Wandering Wednesday
Posted on | January 9, 2013 | Comments Off on Wandering Wednesday
As you may have guessed, I don’t get out as much as I used to, and when I do, I am rarely by myself. My outings to shops these days are usually very targeted (as in, get in and get out!) with the youngster in the hiking backpack, unable to wreak havoc explore shop displays.
But this morning, I had some time to burn after a quick trip to the Genius Bar to replace my iPhone 5. (Last Saturday evening, with no warning at all, my phone took a vow of silence, and aside from a few clicks in a text message last night, I never heard from it again. I’m hoping for better luck with its successor.)
On my little neighborhood wander today, I visited two stores. The first store is one I had been meaning to check out. Olive This Olive That sells olive oils and balsamic vinegars, several of which I tried, alone and in combination, and they were delicious. The second shop is one I hadn’t really noticed before, Loft1513 Boutique, but I will surely visit again. It sells unique clothing and accessories from over 40 local designers. There were some great shoes, some interesting dresses, beautiful accessories, and a few weird items, including expensive fascinators (tiny hats). I asked if people actually bought the hats, and apparently they just *fly* out of the store. Or at least they did during the time of the most recent Royal Wedding. Anyway, fascinators aside, my visit got me thinking about the consignment store business model plus sewing lessons (which is apparently that shop’s model) , versus how the SFWA gallery is doing things. Maybe we should do lessons. Or just let more people sell stuff.
It also got me thinking that I know how to do a lot of creative things, but I am not particularly expert at any of them. I’d like to be more expert at one–or more!–of them. The “or more,” of course is where I get into trouble. I’m really lousy at pruning interests and projects. The 5 (or more) knitting and crochet projects that are lurking in bags around the house tell that story very nicely. The projects are so unfinished that I can’t even remember where I stopped in the patterns.
The part I liked about talking with the people at both of these shops was that it made me consider my creative focus and realize that I want it back. So I’m going to get on that …
