Promised post: Art & Jewelry Display

Post & pictures coming soon!

Personal Shopping!

Are you having a hard time finding the style that work best for you? Are you overwhelmed with the assortment of trends, and how quickly they change? Would you like to have someone shop with you (in your closet and abroad) who will give you honest opinions and advice for improving your look?

I’m a retail therapist, and I’m here to help!

Equipped with a Texas license in counseling, and years of retail experience, I’m ready to help you bridge the gap between your mind and reality when it comes to how you want to look.

Starter Kit – You and I meet in your closet. You tell me what you wear and what you haven’t touched in five years, but can’t seem to throw out. I tell you what you should and shouldn’t be wearing from your closet, what shapes, styles, and colors are most complementary on you. You let me know whether or not you want to see me again. $75 (1 hour increments)

Personal Shopping – The basics. Includes shopping for events, interviews, work, day-to-day, vacation, weekends, etc. Think of me as your incredibly honest friend, but with more style. $75/$50 (1^st 2 hours/hourly thereafter)

Re-do! – Are you a jeans and tshirt kind of person who needs a little polishing? Did you just graduate and need help dressing for the corporate world? From consult to shopping, I’ll help you get from where you are to where you want to be. $125 (consult + 1^st shopping)

SOS – For those who need to purge their wardrobes, need a total makeover, don’t know what treasures they have, and want someone else to make the major decisions. My only requirement? Donate whatever you don’t keep. $100 (2 hours)

The Organizer – You know you had that one scarf that looked fantastic? And those shoes that looked perfect with that pencil skirt? But you can’t find it? I’ll get your closet organized in no time—by season, by genre, by whatever makes most sense to you. $150 (3 hours)

Style File – Let’s digitally archive your looks (and hard work!) to give you fingertip access to your wardrobe and all its potential. Notes will be created to give you alternative accessories, shoes, etc. so you won’t feel stuck in a rut. Time consuming to create? Sure. Time saving when you look in your closet and see nothing to wear? Definitely. $250 (start to finish)

Judith Ripka!!!

Picture this:
It's the last night of the Dallas Opera for the Lovers and Scoundrels season, and for the Dallas Opera to perform at Fair Park Music Hall. I have to work all day, and have decided to wear my evening outfit to work, with evening updates in my bag. Grey menswear pinstripe modifiedsweetheart neckline strapless dress ( BR). Pewter python Tahari strappy sandals. My great-grandmother's lambswool with mink collar evening jacket.
My jewelry was work appropriate and fun for the evening--every strand of pearl I owned!
It was not, however, glam. Or Judith Ripka.
While at work. the very sweet Katie came in to shop. She was wearing a fabulous green amythest Judith Ripka ring--and when I complimented her, she suggested I swing by the store. When I mentioned that it was Closing Night, she told me to come over to borrow jewelry.
That's, right. She was offering the glitz that lay inside the glass cases!
As I (shakily) walked over to the store, I thought about what could possibly lie ahead: a JR ring, perhaps the JR necklace I talked about before, maybe earrings?
What happened was more than I could have imagined!
Katie asked that I take off all the jewelry I was wearing. She then began handing me bauble after bauble, an earring, a larger earring, a choker, a drop necklace, a cuff, a ring, a different necklace...
Before I knew it, I was wearing $60,000 worth of Judith Ripka 18k white gold and diamonds!
Katie asked for my phone number and asked that I return the jewelry Sunday afternoon. That was it! She trusted me to properly represent the brand (and promote it if given the opportunity)--which I was happy to carry!!
To mark the occasion--for myself and for posterity--my very talented Tenor, Steve, did a photoshoot of me and the jewels against the artful backdrop of Deep Ellum.
Enjoy!

Antique Adventure

Before I get started, there are a few definitions I would like to supply to provide clarification as you read:

Antique mall: (n) large indoor space, subdivided by dealer. The mall takes a percentage of the sale from the dealer, which is why you will find items marked "firm" (the dealer has proportionally more money sunk into that item than in others, which he is able to discount, have a percentage taken, and still profit from).

