The Christmas roar has subsided; the out-of-towners that are now in-town have consciously chosen to arrive January 2: the departure date for most in town for the holidays. They have probably been part of the holiday tsunami that takes hold of Park City years in the past, but they are the kind of people who learn from their mistakes. They like to be able to get reservations at restaurants or spas; they like to (probably) ski without having to dodge the folks trying out the new gear that was gifted to them Christmas morn. They like to be able to go food shopping and have a choice of products. Its nice to be able to walk up and down Main Street without feeling as though you are in Times Square.
On the flipside, sales at both the gallery and J.Crew are down, severely. Though that seems to be the nationwide trend that is boasted about on the homepage of the Times, this is supposed to be Park City's money-making peak and we find ourselves left with some snow and 35 degree F futures. Un-good. Very un-good. We are hopefull at the gallery, because there is always a calm before the storm...the storm being Sundance, of course.
With Sundance right around the corner, the gallery is stocked with awesome art - heres a preview of some of our new stuff:
Ron Russon "Mountain Goat"
Mary Scrimgeour "Fly"
Warren Neary "Fading Winter Light"
Ginger Bowen "It's for you, Doll"
Maura Allen "Morning Light"
Some of the new work we are getting into the gallery is absolutely breathtaking - opening the shipments is like a Christmas Day revival. Lucky for me, there will be a lot of that these next few months - we have a couple of really exciting shows opening with some of our really talented artists. Each will be submitting about 15 new pieces for their shows. I am ecstatic. Maren has truly planned this out well, not to mention picked some really exquisite talent to showcase in her gallery. Props to her.
J.Crew on the other hand is run by imbeciles. We must have a table or two with some really really small and some really really big sweaters on it and a few winter coats left, which are now in clearance where sizes are also sparing. We have no more men's outerwear, with the exception of a few hoodies and a handful of corduroy blazers, which don't do you much good against the elements that this area of Utah features, and we are filling the holes that are left by the sale of these winter items... with... (wait for it...) BERMUDA SHORTS! FLIP FLOPS! SILK TANKS! SUMMER DRESSES! Are you effing kidding me? We have people coming into the store basically graveling, asking for wool coats and socks and we have to turn them away and refer them to other stores in the outlets that aren't as thick as we are! On top of this idiocy, J.Crew has also failed to send our store any more sizes in our ever popular 5-Pocket Corduroy Pant and our Cotton Jackie Cardigan! Thus, when a normal sized woman comes in looking for a "size 8" or a "Medium" I have to pretend to look for it even though I know there are only 2s, 14s, xs, and xls. Without bar, I feel like a total jerk every time, and corporate tells us, "Well, this is your first year in this location. We will know better for next year." WTF. Do some effing research as to the location of your next store and realize that it is a ski-town that pulls in millions of people every winter, people from climates that don't know or can afford to not pack properly for this climate where it snows until EFFING MAY! But no, without avail, everytime I go into work at the Crew, I've got to put on my smile-face and sell people cruisewear. For my sanity's sake, lets all take this moment to give J.Crew a great big sarcastic thumbs up. Awesome.
Otherwise, things are going great in not-me-but-you-tah. I used the food processor that Drew's parents got me to make some homemade Butternut Squash soup and it was wonderful. They didnt mess around when choosing a food processor; they went straight for the awesome one cause theyre awesome. Now we can cook all sorts of things and not have to chop another vegetable or grate another cheese by hand again. Huzzah!
Other fascinating tidbits:
J.Crew on the other hand is run by imbeciles. We must have a table or two with some really really small and some really really big sweaters on it and a few winter coats left, which are now in clearance where sizes are also sparing. We have no more men's outerwear, with the exception of a few hoodies and a handful of corduroy blazers, which don't do you much good against the elements that this area of Utah features, and we are filling the holes that are left by the sale of these winter items... with... (wait for it...) BERMUDA SHORTS! FLIP FLOPS! SILK TANKS! SUMMER DRESSES! Are you effing kidding me? We have people coming into the store basically graveling, asking for wool coats and socks and we have to turn them away and refer them to other stores in the outlets that aren't as thick as we are! On top of this idiocy, J.Crew has also failed to send our store any more sizes in our ever popular 5-Pocket Corduroy Pant and our Cotton Jackie Cardigan! Thus, when a normal sized woman comes in looking for a "size 8" or a "Medium" I have to pretend to look for it even though I know there are only 2s, 14s, xs, and xls. Without bar, I feel like a total jerk every time, and corporate tells us, "Well, this is your first year in this location. We will know better for next year." WTF. Do some effing research as to the location of your next store and realize that it is a ski-town that pulls in millions of people every winter, people from climates that don't know or can afford to not pack properly for this climate where it snows until EFFING MAY! But no, without avail, everytime I go into work at the Crew, I've got to put on my smile-face and sell people cruisewear. For my sanity's sake, lets all take this moment to give J.Crew a great big sarcastic thumbs up. Awesome.
Otherwise, things are going great in not-me-but-you-tah. I used the food processor that Drew's parents got me to make some homemade Butternut Squash soup and it was wonderful. They didnt mess around when choosing a food processor; they went straight for the awesome one cause theyre awesome. Now we can cook all sorts of things and not have to chop another vegetable or grate another cheese by hand again. Huzzah!
Other fascinating tidbits:
- My snowboard finally came in the mail yesterday. Can't wait to try it out on new snow. Will update you when that finally happens. All I need is for Mother Nature to coordinate massive amounts of snowfall with the days I am off.
- I have decided to write posts here about people I talk to on the phone. Beware, if you call, you might be featured in a poem by yours truly. Pictures will be chosen from those made available to me by your facebook profile.
- I will be receiving a digital camera shortly from a very nice friend who recently bought a new one. Apparently the flash smokes sometimes and its got lens-cap issues, but I think as someone who is not used to the immediate gratification of a digi, I am slightly aroused by the thought of its arrival.
- I miss you.
