Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Macy's Flower Show

Every year, on the weekends surrounding Easter, San Francisco hosts the marriage of flora and commerce.
I'd never seen it before.
But, once our teams were out of contention, 
the NCAA Men's Basketball March Madness held less interest for me than it has in years past.  
I left the boys and set out on an adventure.
I took a cab to Jackson Square and visited with my favorite vintage poster-meister before
heading to Union Square for some retail therapy.  I strolled through Ferragamo and admired wildly expensive purses and blouses and shoes... oh, the shoes.... and then I looked up and saw this 
through Macy's front window.
The unrelieved starkness of Big Cuter's Tenderloin  neighborhood left me hungry for growing things.
With no intention of spending a dime, I walked around the first floor, drooling.
Where was the elevator?
Beneath the turquoise faux-stained glass, beneath the azaleas.
The usual downtown mega-store noise was dampened.
I decided it was due to the calming effect of all those blooms.
I rode the elevator to the sixth floor, but exited on the fifth floor, so I first saw this
as it appeared inch by inch from the bottom up,
 as the escalator took me up and up.
At the top, I saw this.
I was in the housewares department, so I was not surprised to see the elephant tent covering china on a lovely lacquered table.  .
I'm not too sure I like the leopard print squooshy legs, though.

Turning around, I saw these gigantic hydrangeas attached to the ceiling.
Those are flowery streamers 
above another fabulous table setting.
Yes, those are flowers creating the rug.

On my way out, I laughed at the osteospermum over the earrings.  
I'd grown those along my Marin driveway; I hadn't seen them since then.
The third venue was outside, on O'Farrell Street.
The sunshine reflected the scene, making it a 360 degree experience.  
I was in front of myself and behind myself at the same time.
See what I mean?  
The building is across the street, and so is the man... or is he?
Every detail was made of flowers.
Those are TBT's (Tiny Blue Things... the technical term) creating the larger blue flower.
I would have liked descriptive signage, but that might just be me.

I was hungry, and Pinkberry was right there, offering grapefruit soft and wonderfulness, a broken cookie (which meant it was guilt free, since there are no calories in crumbs)
and as many toppings as the delightful server could fit into the crevices.
(
I walked all the way back to Big Cuter's apartment.... a mile or so of immersion in the City.
It was a perfect day.

12 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos! I'd love to see all that in person. It looks to me like those "squishy" leopard print legs are not legs, but a drape from under the table to the floor.

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    1. Oh, my, you are right :) I stood there and wondered how they were strong enough to hold up the table. My readers keep me honest!!
      a/b

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  2. At first I thought this was in Tucson and thought, "WOW, they have those types of flowers there?". Then I realized it was SF. I didn't even know Macy's sponsored something like this. Really beautiful!

    Thanks for sharing with us too.

    Megan xxx

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    1. We have flowers like that in Tucson... they are inside and don't last very long at all :)
      a/b

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  3. Thanks for the photos. I miss exuberant displays like that, but they're confined to large cities, it seems. It's goodness that you're walking the mile home. We're in Seattle for a week, it's raining sideways. I miss the desert.

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    1. My body was lifted by the blooms, it seems. I'm working on endurance now.... all things come to those who work, it seems :)
      a/b

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  4. We love the Macy's display of flowers. Windows, in the store, throughout the building...wonderful. Glad you were able to traverse our favorite city in the whole world.

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    1. It was a gasp-smile-picture day! SF is a delight, it is true.
      a/b

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  5. Ugh I'm drooling something FIERCE over those Hydrangeas...

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    1. You can grown them... just ask MOTG for help :)
      a/b (mama)

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  6. So pretty! Nice pictures!

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    1. See comment above... I've enlisted your support in the ongoing beautification project a/b

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