Dealer: (pronoun) one who is knowledgeable about a certain set of collectibles, scours the globe for them, cleans them up, and sells. Dealers can be found at antique malls, flea markets, antique shops, and dark alleys.

Antique shop: (n) a store of varying size which sells antique and vintage things; one owner and one seller, although you can often find things on consignment (usually from a collector who is needing to prune their personal cache)

Flea market: (n) usually an outdoor event which requires a quick set up for the dealer, a willingness to wake at incredibly early hours (for all parties), and fantastic haggling skills. Beware of reproductions, damaged items, and other crap.

Auction house: (n) can be an indoor or outdoor space, in which items are divided into "lots". These lots are brought up by auction assistants for the auctioneer to call. Items are usually boxed by similarity, although things can often wind up in strange combination. Auction houses are great places to get a lot of stuff for cheap (if the crowd is uneducated or uninterested in your items of choice).

Antique show: (v & n) a group of dealers selling items from a specific theme, time period, or mode. I participate in Antique Elegance (Richardson, TX), which is a pretty good mix of bigs (furniture, etc) and smalls (jewelry, dolls, ephemera, etc) from the Victorian period through the 1940s.

Also, for purpose of preservation of trade secrets, I have intentionally left out the names of all of the places we visited. Know that we were in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. If you have further questions, or are interested in going on such an adventure, please contact me!

Antique adventure

Day 1 3.3.09

1-auction house

2-auction house 2 - Picturesque drive down to 95 and them into the city. Under the Ben Franklin bridge and past the old night clubs and perhaps the future Trump towers and casinos of the downtown docks.

3-auction house 3 - one of the best auctioneers I've ever heard. His calling is reminiscent of oooold country music. Melodic. Rhythmic. Interesting.

Day 2 3.4.09

8a on the road! This Hwy thru PA reminds me of being on the autobahn through the German bath towns.

1-antique mall - Lots of everything

2-antique mall 2 - Huuuge antique mall. Bring a coat.

3-antique shop - very expensive, small selection. Car picnic!

4-auction house 4 - lots to choose from! We came on a good auction/consignment day, but things seem to be going expensively. The auction starts at 2p and is scheduled (by lot and room) through 8p. The auctioneer has a rather annoying/grating call--difficult to understand and he has the tendency to contiue speaking in the rhythm and tone after a bid is over. Also, there isn't much order to the way he's pulling boxes. New caller. All in the fam? He looks like the first caller's dad. And now another caller--another annoying one--this one too young to know much. (three hours pass) Ok. We've moved to the garage. They have a table on wheels with a stand for the auctioneer. They move the scaffolding with auctioneer along the perimeter of the room. Hahaha!! But this group of people could use a good scrub down!

Day 3 3.5.09

7a let's go!

1-auction house 5 - all indoors so warm :) There is a snack stand with delicious egg and cheese and sausage sammys. Nice layout--very clear; however the books and folk art are in a separate gallery while china and smalls are going. Bad decision-making to do both simultaneously. The concierge reports that the auctioneer goes about 80-90 lots per hour--so at a good clip. There are auction books that are beautifully photographed for the jewelry and fine arts show next week--compete with full descriptions and approximate value. Attractive crowd that has showered lately! Auctioneers & staff are in suits--things look and run very smoothly. And quick! These folks mean business! But the caller is having a good time and is joking around. Yay!

2-tour guide's basement - Although not open to the general public, Pat's had a lot to offer my mother--mostly because she loves to dig and sort. I certainly found a few good things, too!

Day 4 3.6.09

Late start! But for a reason: we needed to pack the FedEx boxes to ship the goods purchased so far, and we are slowly making our way to the big flea market tomorrow! We'll be hitting shops the whole way down, so it should be an interesting trip.

1-FedEx - There's a bathroom in the basement that you can sweettalk the lady at the desk into giving you.

2-antique mall 3 - don't drive too fast down George street or you'll miss it! This mall was obviously severla different establishments before the mall--the rooms are disjointed and there is not a good flow through the building. We just found an entire back hallway full of great stuff--that we found by getting lost!

