I was creatively fed over the weekend.

(Seriously, how amazing is this door? This color?)

Thanks to a super supportive hubby, I was able to spend the entire Saturday with some girlfriends as we enjoyed GIRLS DAY OUT. I am immensely blessed to be surrounded by amazing women in my life – near and far. Obviously we were looking forward to spending time with each other … shopping, eating, gabbing about life and just enjoying a break from kiddos and housework and jobs. Such a healthy thing to prioritize once in a while. I recommend it.

But I was also looking forward to being inspired. I was planning to be inspired. I felt it coming. You see, I am perfectly content in my little bubble of local retail. Besides, all I really need is Target and Costco, right? But on Saturday, I was so looking forward to bursting my bubble and heading to places I haven’t been before, seeing things I hadn’t seen before.

We started with the always-creative experience of digging, digging, digging that is called Last Chance (1919 E Camelback Rd, Ste 1 in Phoenix, AZ; (602) 248-2843). You’d think we were outside the Apple store on the day the iPad becomes available. Not quite that exciting. Just bargain clothes shopping. We walked in those doors at 10:00 on the dot. Right when they opened.

I am grateful my friend Karolyn forces me to go to Last Chance once in a while. Because I am usually not in the digging mood. But I geared up for that on Saturday and totally scored the best deals. My favorite find? Yummy. I feel like I’m walking on sunshine in these shoes (and they were $19 – yay!).

I promise I won’t go over the play-by-play of our day, but I have to tell you that it was so fun running into Allison Tyler Jones at her photography studio! Totally random, actually. We were next door at Domestic Bliss in downtown Mesa and Allison happened to be next door and happened to be wrapping up a photo shoot. You do know who she is, right?

First of all, how fun to see Allison! I first met her years ago (it must’ve been about 1998-ish?) when I walked into Memory Lane, her scrapbook store. I was overwhelmed with her store’s coolness and she was just genuinely kind and I felt support from her as I shared thoughts on wanting to publish a book about creative lettering (which did happen and it was my very first book). Allison was one of the early “scrapbooking pioneers” for sure.

Anyway. Super to see Allison and even more super to see her in this environment of where she evolved to be. Her style and vision and talent, combined with her sister’s interior design expertise makes for an amazing studio space. All of it. The studio. The offices. Even the bathroom. Amazing.

This is just outside her studio:

This is inside her studio:

No space was left un-touched. Check out this wall in the bathroom:

Amazing, amazing, ah-may-ZING. Thanks for the impromptu tour, Allison! Such a treat. You can see Allison’s photography here.

Moving on. More boutiques and home decor stores and fun, fun eye candy.

And let’s be honest. Some things just couldn’t remain as eye candy. Some things had a little voice that said, Becky, I am yours. Take me home. And so I did. Oh man, does this piece EVER have potential! I can’t wait to play.

Found that piece at The Crowded House in Mesa, by the way. I don’t think they have a website, but their address is 1927 N Gilbert Rd Ste 1, Mesa, AZ. Tel: 480-834-3002.

Speaking of playing … and last but not least … I can’t wait to get to work on this collection of happy colors!

The vision is there. It’s been in my mind for months and it’s just taken this long to make time for it. And thanks to Designer Blvd., my friends and I pulled together a mad collection of yumminess. It’s been probably 10 years since I last put together a real floral arrangement. Watch out. I am so ready.

Tags: allison tyler jones, color, designer blvd., door, flowers, friends, inspiration, Last Chance, mesa, retreat, yellow

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 8:44 pm and is filed under style & design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.