunk show near you.

Lucifer vir Honestus

It is unlikely Bon Lemon will ever venture into the world of fine jewelry. (Well, never say never.) That doesn't mean we don't drool over fine jewelry. Although, I find a lot of fine jewelry quite boring. The value of a wedding ring has become strictly based on the carat weight, not the artistic design of the piece you will wear for the rest for your life. Overpriced sterling designers outsell artisans 100 to 1. And with the recession, the major department store have cut out the small emerging artists that are seen as a risk to make room for more of the mass produced, well known stuff they know will sell. The little guy doesn't stand a chance. But I'll keep screaming their names from the rooftops. Well, the rooftop of my blog anyway. :)

There are a number of places bucking the trend. Twist, www.twistonline.com, is a Northwest company that started in Oregon and now has stores in Portland and Seattle. They carry an amazing selection of both fine and costume jewelry made by artisans. Ylang23, www.ylang23.com, is the Texas equivalent. They have an amazing selection of pieces from all over the world. (You might think it is weird for a jewelry store to be blogging about other jewelry stores, but I believe an educated consumer is the best customer. If you are looking for a wedding ring, you will go to Twist or Ylang 23. If you are looking for fun, fashion jewelry, you might look at those two places, but you will shop with Bon Lemon, because our collection is a much better value. At least I think so.)

Anyway... my current favorite fine jewelry designer is Lucifer Vir Honestus. Lucifer Vir Honestus was founded in 1998 by Luna Scamuzzi and Paolo Mandelli. This Milanese "maison" shares its name with the first jewelry designer in medieval times. Their pieces are organic, urban, and sooooo unique. Check them out at www.ylang23.com.

I'm drooling as I type.

Favorite Customers

We know mom said, "Don't pick favorites." And we know we should love all of our customers equally. But the truth is, we do do have a favorite.

Bon Lemon loves young ladies. We have a young ladies section of jewelry with all sorts of baubles designed just for them. We offer 50% one item for kids under 12 who are using their own money. (To encourage saving.) We hope to continue to expand our young ladies section, because, shh... don't tell anyone, the young ladies are our favorite customers.

The two blond beauties in the photographs modeled at least 18 Bon Lemon pieces at once from pearls to strawberry necklaces to scarves at a trunk show in Billings last week. At our trunk show last night, a first grader came to the check out area to purchase a red sequin hair bow and a strawberry necklace. She brought her own money she had been saving from her birthday. She received 50% off her hair bow, learned about how the government charges you a little more in tax and ran off to enjoy her new goodies.

My favorite young lady purchase was not a young lady at all; it was a young man. This young man was quiet and shy. He came to me in secret and said he wanted to buy a necklace for his mom (who was hosting the party). I asked if it would be a Christmas present. "No," he replied. "Just because." (My heart was melting at this point.) He surprised his mother with the necklace along with a card he had working on all evening. (Again, I was melting. Along with all of the other ladies in attendance.)

We love all of our customers, but there is nothing like pigtails running around with seven necklaces on or a young boy who loves his mother to make you feel good about what you are doing. Thanks to all of our favorite customers out there. We hope to meet more of you soon! (And more kids stuff has just arrived. Woo hoo!)

Animal Cocktail Ring Mania

The whole process of taking photographs, sizing the photographs, writing a description, and uploading all of that to our website has taken much longer than expected. We apologize for the delay in getting all of our great items on the world wide web. We're working on it...

Our delays are not without progress. We have a ton of cocktail rings (our signature item) on the website now for your viewing pleasure. Today, we would like to show you a few inspired by the animal kingdom. I mean, who doesn't need a little froggy hanging out on your middle finger?

Leah Saulnier

Today, another post about something completely unrelated to jewelry and accessories. Well. It is an accessory for your house. So maybe I am not so far afield. That is what I will tell myself :)

I stumbled upon Leah Saulnier, The Painting Maniac (as she calls herself), while searching for accessory talent on Etsy. A side note: there are soooo many amazingly talented people on Etsy. I have picked up new designers for Bon Lemon's line. Found cool display racks. And stumbled upon some fabulous art. I heart Etsy.

Leah Saulnier's art is characterized as surrealist. Surrealism is defined as: works that feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works being an artifact. (My love of social/political debate might explain my interest in surrealism.)

I have never had a sophisticated enough eye or paid enough attention to know what defines good art. Some "good" art looks like crap to me. And some things I see on street corners look like masterpieces. I have always known what I like. (Imagine that...) And Leah Saulnier, I like.

She is working on a farmer painting currently, which especially interested me, because of my favorite 6 Par Farmer. It is coming along nicely and I can't wait to see the finished product. These are three of my favorites: Fetish Nightmare, Playtime in 2050, and Her Wandering Eye

Website

A website, is not a website, without things to look at. I have put quite a few items on the site, but now it is time for the second push. I am getting a late start, as I woke with a migraine this morning. Does anyone know how to get rid of those darn things?

But after a slow start, I am on the scene. And this week will be dedicated to getting things on the website, so people can shop without getting dressed. (Fabulous!) You will soon see many more of our signature item: cocktail rings! Many more scarves, earrings, necklaces, hair accessories, and bracelets. Our branded stuff is coming in for fall and that will soon be uploaded as well.

www.bonlemon.com will soon be easier to shop for everyone and everyone on your list.

Saturday

Do bloggers post 7 days a week? Or just on weekdays? Since I wasn't sure, and I am oh so committed to being a good little blogger, here I am. On Saturday.

The Proprietress (That's me. I like to talk in the third person.), J.Crew Logger, and Petite Poppy (I love coming up with pseudonyms) are headed to a wedding at the Kiana Lodge. Should be a beautiful day for it. The Proprietress and Petite Poppy will have to decide which Bon Lemon baubles are best for today's occasion. The Proprietress is thinking about 18k vermeil nugget earrings, a stingray cuff, and an anemone cocktail ring. Not sure what Petite Poppy has in mind, but I am sure it will be fabulous.

