Today we drove into the mountains and saw some mind-blowing scenery. Those Rockies sure are breathtaking! The best moment was when we drove by a family of deer. The Mama was just chilling on the side of the road, so we stopped to look at her. Lo and behold! There were eight deer behind her, including Papa, and they weren’t the least bit afraid. They just hung around there and let us take their pictures. It was beautiful.

Then we went to Red Rocks Amphitheater (Remember that U2 concert?) Can I just say…WOW. Totally awesome. I like Toronto, but we just don’t get views like this, do we? It was lovely to spend the day in the mountains, especially after we braved the malls yesterday on Black Friday. For those of you not in the “shopping know,” Black Friday has nothing to do with the stock market. It’s actually the day after American Thanksgiving and it officially kicks off the the Christmas season. It’s supposed to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year, so we wanted to check it out. I’m happy to report that the economy seems in FINE shape, at least here in Denver. Consumers hit those malls hard to get their Christmas shopping on, and although we had a festive time (took Jessie to meet Santa), it was refreshing for us city slickers to spend today out in the great oudoors.

Mama and her posse

Red Rocks

“There are no happier people on this planet than those who decide that they want something, define what they want, get hold of the feeling of it even before it’s manifestation, and then joyously watch the unfolding, as piece by piece, by piece it begins to unfold. That’s the feeling of your hands in the clay.”
– Abraham Hicks

Now that we’re getting to know each other a little better, I think I should tell you that although I LOVE running LIV and Au Lit, it is actually my day job. At night, I moonlight as a writer. Some of you may even have read one of my novels (You Made Me Love You, and Harmony.) As soon as I finish this blog entry, I will be getting back to work on my current novel, She’s Got Baggage. What better place to write than sitting here by the fire in my hotel lobby? (Mig has taken the little numph to to the zoo. YIPEE!) The Christmas tree is lit up and I am so cozy and content.

Being a writer, one of my great passions is books. I LOVE books!! I love the smell of a new book, the touch of it, the look of them all stacked up on those tables at Indigo. On buying trips, one of my favourite things to choose for LIV is…you got it: BOOKS. We’ve always sold home decor books at Au Lit, but with LIV, I’ve had an opportunity to really expand our book selection. I do try to keep the selection well edited – home decor, humour, fashion, spiritual, cooking – but I hope to keep growing this department and expanding our titles. I love the idea of our customers lingering at LIV with books and a hot cocoa in our soon-to-be operational coffee & hot cocoa bar. And since I’m already divulging my vision for LIV, what I’d really like to achieve is creating the very best shopping experience you’ve ever had. I know it’s a bold statement, but someone’s got to try, right?

Let’s face it, service these days is mediocre, at best. My dream is to combine amazing products and visuals with an irresistable, exciting, memorable and inspiring retail experience. What exactly does that mean? Please keep following as I develop this concept and attempt to bring it to life at LIV. I’d love your feedback. How do YOU define the BEST shopping experience? What elements need to be in place? I have all sorts of ideas and I would love to hear yours.

Whoops. Got WAY off track my theme for a moment. Okay, so back to books. The reason for that tangent is that lingering among books is one of my own personal favourite shopping experiences. At any given time, I am reading one fiction book, one spiritual book and one business book. I know LIV is not a book store, but the concept is WHAT WE LOVE. And at LIV, you obviously won’t find racks and racks of books the way you do at Indigo, but you will find our absolute favourites in all the categories we feel is a fit for LIV and our customers. We’re just helping to narrow your focus.

If anyone is not sure what to buy me this season, start with a book. It is a simple, perfect gift.

Kate Spade books

A great gift

By the way, stunning pastel tea cup & saucer is $10

A home decor classic

Greetings from the ‘Mile High’ city, where the sun is brighter and the sky is bluer. (True. There’s less water vapour in the air a mile above sea level so it really is blindingly bright over here.) What’s this all got to so with LIV and shopping? Nothing. I don’t even have a clever segue.
I’m not even here on LIV related business.

But I do feel like chatting about NUMPH!. I LOVE Numph! It’s a really cool clothing line from Denmark with a great story behind it. It all began when a wealthy businessman gave seven young, creative women – all fashion designers – a big WAD of money and encouraged them to create the type of clothes they wished to wear themselves. They were given total freedom with their designs and you can really see their spontenaiety and creativity in each piece of clothing. Numph collections are always ecclectic, edgy and quirky. We sold out of the Numph spring collection in ONE WEEK. The ‘Numphs’ are true artists:
“Our dream was to create a brand from scratch which is different and stronger simply
because nümph sums up our experiences and creativity: cutting edge, twisted, feminine and rough, vulnerable and strong.” – the ‘numphs’

Christel black skirt $70!!

Green heart sweater $129

My little numph in Numph

Numph T-shirt art

I wasn’t planning on getting this personal so early in our relationship – after all, we’re just getting to know each other – but I have to share this story because it is truly miraculous.

Last year this month, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was very advanced, and by June, it had spread to her bones. We were told there was no cure, that she was in “palliative care.”

