ANTHRO GOES TO THE CIRCUS…

And I would like to join them…seriously, i really cannot bare ohio in February.  I know its trite to complain about the weather, but its not just the weather, its the overall dreariness of the season, the quietness around the shop, the havoc the season wreaks on my skin and hair!  I just happen to be one of those people who loves the HOT HOT HEAT and prefer everything about that time of year over this time of year.

So, I can’t really leave to join the circus, but I do have a few tricks I employ to keep me sane this time of year…For instance, I made a note to myself last year, that i need to go somewhere warm and sunny in March because every year by March I have reached my limit.  So this year I am going to the Caribbean in March, So all I have to do is make it until March 14th and one trick to keeping sane is to fantasize about my island wardrobe….Now it is a big family trip on a cruise.  I have NEVER fantasized about going on a Cruise before, but by now i am convinced it will be JUST what the doctor ordered.   and I do believe there is a thing or two from this catalog that will have to come with me…like the dress below and these amazing red and white striped booties:

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Look at what ROOM SERVICE got in today, call 216-281-4221 to hold a shirt for a few days, as they GO FAST!

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From the Director Gary Hustwit, who brought us the documentary film, HELVETICA, comes this FANTASTIC film, OBJECTIFIED.

I rented this film tonight on my new apple tv, another gem from design superstars, apple and found this documentary about DESIGN utterly stimulating.  I am a great admirer of GOOD DESIGN, I find that I am very sensitive to the design in everything around me.  You know, sitting in a doctors waiting room for example, can be a real form of torture for me, from what I am sitting in to what I am forced to look at, it very often is an assault on all of my sensibilities!  Or like, god forbid, I have to go to a big box store like a PetCo., the lighting and the signage causes a sense of anxiety in me that makes me utterly desperate to get out!  Maybe I am crazy or maybe I just know all to well the value of good design on impacting my willingness to spend time in or interact with a place or object.

I highly recommend this film for a renewed appreciation for the value of well-designed objects and places, and an awakening to how much our environments and the objects in which we choose to surround ourselves impact and shape us.

below is a trailer from SXSW for the film

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well, moving into my new place 2 weeks before my Holiday Shoppe opened was not very good timing.  I basically, moved in, unpacked what i had and that was that, no decorating, no day dreaming about how to transform a room…nothing.  no time.

well, i had a few days off in january and made a few quick changes because while time was still at a premium, i could not live one more day with the pale institutional yellow paint in my kitchen.

not. one. more. day.

well, without much thought at all, i just decided to go nuts and paint my kitchen PINK!  …AND BLACK!  it is STILL a work in progress…i need a little more art, i need a rug, i have to arrange the items in my cupboard, but it is SUCH a relief to be walk into my kitchen and NOT into that hospital yellow color but a fun and happy color.  IN FACT, i have found myself cooking and baking with some regularity since making the change…this, this is notable!

BEFORE: i swear the yellow paint was WAY worse in person:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER: well sorta, still have stuff to do, but you get the idea

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There is something I find comforting about the consistency of my love of Paris.  I am terribly non-committal, I suppose being committed to my business is using up all of my commitment abilities, that is until I figure out how to reprioritize..but in the meantime, the unrelenting passion I feel for Paris reminds me I am alive and reminds me of all that I aspire to and all of the history and beauty in the world I have yet to discover.

So, as I look to the year ahead and try to plan for it, I find myself looking back for inspiration.  It will be a year ago this month, that I visited Paris.  I considered going back again but I have decided to focus my resources on growing my business this year, so I will have to rely on images of Paris for the inspiration that so fulfilled me last year at this time.

Fortunately, DeAnna who started working at ROOM SERVICE this holiday season, IS going to Paris this week, and so I can visit vicariously through the stories and images from her trip, which is certain to be spectacular!

In the meantime, I will satiate my longing through inspiring images…

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happy new year my friends!  au revoir 2009 bienvenue 2010!

This has been quite a year…I will elaborate more in my next post, but tonight, I just wish to say, I will be back, back blogging with more frequency, but again, it’s a busy month, I will be traveling quite a bit this month as this is a big buying season. A lot of trade shows.  But these work trips will take me to NY twice and Chicago once this month, so I am certain to update this blog on my discoveries. Particularly since I have a new camera to inspire me to start photographing more of my adventures.

HOWEVER, more pressing perhaps, is my need to find a way to make it through this winter.  I have a natural inclination to hibernate, to stay indoors and become reclusive during this cold season, but I am committed to not let the cold and dreary weather slow me down this season, too much to do!

I will use the following images as inspiration:

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truth be told, i am not the most domestic of gals.  i mean, i am a bit of a workaholic who never made learning to cook a priority.  in the past, i have lived with people really enjoyed cooking, and far be it from me to take that pleasure away from them!  I hate to make such a claim on beth’s behalf but i am afraid my bff do not just share common interests but dis-interests (cooking, baking and the like) as well.

