Photo close-up of Lana Del Rey during her performance at All Things Go Festival (2023), singing near the microphone and adorned with jewelry and accessories from Tigerlillyshop, including the Baltimore Spoon Ring. — Lana wearing her Tigerlillyshop Baltimore Spoon ring at All Things Go Festival this year (2023)

Once upon a time on the last day of September… My phone started a-ringin’…

I was sitting at the workbench when a small group approached the entrance. Once a few of them entered, I let them begin to take in our cozy vibes and began to offer my welcome. Before I could ask if they were local I knew the answer, as I instantly recognized the chanteuse before me. So I casually asked “how often do people tell you that you look like Lana Del Rey?”

“Well, I am her,” she replied nonchalantly. I suppose I would have been more shocked if I hadn’t seen the Waffle House video a few months prior. Ever the professional, I just continued with my usual everyday banter and introduction to our showroom.

As it turned out, she had made the visit to our shop for a specific piece - our Baltimore Spoon Ring - to add to her collection. Despite the GPS pointing the group to our neighboring Ceremony Coffee, they luckily managed to find us. Her low-key entourage, which included her dad, wandered in and out patiently letting her do her thing. Taking her time, she perused our offerings as we made small talk, and at some point she offered to snap a pic with me. I found her to be incredibly warm and very sweet - a Hufflepuff to the core (she declared this when she noticed our shop tapestry we sport during the Autumn). She settled on the ring, a pair of Dandelion Necklaces, and a Butterfly for her hair.

Being a woman between the ages of tween and 50, with an affinity for melancholic masterpieces that make my mundane life a much more cinematic mood, it can be said that I am a fan. Music has a unique ability to gift to us the ability to transport ourselves to a very specific time and place in our memories, much like scent. When I listen to Ultraviolence, I can smell the candles I made in the fall of 2014 in preparation of the impending holiday season at the co-op that I worked and sold vintage and jewelry at. It was the happiest I can remember being. As I was ringing up her purchase, I told her this. In turn, she asked if I would be interested in tickets to the show and took my number so her people could contact my people. And they did.