Cool Shit Monday: Childhood Fantasies

image: thefrenchpear via all the pretty pretties

I saw this tree house the other day and had one of those Swiss Family Robinson flashbacks.  No, I don't mean a flashback to the time I was stranded on a desert island with my family (that's a whole other story...), I mean to watching that quaint 60s Disney movie of the book where they build that incredible home.  When I was a kid, that totally seemed like the sweetest place anyone could ever hope to live.  There's something about a system of levers and pulleys to help run a household in completely unnecessary yet totally cool way that just floats my boat.  I think it's the lingering impression left by those awesome sequences in Sesame St where they show you things like the processes at a peanut butter factory.  Anyway, a tree house (a fancy one) still seems like a pretty cool idea.  So here are some other cool things that I might either put in my tree house or appeal the child in me.

And all the animals were their friends.  Aww...

You've probably seen this staircase.  It's been doing the rounds on Pinterest and facey.  But it would be a treat in my tree house.  I once did a school project when I was 8 in which I had to come up with a creative way to get to and from school.  I had to walk up and down a couple of hills so I decided that I would like to take a gondola (the aerial kind, not the boating kind) to the top of the hills, and a hydro slide down.  I still like this idea (yes, yes, I know there are many logical reasons why it would actually be crap) and this staircase puts me in mind of it.

I think it was my 7th birthday party where I had the Sweet Shop cake.  If you grew up in New Zealand or Australia, you know THE BOOK of birthday cakes that every home seemed to have.  I'm pretty sure it was a Woman's Weekly number.  I spent hours poring over that book, planning which cake I would have for an upcoming imaginary party.  There is a classic photo of me leaning on the table in front of the sweet cake and I look so stoked (in the same photo, one of my party friends is throwing a wobbly - also quite funny).  As soon as I saw this site and their beautiful creations, I was put in mind of that cake.  I don't know which of all these beautiful set ups I want.  I may just spend hours poring over them creating imaginary parties...

Bunks: a dorky hassle when you have to live in the same room in your brother because your big sister brings home an exchange student who stays for the better part of the year (clearly one of my life experiences), or the perfect excuse to share the fun and avoid sleep (remember that as a kid you didn't want to sleep.  Oh how things change)?  With these kick-arse bunks, there is no doubt it's the latter.  There are so many amazing kids beds out there to choose from I had trouble picking ones to show you.

Wonderland beds

Source: d'Home interiors

I think it's a compulsory that my childhood fantasy tree house has a cool reading room.  And it's very handy that Kid's Republic Bookstore in Beijing has created something pretty darn close to perfection.  I want to go here.  Now.  I wish to curl up on/in one of these shelves and read Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton.

I miss the limitless, logic-defying ideas of childhood!  Who wouldn't prefer a Swiss Family Robinson-style stranding to the Tom Hanks grown-ups version?  The rope swings and friendly elephants beat a bloodied volleyball and rampant facial hair any day.

Miraculous Happenings

I made some vague excuse last week about being tardy with WTFF.  I also promised I would post photos of the vague excuse.  I'm going to do better than that, I'm going to write a whole post about it.

One of my besties, Harriet, had a wild and wonderful idea a few years ago to start a baby store in Dunedin.  There was a massive hole in the market here.  You could go to the Baby Factory for basics, or TNT if you wanted your child to be highly flammable, or Arthur Barnetts if you could get past the smell of old ladies and cona coffee, and that was about it.  The magical internet was available of course, but sometimes you just want to go into a store and buy something.  Harriet was working in an incredibly unsatisfying job where her fabulous ideas and talents were not appreciated.  In search of retail-salvation, she started a new job as Assistant Manager in a business that was just starting up in Dunedin.  Her manager was an affable young lady named Sam.  Sam and Harriet quickly discovered that they shared the dream of opening a decent children's store in Dunedin.  They also quickly discovered that they didn't hate each other's guts (quite rare for retail work colleagues) and actually, they could handle seeing each other day in, day out indefinitely.  And they could make sensible decisions that the other didn't completely disagree with.  Sounds like the recipe for a good marriage, doesn't it?  And it was - A business marriage.  Harriet & Sam bit the bullet, took the leap of faith, and other cliches, and started Miracle.

Opening morning - Sam and Harriet lacking sleep but still smiling!

That was four years ago.  They have, as one might expect from any new business, their fair share of ups and downs but the heart of the matter remains: they have a good business idea, and they have the brains to implement it.  And so it was that at the beginning of the year they found themselves in a temporary store.  It was a pretty big challenge that they weren't entirely expecting to face but like so many of these serendipitous twists and turns life throws you, it's been an awesome clarifier for them - an unexpected boon.  The change from a massive store space to a much smaller one has focussed their business objectives and allowed them to make some changes they had been wanting to make for a while, and also discover some new successes they didn't know existed.  And through their temporary store, the metaphoric door has opened to their new permanent location.

It was this location that we worked hard to pull together on Friday, ready for the grand opening on Saturday.  It's like moving house except it all happens in a tight time frame and then you have to be ready to have an open home the following morning.  It's pretty full on!  Thankfully they were only moving down the corridor this time, but there's still a lot to do when you move a whole store of stock.  Stress levels were fairly high, people were tired, there were up to 10 of us all trying to work in a small space, not including the various off-spring roaming around or screaming the house down... it was chaotic to put it mildly.

But shit these ladies are funny.  As the hours ticked by and the bags under the eyes started to get darker, the jokes became more and more inappropriate and the laughter turned to giggling and cackling (most females are prone to the odd cackle when they're overtired).  Most amazing of all, the shop started to look good.  Really good.  Despite all the bossing (thanks Micaela), dithering, screaming babies (what would a baby store be without them?), and generally flummoxing, we pulled it together.

The result is a store that looks like a a delicious cupcake - beautiful quality ingredients topped with lots of colourful sprinkles.  The quality shoes, the cloth nappies, the beautiful merino clothing, and then bowlfuls of bright toys, and puzzles.  These girls have always known what they wanted, they have known what they needed to do, and with the new store they have taken another step towards their retail dream.  It's so awesome to watch.  It seems other people agree.  When 10am rolled around on Saturday morning, Harriet and Sam had more than just lack of sleep to deal with, they had a queue down the street waiting for the doors to open.

I'm happy to say I'll be doing a little more than just watch their success as I am about rediscover my retail feet and be their Monday Girl.  They've also got me looking after some of their online content too so I am slowly wheedling my way into the business.  A little Miracle with jam and cream?  I think I like that combination.

www.miracle.net.nz