the souchi story

Sunday, June 19, 2011

basalt....aspen.....food & wine......june 16-19......exhausted

for those of you who don't know, this weekend (ending today) was the big food & wine event in aspen. what is crazy about this weekend is there are TONS of parties at restaurants, bars, galleries & museums. as well as private parties at the hotels, landmarks & incredible private homes. which means, i'm exhausted after a fantastic weekend of multiple trips to aspen, working at the store, jack's puppy classes, back to the store...and wine on the decks & porches of local restaurants. 


so, it started thursday night:
an invitation from plum tv to attend a party at the aspen art museum & then paragon with wine tasting, appetizers, swag & art. oh and a bit of..........monica said, 'DEERRRRR!' AND i say, 'NOOOOOO NOOO NOOOOOOOOOO!' and swerve my car to avoid hitting this giant deer (elk size!) thank you volvo for building a solid car that was totally cool with the swerve.


here are some of my favorites from the art showing:
cathy wilkes

miriam bohm 
areal 2009

dirk stewen
untitled 2008

sara greenberger rafferty
madeline 2009

so, that was thursday. on friday, it was scotch tasting at jimmy's that i skipped and sent one of our new souchi girls, melisa & her fiance tyler. grandma needed to rest up. this also means i skipped the men of aspen party. yes, i skipped.

however, last night i was invited to go to the 'wine in the mine' party on smuggler mountain! the view was beautiful, fantastic dj's & did i mention the view. an outdoor brick oven pizza, tons of wine (rose, barbera blend, pinot...tons!) however, i was the designated driver who saw many police pullovers on our way up from aspen. drunk driving is not cool, especially on a mountain road late night. any questions, refer back to the deer up above. after, driving to aspen, we (myself & alison aka 'red') met up with the silver fox & some friends at elevation & then hopped on a shuttle up to smuggler mountain. after a bit of a hike (it's 9pm, cold, windy & thankfully i packed my audry sweater & isabel marant boots) we were met with the wine in the mine sign


and are asked if we want to go up to the party or do a mine tour. we head to the party first and hang around. i run into my friend damon who tells me we have to do the mine tour. however, red & i say....we didn't sign the waiver (we are wild & crazy!) but decide it's ok. red, is more concerned the helmets won't fit. which is hysterical since she's tiny....but apparently has a large head (hmmm, still not sure about that). so we head to the mine entrance and are given hats. mine, i believe is the coolest: black & says 'dyno' on the front! yes, i need to have this hat. the tour is amazing and i think how crazy it must be to be a mine worker & think of the chilean miners. wow, a hard job. but so beautiful inside. we see the fault lines, the huge, hand dug, and dragged out 2200 lb piece that was removed (still the largest ever) and i'm in awe.





 it was incredible. damp, cold, dark & dripping (not sure i liked that and kept wondering about bats) but i had a great time getting into character.

so, after the tour i decided i had to have the helmet so continued to wear it. until, this mean girl told me i had to give it back. she took it from me and put it back in the mine. NO!! i needed to have it. so i see a cart near me that has a bunch but none as cool as black dyno. so, a miner comes out & asks me what i'm looking for & i tell him. he says, well i'm not sure you can take those. and i say, 'can't like i'll be arrested?' he says no. 'can't like a miner won't have a helmet tomorrow' and he says no. he says why do you want it. i said, it said dyno and i never want to dress up for halloween but NOW i can forever be a miner. he says take one. i am ecstatic but say i don't see mine because she took it inside. he grins, shrugs and says, hold on. he comes back looking sad saying, 'i couldn't fine black dyno.' so i thank him and say, it's ok...just not meant to be. he says, well come with me and see if you find it. i walk in and see it right away & he laughs he must be blind. he says he'll walk out with it for me but not sure how i would get it out of there but wished me luck.

KIDS, I GOT IT! I HAVE IT! I LOVE IT!

there was a bit of a lie & conception but man, aren't i glowing? i mean perhaps i drew some attention being at a party at midnight in stiletto boots knocked up. 
such is a night at food & wine.

xo
suzisouchi




Wednesday, June 15, 2011

the amazing.........CAITLIN DUCEY.......................

i love love love caitlin ducey's sculptures. for those of you lucky enough to see some of them in person this past spring at souchi, i'm sure you can understand why. i had to have the multi-color rubber bands piece. but, i am coveting the straw pieces. 


then, she sent me images of these & i was blown away!! love love love them. each made of many plastic colorful straws in a free-form unframed sculpture. perfection.


