'tis the season

Another one is upon us and our windows speak the language.  It's number 16 under my tutelage and I'll be honest, it doesn't get any easier.  We've gone full throttle to get you into our cozy boutique this holiday season.  A big thank you for all the holiday decor on loan from fantasysettings.com.  Thank you so much!

Ever eccentric Montecito

So the other day I get a call from a very, I mean, VERY, good customer.  I thought they lived between Nyc, Sb, and France, but the call came across on a TX cell.  Why that even came into my mind I do not know.  I simply didn't recognize the caller when I picked up I guess.  Anyway, they wanted directions from Vegas to SB, the back way, via Pearblossom Hwy, 126, and so on.  They remembered that I had a pad in the former boomtown and used to drive quite often.  I ended up texting them simply because they were already en route in the new Maserati he won at craps.  The only one in the Usa.  Or was it a Bmw, can't remember? Next day they came by the shop to show it off, and to buy a matching Javits hat for her while the top is down. What's not to love about the eccentrics!

the uber talented Emmalee Thomas

link here:
http://emmaleethomas.blogspot.com/2011/05/clare-swan.html

and then there are the fabulous ones!

Who come in, buy some luggage, some leathergoods, some cashmere, some cotton sweaters, a briefcase...all in ten minutes.  Transaction done, we will wrap for next day pickup and rent and insurance and then some are covered for another month.  Lovely!

Doing our best to please

We always do our best to please.  That's down and dirty the truth.  We run an honest business for many years, have an enormously loyal and repeat customer base...all because we communicate clearly and follow up in a timely manner, understand the consumer's sense of urgency, and generally go beyond to accommodate.  Well, today we just couldn't win.  Again, something generally happens when the customer mulls over a small (yet meaningful) purchase for days, then wants/requests an urgent personalization, i.e. in house monogram.  There are few and far between merchants who can monogram finished goods...period.  Anyway, we promised the item Saturday afternoon, a turnaround of less than 3 days but had an emergency and notified the customer that we couldn't have the item ready until the following Monday.  All via voicemail.  Customer shows up on Saturday at 2pm and turns livid and inconsolable after learning item isn't ready.  We apologize, yet customer decides to cancel item and personalized order.  Fine, no point in feeding further, emergencies happen, people get sick, even the monogrammer.  Off customer goes.  As I write this simply to unfuel, customer returns to the shop.  Decides she wants the item anyway, and as inconvenient as Monday is...she'll keep her plan.
We get it all done, take a few breaths, and the customer comes in days later, turns out she didn't really need the item Monday, it was just inconvenient to return because she was traveling.  We learned that because her flight was hours delayed upon return.
So...what's to learn from this experience...you can't please everyone and Murphy's Law always prevails!

The handwritten personal check

The handwritten personal check is most definitely on its way to the kingdom of obsolete.  The card...debit, credit, amex, visa, m/c, discover, black, gold, red, purple, silver, and green (as is my own...the color of money) are  kings of the castle.  Customer wrote a check last week for three hundred twenty eight dollars and 13/100 cents.  And in the number box wrote $389.13,  which was the amount of the sale.  The bank took only 328 and change.  We eventually got the balance via king of the castle visa charge and surely learned the value of proofreadiing those remaining merchant fee free personal checks.  That means we get the whole amount if amounts agree, not throwing 2-3% to the kings of the castle card companies when we take a charge, which is 95% of the time.
The customer explained to me why she wrote the disagreeable check in the first place... for months she has had an awful case of hives...been to every imaginable doctor, has taken predisone orally and via injection, been allergy tested up the wazoo, they want to biopsy her liver, but has now opted to follow a strict diet and herb regimen provided by our oriental medicine specialists here in town.  My head is still spinning about that one.
We are hoping for the best.

Put your hands together

For my favorite photographer, Emmalee Thomas.  She is so young, so professional, and SO good.
New spring 2011 images soon to appear on www.clareswan.com and Clare Swan Montecito via Facebook.

