Loren & the Chair.

Last week, my friend and guest-buyer, Loren, and I made out bi-annual pilgrimage to High Point, North Carolina. Meet Loren:

She's a trooper. You can't tell it in the picture, but it's both freezing and windy. And 8:15 in the morning. And she's 7-months pregnant. Thank goodness for Starbucks. 

Twice a year, in April and October, we hit the road to visit one of my most unique vendors. This vendor opens their "gypsy warehouse" only two times a year, and we never miss it. The gypsy warehouse is basically a 23,000 square-foot designer's dream come true. The owners travel the globe, looking for unique items and furnishings. We've been known to bring back everything from old lanterns to vintage bath tubs to large pieces of furniture. 

This is definitely my most interesting buying experience each year. We wait in line in the freezing cold morning with about 50 other buyers from all over the country. They assign us a number and hand us a clipboard. Once they open the "gates" it's a free-for-all. If you see something you like, you mark it with your number. It sounds simple, but since a lot of the pieces are one-of-a-kind, it becomes quite competitive. It's not unusual to see a designer, in 5-inch pumps, running through the warehouse, and pushing others out of the way, to mark her number on a piece of furniture. After years of making this trip, I'd say we are old pros, but it never ceases to amaze us how cut-throat some of the buyers can get. We usually just sit back and laugh, and we always come back with at least one great story. Next time you're in the store, ask us...we're more than happy to share tales from our buying adventures.

After all the line-waiting, designer-dodging and number-marking, we came home with my favorite piece to-date. Meet, the chair:

In a nutshell, it's perfect. It's burlap. It's striped. It's grey. It's comfortable. And it's going to make someone very happy. Though, I can't lie, I'll be sad to see it go. Come visit it in person...it's worth the trip.