Happy Belated Birthday Mr Brown

Last October marked the first birthday of our new company, Mr Brown. It's been quite a ride, starting with the company launch just a few months after Ryan's pre-mature birth. THAT was fun. Working 100 hour weeks with a newborn is something I wouldn't mind not repeating.

It's a fun collection. This is one of my favorite chairs (I would change the upholstery on it), but don't you LOVE that wrap-around arm?!

Looking at the pictures is a bit overwhelming with stuff (yes, stuff!) everywhere you look. Thee line has also done amazingly well. We have customers telling us all the time that it's inspiring. See, in the high(ish) side of the furniture world, there was a "look" that was taking over the industry. That look was introduced by a company called Bobo's Intriguing Objects and was soon seen just about every where you turned in a furniture tradeshow. Which, as you know, makes something not as special. That look can now be seen at Restoration Hardware.

Enter Mr Brown. And if I do say so myself, it looks marvelous!

High Point Furniture Market

To keep with my tradition of blogging about a month or so after events take place, here are some photos from our Julian Chichester showroom at the October Furniture Market in High Point. My favorite new piece of the show is below - the Jane Churchill Curved Desk in Black Vellum. LOVED this!

This was a long trip - I was there for about 10 days - a very long time to be away from Ryan! This time though, Tony came out for the weekend. I loved having him there. Between the two companies, I was often busy, but I didn't have to worry about entertaining Tony at all. In fact, I would often walk into the showroom and find him talking to a customer! Tony was also able to meet Mr. Julian himself which is always delightful.

The show ended up being a big success. We had a great response from the press and customers alike. It was a LOT of work - I often put in 15-20 hours days. Not much sleep either. It's a good thing I LOVE my job!

Halloween before Thanksgiving

Just after Halloween, I saw hundreds (or so it seemed) of Halloween photos of all my friends' kids on Facebook. It was fun seeing all the cute and clever costumes. And the kids...so adorable! I wanted to squeeze everyone of them!

And as I looked at picture after picture, I mentally made a goal (I thought facetiously) to post Ryan's Halloween pictures SOMETIME before Thanksgiving.

Well, here we are. Thanksgiving Eve.

So to reach my lofty goal....may I present Ryan: our little panda bear:

Last Halloween, I waited until a week before to go buy his costume and found out that that was entirely too late. We ended up being a banana. But he was a cute banana!

This time, I was determined to buy a costume early. I shopped online and found a great deal on a cute little panda costume back in September. September! That has to be some kind of record for me.

But when it arrived, it didn't look anything like the cute little panda I saw on-line. You can't see the eyes (which, believe me, is a very good thing), but they are scary. I thought about returning it, but knew I wouldn't find the time so I decided to make a note for Ryan to wear that said "my mom thought this was cute on the internet".

When Halloween finally came around, I abondoned the note idea. By that time I was used to the idea that my little boy would be a darling little panda with buggy eyes.

So with that, Happy Thanksgiving from our buggy-eyed, cute little panda bear!

trouble

This month is a bit of a tough one. Our big fall Furniture Market in High Point, North Carolina is fast approaching which means a few things:

1. Very little sleep.

2. Lots of travel - I'll be gone for 15 days in October. yuck.

3. Some amazing new products for both of my companies...I'll post some pictures later.

4. I'll miss my little guy....so much it hurts to think about it.

5. I probably won't be blogging too much.

What do these pictures have to do with this posting? Nothing really except to remind you of that cute Smart baby. He's pretty much walking everywhere these days. And he's into just about everything.

I pulled out his old carseat to give to my cousin Valynne and he had to climb in to have a "moment" before his parting farewell.

So, I'll try to keep you posted, but as my blog suggests, I wouldn't expect too much.

Flashback Friday

This post was supposed to be for last Friday, but obviously time got away from me...

A couple of weeks ago we were able to attend Southern Cross Humanitarian/Eagle Condor Humanitarian's annual fundraising banquet. Southern Cross is the organization I've been involved with for the past several years - although I've taken a sabbatical this past year.

Because I haven't been involved and frankly, because it's been so long since I've been to Peru (three years!), it's been out of mind.

But the Banquet, brought it all back. And it felt good. Plus, last night I had a dream about the kids.

It's all been a good reminder to me to keep my priorities straight and mostly to be grateful for what I have been blessed with and to use what I have to bless others. It also reminded me of how these precious little Peruvian children have blessed my life. And that is what I miss most of all.

we're really moving now!

da da

There's a reason why "da da" was Ryan's first word. It's because he's completely and totally fascinated with his daddy.

When Tony walks into the room, Ryan's face literally lights up.
When I'm feeding Ryan, he waves to daddy at least 5 or 6 times.
When Tony sings to Ryan, he squeals with delight.

Tony says Ryan does the same to me, but I know better. There is something special about their bond. I think it's because Tony's a single dad about once a month and they have their male bonding time without mommy around.

And knowing daddy will sneak a treat for him doesn't hurt either...