life

Family Visit

1 Comment

Friday I traveled with my brother and parents to New York where we met my sister who came in from NYC. We spent the evening with my cousins and then ventured to our hotel room where we came across this weird room-width mirror over the headboard. While it actually did come in handy when my sister and I had to get ready the next morning, it still felt a little uncomfortable. My family likes to do hotels on a budget, so that generally means that I share a room with both my siblings and a bed with my sister. At least this place had two queens instead of two doubles.

img_2822 img_2831

Saturday we hung out all day at my cousins’ house. We played a little bit of heads up and watched basketball through most of the day and ended the evening with our traditional meal of pizza and wings, and played a spirited game of Trivial Pursuit. And, by the way, my team totally lost and the winning team had everyone in my immediate family but me on it. My dad was the captain. What the heck, John? At least there were our favorite chocolate chip cookies.

img_2827

Sunday morning we packed up the car and headed to about an hour west to visit my grandma and hang out at my aunt’s house nearby. Last year my grandma, although confused and tired, was able to leave her assisted living facility and hang out at the house with all of us for an afternoon. This year that wasn’t so much the case. Now my grandma lives in a nursing home. As a designer I think the space could be greatly improved, but the real draw of this places is that my aunt works in the same health complex and can drop in on her regularly. Seriously, how lucky are we? How many families have that luxury?

img_2854

The rest of my dad’s family lives closer and sees Grandma more often. They warn us, “It’s really bad. Like really bad. Just be ready for it.” They do a wonderful job managing my expectations because I felt like for 89 with dementia, my grandma seems way less “Is that person still breathing?” than most of the people I’ve seen in the two facilities she’s been in. She can still kind of hobble her way through a conversation. She relies a lot on reacting sarcastically or playfully saying something like “oh phooey” to the stuff we tell her. She also likes to be silly, like hen we told her to smile and she crossed her eyes and made a silly face instead. She spent the better part of our visit asking us how we were all able to get off of work and did we all come there just to see her?? It’s quite confusing to her because apparently her work schedule is pretty inflexible and she has to work weekends a lot. Her mind spends a lot of time back working as a nurse. Whatever, we roll with it.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the entire trip was seeing her light up when my dad walked in while she said to him with a big smile “hey, there’s my son!” I suspect that within minutes of us leaving she forgot we were even there, but for the time we were there she seemed happy and even touched by the idea that we all came just to see her.

Sunday afternoon we did more visiting with family. I got to play with my cousin’s son who is six and wildly imaginative. I cracked up when he said things like , “Mommy, can I have a pretend blanket to tuck in Monkey?” and (to my mom) “And you know what? I love you.” We did lots of “exercising” and I’m pretty sure my mom caught many lovely photos of me crawling around on the floor.

img_2882

Monday morning we packed up and, after dealing with a pretty major train delay with my sister, headed back to VA.

home decor

Art Collection: Favorite Fashion & Figurative Prints

1 Comment
gallery-wall
My hands-down favorite part of my bedroom is the gallery wall over my dresser. I pieced it together over the years with everything from notecards to antique artwork to framed fabric swatches, but my favorite pieces are the fashion/figurative artwork. My sister liked one of the prints by Leigh Viner so much that she asked for a set of three of her prints to put over her bed for Christmas.
I’m kind of picky when it comes to figurative artwork. I don’t really like to see open eyes illustrated. I think there’s something about the eyes closed or the back turned that makes the featured woman a bit of a mystery and lets you fill in the blanks about who she is and what she’s thinking and feeling. I also find it makes it a little easier to see yourself in the artwork, which is nice when you are bringing feminine artwork into one of the most person and feminine places in your home (well, at least if you are still living sans boy like I am).
Here are some of my favorite prints by my go-to artists for fashion illustrations. Most of these artists sell their items via Etsy. If you don’t see a size you like, it’s always worth it to message the artist directly – most of the time they will print anything in a custom size for you. Enjoy!
favorite-fashion-figurative-artwork
Row 1:
Row 2:
Row 3:

 

design school

A Semester in Review: Fall 2013

3 Comments

Since grad school is a huge part of my life, I thought I’d share what  a semester of an Interior Design Master’s program entails. Interior Design is a field that is often shrugged off as something that involves “picking pillows” or a field that is just so “artsy” that it’s not something you can study. I’ll admit, sometimes it does involve picking pillows, but Interior Design is much more analytical than most might think and that’s why I’m drawn to it. It is involves concept development, careful space planning, lighting considerations, and a whole host of furnishings and finishes that must function well in addition to supporting the design concept. Studying interior design at most university levels is similar to pursuing a degree in architecture, so much so that many undergrad programs throw architects, interior designers, and industrial designers in the same classes and studios during their first year of study, and many interior design professors are architects by training.

