Chronicles of the shop #003.

Thought I'd post some of my favorite pieces from the shop. I find that working for CR has made my tastes evolve slightly. I still love vintage, bright colors, and unique pieces and fabrics, but I'm starting to gravitate to the European looks in our most recent catalog. Its been fun to feel like I'm building a more classic base. My favorite is the image below - a sweater dress over the top of jodhpurs leggings and thigh-high boots paired with a cable tube scarf and wool coat. Fab.





Everyone here wears tights, tights, tights! In the states I probably would've felt self conscious and like my arse was on display, but here I've somehow managed to rock it. And lately, I've been thinking and missing my mother. So many young women come into the shop, but there are also a fair amount of older, more "mature" gals who pop in and I'm always surprised at the risks they take. I feel like so much of the style here in New Zealand would suit my mom and her figure, and I wish we could spend a day shopping for her and then grab a coffee and catch up. I miss you, mama!

Advice.

I've been given so much advice since arriving in New Zealand. I've been collecting advice for the past year or so and for a long time I've dreamt of creating a small book containing these great words of wisdom so that in a pinch, I could reference said book and feel like a million dollars almost instantly. I know books like this already exist, and are probably sold at Barnes and Noble for $19.95. But I guess these are quotes that are dear to me personally vs some random smattering. So maybe I should charge everyone who reads this, and hopefully become rich AND full of wisdom. I'm totally kidding.

Enjoy:

If nothing changes, then nothing will change. -My 22-year-old store manager at CR, New Zealand.

"Be mindful. Live simply. And open your heart." -Angie Morgan.

"Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible--the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nuturing family." -Um, I can't remember.

"The things you focus on are all that you will see." -Someone awesome.

Doreen - talking about her decision to quit her job and road trip last summer. Could I receive a more dear quote? I don't think so. "I know it's easier said than done but maybe the trip isn't about figuring out your life but embracing it. When I did the road trip, people kept asking me if I was soul searching. On some level, I suppose I was ... but not so much figuring out what or who I wanted to be but, reminding myself of who I am and making peace with that. I needed to find the person I already was. So maybe NZ can be more about the moment and letting Andrea be Andrea. Make sense? Sometimes I wish we could see ourselves the way others do. And we all adore Andrea and secretly wish we had half of the magic that seems to surround Her. That magnetic quality."

"Believe the best in people." -Found on the inside of a Dove chocolate square.

"It doesn't mater what you want. It only matters how you have lived. I guess the lesson is that we should all live our lives the best way that we can, try to put good into the world with our thoughts and deeds and try to be remembered as Mr. Jim Ryan was. I'll tell you what, though...I bet it's a damn fun wake/funeral. Those Irish know how to party!" -Kesney.

I just want you to be OK - to take your time - and to know that nothing is ever "certain" in life - because change/trajedy/life happens - all while we are trying to make plans!!! -Grandma P.

En Zed lately.

So I'm officially into a routine. Or about as routine as its going to get when you're living in a house mixed with randoms and working retail. Last weekend was my weekend off and therefore I spent Saturday doing all sorts of things that rule. Tyson and I spent the morning together cooking and mixing up some cookie dough to freeze for cookies at our disposal. Then he headed out into the world of work and I had an agenda-free afternoon and evening. I decided to take a walk into town and visit the beach I see people en route to all day long from the windows of my store. Their towels tucked under their arms and plastic bags full of beer as little puckles of them walk past the shop in droves. Puckles. puckle: This is a word my mother uses to describe a small grouping of things. It is only in the last six months or so of my life that I have learned this is a made up word. There, now its out and into the world. Maybe it'll catch on.

Here is my store. Its right on the corner and as it wraps around the other side of the building, all of the windows face out to the lake and the mountains.


And here are the heaps of people enjoying the sunshine.



I sunned myself for a while. Walked around. Read my book for a few hours. Had a beer at a small cafe. And then went on an hour long run. Not a bad Saturday!

Tyson's sister and her hubby arrived on Sunday and its been great showing them around. They are off checking out Milford Sound at the moment and we are eagerly awaiting their full report. I definitely want ot make it there at some point during this experience.


Ok, off to the shop!

Chronicles of the shop #002.

