Barn Wall of Shutters

What a journey!  If you haven’t been to the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, it is time to plan a trip!  Miles of hills and barns and fields of corn with the scattering of sunflowers in between. Folks committed to their land  along Rt. 20 with farm stands…. most holding veggies fresh that day…and many stands with the tin Folgers coffee can, a bit dented, with a slit cut in the lid where you can deposit monies for goods taken.  An honor system that only the rural merchant farmer believes in!  I bought jam made from  the flowers of Queen Anne’s Lace, which grows wild in the fields, and I bought Bread and Butter pickles, which reminded me of my own mother’s B&B pickles.  (What I would give for a canning session with her once again!)  Besides the buying,  it was the experience of it all…chatting it up with the farmer and his wife, the pickle maker, and meeting the wife’s 84 year-old mother who sat roadside under a shade umbrella with nary a line on her wonderful face.  For the truth of who we are as a country, you must go to the rural world, sit under the shade umbrella, eat a local peach whose  juice drips down your elbow, and talk canning with an 84 year-old!

Inn on the Main

Times past, I have avoided a bed and breakfast stay like one might avoid the plague!  This  amazing place (photo does it no justice), owned by the innkeepers Jaynee and Guy Straw, opened a whole new world to me!  Give me this bed and breakfast anytime!  For starters the innkeepers were beyond delightful.  The interior was lovely…my room (with a fire place), well…I could have moved right in-just me and two little pugs!  Jaynee and Guy gave us directions for an evening meal at, of all places, a Mexican restaurant!  This in the heart of Canandaigua, New York!  I took them up on the challenge…after all, I am from the West.  I know my Mexican food…last best Mexican meal was in Nevada, and I truly doubted it could have topped that!  Before I go into overdrive on the evening meal at said restaurant, let me just say the breakfast served the morning of our departure was jaw dropping!  Try homemade French toast with toasted macadamia nuts and New York maple syrup, perfect cups of coffee (my friend Diane tells me I like “party coffee”…I add heaps of half and half and sugar…bring on the party!) and on the plate lovely slices of fruit.  Is it no wonder I could have moved in!

The Wall of Rio Tomatlan...About the Best Ever Mexican Restaurant!

This is it!  I would happily drive there, right now, for dinner!  I adore  Mexican food and was over-the-moon with this place…in fact, I had lunch there the next day before heading East…yep, a Mexican lunch shortly after the French toast breakfast!  Somehow I managed to find a little space for Queso Fundido (grilled mini tacos with melted Oaxaca cheese, fresh pico de gallo and a tomatillo chile de arbol sauce)!

Bounty from Roadtrip

Victorian Feather Basket in Shadowbox and Old Canvas

This whole adventure was taken to find more antiques for the store…I did find some real treasures though fewer items than I expected.  They will all be in the store, yes! for sale, when we reopen on September 7th.  I can’t wait to see you all again!  Next adventure will be the Gift Show…more dining, big decisions on what to bring into the store next, late nights in New York City with fellow shop owners.  Though I will love every minute of it, I can’t say I would rather be there than sitting under a shade umbrella with an 84 year-old jelly maker in upstate New York!

Lulu the Shop Sleeper

Was this ever a lucky break!  I have found the perfect shopkeeper.  When you’re in the neighborhood, you must pop in to meet her!  I nabbed her off an Air France flight to Paris! Lulu was longing for a silver platter of oysters on the half shell served, as only the French can do, on a delicate bed of shaved ice.  She was headed to Le Petit Zinc on Rue de Buci where once I asked a man to marry me…that was years ago and, for the record, he declined. (Which was a lucky break for both of us!)  But enough about me and more on Lulu.  As you know, Lulu was the constant companion of Wally, whose death last month has made this dear pug deeply sad.  Now, I haven’t a clue why the trip to Paris…she claims it was for the oysters and who am I to argue.  I would head there this minute for those very oysters and the light of the place, and I would wander down the side streets I so love.  Lulu and I are avoiding travel, just now, and continuing with the management of 6 Birch Street…a little oasis of its own…minus the oysters and the wonders of Paris!

Wally's Garden Shrine

Wally loved the garden!  The head stone was mined from the Cortez Mine in Northern Nevada…it is filled with glittery bits of crystal on its cut edge…a fine tribute to a dog who loved nothing more than a little flash for any occasion!