She, recently married, has been taking measures to change and has found some enjoyment in the kitchen of late.  I cannot have this.  But alas, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em right?!  So I have been forcing myself into the kitchen.

In general, it has NOT been going well.  I broke out my JOY OF COOKING to make chicken breast and a salad…and it was only mediocre.  I made tacos, which were in fact a success…but that is not really anything to brag about now is it?!?!?

So, this holiday, along with the gifts i bought for the girls that helped me in my store this season, I wanted to MAKE SOME TREATS!!!  I recruited my BFF Beth and the two of us took an afternoon,

and made a SERIOUS MESS:

but we managed between our two brains to work out, POPCORN BALLS, THOSE CORN FLAKE WREATHS & CHOC COVERED PRETZELS…not brain surgery, i realize, but i did nearly melt off my hand making those damned popcorn balls, so a hospital COULD have been involved none-the-less.

Naturally I snapped a few pictures as evidence for my mother who wouldn’t believe it if i just told her I made homemade treats.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

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Well,  Charity from I HEART CLEVELAND asked me to write out my Holiday 2009 Wish list, I was admittedly a bit stumped.  I haven’t really thought of much other than getting my store and 216 shoppe ready for what OTHERS may want this holiday season…However, upon further thought there are a few things I AM wishing for this year…in fact, once I got started it was hard to slow down!

my one item to contribute to her blog can be found HERE.  But below is where my mind wandered when I couldn’t stop daydreaming…

Certainly, World Peace, a Free Tibet and a more collective positivity throughout Cleveland would be totally awesome…BUT I thought, personally, it would be more FUN to make a dream list of totally materialistic & ridiculously expensive items I would not hate receiving, no matter how unrealistic.  Of course, i don’t think ANYTHING is impossible, and it usually starts with the idea or dream, so here is me laying the groundwork for some things I intend to have in my lifetime, preferably sooner than later.

AN ORIGINAL PRINT OF BOB DYLAN BY RICHARD AVEDON

As a HUGE photography lover(and francophile and fashion lover), Richard Avedon is one of my favorite photographers of all time.  I LOVE his fashion photography and the especially all those taken in Paris, but I also love Bob Dylan and this image marries my love of Avedon’s great photographic eye and Dylan’s smooth coolness.

A HORSE…PREFERABLY A WHITE ONE.

Every year when I was little I put a horse on my highly organized xmas list (all items selected out of the mega sears wish book and i used gold through blue star stickers to color code the level of importance of each item…from: GOLD= non-negotiable to BLUE=if you have gotten everything else and have more money burning a hole in your pocket…)

Parisian pied-à-terre

well, c’mon…a girl can dream can’t she?!?!?  I think a little place to call my own in Paris would fill me with inspiration that I could bring back to my store….rendering this item more of  a  NECESSITY I would say, rather than a LUXURY…yes, i am certain this is IMPERATIVE to my existence.

SAARINEN DINING TABLE

I have coveted this table as long as I can remember.  The only thing that changes in my mind when I dream about it is what chairs to pair it with.  I like the idea of pairing it with its opposite, perhaps some primitive farm ladderback chairs?  love it!  And it is UNDER $5000, so it is TOTALLY affordable (read last statement with sarcastic tone).

GOLDEN GOOSE COWBOY BOOTS

Yes, its true.  As long as we are just fantasizing here, I would in fact, pay $1265.00 for a pair of boots that looked like they have already been worn for 4 years….yes, yes i would…in my dream world.

Canon 50D SLR Digital Camera

this is not really an unrealistic thing, i think it is a MUST have and I may just save my pennies to buy this gift for myself eventually!

OLD VW BUS

My Passat is the most impractical car for my job.  I am constantly having to borrow trucks from friends to pick up building materials or furniture for my store and events….BUT if in ADDITION to my car, I had a handy and charming vehicle such as this to haul things, I would not have to burden my friends any longer…and I could take it on the hypothetical road trips I would be taking in the dream life that would include me owning this bus.

ONE-OF-A-KIND UPHOLSTERED BERR CHAIR (from Anthropologie $1298.00)

I watched the episode of Man Shops Globe as the head buyer sourced these chairs in either Tunisia or Argentina (can’t recall the episode) and LOVE how he updated them with this amazing unique fabric.  I want this so bad it hurts a little.

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the new issue of Lonny is out…i am diving in right now…

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So the other day my BFF Beth and I were at the movies and the trailer we saw nearly put me into a state of cardiac arrest.  I am not kidding.  holy moly.  TOM FORD directing.  JULIANNE MOORE & COLIN FIRTH.  um, hello done. and done.

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