Golden Days Photobooth

12/16/2020

I am closing the shop for the year.
Please place any last orders by 8pm est today, Wednesday, 12/16. Your item will be shipped before Christmas.
THIS INCLUDES CUSTOM ORDERS**

I truly don’t know what will come after this project. But I’m elated to find out. Thanks to everyone that shared and showed love. This has been so so special, my heart is feeling full as this comes to a close.

DM me for anything at all. ❤️

One thing I DO know is that a shop drop is WAY too fun not to do again soon. ❤️

12/13/2020

TWENTY SIX BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENT TRIOS JUST DROPPED IN THE SHOP! Link in bio or goldendaysphotobooth.com. All handmade, one-of-a-kind trios, crafted from vintage and secondhand jewelry.

12/11/2020

Y’all sold out the ornaments in FIVE MINUTES last Saturday! I’ll have a small restock this SUNDAY at NOON est. If you were bummed to see them sold out, set your reminders!

They will be sold in one-of-a-kind, repurposed, handmade sets of three.

You can enter to WIN A FREE ORNAMENT SET of your choice (you’ll get first dibs!) by sharing this post in your instagram stories and/or by sharing this post on Facebook!

*this giveaway has no affiliation with instagram or facebook

Extra entries: like, comment, and/or save this post!

12/05/2020

SO thrilled to announce a GOLDEN DAYS JEWELRY DROP!

The JDH Collection is available at goldendaysphotobooth.com.
You can read Part One-Part Three on previous posts... and here's the end of the story of how the JDH Collection came to be.

At the end of two weeks in Texas, I arrived home drained and sad and bewildered. My cousin said it best, my nanny's passing is truly the end of an era for our family. The end of life as we've known it since the day we were born (speaking specifically of the grandkids).

I stared at the puka necklace for a few days. I'm kicking myself for not taking a photo of it before taking it apart. I sat down one night with the puka necklace and some other jewelry that didn't hold significant sentimental value to anyone. I slowly began taking them apart. Thinking about all of the stories my nanny might've been able to tell that included them. All of the things she experienced with these heavy beads resting on her collar.
Before I knew it, I was piecing them back together into something new. Something fresh and current and special. Pieces of her I could carry on me without taking on something that wasn't quite my style just for sentiment's sake. Five hours later I had created so many I wasn't even sure why I was still making. But makers gotta make, ya know? Another five hours later, when I had only gotten up to tend to my daughter or grab some water, it clicked. Oh my word. I had hardly created ALL YEAR and here I was with the beginnings of an entire jewelry store. Designing this jewelry flowed out of me like writing songs used to.

Who am I to tell 2020 I'm not a jeweler? That what I create isn't worth someone's hard earned money? I've made jewelry for myself my entire life. Always repurposing jewelry that had broken- into a new, wearable piece. But I've never had the guts to put it out there to the world. Until now.

Off I went to the thrift store to gather supplies for more. After all of this, I couldn't just go buying new beads. I wanted to honor more (likely) women's stories. I wanted to take their old and make them new. Let these stories continue with new, fresh breath. (And hey! It’s green!)

I've been glued to this project for weeks. I've become completely obsessed with making these one-of-a-kind, repurposed items. After all, the chances of someone finding these same old necklaces, bracelets, earrings... cleaning, disassembling, and reassembling in the exact same way is... I mean, slim! Right?! Really slim.
Like that scene in Garden State. You know the one. I hope that when you're feeling unoriginal you put on a JDH Collection necklace and know that you're the only person in the world wearing that necklace. That's almost like a magical power.
I have a new appreciation for mixing metals and strange colors I would have never thought of putting together without having only a few strings of gems, glass and wooden beads, moonstones, and geometric pendants to work with at a time. I know it's just jewelry. But, it's not. Even the pendants that have nothing of my nanny's are really, reeeeally special. I poured my heart into them. I didn't really know I could do that with something other than conversation and writing, two things I'm accustomed to pouring my heart into. Words in general, I guess.

ANYWAY! This jewelry collection is dedicated to my nanny, Juanita Dea Hammond. To her life and who she was.
To honor the women in my life, each piece has been named after a person or character that has impacted my life. To all of the women who came before me, and some who are following after. This is for all of you. May we continue to break glass ceilings and forget the rules. (Like the rules that say a photo booth company can't just drop a jewelry collection)

I'm going to finally just let you go look!

FREE SHIPPING on absolutely everything for now.

QUESTIONS about any item are SO welcome via DMs, text, or email.

No piece is alike. If you see something you like- don't hesitate!!

12/05/2020

Part Three:

The days following her death, I was thankful to be able to process as we began going through her things. Reminiscing through everything that was iconically hers. Hearing new stories, flipping through photo books. After all of us had gone through and picked things to remember her by, I kept coming back to this large white puka shell necklace. A massive statement piece, so 80s. I knew I’d never wear it but how were we all going to leave even these small things behind? These little pieces of her. These simple but lovely things that adorned her body, coffee cups that kept her hands warm, dishes she served perfectly undercooked eggs on with indulgently over-buttered biscuits, ornaments that we made for her decades ago, trinkets and vases and all of the other things she had collected and held close. These things that were dear to her became so dear to me. But letting go is part of processing. I took a lot of pictures... in my mind and on my phone. I remembered her holding my baby in these rooms. I didn’t want to stop remembering. Remembering is so important. And what if when all of these things are gone, I can’t remember anymore? I can’t feel her or see her anymore? What happens then?

