I live in the midwest u.s. currently, though my family lives in florida. I come from an air force family, meaning that all of my family members for the last two generations have moved around a lot, spending a good part of their childhood living in foreign countries. I think that this has fostered a sense in my family that we are all part of a global community.

That I have access to beautiful objects - of much greater quality than anything from places like world market or pier 1 - and know where they came from, who made them, and know that that person's time and skill has been given the respect and compensation that it deserves.