Rainy day Sunday dinner

Occasionally, we get a day when it rains ALL day.  Today was one of them.  We listened to the rain from many different spaces, and enjoyed all the different sounds it brought with it.  And I reminded Stella why Barbour is always alive in my shop.  The best 'weather' outfitter in the world.  Waterproof, windproof, thornproof.  And now lots of style in her size too.
But today was a day to cook.  And I made the most delicious meals for my small family that if I don't write down, I will forget...
Breakfast
Scrambled eggs with black beans, sauteed scallions, and queso fresco
Taste of fresh avocado
Berry medley - blueberries, blackberries, strawberries (these were cut & tossed with a splash of balsamic which I learned from a french guy at a dinner party) 
English muffin
Lunch
Shell pasta with peas and diced tomato
Mango slices
Dinner
Homemade Sweet Potato & Roasted Acorn Squash Gnocchi
--boiled the sweet potato peeled
--roasted acorn squash with sea salt, splash of olive oil, and water
--mashed together
--added chickpea and white flour
--rolled into tubular shape (per Marcella Hazan) and cut venetian style
--cooked in boiling salted water until they floated to top, took out, then
--pan seared in a smidge of butter
--forgot to add parmesan, they were perhaps better without it
Baked Chicken
--marinated strips of pouded breast in salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, grated ginger, greek yogurt
Roasted Cauliflower
--sprinkled with salt, pepper, cumin, tamarind, olive oil
Berry Medley at end


This dinner is easily Stella's new favorite at 20 months.

It's easy to become a city girl...

Great conversation with a longtime weekend customer on Saturday. She & her husband are based in West L.A. and weekend at their Montecito home.  She picked up a gift for him, ironically he was in the store 10 minutes prior, both were shopping for each other discreetly, very sweet.  It's very flattering when you learn that your shop is the 'go to' place for special gifts in a community.  Between assisting her and wrapping up her purchase, we were chatting about the amount of time they spend up here, and how it should be more, and ultimately about traffic.  L.A. traffic is really awful, and the 101 really bad.
Even though I travel frequently, I mentioned that I often think about moving someplace else...and then without hesitation she reminded me how fortunate I am to be raising my daughter in a fabulous small beach town.  What I loved is that she went on to say that it's easy to become a 'city girl."  You just show up in the city....and the next day you belong.  It's so true!  It's the small town girls who bring diversity to the city.

Indecisiveness is nothing but painful & a Sunday phonecall

Some people are just never satisfied, and grateful, forget about it.  I often wonder how certain of our customers order food in a restaurant.  Displaying such doubt and lack of decision-making ability (we are talking a color here) how do these folks choose where to dine and what to eat? "...maybe I should have gotten thing two..." But thing one is delicious I just want to say but don't.
It can be endless.   Same customer once every couple of months can never decide on a color, or a style, or just about anything.  Constantly doubting herself, her decisions, her choices, her everything.  Never ever happy in the end.  After an hour of mulling, finally chose our most classic boatneck sweater as a gift...and only after we appear with a perfectly gorgeous gift wrapped package does she change her mind on the color.  So we unwrap apricot and serve her up an azure sundae in no time.  Just smile and go on is the only way to move forward.
The kicker is when a longtime customer who hasn't been in in a few years...not surprising given the times, finds the perfect turf green vest and super cool Barbour tartan crinkle scarf to go golfing in on St. Patrick's day.  It was a Saturday...she left happy as a clam.  On Sunday I get an early morning phone call at home...yes, AT HOME, on Sunday, the store is closed, nothing happens in this community on Sundays...she was frantic because she's misplaced her favorite pair of sunglasses.  Sunglasses!  Can't it wait.  Turns out they are not in the store & we've never heard where they turned up...

1000 Places to See before you....

...expire.  Well, that is the name of the book that made that author famous.  Funny how she didn't list the Four Seasons here, the Four Seasons there.  No, I don't mean winter, spring, summer, and fall.  My clientele would say 'who needs 1000 places when you have the four seasons.'  So, you get the point.
Today a fun client of mine came in, somewhat new to the area, less than five years.  We were chatting about her granddaughter and my kid, both two-ish, and how much both love the ipad...her granddaughter is growing up in the west village of nyc, my girl in a tiny beach town south of santa barbara.  We chuckled about what we hear coming off the ipad.  I hear "touch the asparagus" quite often these days.  Then, applause.
Anyhow, I asked if she had an apt. in nyc to which she replied no.  Almost bought one sort of recently she said, couldn't commit because she and her husband were just too comfortable at the Four Seasons.  They get the same room, they enjoy the staff, they can leave stuff there.  It's their home away from home.  Who needs an apartment when you have all that.
So, to go with her leopard print freshly pedicured toenails and at least three inch manolo's...she filled her bag with our delicious long sleeve 2% (modal!) zimmerli tees.  They are so fresh on your body.  Nothing out there beats these.  Hanro, so yesterday.

