Season of change

Me and Joan during my second trip to California.

While summer doesn't technically start until June 21, Memorial Day feels like the beginning of summer. The season brings change for us this year...a whole lot of change. The obvious one is the baby, but there are also changes coming to Gerald & Joan. After next week, Gerald & Joan will become my full-time business again. I'm both excited and nervous about this huge life change.

Working part-time in the nonprofit world over the past year has been great for my confidence (thank you, Common Table Health Alliance!), and the plan is to (re)introduce nonprofit and small business marketing and brand consulting to my services and offerings. I also hope to grow my vintage-inspirated stationery lines and continue offering some preservation services. The key is to figure out my work flow and schedule for the next three months...and then be prepared to throw it all out the window and start from scratch again after the baby comes. This creature of habit is about to get a bunch of lessons in dealing with change, but I recognize that learning to adapt to change is exactly what I need at this point in my life.

As I prepare for the next chapter, I am humbled that I have the opportunity to be building this business from my home-based studio. I am honored that I have family and friends who have supported Gerald & Joan from the beginning. I am blessed to have the most supportive husband in the world. If it wasn't for the seed of Gerald & Joan that was planted in our hearts and minds during our last California vacation in October 2012, I'm not sure we would be where we are today. It set the wheels in motion for a baby and a move to Germantown. It has allowed me to reconnect to my ancestral and career roots. It has given me the greatest gift -- to be fulfilled in my career while also spending precious time with my husband, our pets and our son. 

June marks the official countdown until we meet Baby Hardin, but it also a time of growth for Gerald & Joan.

Stay tuned for lots of changes...they are coming very soon.

Remembering Joan

Ten years ago today, my dear grandma became my guardian angel. Although she has been physically absent from this earth for a third of my life, she has been present in my heart every day for the past ten years. I was fortunate to sit by her side during my last week of summer break before I flew home to start my first semester at the University of Mississippi. Less than 24 hours after my plane landed at Memphis International Airport, I received the dreaded call that she was gone. I made the tear-filled journey to Oxford three days later, and I became friends with my next door neighbor, a person from my adopted hometown who shared my history, values and quirks. It is still hard for me to believe they'll never know each other, because they share so many similar traits. If she could have picked my future husband, she would have chosen Jonathan Hardin. A decade later, the role she plays in our lives is more apparent than ever. Most obvious is the homegrown business that shares her name. Gerald & Joan has forced us to have conversations about our home, family, and children, and it has also allowed us to spend more time focusing on the areas of life that truly matter.

Next week, we'll honor Joan's legacy by putting down roots closer to our families in a home where we'll add millions of beautiful new memories with the people we love. In the heart of our new home is the studio that she and Jonathan's grandfather, Gerald, inspired. The studio will officially open for business on Tuesday, September 10, her 80th birthday, and with it comes everything Jonathan and I dreamed of when we first began discussing the idea of Gerald & Joan.

Thank you for your love and prayers today and every day. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support we've received since we launched Gerald & Joan in February, and we're proud to be starting this next chapter with you.

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Guest Post: Portobello Road in the '70s

Today we welcome our first guest blogger and fellow vintage enthusiast, Kate! Kate hails from East London but moved to the U.S. in 1987 for love. She says she never would have left her family, London or British chocolate for anything less. We hear ya, Kate! Kate says, "I adore treasures from a bygone era. Back in the 1970s, and before it became the tourist destination it is today, I regularly scoured London's Portobello Market for clothes and bric-a-brac from the 1940s and '50s. Portobello Road in the '70s was magical. I wanted to emulate my idol at the time, the 1940s movie star, Rita Hayworth!  I used to walk almost the entire length of the market from Notting Hill Gate to the flyover at Ladbroke Grove. All the best vintage clothes stalls were under the flyover! Back then, most people wanted new clothes, not second hand, so I had my pick of rails and rails, and all were very inexpensive. I especially loved the crepe de chine blouses and embroidered knitwear. I used to pair them with modern skirts from Miss Selfridge! I still have a floral dress and also a cream blouse with a peter pan collar. The blouse has beautiful detailing on the collar and down the front, with lovely, dainty buttons. It was originally from Marks & Spencer and still has a very old 'St. Michael' label sewn in it. It is made from Tricel. Things were made to last back then! I also had a couple of bakelite bangles, now sadly gone. Coincidentally, during the 1960s, my mum worked as a secretary for Bakelite Xylonite Ltd. in the UK!"

Aren't Kate's Portobello Road dresses precious and completely timeless? We'd pair the dress with some neutral wedges and a straw clutch to make the perfect summertime outfit. The blouse would be perfect for the office with a pencil shirt and a summer wedge in a fun color (yellow perhaps?). We might even pull out a Bakelite bangle as our accessory of choice for this one! The possibilities are truly endless! Thank you, Kate, for sharing your vintage goodies and incredible Portobello Road memories with us!

Readers, do you want to share your favorite vintage pieces or family heirlooms on the Gerald & Joan blog? We would love to have you, so shoot us a message to learn more!

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