dolma jewelry

Mrs. Julie Smith wearing dolma’s New Gaza necklace for her wedding day. What a beautiful bride!

Melanie Pink, owner of Le Bonne Fleur, is a fellow featured vendor at Bridal Bar Atlanta.

For her wedding day, she used lots of Bridal Bar, Atlanta-based vendors like David Murray Wedding, Paper Daisies, and dolma! Not only did she wear our Uptown necklace for the ceremony and reception-but we caught her wearing it the whole weekend!

Check out her beautiful destination wedding! And, if you’re wondering “Who Designs the Designers Flowers?” Read Melanie’s blog.

I’ve been following my favorite new singer songwriter this summer, Sahara Smith. Check out her recent write-up as “Must Do of the Month” in GLAMOUR magazine! (I knew I had good taste.)

If you haven’t had a chance to check out her latest compositions… what are you doing still reading this? Go here.

Not only do I love her music, but I love what she stands for. A young, talented female… with gumption! That’s what it takes-the perfect combination of passion, talent and drive… and Sahara’s been at it since she was 12 years old! A modern-day Beethoven? Well, I’m certainly not qualified to say. But in celebration of her fancy new real estate, use coupon code S.S.GLAMOUR to recieve 10% off your entire purchase through the end of July!

This month's GLAMOUR magazine cover!

Sahara Smith, featured artist!

Ashley

Under international scrutiny for years, The Chinese Central Bank announced on Monday that they would no longer hold their currency at a fixed, undervalued rate. However, the Renminbi (RMB) is expected to rise slowly and gently against the dollar.

This is great news for USA-made products, as experts expect the appreciation of the RMB to allow for more expensive, comparable goods made domestically to be more competitive. However, it may be bad news for importers (like me) here in the US-as our costs are likely to rise.

My take on the currency situation possibly incongruent with my own self interest. As a student of Economics, I believe wholeheartedly that the market should determine the prices we set for our products-so if it means that my costs will rise, that’s just going to be one more hurdle to overcome.

And as with any global issue, there are many more facets we’ll need to consider-for instance, the decline of the Euro may cause Chinese pricing to fall, or perhaps the value of the dollar will rise…

More to come on my take on this topic.

Ashley

This Saturday, I drove about 30 minutes south of the Atlanta airport to farm country. Endless stretches of flat land and a 4-lane divided highway: I couldn’t believe that just south of the busiest airport in the world, one could find such quietude.

I spent the day with farm owner Nancy Boe, Elegant Attic co-owner Nora Macarro, and a few of their friends; picking blueberries. Unfortunately for those hoping for a simple, peaceful berry picking experience… my brain, which I cannot turn off, was racing 100 miles a minute-and I flooded Nancy with blueberry questions. Thus, I learned a lot about blueberries, and thought I’d pass the info along:

1. Bigger is better. No surprise there. I’ll spare you the conversations that followed that factoid.

2. You should not wash blueberries. The water makes them soggy.  If they’re the store bought, non-organic kind (I’ve become quite the snob) you can wash them the second before you eat them, but not a second sooner!

3. Bees like blueberries, so if you are deathly allergic to them, (like me), it is rude to show up in shorts and a t-shirt, with no antihistamine and an expired epipen in your car. It makes people very nervous.

4. There are different species of blueberries, and they taste different! The Boes grow 3 different species, and each species is grown in its own row. When I announced my preferred species, Nancy mentioned that Aria-an Atlantan restaurant that tops the charts in food, service and ambiance-was currently serving that blueberry in the restaurant. Coincidentally, I had been to Aria 2 days before, and ordered a toasted lemon pound cake with blueberries for dessert! So, I was eating the same blueberries on Thursday night as I was on Saturday. Such a small world.

Some other things I learned about Foxbrier: it houses rescue horses (some who have gained 300 pounds since living at FoxBrier).

And, one more thing… as for running the blueberry business… the Boes daughter, Kirstin, is in charge! She’s in college, and works on the blueberry farm during the summer, running the entire operation. Oh! Remember Sweetwater’s most recent, seasonal winter ale? Well, the blueberries they used for that beer came from Foxbrier!

Ashley

News anchor Brenda Wood was honored by dolma’s favorite charity, Beauty Becomes You, last month at the annual Elegant Ladies Hat Luncheon. Brenda was given dolma’s “Generations” necklace, now coined by BBYF as their signature piece. Brenda wore the necklace that evening at the 7:00 news.

The generations necklace can be viewed and purchased after 5/25/2010 at www.dolmapearl.com

Pre-order your generations necklace by emailing info@dolmapearl.com

Ashley

Jess Godwin sports dolma pearls in her album shoot for her new CD: “Almost Funny”. Check out her alternative pop tunes.

As we mentioned months ago, dolma’s Connecticut stylist, Katie Gojkovich, has committed to run the Rock and Roll San Diego Marathon.

We wanted to update you on her progress: she just ran 16 miles! That’s right. 16. She’s halfway through her training! And she’s not only running for herself-but for a cure! She’s already raised over $1,600… which is over HALF of her goal of $2900… is she just so incredible or what? Truly an inspiration… especially for someone like me who’s personal goals today include thinking about going to the gym. If I do get there, I’ll shoot for 45 minutes on the eliptical.

To see more about the good things Katie’s doing for herself and others, head to her page.

We’re behind you every step, Katie-figuratively speaking of course! You are truly accomplishing something that very few have the gusto to attempt.

Ashley

Engaged? Want to go to the next Engagement party? http://www.theengagementpartyatl.com/

Photography courtesy of David Christensen Photography http://www.dhcphoto.com/