This semester I took four classes. That’s one more than a typical full-time grad school load. I did this for one primary reason: One of the classes I took was at NOVA–an undergrad prereq that I was allowed to satisfy at the much cheaper community college in the area–and I needed 9 credits at Marymount in order to get health insurance through the university. So I had to take three classes at MU whether I was taking the class at NOVA or not. Oh, health insurance. It’s fun being a grown up, isn’t it?

My favorite class that I took this semester was my graduate level hospitality design studio (hotel design). The professor was wonderful. She was respectful of us as adults and let us develop a project and work on it throughout the entire semester, so we all got really invested in our hypothetical hotel designs and connected with our work.

I designed this entire floor plan within the constraints of the outer building walls and columns. We had requirements for minimum room square footage, number of fire stairs, certain distances from doors, and a number of other things.

The assignment was to design the first floor of a hotel. We picked the location of our hotel and then created a concept inspired by that location to carry through the space. I decided to place my hotel in Nome, Alaska. Nome is most notable for being the finish point to the Iditarod sled dog race, and my concept capitalized on the idea that virtually everyone staying at a hotel in Nome had traveled for a long time and weathered the elements to get there.  Whether they came by sled or by plane, this hotel would be a beacon guiding them to the end of their long journey. I also knew that a race like the Iditarod brings people of all ages and cultures together in this small town for a brief period in time, and I wanted to create spaces for people to develop relationships both in one-on-one settings and group settings. I called the hotel “Tribe”– a nod to tradition of the native cultures of the region and the idea that the long journey to Nome and the experience there lays the foundation for people to create and nurture their own informal tribes.

We had to create a finishes board as part of our final presentation. I love the feel that this board gives off but it’s a little too crowded and would be easier to understand with labels.

I supported my concept by creating pockets of warm and cool color contrast–the warm glow of a fireplace surrounded by soft navy and aqua upholstery, copper/rust-colored table tops surrounded by grey banquette seating–to draw attention to gathering points throughout the space. I also used directed light to draw people through a space–a dropped ceiling with lights peaking out from underneath it to light a path through the space and directed pendant lighting to call attention to stationary seating areas. Finally, I chose furniture and finishes that have a modern twist on traditional tribal motifs. Although some of those motifs are admittedly are more Native American-inspired than Inuit, the overall palette created the feel I wanted in the space.

 

This is a hand rendered elevation of my lobby space done with design markers and ink. The chairs you see are surrounding a low trough-style fireplace enclosed in glass and surrounded by granite with a metal arch drawing attention to the feature from across the room. The darker blue you see is actually a curved banquette on the other side of the fireplace and the walls are supposed to be leather.

Guys, my renderings (that’s what we call pictures of our spaces in the design world) are TERRIBLE. I actually took an entire prerequisite undergrad level class in rendering this semester and they were still awful. While I plan to work on beefing up my hand rendering skills, I’m really hoping that we are able to learn more about digital rendering because there is no way I can have a portfolio of images that look like this. Also, it’s 2014 people.  From what I’ve heard, hand rendering is fine for the ideation phase, but in the real world, unless you hire a watercolor artist to render a fancy hotel or residential interior, your renderings are almost always digital.

I was actually most happy with this rendered floorplan of my hotel lobby. The feature in the middle of the space is the one you see in the elevation above. The goal of rendering a floor plan or an elevation is to bring a third dimension, depth, to a style of ink drawing that is flat–only reflective of length and width. I was best able to achieve that goal in the floorplan above.

The other two classes I took at Marymount were Revit and Sketching for Ideation. I briefly mentioned my sketching/rendering class already. Revit is a really cool type of computer program called “Building Information Modeling” software (BIM for short) that stores all kinds of information about building modeling, so when you go to build construction documents, all the specification information like wall types, door types, light fixtures, flooring, etc. can be easily generated into lists that are a critical portion of construction documents. It also creates pretty awesome 3-D models that I hope to get more experience with over my remaining semesters in the program. Oh, and you can also build your own furniture models in it.

This is a model of the Jett Chair by Bright Chair Company that I created as a family in Revit and placed in my floor plan so that I could generate 3-D images of the furniture in the space.