Nanny wasn’t perfect, no one is. I could tell stories of times she made me cry as a kid. She was fun, but she didn’t mess around. She lived with a fire in her bones. She didn’t take s**t from anyone. She was always a working woman, but it recently dawned on me that at her age that meant she was a pioneer. Which means, and I hate that I’m realizing this too late to talk to her about it, but she was fiercer and braver than I ever had really taken notice of. I’m sure she was scared or nervous or felt inferior at times. But she did it anyway. How badass!

I remember when I was 16, my nanny became incredibly vulnerable with me. She talked me through and cried with me about my parents divorce. I remember feeling so uncomfortable and sad and raw. I’m so so proud that I had the kind of grandma that probably also felt all of those things in that moment. She did it anyway.

She could. So she did.

I could take the puka necklace. So I did.

12/05/2020

Part Two:

From iPhone Notes 9/16/20 1:15am
I’m lying in bed thinking about my Nanny’s life. The whole thing. She LIVED. She traveled the world... like, a lot of it. She saw more places than people dream of in a lifetime (I got that from her). Maybe she traveled because she could NOT sit still. Well, she could sit still but only if the Mavericks or the Cowboys were playing.

She had a till-death-do-us-part love. Made children that gave her grandchildren that gave her great grandchildren. Like, a LOT of them. She spoiled us like I’ve never known a grandmother to spoil a grandchild. She lived for it. Shopping with her, even in middle school, was one of my absolute favorite things to do with her. And not because she’d buy me entire outfits, but because she had STYLE. I started borrowing clothes from her as soon as I could fit into them. Every single photo we flipped through tonight made me covet another of her outfits.

She loved so big. “Come see Nanny. Gimme some sugar.” She was absolutely in love with all of her “babies”. If a great grandchild was in the room, not much else existed.

At 4:25pm today, I like to believe that a very dapper gentleman, that adored her in this lifetime with everything he had, got to hold her again. She was ready for that.

11/25/2020

Part One:

The summer that Golden Days was conceived, I had a three hour phone call with this beautiful woman. My Nanny and Papa had started a successful business in the 60s and I had QUESTIONS. I wanted to know everything. I needed to hear that she had to be brave and bold. They had to step out of their comfort zones. I had obviously known of and was privileged to benefit from the fruits of this company for my whole life. Yet... I had never heard these stories before.

Without her, and this specific conversation, I don’t know if I would have been able to follow through with Golden Days. It was hardly more than a twinkle in my eye at that time. But her honest, candid tales of humble beginnings impacted me. And... she believed in it. She believed in ME. Like, really believed in me. Because she had no problem telling you if she thought you were off your rocker. 😂

On September 13th, preluded by a hell of a year, my cousin’s name popped up on my phone. My heart dropped. I knew bad news was coming. Heather told me that Nanny may not make it through the night. If we wanted to say goodbye, we had to come fast. Joey and I didn’t hesitate. It was 7pm on a Sunday, he was calling his boss and we were throwing Fay and anything we might need for who knows how long, into the car.
After 11+ hours from Atlanta to Sulphur Springs, TX (both of my parents home town), we arrived and I went straight to my nanny’s bedroom. For the next twelve hours I had the one-in-a-billion opportunity to lay with my cousins and siblings in bed with our dying Nanny. We took turns one-on-one with her at times, other times we’d be piled on top of each other like it was the last day we’d ever have with her.

And it was.

11/23/2020

This is Fay. She was “hiding” like this for quite some time yesterday. With food all over her pants.

Why does this feel SO relatable? I think this is my vibe going into the holidays in 2020.
Attempting to hide... in plain sight. Who has the energy to find a good hiding place right now? This will do. If I can’t see them, they can’t see me, right?

This also happens to be a great illustration for Golden Days 2020.

When I mapped out this company in 2018, my projections for this year looked MUCH different than it has all unfolded. I think I’m still in shock from when the cancellations came flooding in the third week of March. Every single one was expected by that time. And every single one was equally as devastating. This truly put me in a rough mental state for quite some time. As the months FLEW by (like a high-speed rail/bullet train!!), I watched companies, restaurants, artists, even people reinvent themselves. I’ve watched in absolute awe as the creatives, that we’ve always needed in a way, have become absolutely necessary. We’ve needed music and movies and art like NEVER before. We’ve needed hope and light and beauty. We’ve needed grace and space and voices. We’ve needed ingenuity and rule-breaking and out-of-the-box ideas. DAMN have the makers of the world made this year something to see light in. At a time where seeing light, feeling light, is far and few.

I’m so thankful and would not have made it through this year without the creativity that has saturated this season of our lives.
But still, I wondered- where were my ideas? Where was my ingenuity? I’d have ideas and squash them so so quickly. Or I’d begin a plan and not follow through. Not just because covid greatly effected the event industry, but I have had a lot of loss and hurt in my personal life as well.

This week on my feed and stories, I will be sharing about the most pivotal part of MY personal year. And how after eight months in captivity, my creativity has been set FREE!

01/11/2020

We’ll see y’all tonight! RAIN. OR. SHINE.

Today's the day!!

Rain or shine, we're celebrating our 6th birthday, all day long.

Quick PSA to please walk, bike, Lyft,etc. Parking is VERY limited, plus we want everyone to be safe. Once you're here, see our bartenders for 50% off your Lyft ride home!

09/29/2019

Come see me at Lean Draft House!! Delicious tacos and lots of local brews. ❤️