For my latest work, travels, and shenanigans follow:
-Instagram is updated nearly daily! Instagram @flourgal @theflowerchef (book) Twitter @theflowerchef Facebook Flour LA
0 Comments
I've had the pleasure of enjoying the LA life and sun these past couple of weeks. Even though I've been working nonstop with some breaks in between, it doesn't matter. It still feels like a vacay of sorts! Spending time with my girlfriends has been invigorating. You can sort of keep track of my whereabouts on Instagram. Been feeling very much like Catch Me If You Can;)
In LA, I taught another sold out group floral design class, thanks to the love from Daily Candy. They've been very supportive of my classes, and even one line on their website has a huge outreach! We worked on the flowers for the PSA for IFAW where celebrities like Joely Fisher, Kata Mara, and Slash came to speak out on behalf of endangered wildlife. My friends over at True Heart put on the event, and we're working together again in March for the Wounded Warrior Oscar Event. SO FUN. I am heading back to NYC next week to work on Super Bowl events and have partnered with GAP and Flavorpill for what will be our first bicoastal event on the same day. April is coming with me to NYC for the Super Bowl and then flying back to LA. I will stay out there for a couple weeks. It is going to be a lot of fun, and 200-300 people on each coast will participate in the event. We're making floral head crowns, a terrarium bar, and filling the stores with tons of spring flowers, branches, and grass. It is gonna be out of this world cool. Just tying up some loose ends. This month is flying by. I'm currently developing two shows with a wonderful production and management company so you may see this face on your tv in the coming months! Just a quick shoutout to our new Social Media Assistant/Intern Nicki from Emerson College in Boston, and my go-to Design Intern Jennifer from FIDM in LA. Love and appreciate you gals. I'm sitting here in Carroll Gardens (by far one of my fav place I've lived here in NYC, but Williamsburg is a close toss up), going through what will be the last 20 recipes to go in The Flower Chef, looking over images, weeding them out, and seeing which will make the cut. I'm on my second cup of coffee, and my Italian flatmate is working on her computer in the next room, getting ready for her photography show. I'm saving 10 spots for innovations from now until the manuscript is due. In fact, we have a "Beach Gothic" Photoshoot coming up next month in Malibu, and by accident I discovered a new trick during one of our events a couple weeks ago! I know the event designer Stacey is apprehensive about the bouquet I'm making for it, noting that the test experiments looked "interesting", but in my mind I know how it will look and am really excited about it. This is why I get paid the big bucks;) Kidding!
I know I have mentioned this a million times before but I just cannot get over what a year it's been. Those close to me know the journey, and WOW! When I think back to New Year's 2013, geez, I could've never imagined closing the year in such a wonderful way. I have one of my dear friends in from Hong Kong, and my good friend Tara from MakeUp Therapy is coming in on NYE. We're hitting up the city for a fun night out! Dance, dance, dance! I've been working around the clock on the book (in between more projects than I care to list), and it's kind of like the process of selling it. The amount of work seems daunting, overwhelming, but you keep chipping away, and then one day you look at the progress you've made, and say to yourself, Well it wasn't as hard as I thought, and I'm so close to the finish line, I can't believe it! I'm very proud of the content. I taught my last two group classes at Brooklyn Brainery yesterday (both sold out!), and when people ask for more details on what I've taught or something else, I cannot wait until I can say, Here read this book! The biggest challenge has been keeping the recipes, tone, and focus of the book on what it is meant to do, which is teach the average person floral design using grocery store flowers that they can make in their kitchen, using my tricks-of-the-trade. I've veered slightly towards more challenging designs, and then think, would people actually make this? There's a few in there that may be a bit more unrealistic, but since this book is for people that want to be florists too, I think it's important to know the skills behind those designs, for future use. I recently gave a talk to a NFTE school in Chelsea, where the kids comes in from all over, mainly the Bronx. If you look at the pic on my Instagram, I kind of resemble Michelle Pfiefer in Dangerous Minds. They were so great, and full of compliments (Damn! You look goooood for thirty! OOooooh I love your eyebrows!!!! Cute shirt Carly!!!!:) It was really special to talk with the 9th graders about businesses, their dreams, and hear what makes them tick (mainly being my friend on Instagram in turns out). It was really a joy to get to talk to them, and something I will continue to do for the rest of my life. I've realized that what inspires me and keeps me going is inspiring others to keep on going. I think we can be surrounded with skepticism, cynicism, and not shoot high enough. There's a brilliant article I read about how much pain you're willing to go through in order to achieve the equal amount of happiness. For instance, the struggle in business may be high, be the rewards are equally high once you attain a certain level. Finding real love will require a lot of pain, pain that some would rather not go through and instead settle for something that's ultimately unfulfilling because the fear of pain or loneliness is too high, too much of a risk. Here's the article by Mark Manson, and one of the most amazing articles I've read that really explains how we're built and makes sense of the madness that us entrepreneurs, creators, visionaries, put ourselves through! I know it resonated with my brother Matt, who struggled a lot when he first moved to NYC and a couple years later, is thriving as a freelance photographer, digital tech, and lighting assistant. It's been such a wonderful experience living close to Matt. We're going to do an early-bird dinner on New Years