Poppy and Ivy

Are you ready? 'Cause I am!

I am ready for a grand opening!!!

 

The skies are flirting with me...they are white. The air is crisp. The humidity is high....grrrrrrrrr. Stay back snow...STAY BACK! You may leave a sweet dusting that will stop Portland dead in it's tracks at about...oh, let's say.....3:00? Then go ahead. Do your thing!

Make some kids happy...whatever. 

Champagne........check

Orange juice......check

Kids sparking juice......check

New Lucite vintage jewelry EXCLUSIVE to me! ......DOUBLE check.

Sweet Angela FELL into my lap last night. She came in with a friend, brought me some vintage baubles to look at, went home and made cards, pricing for them and brought them back at 7:00...as I unplugged my little iron and turned off the lights!

I could KICK myself I didn't bring her card home to link you her website..but I WILL! She was a top seller at a local boutique and they are cutting back on jewelry. That means lucky me... and lucky you!

So, if you are local COME ON DOWN!

Oh...and the best part? Some varmint crawled into my lungs so I have a really sexy cough, watery, red rimmed eyes (not because of lack of sleep...for once) and um....no voice. Yep.

Nada, zip, zilch.

At about midnight last night my voice had a Brenda Vaccaro thing going on....but now....I've got a squeak if I am lucky. And apparently....tiny fairies jumped down my throat and put cigarettes out on my tonsils. Naughty fairies.

I will JOHN do all the talking.

Happy Saturday!

* Update. Looking out the window it looks like "frreezing drizzle". This term was in a local weather report this week. Freezing drizzle.  I think this is a newly coined phrase personally. I mean...I am 37 and have never heard that. In fact, I told my kids "I am going to call people that at 4 way stops from now on.  "Come ON...you freezing drizzle, just GO already!!!"

I hate freezing drizzle.

It's all about the bash my friends.....

Ohhh...so Saturday is the Big Day. Our Grand Opening. And once again...JOHN is really into it and I am slightly checked out. It took so much work on my part to get it "all ready".

So...."all ready" is not "as ready" as I would like it, but sadly...I got my Internet connection today and played on-line all day. Oh yes I did.

I caught up on all my favorite blogs, e-mailed all my buddies, did way too much auction business and was basically the worst employee ever. Thank god I am a free employee. :))))

My Portland Picks ad just came out...wahoooo.....

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Poppy & Ivy is Moving—and Celebrating

Celebrate a brand new locale for Poppy & Ivy with a Grand Opening Bash!  You love them for their amazing vintage finds and treasures that change daily, from vintage keys to scrumptious candles.  Join the fun for bubbly, trunk shows by local artists, an introduction to their favorite skincare line and a balloon bust sale!

What: Grand Opening Bash at Poppy & Ivy
When: Saturday, Jan. 26, 11 am-6 pm
Where:  1315 NE Fremont St.
Call: 503.284.4804
Visit: www.amyhollands.typepad.com

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So Friday is all about buying bubbly, making sale tickets for balloons, getting a bunch more vintage clothing out (I am so behind!) and staying OFF the Internet! LOL....

Darn blogs.....

Have a great weekend!

A brief HOWDY to y'all

The theme of the school auction is Wild, Wild West. I can only theme out so much. We adopted the theme. And at first I thought I'd scoop my eyeballs out with a spoon, but it's growing on me slowly. I'd have NEVER chosen this theme myself. In fact...we used to joke about that in years past. "What if people vote for a Hoe Down for the theme? I will die" we'd whisper to each other during the choosing of the theme parties. But alas.....it is what it is and again....I'm starting to kind of like it.

I have so much on my plate. I have a Portland Picks ad this week. I have that coming out there tomorrow night. And they sent out their special issue for our Super Bowl Sunday event...thank god. I had forgotten about the fact that I am IN one of the events! Events galore here in Portland, Oregon!  Here's our Super Bowl gig.

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Bargain Hunting 101 Don’t miss Bargain Hunting 101, an indie clearance sale of shopping mall proportions! Amazing discounts from Collage, Gypsy Chic, Sofia, Olio United, Stylin’ Echo, Sofada, Frock, Foundation Garments, Ella’s, Garnish, The Monkey and the Rat, Knot Ugly Designs, Mink Boutique, Mabel & Zora, Digs, Poppy & Ivy and Origin!  Eat/drink at Kennedy School, and wear try-on clothes! What: Bargain Hunting 101 When: Sunday, Feb. 3, noon-4 pm Where: McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave. Details: Free and open to the public THAT will be a blast!

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The store is getting there...those final items that I look at and think "Huh....where the heck did I get this?" are finally finding homes.

Our big Grand Opening Bash is Saturday and guess what? The skies are threatening snow...again. I've mentioned before, Portland SHUTS DOWN in snow. And see how that's not good for a "Grand Opening"? That kind of makes it "A Really Unfortunate Opening".

I can't get my head out the sale, school events, kid stuff this week to even take a deep breath and get "life" taken care of. I have a pile of really good looking magazines on the table by the front door. Home Companion (swoon), Country Home, In Style and Country Living are all looking at me....begging me to pick them up and sit down.

Sit down...ohhhhhh...that sounds good.

Here are some updated shots of the store. It's all coming together!

My friend Dave painted this.  He can paint anything.

Okay. I have to go hunker down by the campfire with my posse and make some Save the Date magnets to go into the young 'uns knapsacks tomorrow.

Whoa doggies...these auction folks are getting to me.

Ache Free, but still INSANE

Okay....the body doesn't ache today from my Exercsie Event on Wednesday. Good sign. We are due to go out tomorrow morning to...go team! I am hoping the pain stays away while I still get Buns Of Steel.

Oh...THAT made me snort.

School Auction. Wow. I will not complain because many a person said "Don't do it"....but you forget some of those nutty details. It will be a long, but interesting and hopefully very fulfilling 6 weeks until the auction takes place. And if we don't break $75,000 at least, you WILL know. I will stop posting and I will be hiding in a remote village in Mexico. Away from angry parents, disappointed co-chairs and teachers. And if I should happen upon peace & quiet, yummy margaritas and seafood galore...I might not come back.  No. I WILL not return.

Did I mention JOHN might not know my full role on the auction yet? Yep. I am a chicken. I KNOW the look I'll get on that one.  It's not worth seeing the eye roll. Maybe I'll tell him the night of the auction....when he realizes that I am NEVER at the dinner table with him and that people keep asking for my assistance. Yep...that seems like a GREAT time! Then I can say "But see how it all worked out so well?" Hey...a girl can dream.

The Shop. Ohhhhhh....my pretty little shop. The love affair is still hot. I think JOHN also likes it because he keeps hanging out there and his friends CALL FOR HIM THERE. I find this weird, but he lifts heavy items for me, so JOHN can stay.

Here are my new signs. I LOVE these bad boys. This my Portland Gift Show "favorite find". They can be personalized to say ANYTHING. Where it says Oregon Coast, it can say California, Washington, Mexico...whatever you want.

And John found this great mirror. It seems to finish that area off and lets you see there is more store. SO much more store than I have been used to!

Love my pink/Valentine section. The polka dot curtains are still perfect in this space...at least I think so!

Off to gather my Exercise Event clothing for tomorrow. Seems like smart planning.

Happy Weekend to you all!

Posting from the laptop

Because I am too lazy to get out from under the covers and go upstairs!

So sad.....

In my defense...it's not lazy so much as I have been lazy (for 6 months) and have decided to take on a rigorous (to me) walking, stairs, lunges, planks and squats workout. I figured it was time. Okay...past "time" into it HAD TO HAPPEN.

So...it's Day Number 2 of this and I can't really....walk.

Well. I can walk...but I make lots of noises. Like "Ouch". "Holy mother of pearl".... and the occaisonal "Lord help me".

Noises along those lines.

Okay. There ARE other words too. But I try to wait until the children are tucked away in bed.

On the store front....it's going so well!

And to top it off I got a plethora of new arrivals. My Archipelago candles came in. Ohhhhhh.....it smells so good. I received Pacifica, Lanai, Luna, Ambient and Soliel. Mmmmmm...

And new shopper bags. Miso Happy bags.  These bags are truly indestructible. I take mine to Trader Joe's and fill it with spaghetti sauce, bottled water, canned goods and walk across the parking lot trouble free. Of course...now that I've said that...there WILL be trouble.

I have my Grand Opening on Jan. 26th. I never dreamed I'd get so many new orders before then! I was surprised each time the Fed Ex man walked in! I am just waiting on those tiny hangers you all seemed to love so much (50 GONE in December alone!!!) and garden gate mini frames. Also popular.

I WILL provide photos, but I can't seem to ever get it looking clean when I post from the laptop...the photos are helter skelter and the words are all over the place. I am about 100% sure it's operator error.

Oh...and did I mention I volunteered to help with my son's school auction? Yeah. I did.

Not sure if JOHN will read this post....but this might be just how he finds out he's Mr. Auction now. Teeheehee. I did this 3 & 4 auctions ago...when the auction was still pretty new to our school and I was ABSORBED. There were NO volunteers. We had NO help. It was all 3 people running this HUGE show. These are $100,000 auctions. Scarrrrryyyyyyy. But it appears that in the last few years people have caught on that it takes more than three people to run an auction...so, I have COME BACK.

But I prepared this in 6 months before...now we have 6 weeks.

Deep....cleansing ....breaths.

I might just catch a 7 hour nap and wake up and see if I still feel good about this choice.

Happy Thursday to you! 

The Part Where I Admit the Old Place Sucked

So...I am on Day Number 4, first weekend day at the Fremont location.

No advertising, very little word-of-mouth, no mailers yet.

Without being prejudice, narrow minded or pig-headed I want to say that my new experience is WONDERFUL so far.

I am about on track dollar wise.

I do NOT have the same amount of foot traffic (expected to some point), but the quality is better.

So far, on the whole.....I can say quality verses quantity prevails.

And..Caffe Destino has killer House Coffee. LOVE that.....

Thank you to each and every one of you that came and gave me a shout out this week.....it is so much appreciated.

I cannot for a minute say that I have not been apprehensive about this move. But in may heart, I feel that I am in "my neighborhood" now...but it's still scary looking at the rent on this location verses the last location.

I love where I am now and that is what is getting me through! I haven't had any moments of panic or fear...yet!  I love my neighbors and my stretch of property. Life feels good!

Again...this IS the slowest retail month ever....so remind me of this post 30 days from now!!!!

And thank you...each of every one of you for your KIND words about my crazy parenting day last week. Inappropriate books, death  threats, my first week at the new location....you all made me feel better and so justified...whether you were 35 or 3500 miles away. Thank you!

May your weekend be filled with family, thrifty finds and arty moments!!!

I will name this day "Seriously???"

10:03 am: Phone call from a concerned parent. It seems there is a book in the teacher's "Recommended Reads" library. This is her personal library and kids can borrow from it for weekly book reports. This school is 6-8th graders. The book is "Looking for Alaska" and it's my understanding that it starts with a mother dying, "eases" into her child dealing with her death with vodka snuck into her milk thermos, skipping school, "favors" performed on school chums (primarily boys) and ends with a suicide.

REALLY?

What the heck happened to To Kill A Mocking Bird? Jane Eyre?

10:56 am: I open in four minutes and YES...my husband took the key...AGAIN. I had been texting him and e-mailing for an hour (during the happy-go-lucky "concerned parent" call). No response.

11:10am: My husband pulls up to let me in. He informs me that he no longer wants to be referred to as "my husband" on the blog. He wants to go by his name...John.

Do you think I am making this up? Because I am not.

I'd love to think that on the frantic ride over he was feeling so badly for taking my key AGAIN and that he was trying to help find a solution for the Naughty Book Thing..but he wasn't. He was all riled up about how he is referred to in my blog. I'd love to have that kind of time....

So. The artist formerly known as "my husband" will from now on be referred by name . I guess he HAS earned that in the last few weeks. And it IS fewer letters, thus saving me time.

4:00pm. My daughter wants a ride to the Oregon Humane Society. Because of my getting the shop up and running, I neglected to drop off her volunteer form and NOW her life is ruined. RUINED I tell you.

Wow. I thought the hideous death, guilt, suicide book would do her in, but apparently it's my not dropping off the volunteer form that will send her for years of couch time.

5:00pm. JOHN takes over the shop and we hop in the car to drive to the Oregon Humane Society. My son's school calls my cell. It's late. This worries me. AS I answer I hear my son say softly from the back seat "Oh...this might be about the incident".

WHAT?

With no time to actually say "WHAT???" out loud, I calmly say "hello?"

Voice on phone: "Is this Mrs. Hollands?" (This was my out....why didn't I take it?)

Me: "Yes it is"

Voice: "This is Melissa, the school counselor".  ( I glance in the rear view mirror and see my son VERY intent on looking in the "African American Hair Weevers" store.....which is empty and dark.)

Me: "Yes?"

Voice: "I wanted to call to tell you everything is okay, it all worked out fine...." (bells.....whistles...) "but today there was an incident on the school".

Is this like "Walter the Farting Dog: Incident at the Garage Sale" book? Because THAT is funny. I am not getting funny out of this though.

Me: "Um...yes?" (I say yes quite often.)

Voice/Melissa: It seems that ______ was upset and told Cole he was going to kill him...but we figured it all out and it  all seems okay now".

Whewwww......so glad__________figured out it was all okay and that he ISN'T going to KILL MY CHILD.....that would have been scary.

It appears that this child is also a black belt in karate and so it seems that possibly he really COULD kill my son. But the Voice/Melissa feels that it's "all worked out". Fantastic.

Get to the Humane Society. Drop off the form. Walk around looking at dogs. We then find our dog's doppleganger. Same age. Same breed (mixed, weird mut). It's so spooky we all just stand staring. The dog stares back and then "squeak-barks" like our dog Lucy does. I am about 95 % certain this is our dog's sister.

Humane Society Dog

Our Dog.

I had a hard time walking away. It was like leaving a FRIEND behind. They are eerily IDENTICAL! I want to bring Lucy over tomorrow to meet the dog! See if they bond!

Here are some fun "cat rooms".

6:00pm We head to dinner from the OHS. We are at dinner when a friend/neighbor 3 blocks down calls and says "Where are you?". I said "At dinner". He said "Where are the kids?". I said "With me...at dinner". He says "Where is John?". I said "Oddly...he's having a meeting at the same restaurant we are at!...He's here too, but not with us".

The friends says "Why is your dog in our backyard?".

Really? I mean....REALLY. HOW could this day get any more strange?

Soft porn books, death threats, doppelgangers, and now my dog has run away...to the neighbors.  (can't say I blame her at this point). Meaning our front door has blown open or the house blew down, because when we left....the dog was safely inside. 

I let John take care of this one. I enjoyed my burger. :)))))

JOHN would also like me to give an updated photo of the shop...a long shot. He's very distraught that I don't have a finished picture. We will make JOHN happy.

 

All done. I am soooo sleepy. This felt like a day and HALF!

Happy Friday to you! Please....Let it be a BORING one for me!

Day One

Leave it to my husband and I. I pulled up at 10:50 yesterday, reached for my keys and the shop key wasn't there. My husband had made a drop there in the morning and kept the key. I saw my neighbor at Sofia pull up on her bike so I called out to her. She said "Yes...I have a key right here" and the search was on...it was NOT in it's regular place! So I jumped in the car to head downtown, then the neighbor called my cell and said "I found it!".

I pulled up, my cousins were standing there with flowers waiting for me. So I looked pretty putzy on DAY ONE.

I have to laugh...right?

The day was slow, but it was OKAY. I have so much to do there still. Any customers were friends or customers from the previous shop checking me out. That was a relief on a Wednesday!

My old cronies on Alberta are having a Super Duper Superbowl sale. It sounds HILARIOUS. It's at Kennedy School, Feb. 3 (is that Super Bowl Sunday? I don't have a calender nearby!) and we are basically having a big CLEARANCE of everything....product,, stuff from our back rooms...fixtures..all Cash Only, totally cheap.  Did I mention a cash bar with appetizers? I suggested that we DO have a TV playing the SuperBowl just in case. I could care less, but I hate the idea of missing the commercials!

I will have more detail on that here soon! I know Collage, Frock, Mabel & Zora, The Monkey & the Rat are involved.....I can find out and post more later. Isn't that funny?

Great day yesterday.. no scary window washers accosting me, no meth heads begging for money...just a lost key:) Not our month for keys I guess.

Have a great Thursday!

Wheewwwwwwww.......

I am punch drunk and beat all to heck.

We have just spent the last 4 hours hanging pictures, shelving, sconces, the last chandelier....I am beat. I can't imagine HOW my husband is staying upright.

I open tomorrow! Wa-hoooooooooo.....

Hours will be (after running up and down my stretch of shops figuring out every body else's hours!!)

Wed-Sat 11:00-6:00 & Sundays 12:00-4:00.

It's just me again-no employees except for emergencies...so no more 7 days a week. I want to see my visitors, listen to feedback, let them know the owner is in the neighborhood and I am listening....just like Frasier Crane.

But..I also have a husband and children and I am ONE PERSON. That 7 days a week stuff was for the birds! That almost did me in!

I have the strongest urge to go down to my craft area and make clever signs, funny stuff, price tags, but my gut says GO TO SLEEP. I work tomorrow for the first time in 2 weeks (wahoooo) but it's dinner group tomorrow night as well!

It's Italian theme, I am  just appetizer and I made the main part tonight. I am going easy and doing bruschetta...I toast stuff tomorrow night! I made the topping while I prepared dinner tonight.....I had a rare (successful) multi-tasking moment!  

There a bunch of mirrors and pictures hung up since this shot was taken!

 

 

Okay...off to bed. And maybe some light stretching. That back of mine is making some noise and this is NOT the time for that now..is it? I need some serious yoga time!

Fingers crossed!

2 days and counting....

The husband has been painting the OLD store--the new renters did not want it red--fools.   :(((((-- and I have been holding down the family fort.  I ran into the new shop today ONCE to get primer! I miss it already! Ask me if I feel that way 3 months from now...the SLOWEST retail months known to man.

Tomorrow we have phone hook-up, the rest of fluffing, filling in naked spots...all the last minute stuff. Then I have Tuesday to get ready just in case and then Wednesday (drum roll please) we are ready for business! It will be  soft opening. I will send out an e-mail to the mailing list, but the GRAND OPENING will be Jan. 26th!

We hit the Portland Gift Show on Saturday and Sunday and I won a $200 drawing! I was shopping along, I had entered my business card a whopping 12 minutes before the drawing and then I hear "Poppy & Ivy...you are the $200 dollar winner. Please come to customer service to claim your prize".

Can you say "WOW"? After nearly 2 weeks of being closed for business...that was a much needed boost!

Here are some shots of the progress:

My husband built this out of what was possibly THE ugliest built in shelf units EVER made. It was the worst of the 60's. Brown as all get out. Ugly. Did I already mention ugly? Well....it was worth mentioning twice then. He took out the middle of the doors and replaced that with chicken wire, painted it cream (Dutch Boy "Vital Spark"...my FAVORITE cream) and sprayed the hinges black and replaced the door pulls. It cost him about $35!!!! Sweet goodness! He got the base at The Rebuilding Center. We HEART that place! We get to recycle and breathe life into old pieces!

Oh...almost all the chandeliers are up...I LOVE how it looks from the front door.  Such warm light even at night. I was SO done with fluorescent!

 

We are ready!

This weekend's fabulous estate sale finds (Yes! I had time to find good stuff!!!) was 6 OLD, fantastic aprons (pom-poms, gauzy trim, ric-rac....I was in heaven),  great cookbooks like "How to Get Compliments from your Cooking", recipe boxes, bolts of vintage fabric, hats and some lovely dresses.

From the trade show....old reproduction signs in metal and wood. I have never seen this company. It was amazing. I ordered 7 to start, but I have a feeling I will be re-ordering soon!

Our Grand Opening is coming up and I am lining up some folks for trunk shows and demos. I talked to Eclectikids today about it (they might be about THE nicest couple I have ever met), I am hoping for Katy Kate to come wow you with her hand polish and creams and I want to talk to a vintage button jewelry gal I met today too. And of course...Mimosas. Because WHAT grand opening does not offer Mimosas?????? None of us should go to THOSE grand openings!! They should be banned.

My new rule.

Hope your weekend was filled with excitement! And cheers to you if your children are going back to school as mine are and that you ENJOY your coffee, read your newspaper and finish a sentence with your significant other on Monday morning. Clink, clink, clink.......