Sprucing up my dad’s old Ford truck named Clementine. 

I’m really excited about my newest project, Clementine, The Flower Truck! I’m breathing new life into my dad’s old yellow-orange Ford pick-up, lovingly named Clementine, right here in Portland, Maine.

Growing up in California, my dad had a (mostly) white 1972 Ford pickup truck ironically named “The Beauty.” From what I can remember, it barely ran, the windows squeaked when you tried to roll them down by hand, and at one point, a family of squirrels had made a nest in the seats. For the whole time my dad had this truck, I never thought it was cool and dreaded the days I had to drive it when the other two cars in my family of five were unavailable. 

In high school, I worked at a (once) popular clothing store called Brandy Melville - a store famous for their infamous and extremely controversial tagline one size fits all. Needless to say, all of my coworkers were quintessentially perfect – they were blonde, beautiful California girls, and all drove white Volkswagen Jettas, the “in” car of the time.  Then there was me arriving to work in a loud, smelly, rusted, and aged truck.  Needless to say it didn’t help me fit in, which was all I wanted at the time.  As I hope you can understand, I grew to really resent “The Beauty”.

Flash forward to fall of 2022 when my parents decided to move from San Francisco to Maine.  As part of this move, my dad had to sell “The Beauty” (he was crushed).  However, soon after they arrived in Maine, good old dad bought another 70s Ford pickup truck.   The similarities between the new-old truck with the old-old truck were strong, the only major difference was the color. This truck is yellow-orange, and so my dad named her “Clementine”. The real change in this story, however, is me. From the first time I got behind the wheel and lumbered down the road, I coveted this truck. I feel like the coolest thing on the road when I drive it around town and everybody recognizes Clementine. I especially love when 70-year-old men give me a thumbs up out their window as I drive by. If only high school Cicely could see me now. 

Now let’s talk about how flowers play a role in this story. I’ve always had a passion for flowers.  I worked at a flower shop in Brooklyn all throughout college. For a while now, actually probably since I started my first job after college and began a life of being stuck in front of my computer screen, I’ve missed being creative, working with my hands, and being able to directly interact with people. I loved working at a flower shop, because I felt like I was creating something beautiful for others, I was directly brightening their day and that felt really rewarding. 

After living in New York City for almost 8 years, I recently moved back to Maine to take care of my parents’ old cottage for the winter. I’ve found myself sitting at the desk which overlooks the backyard and the driveway, often lost in thought while staring at Clementine parked directly in my view. One day, while the light was shining particularly bright on the truck, it hit me - why not use Clementine to sell flowers? I could park the truck anywhere, and sell from the back!

I’m a gemini, and I often get very excited about projects and pursue them with reckless abandon.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.  But with this idea, it feels different, it feels personal, and it feels right. I hope I’m able to bring this vision to life and add a little more beauty to Maine with each bouquet I create. 

As a side note to this already too long story, the themes of the flower truck pay homage to my mother’s country roots. She grew up in a tiny town in Colorado, and her childhood is a constant source of inspiration to me. If you’d like to read more about stories from her upbringing, feel free to check out some of my writing samples, too (link to writing sample page)! 

Please follow along on this journey and stay up to date on where I’ll be parked next through our Instagram! 

Thank you for reading! <3