The class I took at NOVA was Materials and Sources, the focus of which was textiles. After learning about various textile construction and materials, I had to create a binder that inventoried all kinds of fabrics, and included samples of each type. I also had to do a report on two textile designers (I choose Lauren Liess and Caitlin Wilson), and I had to design four textile patterns and apply them to a piece of furniture. Here’s one of my designs, which I called “antlers” (really creative) created using an antler silhouette flipped and arranged in a repeated pattern. I created the design in Photoshop Elements and applied to image to a piece of furniture from the 3-D warehouse in SketchUp. I might get a yard or two printed through Spoonflower but I’m kind of low on funds right now so that’s a back pocket project.

The next semester starts in a weeks and I’m again taking four classes in an effort not to be a graduate student forever. I’m taking a commercial office design studio, a lighting class, a history of architecture and interior design class, and a research class to lay the foundation for my thesis project. It will be a lot of work, but I’m already excited about what I get to learn this spring!

Uncategorized

Christmas Wrap Up

1 Comment

 

I gave my last presentation and took a final exam at 8:30 am on Monday, December 16, so I really didn’t get to do much Christmas stuff until then. I was able to put up all our decorations immediately after I got off the plane from Florida on Black Friday and did as much shopping online as I could so I wasn’t totally behind by the time school was over. My decorating was very similar to last year since I was on a limited budget and didn’t have much time to dedicate to rethinking the process.

I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of freedom that I have when school isn’t in session. I work part time so I go from basically working/being in class for 12 hours a day, four days a week to having Mondays completely to myself and getting off of work at 3:30 pm during the rest of the week. The Monday school was over I spent the afternoon baking a family favorite: English Muffin Bread. My dad makes it every year at Christmas to give friends and family. I grew up eating it every time we visited my grandparents in New York, so I have a definite sense of pride when I bake up my own batch and give it to friends.

 

The other thing my dad makes every year is English Butter Toffee. I decided to try my hand at it this year and I actually did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!

 

Bro Brennan and I went Christmas shopping together to pick up some gifts for the family and spend some quality sibling time together. Here he is lamenting the fact that Lego Bionicles are so much cooler now than when he was a kid.
The boy and I checked out the National Christmas Tree in President’s Park, something we did the first Christmas we were together but haven’t done since. A few things have changed since then…
I had most of my wrapping done by Saturday afternoon and finished wrapping some gifts that trickled in the night before Christmas Eve. I used leftover silver and gold wrapping paper and picked up an extra roll from Target to finish things up.
On Christmas Eve I headed over to my parents’ house after picking my dad up from work (my, how times have changed). We went over to my grandma’s house like we have done every year since I was a little kid. We also did something new this year: my family went over to the boy’s parents’ house and we spent the rest of the evening there with a couple other families. Our families haven’t really hung out together thus far (kind of crazy considering how long we’ve dated) so it was nice to get everyone together and have a good time. And I was able to offload some leftover Sweet Clover merchandise during the white elephant gift exchange.
The boy and I each spent Christmas morning at our parents’ homes opening presents with family. In the afternoon my family went over to my grandma’s where we had dinner and opened more presents. The boy joined us there which was a lot of fun. My mom picked up some musical Christmas Crackers from the Christmas Attic. I’m not sure what she expected would happen when she gave eight people whistles, but these two certainly had a good time:
Afterwards the boy and I went over to his house to spend the last few hours of Christmas together and exchange our gifts. The boy knows I’m a huge fan of Kate Spade Jewelry so he got me a couple gorgeous necklaces, including this statement necklace.
via Piperlime
The boy also knows that if I could live on two foods for the rest of my life they would be tacos and macaroni and cheese. Being the thoughtful guy he is, he gave me these silly TacoPropers (microwave safe!) and this awesome mac & cheese cookbook written by the owners of a Homeroom, a Mac & Cheese restaurant in the San Francisco Bay area. I already cooked the most basic recipe, and it was delicious! It’s definitely an indulgence, but I’m looking forward to trying more of the recipes.
via Amazon.com
via Amazon.com
Both of us were off of work between Christmas and New Years. We used the time to lounge around and have a good time with friends and family that were in town. For New Years we decided to forego the expensive parties downtown and instead went out to a nice dinner together followed by wine at home by the fire (there may have even been a couple rounds of Battleship). It was by far the most low-key New Years celebration we’ve had together to date, but we enjoyed it and saved about $250 (probably closer to $300 with cab fare), so I’d say it was a success.
Yesterday I dragged the boy to the U.S. Botanic Gardens so I could see their exhibit of DC landmarks and World’s Fair structures completely made out of plants. The detail was amazing.

