Playtime! (kids trade show in NYC)

Each year there are two important kids trade shows, called Playtime NYC, we never miss them (Fall/Winter in March and Spring/Summer in July)! But each year the trade show that goes on in the Spring (now) for the coming Fall season happens at the same time as the Art shows in NYC - it seems to be planned that way because for the last four years we have had to navigate this with our family. My husband does the Art shows while I do the kids trade show - so we hit NYC with a vengeance, this time our son went skiing with some friends (first time away from us for more than a sleepover... yikes that was tough - HE did great, it was us that missed him like crazy!).

lobby at guild hall on Gold Alley in lower manhattan

This Playtime show turned into a Girls Weekend, with my daughter and I - we got a fancy hotel room at Guild Hall (just down the street from our trade show), had fancy breakfasts (Balthazar and Lobby of hotel), fancy dinners (Guild Hall and Quality Meats) - outside of that we worked our butts off... fashion shows, showroom appointments, and Playtime (that takes most of a day in itself!). I have to tell you if next Fall looks amazing in the store it's all because of Franny! (she WAS a bit of a hit at the show... everyone already knows her from the website so it was a bit like hanging out with Madonna! but without the attitude).

some of the biggest rooms I have stayed in - considering it's NYC

Guild Hall is a great place to stay if you are going to visit Manhattan, It's located downtown, near Wall Street. We like to spend our time in NYC and Brooklyn so this hotel puts us in a good place. If you are staying on the weekend the Wall Street area is deserted so it's a very convenient place to stay, easy walking to the Brooklyn Bridge and if you drive there is even off street parking readily available. The rooms are large, by NYC standards and perfectly gorgeous, with very sweet staff.

my favorite sculpture in Manhattan - this Dubuffet

buying Lucky Fish!

Makie gave her this hat and she never took it off... Alayne gave her some Indian bracelets, so you could hear her coming a mile away *cha-ching* and she took to making movies and interviews with all the designers it was pretty fun, but we did manage to get a lot of work in at the same time.

vintage fur from a consignment shop in RI!

We were lucky, the weather was mild, sunny but cold - so we could look chic in our trying-to-look-like-Spring-but-its-not clothing... you know at this time of year when you would rather BURN your winter coat than put it on one more time. I was lucky enough to step into one of our fantastic Wakefield, RI consignment shops before we left and pick up this amazing fur coat -- I wish I could say it was fake but it's not, since it's from the 1950's I feel like I'm just recycling. Anyway, look chic - DO chic... I always say! Otherwise, it's all about comfortable shoes, because at these shows you never sit down - I choose sneakers every time!

the Lucky Fish booth (we made it a mess!)

This may just sound like a bunch of fun but really it was a lot of work, we never stopped, not even for lunch - work work work! Now you will have to wait and see what we selected for Nonchalantmom next Fall season. We finished the show at 5pm and ran off to see the Art show in the last minute - fantastic! It's so inspiring to see what's going on at these Art shows, I always find a way for it to inspire my day to day life. By then we were STARVING and I remembered going to Quality Meats in the same neighborhood (58th and 7th) so we pulled up out front, there was a parking, and ran in for a gorgeous meal and then off for the three hour drive home! It's tiring just reading this... imagine DOING it! But with my trusty adviser (Franny) by my side we got it all done.

Aureus booth at Scope NYC

In the meantime... come see all our new arrivals for SPRING!

NEW :: two caftans just arrived in time for v a c a t i o n h u n t i n g!

Have you got your vacation all set... well if you do, you will want one of these gorgeous two caftans! I just had a visit with Monica where we came up with this nice selection ( MORE on the website!)... it's hard to choose, it's like choosing from all the best possible, gorgeous, sari's in the world!

this is a new shape for monica, shorter and more box, with a gorgeous drape

her tunic shirt with button at the neck

my favorite piece (black/tan) simple and easy

her new khadi shirt.... my shirt for the season! (every day - all day)

you will find MORE on the website... shop here!

2014 and the year forward....

hard at work... at playtime nyc

 While the new Spring collections start to arrive into the shop, Franny and I took to NYC for a girls working weekend and stopped by the Playtime (more on that later), took in some fashion shows and visited our favorite collections to shop for Fall 2014 (yes, F A L L!). It's not so easy to take in the Fall collections when all you want to do is throw out your winter clothes and BURN them! But that's the fashion cycle, and if I don't get my orders in PRONTO we won't have the beautiful stock that we have at Nonchalantmom. This coming Fall season I went overtime and took in ALL the shows possible; mens, womens, kids, home... just to find the right mix for the store. And that I did, I found a handful of new 'makers' that I am very excited about - and of course I would never part with those I love... Makié, Lucky Fish, Layla.. just to name a few. I did find, after scouring the markets from here to California that what we started 10 years ago is still my standard. I like Nonchalant Mom to be a family and by that I mean if a supplier doesn't feel like part of our world, I don't care how cool they are they just don't belong here. We are all part of making one beautiful world - working together in life and commerce. My dad used to tell me that it's important that you look at who you are buying from, support people who you believe in because it means a lot to their livelihood.