XO
suzisouchi








Tuesday, June 14, 2011

basalt block party part 2......................

ok, so after i left work for my 3 hour break on saturday, i headed to riverside cafe to meet dina for lunch & a glass of wine. it's 80 degrees, sun shining, blue skies & truly just beautiful out. the riverside cafe is set along the river and when sitting outside on the deck you can hear the water rushing by. the sound is so powerful when mixed with birds chirping. i love it. feels like vacation.




for lunch we decide the quinoa salad sounds fantastic, 2 glasses of pinot grigio & the buffalo tacos were the way to go. we were right, it was delicious. people watching in basalt is a lot of fun. casual dressing, work out clothes & the classic shorts & t-shirts seem to be the dress of choice. so of course, dina (in a strapless romper, jackie o glasses & big sun hat) and i (jovovich hawk maxi dress with cut outs, souchi riley cardi) are over-dressed but we are happy and having a great time. 


so we head over to the block party to check things out. rumor has it: there is a band, a beer garden, tons of food (all the restaurants put up booths & misc aspen valley cafes). here is what we've seen & thankfully we each had just one glass of wine or perhaps we would have been dancing!


block party

gyros

the band

beer garden

midland bakery cupcakes

midland bakery cookies

midland bakery corn muffins 
i CAN'T believe i didn't buy one of these!

pecan pie from ???

mojitos & sangria at tempranillo

the girls then called me that the store was busy so i headed back to the store till 7pm. a girl has to keep the customers happy. fyi, we had our best day in basalt so far (yeah souchi!) alison, from midland bakery stops by the store looking fabulous in a vintage turquoise maxi dress (yeah, not shorts!) and we head back to the block party once we close up shop. but, first i must go get jack! while walking home, i run into our souchi fave, suzanne with her dog rocco, on her amazing cruiser w/ custom leopard seat & basket. LOVE.




we head to tempranillo and meet up with karl & david & i've got jack who loves the lawn in front of the restaurant but has decided that he must dig up the big tree. karl, being a dog owner & avid, be the alpha, takes jack on short lead and jack is pretty chill eating tons of ice cubes. turns out everyone is hungry again so we head to the gyro stand (sold out). then the oyster stand (sold out but have clam chowder) & then decide to hit up midland bakery for dinner as it's now 8:45 and so loud we want some quiet. 

more wine (i pass on this), more food, more laughs, more ridiculous conversation and joined by the fabulous jessie who works at midland. we laughed for a long time, discussed male vs female corporate marketing targets and teased each other to the point of silliness.

all in all a fantastic night.

xo
suzisouchi

*PS........this butterfly was sitting on the steps outside the store yesterday! can you believe it? karla who works next door is our hand model. incredible right/
x



basalt mountain hike......june 12..............LOVE

i did it!!! yes, i finally made it up, over & around basalt mountain. it was so beautiful that i can't wait to do it again. maybe sunday before jacks puppy kindergarten class. did you know, i absolutely love basalt? so here are pictures of the incredible hike this past sunday in basalt mountain. i went with my new friend dina & it was funny (cue...twang....deliverance song), barbaric (limbs???) & survivor (is this a trail?). i had a great time. rumor has it it's about 8 miles and totally worth it. 


here you are....enjoy.
xo
suzisouchi






rumor has it people get married under here. it's so pretty i want to do a picnic here!!

look at this view

uh.....not happy about this. we saw another leg a mile down........

love this view. so turns out you can drive up but i highly recommend the 8 mile trip. so pretty.

little man made lake? reservoir?


spider web above a creek. huge huge spider....don't like that but love the web!

can you imagine how high i am??? i think about 7400 ft. the snow cap mountain is 14,000 ft!

basalt block party weekend.........june 11 & 12...................part 1

what a weekend. i am exhausted........feeling sluggish (yoga in a few hours hoping to revive me or send me to an early sleep time) i am trying out yoga.....i have taken maybe a dozen yoga classes in my life and was never really into it. however, i am so envious of the yoga bodies i see on my friends....arms, abs, ass....hmm so i have decided to give it a try in this beautiful environment. i love how i feel afterwards but am not a fan of the moaning, chanting..but hey, maybe i'll learn to enjoy it......or tune it out.  i went twice last week & am going today to a different studio to see how that goes.






