Happy Hanukkah! AuH2O (Goldwater) is a Jewish last name, but heck yeah I have a Christmas tree
December 19, 2008 | Filed Under Eco-Fashion, Environment, Feminism, Online Store | No Comments
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!






