 

They also had a clever sculptural exhibit that showcased various spices and dried plants that you could lean over and smell. I love a good interactive installation!

 

Today the boy is back to work and I am trying to get all the things done that I wanted to get done before I have to go back to work and school starts. We’ll see how that goes. Tomorrow I’ll take down the decorations, but since it snowed overnight I think the outdoor ones will stay up for a little while longer. I kind of hope everyone else decides to keep their lights on in the snow!
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

life

Do Less, Accomplish More in 2014

No Comments

Guys, it’s that time of year again when I get all reflective and in touch with my inner-self and I think about what the last year has been like and what I want for the new year. It almost feels silly writing a post about this because I feel like I’ve been in this state of mind all freaking year and you have had to listen to me drone on about my life decisions and milestones and what not. But part of the reason I write this if for accountability, to hold my feet to the fire, and because at the end of 2014 I will enjoy looking back on this post to see where I was and how I’ve grown.

Speaking of looking back, I did just that a few moments ago and I am so very thankful that I took the time to write out my thoughts on 2012 and the coming 2013. So much has changed since then, things I never would have predicted, and that makes me so very excited (and perhaps a little terrified) for the coming year. When I think about what I am most thankful for in 2013, so much of it involves opportunities, and I kind of hope that every year, or at least those in the near future follow suit. I liked last year’s exercise, so I think I’m going to do it again, but with one addition: a motto for 2014.

As has become obvious through a few of my more recent posts, I took on quite a bit of responsibility in 2013. I found myself occupied nearly every moment of every day, to the point where I felt guilty to sit down and watch TV and I perpetually felt I was failing at something even when I was getting other things done. I realized that all my activities were actually affecting my health, so I decided to let some things go. Letting go was difficult since I like to think that I can do absolutely everything and be an overachiever and everything will be perfect. That mindset works for some people but is terrible for me because 1) I am not even remotely type-A, 2) I need more sleep than the average person, and 3) I’m a total introvert and if left to my own devices I would probably see my friends like once a month. I knew I didn’t want to let go of my ambition and desire to build something for myself, but I also knew that current operating conditions were not sustainable, nor were the making me happy. So my moto for 2014 is this: “Do less, accomplish more.” I want to be more selective and deliberate with what I do with my time instead of filling it with activities to get done just for the sake of doing something.

So let’s review 2013, shall we?

Things I’m Proud of in 2013
1) Making the difficult decision to transfer to Marymount’s Interior Design Program and continuing to pursue my graduate education in interior design
2) Landing a paid interior design assistantship at a local residential design firm and taking the risk of leaving my better paying government consulting position
3) Selling my furniture out of a space in the Sweet Clover Vintage Market
4) My sister getting a full time job
5) My brother doing a great job working at the Christmas Attic (following in the footsteps of his older sisters)
6) The boy getting a promotion in his current office
7) Completing some pretty cool studio projects (at least I think so)
8) Learning a few new computer programs including Revit and Quickbooks

 

 

Things I’m Thankful for in 2013
1) The opportunity to learn how to run a small interior design business
2) The opportunity to work for a furniture picking and painting guru and learn more about that process
3) Two new roommates who have been very easy to live with
4) Having a great time at a number of weddings this year, especially my cousin’s wedding with the rest of our family
5) My family recovering from a few major health issues and scares with flying colors
6) Being welcomed to spend a few holidays with the boy’s family, including the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve (my family joined in the Christmas Eve festivities too)

 

Things I’m Looking forward to in 2014
1) NOT feeling the pressure of selling furniture in any venue
2) Starting my own interior design consulting business
3) Beginning work on my thesis!!! (I am super excited about this one for some reason)
4) Learning about commercial office design in my upcoming studio
5) Continuing to work on great residential design projects for Arlington Home Interiors
6) Carving out more time to spend with friends and family
7) Visiting my sister in Brooklyn (I haven’t been to NYC in two years and that’s ridiculous).
9) Nearly finishing my Master’s degree

Last night I was making a calendar of classes for my upcoming semester and realized that because I won’t be taking as many studio classes as I was last semester (studios meet twice a week and lecture-based classes meet once a week), I will actually be spending 5 fewer hours in class each week than I did last semester. Subtracting my work for Sweet Clover from this weekly time equation, I will have many more hours to dedicate to school work and “other”–friends, family, design work, etc. There is a lot of change on the horizon in the coming year, but I am pumped to live my life more deliberately in 2014. Bring on the growth.

