What Do You Know for Sure?

INGRID THOFT

I'm taking a page from Oprah today and sharing one of my favorite features from her magazine.  Every month, the last page of "O" is devoted to her column, "What I Know for Sure."  The concept was introduced to her many years back by the film critic Gene Siskel, who always asked this as the closing question in his interviews.  He saw it as a tool to break through the public personas of celebrities and get to the heart of each person's experience. 

What do I know for sure?

I know that I married the right guy--a shy guy, which is why you're only getting a glimpse.  We first met when we were sixteen and started dating a few years later.  Just a couple of months into our relationship, I knew he was "the One," and he hasn't disappointed.  I could go on and on about him, but fans of my books should know he's one of the reasons I persevered, even when getting rejected.  He supported my dream of writing fiction and never wavered in his belief in me.  Publishing can be a tough and unpredictable business; having a partner to cheer you on makes the journey easier and more fun.

I know that I will never regret speaking up.  I will only regret staying silent.  As long as you speak with civility and are willing to listen, saying what you think can never be a bad thing.  I'm not talking about telling your neighbor that her dog is ugly or the checkout girl that she wears too much blush.  I'm talking about speaking up when someone says something that offends your sense of decency or questions your worth.  If I offend someone...oh well!

I know that the ocean is a place of wonder, and I'll never tire of exploring its depths and its amazing creatures.  Take for instance, the Mantis Shrimp (picture compliments of the shy hubby.)  Its technicolor appearance is mind-boggling, but it also has aquatic superpowers.  The shrimp's claw, which is actually referred to as its "club," can break quarter inch thick glass.  The mantis stores its energy in its club, and when released, it acts like a spring-loaded mechanism with more force than a 22-caliber bullet.  So word to the wise:  Don't touch the Mantis Shrimp!

Now it's your turn!  What do you know for sure?

Saving Memories with Old New Borrowed Redo

HALLIE EPHRON: I'm sharing what it was like "Growing Up Ephron" in the March issue of The Oprah Magazine.

The theme for this issue is "De-clutter Your Life" -- something I should certainly do. They asked some fun questions for their contributors page (cleverly titled "Trash Talk"). Here's one of my answers:

The one thing I regret tossing is... my wedding dress. It was lace, with an Empire waist and bell sleeves, but it had a stain so I got rid of it. I wish I'd kept it and turned it into a cute little pillow.

Wouldn't you know, no sooner is the magazine on the stands then I get an email, subject line: Your wedding dress WOULD have made a great pillow!!!!

The message came from Lindsey Radoff and Jennifer Manroel, the talented twins behind OLD NEW BORROWED REDO. They make keepsakes out of those garments that you don't wear but can't bear to throw away. So I invited them over to tell us what they're up to.

Which of you came up with the idea for ONBR and did you have to do a lot of strong-arming to get the other to go along?

LINDSEY RADOFF: I had been talking about how I wanted to make throw pillows from my gown and I was always got the same response: “Great idea, but you’ll never do it.”  Then when I was honeymooning in Maui, we were on a hike and this little idea developed into an idea for a business. 

JENNIFER MANROEL: When Lindsey told me about this idea and instantly I was on board. 

HALLIE: What's the most unique request you've ever had?

JENNIFER: Making a baby blanket out of scraps from a bridesmaid dress.  One of our customers mailed us the scraps in a manila envelope!  We weren’t sure if we even had enough fabric for a baby blanket.  We used fabric as the nameplate to embroider Makayla, the baby’s name and date of birth.

HALLIE: Your biggest, most complicated project?

LINDSEY:  Most of our REDOs are from wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses, but we also redo T-shirts into throw blankets.  One of our customers was a huge San Diego Padres and Chargers fan so we took his t-shirts and also made a quilt.  The blankets range in size and can incorporate anywhere from fifteen t-shirts, up to thirty t-shirts. 

JENNIFER: What better way to surprise your husband on a one-year anniversary than repurpose your wedding gown into lingerie!
 
HALLIE: You are identical twins, which is like siblings squared. How do you divide the work and deal with the inevitable rivalry?

LINDSEY:  We are definitely siblings squared!  We look a lot alike and we do practically EVERYTHING together! 

Jen is better at designing the keepsakes whereas I have a better eye at pairing new fabrics to match well with the dress. Jen is very organized - in fact, she can't leave our office without making sure everything is neatly put away. So she handles a lot of the day-to-day activity for the company.  I am much better with numbers so I handle the financials.

JENNIFER: I love designing pillows and picture frames and Lindsey loves baby blankets and t-shirt quilts.

HALLIE:  Tell us about the “green” in your business.

LINDSEY:  We are very eco-friendly.  We pride ourselves in the fact that we work with existing dresses and clothing, and we reuse them and repurpose them into keepsakes.  These “one-time wear” dresses are no longer just sitting in our closets; rather, we’re giving customers a way to recycle their dresses and redo them into keepsakes that can be displayed in their homes. 

HALLIE: And keep all those good memories alive. We wish you the best! Visit their store and workroom at http://oldnewborrowedredo.com/.

Do you have save your favorite garments even if you can't wear them? Or are you like me and toss them out blithely, only to wish you hadn't?

Lucky EDITH! You are the winner of Deborah Crombie's THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS. Email Debs with your  mailing address (deb at deborahcrombie dot com)