A few weeks ago, she started to experience some pain in her back and legs, so she went for an MRI to determine how much the tumours on her spine had grown. We all had a deep sense of foreboding. I started trying to mentally prepare myself for losing her, which is an impossible task, especially because our lives our so intertwined. I am her only child, we are business partners, she has helped me raise my daughter, we share a summer home in Maine, and let’s face it, I still feel totally dependent on her for most everything. To say we are close is an understatement. I love her so much and have spent the past few weeks waiting for the results in a sort of numbed denial.

On the day she was supposed to call for the results, I burst in our office and said, “Don’t call for the results. Let’s just act as if you’re totally well. We don’t need to know.”
She said, “I’ve already decided I’m well.” She didn’t call for the results that day, and we were happy.

She called the next day. The nurse told her the tumours were GONE. They had shrunk to the point of being indiscernable on the MRI. Today, my mom is cancer-free. She is, according to her nurse, in stage ZERO. Can you BELIEVE it?? It is an absolute miracle. From stage four to stage zero!

Tonight we celebrated at Auberge du Pommier. I am so grateful. Isn’t amazing just to know that anything is possible?

Celebrating life

I love you Marsha

The Au Lit "Board of Directors": Husband Mig, Mom & Jessie

Now it feels like winter! I have a love-hate relationship with snow. I love it when it’s falling and fresh and twinkly and I’m all cozy inside. The rest of the time I hate it. My five-year-plan is to open a LIV by Au Lit in L.A, mainly so I can spend lots of time in California from January to April.

I’m going to keep this brief because I have to start packing for a 2-week trip to Colorado. I just wanted to mention my favourite winter jacket this season. It’s the Tiny Tim jacket by BENCH and it comes in teaberry (hot new colour), black and white. And it’s only $185! Check it out on our very own Alia.

BENCH's Tiny Tim jacket in Teaberry

Welcome to entry #2 of my LIV by Au Lit blog. A little background about me and my fam: I’m one of the owners. My partners are my Mom (Peggy, who founded Au Lit Fine Linens almost 28 years ago in Montreal) and my husband Miguel. We are a very tight-knit family business (and my four-year-old daughter is not far behind.) She loves “merchandising” at LIV, and this morning I found her playing “LIV” in her bedroom. She had taken most of her clothes out of her drawers and placed them all over her room, and she’d even added some of her books and ‘tchochkes’ to sell too! She said to me, “I’m working at the LIV Christmas party today and my daughter is home with her Daddy.”

So cute. I never wanted anything to do with my mom’s business when I was little and look at me now. I’ve usurped the whole operation!

Anyway, it’s a warm, spring-like November day and Julie is doing the Au Lit Christmas merchandising. It’s hard to wrap your head around Christmas wreaths and flannel PJ’s when the birds are chirpring outside and people are walking around in T-shirts and yes, shorts. (Saw someone this morning in shorts. REALLY?) But speaking of flannel PJ’s, Au Lit has just put out my favourites of the season by BedHead. They’re adorable! Pink and blue flannel with birds. You might have seen them featured in In Style magazine. As the proud owner of many flannel BedHead jammies, I can promise you they’re everything you’ve ever wanted in a cozy jammy, and they get better and better over time.
If you like jammies as much as I do, you’ll also love Scanty’s holiday collection at LIV. Lots of peace symbols and owls, super cozy and a nice price point too.

So…happy holiday shopping!

Bedhead flannel jammies

Scanty holiday jammies

Jessie Faith - Merchandiser

Au Lit Fine Linens Holiday

Linda's beautiful ribbons

Au Lit Fine Linens Chalet collection

Behold...Another exquisite job by Julie and her merchandising team

Last weekend we had an amazing holiday event to officially kick off the season. I know it’s a bit early – there was some groaning whenever our DJ played a xmas tune – but we wanted the party to coincide with the launch of our holiday clothing collections and the first unveiling of our winter merchandising. Julie B. and the entire Liv team did a fantastic job transforming the store into a winter wonderland. It’s very exciting to see my vision come to life. We’ve been planning ‘Holiday at Liv’ since the summer!

It doesn’t seem so long ago that Julie and I were sitting around the house in Maine (more on that later), choosing the Robert Frost poem which was our inspiration for the window and sketching all the vignettes. And now here we are!

All that to say the event was a smashing success! We sold tons of clothing. When I first opened Liv - with equal parts furniture, linens, accessories and clothing – my philosophy was that the customers would tell us what they wanted and that would be the direction we would go. Well, the people have spoken! You clearly want more clothes! So it shall be. If you’ve been to Liv a few times, you’ve probably noticed the clothing department growing and expanding in all directions, and that’s because we are listening to you! You can still expect to see linens and French furniture in our store - we are Au Lit after all – but we will continue to edit and fine-tune our products as we continue to listen to your feedback. 

For now, welcome to my blog and welcome to my life! 
(Who the bleep is Joanna anyway, you might be wondering? Stay tuned…)

Welcome to LIV

Julie B. - Assistant Creative Director Extraordinaire

Lovely Aliya

DJ Robbie + Moose