Harvest Party

More than a year ago, we were forced to close our doors. I don’t think I gave myself the time to properly process the fears around that but instead I catapulted into action and reinvented my business - gloves, disinfect products before packing, daily home deliveries, curbside pickups... REACT REACT REACT! With the support of our amazing community we made it through - where to? I don’t 100% know but we definitely made it through.

After spending a little more than a year just trying to survive, I found myself diving feet first into a summer full of self-gratitude and risky behavior. 

My current state of mind feels akin to an overgrown garden - patches covered in untended weeds gloriously gifting unexpected beauty, over-ripened fruits dripping sweet nectar and barely hanging on. Underneath it all lies fertile soil toiling away before the season ends. Meus has always been more than just a shop to me, it’s an extension of myself, a conduit for self expression and a means to share personal stories that inspire change and make authentic connections. It has also been a source of many serendipitous encounters and provided a much needed reprieve from life. So when we had to close our doors and later had to limit the number of people permitted in the shop, it was not only nerve-wracking from a business standpoint but personally I felt clipped and depleted. I missed the community that we built and the energy of having our friends and customers in the shop. I don’t know what’s coming around the corner, no one does! At this point I think we can all agree on that much. But I do know that I’m not very fond of sleeping with one eye open. 

Shifting from a “pivot”- mindset to trusting my intuition, I suddenly felt a spark that quickly turned into a fire and no longer was I flailing in retail despair but charging ahead, reclaiming my space, swimming in my own truth and in an abundance of feminine creative energy. I’ve put faith in other women to guide me along this process and I have fully surrendered to the whims of my heart. We’ve spent the last month reinventing our space to better reflect where I am now and how I want to show up. We’re injecting an extra dose of whimsy & play and focusing on the experience and how our customers will interact with us, the products and the space itself. Storytelling is now at the forefront and the shop is poised as the backdrop to an ever-changing (bigger) conversation.

So... I’m so excited to share the first harvest of our overgrown garden, the first of many fruits to come from our labor. I’d also like to officially welcome Alexis Caruso to our team - she has taken what’s in my heart and magically made sense of it all and led the charge to make it a reality! She dreamt up Irene, our muse for this upcoming season, who lives within all of us. Irene has taken residence at Meus and now bears the duty of carrying out our story of abundance.

Let me have Alexis introduce you to our Irene…

As harvest baskets become full to the brim for the last time, let us send summer into hibernation with a bang, and with the utmost gratitude. You are cordially invited to an evening dedicated to the close of the growing season, a “Harvest Party,” if you will. Our gracious host, Irene, has an infinite number of seats, and too many tomatoes to eat all by herself.

Irene can be found looking over your mother’s moss-covered birdbath, beaming at the history of the object. She is often seen gathering bundles of Queen Anne’s Lace from the side of the road, paying no mind to passers-by. You can find her in your garden, just as you realize you’ve let your precious tomatoes over-ripen. She gets it. Irene has lost many a forgotten crop to the garden floor, and she assures you the chipmunks are very grateful. You know Irene, You’ve felt her presence before, and although it is magical, it’s also fleeting. So why the sudden invitation?

Well, Irene recently ran her finger across her favorite serving china, and realized quite a bit of dust had accumulated. She knew her table had been empty for too long. She wants to show you how to embrace the fallen tomatoes, spend hours in her dozens of rooms and return with one dried dahlia that speaks to you the most.

Anyone who happens upon the Harvest Party is welcome, because if you’re there, you’re meant to be.

You can find her home whenever you need it. Just walk until your feet hurt and you could really use a glass of iced pine needle tea, even though you’ve never had it. She wouldn’t let you get any blisters, so when your dogs are barking, she’s probably just around the bend.

You needn’t bring a thing, but Irene asks that each guest take something with them and leave something behind. A scribble, your name in perfect script, a twig, a poem. Something to remember you by.

I hope to see you this Thursday (Friday if it rains!)

xx
Marichelle

Details:

What: HARVEST PARTY

When: Thursday, September 2nd 2021 Friday, September 3rd @6PM -9PM
*Rain date: Friday 9/3

Where: MEUS, 98 Baker Street in Maplewood NJ