3-antique mall 4 - set in a fabulous old farm house, the tiny doorways and severly twisting stairs open to rooms full of beautiful handcarved furniture and glass cases full of surprises. If you close your eyes and tune out the sounds of traffic outside the windows, you can picture a warm home full of laughing childrren and hardworking adults. People perhaps taking respite midday or from the hard toil of battles and war inside this safe haven. I'm reminded by these nonexistent hallways, low ceilings, and tiny walkways that we are a much larger people than those who came before us.

On to Maryland!

4-antique mall 5 - meh.

Across the Potomac and on to Virginia (it's for lovers!)

Day 5 3.7.09

1-flea market - 6 hours later.... It's worth the $10 admission only if you know exactly where you're going or if you're willingto dig for what you want.

2-antique show-cranky people. Maybe because of Richard Wright's death, but who knows.

Day 6 3.8.09

4am let's go!!!

1-flea market 2 - bring a flashlight! This place starts EARLY (there is a Dunkin Donuts nearby) and people are packing up by the time the sun makes her debut.

2-flea market 3 - bring a flashlight but there's a huge indoor section. And restrooms! The best deals are certainly outside, especially because all of the merchandise is staffed with it's dealer--inside you run into dark or roped booths that you cannot look at or purchase from because the dealer is not there.

3-flea market 2.5 (indoor market) - 4 hours later and the flea is totally cleaned up

4-antique mall 6 - cranky staff, but decent selection of smalls.

All who went on this adventure bought incredible things. My jewelry and smalls have already made their debut at Forestwood Antique Mall (ask for showcase 374). I'll be posting pictures soon.

It was exhausting, it was educational, it was definitely worth it! If you are interested in going on your own Antique Adventure, please let me know!

Harry Winston

Because this all played out in a very fairy-tale way...

There once was a girl who wore long skirts and cropped cashmere shrugs and traipsed around Highland Park Village as if she had no care in the world. Her name is Lainey. Lainey has lots of responsibilities with her managerial position, which occasionally require her to run errands within the Village. On one such day, Lainey strolled along the sidewalks, enjoying the fresh, crisp autumnal air, and certainly enjoying the views offered her by the windows of stores like Hermès, Tory Burch, William Noble Rare Jewels Boutique, and Harry Winston. Lainey passed these stores, taking a moment to sate her eye's (and heart's) desire for beautiful and sparkly things. On the way back from the errand, the most unusual thing occured. As Lainey passed Harry Winston, the doors flew open and two men in suits came out. Now, these men were the men who guarded the doors and coveted space beyond them. Never before had Lainey seen the doors to HW open. Out of shock, Lainey stopped and looked into the vast, black velvet and dark wood space that makes up the HW boutique. These men said to Lainey, "Excuse me, what's your name? Do you work around here?" Lainey, still gape-mouthed because the magpie in her was atwitter to see just what was in the HW showroom behind the suited men, said, "Hi! I'm Lainey. I'm a manager over there." The two men smiled and one said, "I'm Adolph. This is Tim. We just wanted to let you know that we think you are beautiful." "Thank you," Lainey said, and she floated back to her store.

Lainey was back at work, but her mind was elsewhere. She spent her time reliving and analyzing what had occured, as well as creating witty responses that would have been appropriate (such as "It's nice to meet you. Do you have samples?"). Less than an hour later, Lainey had to run another errand. She, again, walked past these stores that gave her so much to enjoy. As she slowly approached HW, the aforementioned gentlemen again opened the glass doors and asked if she would like to come in. Frightened, but bold of heart, Lainey accepted. She had a very pleasant chat with the men, as well as with Ru and Natalie, as she slowly absorbed each brooch, earring, ring, cufflink, necklace, and bracelet she saw. The boys encouraged Lainey to return, saying if she happened to be in the Village--with or without her boyfriend--they would invite her in. Lainey thanked HW and the HW people and said she would return with a fresh manicure and more time. And Lainey lived happily ever after (for now....).

The End.

*You should check out the Harry Winston website. It's got great information on Harry Winston himself, as well as important jewelry of the past, jewel education, and an online boutique! Here's my favorite thing on the site...