so saturday morning i went on another hike and didn't make the loop in basalt mtn as i wasn't sure there was a loop & thought it best not to wander on my own. so short hike, chai at midland (with soy as i still can't have dairy...8 more days), then off to play with jack in the park (fetch....he's pretty good!) and then to the store. as i walk up (ugh, 10 minutes late) i am feeling a good day & jack is happy, content and already sleepy. in walks, a women in tennis gear who heads straight to the tourmaline trina cardi cape. so pretty on her since she is blonde, tall & tan. she was in the day before in golf gear & melisa was showing her all the fabulous ways to wear it. so, dreams of souchi, tossing & turning in beautiful cashmere, made her have to come in saturday morning. she left happy & fearful of a possible new addiction :)




then, the cool & very funny krista walks in. i met krista last week at her home for the trunk show she was hosting for her friend who launched the line of cottons from india (pretty colors). so we talk, chat, & she tries on everything in the store. i like her style, love her attitude and we are having a great time. she leaves with 2 amazing gifts for friends & gifts for herself. she's headed to a bbq that night and needed the paula pocket pullover in snow white & tight white jeans to wear with chocolate lizard cowboy boots & layers of the most amazing turquoise squash blossom necklace from the 20's (swoon!!!). not to mention she has long legs, bright blue eyes...stunning. she needed some other things and had a great time choosing. so much fun.




then in walks, suzanne, our new souchi favorite. she is also very funny, realized her souchi addiction early on (that's the first step) and just had to say yes to the souchi drug! she got cool cool pieces: new jeans from 'mother' the crop looker in peacock (i think i need these), souchi caroline sweater in navy, the netty panel tank in chrome bamboo, the clinton head scarf in multi (love!) and the last christina lehr tent tee. seriously cute stuff and she looked fantastic.




so far, it's noon & i am having the best day with great customers. so i head out for an afternoon break from 2-5 so i can be back to work in the store if it's busy late night because of the block party. 




end of part 1...
xo
suzisouchi

Friday, June 10, 2011

basalt.......june 10......

ahhhhhh, i woke up this morning at 6:45....the air is so clean, sky so blue & sun so bright that it feels impossible to sleep in these days. however, i didn't have that problem last week when i was sleeping till 8:30. but, mostly that was because i was waking up at 2, 4, 6 to let jack out. he's much better now about holding his bladder (YEAHHHHHHHHH) 


so, i woke up this morning, through on my trusty target leggings (love these & $5.99), christina lehr slip tank, enza costa l/s t-shirt & my straw fedora (no more sun spots!) and headed on a hike to the trail head off spur/midland. it's a great hike and hopefully tomorrow morning i will find out if it loops around. so far i've gone 45 minutes up and then back. i love the view & it's a great work out. tomorrow i'm heading out early in hopes that i find out if it loops around....stay tuned. here are some pictures from the hike. 









then play date with jack & layla. i love layla's mom, logan. we are very similar about our 'kids' love them but man they can make us crazy. nothing is more fun than watching them play together. we just crack up and watch them. it is so sweet, hysterical & curious: how can that not hurt?


off to work to open at 10 am. super excited as we got new jeans from mother & a huge box of souchi bamboo & organic cotton & cotton/cashmere. you MUST come to the store to see all the color. so pretty & fun & playful. i had to steal a pair of the jeans, organic cami & a leslie bamboo crew. joy!




after checking in all the new things, changing our windows, re-merchandising the store, freaking out at jacks need to bark, bark, bark AND bark....(finally had to get the water!) i left the new souchi girls to the store and headed to midland bakery for a glass of wine, the couch under the tree & continued to read 'an extravagant hunger' while i waited for logan to finish work so layla & jack could play again. i am feeling the need to have a glass of wine at 4 pm everyday. such a relaxing luxury. i brought 12 books to read and haven't read one! i've got to get on with it. 




it's now, internet time: looking at homes, cities, commercial spaces, and style.com. meanwhile, jack is headed to the crate (omg! he went on his own!!)


has anyone checked out the collections on style.com? what do you love? what did you hate? here's what i love....so far.










fyi, he's now out of his crate :) and i miss my living room :(




happy friday
xo
suzisouchi