Alicia Schwede, editor of Flirty Fleurs blog and owner of Bella Fiori
Musings of a Florist :: visit flirty fleurs on Tuesdays and read a variety of musings by me – Alicia Schwede, editor of the blog.
I’ll be sharing some thoughts of what I’ve learned, what I would do differently, and what I’m thankful for on this flower filled journey I’ve been on since 1998.
The Early Days
In January of 2002 I drove from the Bay Area to Denver to visit my friend who had been transferred there for work. I planned to stay 4-6 weeks, help her settle in, spend some time skiing, etc. Only a few months after 9/11 and the Bay Area was unsettled, well I suppose everywhere was unsettled – So a long vacation sounded good. The first day in Colorado we went snowmobiling and every day that followed was go go go full of fun activities. On Anna’s working days I’d go off and visit flower shops and see the scene. All I can say is that it was a huge difference from the Bay Area, dark shops with buckets of mums. One shop owner even told me to hightail it back to SF because the Denver scene wasn’t happening. I thought his advice was interesting and I kept poking around – so curious! One day I walked into a studio filled to the brim with props and one huge, killer arrangement. I stood there and took it all in and after some time I hollered out – is anyone here? A lady came out and I told her I was visiting from SF and wonderingly if they might need some help (freelancers). She looked at me and called for the other 2 ladies to come out, told them I was looking to help and was from visiting from California. They told me to come back the next day and they’d put me to work. I later found out that at the moment I was standing alone in that entry room they had been in the back room discussing what to do as they needed help, but were not thrilled with applicants and had even said ‘we need someone from out of state’. Serendipity?!
Funny how 4-6 weeks turned into 4-6 months and then kept going, I was so quickly sucked in to a busy life in Colorado. The studio kept me busy, they really were slammed and I kept going back day after day. I learned so much as they worked on large events. I also learned that dealing with weather in Denver was much more difficult than the SF Bay Area’s very temperate climate.
What I had planned on being a 4-6 Week visit ended up turning into 11 years of living in Colorado.
