If you are not local and you get the chance to travel to Raleigh, North Carolina in the Spring, one of my favorite things to do is to wander the North Carolina Museum of Art, especially when the museum holds their annual fundraiser event ‘Art in Bloom’. During this event, the museum, which is . . .
What is lovelier than cut flower arrangements from the garden? For me, not much so I’m excited to say I am now getting cut flowers every Wednesday and bringing them to my shop Gather Goods in downtown Raleigh and making flower arrangements and selling them through the weekend, every week. They look . . .
Make a Pajaki Chandelier with us at Gather Goods in our DIY workshop and tutorial on Monday May 2nd at 6:30pm. What is a Pajaki you say? It is a traditional Polish craft consisting of tissue pom poms, colorful bits of paper and straws that you hang as a mobile from a ceiling. We’ll provide . . .
One of my favorite things to do is photograph makers and learn more about their work and what inspires them. One of the very best parts of owning a retail store focused on carrying the work of emerging makers is getting to know them, helping them refine their goods and brand and for me as a . . .
I've learned in retail that there are two kinds of people when it comes to scouting out finds: those that love the thrill of the hunt and digging through piles to find treasures, and those that like to have those treasures curated and presented to them. Nomadic Trading Company in Durham is the best . . .
Sometime last year I started hearing about a place in Chapel Hill called Honeysuckle Tea House. All I knew about it was that they served loose leaf tea, which has long been my beverage of choice. So on a hot summer day last year I decided to make the trek. From my house in Raleigh it is about 45 . . .
I love collecting recipes and combining flavors at home. It’s extra special getting to do this at Gather as well. Each month I try to work with my staff to come up with a “drink of the month”, this month it is a delicious Ginger Matcha Latte. So good. I also adore these green mugs that I stock in . . .
It only took a year, but I finally got business cards for Gather, and I'm really loving them! I created the dogwood pattern specifically for using at Gather in branding, and I have it in various spots throughout the shop, including wallpaper. The dogwood is the state flower of both North Carolina . . .
This past summer my friend Amanda and I were out for a drive on a business errand. On the way back, a little under an hour from being back home, I noticed a sign on the highway for a spot I had seen a picture of and had saved as something to check out at a later date. I’m a sucker for a long . . .
It's been a big year with so much forward propelling movement that I've hardly had time to pause, let alone blog. That said, I've learned a lot, built a lot, and connected with countless fabulous individuals through Gather, my gift shop/coffee shop/coworking hybrid space in downtown Cary, North . . .
Some photos I styled from a photo shoot a few months ago for Southern Season. What a joy it is to work on these projects. Photo Styling by me, Michelle Smith, Photography by Lissa Gotwals . . .
If all these shop tours in Asheville don't have you pining for a trip there then I don't know what will. Here is a peek into another lovely shop called Flora that I visited, whose walls were covered in ripped out pages of vintage botanical artwork and every blank space covered in plants. . . .