I'm beamin' about erickson beaman

Don't you just love being "stopped in your tracks?" I was on my weekly trek through Target- not the evening type, where you have all kinds of leisure time, it was more of a "get the necessities and get out type." Well, Erickson Beaman wanted my full attention- and they got it. WOW! Totally red-carpet worthy, this collection is a stunner. I actually took photos with my phone, I don't usually do that inside a retail store as it is frowned upon- I thought I had learned my lesson while shopping at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, where a concerned Parisian salesclerk chased me out of her department while shaking her finger and bursting with the words "no photo!- no photo!" Enjoy a few highlights here (courtesy of Target's website) and be sure to learn more about the designers here. enjoy!
photos courtesy of target.com

follow the yellow brick road

Lucky me- to have such great friends in Seattle. I just got back from the emerald city, and must tell all about the highlights of my trip. The goal of this trip was to see things I haven't seen before.

1) Dining at "how to cook a wolf", a delightfully innovative restaurant on Queen Anne. All menu items are meant to be shared- and they arrive in sequence, so you dine on one dish at a time with your friends. My favorite was the golden beet salad with pistachios- I'm going to try to replicate it with the help of my friend John, who is masterful in the kitchen.

2) The view from Queen Anne- at Kerry Park

3) shopping at Whole Foods Market- My first visit, and coming from a city with only Walmart, Albertsons and Costco- it truly was an experience. Mostly loved the stories of how the food comes to the table. Best of all was the home cooked meal John made- featuring a gorgeous piece of halibut with a light panko pine nut crust- best fish I've ever had. Thanks John!

4) Of course the current Chihuly at Museum of Glass in Tacoma. A sizable piece from a private collection, this splendid golden-green tangle just glows, evoking a Muranese lagoon.

5) Fabulous conversation with my friends Vickie and David while dining on a late breakfast at Lola. Good times I tell ya! Love you and miss you all...

a dose of color is inspiring

My daughter needed fabric for her textiles class project, so we went to Fiberworks- a quilting store here in Billings. On approach the store (and website) appear as boring, traditional and uninspired. Before you tell me "those are fightin' words", let me finish. I was so pleasantly surprised to see what the store was hiding inside. Gorgeous bolts of color and pattern, modern, sophisticated and totally inspired- punctuated by adorable project kits sprinkled throughout the store. It prompted me to do a quilting fabric google search and landed upon this cute blog. I don't have a lot of facts about the author (but this isn't really investigative journalism I'm doing here now is it?) Melissa Averinos does design her own fabric, the photo is of her collection. It truly is a daily dose of color!

color fashion show week: bleu

color fashion show week: orange

color fashion show week: pink

fashion = color = inspiration

Is it excessive or necessary during these times to see luxurious ideas and endless beauty? Many designers are facing hardships that are stalling or even stopping the consistently mind-blowing flood of ideas. I couldn't imagine a world without it...pre-season after pre-season, we are inundated with an innovative rainbow of adornment! One thing I know for sure is that I have often times gone to that pool of luxury for inspiration. Be it a new stationery collection, wedding invitation or even business I.D. This week begins my virtual spring fashion show, each day featuring not a complete look, but highlighting a fabulous color...let it inspire me to create a new collection for you!

Featured above, a (toungue-in-cheek) thank you card to my best friend for a fabulous Marc Jacobs handbag gifted to me.