The other day I was ringing an American woman at the counter. Queenstown is loaded with tourists and most of the time they are European so when she opened her mouth and an American accent came out, I couldn't help but ask, "Where are you from?"

"Oh I'm from the states?"

"Yes." I realize that..."Where are you from in the states?"

"Oh, right smack dab in the middle of the country, at the top."

"Which state?" And does she not realize I'm American?

"Minnesota."

Finally I let out a squeal that I too was from Minnesota. Well, she nearly fell over. Couldn't possibly believe she was running into another Minnesotan. The world is so small! It is. It really is.

The more we got to chatting I learned she is actually from Wilmar, MN. I decided to play the lovely game of Do You Know? and asked her if she happened to know the Boylan family as I'd gone to college with their son and he's an old friend of mine. Yes, she knew of them. A connection. At a counter in a small shop in New Zealand. Funny how things like that happen.

Chronicles of the shop #001.

Today I helped a pair of the dearest sisters. Definitely both well within their seventh decade, they arrived put together and finished with a glaze of bright red lipstick. I didn't know they were sisters right off the bat. They were chattering and chuckling. And when I asked if they needed any help, Juliene piped up that she'd "very much like a hat just as the one her sister is wearing." "She bought it at Country Road several years ago." These were English gals and they were sweet as pie. Eventually, when they were both trying on the hats, I offered up to Juliene how fun it must be to have a sister. Her response, "Yeees. They're quite useful." Useful. What an interesting and yet adorable response. I explained that not everyone has such splendid relationships with their sisters to which her response was, "Well, these things come and go. We have not always been this way. But eventually, we get to a place where we realize that friends and family are more important than so many things we needn't worry about." Just then her darling sister appeared wearing a white cardigan she'd just plucked from the shelf and tried on. Contemplation. I told her she looked smashing. She explained that she needed to look smart and not stodgy for bowling. Lawn bowling that is.

Adorable.

anywhere.

Tyson is working. I settled in for a evening of white wine, corn on the cob, and if you can believe it -Project Runway. I don't even have cable at home in Seattle to watch this show. I feel like I could be anywhere right now. Odd how that feels sometimes.

Cheers.

Heaps new.

So we moved yesterday. I worked at the shop from 11-7pm, and when I walked out the door Tyson called my name from the window of a car I did not recognize. Sure enough our new roommate, Dave, was lovely enough to help us move and zip us around in his set of wheels. A Subaru, for which they pronounce SooBAHroo here.

Here is a view from the 12'x6' window in our living room and the scene of which I'm looking at now as I type. Our new neighborhood, Fernhill, is just outside the town center and about a 20 minutes walk. As we climbed the hill en route to our new house, I couldn't help but feel a pang of dejavu from my daily walk home up Capitol Hill in Seattle. Having the town so tangible I already felt a sense of independence and excitement for this next stage in our experience here. We have two roommates - Dave and Neil - both of which are absolutely lovely and warm.

We settled in and unpacked. I absolutely loath packing and unpacking and its been nice to have twice unpacked, each only requiring maybe twenty minutes of my time. Somewhat inspiring me to clean out my home in Seattle this summer.

Then we headed into town - on foot! - for some dinner and a celebratory drink. No joke, the entire walk down the hill is magnificent. The view! Mountains and Lake Wakatipu in sight each step of the way. Hard even to put into words the spectacular scenery of this place.


Today neither Tyson or I had to work and therefore we marked it as the day we would finally stock up on groceries. A bus connects our new home and the largest grocery store in the area. Worth the $10 fare for the much wider selection and lower prices than the grocery store in town. As we paced the isles I battled with whether or not to stock up on items like flour and vanilla having only two months left here. But after living with Caitlin and her amazing cookies, we bit the bullet. Two months or ten months, we're making cookies here in En Zed. And you forget what its like to start from scratch, having to buy everything from olive oil, salt, pepper to sugar and baking powder. Here is our bounty riding around on the bus packed away in two backpacks, a box and of course, a 12-pack of Speights Beer.

We even put down some roots and planted an herb garden. I guess the more times we make decisions like these, the more it feels like home here and not just a small step before we get to the next stage. Slows things down, maybe.

We are in week four and it really has been a turning point. We're both working, we've got a stocked pantry and we're settled in to a new home. Feels really good.