This page is a little tribute to Cristina Sayre, the most awesome lady ever to grace my world. She rocked so hard it was difficult to fully appreciate her awesomeness, and even more impossible to accept that she is no longer here.
She wasn't for everyone. If she was for you, you were a lucky bastard.
There are no words that can come close to describing what made her so badass. There is no memorial that can do her justice. No monument immense enough to capture all that she was.
But I have to try.
Here is what I wrote for her once on birthday over at Half-Baked Birthday. I'm glad she got to read it.
I don’t know anyone as fiercely independent as Cristina. She’s 100% her own woman. By trade she writes and keeps her finger on the pulse of trends in all realms. Her own style is only slightly informed by what she observes. Most of it comes from her, reflecting her unique sense of self and what she choose to express.
For someone so fashion-forward, she isn’t concerned with cool. Call her a hipster and you just might get decked, if not by a fist than with a look. She likes what she likes, regardless of where it sits in current popular favor. High heels, Elvis, mead, Miss Piggy, pub food, Crowded House, Kirchner, fart jokes, Liberace, hockey, fancy dresses just for the hell of it. Actually, most of what makes Cristina so awesome is just for the hell of it.
She’s unapologetic. She’s tough. She’s quick to speak her mind and unafraid of the consequences. But there is a sensitivity she keeps well protected. An insistence on basic human decency and treating people with respect when they’ve made an effort to do the same. She’s harsh with the world, but kind to those in her world. She doesn’t aim to please. She lives life on her terms, changing and growing but never departing from who she is.
We’re different, her and me. My approach to life involves a fair bit more cowering and worrying if I’ve offended anyone. Yet in so many ways we see life the same way. I look at Cristina and wish I had the guts to be more like her. Like everyone, she may have regrets or insecurities or fears, but they don’t define her. Bravery like that isn’t easy to find.
Our lifestyles take us in different directions, but she’s a person I wish I could spent more time with. I miss working with her, where I could be sure of seeing her all the time. I’m so bad at keeping up with people, but I hope to a better friend to her. For purely selfish reasons!
And her obituary, which I eeked out a year after she passed.
The world became a less awesome place with the death of Cristina Sayre on December 2, 2015. A fierce feminist, stylish provocateur, and loyal Sharks fan, she was equally at home taking in a Broadway play or chowing down at Henry's Hi-Life. San Jose by birth and by soul, Cristina was known to flirt madly with New York City and carried a torch for Dublin, Ireland. For work she wrote sharp, compelling copy and curated stylish lists of must-have objects both useful and whimsical. But work was only what she did. To understand who she was, you'd need to share stories with her over a pint. If you were lucky enough to know her, you never missed a chance to do just that.
She leaves behind her mother and best friend Ann, younger brother James, grandparents Lois & Walter, and a group of friends that spans the globe, all muddling by in a world that's a little less bright in her absence.
Here is the stuff she chose to share on social medias:Her blog is down, but you can poke through the
internet archive.
She’d be proud of you.
Donate at ppmarmonte.org/donate
List Cristina Sayre in the “Honor Gifts” section.
Cristina’s ashes are entombed in the
Nature Garden at Oak Hill Memorial Park
300 Curtner Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
The Nature Garden is behind the curved-roofed Chapel of Roses
at the main entrance on Curtner. Park behind the
garden, enter the arched entrance and turn right.
