I'm almost out of here.....to Chicago!

A day and a half to go......I have an event for 450 people to set up today and tomorrow morning, then tomorrow afternoon, Frenchy and I are off to Chicago to the Casual Furniture Show - dedicated solely to outdoor furniture and accessories. YIPPEE!!!! I have many orders to place for Spring '11. Tuesday is actually Frenchy's bday...so it is kind of a bummer that we will be travelling, but on Wednesday, he will be doing a 3 hour Segway Tour of the city. He did the same thing last year on his bday and loved it so much that he wanted to come again. He also did a Segway Tour with our friend Eric when Sue, Eric, Jose and I were in San Fran in March...Sue and I went to the San Fran Garden Show and the boys took a Segway Tour - hilarious! You should see the photos....

Anyhoo.......I am excited to the see the collections for Spring....I know for sure that I will be ordering from Fermob, Veneman, Kannoa, Torrans, and The Rug Market. Soooooo much good stuff. I can't wait to post the pictures of everything!

Alrighty then......off to set up...it's going to be a long day. Thank God for the help of the trusty Miss Arnica and Miss Catherine. Whew!

Have a great day!

What I found in Chicago at the outdoor market...

I had a great time at the Outdoor Furniture Market at the Chicago Merchandise Mart this week. Attendance was up and it was bustling! I needed to place orders and find some new vendors for our spring collection of outdoor goods at the shop. I was soooo happy with what I found!

Sometimes it just takes one thing - an item, a color - to act as your muse or inspiration and get you going.....I found this rug at The Rug Market - it is truly an outdoor rug - and it inspired me for the color palette I chose for our Spring merchandise. We will be receiving all our outdoor stuff during the first week in March. I know it sounds far away - but it's not!

This is my color inspiration! I think it is lovely! Our palette for Spring will be chartreuse, turquoise, cobalt blue, white and gray. I saw navy and cobalt blues in Paris and thought I would bring them in through outdoor furniture.

My favorite outdoor line, Fermob, is showing this lovely Luxembourg lounge chair and ottoman in a beautiful shade of chartreuse - they call it verbena - and I have ordered a pair of these. Beautiful....picture it with the rug! YUMMY!

More from Fermob, also from the Luxembourg collection. We have also ordered the pictured colors, turquoise and cobalt. Note the chaise lounge in the back...I ordered a pair of them in a double weave turquoise and gray with a turquoise frame.

..a fun striped deck chair from La Fuma.....more of my color palette!

This is a beautiful offering from Jardin de Ville from Canada. I would love to have this piece in the shop - it looks like the commanders chair from Star Trek.


This lovely is from EMU - LOVE LOVE! I will be ordering it in a turquoise/peacock color.

Here is a gorgeous outdoor firepit - it uses pourable gel. It is glossy white powdercoated metal. So sleek, modern and not fussy! We have one coming into the shop in about two weeks. I would love to have one of these at home as well. hmmmmmmmmmm.............

What is not to love about 50's motel chairs....pick a color , any color. These beauties are really well made and so damn cheerful I can barely stand it. As you can imagine, I ordered a ton of these - I could not even wait until Spring - they will be here in two weeks!!!! YIPPEEE! Beautiful and affordable!

Doesn't that just cheer you up???

ooooooohhhhhhh....I found this new company Kannoa from Florida and I love everything in their collection - we are getting the above piece in a driftwood white - with an umbrella hole and we will put the Sywawa shade lace parasol with it - LOOK OUT!

These are also from Kannoa - and we have ordered them in a chartreuse green - these totally remind me of the Frank Gehry cardboard chair...don't you think???

....more Kannoa - we got these in white with striped cushions...simple and lovely!

.....with little side tables / cubes to go with the collection....

These last pieces are from the Veneman Collection, which I have been coveting for the last two years, and I finally decided to order. I ordered 2 biedermeier side chairs in orange powdercoated metal - really the most beautiful shade of orange/red-ish - I will be putting loose down cushions in peacock on them...and I ordered two pieces from the Roger Thomas collection..the Bellechase lounge chair and the 2 person settee - also in the orange - but with apple green Kravet outdoor chenille for the cushions. This line is to die for. I am so happy I ordered it! FYI - Roger Thomas is the designer of the Wynn and Encore resorts in Las Vegas (plus a whole lot more!)
The Bellechase lounge chair - I ordered it in orange with green cushions.

The Beidermeier chair. I ordered mine as sidechairs, not armchairs,

Allright then, I am done for! I have not had a decent nights sleep in days - my mind won't stop imagining all the great stuff we are getting for Spring '10. I had a blast in Chicago - quick trip as it was - thank you to all the vendors who took their time with me!

Have a great weekend!