Friday Night

In case you missed the memo, downtown Eugene is rocking these days with all manner of people wandering the streets and a veritable panoply of food love - I like to start at one end and go down to the other counting all the new restaurants that have opened up in just the last year (and forgive me if I miss one, because there just might be one popping up that I missed) :  Dalia, Bon Mi , Larry's Cupcake, Barn Light, Soubise, First National Taphouse, Red Wagon Creamery, Party Downtown, ( are you sensing a theme yet?) & holding down the east end of downtown, the lovely Noisette.  Lots of these places are sporting flowers from the shop and a plant or two and this makes us happy.  Plus every now and then one of your new neighbors sends you a Facebook message saying she's testing out some gluten free brownies, did I want to come try some?  Why yes I did and thank you very much Tobi from Noisette.  I think I'll pick up a few of those macaroons too for my crew.  

Here's a little photo from Noisette of some cupcakes Tobi  made with blue  borage flowers and thyme leaves.  Aren't they just beautiful?  Tobi and I could do a beautiful wedding together. :)

And so it's another Friday night in downtown Eugene and we're going to be open tonight until 7  for Susan Goodwin's trunk show and we've committed to being open on First Fridays and we're thinking about being open every Friday night because we want to be one more little sparkle lighting up the evening in downtown Eugene.

Planning a Party at Passionflower

 You may remember my obsession with all things elderflower from this post where I wrote about the french liquor St Germain.

So it was pretty exciting to find this British infusion of elderflowers in, well just about my favorite packaging I've seen in a long time. Like if I were a bride I might plan my whole wedding around this bottle of bubbly water. 

 We have two sizes of the bubbly flavored water  - one for gift giving and one a perfect little single serving size great at weddings or summer parties. - And we also have  a "cordial" which is a stronger infusion calling for dilution with some lovely kind of wine or tea or fruit juice.

 And we are happily researching little elderflower cordial recipes as I write, because we thought they'd be the perfect little drink to serve up at Susan Goodwin's trunk show this coming Friday evening. 

 Elder is such a delicate, aromatic flavor - just right for contemplating the subtleties of Susan's magnificence.

Please join us for a sparkly fun time.

Friday May 31st from 3 to 7 or until 1 on Saturday June 1st.

More Pen to the Paper

Very much enjoying this book from Brooklyn based illustrator Claudia Pearson. 

I have always wanted to illustrate some of my favorite recipes - or do a drawing of what

we had for dinner and send it as a thank you note - and I'm hoping this book will help me do that.

The Joys of a Nice Long Bath

 A big ole grey

 and moody and cloudy memorial day to all....the weather has been un peu crazy around here.

Like last week Portland was one of the coldest places in the continental US.  Something about a blast of Arctic air.  Which makes it perfect time for a bath. 

.

Morning or evening, baths are divine luxury.  And I pity those of you who are shower only people.  You know not what you miss.  A few handfuls of salts or a cap of scented oil in the bath can be transformative .  And it is possible I have rarely written about the joys of the bath on the blog.  How can that be?

Also I must have candles....lots and lots of candles...even on  a holiday which somehow celebrates the coming of the summer season.  Because that's how we swing with things here in the Pacific Northwest - while it's summer in the rest of the country, we take long, hot baths.  (and love them)!

Hoping for a change in the weather soon. :)

top photo courtesy k hall designs

What I did on a Saturday in May

 

A perfectly lovely Saturday working the store yesterday.  It all started with Alison bringing me a bag of salad greens from her yard.  I love days that start out with little presents.

 Then we sent out some drop dead gorgeous flowers for graduation at U of O Law School.  My floral crew really outdid themselves and these pics don't do them justice.  They had bearded iris and moonstone peonies in them -  both flowers which have petals that are so paper thin, they're almost etheric. And both of which are only in season for a few short weeks right about now.

Then lots of people in the store when it first opened and  I sold a $400 suzani to someone who really got how fabulous it was.  That always makes me happy.  After that I spent entirely too much time fawning over my new English elderflower drinks from Belvoir farms - reading about them, trying to decide where to display them and how much to charge, taking photos etc......decided to wait until staff meeting to have a little tasting so I'll let you know about that later.

Try on clothes with artist friend, talk to really sweet Mormon couple about their wedding flowers, help a woman find a box to keep her colored pencils in when she travels, listen to cool customer tell me about visiting a bonsai grower in the Florida panhandle, check out the new Cooking with Flowers book that Lila is unpacking,  meet the mom of one of my favorite customers who tells me a super sweet story about her grandsons playing basketball - all the while fluffing and primping the store.  It's days like these I love being a retailer.

