OFF TO HIGH POINT!

YIPPEE! Tomorow we're off to the High Point Furniture Market for the 7th year.......soooooo much to see and get for the shop and for clients! Visiting with Hickory Chair, Visual Comfort, Soicher Marin, Design Legacy, Bernhardt........and on and on! Lucky enough to stay at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro and have reservations at Print Works Bistro - every night - the perfect place to wind down after a long and tiring day at market (with a cocktail, of course!)! YIPPEE!!!!! Stay tuned for photo documentation of what new stuff we're looking at........

The absolute last of the high point photos, I promise!!!

This was the CYAN Design showroom....Lots OF BLING!!!!!

These pierced metal light globes at Currey & Co were amazing!!!!

HIGH POINT HERE WE COME......

I can't believe how quickly this week snuck up on me! Hester, Sue and I are heading off to HP on three separate red-eye flights on Thursday night - need to get to HP early on Friday for a little pre-shopping! YIPPEE!!!! This time we are staying at the most lovely Proximity Hotel and I can't wait! I have soooo much client stuff to search for...can't wait to see the brand new Hickory Chair showroom...... so stay tuned.......we will be sharing a whole lot of beautiful things!!!

At the edge of the downtown area in HP is this crazy 3 story high boy. Look at the building to the right of it for scale. Hilarious! It really is a furniture town!

BACK IN PDX....

As much as I love to travel, I equally love to come home. Our little High Point Gang arrived back from last night full of new information and totally exhausted. It was an amazing market - people were finally shopping again and a few of our regular vendors said that it was their best show EVER! So happy! We spent 5 full days of staring at things - my favorite thing to do - trying to decide and then LOTS of purchasing for the shop for September delivery.

I have a lot of comments to attach to the pictures I have already posted and I am sure that I will get around to it eventually....so stay tuned!

I've got lots to show from Noir Trading, Design Legacy, Legend of Asia and Hickory Chair! So much great stuff!!!! Now it's off for a show and lots of coffee and then off to the shop!

National Tropical Botanical Gardens in Kauai

It is our last day in Kauai, which is kind of a bummer, but as much of a nice time that I have had, I am ready to come home. You know how everyone says - you need to take time for yourself and slow down a bit? Slowing down sucks. I really enjoy staying busy and I love what I do - alot. Don't get me wrong, sitting on the beach is lovely and beautiful and everything, but I actually missed not working. ...and I am ready to get back to it.

Over the weekend, there was a local art/product fair at Poipu beach and we found some lovely little hand made treasures to bring home, like simple small baskets woven out of acacia and octopus tree twigs. There were also some beautiful carvings out of raw pieces of ironwood. Unfortunately for all the artisans and attendees, it was raining like mad. It doesn't rain for weeks and then it does on the day there is an outdoor festival. figures. Needless to say, the beaches were deserted. So we went just slightly south and took in the Allerton Garden, part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. It was a little drier at the garden, but hey, we are from Portland right? The rain was totally warm and so we trudged on.

In case you did not know, I love gardens...and gardening....and plants. You could go as far as to say that I am indeed a plant geek....and my geekness was well fed.

We went to two Botanical Gardens on Kauai, the Allerton Gardens and the Limahuli Gardens. "Allerton Garden (Lāwa`i-kai) lies between the Pacific Ocean and the McBryde Garden in the Lāwa`i Valley, on the south shore of the Hawaiian Island of Kaua`i. It is a garden paradise, transformed through time by the hands of a Hawaiian Queen, by a sugar plantation magnate, and most significantly by an artist and an architect. The endless possibilities found in this dramatic topography led to the creation of this masterpiece of garden art.

A series of garden rooms unfold between the Lāwa`i Stream and the cliffs of the Valley. The sound of water is in abundance in pools, miniature waterfalls, and fountains. Statues grace this former estate and resonate with a European influence. Towering rainforest trees with tall curving roots grow near bronze mermaids, a grove of swaying golden bamboo, a cut-flower garden, and tropical fruit trees. Here the focus is on landscape design, but among the plantings are botanically important species of the tropics, including varieties of palms, ki (ti), heliconias, and gingers."

The Limahuli Garden and Preserve "is set in a verdant tropical valley on the north shore of the Hawaiian Island of Kaua`i. The Garden is backdropped by the majestic Makana Mountain and overlooks the Pacific Ocean."

