Sunny Saturday

Just read an email from my friend/ex-client Beth who completed a Breast Cancer 3-Day walk last weekend in MN. So proud of her!  And momentarily I'll be leaving to join some friends from work who just completed a Race for the Cure this morning.  Apparently on the food agenda is pink ribbon cookies and booby cookies.  Ha!

The dogs will come with me and enjoy about six other dogs running around their back yard.  Beautiful day for it.  Pictures to come!

Fall Trip... and that I did

I trip in flats. Always. At least once while wearing.  Little known, dumb tidbits about your friend Heather.  Anyway, I'm finally back from a long trip abroad for business and wanted to share some thoughts and pictures with you. 

First, I have to be honest, though I truly wanted to be grateful and excited about this trip, I wasn't really.  I knew there was a lot of work to be done, and in the end we had to divide and conquer, agree on broad messages, and communicate those messages to the sourcing office and vendors we were to see in China. Sounds easier than it was, primarily because we had yet to sort out areas of responsibilities. 

Without going into the details of the work, we started out in Paris, which as it turned out was nicely directional for us: we found some strong ideas, and set some of the most important looks for each brand.  The weather was amazing, in the 70's, and we travelled in large-ish groups from store to store in various areas. Dinner was lovely - with the whole group the first night in a little place near Collette on rue Saint-Honore. And the following night I brought our VP of Trend, Arlene Goldstein, to La Fermette Marbeuf, which is known for it's art nouveau style decor and interior. C'est Si Bon!

From there, we went to Barcelona, which was humid and warm, but produced some of the most inspiration of the trip. Hip girls on the streets were wearing an urban, updated version of the reviled 80's hammer pant, and I was surprised to become romanced by it's renaissance.  I even picked up a black knit version from Zara for myself, which turned out to be the perfect traveling pant paired with my black silk petal sleeve tunic.  The silhouette was intrigueing and easy to wear. Actually, they remind me more of Paul Poiret's harem pants from early 20th century, than the formally referenced rap artist.

Next stop was London, where we explored most of the typical shopping haunts, and included the Portobella Market whilst there.  The picture included to the right doesn't even attempt to capture the buzzing activity the market creates for locals and tourists alike.  We also found an amazing antique jewelry boutique which, of course, was insanely overpriced, so nothing was bought there... just admired. 

And our last European city was Amsterdam. Now, while I've technically been there before, it was at the time, brief and limited. This time, though, I was able to create a relationship with the city. 

I'll explain.

Whenever I find myself in a new area (city, neighborhood, or otherwise), I take moments to allow a connection to it in some way.  This, I think, is the beginning of my relationship to a place. And my connection with Amsterdam was immediate and penetrating. The canals, the locals on bikes, the beautiful buildings - it's a multi-faceted city.  A perfect nest for "creatives".

I didn't want to leave Amsterdam.  And no, I didn't partake in any of the unscrupulous activites the town is known for.

With all our inspiration samples and ideas, we took off to Hong Kong.  Not sure what your conceptions of China's top city are, but I didn't expect it to resemble an American city nearly as much as it did to me.  I would describe the landscape (in my VERY limited exposure) to five or six  New York Cities with some Las Vegas thrown in. I regret that I wasn't able to explore much than a mile beyond the hotel we stayed at, which was right on the Kowloon waterfront, on the harbor.

One of my favorite experiences during the whole trip was a dinner with Caroline (the men's designer) at the InterContinental. We sipped French Martini's (hiiiighly recommend) and listened to an awesome band/singer for hours. The dessert... bigger than my head, and soooo decadent. A flaming chocolate cone filled with Bailey's soaked cake, chocolate chunks and vanilla bean ice-cream. Loved it.

A colleague of mine, booked a hair cut for me while she was booking her own appointments with Tracy at the Shangri-La's spa.  She ended up taking off much more than I wanted her to, but it is a fabulous cut, and watching her work was fascinating in itself.  She reminded me of Edward Scissorhands with her intense attention to every piece of hair on my head, and her architectural execution of the cutting and layering.  

The hotel we stayed at had incredible service, and is pictured to the left as well.

Despite all of this, leaving Hong Kong was easy.  I knew I'd be back, and at this point in the trip, I was very ready to return home.  My first flight was around 11 hours from HK to San Francisco.

