Spring or maybe summer has arrived here in Southern Vermont. Spring bulbs blooming, all those pretty little blue ones or the crocuses scattered around the yard. I always forget those odd ball bulbs that come up in the darnedest places. It's great. And it's always good to head a little further south to see that leaves might come out and that the Magnolias and Dogwoods are in full bloom.
I had a big adventure to NY City, pretty fun for the country girl. It was my time to meet the gang at Potter Craft. As we were waiting in the Random House Lobby, I spotted Barbra Walters, that was pretty neat. What an inspiration as we are waiting for the the big first meeting with my editors. We thought it might be fun to hang in the lobby for the day and see all the interesting folks coming and going. Taking a few deep breaths and trying not to talk too much.... Doing a book for the first time is quite daunting, but heck it sure is a fun challenge. At almost 50, who cares. I'm happy and love what I do and think others would like to be in my shoes. So why not share it and get a lampshade revolution..... there you go. Sounds safe and keeps me out of trouble. My friend Ray said he wanted more politics on my blog.... I have a great picture I'll try to put up the next few days. (surprise for you Obama fans) Pawlet's own Matt Solon our very talented local artist and the painter of my wonderful shop postcard has a new mural on his shop. I'll head over there tomorrow with my camera. Good excuse to try to write here more often. Maybe it's easier to write about politics than lampshades.... Quite a combo.
I am super lucky to have the great co-author, Kathleen Hackett for my book. Kathleen's done a million great projects and grew up right in my backyard. The most amazing thing, Kathleen's sister was a textile major in my class at The University of Vermont. But, I was the artistic rebel and fled my textile major as soon as possible, heading to higher ground at the art department.
Well, there sure is so many fun things to do in the city. The hardest part is having 3 days and choosing what to do. okay.... to the museum or trim shopping..... trim shopping easily won out. I was off to MJ Trimming. Oh my god, my eyes were bulging out of my head and probably mouth open, too. Okay, start figuring out which were my favorites and make a pile to bring home to Vermont. You can only imagine how fast the cash register adds up trim. I know because I buy it all the time...... Okay, think clearly and make smart choices. Yupp, love that one and maybe a little of this one. Gotta get some of that one and oh ya there's the favorite trim I haven't seen in a long time. Quick, get me to the next trim store.
I headed around the corner to Tinsel Trading. I've long read about Tinsel Trading in Martha's Magazine and other design blogs. Such a fun shop. So, you can picture this now, the pile at the counter is starting to grow again. I see a few of the same trims, but quite a few new ones, well actually, lots of new ones. The pile is growing, I figure, how often do I get down the city.... And it is much easier to buy it in person. Stay focused I try to say to myself, don't look at all the cool decorative buttons and other nifty things that might be fun to glue gun onto shades. Well, I'll get just a few neat felted flowers, and a few vintage velvet flowers might be fun, too. Oh, and the handsome gold thin trim that I have been looking high and low for. Probably should have gotten more of that, but something tells me I will be back soon enough.
It was a good thing I didn't have time to look for fabric too. We did manage to eat quite well. After all, being a chef's wife, I do love good food. The first night we took the subway down to Devi, my friend Suvir Saran's wonderful Indian Restaurant. The beautiful food just kept coming and coming. I can't wait to go back again. Oh those great spices and that Cauliflower dish, one of the best and those desserts. Good thing I did lots of walking.
Of course it's always great to be back in our little village of Pawlet. What a busy day today, getting caught up on orders, mail, email, phone calls, customers poking in, trying to write a how-to... no chance today. Tomorrow's a new day.
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