Rare Madame Alexander Dolls

Leave it to son Nick to analyze my entire doll collection.  Low and behold, I have some really rare and fabulous dolls: Madame Alexander, Meisner, Trolls, Barbies, cases, cars and more!  This Cinderella doll is on eBay right now.  If you're looking for anything special in the world of collectible dolls, please contact me.

Real holiday flowers...

I was just kidding on those flowers being holiday flowers last week.  Those were "autumn" flowers.  Still they were beautiful and looked great as of today, but my friends at United on 28th Street have put all the fall color flowers in the chiller for the week.  I wasn't even allowed to buy them! :) So here 'twas the week before Christmas as the night before I boarded a plane to California (on the plane now...)

More holiday flowers: never knew

First, I never thought about putting all these crazy flowers together.  Second, I really love these carnations.  Gasp.  Carnations.  Gasp again.  Ha. Fooled you, didn't I?  Pretty fab, huh? 

Third, these quince branches are spectacular, and while it's impossible to capture in a photo, they look so romantic and holiday-special with lights on them in my certain locales. I hope you encounter them somewhere in Tribeca over the next few weeks.  Speaking of which, if you need beautiful noble wreathes or non-Christmas, but holiday-esque arrangements for yourself or as a gift, give a hollar. I am on holiday myself Dec. 19th-26th, so would prefer knowing in advance, but where there is a will, there is a way, and CocoTribeca, will always find a way to deliver.

Festive holiday windows: subtle and elegant

Vestry Wines' windows (and interior) is decorated for the holidays. My friend Roy was quite worried about the concept of snow in the windows, but admitted today that "it worked." Tonight while taking photos, a neighbor's driver, hanging out in the Mercedes, gave me a thumbs up.  Made my night!

I will give a free arrangement to the first person to find the tie-ins to Vestry Wines' logo.

Holiday flowers that make me smile: something different

These remind me of holiday music. Right now, it's fun to sing along in the store, but in less than two weeks, we'll be wearing ear plugs...Feliz Navidad.  Here is my first take at holiday flowers in Tribeca. Honestly, I surprised myself with these rich colors.  I did some real "no-no's" in terms of mixing seasonal flowers, but hey, it seems to work.  I'm liking it.  I'm just posting my "wow" pictures now, as I'm off to dinner.  More commentary tomorrow.  Enjoy.  Coco.

A real after-thought that I am so in love with!

So beautiful!  It takes on a life of its own.  I had no idea it would become so fabulous.

And here we have such an odd mixture of seasonal flowers. Caribbean meets holly berries. Crazy, but it seems to work.

Connie's Flowers in Tribeca Today

As usual, I'm exhausted but have had such fun with these flowers. I went to 28th Street -- to my favorite guys, United -- yesterday, but my fresh gladiolas and lilys had barely opened even this morning, so I didn't start working with them until noon today. I always like it when someone, upon seeing one of my floral creations, says, "no one does anything like you do."  Of course that could be good or bad.  But I think my work is creative and fun, but is also warm and inviting.  See the arrangements from today. One was created for a champagne tasting hosted by Vestry Wines at John Allan's Club.  I'll write more tomorrow about the humour and hazards of floral work.

Leftover flowers

I have extra flowers from yesterday so I made up five little matching arrangements.  Now what to do with them?  I may have some very lucky neighbors.

Spring-like Flowers in November in Tribeca

I love how these Hawaiian ginger flowers blend in so beautifully with the colors of the store at Vestry Wines.  I think I "paired" them with the rose wines.

  

 

 A few bouquets that wound up morphing into something else...

See how different this bouquet is by simply adding a few orange thistles

So we went a bit stark at Estancia this week.  It's hard to capture in a photo however, but these are really detailed flowers and the stems are magnificent.  As Chris at the restaurant says, "They're sassy."

A benefit for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society but most importantly...

a gift for Lindsay who is 28 and who has acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and is in treatment for her seventh recurrence and twelflth tumor since being diagnosed in 2004.  CoCoTribeca donated a floral arrangement for the raffle and gave Lindsay a bouquet to take home as well as floral bracelets for her to wear during the party.  (She's holding them in the photo here as it was the end of the evening.) 

And the invitation:

Dear Members and Friends of John Allan's,

           Please join John Allan's, Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Michael C. Fina, Harry Daniell Designs, and a host of other supporters for a New York City Charity Event, on November 10th 7:30-10pm, to benefit Leukemia Lymphoma society and our close friend Lindsay. 

Alongside Harry Daniell Designs, John Allan’s has teamed up with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to provide one deserving cancer patient with an apartment makeover of her dreams, in a campaign called “Light The Night with Lindsay,” to benefit LLS’ Light The Night® program. Lindsay, a 28-year-old acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patient, is currently in treatment for her seventh recurrence and twelfth tumor since being diagnosed in July 2004. Her one-bedroom Manhattan apartment will be transformed into a space worthy of a young woman who has remained strong and determined through her six-year battle with cancer. John Allan’s is dedicated to raising $50,000 to advance LLS’ mission and help the estimated 912,938 Americans, like Lindsay, who are battling blood cancers.

Please see our website to donate directly!

http://pages.lightthenight.org/nyc/Manhattn10/JohnAllans

This is why I always keep some flowers at home

I need to know when they wither.  Then I'll run to my clients and make changes if need be.  Great customer service, huh?  The good news is, I can also watch my flowers grow and blossom.  Here is the chincherinchee (Perry Como sings, "this purdy flower") which has grown taller overnight.  It hasn't quite blossomed yet, but I will post pictures when that happens. This flower is more common in white, but is found in yellow and orange.  It comes from South Africa and is part of the lily family.  

 

The Chincherinchee Flower

My chincherinchee flowers have opened beautifully this morning.  Photos will be posted in a minute. In the meantime, evidently Perry Como liked them enough he did a little music video about them in 1956.  Enjoy!

Serenity of this week's flowers

I "work" a full day of flowers one day a week, usually Wednesday or Thursday.  I find that while I'm arranging, I'm talking myself through a dozen blog posts: new things I found at the market, observations, things I've learned about botanical chemistry, longevity of flowers and so on.  Oh and then my mind goes crazy creating iPhone apps.  Stay tuned.   But by now, I am exhausted.  No dance class for me tonight!  I'm just going to post all the beautiful photos of the awe-inspiring flowers and hopefully later tonight after a bit of dinner or tomorrow morning with my coffee, I'll post all of the random thoughts I had this morning.