some serious research

"If men liked shopping, they'd call it research." ~Cynthia Nelms

And we certainly got a whole lot of research done this weekend. We hit the L.A. apparel mart on friday and saturday this past weekend and we will certainly have some lovely prizes coming in for summer and fall. There is definitely something odd about shopping for sweaters in the spring when all you can think about are skirts and flip flops, but we fell hard for some of these amazing sweaters. And it is always fun to have something to look forward to...

One of the talented designers of this line gave us her undivided attention and opinions for several hours.

We ran into the amazing buyer and jewelry designer, Jen from Healy Bea and her lovely store manager, Brittany. It is such a treat to see a familiar face or two in the mad sea of shoppers at mart.

My daughter-in-law's father was telling me the night before I left about how when he has a cigarette craving he eats an altoid and the craving passes. I jokingly said I was going to try this method as a diet and every time I feel like a snack or junk food, I would just eat an altoid. This became a joke all weekend (75 meals in one little tin) and as we were packing up to go from one of the showrooms, I said to the girls, "Remember, if anyone gets hungry, I have altoids." Without missing a beat the salesgirl said, "Oh, are you guys on the LA diet? Altoids and coffee." Needless to say, we lost it. Who knew we were actually on to something :)

Lucky for me, I am able to go away for the weekend to find new and exciting things for the store and rest assured that all is well on the store front, thanks to the amazing girls back in Phoenix that keep the Willows running. I really do have the very best employees!

We couldn't resist hitting the streets both afternoons after mart. Every few feet you walk there is some little shop tucked into a store the size of a hallway. From clothes to sunglasses to hats to purses to fabric, you can find anything fashion related lining the streets of the L.A. fashion district. We found this one little shop where the woman is literally sitting right there sewing these dresses and making these hats, so I couldn't help but buy each granddaughter an Easter hat.

(there is a fabric store just like this roughly ever 20 feet)

After two long days of shopping, we had to treat ourselves to a little girls' night out. We had amazing Cuban food at Habana and discovered a wonderful new bottle of wine that we will definitely be having again.

Somedays I feel like posting a sign like this outside the Willows. Wouldn't such a carefree existence be lovely...