You Get-sy is a project I started to share the things I like — a way to connect good people to good people and share the love. Because this project is very much a work in progress, please feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you liked, what you’d love more of, what you recommend, or just a bit about yourself.
August has come to be one of my favorite months, even with sweltering sticky heat and the potential for wildfire smoke. For me in Montana, it is a month of slowing down before the chaos of the school year begins. It is long summer days, lingering sunsets, swimming holes, juicy tomatoes, and warm skin. August is an exhale, a time to savor the final hot days, eat stonefruit, cut dahlias from the garden, and linger over a glass of wine in the waning daylight hours. This August felt particularly sweet with my preschooler in tow- camping, rafting, doing art in the backyard, swimming, visiting Lake Michigan, going to the fair with friends, and biking around town. I hope you found some of this sweetness in your August, too, in spite of the heat, elections, world news, and school years starting anew.
Today I hope you enjoy reading and learning about Mairin and Casey, two Montana creatives I’m super excited about, and I’ve also linked to my new secondhand clothing account at the end.
Earlier this summer Kelsey at the iivy (a community for resource sharing and connection among women across the globe) profiled me for her site. You can read a bit more about me and some of my thoughts on motherhood and recommendations right here. Thanks for having me, Kelsey!
[You Get-sy] End of Summer Recs
Warm Woolens
I love that the waning summer days and less intense sun lend themselves to wearing transitional summer/fall clothes in the cooler mornings and evenings. My ideal outfit is a pair of shorts and a sweater- it is wam enough outside that I can wear shorts but chilly enough that I can feel cozy in a sweater, especially when reading a book in the backyard in the evenings. I’ve been on the lookout for the perfect sweater this season, which in my mind is a slightly cropped wool roll-neck reminiscent of 90’s JCrew catalogues.
I scoured everywhere I could think of and still didn’t find quite what I was looking for. In a serendipitous moment,
reached out to me about her new collection of wool clothing inspired by and from nature. Mairin splits her time between Montana and Baja, and I got to meet her in downtown Missoula to check out her clothing line before she took off for Japan (lucky!!). Not only is Mairin super friendly and down to earth, but she’s also super knowledgeable about sourcing regeneratively-grown raw materials from her work with other well-known clothing brands. We chatted for almost an hour about the properties of wool, the cut and fit of her garments, and backcountry skiing while I tried a few of her pieces on.
I could go on and on about how beautiful her sweaters are, how light but sturdy her long sleeve tops are, and how perfectly cropped her tanks are, but you should check out her site for yourself and read about the materials and about her clothing line for yourself. As for me? I can’t wait to cozy up in my new sweater on some chilly Montana fall mornings and evenings!
Stunning Ceramics
My cut flower garden is finally (due to some late planting on my part and wild weather on Montana’s part) coming into bloom, and I’ve been cutting dahlias like wild and stashing them in vases all over the house. I’m lucky to have quite a collection of beautiful ceramic vases, and my favorite is a small, beautiful vase by friend and ceramicist Casey Zablocki. This small piece is often my first go-to because whatever bloom you put in it is instantly elevated to a work of art thanks to Casey’s craft.
A fellow Michigander turned Montanan, Casey is humble, incredibly talented, salt of the earth, and driven to create large-scale beautiful and functional pieces. Casey was recently featured in the Financial Times in advance of a show he’s opening this week at The Guild Gallery in New York. Casey’s show is described by the gallery below:
Guild Gallery is pleased to present the gallery’s second solo exhibition by Missoula, Montana-based artist Casey Zablocki, known for his large-scale, wood-fired ceramic work. The artist’s first collection of ceramic furniture and functional objects of this scale features more than 20 monumental brutalist stoneware sculptures that take the shape of coffee tables, side tables, chairs, and thrones. Developed over two years of deep experimentation and research, the massively-scaled body of work pushes the boundaries of Zablocki’s practice to forge new forms, palettes, and materials, and introduces porcelain, sourced locally, into his pieces for the first time ever.
The incredible amount of time, energy, and hard work that Casey pours into his craft is evident from chopping and stacking many cords of wood, to managing the wood-fired kiln firing 24 hours a day for weeks on end, to staging, packaging, and transporting his work for shows. I am amazed by and proud of his efforts and successes, not to mention I always love getting to hear what is on his mind and sharing a cold one with him on a hot summer day. I’m sure his show will be wildly successful, and if you’re in New York, make sure to make time to check it out while it is open this fall.
You Get-sy’s Closet
It is no secret that I love finding fun clothing for both myself and my daughter, and as the years go by and seasons change, there are pieces that neither of us are wearing due to any number of factors. I’ve recently stumbled into a great buy/sell/trade community on Instagram, which has been great for finding secondhand clothing for both of us. It’s been a win/win- we’re not buying new, we’re giving old clothing a new life, and other’s are able to pass on their loved items, too. So, I’m dabbling in selling (& trading) beloved secondhand clothing from my closet and my daughter’s. As often as possible, the clothing I’m posting is any combination of natural fibers, slow fashion, and durable clothing meant to stand the test of time. I’ll be adding to it as time allows and seasons change. Feel free to take a look and shoot me a message if there is anything you see that catches your eye. ✨
I'm also in the beginning stages of a You Get-sy Instagram page as well - you can find me here. It's been a slow start due to a busy summer, but I’m hoping to put energy into it this fall! Let me know what you’d like to see in that space!
As always, thanks for reading!
Until next time, xo.
Thanks Betsy!! It was so great meeting you :)