The fruits of a summer weekend in Spokane

This past weekend the hubs and I drove out to the east side of Washington State (Spokane, to be exact) for a jam-packed weekend. We attended a wedding, caught up with family, stayed with friends, tried a new restaurant, laid by the pool, went to a car show, explored the casino, met a Japanese-American POW Korean War Vet named Yoshie who told us his life story at the casino, won $20 at the penny slots and saw two larger-than-life lemons rolling down the road on the way home. And the entire time I forgot to tote my camera along. Until of course we were on our way home and passed the giant lemons, one of which is pictured above. So that's the visual you're getting today because A) it's the only one I have and B) somehow seems to sum up this summer weekend perfectly: refreshing, bright and traversing the road.

Last but certainly not least, I got to meet up with Maggie of Shanty to shop and share coffee. (I popped into Just Because to say hi to my other lovely Newport clients, but they had skipped away to Vegas for market.) I came home with several new treasures that I can't wait to debut this fall. Maybe sooner if this heat wave subsides. What a sweet, sweet summer weekend.

Footnote: While we were away our dog procured a new nickname ("Moozilla") and was treated like a celebrity by Heaven of Green Chair Studios. Take a peek at what her weekend was like here.

Shanty is turning two!

In honor of Shanty's second birthday, I'm posting a set of vibrant photo tiles from my first trip to the shop in Newport, WA. Just because they're bright and fun and summery. The past two+ years working the Maggie, Shanty's spectacular owner, have been so enjoyable and rewarding. She is a dreamer and it's been such a pleasure to design many of her dreams to life. Raise a virtual glass and toast Shanty with me today! *clink, clink*

If you'd rather clink with a real glass and toast to Shanty in person, Maggie will be hosting a birthday party at the shop today from 9am to 7pm. Oh, what I would give to be able to snap my fingers and be there for the cake walk and a cocktail today. I guess some long-distance love will have to do. Love to you, Maggie!

To read more about the event, visit the Shanty blog.

Who Let The Girls Out!? Spring 2010

Ladies! Listen up. The Newport Shoppes are throwing their city-wide shopping party next weekend (Saturday, May 22). It started back in 2008 and we branded the event to look feminine, funky and fun (it is all of these things). They typically hold two events a year - one in the fall and one in the spring. (Here's my post from Fall 2009.) It's killing me that I can't go this time, so all of you who are in the Spokane/Coeur D'Alene area have to go and do all the shopping without me. To learn more, visit the Shop Newport blog.

Ladies, adorn yourselves.

When working with Maggie of Shanty on this little project, I just kept thinking of the scene from How To Loose a Guy in 10 Days when Benjamin Berry (Matthew McConaughey) has this conversation with his boss in regards to an ad campaign for a diamond company:

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Oh, it's just a little frosting.
Frosting?
Frosting. We were thinking bold, new, fresh: "Frost yourself."
Excuse me?
"Frost yourself..." - The slogan for the campaign.
You frost a cake.
I'm talking about diamonds. They're frosting. As in, "Whoa, would you check out her frosting?"
Frost yourself.
Frost yourself.
(Yelling out the window)
Women of New York!
Frost yourselves!
(A pedestrian yells back): Hey, frost this!
Well, I like it.
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Anyway, we decided to package jewelry purchased at Shanty with the word 'adorn'. Given the fictional reaction 'frost' received, we figured adorn was more appropriate. Ha. Plus, you can't tell me you don't like the thought of adorning yourself. Especially when you get a cute bag for your adornments - only at Shanty!

Sneak Peek | Shanty Retail Website

Shanty, the "home. closet. cafe." boutique in Newport, WA is ready to spread its wings and soar into retail cyberspace. I couldn't be more excited...for Maggie, my dear friend and client, and for myself. Really. Because now I can shop Shanty long-distance! And you can, too! Soon and very soon...

When I sent Maggie this first round of design direction over the holidays, I got this text in response: "I am freakin' blown away!! Chills and almost teary!!! You are fantastic!! We'll talk Monday. Loves." Favorite response to my work of all time.

