This Week, By the Numbers...

Just a peek at the busiest week of my summer:
1. Saturday:Finish shopping, review lists, file receipts, create custom artwork poster, organize decor elements & stage to load Friday AM for Friday's Auction of Washington Wines Winemaker Dinner at Columbia Winery.
2. Sunday:Gather & prep all props needed for re-set of main retail shop displays at Columbia Winery on Monday; load Sunday PM.
3. Monday: All day - Reset main retail shop displays & install new fall merchandise at Columbia Winery.
4. Tuesday:Prep Seattle Gift Show North Hall Exhibitor Display props & supplies for Thursday install.
5. Wednesday:Review Seattle Gift Show seminar notes/outline. Gather & prep all props needed for on-stage setup for seminar. Load these plus Exhibitor display props PM tonight.
6. Thursday:AM -Seattle to SGS; unload seminar props into storage room; unload Exhibitor display props to Lobby. All-day setup of Exhibitor Display area. PM - DD & I stay at Paramount Hotel.
7. Friday:AM - DD & I travel home, load AWW decor, back to winery. All-day setup of dinner event decor. Assistant is at SGS finishing exhibitor display. Friday: PM - @ midnight (after event ends), pack up event decor & store at winery until Sunday. Take DD home and head to Paramount Hotel.
8. Saturday: AM - set up stage display for seminar and walk show to find props, etc. to use & promote. PM - seminar 2:30 to 4:0 pm, plus half an hour to answer questions after. Return any props to exhibitors, pack up my props and load. Sleep at Paramount Hotel.
9. Sunday: Drive home, unload seminar props; drive back to winery & load all event decor. Take home, unload.
10. Monday: AM - Shopping at Seattle Gift Center for new holiday decor for winery. PM - Meeting with event staff at Vinado in Seattle to plan facility remodel.

And after all THAT, Tuesday, August 22nd is our 26th wedding anniversary!
Hubby and I are staying at the luxurious Willows Lodge in Woodinville, having a marvelous dinner by Chef Bobby Moore at The Barking Frog Restaurant there, and a bottle of bubbly by the fireside in our room....
After which, I shall promptly fall asleep.....and even my Prince Charming may have trouble waking me! ;o)

Baby Baby Grand

Not just another piano...
It's only a foot and a half tall!

I just returned from San Francisco, and while I saw many wonderful products and people there, I have to say that the STAR of the show was this line of children's pianos from Schoenhut.
(And I LOVE the music on their website intro - it's the Charlie Brown theme!)

So, obviously, these are intended for use by children as both a toy and as a learning tool. The staff working the booth was plonking away on them, playing actual Chopin and Mendelssohn sonatas on the diminutive keyboards!

I used one (pink!) in my display onstage because I see endless possibilities in this product for merchandising. Sell bridal & formal gowns, jewelry, top hats, tuxedos? How about sheet music, or even classical or jazz music CD's? Black & white photographs of movie stars? Or maybe Ray-Ban sunglasses? Picture this as the stunning eyecatching centerpiece of a display of any of those. (I wouldn't recommend putting it in a window, tho - the sun will damage the finish). It's a no-brainer for childrens' clothing - all those dressy dressses and little suits would just be a darling accompaniment to the piano. (And yes, pun intended!!)

Here's a little story that had me nearly rolling in the show aisle with laughter...
The sales reps told me that one of the hottest new niches for this product is pet stores and boutiques that sell pet products.
????? WHY, you ask?????
People are buying them so they can give Fifi and Fido piano lessons.
Yes, I said piano lessons for dogs. Amazing.

Hey, Snoopy played Schroeder's baby grand......
(cue Charlie Brown theme music)

A Summer Break....

Looked at the calendar this morning and saw 'August 1'.
I nearly ran screaming from my office.
How did the summer fly by so FAST?

So, in the midst of my busy-ness (and I have a sneaking suspicion THAT is exactly how summer has flown by - I am too busy to notice), I decided to take a time out and do something completely and totally unrelated to anything I am currently working on. Call it recess, call it playtime, call it 'save my sanity' - I just needed a break!

Put on some Norah Jones & Madeline Peyroux music, poured a glass of iced jasmine tea, and created this new centerpiece on my dining room table. Well, truthfully, it's not all completely new - the white platter and clear vases filled with seashells have been there since June. I added the silky coral fabric because the coral roses outside my cottage door were in a riot of bloom, and it all just coordinated so well. It's hard to see in the photo, but the fabric exactly matches the color inside the conch shell. And those roses just POP! The bush they grow on isn't even a bush at all...it's one spindly little stem, sticking up out of the ivy right next to my front steps. It is pathetic looking all year, but for the few weeks when its blossoms are abundant and more gorgeous than any of the others in my yard! They deserve the royal treatment, don't you think?

Wouldn't this be a fabulous way to display jewelry in your store? Or stationery with seashell illustrations? Candles, maybe? Tuck them into the arrangement, then stack boxes up next to it.

I'll enjoy this for the next few days, and then hubby can completely ignore it while I am at the gift show. (Oh, don't laugh - he will! He's so used to me changing things around here all the time that he doesn't even notice them anymore!) Poor guy never knows what to expect next.

Remember to find a way to enjoy the summer season TODAY!