Oh, what a night.

Another year around the sun for me, and another endlessly fun birthday party in the memory bank.

Heather & I make a great team, not just running a business, but also at bringing our friends together and creating a space where everyone feels happy. (As I wrote that, I realized that perfectly describes our business too...)

It’ll be an interesting experiment for me to write about the deeper meaning and importance of throwing a good ol’ fashioned house party, but that’s exactly what I’ll try to do here if you bear with me.

Let’s start with this advice: Throw more parties.

Small parties. Big Parties. It doesn’t matter, just get your friends together and have an adult hang.

Ok. So, there I was…dressed in a new purple track suit (thank you, Heather) surrounded by a room full of my favorite people. The music turned down, Heather handed me my donut cake, someone yelled “Speech!”, and I froze a bit.

I realized in the moment that I had a million things to say, not just about how much it meant to me, or how seriously meaningful this very un-serious night was in my life. I wanted to express to everyone that my happiness in that moment had nothing to do with being celebrated on my birthday. For me, my birthday was just the excuse, it was our party. Something I felt like we all needed.

But instead, I think I just said “Thank you for being here, I love you all” at least 5 times in a row, and hopefully I still got the point across.

Somewhere in my psyche, there’s still a lot of PTSD from the COVID quarantine days. It all comes to the surface when I look around a room and see my favorite people in close quarters. And I’m determined to use that PTSD for good.

It all means so much more to me now, because we all lived through what happens when it gets taken away without warning.

We all experienced an alternate reality of what life could be like, like Scrooge getting visited by the 3 ghosts, but it lasted for months on end. And then, we all got a second chance.

In 2023, just as life was seemingly returning to normal, I lost a best friend to colon cancer. And while at first it seemed like there was no second chance to be found there, it came in the form of a wake-up call for our entire group of friends.

Get together more, speak your heart, and celebrate the gift we’ve all got of being able to spend time together, because it can all disappear without warning.

You can do all of this one-on-one with a friend, and you should.

But, something magical happens when you look around and see so many of the people you love in one room. It’s no longer a get-together, it’s a damn party.

All night long, I could see the healing effects it had. Friends telling me how happy they were, and how we need to do this more often. I saw friends reconnect who hadn’t seen each other in years. And the next day, in the midst of what I’m sure was many collective hangovers, I still got several texts that all said, in one form or another, “I really needed that”.

We all did. And we all do.

So, instead of dreaming about it, or talking about the golden days of our youth like they’re legendary stories of the past, my birthday wish is that you remember that these are the good ol’ days.

Make a list of your favorite people, find a reason or no reason at all, give people enough time to plan it and get the sitters if need be, and make it happen.

- Seth

Farquahr

I was lucky enough to be able to give my Mom a call on my birthday and say thanks for bringing me into the world and raising me right. So I’m going to send this week’s music pick out for her.

Farquahr was a party folk band from CT that never quite hit the mainstream, but they made a name for themselves, and a legion of devoted fans, in the late 60’s and early 70’s touring New England venues, Cape Cod beach bars, and rowdy apres-ski scenes like Mt. Snow.

Only one of their albums is streaming, but one listen, and you’ll immediately see the appeal. They capture the sound of the times in their own unique way, and the album is a polished, upbeat folk album that feels worthy of much more fame than they achieved in their day.

P.S. I’m giving Spotify a rest, and sharing the music this week on Apple Music. Good? Bad? Use the comment section below to let me know what you think. Where do you listen to music online?

Lost & Found Sale!

We sold out of our Aqua & Charcoal Double Hammocks a short while back, and a few days ago our warehouse discovered some missing boxes.

Hammocks galore.

So we're putting them back on sale at 35% off until they're gone for good.

Our Go Anywhere Straps are currently on backorder, with more scheduled to arrive in April. If you want the hammock right away, you can get it without straps for only $38, or preorder the hammock bundle with straps for $53.92 and it'll ship as soon as the straps arrive.

Spring is in the air, it's time to get your hammock on.