A lonnnng time ago, in a land far away Nancy and I traveled to New York and Toronto to take in some buying shows. This happened back in January. I know, I know, I’m a total procrastinator when it comes to blogging (and some other stuff too…but I’ll get to that later). So at long last, here are some tidbits from our trip, enjoy!
Our journey started the morning of Sunday, January 27th at the stylish, newly renovated Charlottetown airport. We were finally leaving on a jet plane…er, dash 8, for NEW YORK!!!
A hop, skip and a jump later we ended up here. YAY!!! I, Jennifer, had never been to New York and was so super pumped about everything from the yellow taxi cabs to the buildings that were taller than 5 stories (can you tell I’m from a small town?).
By the time we made it to our hotel and checked in it was too late to go to the show. No worries, we took the opportunity to wonder around the city. It was totally awesome! We stopped by Jonathan Adler‘s flagship store in Soho – it’s literally a design playground, maybe a bit smaller than I expected but bursting at the seams with serious style and fun. Sidenote, the staff are absolutely fabulous! We’re really digging his nautical pieces – I absolutely covet the majestic C Jere Sailboat which spans just under 4 feet from tip to tip. Then we hopped on down to Dwell Studio‘s store. Soo pretty!
After the shops closed we ended up at Eataly, which Mario Batali describes as the “ultimate destination for food lovers to shop and taste and savor”, so you know it’s legit. All you foodies out there would go nuts for this place. It’s part fancy Italian market, part culinary education center and hosts a plethora of amazing little eateries. There was a 45 minute wait for a table so we strolled the market and tried some charcuterie and prosecco at the standing table eatery in the heart of the market. Also, no big deal but RC from season 25 of Survivor took this picture of us! PS. Can you believe we’re already past season 25 of Survivor? I remember watching the first season of the show so this makes me feel old but that’s a story for another day. In other news, I’m proud to report to fellow Islanders they were SOLD OUT of PEI mussles and look who else was representing our little isle!
Alright, it’s the next morning, the time has finally arrived, we’re heading to the show! We stopped along the way to pick up coffee and who did we spy? Thomas Paul! I guess it’s totally normal to see a top notch designer (or any other famous people) in a coffee shop when you’re in New York. I don’t have a picture of this because I was too nervous and I also felt it would be rude to approach someone before they’ve had their first coffee of the day. So on to the show. It’s held at two locations the Javits Center, which looks like an amazing modern crystal castle, and Pier 94, which looks like any other building down on the pier. I’m not a professional blogger yet so I forgot to take a majestic picture of the Javits Center, you’ll just have to google it. I was blown away by the amount of stuff at the show. The Javits Center has 675,000 square feet of floor space which houses over 2,800 exhibitors when the Gift Show comes to town. Seriously, there were like 5 rows devoted entirely to Hanukkah decorations. I like Hanukkah as much as the next person but that’s A LOT of decorations. I’m kind of mad at my photography skills here. I was distracted by how awesome everything was and I neglected to take some good overall shots. So you’ll just have to settle for some other pictures. Authentic Models had these miniature hot air balloons on display, I thought they were neat but Nancy…not so much. Jonathan Adler’s booth was banging, it was probably 3 times bigger than his store. I love his horn sculptures (top right of the photo). Fishs Eddy had an awesome display featuring Chalie Harper inspired dishes. I feel this post is approaching epic length so I’m going to stop here with the photos. Fingers crossed, by the time you read this there will be a photo album on Facebook with lots of other photos (unless my procrastination starts actin’ up again).
Then this happened. Coffee with the Novos! It started with a book signing. Then they were doing a draw to win a coffee break with the Novogratz. I put my card in and then just to improve the chances I snuck Nancy’s card in. Guess who won – Nancy Lopes! The other buyers and designers were totally jealous. We were whisked to a staff lounge secret location and sat and chatted with them for half an hour or so. They were super nice and just as fun and fresh as their design. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. Bob commented that I smiled a lot – why wouldn’t I?!? Getting paid to go to New York City to shop and then winning a coffee break with the Novos. Sometimes life can be so awesome. For those of you who don’t know us, I’m on the far right and Nancy is beside me.
This is all well and good you’re thinking to yourself, but what’s in it for me? Good question, and here’s the answer. For those who enjoy our M. Sasek “This is” book series you’ll be really excited (I am!) to learn that “This is” calendars are also a thing, and we’re totally getting them! Look for them in the fall. Next up are Brahms Mount blankets. I LOVE these cotton throws and you will too. “These are what you find at the end of the rainbow” a real quote from the Brahms Mount website. Yes, they are that magical. The size of the herringbone, the weight of the cotton and hand twisted and tied fringes make these throws winners in my book. Then we ordered some Paddywax candles, which are in store right meow! They smell great, come in pretty containers, are soy based and made in the states. Too bad scratch and sniff computer screen haven’t been invented yet (let me know if I’m wrong here). On to Swedish Dream’s Sea Salt soap. We liked the packaging, and I hear it’s amazing soap so I’m looking forward to this. Capping things off are the driftwood wall decorations. Not the best picture to entice you but I swear they’re really nice. However we’re dealing with a dreaded never ending back order issue here so I have no idea when they’ll arrive.
Wow, once I got going I really rambled on there, eh? Good night New York, we love you!
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