fall foliage

I'm trying desperately to soak up all the fall weather while I can. It was gorgeous out this weekend so we headed deep into long island to woodside orchards. They are a family owned farm that has a wide variety of apples, baked goods, and hard cider! 

We decided to get a growler of hard cider and a bag of apple cinnamon donuts. As if that weren't awesome enough this place has a fenced in area to enjoy your delights by a bonfire pit. They fire was not lit because it was so nice out, but just knowing it was there was good enough for me. Oh and two dogs were there so...its safe to say it was heaven. 

On the way back from the orchard we pulled off the side of the road and collected some branches for upcoming displays. Nothing like dropping off a car load of branches to the store on your day off! But it all worked out because we got to snag some old cardboard boxes to pack up our apartment and head to our new place.

Speaking of our new place we couldn't resist heading to Astoria for a bagel and a walk today. We swung by Astoria park to explore more of the area that we had not seen yet and I was not disappointed by the view.

In display land I just finished cutting out, painting, and detailing all of the foliage with my new assistant! Yes, we hired a visual sales associate so for several days a week I will have someone to help me get the massive amount of holiday display done. So far she seems like the perfect fit not only because she also likes listening to comedy pandora like me, but she is also very good at focusing on one task for long periods of time (like paper mache) while I can run all around the store installing, creating, prototyping, and looking at the big picture.  Don't worry I'll still be doing LOTS of my usual tasks I'll just be able to make the displays even grander.

For the foliage in the window display I used a combination of canvas and disposable rags to create the leaves and then dyed, spray painted, dry brushed, or used latex paint to color them. I made them in a variety of textures, and colors ranging from gold and bronze to light green to pthalo green. I'm hoping that this will make each leaf unique in the overall window wreath. This upcoming week I will make the swan and finches for the window.

Apartment search - OVER

Woo hoo I'm back to normal life! Last weekend I got to start my apartment search. We headed out in the rain - sharing an umbrella and looked at about 8 apartments before finding the tiny 500 square foot space that we will call home. It is a prewar building in astoria right in the middle of all the excitement (which means I can walk a quarter mile to my favorite bagel place). The great news is that the apartment was completely gutted and is in the process of being refinished as we speak. We got to see another recently refurbished apartment in the building to see what it will look like but my favorite part is that there will be EXPOSED BRICK. Here are some pictures during construction. We get the keys on the 20th at the very latest. 

To celebrate our apartment win we decided to cross something off our bucket list and poach some eggs on Sunday. I wont lie to you - I was extremely successful at it and it was the best eggs benedict I've ever had. I realize that probably sounds like sarcasm but I assure you  - its not.

I'll throw in a picture of the octopus tentacle we ate last weekend for good measure. This is from celebrating my big news last weekend with Mike who is currently away on a work retreat. Come back and hang out with me already!

BIG NEWS

So my holiday plans have been set. The pdf is compiled, the timelines are set, material testing is done, and prep is underway! I'll keep all my interior sketches to myself until the big reveal in the middle of November but below is the process for creating my holiday window. First I find inspiration...

 Next, I decide what style I want to utilize in the window. Since Manhasset has a very upscale clientele I am making our holiday window very elegant and dramatic. I don't want to utilize too bright of colors or anything that looks childish.

Then I think about the logistics - how much will this cost? How do I want to install it? What materials can I manipulate? So I head to my laboratory in my new store which I don't think i've shown you a picture of...well here it is! I am testing out materials and techniques so that prep and install can go more quickly. (That large wheat sculpture is a backdrop a made for a fashion show our store put on. More on that when I get some pictures of the show.)

So finally I come up with my sketches. I have 2 large windows in my store on opposite ends. The sketch here is the window at the entry to the building. I am using a lot of details as many people will be walking by these windows and will appreciate the touch of hand. I am also utilizing the exterior of the building to put some golden finch's and greenery on to bring the inside display, outside.

This is the "street view" window as we call it. It will be seen by people driving by our space. This window will be less detail oriented and more focused on the drama of the gesture to get the most bang for your buck. I am also using the golden finches on the exterior of this window flying upwards towards the "anthropologie" signage to add more visual interest for those driving by.

I am so very excited to get working on these windows as soon as I get to work on Monday. I really do think these are my favorite windows I'll get to install so far and thats a really good thing because.....dah dah dah dahhhhh....I'LL BE WORKING ON THE ROCKEFELLER CENTER HOLIDAY WINDOWS! I was chosen to be one of the display coordinators to contribute to making the rock center windows look beautiful. Anyone that knows anything about holiday windows in Manhattan knows that this is a huge honor and I'm completely blown away to be a part of it. We haven't worked out all the logistics but I should be working on them for about a week in early November with some other display coordinators TBD. This means that my already stressful holiday timeline gets a little more stressful but this is a tremendous opportunity and I don't intend to let anyone down.