Bae's Monkey After Five

A couple weeks ago, Bae’s (my granddaughter) monkey came to the “House of Couture” for a little fitting of a dress suitable for a monkey and a matching one for Ms. Bae.  Monkey spent the night, and by the afternoon of the second day there was no pleasing her…I tried bananas, peanuts, to no avail….the wine was best suited for such an occasion…after all how often do I have a monkey house guest?

Monkey Fully Dressed!

New Store Merchandise!

Come by and see the new/old footstools and chairs covered in vintage Kantha cloth!  I have been gathering stools and old chairs over the winter months…which have been given a whole new life!  We adore them!

A Booth on Pier 94

A Tad of Paris at the Javits

John Derian at Work!

John's Wall of Blue Decoupage

John Derian’s booth is always one of my favorites (as is John).  It is nearly impossible to resist his work, but then, why would any sane person want to! I bought several  pieces out of this  blue story for the store.  How I would have loved buying the whole group!  If only I had a bigger store!  John created some truly remarkable pieces for Spring.  They will be in soon and featured front and center once they arrive!

Paste

Denise Fiedler, the designer of Paste, is an old friend from early South End days in Boston. She has created Paste and lives now in San Francisco.  I bought the chair series and some dogs and several wilder animals…though, we all know nothing could be wilder than Pugs and I bought a few of those too!  I thought these would be good for kids’ rooms, and the chair series in one, two or threes would be terrific on a dining room wall.  These pieces are created from torn and cut papers culled from antique books and embellished with vintage gold bits.  Quite charming and very affordable!

Tatine Candle

Tatine was a favorite over the winter.  They have several new scents, which I loved and ordered, along with Creeping Moss, which sold out early last November.

I want to mention here that the PatchNYC booth was jaw-dropping as it usually is…I bought several pieces of Don Carney’s drawings in antique frames and two new needlepoints  in vintage frames…from these two genius men will also come new linen scarves. PatchNYC has also created a number of candle fragrances with the women at The Soap & Paper Factory.  These women are brilliant at fragrance, and the Patch men designed the packaging.  What a combination!

Coming to the store will be new and amazing books…odd titles, wonderous reads, nonsense and must haves!  I adore books… I find them hard to resist, and I assure you that you will too!  In the assortment of goods will be new soaps and lotions.  80 Acres has come up with a lavender scent for their hand cream and soap that will sooth the weary soul. Lavender is tricky…this one works!  I found a new group of greeting cards and journals I loved.  We will have more Lucky Fish for children…those little nippers deserve a chic cotton t-shirt  in the best ever sludge colors!  I could go on, but I won’t, I want you to have some surprises when you come into the store!

After Dinner at Freemans

One reason for trade shows, in my book, is the dining.  Not that you will find fine dining at the Javits Center!  Each evening it was a new feast with great friends…the youngest of which was just over two months old!  Lucien’s mother and grandmother own Bon in Tucson so each night he joined a rather fine group of diners in rather fine places to dine! If you haven’t had a chance to eat or drink at Freemans, make that a must when you’re in New York.  With Don and John from Patch, we ate at Bombay Talkie, which just might have the best ever cocktails in all of the Big Apple (that might be a bit of a stretch!), but for sure, it has the most delicious Indian food!  We also had a splendid meal at Cook Shop on Tenth Avenue.  So, now my passion for fine food, great friends and a wicked trade show is out in the world and public!  Sometimes I think I own the store just to do the food, friends and New York thing!

A Few of Bonnie's Treasures

I have known Bonnie and her remarkable eye for a thousand years…she has agreed to take a wee space in the store.  We are delighted!  Bonnie shifts things around nearly weekly so keeping up with her and the wonders she delivers is such fun!  Come by and see what is new/old each week.

Christoph and Jeanette folding Kanthas

Those of you, who have lusted over Jeanette Farrier’s Kanthas in my store, would have gone positively mad in her booth at The Javits Center…being stuck in that place for four days, looking for the perfect goods, breathing circulated air and eating bad and expensive food…well, it was Jeanette’s booth that lifted the heart and soul of retail.

Patch NYC at Accent on Design

You all know what a fan I am of these two remarkable designers.  PatchNYC  never ceases to amaze me!  I ordered, trust me, I ordered!  This was not a difficult task.  We expect shipment in early to mid October.

A Wonderous Find!

This, on the last hour of the last day, arms full of orders, head buzzing with too much coffee, racing up the final aisle to dash for the train!  It is at this moment I saw friends from Paper Trail, Maureen and Serine, who turned me onto these fabulous necklaces! They will be in the store just in time for our Group Show October 16, 17, 18.  Wait until you see these!