All pictures were taken by me and featured on my Facebook page. Want more updates from Savvy Young Something? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

*Note that I did not coin, nor do I own the phrase “Do Less, Accomplish More”. It appears to be widely used in other articles. This is my own interpretation of the phrase and does not represent the views of anyone else who has used it in their own articles. 

holiday

Gift Guide 2013: Gifts for Him

1 Comment

With Christmas a week away, we’re really down to the wire for Christmas shopping. Struggling to find a present for that special boyfriend, husband, brother, or dad? Here’s a quick list I’ve compiled. As far as I can tell, they’re all still available, and ship from places that can overnight stuff before Christmas.

1. Cardboard Safari Buck Cardboard Animal Trophy – I especially like the Micro Buck. At $13, he would look great on a gallery wall accompanied by another micro animal trophy friend like Micro Fred the Moose or Micro Tex the Longhorn. Just make sure the gift receiver doesn’t mind a puzzle because these guys can be a little challenging to put together. Although if you’re like me and you love puzzles, you can absolutely put it together for him. I got one for the boy a while ago, and he had his friends convinced for a bit that I made it myself out of a pizza box.
2. Patagonia Men’s Bivy Down Vest – I absolutely love my down vest, and the boy wears the one I bought him last year all the time. This one is a little retro in the best of ways. It’s a bit pricey at $179, so if you’re looking to get the man in your life some winterwear on a discount, check out websites like 6pm.com or Nordstrom Rack for quality brands at a discount. 

3. Stag Bookend Set – This set of stag bookends from Target are both manly and stylish, and at $14.99, they’re reasonably priced enough to give to just about anyone on your list. Not so into the bookends? Check out the rest of Target Threshold Decorative Stag collection and see if there’s something he might like.

4. Abingdon Weekender – The boy has been eyeing this canvas and leather duffle for a while as an upgrade to his usual weekend travel solution which is the backpack he carried in college. It’s a classic travel piece that will last for a while, and it easily suits anyone from your college-aged son to your dad.  It’s a bit out of my range at $198, but J.Crew is currently running a 30% sale with free shipping, so it’s definitely the right time to snag it if you can afford it!

5. Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names Poster – I bought Pop Chart Lab’s Many Varieties of Beer poster a couple years ago when my dad was into brewing, but I really love the merge of dork and cool that this one exhibits. Quite honestly, any one of Pop Chart Lab’s posters would make an excellent gift. They’ve got one for guitar lovers, baseball fans, throwback TV show fans, and many, many others. Their tag line is “Data + Design = Delight” and I basically want to be their best friends. This specific print is $28. Order by December 19 if you want it framed, and December 20 if you are just ordering a print. If you’re in NYC, these guys are at the Union Square Holiday market booth C18 through Christmas Eve.

6. Embroidered Belt – If you’ve stepped foot into a gift shop at the beach, you have very likely seen these belts. Leather Man Ltd., the same company that manufactures Eliza B., offers these leather and canvas embroidered belts for an affordable $35., and the entire site is 20% off until December 19. You can custom design an option from the many different embroidered motifs they offer, and you also get to pick the canvas color.

7. Crockpot – Three of the four guys that live in the boy’s house have their own crockpot, and the boy loves “crocking”, especially in the winter. It’s definitely one of the easiest ways for a guy to make sure he has meals for a week, and it might even prompt them to cook for you!

8. Minimalist Ballparks Art Prints – This minimalist art print by S. Preston that gives a nod to the Washington Nationals is also on the boy’s list this year. S. Preston’s series of prints that feature baseball stadiums around the country were featured on Deadspin and in Sports Illustrated (where the boy first saw them), and are pretty reasonably priced. $25 will buy you an 8.5″ x 11″, but if you feel like splurging, you can buy a 24″ x 30″ for $175. If you want one, order it today to get it by Christmas!

9. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls – David Sedaris always delivers hilarious books, and his latest collection of essays is sure to be great. It seems that our family always lays around naps/rests after opening Christmas gifts, so it’s nice to have a book to read or thumb through during that time.

