STEM MASTERS

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 Moon Canyon arrangement

 I confess: I am in love with flowers.  I'm stating this,

 because there was a time where I actually didn't "like" them. 

Or maybe it was the guy I was with that talked me out of liking them?? 

Yeah that's probably it.

Well, thankfully the tide changed and my husband came along with bouquets in tow. 

Although he hates to be generalized, he is similar to the average guy. 

He doesn't necessarily have botanical charts tattooed on the inside of his eyelids

 and therefore is not able to remember the names of a few favorites of mine. 

And hell, I don't know the name to many of them... I usually just point to 

the "meaty layered  blush colored one on the right"and hot pink 

one with the long, crooked stem.

 So there have been many-o-copy/paste grocery or farmers market bundles.

But sometimes the unpredictable arrangement is swooniful 

and a trip a floral designer is more suitable.

It wasn't until I began planning my wedding last year that I began my re-infatuation 

with natures eye candy. Since Spring is on the way, it usually means 

wedding season is right along side of it. 

For those of you that are in full on wedding prep mode or for if 

you are planning a lovely dinner and need some table zjush, 

I thought it would be fun to feature a few of my favorite regional floral designers.

 

 

Amy of Amy Merrick Flowers & Styling - Brooklyn, New York

I met this gem at Ginny's wedding a few years ago. 

There was such an smoldering intensity behind her eyes, but something from eras 

of the past that made her so insanely charming and magnetic. 

If you mosey on over to her blog you can find these hauntingly 

beautiful shots of her New York studio littered with the most vibrant 

specimens... She leaves enough room in each arrangement for unexpected additions

and wild lines that you don't see in traditional designs. 

Which is why she has been snagged for Kinfolk and Ralph Lauren 

for floral design projects.

 Let's just say, I would love to go through her trash bin.

And following her on Instagram is a must 

*all photos taken from Amy Merrick site

 

Amy of Amy Osaba event.floral.design - Atlanta, Georgia

I think of her as the Floral Fairy Godmother of the south

I met Amy on the set of the Gap Styld.by Rue Magazine shoot. 

The pint size firecracker has wand that makes the floral industry 

fun and understandable and not the least bit intimidating. If you 

are thinking of a Serenbe or country chic with succulent & colorful hits

Amy and her team of magicians are a top pick.

After seeing the tutorial using paper flowers it is clear that 

the limitations are non-existent. 

Check out the behind the scenes look at all the wonder.

*all photos taken from Amy Osaba site

Amy & Kristen of Moon Canyon Design Co. - Los Angeles, California

I discovered these gals on Designlovefest and I immediately 

fell in love with the effortlessness they created. 

They have found a way to hone in on their youthful vibe and arrange

carefree pleasantries that include unexpected sweets like succulents alongside

a grouping of pinatas. No explanation needed. It just works!

There is nothing worse than an overly pretentious and stuffy arrangement. 

(It screams a bit to front of the alter and has no personality. just my opinion)

Kristin and Amy have there fingers on rhythmic pulse and 

fists wrapped tightly around some rananculas.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from them.

See more goodness here

 

*all photos taken from Moon Canyon site & Instagram

FANTASY ESCAPES

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That Kind Of Woman: Five Fantasy Exit Stragedies 

Found on Thought Catalog By Courtney Preiss

1. Run away to Brooklyn. Rent an apartment with a claw footed bathtub. Commute to Manhattan during the week and put in hours at a menial publishing job. Drive home to New Jersey on weekends to swim in the pool and cry to your mother. Smoke Gauloises on the fire escape. Let yellowing issues of Rolling Stone and Vogue pile into a protective fortress around your bed. Listen to Cat Power. Fall asleep mostly naked beneath the duvet watching Sportscenter and drinking earl grey. Date a Yankees fan and kiss his hands on the 4 Train into the Bronx.

2. Run away to Barcelona. Eat milk chocolate magnum bars and drink cheap champagne. Burst into charming fits of laughter whenever you get embarrassed about butchering the Catalan language. Wear denim cutoffs, Dr. Pepper chapstick, and very little else. Go dancing at 3 a.m. Whiten your teeth. Tan your shoulders. Braid feathers into your hair. Perpetually wake up with sand caught in the thin cotton sheets of your tiny bed. Listen to the Rolling Stones and kiss all the longhaired boys you can get your hands on without ever having to apologize.

3. Run away to Los Angeles. Sublet a studio in Venice three blocks from the beach. Listen to top 40 radio. Go to Chateau Marmont and charge drinks you can’t afford to a long-dormant credit card. Sleep with a television actor who lives in the valley. Sleep with a musician who lives in Bel Air. Break things off with both of them when gas prices begin to rise. Find Gilda Radner’s star on the Walk Of Fame and swallow a sob when you see the filthy cement around her name is cracked. Walk through the Venice Canals until the sun sets and you forget your own name. Call your mother crying from the parking lot of a 24-hour Ralph’s supermarket. Tell her you want to come home.

4. Run away to Paris. Gaze at the pink and pistachio glow of macarons in the window on Boulevard Saint-Germain. Listen to Joni Mitchell. Meet an Argentinean man in the Latin Quarter for drinks. Melt into his accent and kiss him goodnight, but return to your apartment alone because his face doesn’t look enough like the man’s you are trying to forget. Get lost in the Richelieu Wing of the Louvre, admiring Napoleon’s fine red damask. Walk alone along the Seine in an old dress, ten-dollar shoes, and an Hermes scarf. Fumble with the locks on the fence overlooking the river. They all have lovers’ names etched into them and the girl who left the red heart-shaped lock has the same name as you.

5. Run away to Martha’s Vineyard. Write heartbroken stories during the day in front of a large fan that blows curls of humid hair across your tired face. Take a waitress job at The Black Dog at night and try hard not to drop too many trays. Learn to ride a moped. Pretend you’re a Kennedy. Listen to Carly Simon. Eat hand-churned ice cream out of waffle cones. Visit the flying horses and consider how many girls just like you have sat on the same horse clutching for the same brass ring. Get stoned and dance barefoot down the length of the eroded Jaws beach. Date a Red Sox fan. Yell at each other during baseball games, and then kiss and make up between tangled sheets.

Inspiration to live life however I see fit.