Living the Fancy Life

boxes, boxes everywhere...

Everywhere I look there are Christmas packages for me.  No pretty red bows or shiny paper.  No sparkling lights above them or tree skirt below and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love decorating and arranging but it is especially fun at Christmas time.  Part of it I think is the color red.  I don't have much red in my house as I am a green and blue girl.  Green is so serene and for most of the year that is what I want but adding a punch of red for 6 weeks gives it real cheer.  Not only does the red pop but the green looks more elegant especially if there are sparkle touches everywhere. 

The shop is even more fun to do for Christmas.  Stores everywhere are brighter and fuller and well just more magical. Most important are the windows.  I can't tell you how many times a little tear is brought to my eye by the joy of a child standing at the Christmas window I created. Last year there was a little boy about 3 years old who was peeking in.  He ran over to his dad and said "Come dad I found a place called snowman town and the snowmen invited me over to play".  Wasn't sure when I planned out that window it was one of my favorites but now it will always be.  

This year will be a first as I am closing for 3 days to get ready for the holiday. So I will send out lots of different notes but we are closing early on the 1st of November at 4pm and we will reopen at 4pm on the 4th for our holiday open house. 

Part II

Having a retail store can be a bit lonely.  Well not really as I have shop-girls, friends and customers coming and going.  But who do I talk to at the water cooler? There are times I need to talk out my decision to drop a line or think of my marketing a different way. I am a lucky girl to have some really great people in my life far away that give a a sense of not being alone in the world of small retail ownership.  About 2 years ago I started reading tons of blogs and of course looking for blogs about other stores.  As I was heading down that path one day I found Curious Sofa by Debbie Dusenberry.  She is more that brilliant and my total inspiration.  I was lucky enough to get to meet up with her and a bunch of other shop owners in Atlanta last year.  I felt like I should bow to retail royalty.  She would never have allowed it as Debbie is down-to-earth, real and honest.  I think of myself as pretty creative but Debbie is at a whole other level.  I also am lucky enough to have found a friend in Abby Kerr of The Blissful in Canton, OH.  She was named one of the 50 retail stars in America last year. Abby is one of the most engaging writers I know. She and I are both crazy about Daniel LaPorte and her writing in Style Statement.  Danielle is an amazing out of the box thinker that has a talent for getting people to pull their real dreams from their subconscious.  I went to a talk she gave in Oakland not all that long ago and it made me think of taking the store in directions I never thought possible.   

So do you want to see some pretty sites I go to when I need to see beauty?

A Creative Mint I don't think it is any secret to any of you who have been to my store that I am nuts for clusters of color no matter how random the items.  Well if you walk into my stationary room and smile because of how it lowers your blood pressure then this site is for you.  

Stylings of Cody Farquhar This site is so beautiful you almost need a cup of tea in a china cup just to look at it. 

Material Girls Blog This is interesting as it is like Daily Candy but for your house.  They don't have a San Francisco but I follow New York as I will always fancy a 2 bedroom in Gramercy Park or the Upper West Side.  I just can't get enough of that town. 

Of course there is Decor8, Design Sponge and Edie Ross but they are everywhere.  I think at least one of these might surprise you. 

Movie Stars & Close Friends, part 1

The internet is an amazingly large thing.  Large things usually have big controversy with extreme points of view and the internet is no exception. Sure it gets this label of "impersonal" but the truth is it can bring people so much closer together.  People I may never have met are friends and those who may not have crossed my path in a million years are teaching me things everyday. I have used it for years as a tool but now I feel like it is my kitchen table sometimes (when I am in blog mode that is usually where I am) and I am sitting with some friends for coffee.  

There are some people I have met only through my ability to use a keypad that have changed my life for the better.  The first one is Hope Wallace Karney, you know who she is as when you look at this lovely blog you see her work.  She is the designer of my new logo and the creator of some of the great cards you buy at Daisy's.  Hope just got married and I agonized over what to send her for a present.  I wanted it to be creative and not part of service for 12. If you look at her site you will see a magical wedding unveiled.   Hope's best bud is Amy and I found her site through Hope.  I am off to see them both at a crafting weekend in a few weeks and all I can think about is the kind of dramatic movie like hug it will be when I get to actually be with my friends standing on the same surface.  This is a very girly weekend and newcomers like me get a guiding hand from a "big sister" who has been there before. Amy is my big sister.  Who knew a cute little white box with a lit up piece of fruit on the top (completely dedicated to my mac) has given me a connected feeling with another person.  Amazing...

Because I don't watch "Real Housewives" or the one about being a singer I get to sit with my laptop and gaze at stuff that makes me squeal with excitement. So who are the reality TV or "Movie Stars" of my life? Well lets see, we have Tara Frey.  Tara just wrote a book about blogging (Blogging for Bliss).  I didn't want to like her when I first found her blog.  She is beautiful and has a picture perfect family whom she adores and lives in a part of the country I would consider one of the most beautiful parts of the world.  Didn't need one more perfect person in my life, except she writes about how she always breaks the coffee pot and how her daughter wore a crushed ball on her head like a hat.  She is real and life gives her ups and downs, so I am happy for her on some days and some days I cry for her.  The second one is the replacement for Domino magazine in my life.  Not much to say except, it is called Lonny. There are a couple of stories about houses on Long Island and one of them I even know what street it is on because I rode my bike by there as a kid.  There is a guy in the Seattle area known as The Bedlam of Beefy and I can't get enough of him.  Amazing eye for everything from fashion to cupcakes to a lamp I am going to hunt down for my house. His blog is in this great font like he wrote you a note and he is way more sarcastic than me, which I didn't know was possible. 

OK, there are so many more to talk about I will come back to it tomorrow.  

Customer Appreciation Day

My friend Angela, who owns Pippin Hill, the cutest classic yet hip kids clothing shop, had the best idea.  She wanted to have an old fashion downtown customer appreciation day.  We are so lucky to get to be in one of those picturesque little blocks with beautiful old buildings and cute stores including an old fashioned ice cream shop etc.  She was all excited when she told me about it and how we should get about 10 businesses just to say thanks to our customers with one day specials and prizes.  Well you know how grassroots efforts go when the idea is good.  So Saturday is Customer Appreciation Day on Park Street in our little Alameda.  We have 55 businesses participating! So if you live near come on by, I hope that this grows into an annual event as my mind is already spinning with ideas for next year.