"In Hawaiian, the name Limahuli means “turning hands,” which recognizes the ancient Hawaiians who built agricultural terraces out of lava rock and planted cultivars of kalo (taro), an important cultural food crop."

"These and other plants that were significant to the early inhabitants, as well as native species, make up the Garden's collections. The property includes a plantation-era garden, as well as invasive species that were introduced by modern man. Limahuli Stream, one of the last pristine waterways left in the Islands, provides a habitat for indigenous aquatic life."

Behind the gGarden is the Limahuli Preserve where conservationists and restoration biologists are working to preserve species native to this habitat.

Limahuli Garden was selected by the American Horticultural Society as the best natural botanical garden in the United States, having demonstrated the best sound environmental practices of water, soil, and rare plant conservation in an overall garden design."

I got most of the above information from the http://www.ntbg.org/ website. I am a little too punchy tired to phrase things myself......

I think the coolest fact I took away from the gardens is the emphasis on research, preservation, conservation and education. The most impressive thing are the programs they have in place to help "feed the world" with a breadfruit program for impoverished countries.

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family that is native to Malaysia and the western Pacific islands. It has also been widely planted in tropical regions elsewhere.

Breadfruit trees grow to a height of 66 ft. The large and thick leaves are deeply cut into pinnate lobes. All parts of the tree yield latex, a milky juice, which is useful for boat caulking. Seriously.

The trees are monoecious, with male and female flowers growing on the same tree. The male flowers emerge first, followed shortly afterward by the female flowers, which grow into a capitulum, which are capable of pollination just three days later. The pollinators are Old World fruit bats.

Breadfruit is one of the highest-yielding food plants, with a single tree producing up to 200 or more fruits per season. The www.ntbg.org on Maui - a sister garden to the Allerton, has been working on their Breadfruit Institute and is shipping thousands of tree shoots to developing countries as part of a sustainable agriculture initiative.

Shipping the breadfruit trees over long distances is only possible because NTBG’s researchers have found a way to propagate the trees “in vitro” and then ship these tissue cultures.

Breadfruit trees also have a beneficial impact on the natural environment creating organic mulch, shade, and a cooler micro-climate beneath the canopy. The trees also give shelter and food for important pollinators or seed dispersers such as honeybees, birds, and bats.

I thought I was going to have a good picture of a breadfruit tree to add to this post, but my camera is being less than cooperative. sorry!

Well, then, there you have it for now. I am exhausted after a long day of doing nothing and have to go and pack. Thanks for listening to my ramblings..... Next week will be something completely different as I am leaving for the Fall Furniture Market in High Point. What a change.......from flowers to furniture. After that trip, I am done travelling for the year! WHEW!

This photo falls into the WHAT THE HELL category........I could not find someone to ask what this is...so if anyone can identify it, please let me know!

All the waterfeatures in the garden are gravity fed...and you can hear running water from everywhere in the gardens.......lovely!

Super cool Adenium - desert rose......love the thorns!

The timber bamboo was HUGE and beautiful...

Beautiful tunnel of bamboo.....

Bamboo palm seeds......

Gorgeous palm!

Red emerging Palm. Red. Wow!

OK....this was the most amazing tree. Moreton Bay Fig. The roots were amazing. These 3 trees were used in the first Jurassic Park movie. I am going to have to rent it again to see the part.

Poipu beach..........nice!

FINALLY!!!!! Our trip to High Point....

WHEW! What a crazy past week and a half it has been! I have been so totally sick from some bug I picked up - probably from the plane - that I could not even get myself together enough to put a High Point Blog together! What a slacker! So here goes....

We had a great time at market - and although attendance was down and not every vendor was having a great time - we sure had a great time! So much to see in such a short time......

These photos are in no particular order. Some stuff I ordered for the shop, other stuff for clients and some things were just too cool and needed to be documented.

Printworks...the AMAZING restaurant at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro...totally sustainable hotel - killer outdoor seating. I love the columnar hornbeam trees...so stately!

...more Printworks...nothing like an outdoor environment on a sunny evening to enjoy a nice cocktail with! ..travel buddies Miss Sue and Miss-T (Misty).

Lillian August collection at Hickory White.

...more Lillian August...

Hickory White - beautiful China Hutch - Skyloft collection, looks extra beautiful with a red interior! Yummy!

