While I was away
Yes, as may only be apparent to the truly dedicated among you I took a week off to visit NYC. Since I got a bad case of jet lag I haven’t quite gotten back into the swing of things since my return. But soon I will be adding new items again and embarking on many a fun venture for summer and beyond. More about that soon!
til then, here are some highlights from my week away…
When in New York I always visit our beloved sock girl EG,
she is a hostess extraordinaire and always makes my stay like a trip home.
She’s been telling me for years that we should do a street fair in the village to get our name firmly in the dreams of her fellow New Yorkers so this trip was planned around my checking out the street fair for myself…
On my first morning in town we headed to Magnolia Bakery to try some of those cupcakes we’ve heard so much about. While I worked at Powell’s cookbook store I often drooled over the pictures in their cookbook and must say they are indeed fantastic little cakes! not that there is a shortage of fancy cupcakes to be had in NYC or that you couldn’t perhaps do better yourself, but I was not disappointed.
I was joined over the weekend by Sock Dreams Head of Marketing & Planning, B and her cousin K, who has excellent navigation skills and got us everywhere we needed to be & back without so much as a doubt in her voice that we were headed for the correct train, exit ect. You see, our darling little Vel has been under the weather lately so we couldn’t take EG all over town for our meetings this time and my own navigation skills outside Portland suck. Don’t worry, Vel’s on the mend and seemed to enjoy every moment of the attention he was getting with all the girls cooing over him.
Yes, there were other business ventures to be had in the city for us last week…
among them a meeting high up in the Empire State Building to finalize a private label deal I’ve been working on. I’m not going to discuss the details, but it involves one of the brands we’ve sold since the beginning in a limited amount of colors with a few changes to make some of them uniquely our own, and of course, our own label!
Also enjoyed, but not photographed, was a day in SoHo to visit some of my favorite boutiques for inspiration because we are getting very close to signing that elusive lease I’ve been dreaming of…
May 26th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
I’ll be back in Portland for keeps the last week of June/first week of July if you will be looking for new hires at that time! :D :D :D
May 26th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Amanda, your timing is PERFECT! As long as there isn’t a last minute glitch with this lease we are due to start moving in on July1st!!!
May 26th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
That little teeny pink flower on that cupcake makes me smile :)
Now where are these awesome shoes you mentioned? I’s want pictures ;D
*get well hugs for Vel*
May 27th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Hooray! I’ll be keeping in touch with you guys about that then. I’m in town for the long weekend if you wanted to meet now or something.
May 27th, 2007 at 7:53 am
I’m so proud of you guys!!! If I had the funds and wasn’t about to reenter academia, I’d lug my bum and my stuff and my cats and suchlike on up there and join you at your new warehouse! Maybe someday.
*squish* to you all!
May 27th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Gasp! Congratulations!
Random question: What happened to the carrot socks??
May 27th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Carrot socks went bye bye, not by our choice, but by Sock It To Me’s decision maker ~:(
Babylon~ when I start shooting new socks again later this week new shoes will be involved ~:P though I’m tempted to hold out for the Betsey Johnson sockies to go with them, I simply can’t wait that long!
May 27th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I just couldn’t throw out the shoebox that Niq left here from her Betsy shoes (too bulky to pack I’m sure) … it’s just the best shade of shocking pink (of course) and goes so well with my room :O)
The shoes are amazing!! I can’t wait to see which sockies she pairs them with for the photos.
May 27th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
yay! ;D
I promise to use my new shoes in my next photos too :D *There’s a Canada Zappos now. Ow! Stop pummeling my credit card!* Though my shoes are probably not as awesome lol
May 27th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I love Zappos sooo much, they are very VERY bad for the budget. They make it frighteningly easy to spend way too much money ~;)
Speaking of Canada…
US postal rates went up on May 15th AND they changed a bunch of stuff about international shipping. First, they hiked the rates WAY up, then they changed all the terms so that our system and theirs didn’t communicate properly for the first few days. We got that straightened out except one: first class international. We delayed on updating first class due to some concerns over tracking. Now we have that straightened out and are just awaiting our man Dan so that he can get it set so you sock lovers outside the US can have a less expensive choice than priority and express. The good news? all international orders now include tracking!!! though they changed all their forms and now our shipping people have to spend a lot more time processing your orders, that is not your fault and we won’t blame you, I’ll just be happy when it is all straightened out and functioning properly again…
May 27th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I couldn’t believe that Zappos mailed me a hand-written thank you card for making my first purchases there. It was bizarre lol I hope they add more brands to the Canadian site soon, I want Fornarina! ;)
I saw the shipping changes on the USPS site, I swear they changed it to be more like Canada’s mailing system(more expensive*eep!* but tracked)
May 27th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I’m happy you had a nicetime in NYC. A meeting in the empire state could mean 1 of 2 companies. Please do not sell out. These companies produce gigantuan quantities over seas and are available in Macy’s (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I like the boutique-y feel of SD the way it is. It ’s nice to see “sisters doin’ it for ourselves” though. So in that respect. Congratulations :)! Peace Out
May 27th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Nope, they will be made in the USA, I wouldn’t have it any other way ~:)
May 27th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
…and they will not be competing with our Dream Stockings as they are mostly products we’ve always sold with some little adjustments here and there ~;)
May 28th, 2007 at 5:55 am
Poor carrot sockies!
*tear*
Now we need some other socks with random vegetables on them.
May 28th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
PEAS! Everybody loves peas! Ok, maybe not. But it’d be a cute sock. :) Glad you had a nice time in NYC. Best wishes with the warehouse. I’m so proud of how quickly you’ve grown. *One girl, a pair of socks & a dream….* lol
May 29th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Say it with me & wiggle! PEAS PEAS PEAS PEAS PEAS! ;)
(my cellphone offers a picture-taking frame that has peas on it. I don’t know why.)
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:02 am
Niq this is such a great post! I’m so glad you had such a great time.
love the photos. The one with the little flags is amazing in so many ways.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Zappos is magical. They are magical shoe people. You are the magical sock people. I hope in a metaphorical way that you all run away and get metaphorically married.
After having bad customer service (HORRIFIC, actually) with a huge .com company - I so appreciate sock-dreams and Zappos. I rather heart you all with all my heart.
Please - I am the cupcake queen. Don’t combine cupcakes with socks. There’s a chance I could burst into flames and take the whole family with me.
Yay for fun. Yay for socks, shoes and cupcakes.
Okay, I’ve been told enough to go get in the shower. What am I - 3?
June 18th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
that looks like so much fun! Glad you had a nice trip, and sounds like you got some great work in too.
Love you lots.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
[...] are the perfect topping clinging to the sky high frosting on my favorite Magnolia cupcakes (as our Sock Goddess can attest). They are an amazing treat in pudding, delicious on applesauce, decorative in yogurt, festive on [...]