I know that first hand now because last year was a very difficult year, not just for me but I know many people that went out of business because it was so tough. But at the same time a new frontier of shops opened their doors, and I must say I like this landscape a lot better; Beautiful Dreamers, Chay, Primary Essentials to name a few. Shops that have a meaning and a presence behind them, as Nonchalantmom does, I believe we are the new landscape of retail. We are about supporting makers and products that stand for creativity and clean living - in the future I will be sticking closer to that with my store, let's just say I got a bit lazy... I want my store to mean something and stand for something and that has never been easier that NOW, with makers at the forefront of manufacturing in USA it's so much easier and more fun to find people to supply handmade things for the store. So here we go... 2014... it's going to be a GREAT year!

Come shop with us!

There are a bunch of projects on the horizon, as soon as they take a more tangible shape you will be the first to know about it, E X C I T I N G is all I can say for now... VERY exciting!

NEW :: Makié for Spring just arrived!

 Shop the collection HERE

see the whole collection on Nonchalantmom HERE

favorite :: Frazier & Wing

These Frazier & Wing mobiles have been one of my favorites for a long time, her pieces are an amazing way to bring color to a room or make a statement color sink-in with a shower of tones in a room. You can see in these photos how you can get instant inspiration for a room. Heather Frazier creates these delightful mobiles herself in her studio in Portland, Oregon. She has been quite the busy clipper... but she is making some changes and if you are interested in her mobiles now is the time to act, it's not that she will stop but from now on they will be part of a DIY kit - so all you lazy folks out there get your orders IN. shop here

These make a beautiful showpiece for a nursery or kids room and can set the tone for a color combination. Don't miss Heathers new one-of-a-kind branch mobiles are made with beads, semi-precious stones, found branches, pom poms, feathers and paper, these look so nice in a window or on a wall...

I love them all - they make a perfect baby shower gift or keep them for yourself!

Visit her website and find some hand made goodness!

shop Frazier & Wing here

Horses Atelier

Once again, I don't remember the trail that got me here but I think it started with Pennyweight an amazing blog and I follow her on Instagram (she has 30k+ followers!) - I wish my life was a beautiful as hers seems to be! Anyway....

She turned me onto Horses Atelier and I want just about the entire collection for Spring (not to mention I WISH I had it in my store... I'll work on this for Fall...) but you can shop directly from them, located in Canada, they create, produce and retail their collection of gorgeous and sexy clothing. My favorite shots of the collection are the ones that they are wearing themselves!

I love the style of these two ladies - Claudia Dey and Heidi Sopinka. I feel like 'horses' was somehow the perfect name, a bit mysterious, simple and gorgeous and all the while very sexy... right!

I had trouble finding who took these photos (I would love to reference sorry!)

Visit their website and SHOP here!

see more of these GREAT photos plus an interview here at bootsandpine.com

How can I work... When I'm reading this!? - The Goldfinch

I have to apologize for being absent in blogging but I've been reading The Goldfinch and I just can't stop! It's the best book in a long time and that can't-put-down kind of reading that I love!

So if you have already - it's not too late! (I'm almost done so I'll be blogging again soon!!)

Okay, so now - weeks later - countless very late nights and I have finished. What an exquisite wordsmith is Donna Tartt (but that's what I remember about her from The Secret), pages upon pages a whirlwinds of words, I felt taken away. I also wanted to reach in at moments and take Theo out and shake him, then slap him then scream in his face to STOP IT! But she let him go on... and on and on with his self-destruction. I loved it - but it certainly was a crazy ride!

Thank you Donna Tartt - please don't let us wait so long next time...

Nico Nico :: Spring just arrived!!

Even though spring has not really arrived as far as the weather, we are starting to receive Spring collections in the shop!! Nico Nico just arrived and it's OH so CUTE!

shop nico nico here!

great unisex (organic) t-shirts

sweetest summer dress! in lot's of colors!