On the plane from SF to Charlotte, I sat next to a real class-act: Trent Dilfer, former quarterback for the 49ers, who just retired in July and is now a broadcaster for ESPN.  Of course I had no idea who he was, because I clearly know nothing about sports. Real, real nice guy though, salt of the earth. He is a commentator on Sunday evenings for NFL Live, NFL Primetime and Monday Night Countdown and on SportsCenter Sundays and Mondays so check him out! No wonder people were staring at him... I'm so oblivious.

When I returned home, so eager to see my babies, Hogan was limping off of his right back leg and Cagney had two blisters on either side of her mouth.  I'm obviously concerned about both so I'm lucky to have the day off (working from home) tomorrow so I'll take them in to the vet once again. 

Grateful to be home and looking forward to a looong nap this afternoon, but wanted to get this out asap as I haven't touched base with anyone yet.  Love and hugs to you all.

What I do for Work

So I thought, since I talk so much about being busy at work, and have had so many friends ask about what I do every day lately, I'd take this opportunity to describe my job.

What do I do every day for work?

Well... that depends.  

I shop and read magazines and draw.  OK... maybe a bit more than that.

While it's true, I research fashion trends through leafing through magazines, I also check benchmark brands for they're latest and greatest pieces and themes; research fabrications, finishes, trims, and emerging manufacturing processes.  I think through, then create designs on our Auto-Cad based crappy design program and then do "hand-offs" with our Technical Team which are meetings that I set up to explain the designs and work through the expression of fit, design details, possible vendors, print processes (where applicable) and anticipated costing challenges.  I collaborate with our Quality Assurance teams for color and quality approvals, and our Textile Designers for graphic and print direction, our Product Managers for the execution of the apparel in work, and our Merchants for the actual order-writing and category tracking.  I conduct concept meetings for all teams, and collaborate with our Trend Director on translating her broad company-wide trends into these brands, specific to each market.

I shop our benchmark brands, our competition, and the market in general to get a gauge on what's selling, and what other retailers believe in.  I create boards that reflect the concept of each delivery, and evolve these boards at different points in the process to reflect our changes and modifications, adds and substitutions... I attend shows (NY, Las Vegas, LA) for print, trend, and color.

I do this for three brands right now, but have helped with branding several others since starting  5 months ago.  

This is what keeps me busy at work, and no day is the same.  I love designing, I get paid to build and maintain relationships.

On that note, I will be taking off for my overseas trip, which I do twice a year - once in fall and once in spring.  I'll travel with 4 other people.  This will be almost the smallest group that I've been with over to Europe (with the exception of the very first time, when it was just Gene Meyer and me in Paris, and then me and Jason Dworshak in Turkey).  This time it'll be Paris, Barcelona, London, Amsterdam and then to Hong Kong.  I'll be gone between the 14th-28th.

That's it for now, have to get ready for the trip, but I'll take pictures and post when I can on the road.  Miss all...

Vegas, Baby, Yeah?

Although I've out-wordly maintained that I was never really interested in going to Las Vegas, I have to admit that there has always been an element of mysterious glamour that I've conjured in my head at the mention of the place.

Well, folks, this past week I had my chance to see what I've been missing all of these years... the Vegas Virgin was popped!  Flying out on Monday afternoon, I arrived very late that night (despite the three hour time difference) due to a missed connection (thank you Continental!).  

First impressions... wow.  As in "Wow, I don't get it."  

I was there for MAGIC, which is one of the bigger trade shows in the US, and which apparently was attended by 40% fewer buyers than usual this year - hello Bush economy.

The show was great, but the evenings of "exploring" the city was not.  When we were walking along the strip, it reminded me of the Minnesota State Fair, except with southern accents and without the food on a stick.  There are no rules against smoking in most restaurants, and they do so with abandon.  To be fair, I didn't catch any of the shows, which I'm sure make the whole experience much better to the average visitor... 

One highlight: Caesar's Palace - The Forum Shops, which are beautiful halls full of high-end shops like Shanghai Tang, YSL, Dolce & Gabbana, and Chrome Hearts.  Very niiiice.

Next trip: Europe!    

