Better late, than never :)
I surprised my husband with a trip to New Orleans the first weekend in February, which happened to be the start of the Mardi Gras celebration in the Crescent City! From fried oysters with brie at Clancy's to Muffulettas at Cochon Butcher to a new retail vendor for Haute Papier in The Stationer New Orleans to macarons and king's cake at Sucre to the irresistible beignets at Cafe du Monde, it was a wonderful glutenous and relaxing trip!
New York or BUST!
Washington Printmakers Gallery
In a city that calls itself home to the most visited museums and art galleries in the nation, it's easy for a boutique gallery for art and education to get forgotten. But the Washington Printmakers Gallery is a gem for guests and locals alike. During my most recent outing to the gallery back in July, compelled to return by the exhibit "Meet Your Printmaker", I was reminded of how much I enjoy every visit to the space that dedicates it's walls to an art form often forgotten in our larger galleries. As a printer, I'm always inspired by what I see fellow printers creating and it's refreshing to remember that letterpressing can be art and not just a business model!
So if you've not visited the Washington Printmakers Gallery, I certainly encourage you to visit the DuPont Circle based gallery at your next opportunity. The gallery is open seven days a week, is free to the public and features a fabulous lecture series for it's more impressed guests!
Haute Papier Field Trip
Last Friday, Haute Papier trekked up to Baltimore to pick up our largest ever order of silk stationery boxes. We were racing against the clock to get to the warehouse before a union-mandated hour lunch break. We just squeeked in under the cut off time. Whew!
The whole way up we were worried about the possibility of unexpected problems at the warehouse. You see, domestic and international shipments come to the same warehouse and if there's a suspected problem (like the radioactive matter that was "oozing" out of a crate last time we were there) Customs can come in and shut the place down at any time. Needless to say, no one wants to wait hours for their freight pick-up after driving an hour to get there. 
Prepared as always, we had plenty of reading material (Twlight and New Moon) with us just in case. Luckily, that wasn't our fate this time. We made it in time, all our paperwork cleared the front office and the loading dock operator was nice enough to help us unload our beautiful silk boxes.
It was so exciting to open all the gorgeous, colorful boxes and even more exciting when all thirteen crates fit in our two small sedans. The experience can definitely be intimidating if you're not used to all the procedures associated with freight pick-up, but everything is back at our studio safe and sound and ready to be shipped out to our vendors!