Eve, and we're all just such old souls, it's a lot of fun. Turkey dinner at 5pm, please! Some things in the pipeline include working with national brands on endorsements (!!!!) and commercials, selling my show Dug Up or a DIY that will air as webisodes, creating apparel for Patricia Field, and finishing a screenplay that I do on the side. Every time I write it, it feels like meeting up with an old friend, and is cathartic for me. I'm heading back to LA in Jan for a few weeks. I get to meet with a new freelance designer, and teach a few classes. Perhaps a quick trip to San Fran or Big Bear. We're also doing set flowers for an animal protection PSA that is Africa-themed, which will be a lot of fun. Me and themes! I'm just so excited to spend time with friends. After living in LA 10 years, that's definitely my home and place of contentment. NYC will always be the best place for creativity and art, which will be great to come back to in late Jan (despite the burrrrr cold!). So another bicoastal year ahead, and I'm just so excited for 2014. The year of 30 has been so amazing, these past few months have filled my soul, and I know this decade ahead will be even more FUN than the last. The youth has not been wasted on the young in my case! So that's that. A bit of creative writing, a bit of train of thought, a bit of reflection. I'm going to get ready now to pop over to the Brooklyn Museum for the much talked about and inspiring Gautier exhibit. Although I'm not particularly stylish (though I do LOVE having someone dress me!!!), I'm most inspired by high-style fashion. I'm sure as soon as I return I'll finish the flower jacket. And with that, I say, enjoy the rest of 2013. Do something for yourself that makes you happy:) I'm thankful for you, and if you're reading this, for your dedication to my superfluous rambling:) Ciao bella! We had the pleasure of creating the Notes Display for Lucky Brand this week, held at their showroom in Midtown. It's always fun to do this, and I love the PR firm that we work with on all of these great beauty events. They are always such a pleasure! I always find it amusing that my clients are for the most part, all fashion brands because I'm really not one to care that much about fashion and style. I love looking good, don't get me wrong; I just don't have time for it, or the eye. If I could, I'd have someone style me all the time! I do however LOVE doing fashion events because I have to keep in mind the brand, and tailor what we do to keep in line with their message, which makes for a really fun and creative outlet.
Here's a cute pic of my most favorite freelancers that I'm so lucky to have in NYC! From left: Julia, Arielle, and Kaleena. Actually typing that out, I love their names too:) They are all more talented than me, and I learn so much from them each time we work on an event. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm having such a good time switching more into the Creative Director/Art Director role rather than the designer. I like to let them do what they do best! We have a busy couple weeks, and somehow in between, I gotta write that book! :)
Just a quick note of thanks, to you, for you reading this and for your support. My heart is filled with so much gratitude. I'm so blessed and grateful for this past year, for all the amazingly wonderful people who I have gotten to know, for all the opportunities I've had, and to be surrounded my such wonderful, loving, supportive friends. It's truly been a wondrous time, and I count my blessings daily. I've been very lucky and feel fortunate to be working on events that really inspire me, for the chance to partake in extracurricular hobbies like acting and writing that really fill my heart and give me a lot of joy. I don't take this for granted, and really appreciate each day I've been given. I'm currently writing my first book, which is indeed taking a lot longer than I thought. It is filled with so much content, and I'm very proud of this. I can see women, having wine or tea, reading it on their couch and just enjoying learning about flowers. Whether they make the arrangements or not, I think it is still a fun read, which I hope will inspire you. It really was all worth it!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed, relaxing weekend! You deserve it:) xoxoxo My friend Adrian is a badass. Simple as that. He's the most down-to-earth guy, will go out of his way to help anyone, and has such a big heart. He also helps run Rap Genius and manages their Rock Genius channel amongst other things. I was honored when he asked me to be the Official Florist for this very innovative website. I went to their HQ in Williamsburg (the view is insane! I posted pics on my Instagram) and we quickly filmed little annotation videos. My dad who is in town was even a guest on one of them. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to going back and filming some more! http://news.rapgenius.com/Flour-la-thanksgiving-arrangement-lyrics#note-2479896
One photo sneak peak of what we did for this blogger brunch celebrating the collection between the jewelry designer and website. Julia in NYC lead this one up while I was in Cali. She did an amazing job and our clients couldn't have been happier. Those are custom bell jars/cloches with gold painted branches inside to hang the jewelry:)
Once again we had the pleasure of working on a Perry Ellis dinner, this time for the showcase of their Winter collection featuring lots of woodland theme flowers. Each guest at dinner had a flower head crown or lapel for their jacket, made of a mix of ruskus and wax flower. It was a huge hit! LA lead designer April added in dried mushrooms, which I absolutely loved. She's so talented!
Champagne and Heels even did this wonderful write-up! http://champagneandheels.com/fashion/perry-ellis-dinner-sunset-tower/#more-98194 We were hired to do the launch party for a new Starz show about an herbalist in Scotland. They asked us to use herbs, and Julia, the Lead Designer in NYC wrapped them in various tartan with twine. A perfect gift also!!! We used about 9 different varieties of herbs that were edible too! Loved this!!!!
|
Click Here for Website Design ServicesCategories
All
The Flower ChefNewsHow Did She Do ThatEditorial
Archives
July 2014
|