(Please forgive me, the photo of The Great Gatsby cover is not loading.Imagine it as you read.)

Give in to the sirens of summer that call you to give in to pleasure and fun. 

     The few months that fall between the last frost of spring and the first leaf turning from vibrant green to rust colored orange hold a sense of endless opportunity inspired by the energetic wonder the season inspires.

     I’m talking, of course, about June, July and August. The summer always seems to invigorate, making us intoxicated with its sweet perfumes and lullabies of natural songs and foggy headed from its heat. It’s a carefree time when everything moves slower. Rushing from one place to another doesn’t seem as important as it does in during other months. Colors are bright. Senses are heightened. Dispositions are more pleasant. And people’s minds burst with creativity and excitement like a hydrangea bush bursting with blooms.  

     Maybe we feel inclined to live at a slower pace in the summer because the daylight hours are longer, and it seems like there is so much more time in the day. It’s also warmer, and frantically running about in the heat isn’t nearly as enticing as lounging at home with the summer sun creeping through the window, tickling your arm as you sip on lemonade and read your favorite book. 

With the lure of summer creeping into my mind, I’m always reminded of this passage from The Great Gatsby: 

“Slenderly, languidly, their hands set lightly on their hips the two young women preceded us out into a rosy-colored porch open toward the sunset where four candles flickered on the table in the diminished wind.

'Why candles?' objected Daisy frowning. She snapped them out with her fingers. 'In two weeks it’ll be the longest day in the year.' She looked at us all radiantly. 'Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.'

'We ought to plan something,' yawned Miss Baker, sitting down at the table as if she were getting into bed.

'All right,' said Daisy. 'What’ll we plan?' She turned to me helplessly. 'What do people plan?'(16)." 

     It’s always been a thrilling idea to me to celebrate the longest day of the year. Why not have a relaxing (keeping with the theme of languid summer) celebration to honor the height of this care-free season? Like Daisy, it always seems to sneak up and be gone before there is ever time to plan something, but not this year. This year, the longest day of the year is Tuesday, June 21. Though everyone is busy during the week there’s no reason why we can’t all celebrate in the evening (the sun will still be up!), all day, or at least the following weekend. This year, we all owe it to ourselves, the season, and to Daisy, to celebrate the season that changes people’s emotions and way of life like no other time of the year. Plus, isn’t the longest day of the year more exciting than the shortest? 

In the next post we will discuss ideas on what to serve, how to decorate, what to wear, and what to do.

Do any of you have ideas on how to celebrate, or comments to share?

 Have some fun,

Gabby

The quote above is from:

 Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1995 ed. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, Simon & Schuster, 1925. Print.

Plant-It 2020 is a non-profit organization that plants trees across the world in areas where they will not be harvested. Last year, as part of our continual efforts to give back to communities across the world, Gabby partnered with the organization. For every product Gabby sales, a tree will be planted through Plant-It 2020.

The organization also funds a cooking stove initiative that provides fuel-efficient stoves in countries in Central America. Providing educational services for teachers and communities on how to be more conscientious of the environment, and how to improve the world around is also another way in which Plant-It 2020 reaches out to communities world-wide.

Partnering with this innovative organization helps us in our mission to have a positive impact on the world around us-from inside to outside-it is valuable to us that Gabby maintain a healthy presence in the environment. We feel that protecting the natural environment is an important initiative not only because we all need to keep our world beautiful and healthy, but the environment provides inspiration for every creative spirit, including all of us at Gabby.  

Plant-It 2020 was thoughtful enough to list us on their website, and we would like to thank them for allowing us to work with them.

We also use recycled wood (products made from recycled wood have a recycle symbol by them), re-imagine antiques to make them useful for today's world (find those in our Unique Finds section), and use recycled paper for our catalogs. 

Antique reproductions are commonplace in the furniture market these days. Manufacturers seek out unique pieces of furniture to replicate, bringing them to market to show their "copies." This is not a very novel concept.

At Gabby, we are constantly striving to change the way our customers think about furniture. Yes, we are often inspired by antique or found pieces but we like to go one step further. We often add materials such as antique mirror, iron accents, fabric, giving our products unique details that separate them from the masses.

Take the Kate Linen Table for example. We found a unique circular table in an antique shop. We decided to put linen fabric on the top. We modified the design of the base and used recycled wood. Add a glass top and nailhead accents and you now have a Gabby creation. Click below to view the Kate Linen Table.

http://gabbyhome.com/Store/20329/Occasional-Tableskate/196945/Kate-Linen-Table

The new Gabby Catalog releases at the beginning of December. Dealers and designers alike will find a variety of new, unique pieces to select from as the collection continues to grow and expance into new categories.

Look for new chandeliers, sunbrella and linen slipcovers, mirrors, candleholders, other accessory items, and of course European inspired home furnishings.

Contact customer service for more information at (205) 987-3100.