Rachel Lavin is a nocturnal, nomadic native New Yorker.                          She grew up in the suburbs, rocking spelling bees and glued to 92.7 WDRE, a new wave radio station. Her favorite TV show back then was Pee Wee's Playhouse - the only show other than Sex and the City that she's ever watched with any regularity. Rachel's nerdy childhood tendencies found their apotheosis at at a summer camp called CTY, where she learned Latin and danced to new wave hits with other geeks. After graduating from Brown University with majors in anthropology and Spanish, she led kids on mountain hikes in Maine, then worked as a clinic assistant at Planned Parenthood, then played with images on the computer for Hearst Publications' Interactive Studios. After Hearst, she ran away to a town called San Miguel de Allende in Mexico that's known for being heavily populated by artists and American retirees. It was there that she learned metalsmithing; she'll never forget the first moment she melted a small piece of wire into a perfectly round ball - the moment that she knew jewelry-making was the ideal outlet for her obsessive nature and her need to constantly create. In 2002 Rachel returned from Mexico and started Pio. In addition to New York and San Miguel, Rachel has lived in Atlanta, Georgia; Providence, Rhode Island; Salamanca, Spain; Portland, Oregon, and Boston, Massachusetts. She spent last summer working as arts & crafts director at a camp in the mountains of Georgia, and currently resides in Austin, Texas, where she plans to stay awhile. When she's not making jewelry, Rachel loves crocheting, eating Vietnamese summer rolls, cooking, reading biographies, making mix CDs, and Latin dancing. She welcomes your comments and suggestions.