decorating sugar cooking for Valentine’s with my mom aka Jane aka Gigi (to my boys). I grew up making this same recipe -ripped out of a holiday edition of Martha Stewart magazine - with my mom, so it was really special to do it for the first time with my boys.

my mom sent a pink ruby that she purchased from a legendary stone dealer to our longtime NYC jeweler, but just like the adage that the shoemaker’s kids always go barefoot, we don’t prioritize our personal projects. So this stone had in fact been sent a couple of years ago, and when the completed ring arrived from our shop at the end of January, my mom was quite surprised! I instantly fell in love with it and later that day she spontaneously gifted it to me! My mom’s birthstone is ruby, so it’s extra sentimental.

I finally had a chance to use the Bob Ross bandaids a bestie had given me, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-10 years ago, lol. “There are no mistakes, only happy accidents,” is a piece of wisdom I will always cherish from Bob.
we have a butterfly conservatory near by and LOOK AT THIS OWL EYE BUTTERFLY. Mother Nature blows my mind.

I took my husband to a rage room for his birthday 😂 The state of the world + parenting a 3 and 5 year old = a whole lotta steam to let off. If you haven’t yet visited one of these facilities where you pay to smash things to bits, 10/10 recommend.

one of my mom’s high school classmates shared an album full of absolute gems. how cute is teenage Jane?!
my mom and I are going to be included in a book that comes out next year about dynamic duos and family businesses in the jewelry industry!!! it was very gratifying to dig through the JTJ history records and unearth important memories… this is a ring that my mom got her dad to purchase at an antique fair when she was around 8.

I am enamored with this weeping willow that’s behind our office building. It’s my seasonal bell weather and I can’t wait for it to fill up with little green buds!

did you know that Jane is an avid home chef and baker? our original blog from 2010-2014 is chock full of our recipes, but sadly it seems that our Wordpress account no longer exists, so I am going to have to re-type up all our old posts 😅
my husband sent my mom & I surprise Valentine’s flowers at the office, he’s a good egg.
my mom’s handsome devil of a cat, Smokey
and one of her dogs, Ruby.

moments of joy

times, they are a changing…