Friday night and over-stuffed

Have nothing important to share, and have been sitting here trying to think of something new, or different, that I've done in my personal life and t seems all the newness and interest has come from work.

My work days are relatively routine still: get up, walk dogs, get dressed, feed dogs, leave for work, work, come home, walk dogs, eat, feed dogs, watch movie or check email, play with dogs, go to sleep.  That's the plan...every day.

Traveling for work and pleasure have kept me in need of appropriate dog-sitters, and have inherited another brand which tops me at three now.  VERY BUSY AT WORK.

Deeply, deeply miss family and friends in Minneapolis and afar.  Often wish the tele-porter were real, already.  Damn Star Trek for putting such fantasy into our head's at all.  

Tired now, and anxious to get some zzz's.  Dogs say hi.  Love to all, H

Time to Organize

We've been here now longer than 4 months and it's time to organize.  I've found this difficult to do with as much time and energy I spend at work and with the dogs.  In the evenings, we go on a nice long walk, grab some grub and usually read or watch a show and then go to bed (since we get up quite early).  It's taken me a while to adjust to this place and I think that I'm starting to feel a little less alien here (though my recent trips out of town have reminded me how much I enjoy being in more urban cities)...

This weekend, I will be organizing the insanity that is "my stuff" and making purposeful areas around the "nest".  I need a place to do yoga, and for friends who join me on occasion.  That will be the 2nd floor in front of the tv (for the Shiva Rae Dance Yoga DVD).  I need space to store my "projects" which include sewing garments and handbags, and pillows.  

I really need a place for all of my files.  I've gone through most of them now, and have purged, but still need to have a permanent place for them.  Can't find anything easily now.  Bad thing.

The dogs stuff is completely organized (was there ever any doubt).  

Need to re-prioritize my wardrobe and do some editing.  Think I'm getting to the stage that I don't want to keep everything around "just in case".  Let the donations begin!

That's it for me tonight.

Hugs,

me

Charleston lessons and Current stuff

A friend of mine, whom shall remain nameless, but whose name rhymes with Baya, let me know that my blog had grown tiresome.  This, I believe, was not an opinion, but a statement of fact, because at this time during the year, there is such an oppressive heat/humidity here that it literally permeates everywhere/everything (including, in this case, one's mind - namely mine).  

So... I'm picking up a slower way of doing things, which seemingly includes keeping up communications.  But I'll try to remedy that in some small way tonight.

In the last week, Elizabeth came to visit - She flew in Tuesday and stayed through Saturday morning.  We rallied and meandered around the Verizon Amphitheater for  Linkin Park concert on Tuesday (opened by Chris Cornell, who played Rusty Cage, one of my top 10 songs of all time, as the last number... AWESOME).  For this, we stood, sat, sweated in the sun at up to 106 degrees for over 7 hours.  Not the smartest thing on earth, but we were very well hydrated at least.

I had been to the Snoop Dog/311 concert the week before so I had a general idea of what to expect...

The day after the Linkin Park event we toddled off to Charleston which is about three hours away and reeeaaally humid in August I might add.  The highlights were checking out the artisans on Market Street, the sweet grass baskets of the Geesha (sp?), and going through the Old Slave Mart Museum on Chalmers Street. I naively had never read paperwork describing the "sale" of a person.  It was surprisingly simple, and deeply disturbing.  Lis and I talked about it on the way out of town... how the whole city seemed heavy... that there was a heavy history you could physically feel in Charleston.  Interesting, foreign, and sad.

Upon returning to Charlotte, we decided to stay indoors.  We were immediately at peace with that decision.  Ahhhh, beautiful coolness.

After my gorgeous friend went home, I spent the weekend treating Hogan for his hotspots, by washing, shaving, and medicining the poor pup.  Vet appointment on Friday...

Lots going on at work, and have inherited another contemporary brand, so I'm excited about the increased opportunity as well as challenged with being the new design layer which has been welcomed by some and understandably questioned by some (not personally, of course).

Traveling a lot soon.  New York, Las Vegas (pending), Europe/Asia: Paris, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and then over to Hong Kong. Week after that LA.  Then Minneapolis for Zaih's birthday.  Yey!!  

Sleepy time.  N' night!