The Family Jewels

Here at the Maven, we're a little obsessed with jewelry. And in our boutique, we have the privilege of carrying work from some of our favorite Maine metalsmiths. In honor of Valentine's Day, here's a little sampling. Just in case Cupid needs a little inspiration.

For starters, our newest jeweler, Pamela Tachibana, whose brass kicks ass:

A guitar pick for the music man in your life...

Tie bars

The Burning Heart necklace — one of our favorites

Sterling, prenhite and peridot

From Heather Perry:

The Helio pendant

The Emerge bangle

From Posy Studio (these are representative — all of Patti Savoie's pendants, cufflinks, tie tacs, rings, earrings and bracelets can be made to order with custom figures and backgrounds:

Golfer cufflinks

From Loving Anvil:

Stoned Stacker rings

From Quench Metalworks:

Vintage button floret ring

Sterling circlet earrings

Vintage button pendant, oxidized sterling

From Lisa Gent

Pearl cluster earrings

Pearl necklace with sterling ring

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All You Need Is Love ME

We're huge fans of Beer ME, but this time of year, love is in the air. Love ME, that is.

Chris Avantaggio of South Portland started the whole ME empire at the Maine Brewer's Festival. He and his friends always lost one another in the crowd, so Avantaggio, an ad-agency art director by day, designed blaze orange T-shirts for everyone, printed with "Beer ME" and the outline of the state of Maine. They gained a cult following, and Avantaggio has since grown the line to include Love ME, Farm ME, Ride ME (for snowboarders or the less subtle among us), Surf ME, Sail ME and Bone ME (for dogs — the real kind, not the kind you hooked up with in college). At Maine Maven, we even have custom hoodies with Beer ME and Love ME in UMaine blue with the Maine "M" on the sleeve. But it's more than just shirts. We're partial to the pint glasses and bottle openers, and Chris recently introduced the most adorable camp mugs.

Clearly, there's a ME for every occasion.

But for now, let's focus on the Love. Or the Ride. Really, it all depends on how you want your Valentine's Day to end.

Check it out at Maine Maven or online at www.beermemaine.com.

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Black Dinah Truffle Tasting!

How sweet it is to be loved by you.

But you know what's even sweeter? To be loved by you when you're bearing a box of truffles from Black Dinah Chocolatiers.

In honor of Valentine's Day, we've teamed up with Black Dinah Chocolatiers of Isle au Haut to hold a truffle tasting from 2 to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 12. If you've had the privilege of trying one of Kate and Steve Shaffer's miniature masterpieces — the finest dark chocolate, filled with velvety ganache (think lavender, hot chili, honey, ginger or Earl Grey tea) — then you know why this is a big deal. If you haven't, you don't know what you're missing.

We're proud to offer their Valentine's Day Assortment: dark chocolate and Earl Grey tea in a milk chocolate heart; lemon-infused white chocolate in a white chocolate heart; and the limited edition Persian Love Caramel—rose-and-cardamom-scented caramel cream and a whole pistachio in a bittersweet chocolate heart. Supplies are limited. To make sure you reserve one before Saturday's event, pre-order by e-mailing jason@mainemaven.com with your preference of 18 pieces ($45) or 28 pieces ($69).

After you try them, you'll understand why we're completely in love with them. Sweet, sweet love.

To learn more, visit the Black Dinah website or click here to read one of our earlier blog posts.

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