CRAZY BUSY!!!

we are having a great day today! everyone is in such a great shopping mood....who wouldn't be with 50% off the entire store! or perhaps it is the fall weather.......kind of makes me want soup!

it is the last weekend of the "please make it go away" sale and things are going fast! i am soooooo looking forward to getting all our cool new stuff...furniture by NOIR and steven shell, beautiful venetian mirrors, lighting by visual comfort, robert abbey and arteriors....so much good stuff!!!!! please come by this weekend and take advantage of us!...... i just really wanted to say that! ha!

ok then, hope to see you soon.....

HIGH POINT HERE WE COME......

I had a realization that we leave for the Spring High Point Market next week - my oh my how time flies!

This year, it is Miss Sue (with me for the last 5 years), my darling and the ever stylish Miss Hester (one of my very best friends who just happens to work in my shop one day a week) and for the first time in High Point, Weirdo Todd (see previous posts to see just how weird). I do love that Weirdo Todd. The four of us are dangerous together. We are really kind of enablers - telling each other - "get it, get it!"

There is so much great stuff at the HP market that it is really kind of dizzying. I am needing to place an order with Hickory Chair (so happy!), Visual Comfort, Design Legacy...Steven Shell...Nathan Anthony - the list goes on and on!

As I start making my "to do " list I will post photos of what I am looking for....but for now, I will leave it you with this one image from Steven Shell - this is soooooo on my list!

My first day at High point....

DEAR GOD I AM TIRED! I took a red eye from PDX last night and got in to Greensboro at 9 am. Should I check into the hotel and freshen up perhaps? Uh - no! I headed straight for High Point and talked a lovely fellow named Dedrick into letting me have the last free parking space in the city and headed off to work. I will definitely bring him coffee and donuts in the morning to say thank you! I was severely under caffeinated and had to fix that situation before I could do anything else. Thank god for free coffee!

I placed two orders today - one with www.soicher-marin.com , from their new SM2 collection. A little more hip and a little more affordable and super good looking and well framed. They also have the Suzanne Kasler collection and the Marette Hines-Gomez collection that will fit in perfectly with my new www.HickoryChair.com stuff. Ms. Gomez is speaking tomorrow and sharing her thoughts on "...classic, modern design with an unpretentious sense of luxury". SIGN ME UP! I think I will get me a seat in the front row. I am a back of the bus front of the classroom kind of gal. Show up and pay attention is my motto!

Once again, my iphone is having issues getting pictures into my blog - so if you want to see some of it, you will have to go to my Facebook page. Sorry - lame!

I placed another order with one of my favorites - www.design-legacy.com. Their product line just gets better and better. Again, Facebook. I ordered a bunch of 26 x 26 pillows (linen) with HUGE poppies - a rubber duck water game (sooo cool!), linen bug pillows......LOVE IT!!!

Let's see, what else....I went to see Visual Comfort, Company C, Arteriors, Eurostyle, Kenian, Surya..stopped for a few drinks on the way - gotta love those hallway bars - and I totally blew off the Elle Decor party to go to dinner with my friend Miss Susan and her lovely husband Greg. Their hotel is close to this KILLER BBQ joint and she goes to it every time she is at market and now she shared it with me. YIPPEE! It's called Country Bar-B-Que st 4023 West Wendover Ave - right off Hwy 40 at the Wendover exit - North of the Hwy. UN.B.LIEVABLE. After a hard day of shopping, it was the perfect finish. Que so good it makes you weak in the knees. Go - run screaming! YUM!

Anyhoo - I am dead tired and almost in a food coma - so I best get to bed - especially if I need to go and get donuts in the morning!

I swear by the end of this week I will have pictures - thanks for your patience! Tune in tomorrow and see what I find...... I can't wait!

Meet Thomas O'Brien

I had such a great day today! I finally got to meet my ultimate design hero - Thomas O'Brien! YIPPEE!!!!! He was in Portland yesterday and today for a series of lectures about his work and his product lines. I just picked up the Visual Comfort line of lighting for my shop and clients - and his lighting is my favorite - vintage modern and always perfect! I am getting his tension pole lamp in black for my own home - can't wait! I have been watching his work in the magazines for the last several years and I think he has such a clean and simple style. Usually I like alot more color abut there is something about his stuff I cannot put a finger on - it just really appeals to me. Anyhoo........I love these kinds of photos - and he was kind enough to indulge me!...And I love his Clark Kent-ish-ness!

This is a picture of a client's project underway - our last post on this project only included the dining chairs and the new draperies, but now we have the lovely buffet by Patagonia Trading Company and the cool lamps by Barbara Cosgrove...all we need now is art! I think this project looks beautiful!

Also included are a super cute new pair of shoes I found at the super cute shoe shop Switch in the Multnomah Village area. You should really check them out - and they are sooo nice - they even sent me a thank you note for shopping there....hmmmmmmmmm..note to self!

It is going to be an amazing Memorial Day weekend in Portland - mid 80's all three days - amazing! I will be working in my front yard getting ready for a photo shoot next weekend for MIX magazine - their feature - Friday Night Dinner Party - will be about outdoor entertaining and in my garden! YAHOO! I've rounded up a ton of new plants to put in from Xera plants mostly Mediterranean and drought tolerant.

One of my favorite plants going in the ground this weekend is Zauschneria Californica ‘Calistoga’ Zn7b (5º to 10ºF) Here is the description from the nursery: One of the very Best California Fuchsia, this variety may actually be a hybrid. Leaves are thicker than normal and very gray and very wooly. Flowers are the closest to true red that we have ever seen on a Zauschneria (and we’ve seen a LOT). Low spreading plant to only 1’ tall and up to 2’ wide. Blooms begin in late July and continue unabated until early autumn. Full sun, well drained soil. Water during its first season in the ground, after that it should be fine. GREAT ON SLOPES. Hillsides where you find Zauschneria in the wild are where they should be planted in a garden. On an incline they will live for YEARS, on level ground. They can be very temporary. Cut back in mid-spring AFTER all danger of frost has passed.

Truly one of my favorite plants (You should see the color of the flower!) - I have it in several forms in my back and side yards and now I am putting 5 plants in the front to tumble over my retaining walls with some evergreen ornamental grasses and some yellow/green variegated, white flowering sedum - super cool! Oh yea, I am also putting in (finally) the new varieties of Echinacea this year - Tomato Soup and Mac n Cheese - a totally red flower and a totally yellow flower - yummy! I'll take pictures and put them up next week - along with the progress on my new back fence - so cool!

OK THEN.....that is it for now......have a good weekend!