SHOP NICO NICO HERE

favorite shop :: ANZU

this was the Anzu table at the event

There is nothing I like better than a refreshing new online shop :: ANZU, I met these guys at the Remodelista sale that we did together in December (that event was FULL of delightful meetings and new friends!) when the show was finally done and we ran around to shop for ourselves I rushed over the the Anzu table and unloaded a bundle on gifts and delightful items for our home. They are now my cherished favorites so I want to pass these guys on to you so that you may enjoy a bit of lovely Japanese craftsmanship yourself!

Anzu is a small online based retailer located in Brooklyn, it is curated by Asako Ueno - who does a fantastic job of pulling Japanese and made in USA items for a perfectly interesting and unique selection. I know that the things I found from them I have never seen anywhere else!

here are some of my favorites but check their shop to find YOURS!

this is a sweet bamboo vase for a single flower or small bouquet that hangs on a small hook on the wall

perfect japanese towels

made in San Francisco by Kathryn Davey :: super TED

say "thank you" gorgeously!

my favorite little wallet EVER!! (franny's too!)

shop ANZU here

Midtown (Manhattan) :: the place to go...

I don't know when it happened, but while I was in NYC for the Remodelista Market we were involved in during December I took a look around each night when we were done and I was pleasantly surprised! This is when it all started for ME anyway, but this has been coming for a while now. The introduction of the Viceroy Hotel on 57th may have been the start? Then others started renovating to catch up, then restaurants, with down town clout and eateries packed, decided to open outposts uptown. It's just what Manhattan needed... just as downtown became overcome and over crowded with uptown people - why not service them in their own 'village'.

The Viceroy NYC

This neighborhood is not so boring anymore... and getting better each day! In December as I stepped out onto Fifth Avenue, each day there was an excitement in the air and I no longer felt as though it was stuffy and I somehow didn't belong. We had dinner at Quality Meats one night and then another night (we got out LATE and had dinner at 10pm) at The Plaza downstairs at an eatery that is crazy and offers just about any type food you would like... it's the Todd English Food Hall, fantastic! You can have sushi while your partner has pasta! Well prepared and so fun! (great idea for kids because they can have whatever they want!)

The East Pole - on E 65th Street

If you stay at the Viceroy, there is a beautiful view at the rooftop bar! (a reason in itself to go) and then my favorite downtown eatery, Fat Radish now has an uptown spot called The East Pole with the same clean delicious menu is a perfect spot for dinner or brunch on Saturday or Sunday.

Then there is the new Dover Street Market (opened in December), which is not really decidedly "uptown" but in Murry Hill - still it's NOT downtown! (On Lexington and 30th Street) This shop - completely new multi-retailer space owned and curated by Rei Kawakubo and her Comme des Garçons group is the NEW excitement in shopping. Just as she did when she opened her store here in the meatpacking in the early 90's she has laid out the future of shopping. Let's all visit and take note! I am mostly excited for the Rose Bakery and possibly Feit shoes (from Australia) - I hope they have womens shoes too!

As we get into things more we will report more... for now, this seems good to try things out and not to run away from uptown anymore...

Valentines Day cards

I'm sorry this is a bit late.. but we just finished our Valentine Day cards last night... LATE last night, so maybe you can use this idea for next year!(?) These were really fun to make and we all got in on the action. Even Sander wanted to help, this was his first year NOT making cards for the class - such a sad time, when that finally comes to an end...

I will add that the Spin Art kit is my favorite birthday gift to give to kids (well, that AND a Lucky Fish T-shirt - always a hit!) So most of the kids around our parts already have one, but if you don't it's fun, easy to clean, and gives your kids hours of creative fun (with hardly any intervention from you!).

here's what you need:
Spin Art kit
neon paint (we use Temera Pro Art paint - it's easy clean up!)
card stock
colored pencils
sewing machine (neon thread!)

Start by making the spin art so that you have time to let them dry. We ran out of the paper so we just cut card-stock to fit the Spin Art wheel. Franny has 22 kids in her class so we made some extra just in case.

Then we cut out hearts, kids were fighting to cut out the hearts... go figure... and Franny wrote each of the kids names on the hearts and then we colored them with colored pencils (we happened to have neon colored pencils) - we didn't have much time so if you have more time this is where your kids can have some fun.

Then we couldn't really decide how to attach them so we decided it would be fun to sew them on! (I just happened to already have the sewing machine out so...) They ended up looking super cute and Franny got to try sewing a bit (it's super easy to sew on paper because it's so flat so very easy for kids), but I'm not going to pretend that she was up for sewing them all, but it was a family project in the end and we had a good time making them (low-stress, nothing was perfect!)

The result... so FUN and easy and really unique!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!