The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

Another day. We found some great floral accents...lots of moss items, tons of succulents (oh, my heart!) and assorted great accessories.

Of course, we saw our share of ugly things as well...(I haven't documented much of that side of my buying this time!) I guess there's more of that during the holiday buying season.


How many of these should I buy? I'll need your orders right away to make sure we get what we want! tee hee...


This super chic desk is made of glass!! Beautiful sea salt colored glass. *sigh* (Note to self:: for your next private office)

A rather large pod of some kind! Sorry, while I ordered them for interesting table top use, I can't recall their rather exotic name!


Purple is everywhere...

Sassy green rooster...it could be yours!

Recap of day:

• Hit the cash and carry jewelry first thing.
• Rush through the isles, heavily laden with packages.
• Arrive half an hour late for our mid afternoon appointment only to be greeted by frightening vases.
• Realize I left my camera in hotel room.
• Linda's camera battery dies.
• Wonder once again why we don't just open a 500 sq. ft. jewelry store!

With the camera battery charging, our brains begging to charge for the night, and our feet smothered in foot cream, we're preparing for another day...

New Assignment!

Today, I started work on a new assignment for a darling new client. I get lots of unusual requests...but this one really takes the cake!

"and I'd like something special for my two Great Danes to cuddle on...maybe a chaise lounge."

I've tapped into my creative thought process and I'll keep you posted on what I come up with! I had a photo of the extra tall drinking station, but forgot that I requested all the photos be downloaded in the office today...drat! Stay tuned for my design for Great Danes. This could be a first.

On The Way to Naples!

I'm not sure how I committed to this trip, during the craziest and perfectly intense time of my retail year...but here we are, heading to Naples, Florida.

I've been designing and working on a whole-house project for a client in Naples for the past 6-8 months and the final installation marathon is about to begin! Mercy! Hours and hours of design, project management, and accessory gathering has gone into this. When the time finally comes to put it all together and reap the rewards of the intense design process, it's a mixed bag of excitement, stress, and exhaustion. Fun, too! And stressful. Rewarding, yes. And stressful. Great anticipation, yes. And stressful.

Will the pieces that I've selected fit he space as I have planned and imagined? Will everything arrive in time for the final curtain call? Will that 9' tall, 9' wide piece be the statement that you really expect? (Will it really fit up the stairs?!!) Will everything that you did not ship ahead fit in the van? All these thoughts and more are foremost in your mind and anxiety takes a bit off the edge of the excitement.

I thought I'd share some of the process with you from beginning to end.

We shipped all the furniture, lighting, mirrors, rugs, and custom bedding over the past 6 months...and this is what I still had to fit in my van for the two day trip!

All through the packing process, Sneelock kept telling me that it would never fit...

A little reorganizing, with some key cargo on top the car helped...

View from the side door. I think this helps to visualize just how packed in we were!

We made a quick stop along Highway 85 near Charlotte, NC, to meet up with good friend, CFO, and co-designer for the project, Linda! (It was quite an incentive to gain another vehicle, as well.)
This is the view of the passenger side with limited foot room! Well, I was sure that I could gain a little time for computer work, email catchup, and fashion review along the way!). I always get loads done in the long car trip on the way to N.C....no naps today!

Linda and I took one of her cars, and Sneelock took over the van. Just a bit into the second leg of the trip, he phoned us with this report! Spontaneously, the rear sliding passenger window exploded and blew out! What?! Just a minor set-back. After a quick stop at the first Home Depot, some cardboard and duct tape put us back in motion again. A few calls to the dealership and insurance company, and a new window was to be waiting us in Naples for the next day.

Serious excitement!

Arrangements had been made to stay on the job site for the week, but alas, upon arriving at our destination at the late hour of 11:30pm, we discovered that a serious accident had impacted the natural gas lines of Naples. No hot water, and limited services around the entire city for most, if not all, restaurants. Mercy!

After trying several hotels for availability, we were directed to this haven only another half hour down the road...hot water was available! Clean beds, yes. We turned in for the night about 2:00am.

Tomorrow, bright and early,we meet the delivery service for the kick-0ff!