10. USB Phone Charger – When I first saw these on-the-go phone chargers, I thought they were a little silly. And then I found myself tailgating at a concert or working the Lucketts Spring Market and wishing I had one to give my phone some extra juice. This would be especially practical for someone who loves hiking and camping (even without cell service, some of those apps come in handy), or your frequent tailgater. They’re not exactly something he probably wants to carry around in his pocket, so don’t be surprised if it ends up in your purse (am I the only person that happens to?).

11. Mason Jar Shaker – Good ol’ boys and hipster dudes alike will appreciate the vintage twist on this classic bar tool offered up by West Elm for $29.

holiday

Georgetown Jingle 2013

1 Comment

Since 2006, local designers have worked together to produce the Georgetown Jingle, an event which auctions off Christmas trees created by local designers to raise money for the Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program at Georgetown University Hospital. The 2013 Georgetown Jingle trees have been on display at the Four Seasons in Georgetown since November 27, and last night they were sold at an auction during the 2013 Georgetown Jingle Gala event.

Another amazing tree by Corcoran Students Whitney Osterhout + Ramzah Khan

I learned of the Georgetown Jingle through the student ASID chapter at the Corcoran last year. Corcoran students participate in the Jingle by building a tree, and in the past the student tree has been extremely popular. I follow the Jingle on facebook and saw last week that they needed volunteers to help out with some last minute stuff over the weekend. Now that classes are over and I actually have time to do things at my leisure on the weekends, I sent an email volunteering to help out. Selfishly, I also wanted to head over to Georgetown and check out the trees.

Saturday I spent a couple hours stuffing gift bags for the event, along with a bunch of other volunteers from Junior League of Washington and a sorority at GW…kind of awkward that I was the only person to show up unaffiliated, but whatever, I had a good time. After I was done volunteering, I headed over to the lobby of the Four Seasons and checked out the trees.

Some designers did traditional trees, basically decorating regular green artificial trees with unusual ornaments. Others like to think outside of the box a little and reinterpret the traditional Christmas tree. My favorites trees were those that weren’t constructed like a traditional artificial tree, which is also the type of thing the Corcoran students do each year.

I snapped some pictures of my favorites with my iPhone and tried to get the detail since I hadn’t seen a ton of pictures of them online. Hopefully one day I’ll get to participate in the event!

Darlene Molnar’s tree was built from cones of paper and lit from the inside. It’s inspired by the chocolate truffles that her partner vendor makes and sells in their restaurant. We can call this little area the Corcoran floor since Darlene is a Corcoran alum and professor.

I really appreciated the simplicity of Michael Roberson’s design, but the coolest part about it is that it’s constructed of your generic, builder-grade, brass chandelier.

Camille Saum, who has done the Jingle previously and had a room in the 2013 DC Design House, did a traditional tree packed with color and texture. It was beautifully done, but I scoffed at it a little because was a traditional tree. And then I got closer to it. I’ve seen a lot of…interesting..DIY can-related Christmas decorations (Mom – Tuna can angel? Diehl family – crushed can santa care of Pack ‘O Fun magazine?), but these ornaments made from soda cans were amazing. Seriously, I want her to sell them, unattached from the tree.

Bill Enright, a floral event designer, created this silvery “Gatsby” tree, and I found myself completely drawn to it. I love the way the light plays on the silver and peeks out through the white feathers. This is also a great demonstration that all artificial trees are not created equal. Check out the number of lights on this tree. Most artificial trees have about half as many lights, and this tree would look very different if that were the case. 

I wish I had been able to snap a full picture of Elizabeth Krial’s tree, but there was a group of people sitting by it so I didn’t want to be obtrusive. Instead I tried to get a close up of the tree-topper made of book pages. We’ve seen a lot of things made out of rolled book pages lately, but I definitely haven’t seen that trend in this form. 
If you want to see larger pictures and full descriptions of each tree, check out the Georgetown Jingle feature on DC by Design. 

life, sweet clover barn

Being Sick on Vacation and Streamlining My Obligations

No Comments

You guys. I mentioned yesterday that I was quite sick during the beginning of my trip to Florida last week, but that doesn’t even begin to describe how awful it was. I seriously don’t ever remember being that miserably sick for such an extended period in my life.

When my mom saw this picture on Facebook her reaction was “Oh honey, I can tell you don’t feel well in this picture.” Ouch!

