To market, to market...yes, Holiday 2010!

Believe it or not, it's that time of year again! Here we are, in Atlanta, anticipating the newest and most current selections for the upcoming 2010 Christmas inventory. It is, indeed, an annual buying trip that comes with mixed emotion. After all, we have barely taken down the trees after selling through last years inventory and restocking trees multiple times. Are we really going there again? So soon? Really?

The answer is "yes"! Somehow, even with a bit of "do we really have to?" in our spirit, we gain momentum in the seven days of shopping, searching and order writing. By the end of the week, we come back with a plan to look forward to, for you and for us.

I always try to show you some of the best we see, along with some of the worst! The market is getting more and more strict about photo-ops, but I'll do my best to sneak them in! Stay tuned for daily reports and let me know what you like...or don't. Any special requests are honored as well.

CFO and kindred spirit, Linda Giler, is my shopping and planning companion for the week (not to mention the entertainer!). Just thought you might enjoy seeing our closet floor. Looks like black boots in all styles, and heel heights are in order for the week. Luckily, we wear the same size within a half size. And that definitely seals the kindred spirit connection.

Here are several views of our closet floor. I tried several shots to capture the "collection".

Rear view, showing various and assorted heel choices!

And, just for entertainment sake, here are the 4 "Please Dos" and the 4 "Please Don'ts" straight from the AmericasMart handbook...

Please do...

1. Tote bags and backpacks are a smart carry-all solution.

2. Wear comfortable shoes.

3. Only rolling briefcases smaller than 12"(H)x 16" (W)x5" (D) are allowed during Market. (I just must make an editorial comment, that this is virtually impossible).

4. Infants (under age 1) in carriers are allowed in accordance with the new AMC liability release waiver policy. NO-ON SITE CHILDCARE PROVIDED.

Please Don't...

1. Strollers are not allowed on showroom floors or in exhibit halls.

2. Don't sacrifice comfort for style. (This is the main one that I wanted to document!)

3. All rolling luggage larger than 12"(H) x 16" (W) x 5" (D) must be checked.

(It sounds like they might be really serious about this one...oh, dear.)

4. Smoking is strictly prohibited in all public buildings.

I'm guessing that the fact that "no photography" not being included in the top 4 "don'ts" is a good sign!

And so, we're off! Check in for my daily progress reports.

Let the Party Begin!

Mercy! One intense snow storm later, Christmas holidays with children and grandchildren taking center stage, and many kitchen clean-ups behind me, finally, the photos of over a week ago of the holiday centerpieces for my client's event! Where does time go?

Low cylinder with wrapped ivy and fresh cranberries at the base. This is a great photo of the baby kale. You can see several red amaryllis peeking from behind flanked by the red and pure white roses. I didn't realize how similar the kale would look to the roses! I like this shot which profiles the green portion of the kale beautifully. (Sorry about the orange tea towel!) I was using the tea towels to catch the water from the glass prior to packing!


This shot makes the hydrangeas look a bit purple. They really were dark burgundy red with green accents. Perfect!




Note the green kermit mums. I thought they added a spark of color in the spirit of the holidays. I love the monstera leaves for drama. Once again, the baby kale looking very rose-esque!


Closeup of the white and red amaryllis. These babies are very fragile! It took four days for them to open to this point. They drink water like crazy!

Amaryllis tied together and spread for drama. The roses were cut and placed upright at different heights. A few floating cranberries add a seasonal touch. Note the wide white satin ribbon I used to tied the amaryllis stems together.

This was another of the tall arrangements. I just love the seasonal colors of lime and red derived from the fresh lime slices along with some whole limes, and the cranberries.

There was just no good place to shoot this trio without background distractions. I designed the small square vases with the same assortment to flank the tall centerpiece. This was the main dining room design.

A trio of the large straight-sided glass vases with packed low design. I think these were my favorites!

By the time we loaded the van and made our way to Princeton, the weather was really beginning to develop. Snow,amaryllis,red roses, baby kale, red hydrangea---I'd say that was the perfect Christmas combination! The tables were set for a grand celebration to be sure.


Christmas celebrations and dramatic fresh flowers arer perfect together. Merry,merry.

Paris, Susan style!

While in Paris, several weeks ago, I wandered through the most delightful florist shop and was inspired by several interesting designs. I noted the designs in my idea notebook for future use.

Lucky for me (!) one of my clients asked me to design fresh floral centerpieces for her holiday party this year. Take a look at the selection of fresh floral that I was able to get my local supplier to bring in for me! Just like Paris!

Red, yes, red hydrangeas with delightfully Christmas green accents!

Remember, I talked about these baby floral kales that we found in the Parisian floral designs? Well, I got them too! So cute. So stylish.

To carry the holiday theme through, I am also using these crisp white and red roses.

In addition, I have the red and white amaryllis (not photographed, as they are still in the opening stage)...I'm praying that they open tonight while I sleep!

I added these lime green kermits for a little pop to the mix, along with medium monstera for drama.

Tomorrow is my design day. I'm looking forward to it and will post my holiday designs soon!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, indeed.

A Paris Thanksgiving...or not!

In planning a day trip to Bruges, as a family we decided that Thanksgiving day just might be the perfect day. American Thanksgiving is not a celebrated holiday in France. We thought it would be a memorable day to count in our treasury of Thanksgivings.

