On the job, day 5 and 6

Each day at market, we feel the pressure a little more to complete our buying search.

Some vendors take hours to work with.

Some days, there are long lines to get lunch.

Some days, there is not lunch.

Some days, we find superior treasures.

Some days, none.

Some days, we catch the shuttle on the first run.

Some days, we wait...and wait...and wait...

Some days, the elevator is jam-packed.

Some days, we take the escalator.

Some days, we wear stylish shoes.

Some days, our feet hurt.

Some days, we trade shoes.

Today, we filled in the last of the Halloween purchases. One of our favorite vendors is a vintage reproduction designer. She has loads of glass glitter houses, figures, banners, and trees. I admit, I had to order the crows in party hats again for the second year. Take a look at one of her displays, complete with small "potion bottles" filled with orange and black glass glitter! The display was further complete with the addition of a vintage ledger beneath it.

We found this very pink (!) glass glitter house to complete the pink accent story that we selected at the end of the Holiday buying. I mean, a girl just can't resist a little pink holiday merchandise!

I couldn't resist documenting this totally American style crepe! Although the booth was filled with authentic Parisian music and cute cooks in chef's hats (a little like French cartoon depiction), this crepe was filled with chicken, spinach, cheese, and a little raspberry dressing! I could just see my daughter, Michelle, rolling her eyes at this one! Really, it wasn't bad, although a little on the crisp side. Lunch at market is seldom memorable.

I realize that I did not give you the day 5 report! Mid day on day 5, I started to feel like a major allergy attack had just hit. By 6:00pm, I was to discover that a full blown, major cold was coming on. By 8:30pm, I was out like a light with two NyQuil. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Progress! Day 4

We went full steam ahead today, day 4! After planning our trees for Holiday 2010, we have decided on 4 full size theme trees (you'll need to wait for the colors!). Along with the 4 main themes, we also will present several small "fixture" trees, as we like to call them. Way cute, I might add.

By next holiday setup, we will be in our new location! This will be disclosed soon as well, so keep reading. We will have four times the space, and then some. It is exciting, and has made this buying trip especially busy. We spend a full week planning the Christmas inventory and events, and this trip we have been busy with planning new inventory for the move as well. Yes, it's been a busy week thus far.

While in one of the showrooms, Linda found a vintage reproduction glittery crown, and just couldn't resist the impulse to be "queen for a day"! In the background,the vintage reproduction ivory feather tree! Pretty cute, both Linda and the tree!

One of the trees we have planned was inspired by one of my cute friends, Marie! She had us help her this year with her foyer tree. The tree is a vintage reproduction and quite glamorous. An ivory, slightly glittered feather tree....oh,the primping it takes! Oh well, by then I'll be all ready for the tree primping task again!

Another favorite today...a tray of pine cones, limes, greens and a fabulous green glass ornament. What is it about the color green, anyway?! Love it.

Tomorrow, we are really going to have to move fast, very fast. FAST!

I'm planning what shoes to wear right away.

Atlanta Market Day 3!

Okay, I missed a day! I've been having major computer woes staying connected to the Internet from our hotel room, so the labor involved to post has been too much late at night.

We started out the day pretty perky. At the end of the day...oh, dear. Bad feet, bad, bad, bad. We could barely make it across the hotel lobby for our dinner reservations. Tomorrow, a different choice in shoes!

We feel a bit behind, as we have hardly placed any orders. The first few days are always filled with resourcing new vendors and making plans for the 2010 Christmas stories. We got a little sidetracked, as we really need everyday inventory, not to mention Valentine inventory! I'll give you just a little taste of a few of the new things we found.

Way cute new pillows...buttons, keys, and document transferes. Oh, yea. Way cute!

Chartreuse ceramics. Can't get much cuter than that.

Outside one of our favorite vendors, we took this photo just to give you the scale of this rather large wreath! I'll get Joanne right on it. (For those of you who don't know, Joanne is my staff florist!)

Well, luckily, tomorrow is another day. We are really going to have to book it tomorrow to catch up. Only 3.5 more working days. Stay tuned.

Day 1, Atlanta winter market 2010

The first day of work at market each season is always a grueling one! 3 buildings, 20+ floors each. That about says it! We try to pare down what we take, but a small rolling office is really what it takes to do a week's worth of buying for the immediate needs and 2010 Christmas needs.


Roaming between 4 floors and keeping in our heads the various offerings is quite the task. In our first day, we have come up with several keen options for the color stories for this year, seen some really cool things, and more than you can imagine of ridiculous things! I guess you could say that our work has just begun!


Things you will see appearing at Black-eyed Susan:

Beautiful, fabulous cutting and sprays of magnolia branches. Absolutely real looking and so elegant. Luscious and sophisticated.

Icy, snowy birch branches!





Rustic chic framed bird. Burlap matt! Too darling!


Things you will not see at Black-eyed Susan.


Resin mushrooms in cartoon colors as floral accents.

Distressed cartoon flower picks.



Tomorrow is another day! I'll bring more favorite picks, as well as a few "discards"!



Now, for some feet soaking and a good dose of advil. Goodnight!

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.