For my family in Germany the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve have always been a time where all family members cozy up in overheated kitchens, dining and living rooms for festive meals and very looong brunches.

My mother always made sure the house was decorated with evergreen wreaths, handmade straw stars and bees wax candles everywhere [and a buckets filled with water in the corner of each room in case anything caught on fire]. With chilly temperatures and sometimes even snow-covered hills that surround our tiny town in the Kinzig Valley of the fairy tale Black Forest it has always been a time where the house was filled with the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and oven-baked cinnamon apples and the kitchen table was packed with paper, straw, glue, thread, glitter and other craft items. 

Living in Northern California, and snowy hills far away, that contemplative and festive quality time with my family is definitely something I really miss. But German friends are not far and we all make sure to connect our German roots with our California lifestyle. We gather for baking and advent brunches or teas and sometimes even for very European Christmas Eve dinners.

​For us here at  YOLOTLI  this year has been an incredible experience. With the support of my dear husband I was able to complete a five-month residency with the Mexico City based fashion house Carla Fernández and was lucky enough to tour the nearly 600 year old Loden mill Lodenwalkerin Styria, Austria during a family visit.  
​
​The impressions I gathered along the way were pertinent to the direction of YOLOTLI as we were able to bring all the experiences together in two new handmade collections: The Johnna Tote Pack Collection, developed in collaboration with my husband and artist Mikey Kelly and our new Artisan Collection, developed during a year-long project with our friends in Mexico. 

Without your help none of this would have been possible! As a way of showing our appreciation for your continuous love and support we offer a 15% discount store wide Nov. 25 + 26. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the code.

You were all so amazing!! We really appreciate you coming all the way to Fort Mason despite the rainy weather this past weekend and want to thank you all for stopping by our booth at this year's Renegade Holiday Fair. 

We had a blast meeting you all and  sharing the stories behind every single handmade piece from our small batch accessory and clothing lines.

We wish you all a peaceful Holiday Season and hope to see you again next time.