jenn schiffer's live laugh blog

weekly retro #43: mopping and brûléeing

i, a woman who was born to eat sweets and go on the computer, am getting pecan pie all over my laptop as i type this. welcome!

photo of a framed illustration of a cougar and in cursive around it the glass for the frame says "welcome to jennifer's cougar cave"

that photo was sent to andy by his pal. i love pals! this week was dominated by deep cleaning our home both in preparation for hosting our pals, phil and celeste, but also it's just a tradition of mine to deep clean this time of year. and coming off of that cold and my period, i was on a roll.

photo from my pov looking down at a large bin filled with recycled clay, including a white clay slab i just tossed in

i have only 3 classes in this semester of hand-building ceramics, nothing i made has been fired yet but that's because i'm taking things slow! soon!

photo of three test tiles i made with different textures, before pre-glazing

i've been enjoying the class, the space and the people here so much, i've signed up for a wheel throwing in the next semester. i started a scrapbook of photos of ceramic items torn from catalogs and magazines, for inspiration beyond the predictable candle vessels.

photo of me holding up a black cardboard tube container for my new candle called "lavender smoke" and on the label i wrote "to celeste and phil, love jenn and andy"

i deployed the new bugsrock.online site today, and candles will be coming up early this week. the holiday season is upon us and sometimes i'll be feeling woefully behind, but then i remember that i haven't even closed the 2nd full quarter of this shop's life. anyway, celeste and phil got a prototype from next week's drop.

photo of phil in my kitchen making creme brulee and he's got a propane tank that's hidden behind him but you can see the torch in his hand

like me, phil loves fire. this is maybe the 8th time he's brought some form of propane tank to light some part of our thanksgiving meal on fire. i do miss my past huge gatherings but the world has changed and i am grateful for our small table this year.

bathroom selfie and i'm wearing sunglasses, looking cool

my dad's rehab only allowed one guest for their thanksgiving luncheon, so my brother went and he said they put raisins in the stuffing. on saturday i visited them for a few hours. it was crazy how many folks were coming home or going to the airport with luggage. i mean, i understand it's not crazy, i was just shocked at the volume of wheeled luggage.

gif of a small santa doll in a store window and it shakes its hips with his hands in the air

when fussy friends puts the cunty santa doll in the shop window, that means it's officially the holiday season. i am not going to beat myself up for being behind, instead i am going to remind myself of the immense mount of work, challenges, and emotions i've gracefully carried over the past several months.

things i enjoyed this week

if you're in jersey city, make sure to vote in the mayoral run-off on tuesday (12/2) - perhaps for james solomon!

xoxo jenn

this was published November 30, 2025 under living weekly-retro candle-making thanksgiving friends family holidays