I started feeling bad at the beginning of the week but figured I had caught whatever cold was going around the boy’s house. Wednesday I woke up with such a bad headache that I took my first sick day since I started at Arlington Home Interiors in April. I dragged myself to school and left early because I felt so awful, went home and promptly fell asleep at 6:30 pm. The next morning I woke up feeling worse, and to make things more painful, it seemed that none of my over-the-counter drugs were helping. My usual go-to for headaches, Ibuprofen, was useless. Finally I found that Exedrin worked a little bit. Since I was leaving in the morning for Florida, I went to the doctor to see if they could figure out my ailment and give me something, anything, to make me feel better.

The LPN I saw diagnosed me with a sinus infection and gave me meds. I went to bed hoping I’d start to feel better, but instead I was up almost hourly throwing up (should have warned you that this is a gross story). Friday around 5:00 am I called Kyle and told him I wasn’t sure I was going to make our flight to Florida, but by some miracle I mustered the strength to shower and get myself out the door. I felt so miserable by the time we got to the airport that the first thing I did when we arrived was puke in a trashcan. Like a small child. I seriously don’t think I’ve done that since I was about eight. Once we made it through airport security and to our gate, I basically just sat at a table and cried while the boy tried his best to get me to eat something so that I could take some more Exedrin to feel better. Half of a smoothie seemed to do the trick, and I was feeling well enough to eat a whole bagel (whoa craziness) by the time we touched down to catch our connecting flight in Atlanta.

At some point on our drive from the airport to our hotel in Rosemary Beach, the Exedrin started to wear off and I went back to the dark place. I got sick again right before we got to the hotel (so close!), and after not-so-discretely disposing of that in the fancy hotel lobby trashcan, I took another Exedrin, and laid down for a quick nap so that I could hopefully have a little time to feel better before the Friday night pre-wedding festivities. When I think about how terrible I felt at points on Friday, I’m amazed that I was lucky enough to rally for anything that evening, let alone a nice cocktail party (sans-alcohol for me) involving a LBD and heals. As I was getting ready for the cocktail party the boy noticed a small rash running along the right side of my back around to my ribs. I didn’t think much of it–probably connected to my mystery sickness, but nothing major.

Friday night into Saturday morning I was again in excruciating pain. I woke up and puked throughout the night and the headache I had was unrelenting. By the time the sun came up Saturday morning I knew I needed help. The sinus meds weren’t helping at all, and if anything I felt worse than I did when I walked into the doctor’s office on Thursday. Instead of walking around Rosemary Beach and enjoying the town on Saturday morning, the boy and I headed to an urgent care clinic in Panama City Beach.

By the time the doctor saw me I was starting to feel better thanks to my good ol’ Exedrin. I told her how I had had a miserable headache for five days, that I felt achey, nauseous, and that nothing seemed to be helping. And oh yeah, this weird rash popped up on my back yesterday. That little rash that I thought nothing of was the key to my misery. The second she saw it, I had my diagnosis. “Those are definitely shingles,” she said.

Shingles?! What am I, 65?! A little blood work and one trip to Publix later, I had my prescription painkiller, nausea meds, and the precious anti-viral meds that were going to make me feel so much better by the next day. I ended up missing the wedding ceremony of our friends, but I managed to make it to the reception.

Shingles is a re-activation of the chickenpox virus that causes deep nerve pain and a myriad of other symptoms, including the notable shingles rash that tends to run in a line around one side of your mid-section, and the migraine and nausea that I was experiencing. Shingles are pretty uncommon amongst young people, and they only emerge when your immune system is weakened for some reason. The lab looked at my blood work to make sure I didn’t have something else lurking like Lyme disease that was weakening my immune system, but everything came back clean. So this is where the scary reality comes in: I probably got shingles because of the insanely high stress levels I’ve experienced lately.

When I think about it objectively, my life is no more chaotic than a lot of other people’s lives, and I only have myself to worry about as opposed to a whole family. So this was partly my body’s way of saying I best get my anxiety level in check. But natural anxiety levels aside, this is my own fault. I have been operating under a “Say yes and figure it out later” mentality for the past six months, and it finally caught up with me. With working my day job, completing my homework, picking, painting, and setting up my space at the barn, and trying to find time to spend with friends and loved ones, I have been a mess. I thought I could handle it, but having my decisions actually affect my health in such an obvious, painful way was a real wake up call for me. I can’t believe I made myself that miserably sick and nearly ruined part of what was supposed to be a nice vacation for the boy and me. I can’t keep this up. Something has to go.

