I’m readying all things cozy at the studio as the winter darkness pulls close around us. A time of year for creature comforts, beautiful scents and rituals to buoy the spirit.

Besides the Autumn poets sing,

A few prosaic days

A little this side of the snow

And that side of the Haze -

- Emily Dickinson -

A month of very little rain. I’ve been trying to care for our perennial plants as best I can at the garden these past few weeks, in the hope that they will not be damaged from the stress. As things quiet a bit in the garden, they become more lively in the studio as I prepare for the bustling months ahead.

This month has been truly lovely in the garden, a spacious respite from the heat of summer. I’ve been very busy in the studio, releasing our botanical perfume, TILTH, and sending lots of treats out to our wonderful shop partners across the country.

At any given moment, there are usually dozens of drafts of various projects around the studio. Experimental aromatic tinctures infusing quietly in their jars, perhaps a box full of ten different tiny vials exploring a minute difference in the concentration of a formula.

We are here in the thick of one of the hottest summers I can remember in New York City. The world is on fire in most other ways, too…

A week of sticky heat has finally given way to one breezy day of respite. The garden grows by leaps and bounds as we slide past the year’s longest day.

Rose season begins again. Long the inspiration for so much of my work, this time of year brings with it a very special magic.

The month of cherry blossoms. Harvested just before the buds are fully open, brined in salt, soaked in ume plum vinegar and placed carefully on trays to dry, and then packed in salt. A spring ritual for the ages…

I can hardly remember a rainier, windier March. It’s been the perfect month to release a fresh batch of the rains, a botanical perfume based on mitti attar, a co-distillation of earthen clay and sandalwood that evokes the scent of rain on earth.

This month brings with it the celebrations fo the Lunar New Year outside our studio doors in Chinatown & the Lower East Side. Flowering quince branches and bundles of colorful carnations fill the shops, as family and friends reunite for the festivities…

As I shared in a recent newsletter, I’ve felt called to spend less time in social media spaces at the moment. Definitely not swearing off of them entirely, but really wanting to put far less energy towards trying to be seen in places where the deck is very much stacked against tiny businesses like this one…