Suzanne Moshenko

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India Rose and my friend Suzie

By: 20 Comments

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The Savoy  
I first met Suzie back in 1992 when we worked together at a bar in San Francisco called The Savoy Tivoli.  You may have heard of it–it's slightly infamous. The Savoy, on Grant Street  in North Beach opened its door in 1906 and has been employing art students, struggling writers, lost souls, and future suburbia lovers as its wait staff, bartenders, and bouncers ever since. 
I wrote about my friend Annie, who I worked with there, in this post.  I'm pretty much shamelessly begging you to read my post about her. It involves Adam Ant, a fake Irish accent, and an after-school special called "Because Mommy's Drunk." 
Yeah, it's that good.  

The Savoydrop 

 Anyway, back to Suzie.  She is pictured above with the big red lips and the gigantic Coach bag.  I was just a junior college transfer student from a suburb of LA called "Orange County" and I had never seen a Coach bag before.   Suzie was born and raised in San Francisco and had a style, a way about her, I hadn't ever come across at The Red Onion.   

Suzie was an artist.  She had the heart of a luminary and the mouth of a revolutionary, and when she stood up to Christophe (the towering Frenchman and the manager) on the left, and told him he treated us all "like dogs," threw down her apron, and walked out the narrow, wooden back door of The Savoy, I'm telling you, she was my hero. All I could do was stand there with my tray filled with Anchor Steams and Jager shots and watch her leave, knowing full well, she was NEVER coming back. 

…and she didn't.  She got herself a studio in the East Bay, which has over the years has become India Rose.  

Ir_logo 
Now, here's the shopping portion of the post, the really good stuff.  As I said, Suzie–who now goes by the name "Carter," her maiden name–has always had style, but talent too.  She's been very successful selling her home furnishings to retailers all over the world.  You may have heard of a little shop I've mentioned here called A.N.T.H.RO.P.O.L.O.G.I.E?  (…moment of reverence.) 
She sells to them…

things like this…

WD

and this…

Canggulb

Oh, and I want this…

Ryder_candle 

So great. And because I would always ask her if she wanted a Snapple when I would run across the street from The Savoy to get one for myself, and because I once covered her 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift (the most dreaded), she said she would give all the "Alive in Wonderland" readers 25% off EVERYTHING on her site.   
Here it is again : INDIA ROSE!  Just type in promotion code daily25 and you will get the discount I so selflessly earned for you.   

Comments

  1. 1

    Good on Suzie for standing up for herself and the rights of others! Sounds like she’s doing well for herself, I love scented candles!

  4. 4

    Such great stories and memories….I bet the Real Houswives would be shocked at your history Missy!!! 🙂
    going to check out the goodies.
    Suz

  5. 5

    Thanks for the male injection at the end! That was close. I almost had to click on the shopping sites and then the Jager reference brought me back to reality.
    Great story. Have slight crush on Suzie.

  6. 6

    Oh that is so exciting! Good for Suzie, er..Carter. She always cracked me up, and I can’t wait to go shopping…sorry gotta go!

  8. 8

    She sounds like a pistol! I think the only truly famous person I had any kind of connection to is Cheryl Ladd, aka Cheryl Stoppelmoor. I didn’t know her in high school, but she was definitely traveling on a different plane from the rest of us. There have been other people, roommates and the like who have gone on to greatness in their fields but she’s the only one with celebrity.

  10. 10

    I love these comments and how you made me sound so interesting. Ok, and who is Joe and why just the slight crush, go the whole hog Joe.
    But this is very important if anyone tried the promo code and it did not work, simply type in
    daily25
    Thanks for mentioning me on your blog Suzanne. So fun to read and damn you write brilliantly.
    XOXOXO

  12. 12

    She has some beautiful stuff and thanks for sharing her story. Glad to hear she followed her dreams, it’s alway inspiring to hear that. 🙂

  13. 13

    Such pretty stuff. I always tell everyone, Suz is someone who’s good to know, and here you are, proving it yet again, with your discount code and whatnot!

  14. 14

    Wow, I am going to check out the site RIGHT NOW! Thanks for sharing. I will not mention the Coach bag “issue” but I am sure with your many contacts that you know someone at Coach who might be able to hook you up so that you can actually own one and not just admire them 🙂 Just a thought 🙂

  17. 17

    Oh my gosh!!! I have been looking for placemats and napkins to no avail… I almost cried when I saw the simple/modern/classic style on the India Rose site. And 25% off… I might even be able to afford these with our debt free lifesyle.
    Will the 25% off expire? I’ll have to save my allowance for a couple of weeks before I can get some. You read that right, allowance. We are crazy. We only buy stuff we have cash for… just imagine if more people were like that… mmmmmm 3.5 trillion bailout… I think not!!!

  18. 18

    I dream of bedding that serene. A complete and total lack of pet hair and stuffed animals. Sigh.
    Thanks, Suz! And thanks for the generosity, Miss Carter.

  19. 19

    Oh, that bag is soooo cute! Nice pick. And that candle looks like it probably smells lovely. 🙂 I LOVE LOVE LOVE nice candles. My latest thing are the scented oils. Love them, and they heat up so fast! I throw open my windows and the smell goes through the whole house! Lemon Basil is my current favorite!

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