Today is my birthday. I turned 56. Today was also the birthday of a little girl named Reem Ali Badwan — a birthday she shared with her adoring grandfather, Khaled Nabhan. Reem would have turned four today, but last month, she was killed by an Israeli bomb in southern Gaza. We know her name because…
age
A Festivus (and Activist) Birthday
It was only a few years ago that I realized there was a firm date for Festivus — the anti-holiday holiday popularized by Seinfeld in 1997. Previously, I thought Festivus floated around the Gregorian calendar, Hanukkah style, occasionally landing on my birthday, which is December 23 (today!). Checking the official Festivus website right now, I…
Buy Keith Richards a Birthday Card
I was sorting some laundry today and the date on the back of a t-shirt jumped out at me. I thought, “OMG! Did I see the Rolling Stones exactly 10 years ago today?!” I quickly turned to my #1 source for personal memories — this blog — only to discover that I went to the…
Birthday Celebration at Wendy Brandes Jewelry
Isn’t it perfect that my December 23 birthday coincides with Festivus, which calls for the airing of grievances? I’m sure you have plenty of grievances this year. Click here to air your grievances! Anyway, people always tell me I should lie about my age, but I prefer to be straightforward, so here’s the truth: If…
Wendy Brandes Jewelry X the Style Crone
Just in case you missed her yesterday on the blog (and Instagram and YouTube!) I want to be sure you take a good long look at the new face of Wendy Brandes Jewelry: Judith Boyd, aka the Style Crone. Behold — and click to see the full horizontal image on my website)! In this photo,…
MrB Is the Cat’s Pyjamas, Plus What Wendy Wore
MrB had been asking me for a while what I wanted for my birthday — which was yesterday — as well as the holidays. I kept saying nothing, and that was before we tried to save Purrkoy the kitten’s life last week. After that, I wasn’t in a particularly celebratory mood, and I figured those…
The Weeks in Review, Plus Two Tributes
In case you missed it, here’s what’s been on the blog recently. Tuesday, December 4: The sale I was talking about in this post has come and gone, but I’m very determined to move the last of my silver pieces in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for sale announcements and gifts…
Spacenook and Versace
At the end of last week, I finally felt I’d had enough of Spacenook, the social-media giant that seems intent on ending democracy here and around the world. I was all set to delete my personal account until I realized I needed it for my business and political pages. As if it had felt my…
Wednesday’s Video: Year in Review and a Birthday
After blogging for 10 years, I finally got around to launching my Wendy Brandes Jewelry YouTube channel in April! Here are a few of the year’s most significant videos, including the first one, which was actually recycled from something I’d done for the JCK jewelry trade show in 2016. More entertaining, in my opinion, was…
Back to the ’80s With Jessie’s Girl
I surprised my family by asking to celebrate my big birthday on Saturday with a glamorous 5 p.m. dinner at Bareburger. What can I say? There were two little kids attending, and I enjoy The Standard burger, medium well. In reality, I was just getting warmed up for a midnight show by ’80s cover band…