Shhh... don't tell!

 

We love it when Santa pops in!

For those of us who like to give (and receive!) gifts, owning a store is like having Santa pop in  every day — which must be the reason that we do it, because it sure is a lot of work! But the rewards are plentiful too, and perhaps none as great as unpacking a brand new shipment, pulling out the product that we bought sometimes months before, and seeing the reaction it gets from our most critical and vocal front line, our “Huffington Heroes.”

 Hilarious Huffingtons…we love these ladies (and watch out for Sam, who’s hiding behind Scurry)

For the most part, our lovely employees are (actually!) a polite and supportive group who tend to oooh and aaah over most of the purchases, with a couple of vocal exceptions leading to the not-so-subtle question of “what were they drinking when they bought this?”   But of course those are few and far between!

So this is the season when the Huffingtons’ grateful and appreciative bosses, in the form of a Secret Santa, will be deciphering those vocal ooh and aah’s to pick out the most fitting gifts for these same wonderful  and well deserving employees.  Because they’re worth it!

So what will it be?

The easiest person to buy for (and possibly the most opinionated!) is Sammy, because she loves books more than anything.

 Sam

 She has a wonderful eye, is a fabulous designer and editor, and some may even say she has quite a bit of character, so we know she will LOVE the new book Diana Vreeland:

Next year:  Memos by Sam Jones!

Next easiest is Alva, because she loves jewelry – and wears it so well.

 Alva

We know that she was jumping up and down when we brought in Grace George, a jeweler out of Louisiana whose gorgeous baubles have been flying out of our store.  And we know that she loves crosses, beads and anything gold.

 The perfect bauble for our adorable Alva

Allison is pretty easy to buy for too, because she loves anything French, and is partial to art and objets that come from her native Louisiana.

 Allison

We know she’s had her eye on an Amy Dixon painting, which may stretch our budget a little (even though she’s worth every penny!) so we’ll need to beg Mark to weigh in a little too.

 An Amy Dixon chandy is high on Allison’s list …

 … but we know she’d also be happy with one of these fabulous crosses!

Colleen is a cinch.

 Colleen

She looks fabulous in all of our new vests and has never worn a piece of jewelry that didn’t make her already gorgeous face sing.

Her taste is a little edgier, so we’re probably looking at a fabulous piece by our newest jewelry designer, Gypsy.

 

A gorgeous piece of Gypsy jewelry for our gorgeous gypsy, Colleen.

(Although we know she also has been eyeing our favorite new fur benches.  Hint, hint … Peter?)

The perfect mongolian wool bench, that will make Colleen’s heart sing!

Colleen’s mother, Babs, will probably ask us for a donation to JDRF in her name, as she is a most philanthropic and committed champion of that wonderful cause.

 

Babs

We’ll happily do that, but we’re going to surprise her with something too, which will either be a cashmere tunic, or one of our newest feather weight cashmere scarves.

She wants cashmere…

And maybe more cashmere!

Our tall, thin and elegant Barbara looks good in everything, so we can’t really go wrong with clothing.

Barbara

In fact, we’d love to see her in one of our new Claridge & King cashmere tunics, because they would look so fabulous on her, along with one of our cool belts from Wimberly.

 

 And more cashmere…

Emily, who is our darling social media and marketing guru, often hidden in the back conjuring headlines and writing brilliant copy, looks amazing in everything too.

Emily

But she also loves her pretty home and we know would be inspired by her favorite designer’s brand new book …

 One of our nicest clients and Emily’s favorite designer, Suzanne Kasler.

… and this gorgeous white lacquer table for it to sit on!  (Oh dear … there goes that budget again!)

 Our gorgeous white laquer desk may stretch our budget a little, even for darling Emily!

Mackenzie, our newest employee at Huff Harrington Fine Art, politely oohs and aahs over everything at the store, when she stops by for painting swaps.

 

Mackenzie

We’re thinking she travels a lot and loves our roller bags, and also likes the wallets from Hobo … but a little birdy has told us that what she really has her eye on are our newest, ever so hip leather key rings!

Maybe this …

Or a Hobo wallet …. or …

 We hear she really has her eye on a cute leather o-ring!

And what do you get the woman who has it all and can pull it off with more style and aplomb than just about anyone we know?

 

 Lovely Linda, who has it all!

We think our darling Linda may need dear old Dan to weigh in with us (again this year!), and go for that fabulous new painting that she can’t seem to get out of her mind:

A painting by Liz Barber that has been haunting Linda since we got it …

… And pair it, as she does so well, with a gilded Louis mirror, that will make everything glow!

 A Louis for our Linda, again this year!

There really is nothing more fun than surprising someone with the perfect gift … even if that surprise might have been leaked a little in advance, to just a few hundred people.  Oops!  Well, isn’t it the thought that counts?

Ta ta, with lots of holiday cheer,

SS (Secret Santa)