Amazing Day!

I have some great news to share! Today I was asked to come design a couple peices at Bitterroot Flower Shop and voila, was offered a brand-new part time job! The whole interview process was a great experience and I'd love to share a little about that.

I arrived early with my own humble tools: green floral tape, a floral knife and snippers for woody stems. Lynda, the flower buyer, brought me to the large back design room, full of desks, sinks, flowers, and walk-in refrigerators. She told me that I could use anything I want and just be free to design.

This was both thrilling and intimidating for me! The only fresh flowers I've had available to me for the past several months have been roses, and normally I would just cut those shorter and set them in a vase, nothing complicated. But now, with three enormous refrigerators full of every flower and folliage you could imagine at my finger tips, I simply didn't know where to start. All I knew is that I'd need a baket.

My first arrangement was difficult for me. I changed my mind several times during the process, I inserted and removed folliage, and finally came up with what I'd like to call free-gathered Autumn arrangement. While creating this peice in my nervousness and excitemnet, I imagined myself a child holding her mother's hand. As they walk through the woods on an Autumn afternoon, they gather anything that fascinates. Berries, daisies, yellow button poms, plenty of leatherleaf make up the arrangement that resulted from my trips to- not the forest but- the refrigerator. Instead of becoming a densely constructed and strictly traditional arrangement, it's whimsical and free-form. I'm glad my imagination freed me from the nervousness that would have otherwise took hold.

My second arrangment was a breeze. I found a low and lovely vase and filled it to the brim with moss. This arrangment, I decided from the start, would be in the Terra-Firma style and very high fashion. Terracing with lemon leaves, I built an "altar" to the flower that started it all. The Stargazer lily is said to have begun the floral industry as we know it today. This bold flower is still fashionable today, and especially when displayed alone, has a very contemporary vibe. The three willow branches were a nod to the practice of Ikebana, the first true artform based on flowers.

So with these arrangements and a little small talk with the lady designers in back, I was given the first job of my dreams! The only job I've ever truly dreamed of having. To work immersed in such incredible beauty, and to bring my creativity to the spotlight once again.