Susan Goodwin Chez Passionflower

Two weeks from today, Susan Goodwin joins us for her one of a kind, amazing Trunk Show, featuring turquoise and coral, pearls of all sizes and colors, charms, and talismans.....plus I spy a few tassles 

in the mix too. If you love small, beautiful , sometimes sparkly things, this is the show for you.

And in special sparkly celebration I think we'll be serving some lovely elderflower drinks.

One of our favorite books at the store.

 

Exceedingly happy to be waking up on a overcast rainy day (after a long dry spell here in Eugene) and dream a little about what adventures await.

And so I will leave you with a little quote from Dr Seuss:

"You're off to Great Places! 

 Today is your day! 

 Your mountain is waiting.

 So...get on your way!"

 

Sowing Seeds

 It's getting to be that time of year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things are definitely warming up - and it's a great time to be out gardening.  Who can resist this little herb garden kit ? Guaranteed to warm the heart of any gardenerer. 

A Look Back at Mother's Day

 

Mother's Day seems to me, more and more, the older I get, just a very sweet holiday..and as a florist, over the years, I've come to realize that there are biological moms, and surrogate moms, and young moms, and old moms and parents celebrating their children being moms, and husbands thanking their wives for being moms, and children loving up their own moms....there's just something joyful and inclusive about this holiday.  Or maybe it's just that the flowers this time of year are so beautiful that's got me in such a sentimental mood.

Hard to say.

Making the World a More Beautiful Place

  In honor of the Dalai Lama's visit to Eugene today - it's kind of a big deal here in our small town and I think we all feel a little blessed - everyone is a little smitten.   Beautiful collage piece (and a typographer's delight)  by our pal Kim Smith from San Francisco.

All Hail the Rose

 I have always had a thing for the scent of roses, real true rose scent....which they say was the original perfume discovered by the Egyptians when they notice oil floating above water sprinkled with rose petals...

Two of my favorite rose products from the store.

Because now is the time of the rose.  Beautiful pink stands of wild rose (mostly rosa nootka) are blooming amongst the deep green of the Oregon landscape. My advice - go out and smell the roses!

bottom photo is a drawing made by Susi (last name unkown) who is the botany instructor at LCC - she made this drawing in the botanical illustration class I took with her. I think it's amazing.

Mother's Day at Passionflower and even a little hint of Summer

 

Beautiful plantscapes abound in the store.

 

Because Mother's Day is coming....

We have tablescapes for indoors -

And some beautiful bowls that can go outside as the weather warms....

Mother's Day comes at such a perfect time of year when so much is blooming and the weather is warming and we can actually feel that summer is coming.

Summer Dining

 

Come and get them.  These ceramic colanders are just right for washing a pint of berries (and sitting outside eating breakfast on a warm May Day!) .  Happy Saturday to All!

Did You Know May is National Wildflower Month

It is just way too beautiful to not be out there drinking up a little bit of sunshine.  These are the days we love Oregon.

A little Something

 

Everybody needs one - don't you agree?  New pins from our friend P Flynn up in Portland make such a fun little add on gift or something to tuck into a note. .

Back in the Swing of Things

 Hello dear reader, was it weeks ago I promised you more blog posts?  I fear it was.  I have been a derelict blog poster as of late.  Here's why:  I've been drawing.  My inner twelve year old is going wild with her colored pencils.  For a while there all I wanted to do was draw.  Never mind the glorious weather or the need to socialize or clean the kitchen or take a bike ride.  Well I did manage to eat  and still go to the store and do a little work  in the midst of it all.  And all this drawing has taught me a thing or two - one is that practice, while it may not make perfect, really does make you better at something - really sustained, day after day practice.  And that over time, the mere accumulation of said practice becomes something larger than the sum of it's parts.  And that has all made me very happy. And all that happiness tends to spill over.

   So, it's May Day , and I'm turning over a new leaf or maybe more like bursting through some spring soil, and I'm back blogging and I've got lots to show because it's funny how inspiration in one part of my life (the drawing) spills over into another (the store) and  the the seasons they are a changing chez Passionflower and we' ve got lots of fun new merch coming in everyday. Pretty excited to show you what we've got.  But in the meantime, I'll say a Happy May Day to All - I'm off to draw.  And since it's May Day, I think I'll draw outside!  Let the summer begin!