Missing in Action

A whirl wind of weeks have blown by. New projects and just plain upkeep of the shop and life.

I've been working on the addition of shopping pages to our web site http://www.hihohome.com/ and I just finished my first HiHo How To Video, http://www.youtube.com/user/HiHoHome?feature=mhum both challenging and rewarding. I hope you take a peek at both.

Mr. HiHo was a wonderful producer, director and camera man, I was a bumbling host. Every segment you see I did at least four times. What you see took two and a half hours in the shop and two hours at home editing. Now to figure out how to promote the HiHo YouTube Chanel? There is always work to be done ;))

We also did an installation of a Tuscany themed photo booth at a charity event....busy, busy.

I hope the elves are preparing the shop for Christmas, because I'm behind ;)!!!

It's September?

Really school starts tomorrow, the Summer is over? I guess it shouldn't be a surprise to me, I've been moving around fall merchandise for weeks. I'm done writing orders for Christmas and we did have the opportunity to turn off the air conditioning yesterday.

Signs of the impending Fall season are everywhere, none as clear as my big yellow folder marked 'Tent Event". I've mentioned my list making before, a folder just means I have so many lists for this annual event they need to be filed.

Gearing up for the Tent Event pushes my organizational abilities to the limits. We need a lot more vintage inventory, vendors, music, drawings{I always need drawings}, tents, staff, signage, ads....well you get the picture. I'm all over the place...

We have stepped up our buying pace, frequenting auctions and using Tuesdays for road trips and picking. We are optimistic about the fourth quarter and you can't sell things unless you have things to sell, right?

Choosing vendors to spend the weekend with us, is like wanting to have a party for 24 and you only have room for 8. Who to invite? Who is available? Who has local products that complement HiHo? Who would be part of the right mix? Who should be seated next to who?

I'm happy to report, we have the loveliest eclectic group of people coming to set up their wares at the event this year. A few who join us every year and some first timers, but all are ready to put their best foot forward and shine this weekend.

Like always live music will be performed by my dear friends, Don Sparks and Mike Rice, they are so talented. I'm grateful they agreed to host the music tent both days. Musical friends from around the Hudson Valley will be joining them. Sooo, cool!

My small random sketches of possible displays under the tent are filling up my notebook fast. Seems every time I draw a vignette around a piece of furniture, I sell it and have to come up with another plan. I good problem, but it does have me wanting to hoard furniture in the office until the weekend. This is not my office but it is close ;)

The tents have been ordered for weeks. Thank goodness for a great local tent company.

Did I say staff before? Yes, my children are wonderful shop slaves ;)) bless them, and I do love the ladies that work for me. However I hired a personal assistant this past week that will start this week.....HOORAY...{I'm jumping up and down} just two days a week but I'm so excited. I will introduce her on the blog soon. Maybe she can help me at the house too ;)

Signage, still need to take care of this....maybe my assistant can help with this, hehehe.

The ads are done and gee it feels good to know they are.

To add a little more adventure to the week, the front of the building is getting a fresh coat of paint by Friday.

All and all, it does feel like September is here. I'm hoping the planning for the next thing coming up the pike doesn't have me missing out on living in the moment. I guess not, because I have great memories of this Summer. Although school starting tomorrow for the kids did sneak up on me. Hope you join us at, HiHo's Sixth Annual tent Event this Saturday and Sunday.

NYIGF

One of the great parts of going to the New York International Gift Fair is seeing all the items you would never own and the items you wish the shop had room for. Grand scale furniture, surprising fabrics and displays to die for. All these shots were taken at the Home Pier 94. It is against the rules to take photos on the showroom floors so good thing I found a camera loaded with pictures. Someone must have lost it after they took these pictures.............and I can't believe it showed up in my purse after I arrived home ;)) enjoy the inspiration.

A Wedding Gift?

It was BEAUTIFUL day in the Hudson Valley today, Chelsea's wedding day. HiHo is only a 35 minute drive from all of her festivities. Made me think....I wonder what the Bride & Groom would be receiving as gifts?