Option A | Hompage

Option B | Hompage

Option C | Hompage

Which one do you think will make it into online retail reality? You'll have to wait and see! If you've been to Shanty, I'd love to hear which option seems to portray the unique Shanty experience best. We're in the middle of executing all of the other pages and then to the programmer they'll go.

The online boutique will be perched at the same url (www.shantyboutique.com) once it launches. I. Can't. Wait.

Who Let The Girls Out!? Fall 2009

Lovely little Newport, WA hosted another fabulous Who Let The Girls Out!? event this past weekend. It's the third event in the last two years. The Seven Shoppes banded together yet again to throw a fun and festive progressive 'it's-still-autumn-but-we're-getting-ready-for-the-holidays' shopping party. I parked myself at Shanty for a majority of the day and happily re-entered the world of working retail. (My very first job was at Pier 1 Imports when I was 16. I loved it.)

My girlfriend Tiffany and I drove in from Spokane early Saturday morning and helped the Shanty staff tie ribbon, restock and rearrange. Meanwhile, I popped around documenting the event preparations and, admittedly, shopping along the way.

Maggie Christie, the marvelous owner and Shanty visionary, coordinated so many oh-so-perfect details for the day. Fresh fruit with mint and lemon juice, locally-baked pumpkin fudge and pumpkin maple cookies, pomegranate-speckled mimosas, hand-made cheese balls and that's not even touching on her mad merchandising skills. Of course, the first excited shopper showed up at 9 o'clock. On the dot. Let the day-long party begin!

When I did finally pull myself away from the wine-pouring and gift-wrapping at Shanty, I found more bustling foot traffic, laughing ladies, sales and shopping bags galore*. My Sister's Cottage was a classy Christmas wonderland. Just Because was any woman's dream: skin products, jewelry, handbags, champagne and chocolate. Floral Expressions was all a flutter with birdie decor and holiday trimmings. The Kitchen Shoppe was packed with people looking for the perfect wine to serve with all the holiday meals and utensils to make the meal preparation just a little easier. Oh, and we can't forget the cooking demonstrations...Mmmm...

After making the rounds I bounded back to Shanty where the ladies were still buzzing. With no end to the energy in sight, I might add. But who could blame them!? There were so many things I wanted to snatch up and bring home with me, too. I resisted many of the urges, but did end up with the below bag by Big Buddah called Tiny Dancer. It's anything but tiny and therefore a big hit in my book. I also picked up many holiday gift items, but of course I can't feature those here or I'd spoil the surprises.

Maggie, thanks for letting Tiffany and me be an honorary employees for the day! We really were honored. And thanks to all the Seven Shoppe ladies for having StudioM work with you on all of the event marketing. Cheers to another successful shopping affair. Now, bring on the holidays!

*Sadly, there were not enough hours in the day and I didn't get a chance to pop into two of the seven shops: Rivers' Edge Treasures and Into the Garden Up to the Lake. Next time! To read more about the previous Who Let The Girls Out!? event, visit this past post. If you want to be kept in the loop about upcoming events in Newport, follow the Shop Newport blog. A few of the shops have their own blogs, too.

Just Because Website | Launched!

Thanks to Jill and Lonnie at Just Because and Matt Johnson of Imagination Graphics, the Just Because website has been successfully launched! If you'd like to know what Just Because is like and how I came to work with them, read up on this previous post.

The Just Because ladies now have a website as hip as they are. They're even tweeting! If you visit the site, be sure to take note of the upcoming events and specials. I'm planning on trekking out to Newport, WA for the Who Let The Girls Out event next month. Anybody want to carpool? I can't wait! Last time was a blast.

Shopping. Just Because.

"This boutique takes a bow before you even walk in the door! The girls at Just Because believe in inspiring women to dress with confidence and style through clothes that compliment who they are; looking good and feeling great in clothes that will take them anywhere. They will add all the details that pull it all together. Imagine the possibilities with brands such as Brighton, Tribal and French Dressing just to name a few..." From the Shop Newport Map + Guide.