In between large vs extra large

This is the story of two customers, one female, one male, both longstanding patrons and mature, and how they reacted to size large and extra large.
'She' bought a sweater in size large and the next day 'she' brought it back for a size extra large.  The following day 'she' brought the extra large back... stating that she was "in between" sizes.  So, 'she' ended up with nothing but a store credit.  No large, no extra large.
That very same day, 'he' came in to try on a jacket in both size large and extra large.  He lounged in our leather chair, he moved around, he layered with a sweater underneath.  'He' took home the extra large.  The next business day however he returned to the shop.  No, not to exchange the garment.  He bought the large too.  He said that he felt he was 'in-between' sizes and wanted to have both on hand just in case he slimmed down, or went traveling to a cold climate and needed the extra size to layer more underneath.
He ended up with everything!

Around the world we go

Time goes on and no matter what, people travel.  Just today I have people going to Turkey, China, Bhutan, Liberia.  I guess Yellowstone and Glacier are out this time of year.  Though gorgeous in their own right.
So, Liberia piqued my interest...because really nobody goes there on vacation.  Revolution free for about six years, somewhat democratic, still tumultuous and poor no matter how you dice it up.  Sometimes I just want to tell the customer, don't buy the bag from me...give it to the Liberian merchants when you get there. But, there's no negotiating on that one.  They want what they want when they want it.
It was a great sweater day...azure, carnation, ciel, pacific...the new shades of blue are really flying.
And thank goodness we are prepared with a well stocked first aid kit...the gal at the sandwich shop next door just about sliced her finger off today.  There were plenty of butterfly bandaids to help out.
Don't take first aid kits for granted....know what's in them...and read the booklet on what to do in common situations.

Rainy days bring out the best in people

This is long overdue and I hope to share the truly hysterical, comical, unbelieveable, and beyond experiences that happen when you deal with the public.  And this is no ordinary public!

So today was a rainy day.
From experience, we expect people early, nobody midday, and then the stir-crazies in the late afternoon.
Today was no different.
First customer...a realestate agent.  Beautiful gal, sweet, a bit under the weather, just looking.  She ended up with one of our utterly fabulous cable rollneck sweaters in soft pink.  We were out of white in her size...who doesn't look good in pink!
She told me a funny story about one of her gorgeous daughters who works as a bartender at a local beachy establishment.  Every walk of life frequents this joint...it's in Summerland, not Montecito.  Anyway, one of the cooks is madly deeply in love with her...of course he's married with a family, and latino.  Every day he says to her,  "you know that our children will be beautiful....but they will be called "beaners"...   Now go figure.  All joking aside...what a reality.  It's a sign of what his family has most likely experienced. Nobody deserves to be put down.  As Shelley V. would say, 'it doesn't feel good'.
This reminds me of the rain.  It really can rain hard here...from November to March-ish.  I'm always stocked with umbrellas, beeeee-cause, every year someone, or someone's assistant comes in and cleans me out.  I mean 15 doorman umbrellas in 3 minutes.  Gone, done.  Every entrance/exit needs an umbrella.  Everyone on the property needs access to an umbrella.  One year a party was being held and every guest arriving needed coverage.  So, you get the picture, even in July we have umbrellas.  Sticks, Doorman type, and wooden handle travel type.  All good quality at a fair price.
That brings me to the end of the day...and yes, the s'crazies.  They show up to dish, to chat, to unleash their pain, their familial trials, and so on.  Today was all about 'mother'.  Okay, she's old, she's going to fall, yes she even broke her hip.  But, she has full time care.  She didn't fall down the stairs.  It's our duty to help our parents age and not complain about it.  You will never hear me complain about it.
So, that's a taste of a day in the life.
Much more to come.
I really do enjoy our customers.