I Googled, "top 10 wedding gifts" and was completely uninspired. Some big box store lists came up and boring mentions like framing the invite, really? Now a days it is so expensive to have a wedding, if you are invited to one you are a close friend or family member, right? You should know what the taste of the new couple is. What their hobbies and preferred pass times are, basically what makes them tick.

Some say you should be sure to give a gift that at the very least covers the cost of your dinner....eeek, glad I wasn't invited.

Some of my favorite HiHo selected gifts that I have given in the past....a vintage Pyrex mixing bowl set, a set of vintage etched wine glasses, his and hers matching knit throws and even a vintage wine rack.

Not that I am an expert in this area but I tend to believe giving something that in the years to come they will remember as a gift from you, is the way to go.

What would you give the happy couple?

Grandpa's House

My Dad's home has a strong sense of style and I had never viewed it that way before. He is an artist and continues to work in his studio on canvases in oil {even in his 80's}. Landscapes mostly.

This past week Mr. HiHo and I took the kids and our daughter's boyfriend to visit...their grandparents. Their house in the city of Buffalo and the cottage in Canada. I took lots of vacation pictures of all of us having summer time fun and many are wonderful flattering shots of family...these are NOT those shots, sorry guys. These photos are the best shots of just a few of the paintings hanging in both homes. They have people in the photos to show the scale of the works and how they relate to the living space.This is Cory seated at the cottage with one of a series of light house paintings done about four years ago. Grandma was serving up a picnic dinner featuring the largest bowl of macaroni salad ever made, with a panting done of the cottage gardens most recently. Mr. HiHo enjoys his morning cup of coffee in front of a hay field painted in the 1960's.Everett lounging under a mixed media piece named the Delicatessen Window.This is one of my favorites and has always hung in my parents homes. Humphrey seems to like it too. I have always said surround yourself with the things you love and your house will become a home. As a child and young adult my parents homes always seemed unfinished, in need of decorating, I was wrong. Dad's art defines the spaces and makes it home. Break the rules and be passionate!

Changing It Up

The Summer is slipping away and it shows in the amount of merchandise that has left the building. Summer color palettes are fading away and neutrals are staring to take over. Often changes in the shop layout are planned moves , however sometimes auction purchases dictate we move things before I even come up with a plan. I can't sell something if I don't get it off the truck. This is a dining set I purchased without space to display it in. Then I decided the best place was the front room where the hose display with pale chairs and the green table were featured was/is the best place to show off this large set.The table and chairs spent a few days just inside the door while I plotted a plan. The plan began with emptying the spot, which always means moving thirty items before the new display can begin. Here you see the loan library even had to be moved to make room. That's me on the ladder again.

All in all, a successful move, nothing broken, everything found a new home and it still looks a little bit like Summer.

Face Book or Crack Book

I'm asked all the time about my schedule, it's always been the number one question asked of me by customers and friends alike. However recently another question has moved into the top slot. "How do you know how to use face book for your business?" and that's followed by "How much time do you spend on face book?"

I didn't know how to use it and I spent way too much time learning about it....meaning exploring late into the night on the computer; reading, posting, deleting, and asking questions. My fascination with it, {my husband would say my obsession with it } comes from the fact that I believe we have not scratched the surface of it's potential for small businesses. I think it's so very exciting that HiHo is able to be part of a conversation anytime and anywhere. Like creating a great visual display in the shop and sharing it with hundreds of people, sharing happenings, meeting new friends and visiting new places. OK, I admit it, I'm obsessed.

I writing this blog post on the eve before the first World Wide Social Media Day, yup a new excuse to gather with others and talk about my latest obsession. SweetPea&Co is hosting a local celebration at the Gunk Haus. New ideas, more people to cross promote with and the exploring continues. Did I answer the question??? hmmm, I'm still learning, I'm self taught and way to much time ;)