I had heard of the Just Because ladies from Maggie Christie of Shanty, a neighboring boutique, and finally got to meet them when I attended the Who Let The Girls Out!? event in May. Jill and Lonnie of Just Because are great. Super energetic, super nice and super business-savvy. (Jill Linton is the Owner and Lonnie Walkup is the Operations Manager.) I've been doing design work for Shanty since 2007. Jill and Lonnie noticed and thought I might be able to help them with a website redesign.

Just Because is a two-location shop (Downtown Newport, Washington and Hayden, Idaho), but they realize that what's just as important as keeping your shops relevant and in order is having a powerful online presence. They describe their shops as energetic, progressive, fun and fresh. Their current site just wasn't cutting it for them (shown below). We're getting a 'under construction' placeholder up on the site shortly, with the full redesign to follow.

All this boutique talk makes me want to shop. So I think I will. And if my husband asks, "Why?"(which he surely will) I have the perfect response prepared: "Just because." Wish me luck!

Shop Newport | Map + Blog

Newport, Washington is a quaint little town of 2,015 on the border between Washington and Idaho that boasts more than just natural beauty. There are seven very special shops in downtown Newport that have joined together to create a superb shopping experience. These ladies are rocking the shopping world in Northeast Washington. To help promote easy and fun shopping, we recently developed this small map + store guide as a in-store handout.

Cute, right!? If you're in the area you can pick one of these little maps up at any one of the seven shops participating in the Shop Newport movement. If you're not lucky enough to be in the area, well, you're still in luck because we've started a Shop Newport blog, too. There you can find detailed information about each shop, the map guide and photos from the shops. Follow, enjoy and find your something special in Newport, Wa.

If you want to read more about Shop Newport's fabulous Who Let The Girls Out!? 2009 event earlier this year, visit the Shanty Boutique blog or my previous post.

Happy Birthday, Shanty!

Shanty is turning one! Hip-hip-horray!

And there's more to cheer about because Maggie, the lovely owner of the quaint boutique (and my client) has decided to throw a party to celebrate. Tasty treats, special deals on special drinks and a gift with purchase. July 1. All day long. (Although the garden party starts at 4pm.)

What's more: Visit www.shantyboutique.blogspot.com - Once you see the anniversary post, comment on it to have your name entered in a drawing! Happy Birthday, Shanty - Happy Day, Everyone. Maggie, you have given all of us such a great place to shop, party and play. We're celebrating you just as much as the shop on July 1!

You can read more about Shanty here and here.

Who Let The Girls Out!? 2009

Newport, Washington is a quaint little town of 2,015 on the border between Washington and Idaho just west of the Pend Oreille River. It was a river port town that started booming in the late 1800s with public docks, a ferry, a general store, a post office, a dry goods store, a hotel and several saloons.*

These days, Newport boasts some of those same things plus seven very special shops that have joined together to create a superb shopping experience (see below passport for full list of shops)...Who Let The Girls Out!? premiered in September of 2007. The second annual event was hosted this past weekend.

Since I’ve helped with the event marketing both years (and have been working closely with Shanty) but couldn’t make it last year, I decided there was no way I was going to miss out on the fun this time around. So we packed up and headed out to Newport bright and early Saturday morning with our cameras and credit cards close at hand. (Wink, wink.)

What we found was just charming. Each shop was open and bustling with ladies chatting about the latest fashion trends, cooking gadgets and gardening tips. There was coffee, champagne, cookies, cinnamon rolls, cucumber water and oh my goodness. It was all cute, cute, cute.

These ladies are redefining Newport. Cheers to all of you with entrepreneural spirits, good taste and drive to work hard at what you love. (And what we all love, too: shopping!) I’m sure the 19th century Newport business owners would be proud. I think they might just say, “Who in the world let these girls out!?”

If you squint can’t you imagine what it might have looked like in the 1800s?!

The ladies are staying busy and we’ll have more to show for it very, very soon. Stay tuned....

*Historical info from www.newportoldtownchamber.org