How cute are these ladies in oh-so-Coachella gear? We did some floral wreaths for their VIP section. Hotttttt.
2 Comments
One Year Ago
I was heading to Costa Rica, to escape the world and travel alone. It seemed like the last chance I'd get before things kicked up a notch- like I knew somehow what a busy year I had ahead. I was wanting an epiphany, the kind you read about. I had wanted to travel alone, just once, to prove that I could do it. And I did. My time there, traveling to two cities alone were exhilarating, full of adventure and at times lonely. I missed Alex. I felt like the end of Into The Wild. I had swallowed a raw turtle egg, went ziplining miles above the ground, and met a handful of interesting characters. I discovered a passion and talent for travel-writing. I learned that true love means finding a friend. Would you actually be good friends with your ex's? Probably not. I'd hang with Alex even if we weren't together, like that. I came back yearning to be back there. I wasn't ready for LA. I wasn't up to the challenge. And we say that time flies, which it does, but when reflecting on the past year since I boarded that plane to the Cloud Forest, I can honestly say that although it flew, it's been a momentous time. From then til now- I hired two interns at the end of June, Syretta and Kristine, who worked with me on weddings throughout the Fall. Syretta is now a freelancer for me and Kristine is a business partner at Flour LA. Sales doubled at Flour LA from 2010 to 2011. Alex and I moved to the Marina from his studio apartment. I think we both secretly miss living in a studio together, but for me, it's probably more nostalgic. We traveled well together in Costa Rica. Traveling together, alone, is a test for love. I finally got a literary agent for my book The Flower Chef in November. That spiraled a string of actions, and momentum for my personal brand. I began writing for the Huffington Post, after emailing Arianna and being persistent with their editors. I contributed to styled shoots for weddings. Last Spring, I had Alex film me a floral segment of me. Now I've been on CBS, Yahoo, and AOL. Although I still am working on more film clips. I wrote Dine and Design on the Fly, which I'll be selling through self-publishing this Spring. I got to be in my first gallery show at Royal-T. I had originally contacted them when I returned from Costa Rica in June 2011 . 11 months later I got to do it . I started doing free floral classes at Whole Foods when I returned in June 2011. Now I teach paid ones at Surfas. With fellow vendors, I got to do florals for a shoot that will be published this Summer. TBD: Opening my first Flour LA pop-up shop And so what will next year bring? We don't know what lies ahead, but we have faith in ourselves and our abilities to do what we do. When you believe in yourself, and have laser-tight focus on what you want to accomplish, you can and will. Once you really get into the wedding industry, it becomes small. Like every industry, once you start getting closer to the top, the narrower it becomes, the same people you see.
If you're a wedding aficionado (I'm not), than you probably browse daily on the same wedding blogs and see the SAME VENDORS over and over again. Those wedding blogs dictate what's in, just like in every other industry. It's always best to be the one creating the trends, right? I'll proudly admit that's why I wrote the 2012 wedding trends article for Huffington Post. But it gets annoying. Especially when people really give a shit about keeping up with the Jonses. Nothing irritates me more than other vendors that get so caught up in keeping up with the latest. It's about CREATING YOUR OWN work. That's why this past weekend at Joshua Tree was so refreshing- it was so glamorous, hyper glam, highly stylized - the antithesis of what one normally sees when they think of the word wedding. I hear so many other vendors bitch about wanting to start the new trends or worried that so and so's blog won't like their shoot, well ya know what? Who cares! I say, do work that you are proud of, create things that you love and mostly BE ORIGINAL. As Judy Garland said, Never be a second-rate version of someone else. Love that. And that's why I'd rather be an art snob than a wedding one. I'm proudly venturing into the world of art. I'd like someone to look at my floral donut and pizza that will be at this gallery opening next week, and pause, with their finger pressed upon their pursed lip, and say, I really know what she's going for with this piece... Come join me next week when I officially become an art snob!! Ah, I'm going to bask in all of the pretentious glory that I so love. How is it the NINETEENTH??? My last post was two weeks ago - Are you kidding me?!?! Jesus on a cracker, time flies.
And now I'm sick. But there's no time to be sick because we have three events this weekend, which means that I have about 5 more hours left of uh, working (and by working I mean putting on Interview With The Vampire) in bed. These two weeks have been a whirlwind. Kristine and I got back from Joshua Tree last week, and then I went straight back up to the desert for Coachella. While I may have missed the headliners, I did catch The Shins, Bon Iver, some DJ's who's names I can't remember, nor knew before, Florence and the Machine and the beginning of Snoop/Dr. Dre. You'll notice the snazzy new YouTube button. While I was at Coachella, Kristine manned the My Little Pony Event. Roses in mug. Flowers in booze. Flowers + Donuts = One Person's Wish
+ Coffee & Wine = My Dream Come True. I'm working with an all-star team: Kristin of Kristin Banta Events, Tara of Makeup Therapy, and Laura of Beautiful Day Photography, on an out-of-the-box, David Chapelle-esque, post-apocalyptic, slightly white-trash, Mad-Men style photo shoot for the latest wedding glossy Modele magazine. Laura initially concepted and organized the whole she-bang, and Tara brought me on. Everyone was thrilled that Kristin joined because she's such an art director and is able to really narrate a shoot with an actual story. She never does anything for the sake of it.
We are heading out to the desert to a dope-ass trailer park hotel that is too-for-school and apparently can't be found online. We're also having the entire shoot filmed, which is going to be so bad-ass and fun for everyone to watch. We pack up and ride out next Thursday, right as the is coming up. I'm sure the desert sky will be ablaze in the afternoon, with the sun beating down our dripping backs. I'm sure we'll also have a lot of Corona on hand;) Kristine and I are sharing an airstream to bunk in that night. I will most likely be staying out there for Coachella (!!!), and she will be manning the My Little Pony event we're doing with Your Bash! that weekend. Tons of fun stuff! Don't even GET me started on Royal-T, or else I may explode of clouds of happiness. More on that later! There's SO much going on that I can't even keep up documenting everything:) All good! |
Click Here for Website Design ServicesCategories
All
The Flower ChefNewsHow Did She Do ThatEditorial
Archives
July 2014
|