Bruges is a quaint, historic village in the uppermost northern point of Belgium. The high speed train ride and consequent transfers took us through rural France and was picturesque. While the thought had crossed our minds of the possibility of cloudy, cool weather, we had not anticipated steady rain with periods of downright downfall!

It was indeed, a memorable Thanksgiving Day!

Upon arriving in the city, this was the first sign that greeted us. You might have well asked me to perform brain surgery as to interpret this! It was basically Greek to us all.


Flemish is the language spoken and the natives don't take nicely to French! They do respond, however, to English.

Being so near the Scandanavian culture, bicycling is a main mode of transportation. I even saw an entire parking garage underground that was only for bicycles! This mass of cycles was quite a sight.

Likewise, many signs throughout the city were specific for the cyclists.

An early stop in the day, partially to duck out of the rain and at the request of my grandson, Lucas...Belgium style fries with toppings and beignets (a bit like our doughnut holes, only finer!).

This is a small taste o the colorful and beautiful architecture to be found all about the city.

More to come later on this.

No trip to Bruges would be complete without sampling the native waffles and hot chocolate. By this time it was pouring down rain, my granddaughter, Eva, was soaked from head to toe (and still in fine spirits! I'm afraid I can't say the same for me.)

Just look at these colorful cups of hot chocolate!

Good thing we got our self portrait before the deluge of rain.

After a long train ride home including 3 transfers and a two-stop metro adventure, we made it back to the apartment only to put the finishing touches on a good soaking all the way to the bone on the way home from the metro station.

This picture outside the Bruges train station says it all!

Sing Noel!

Last evening, the family took a metro ride to the area where the high end department stores are to view the Christmas windows! We were not disappointed.

At the Galeries Layfayette , the first set of windows were all about pink! My cute friend and buying cohart, Linda, would be thrilled! After all, she is also all about pink!




Stacks of pink boxes...(I wanted to get in there and show them a real stylish bow) but they caught my fancy anyway!


Mannequins with pink wigs! And what wigs they were. Extreme styles, extreme color, and extreme coiffed do's. Oh, yes, it was all about style!

...and just check out these eyelashes!

Pink boxes stacked with bottle after bottle of interesting eggplant parfum bottles. Add another pink-wigged mannequin, and voila!


As we moved on, this sign "Noel Gourmand" led us to additional windows with themes of a "sweet Christmas", yes all confection related.

Pink ornaments, pink marshmellows, pink mints, everything pink!

Pink macarons fabricated from satins and velvets formed this croquenbouche stacked and surrounded by more pink boxes, tea sets and pearls.

This was a personal favorite, a box of popcorn fashioned from passementarie trim!! Two of my passions together...passementaries and popcorn! Note the satin jelly roll and ice cream cones as well. So cute.

This window, hot pink marshmallows! And what marshmallow confection cake would be complete without champagne?

And towards the end, a bit of relief from the pink with several windows back-lit with blue. White snowy themes, peaceful blue windows.

Paris really knows how to do Christmas windows!

Perhaps the Black-eyed Susan Christmas windows will reflect a bit of Paris inspiration.

Paris Views

This is the view from our apartment window. In the heart of the city and within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, one can feel the excitement of Paris close at hand. There is a gourmet grocery store directly across the street that is open until 11:30pm and always teeming with activity. All needs from fine chocolate to cheese and exotic juices are close at hand!

A closeup of the fresh produce to be found at Carrefour, the local grocer.

Fabulous architecture is at every turn. Highly decorative doors are the norm, corbels and gargoyles abound, and ironwork dresses almost every window. I never tire of photographing these elements, although I'm not such an expert as Michelle or Fred!

Decorative iron, corbels and beautiful windows! A true delight to the eye. It's everywhere!

Even the rooftops are beautiful, and chimney pots are the norm. I'll show you a better photo of these later.

Most building have an angled corner like this! These views of the buildings are sometimes the most interesting. Window boxes are also the norm, and even this time of year can be seen brimming with geraniums and fancy ivies.

Color is everywhere and in assorted brights and pastels. This French bistro boasts pink and grey chairs. Oh so French.

Benches in bright green...

And last of all, for tonight, these colorful chairs in the metro! (The metro could be an entire post on its own. I'll have too do that!)

There's just not much not to love about Paris.

Paris Day 1, Evening stroll

An evening stroll down this beautiful street, Rue Cler, was in order our first night to find the butcher shop. Very close to our apartment, it affords many delights from bakeries, boutiques, cafes, and fruit stands. The street is very active and exciting with bustling patrons, fresh baguettes in hand. Sometimes we make several trips a day down this cobblestone street and I never tire of the walk.

This is just one of our favorite stops...really, for a fresh baguette, but you can see the temptations!

These miniature confections draw one in and are tempting any time of night or day! I guess you can see why I was diligently trying to loose 10 lbs prior to my trip....hopefully, the many miles of walking the next few days will make up for my failure. At least one pastry a day is definitely on the "to do" list. Never mind the cheeses, jams, crepes, sandwiches on fresh baguettes, chocolates, fine chocolate drinks, Italian gellatos (for real!), macaroons...it's a pretty limitless array. Oh dear.


We finally made it to the butcher shop, our true destination. All manner of fine cuts of meat were on display. We went for lamb for Sunday dinner, but I couldn't help but snap this shot of a pheasant, talons and all!

How stylish this row of fancy oils seemed.

I'll have to tell you that it certainly makes for a wonderful visit to have your own personal interpreter and guide. All the better that it's my darling daughter, Michelle!