My favorite fabric of all times - Chiang Mai Dragon - by Schumacher on a Hickory White wing chair - I think it makes the style so fresh and modern - love it!

Hickory White modern wing chair in oatmeal linen fabric and chrome nailheads - I ordered 2 for the shop...or is it for my home...one can never tell!

The most amazing Baker showroom , Jacques Garcia collection....beautiful, but quite tame for him, don't you think???

..more Baker - they are REALLY trying to modernize their style and appeal to a different crowd lately. Note the Thomas Paul fabric by Duralee - he is everywhere!

..more Baker....I LOVE the handpainted Tibetan doors as art above the nightstands! Great color!

..more Thomas Paul for Duralee at Baker.

.......and again....I actually really love this room - so cheerful and colorful! Love the Moroccan table - white on the outside and coral underneath - just a peek of it!

DEAR GOD! You should have seen this chandelier - again at the Baker Showroom - they now have the amazing Tony Duquette collection! The abalone shells on this piece really reflected the light and was beyond stunning!

...more Tony Duquette...this chair retails at around $11,000.

My friend Sue from SAID Interiors bought this piece from Red Egg - such cool stuff - for her showroom. It is a bar table on wheels - I LOVE anything on wheels. Beautiful lacquered surfaces in a bright acid green.

This rug is the coolest thing I bought on this trip. It is being made just for me in my personal color palette. It is by my new favorite vendor - Red Egg - http://www.redegg.com/ - I ordered a 5 x 8 - all wool...it is completely custom so I won't have it until at least October - and below I have a color of the pom box of all the colors you can choose from as well as my personal color selection. I can't wait to get this piece - it is going to bypass my shop completely and head straight into my living room! YIPPEEEEEEEE.. We can have one made just for you too - there are other styles available as well....so let us know if we can hook you up!

...pom box.....

...my personal color selection - brown in the ground and the honeycomb grid will be the Chinese red and all the quince flower (my favorite pattern, ever!) will be in the rest of the fun colors!

..The only purchases I regret are the ones I did not make...and I regret this.....these are hand carved acupuncture models - male and female - super cool!

Vintage European linen laundry bags and grain sacks - we are getting a ton of these for pillows, cushions and whatever else you can think of to make with them.....

...beautiful outdoor set.....

.....steampunk table...meet my entry hall! this one is coming straight home with me! So delicious!

Beautiful black glass chandelier....

..and it;s fraternal twin - the red glass chandelier. I am putting 3 of these in a bar/restaurant that I am helping with - black glossy walls - gold ceiling - red chandeliers - how sexy!

Silver leatherette Chesterfield - for fall in the shop? Perhaps! The lovely Miss Sue fast asleep sitting up! Tee Hee! Note the beer bottle in the foreground....

.....We've ordered most of this - what a cool collection!

One of my favorite new things - Lucite and chrome French bistro chair - oh yeah - we are sooooo getting this at the shop!

....beautiful collection of faux-bois - this was a really striking showroom!

..the new Robert Abbey Lighting collection.....we carry their pieces - we will have these pieces in the fall but they can be ordered now...

Robert Abbeys' Jonathan (so damn happy) Alder's collection - love it!

....more Jonathan Adler....

...loved this chair ...rustic, classic and sophisticated. A definite yes for fall.

Recycled bolwing alley floor as a dining table - so clever and quite beautiful!

oooooooooohhhhhhhh...one of the sexiest chaise lounges ever! By Veneman - we will be carrying this line in the Spring of '10.

Eric Cohler Lighting for Visual Comfort....I ordered a few of these lovelies.

Vintage Swedish concrete gnome from BoBo. I am weak for gnomes!

Beautiful burlap light fixtures from BoBo.

Reproduction Loius chairs from BoBo in a beautiful oatmeal linen. So simple and classic.


What a statement! Vintage hay truck wheel as art!

Tozai Home showroom display - AMAZING!

Lastly...I walked into this cake decorating shop - my funny and weird friend Todd thought I should take a cake decorating class with him...it just didn't take - anyhoo......I walked into the shop where you are supposed to buy your 10,000 supplies needed to take the class and I found these freaky little sugar things for the top of your cake and they looked just like my darling Stella....weird!

....sugar stella......

..real Stella - weird.

Tune in next time!