Abigail M. Schilling

I recently fell in love with this guy in Oregon.

I know, you're thinking, what? When was she in Oregon? I thought she went to 1906?

But friends, let me tell you about the Internet. It is a wonderful and many splendored thing (like love). So, I was surfing the 'Net recently buying stuff. I was actually looking for some gifts for friends for Christmas and I was trolling around all these really artsy sites.

I stumbled across Etsy.com which, in short, changed my life. Etsy is a platform for artists to sell their wares without having to spend a million dollars on overhead. And it's a really well built system. You give it a color and it returns like items. It can show you the sellers in your area. It can do whatever you want! It's brilliant, really, for people like me who are obsessed with buying things and the more cool the better!

So my Oregon lover is an artist on Etsy. And he has made the most beautiful pendants my eyes ever did see. Kathy and I poured over his site Saturday night, choosing which pendants we loved best. And then we poured over his site on Sunday. And then some more on Monday. I have bought many pendants for my friends and loved ones.

And I keep trying to figure out exactly I can start my new life with the Artist. Should I send a picture asking him to keep in mind my skin tone when crafting my pendant? Should I send multiple pictures to really give him an idea of my wardrobe? Should I take up art as a hobby, join the site, and start discussing palettes with him?

When all these plans came up a little... lacking I decided to stick to the original plan. Give him money for some jewelry and see where it goes from there. So I wrote him a check in my best handwriting, addressed the envelope and all but kissed it (okay, I kissed it), and put in the mail.

"How will that help?" my coworker Courtney asked.

"Well, my website is on my checks."

"It is?"

"Yeah, for times like these."

"But aren't you afraid he's going to go to your site and then get creeped out when he reads that you've blogged about him?"

Dear Artist Slash Lover,

Please don't be creeped out. Sometimes I have to blog about people I don't know because I can't blog about people I do know. So, if you knew me IRL I totally wouldn't blog about you (much).

Also, you should know that I use phrases like IRL IRL. But not too often. And I never say LOL OL. I promise.

Also, I'll probably expect you to make amazing pendants all the time. But I'll pay you back somehow. Like with hand-written love letters. And other... things.

And, I'm totally okay with the long-distance thing. I mean, hello, it's the 21st century. The Internet can keep us together. And the pendants too.

With love,

Abigail