Happy Hanukkah! AuH2O (Goldwater) is a Jewish last name, but heck yeah I have a Christmas tree

Soooo, Hanukkah* is just a few days away, and for those of you who haven’t gotten your holiday presents yet and don’t like to go out shopping in the cold, you can always check the AuH2O online store: www.auh2odesigns.etsy.com. We’re in a recession, so all of the items at the AuH2O online store are eco-friendly AND reasonably priced. There’s a bunch of vintage jewelry for between $12-$28 (including some pretty awesome pirate figure earrings,) Obama earrings for only $7 and Obama tops for $20, among other AuH2O items. Plus, I can ship it directly to your friends and family so you don’t even have to move.

Also, if you know someone who really likes the store but you don’t trust your own taste, I’m offering gift certificates in whatever amount you’d like. $20, $50, etc. You can either email me the person’s name and address and I’ll paypal you an invoice and ship it out to them, or you can buy one directly on the online store. Here’s a photo so you can see how they’re actually kind of pretty- for a gift certificate. They’re made from vintage/unwanted cards and fabric scraps and trim:

Front (outside of the card)

Inside of the card (I can write your message in the blank space)

*AuH2O (Goldwater) is clearly a Jewish last name- a last name that I gave to myself actually- so I’m obviously celebrating Hanukkah this holiday season. I legally changed my name when I was 18 from my father’s last name to my mother’s, and altered my first name while i was at it: Katherine Crosse to Kate Goldwater. I just didn’t see why society made us have to have our father’s last name over our mother’s and I wasn’t going to abide by any patriarchal traditions. I’ve always been Jewish, but especially since I changed my name to the slightly-more-Jewish-sounding one (what kind of last name is “Crosse” for a Jewish girl, anyway?) I’ve felt a little more connected to Judaism and Jewish holidays. This is not to say I’m religious- the only thing I do religiously is read Feministe every day, but I light the candles and I eat Hanukkah gelt and potato latkes. Though I’ll be honest, I got a little taste of Christmas recently when my friend surprised me at my store with a Christmas tree, and Jesus Christ (no pun intended, okay, totally intended) it’s fun. I was originally opposed to Christmas trees, not because I’m Jewish, but because I think it’s probably bad for the environment to breed trees just to cut them down, use them for a few weeks then throw them out. Well, I got over that because man, hanging lights and ornaments and eating candy canes every day is GREAT. Though I DID add my menorah to the display, of course.

Thanks Ann for the ornaments and the “tinsel” (a new word I learned)

This is a shot of my Christmas-ed out store by my photographer friend Ann Sanfedele taken from across the street. See it on her smugmug site as well.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Since I’m such a HUGE Mets Fan…

I made a few dresses out of old Mets t-shirts for my Fashion Show/Block Party August 3rd. After I put up my show photos on my flickr site, a pretty awesome Mets blog, Brooklyn Met Fan, linked to some of my Mets dresses. Then, the nice people over at SNY, the channel the Mets games are on, saw the photos and asked if I’d put together a little feature and fashion show on the Mets dresses for Mets Weekly. Mets Weekly is the official magazine program for the New York Mets, it airs every Saturday on SNY. Obviously I said of course, they came down to the store, filmed a fashion show and interview, and are airing it this Saturday at 12:30. Watch AuH2O models Alana Corbett, Helen Frank, Sarah Hyde, Lauren Lewis and Annie Soderstrom, and me on Channel SNY, 26, on Saturday August 23 at 12:30pm, right before the Mets game at 1:00. Pretty, pretty, pretty exciting. Here’s some photos for a little preview:

Everyone in the shop before the shoot- Sarah, Annie, me, Alana, Helen, Lauren

explaining Lauren Lewis’s outfit

Annie Soderstrom’s outfit- Carlos Beltram t-shirt

Alana Corbett

Sarah Hyde

Helen Frank and me, doing some serious consideration

Everyone at the end of the shoot: “Let’s go Mets!”

To see ALL the pictures from the shoot, check the flickr site. Or, if you prefer Facebook, check out this album when you’re logged in. And if you’re in New York, be sure to watch Saturday at 12:30pm! Or, even better, DVR it for me since I’m going to be in Vegas, then Denver for the Democratic Convention. I figured that AuH2O for Obama took precedence over AuH2O for the Mets. But I’m still sad I won’t get to see it on TV. Also, here’s pictures from the Block Party of Lindsey Blank and Erica Swallow in AuH2O for the Mets:

Lindsey Blank, Final Season at Shea dress, photography by Martha Burzysnki

Lindsey Blank on the runway in Final Season at Shea dress, photography by Martha Burzysnki

Erica Swallow on the runway in a Carlos Beltram t-shirt dress, photography by Martha Burzysnki

The two dresses from the Block Party have already sold, and the one I’m wearing isn’t for sale yet- I’m holding onto that one for a little while. But the other dresses are between $45 and $60, available at AuH2O. Oh, and a lot of people have asked me about my Adidas Samba heels I’m wearing in these photos. No, I didn’t make them. I designed them and had them made out of my old Sambas and a pair of heels- completely recycled and even pretty comfortable for four inch heels. They’re the most expensive article of clothing (or shoes, whatever) that i own- $120, I love them to death, and they’re not for sale. Sorrrrrry.

UPDATE! My friend uploaded the video to youtube, so you can now watch it! Check it out on my youtube channel or view it below: