May 30, 2007

PR Meet Design; Design? PR.

I just got an e-mail that said, in part, "Downer day on sweetandbitter. For what it's worth, I believe that only acceptance of something you know to be untrue, unfulfilling or unsatisfying constitutes failure.

Failure would be if you stayed living a soul-crushing existence in NYC. Failure would be if you chose to do PR instead of contemplating what it would be like to do your own thing. Failure would be if you resign yourself to anyone else's opinion of you."

Hear, here.

To that end, and to alleviate the bumm I've been cultivating over in the Park Hill area, I've been thinking about all the exciting things that lie in store between now and that day in 2099 when I finally pass away from this mortal coil. One thing that gets me revved?

The first meeting of an (as yet named) design club here in town last night. Nota benz Jamie at DesignKlub's wee write-up on it, and shoot her an electronic if you'd like to get on the list.

And, not calling it failure or anything, but I, erm, did offer to serve as PR rep for this group. How could I not? It's chockablock with an exciting mix of industrial, graphic, fabric, fine and ceramic artists (incl. my new favorite person, Angela at Inv/Alt), gallery and shop owners and even just a few hobbyists - all of whom can benefit from my masterful use of the em dash and AP style city abbreviations.
Apple don't fall far from the press release tree, apparentaments.
You can run, but you can't hide.
Rhythm is gonna get you.
As are sub-heds.

Jeebs.

(See, Rick, told you I posted more when I was unhappy. Or was it that I posted more when I was happy. Shittt. Now I dun furgot. Pass the herb.)

Posted by Bree at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)

Today, Today, Today.

Today's the day I finally start working. The P's and I are having a meeting tomorrow night to discuss new merchandise lines, which means all the info I've been collecting for the past six months or so needs to be organized and collated and other official office-type things. Like bound. And highlighted. Also stapled.

Exciting stuff.
Just wish my mind was on it.

Posted by Bree at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2007

Mems Day (and Oh what a Mem it Will Be)

The new bosses.

Mems was totally the word this past Monday, which was spent (at least in part) in breathless, half-drunken hiking up through the hills of Evergreen, Colorado with Paul and Pifuka. Sometime after the hike and between margaritas 2 and 3, we actually were able to get some business talkin' done leading to this...the major announcement of the year...

Ready?

Details are hazy, due in no small part to the agave, but it looks like I'm going to be hired on by P. Design Gallery to head up both their marketing efforts and some new merchandising initiatives.

Yes.
Me.
Employed.
How novel.

The plan is thus: I would bring in and develop all the lines and aesthetic and stuff I was eying for TSC - but instead of going at it alone, would be able to combine resources and noggins with the P's and make both our businesses work together as a well-lubricated *whole.

Meetings are happening this week. Lawyers are being called and accountants are being seduced, as is both my want and my right. Things are popping o'er in D-town down. More detes TK as they say but cheers. Your girl is finally on her way to financial solvency. Er...or something.

Posted by Bree at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2007

Thinking, Thinking, Thank

Thinking more and more recently about making this site password-protected. Some crazy stuff is happening here, but I'm hamstrung (for want of a better word. Like stramhung, for instance.) by the fact everything I commit to type is Google-able.

Troof and honesty with a hard H, I only ever wrote with the intention of friends and family keeping up with my steez and its very various permutations. I am always surprised when someone unexpectedly references the site, or I hear from some random reader (rarer, probably, than happens to most). Surprised in a kind of "errrr...wait, what?" kind of way. Surprised in a "hang on a sec, has anyone seen my diary anywhere?" kind of way. Surprised in a "there's a dude totally looking in my window and my gun's totally, like, jammed" kind of way. Surprised in a somewhat uneasy, mildly bilious and overly analogous kind of way. Clearly.

So. That's what I'm thinking. Pretty surprised over here, as if I had to tell you!

The real deal? Recently I've got lots to say that I don't want privy to any Tom, Dick or G. Gordon. Mainly about how the business of The Scarlet Conservatory was turned on its EAR on Friday afternoon and may be a TOTALLY different animal than what I've been preparing for. WHOA, kids. Huge. It's huge. Like a blue whale penis. Or Saturn.

But, for a number of reasons, I can't really be candid about the situation right now because I don't know who's reading the site, and that's frustrating. My big mouf - and the trouble it gets me in at times - cracks me up, but now that I'm an adult trying (relatively) hard to be a good, thoughtful and honest person, the ramifications are a bit more profound. Like Proust. Or Kellie Pickler.

Obveez, the password will be e-mailed to my address book and then pretty much to anyone who e-mails me for it but this way, I can have a substantial amount of control over what information about me is available to the public. And now that I'm Mrs. Successful Businesslady, I think the whole "Whooooooeeey! Last night, after I took all SORTS of drugs and hardcore 69ed like CRAZY with some harelipped cousin of a rando I ran into that Marie totally banged that one time in college, that's...that's when the real party started!" persona has got to retire from public life.

Oh but she will live on. Both in memory and on film. Of that you can rest assured.

Posted by Bree at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2007

Logo Schmogo

Surprisingly, I'm not having the best of luck with the part of TSC I like the most...the design part. Specifically, the logo design. I've participated in enough branding initiatives to know this stuff takes as much time as it does inspiration, so I'm sweating the process very little, kicking back and enjoying the research. To that end, check out these business card design ideas (gripped [xoxotoyouANP!] from kottke as I shamelessly like to do.

Some favorites:

Gilded edges

Metallica (really like it for the grommet...sshhh)

Schoolin' the competition

Posted by Bree at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2007

Mission Statement (aka What to Say Next Time Someone Asks You What the H I'm Doing in Denver)

The Scarlet Conservatory, LLC will be a retail home design and accessories store with an on-site art/photography gallery. Its product line will skew towards small-scale manufacturers and designers with a strong emphasis on unique, artisan-crafted goods. Although merchandise will include large furniture pieces, the majority of the store will be filled with "cash and carry" pieces for discriminating, sophisticated buyers. Price points will likely range from $50 - $500.

Everything in the store, including display models, will be for sale. Additional revenue may be generated via consignment pieces, as warranted.

That's it.
I'm off to Target.

Posted by Bree at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2007

New Entry

Rick told me last week that he thought the happier I was, the less I posted. Interesting. I don't know if I agree, but it does give me some pause. Howevs, if that was the case, I would've posted the shit out of today. For some reason, I'm just blahhhhhhhhh recently. I know it's stress over the store. Right now, I'm waiting to hear what the city and so forth say about the building and its zoning, and expect to get my hands on a lease sometime this week. Of course, though I'm in a bit of a holding pattern 'til then, there is plenty I could be doing. I could be trying to figure out the logo. I could be deciding how much money I'm going to spend on merch. I could be figuring out exactly what - and from whom - I'm going to order once I get the go-ahead on the space. I could be trying to come up with some sort of display design. I could be interviewing contractors. I could be dusting off the business plan and try to make something coherent out of it.

So...what do I be accomplishing out of all of that?
Nada.
No duh.

And I don't know why, and I don't know when it'll stop and I don't know when I'll get my shit together re: this store. It's what I want to do; I just don't know how to do it. Wah!

Posted by Bree at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2007

TSC Display Table Idea

Whatchall thank? I'm liking the simplicity and the holes and the fact that I'll be able to make them any size or color I need. Oh yes, I do believe I'm going to have to build quite a few of these - and pups quite similar - for the "sto." Thankfully, the G-man thinks he can come up with a prototype that I'll be able to replicate with nothing more than a glue gun, a stick of eyeliner and a wad of Scott toilet paper. It's like MacGyver...only with better hair. And only slightly less moxie.

Posted by Bree at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2007

Space!

Here are some snaps of the *proposed* 2,200 SF retail space for The Scarlet Conservatory (Est. date of opening: summer of 2007). Had I taken my Photoshop studies more seriously, I could draw in the planned walls and so forth. Alas, you will have to make do with my paltry captions:

Exterior with new door. TSC will be on the right after you walk in.

NB north-facing interior windows

South-facing exterior windows. May knock out last one and install second door.

Standing in my space, looking west. Glass boundary wall and entry vestibule will be at about the second pole down. The rest of the visible space will be a ceramics studio and one section of a gourmet grocery. No word yet on whether I get to keep the desk. Negotiations underway.

Posted by Bree at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

Shop Talk

Just a brief update for those of you tracking my every move (I'm talking to you, Dog the Bounty Hunter): I'm in a bit of a holding pattern in regards to the space. It's perfecto, everything is perfecto...but the owners need to figure out some zoning schtuff, some remodeling schtuff and so forth before I get the "A-OK, everything's a go-go for launch" reassurance that will bring me to the next step.

As one might imagine, it's hard for me to cede control over this and just wait around for something to happen. I'm trying to keep busy, and accomplish things around the homestead with the help of my merry minions but still...frustrato! Waaah!

Anys, I'll post some pictures of the space once I get my act together and find my digital camera cord. Needless to say, if this all works out (WHEN this all works out), I really think it's going to be spectacular. And if I can keep my shit focused and my spirits motivated until then, well...all the better.

Posted by Bree at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2007

Ain't Your Momma's Globalization

Now that I've conquered Denver, thoughts have naturally turned towards expanding the TSC vision to an overseas market. Quell surprise, then, that the latest issue of Inc. Magazine is devoted to just such a topic. Best part? Tiny write-ups on the top three countries NOT to do business in. Forthwith:

Belarus: Taxes here are a nightmare. The World Bank estimates that the average midsize company will make 125 separate tax payments each year and will spend 1,188 hours on tax preparation (roughly half a year's worth of eight-hour workdays.)

Guinea-Bissau: Don't try to incorporate a company here. The process comprises 17 procedures and takes an average of 233 days to complete. A single notary handles all registrations by hand.

Zimbabwe: In 2005, Zimbabwe's GDP fell by 7.1 percent, the biggest drop in the world. Ruler Robert Mugabe's policies inspired an Atlantic Monthly article entitled, "How to Kill a Country." The nation ranks dead last in the World Economic Forum's competitive indices for property rights, credit rating, inflation, phone infrastructure and recession expectations.

Posted by Bree at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2007

B*R*E*A*K*I*N*G*

I think I found a space.
2,200 square feet of KICKASS.
Putting a deposit down tomorrow.

Hooooly crrrrrappp!!!!

Posted by Bree at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)

Magnate-ized

Gost to say, it seems as if my real estate mission is akin to early man's quest for fire. And hair product. (Smaller quest, no less important.)

Thanks to a reco from Taylor Buster O'J Fennsky - a 1,000 Islands fella relocated to the Mile High - I met with a very cool commercial real estate chick yesterday. Her summation of my search? Pretty difficult using normal channels. Pretty unappealing to any commercial broker because of what promises to be a ridonculously low commission. Pretty much fizzarked in terms of getting anyone to do all the work for me. [Musical cue: All By Myself by Peabo Bryson.]

So, here I am. Puzzled but reinvigorated. I've got two promising leads today (a building down on 31st and Blake and a corner shop over on Old South Gaylord), and am not quite willing to give up on this. Nothing I have ever done career-wise, or life-wise, has been accomplished using traditional methods, so I must just keep reminding myself of that. Besides, I kind of like it when people tell me things I want are impossible to achieve. My competitive...er...natecherr (Strike 'streak' - Ed.) and jackassedly stubborn refusal to ever take anyone's advice that contradicts my own intuition is my strongest motivator. The only real danger here? Loss of personal steam due to anxiety or worry that this will never right itself.

Must!
Keep!
Personal!
Steam!

I am, as always, my own worst frenemy.
Thankfully, however, I remain my own second-best lover.
So there's always that.

Speaking of...
'scuse...

Posted by Bree at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2007

Windy Days

It's been a crazy week over at the Hassle Castle. The pooch - aka Deuce Nugent - and I have been plum kickin' it, trying to get a number of things in order on both the domestic and professional fronts. Hours and days and weeks keep flying by, each presenting its own opportunity for me to feel like I haven't done enough. The pace I'm keeping, coupled with near constant self-flagellation, is wearing. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is running faster and faster to stay in the same place.

"Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford

Not sure what I think anymore. And that's why Deuce and I are going out for a walk.

Posted by Bree at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2007

Moving On

I'm going to take a pass on that property I was really digging over on 27th Street. Though the location was kind of perfect, it just was too unfinished and too industrial and too risky to make it work at this point. Which means I'm back at square uno in regards to this commercial real estate situation.

Kind of amusing, then, that I just got an e-mail from Leigh, the design duchess behind Jezebel - whom I met while poking around the new Catbird on Bedford last time I was Brooklyn-way - saying it sounded like finding a place out here was worse than finding an apartment in New York. Oh good God - say it ain't so.

Posted by Bree at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2007

Work Jerk: Slave to the Grind

Aaaaaaah. Had to skip A-Basin today in favor of a property walk-through followed by some face time with a zoning board representative who smokes Pall Malls. Double Aaaaaaah with Aaaaaaaah on top; LOVE those Pall Malls! Anys, would've much rather been skiing with the inestimable Ms. Liz, but at least I feel like I'm making some good progress over here. Progress that was followed, naturally, by a two-hour nap. Besides, skiing can wait 'til this weekend. This lady's got terse e-mails to construct, a new gym to go poke around in and an alarmingly difficult new bookcase to put together.

Posted by Bree at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2007

Larimerchant: The Waiting Months

In a most positive move, I just scheduled a casual appointment to speak with the landlord tomorrow in regards to the place I'm interested in on Larimer Street.
And by casual I mean pantsless.
Just so we're clear.

In all of our nude splendor, we're going to try to come to an agreement about what needs to be done, and who needs to do it, to...er...erect a retail spot in the joint. Nachos, this is all very exciting and deserves several exclamation points but frankly, after housing a 7-pound salad from Wild Oats, I'm ready to finish the latest Salter tome to cross my bedspread and sack out. Punctuation is going to have to wait, as is the beast slobbering at my side, wondering when I'm going to get off my Aeron and take her to the park. Patience to all - Mama needs her booty sleep.

"I have a strickening sense of waste, of important days of my life slipping away without being marked, or used..." - Robert Phelps

Posted by Bree at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2007

Blech News

Blech.

Just got off the phone with the contractor. Looks like what I need to do to that space to make it retail-ready is danged cost-prohibitive. I need to run the numbers to see what I'd be paying square-foot wise over the three year term of the lease but...from the outset? It seems prrrrretttty steep. And that's just to integrate the BASICA of what you need to make a comfortable retail enviro (HVAC, lights, uh...door).

I'm pretty disappointed (had been led to believe the HVAC system, for instance, was going to cost about 1/3 of this estimate), but you know...plenty of fish in the sea. It does feel a bit "back to square one"ish but each of these experiences is teaching me things I needs to knows so no need to get all bummy. Besides, this ain't a done deal yet. Perhaps the LL will come back at me singing a seductive song of proper electrical routing and I will once again sit astride the space o' my dreams.

Posted by Bree at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)

Legal Beagle

Good news on the TSC front: I've done found me a smart chick lawyer to help with lease negotiations and so forth. No, unfortch, it's not my all-time fave smart chick lawyer, but I'm hoping this one's equally adept at managing Taconic's tight lil curves at 95 mph. And/or talking me off the ledge when I become convinced my wiseass mouf is gonna land me up to Walpole with Martha and the Poncho Parade. Doubtful, but as I said: it's just a hope.

I feel so official, I've been forced to take tomorrow off to recoup my relaxation up in Vail. I'll be the one with the sashimi crammed in my pants. No particular reason...I just like sashimi.

I mean, who doesn't?

KJT: I'll be busting glasses in your honor.

Posted by Bree at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2007

Master Gates

Yikers, Rikers. Bad news for TSC and anyone else who ever wanted to sell their schtuff online. Apparently the genuii over at Microsoft are updating Internet Explorer to stop phishing scams in a way that's going to be crazy detrimental to small business. Get this: now, web sites buy certificates and padlock icons to show they're legit. But, in an effort to deter those pesky spam-hounds and their ability to get around this system, Microsoft will now show a site's credibility through colored address bars: red = shady, green = secure.

Problem being -> Gates and the rest of his cell mates will require young biznesses (less than three years old) to pay more for certification and not give it at all to many sole proprietorships and LLCs and other smallwigs.

Ew!
Microsoft!
You bastards!
Time to get me a pushcart and start hawking my wares the olde way. Anyone need a scissor sharpen? Or should I say shiv?

Posted by Bree at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2007

Timing? Impeccable.

"Normally the fourth quarter is the busy season, but this year, the trucking companies are saying that the busy season never came. The drop-off in business has been particularly noticeable in shipments of houseware products. Some of it may be due to a cooling off in the housing market. Homeowners spend less on their homes when they think they're worth less."

- Dan Sanker, CEO of CaseStack - some sort of logistics company
Quoted in Inc. Magazine

Posted by Bree at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2007

Decison

I want a see-saw in my store.
Period.

(No, not this kind. Not 'til after a few dinners, anyway.)

Posted by Bree at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2007

Day Won

After several hours spent on the old feet, lugging my catalog-jammed yet super-styling CITIZEN:Citizen SHOPLIFTER tote from here to there to sundry within the Javitt's Center, eating a lunch of Baked Lay's, Diet Coke and Luna, and basically bullshitting my way around that minor "Oh right, I have no idea what I'm doing" element over and over and over again - I am here to report: I kicked the gift fair's ass.

Granted, I am dog tired. Dog. And not that excited by the vast majority of what was displayed. And pretty irked about being bumped into about 50 times by short, stocky midwesterners in reading spectacles and turtlenecks. But wow, what a day. I think I saw upwards of 25,000 items. More important than the stuff, though, were the several hours of alone-time I enjoyed with my brain - thinking about what and how I want to do at TSC.

The experience also served as a reminder to remember: the big lines are not what I'm about. Even the cool gigundo manufacturers that have neat stuff at a good price are getting to be *so* boring and typical and blah. If I see another wooden, wall-mounted deer head or bar of french soap, I'm going to clobber someone with this votive candle holder. And - again - that's the cool stuff. No comment re: LP bowls or floral salad tongs or wall art made from license plates.

As far as TSC goes, if I'd said it once, I've said it twice: give me indie; give me artisanal; give me that last bag of Goobers. Now we'll just see if Denver's buying dollar agrees.

So! Get this: if I go to the Piers show tomorrow - followed by some new designer showcase at Metropolitan Pavillions - then that'll pretty much be it. I'll have done my trade show duty and still have Wednesday free to hop o'er to Brooklyn and check out the real steez on local, one-off art and design - which, come to think of it, will probably be a more useful (and enjoyable) way to spend my time anyhow. Gloooorious!

Posted by Bree at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2007

Jussss Sssssssaying

Posted by Bree at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2007

Embracing the Change - One Bargain at a Time

Rev up the miniature van and pour a frosty mug of deep-fried Michelob Light: your former arbiter of urban awesomeness has joined the Costco. Or, as one might also call it, taken yet another step towards the abandonment of all former (read: imagined) social status. Yes, as an American, I am executing my right to embrace my inner suburbanite within the fleshy folds of my (rapidly expanding) inner thighs.

Granted, I'm doing it just for the booze and the office supplies. And - of course - I can write it off as a bidness expense. But if a pair of maternity pants or figure-concealing smock happens to fall into my cart once in a while (right next to the keg of peanut butter stuffed pretzel knobs or case of Mountain Dew), then all the better. The shame of actually living somewhere where I have enough space to store large amounts of foodstuffs tastes better with a side of Kraft singles, anyway.

Oh well. In the words of Hova: "I ain't a businessman, I'm a business, man."
If it works for Jay-Z, it works for me.

Posted by Bree at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2006

www.thescarletconservatoryisthebest websiteever.com

As I've been consumed with other, more important details of launching the store, I haven't given too much thought to the impending web site design other than...um...assuming one of the ex-bofofos wants nothing more out of this life than to build it for me for free just like he did this one. And this one. Hi!

Oh assumptions: not only do they make an ass out of "u," they also make an ass out of "mptions." And I can't be having my mptions be made an ass of...nor my wages garnisheed, come to think of it.

Regardless. One things certain: the (outta!)site's definitely going to be rockin' a soundtrack just like this sunglass extravagannnze from fair Deutschland (run your mouse over the word "prototype" and then "plastic" and then "prototype" again...geniusussudio!).

Not at all interesting side note: Berlin is where a gaggle of subway-riding, nubile-rocking young ladies giggled with no great subtlety at a pair of silver Elvis shades being sported by Matthew to the P.N.

Who's the mption, now, madchens?! Who's the mption NOW?!
Ich habe durst!

Good morning.

Posted by Bree at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2006

Logo A Go Go

While on my daily bran muffin mission yesterday (it was bleak and that's all I have to say about that), I got a call that lifted my spirits way up into the sky - far from the land that ate all the bran. Seems that my favorite hirsute rock-n-roll star Aaron Lazar has come up with the beeeeesssstttttt logo idea to hit the idea of logos since a certain gay network was launched.

With no prompting WHATSOEVER from me, the laissez faire lassy, he said, "Have you ever heard of Albertus Seba?"

Have I heard of Albertus Seba! I named my first kid Albertus Seba. Then I sold him, but still! The name was a major marketing point. How else do you think I afford this luxurious lifestyle? The Fetus Albertus, that's how!

Anyway, for the underinitiated, Seba the elder was a Dutch botanical illustrator who published these craziiilllly detailed collections of plants, beasts and other cellular-based effluvia that makes me a little squirmy when I'm in the ocean.

Exhibit A(H MY GOD!)

He's also the artist behind my totally heterosexual squid screen saver, attributes of which Marie has OFT compared to a naked woman's buubbies:

Logo, indeed, Marie. Logo indeed.

So! To the punto: Aaron is using Seba as the inspiration for the TSC logo and font! I feel like every itch is being scratched with this one, what an awesome idea - what an AWESOME IDEA! (Glee mine.)

Here's a video of he, my new favorite person, walking slowly but assuredly towards this design:

But Aaron! You do have an idea! And if you see above, I have dubbed it "Awesome." This is praise of the highest. Here's a rag for all that blood.

And here's an opportunity to spread some squid love next time you're hosting a soirrrrr:

Yay Aaron! Yay Seba!
Yay Sebum! (I'm an EOE.)

Posted by Bree at 08:36 AM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2006

News of the Absurdly Excellent Varietal

Walking into the P Design Gallery today, I had no idea that Paul and Pifuka were going to fill my heart with glee and gaiety. Well, no more than they normally do. But fill it they did, for they asked me to be their store's official decorator. As in, when people come in and dig that P Design style (hard not to, naturally) and ask for a designer recommendation, they'll point 'em straight to the Brickster.

Best part of the exchange?

Me: But you've never even seen my stuff!
Pifuka: But anyone who buys stained glass that says "Fuck You" has our style!
Me: Well, fuck! All right! Holy crap!
Exeunt

So, to the delightful P et P, I have but one thing to say:

Here's to a long and symbiotic symbiosis.

Posted by Bree at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)

November 01, 2006

Credit Czech Part II

After realizing that the business credit card I initially signed up for via Amazon didn't give me enough travel rewards to suit this dromomaniac (Ha! Rightbackatcha, Jay!), I logged onto the handy Credit Card Filter and signed up for the Advanta Platinum Business Card with Reward Options (the "Top Choice" to suit my quasi-coastal needs).

Anys, anyone in the market for a new card might check this Filter site out - it provides a bite-sized little card comparison perfect for those of us who can only read bullet points. To boot, I not only know the site architect - but have seen him in the all-together wearing a set of (fake) buck teeth. And I've got the picture to prove it. So, click on through to the site, show some traffic-love that doesn't involve Steve Winwood and make my homeboy's day.

Posted by Bree at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2006

Nom de Untold Riches

Apologies for my lackage of postage, I've been busy wrestling with both my conscience and my cordless drill. Hectic and calloused: that's me. Hot.

In between all the various doings of my off-the-hook glamourama, I've also sandwiched in a few meetings and a couple of major developments. One being my new official status with the Secretary of State as The Scarlet Conservatory, LLC. Two being my new official status as someone with a business accountant. And three being my new official status as someone getting paid by the hour to redecorate a friend's living and dining rooms. !!! If this was any more major, it'd be Major Dad - and I don't take Gerald McRaney's ouevre lightly. Never have; never will.

Oh happy days!

Posted by Bree at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2006

Killer Things Afoot at the Circle K (.B.N.)

So many positive things are happening in the mile jai lai, I'm beginning to feel like Pollyanna over here. For one, I went and met the cats who own P Design (see below) and was totally blown away by their kindness, coolness and candor in terms of the art and retail scene in D-town. Paul gave me a list of recommended galleries here and offered to help me with my business planning (!!!!!) while Pifuka gave me mad inspiration and many smiles with her stylin' jewelry collection. And, for your daily dose of crazy, get this: after being in their store/gallery for about 15 minutes, I noticed that he had Sweet and Bitter open on his computer! No! Way! I had signed up for their mailing list earlier in the day and was totally busted due to the Googling!
Heee!
How totally flattering and exciting.

Suffice it - and rather obviously - I just can't get enough of the flapjacks these kids are slinging, and look forward to cutting into their short stack for years to come. What a great discovery; what a great talent.

In other news of the "Wicked Awesome" variety, I've hired Aaron Lazar, lead singer of the Giraffes, to design my new logo. Though my heart will forever skip a beat for my dear beloved Carl (the artiste behind the Sweet and Bitter logo and splash page and the only boy I would go gay for), I decided I needed a bit of a different perspective. As a longtime admirerer of Aaron's music, art and stylistic moxie, I couldn't be more stoked to get a chance to work with the chap and butter up my rye toast with his brand of mad abiliteez.

Kiddados! Pass the menu! I've got mad things afoot and no times to feel peckish!

Posted by Bree at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2006

Name Change? Need Feedback (and Fatback!)

What do you guys think of the name Chez Soi? There's apparently some super-fance-o-delux eating establishment in Brussels named "Comme Chez Soi" (rough trans: like your home), and I like the way Chez Soi sounds. A bit like sashay, a bit like the way Uruguayans pronounce the word Uruguayan "Urshagwashu," a bit like "Natasha, Natasha, I wanna wash ya." It works for me.

I've got an e-mail in to my ambassador to all things French to see if the name makes any sense, but I've also already got one negation on it from a friend who digs on The Scarlet Conservatory more. Is the French thing too...FRAAAANCH?

I'm torn like Natalie Imbruglia. Needless to say, I must come to a decision on the name sooner rather than later so I can register/get my tax ID/make something of my life/etc.

I know how you kids loathe the public commentary, so would appreciate any feedback to the Briggles account in the ASAP kind of sense. Kiss my gratzi!

Posted by Bree at 10:19 AM | Comments (2)

September 28, 2006

Business Plan Update

We're at a robust 37 pages people, including appendices. That's only about 20 pages longer than it has to be. My mom told me she ran out of both ink and paper printing out the first draft. Oh dear Lord, what hath this logorrhea wrought?

In other news, I've finagled my way into a fun lil design consultancy gig for a fun lil friend with a fun lil house - so far, our planning sessions have involved me smoking his ass in ping pong (still got the mad english, Pops!) while listening to The The (what the?) and The Libertines. I also get to come out with statements like, "Your throw pillows are wicked way too small," and "Let's talk chandeliers."

I think I'magonna like this profession.

Posted by Bree at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2006

Frustrating Self/Self Frustration

Writing a business plan calls to mind one song and one song only: "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying" by Belle & Sebastian. What a task this is! I am confident that my powers of procrastination are unrivaled in this modern world. If only I could build a business around pissing away time...I'd be rolling in revenue.

41 pages into the beast and I still haven't the foggiest idea how much any of this is going to cost. And/or how I'm ever going to make an income again. How can that be?! What the hell am I writing?!

Alack. Here's the totally Bree answer to the problem: e-mail my Mom the business plan and start mapping a road trip/escape to New Mexico. You can't say I'm inconsistent.

Posted by Bree at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2006

Plenty of Room at the Hotel Colorado

"Hotel rooms constitute a separate moral universe."
- Tom Stoppard, Night and Day

No word yet on what kind of moral universe hotel room liquidators constitute, but I spent a good deal of time at one today and made some phiggity phat purchases for The Scarlet, including three gorgeous silver samovars ($25 each) and a glass topped side table ($35) that's just begging to be stripped and effed with. Um...maybe I should rethink that sentence, given the context.

Yep, so right - I skipped the blankets and sheets (ew.) and, though momentarily blinded by the preponderance of BRASS in hotel lighting fixtures (below), also made it out of there lampless.

More pictures of the somewhat eerie lunacy after the jump...

What's the over/under that the CSI ultraviolet/blacklight/semen detector/emergency flare would blow a fuse and start smoking in here?

Life of Bree --> not all glamour and fat-free pudding. Also, quite a bit of cardboard.

I am struck mute by this sign. Mute, I tell you. Paradigm change?! These are the same people that asked, jesticularly, if I was "edumacated" after I used the word "samovar." I matched this cunning wit by lobbing back that my parents sure hoped so. Then we all had a good laugh while my credit card was processed. But all too soon our shared appreciation of jesticles was through.

OH AND PS...this totally wasn't the scariest place I've been shopping this week. Those honors would go to the basement from Texas Chainsaw Massacre I nearly met my maker in on Tuesday:


I realize it's a bit blurry, but can you see the panic? Can you sense the fear? Can you smell the BABY DOLL?

Who doesn't...really...though?

Um...? What? Please let me go now, scary lady.

Posted by Bree at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2006

Scarlet Harlot

Breaking News.

I'm not sure if you, loyal readers, have the time to sift through the landslide of comments I get daily on this site, (I know, I know - "work," "salary," "GNP," "family," "priorities," "goals"...really, now. Your slavish devotion to the brutal constraints of such hegemony is rather nauseating and I for one am sick of hearing all your bloviations to that effect.) - but there was one left below, yesterday, that really rocked this town, rocked it inside out. Indeed, there was an [Cue: angel's choir/Brian Setzer orchestra] awwwwwesssssome little piece of awesome pie left for me by Jenny Frox to the Rox, lady of the Heights, down there on the Czech/Viet Nam post.

Did you miss it?!
Are you REEAADDYY?!?!!

She named my store!

THE SCARLET CONSERVATORY.

As in Clue (or, as her husband the Tory might call it, "Cluedo"). Taking into account the facts that a. red is my most favored color and b. Clue is my most favored board game and c., much to Natasha's chagrin, I never read or even saw Gone With the Wind and d. Scarlett Johanssen has extremely nice boobs and e. Marie keeps finding mysterious Clue weapons in her Jeep (this is true.), it's the most perfect name ever. EVER!

I am so psyched! Guilty as charged: Professor Fox KILLED THE COMPETITION with an icepick to the dome straight up in the effing board room. Oh snap!
Good one, lady my lady.

Posted by Bree at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)