I think I will take Sunday off for the sabbath. I'll be back Monday. I'm sure I will have something profound to write about. Until then, remember, when life gives you lemons...put on something sparkly.

Driving

This is me in a driving coma. Not so pretty... But blog readers like photos, so good or bad, here you go. This is me being a good little blogger. This is an unattractive photo and a rambling example of poor writing, but it is my daily blog entry, as I have promised the hundreds of thousands of anxious followers who read Bon Lemon's blog. I love you all.

After spending the last couple of weeks touring the great state of Montana (Olympia to Whitefish, Whitefish to Great Falls, Great Falls to Billings, Billings to Great Falls, Great Falls to Ledger, Ledger to Great Falls, Great Falls to Missoula, and Missoula to Olympia), I am home. Sometimes I wonder how my health is affected by all of this driving (p.s., I can't spell affect or effect, so I just use them interchangeably, even though I know there is a proper spelling, but currently, I don't feel like googling which one I am supposed to use in this instance as I do every time I use the words, because it just won't seem to stay in my pea brain, so I will just tell you it has a 50% chance of being wrong. Sorry 9th grade English teacher. I have failed you.)

Anywho, how does driving a/effect your health? Or rather, how do we a/effect our health while driving? Clearly, sitting in one position for 12 hours cant be recommended by any PHD, MD, DO, DC, ESQ, etc. But what about what we do to ourselves while driving. Am I the only one who eats junk food while driving? A nation of truck drivers would indicate no.

I feel myself getting soft, but I also crave beef sticks (Oh Boy! Oberto Cocktail Pep beef sticks to be exact) and Orange Crush. Sometimes it is Corn Nuts and Big Hunks. Sometimes Subway, but more often McDonald's sundaes. How can you simultaneously feel your muscle tone decreasing and body fat increasing, while desiring corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils? It is really quite disgusting if you think about it. Today, combined with a whole lot of other deep thoughts I needn't be thinking about, I was thinking about the negative a/effects said food consumption has on your body. And I was trying to be better.

So here I sit. At 10PM Pacific Time. In my cozy bungalow. Reflecting on my usual driving habits, and wondering if I may be turning over a new leaf. I am eating instant miso soup and Dave's Killer Bread with Kerrygold Irish Butter (which is so good if you haven't tried it). The only thing I bought at the two gas stations I stopped at was a 40,000 oz iced tea (unsweetened). I stopped in Coeur d Alene and ate a sensible lunch with a friend, which is totally against my only-stop-to-get-gas-not-even-if-you-have-to-pee-so-what-about-getting-a-bladder-infection driving style.

Maybe I am turning over a new leaf. Maybe tomorrow I will go on a 12 mile run to counteract the 96 hours I have spent sitting in the car in the last two weeks. Maybe I will eat brown rice and chicken breasts and I won't have to worry about the negative a/effects driving has on our health, because I will be such a specimen of health, there will be nothing to question. (Maybe I will stop using parentheses in my blog entries.) Let's be realistic, today is an isolated effort. (Oh, and I did forget about the Snickers I bought to go along with my iced tea. Oopsie.) Beef sticks, I have not abandoned you. Turn my body to mush, but I will not forsake you. Big Hunk, it won't be long, and we shall meet again.

So much for my questions about the a/effects of driving on the body. Turns out, it is not driving, it is just me that is bad for my body. I am off to bed. I have heard it is beneficial to rest directly after consuming carbohydrates. Nighty night.

Trunk show in Missoula

It is a sunny day in Missoula, and I am preparing for a fun trunk show at a fabulous friend's house. I am trying to speed up my set up time, but I swear it takes at least three hours. Yikes! I can see why the other trunk show companies only do catalogs. But what fun would that be. We are all for instant gratification around here. At least when it comes to cocktail rings and cozy scarves.

Hope to see you at a trunk show soon! So much fun stuff coming in for fall!

The Furry Friend Contest

What is more fun than giving things away? (I think I was meant to be a philanthropist. Give Bon Lemon a couple of years.)

We are having another contest: The Furry Friend Contest. Like most of our contests, this one relates to our mantra,

"when life gives you lemons... make lemonade."

The Furry Friend Contest will run from Wednesday, September 22 through Wednesday, September 29. All you have to do is tell us how your furry friend (dog, ferret, rabbit, horse... overly hairy men do not count) has helped you make lemonade. It could be anything from saving your life to licking your feet. Post it on our Facebook page for all the world to see. (Actually, we have less than 300 friends, so you will only be exposing yourself to the equivalent of a high school graduating class. Or the number of people in the US who still own a Hypercolor shirt. Those were so cool!)

An example of The Furry Friend Contest entry:
When I am having a bad day, and I take Dolce Vita Evans for a walk, I get great pleasure seeing the joy he experiences from running around outside. I watch him as he devises the perfect position to pee on the exact leaf of a bush he has his eye on. I envy the enjoyment he feels from breathing air. I learn from his enthusiasm for everything he encounters. Although, sometimes it takes a dog peeing on a bush to remind me, no matter how many lemons come my way, there is always lemonade to be had.

So share your story with us. Tell us how your furry friend has helped you make lemonade. The sappier the better. The winner, as determined by Dolce Vita Evans, the Bon Lemon proprietress, and our board of directors (so really just me), will receive this bunny friendly scarf made from buttery soft angora valued at $48! You can pick black, white or caramel.

Give your furry friend a scratch from Bon Lemon.

P.S. we are on the hunt for Bon Lemon dog collars, but haven't found the right ones. If you have suggestions, we would love to hear them.