Friends, I’m sad to announce that this weekend’s December sale at Sweet Clover is going to be my last. My job is a must and school is a must, but the barn is the one thing on my list that isn’t a necessity. As much as I love picking and working on furniture, knowing that I need to get a great dresser within the next week so that I can put something in the barn Saturday, even though I have class every night but Friday-Sunday and a project due Monday, stresses me out so much. Leaving the barn after a bad month where I hardly even made rent while living off my severely cut salary that I took to get a job in interior design stresses me out so much. Not ever having an entire weekend to dedicate to chores and schoolwork stresses me out so much. The reality is that I don’t make much money at the barn, and that I can put lots of work into something with no guarantee that I’ll see any profit from it–in fact, the only guarantee is that I’ll spend money doing it. This is not a shock to me, I knew it going in, but I guess I didn’t realize how much of a weight it would be on my shoulders.

Please please please know that this is by no means a knock against Sweet Clover. It is has wonderful business owners who work their tails off for the business and it’s full of amazing stuff created and curated by very talented vendors. It’s just that the nature of the handmade marketplace is that there’s a lot of investment of time and money up front and a lot of uncertainty in the sales and profit. That’s a little different than selling a service like interior design, where you have more certainty that you’ll be paid for your time and your profit doesn’t hinge upon you investing $X up front to buy and resell something.

If I had more time and if the boy and I had weekends to spend out in places like West Virginia and Pennsylvania I would expand my picking efforts and put another 6 months into this effort, but my reality is that I just can’t. When I look at my various business opportunities, I realize that given my busy schedule and my limited resources, I’m probably wiser to provide a service than to try to buy and resell stuff. I’m not the first person to face this kind of a decision.

When I first realized I needed to let go of my space at Sweet Clover and perhaps my furniture refinishing obsession altogether, I was really bummed. I don’t like to admit that I can’t handle everything because I know there are so many intelligent women far more organized than I am who handle ten times what I do. But this is what will work for me, and the more I think about it, the more relieved I am. I can get off this merry-go-round of trying to find great stuff and painting it and hauling it and hoping and praying someone will buy it. I am ready to stop hoarding craft supplies and fabric and materials just incase I need something for the barn. I am ready to organize the wayward “stack” of magazines cascading from the side of my bed and to have clean underwear before I’m forced to wear my least favorite pair and to get my life in order.

The thing I’ll miss most about being part of the Sweet Clover market is the very reason I got into it to begin with–the community. I have met great people there and I will miss seeing them on a regular basis and collaborating with them to make the business great. I will definitely keep in touch with those people and continue to shop at Sweet Clover, and I hope you will too!

Speaking of shopping, the good news for you is that my stuff will be on sale this weekend in an effort to get rid of as much of it as possible, so come get something if you like it! All the stuff in my booth with a red bow on it is on sale, and I’ve marked down lots of accessories too. Many other items will be on sale this weekend throughout the barn in an effort to clear out things that have been sitting for a couple months and make way for fresh, new pieces for the January sale, so it’s a great time to come snag a deal. Hope to see you there!

travel

Thanksgiving Vacation, Florida Style

No Comments

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

As you may have noticed if you follow me on Instagram, the boy and I spent last week in Florida. On the Friday before Thanksgiving we flew down to Ft. Walton Beach in the Florida panhandle and drove to Rosemary Beach to celebrate the wedding of a couple friends. We splurged a bit and stayed at The Pearl, the luxury boutique hotel where the bride and groom has reserved a room block. It was AWESOME. We don’t get to travel much, and when we do it’s always on a budget. So when we walked into a hotel where they immediately offered us champagne and gave us a tour of the facilities while the valet parked our car and the bellman took our belongings upstairs made us feel slightly like Kevin McAllister in Home Alone 2. Make it three, I’m not driving. I was looking so grungy after our six hour indirect flight and drive to the hotel that I seriously expected them to say, “I’m sorry, I think the budget motel you’re looking for is down the street.” Thankfully, they didn’t.

Turn down service comes with fresh baked cookies, naturally.
The bathroom had a TV in the mirror and the boy was OBSESSED with it.
The Rosemary Beach town square was all lit up and gorgeous.

 

My hair looks like shiznit in this picture which is a total result of being so sick that I slept as long as possible and basically stuck my hair in a damp pony for the wedding. NOT a proud moment.

I was actually quite sick for the beginning of the trip, so unfortunately I could hardly enjoy our plush king bed and the wonderful little shops and restaurants at our doorstep (more on that sickness to come later). I also struggled through the wedding reception and had about one glass of champagne all weekend. Lucky for me, I started to feel much better in time for us to drive from Rosemary down to Clearwater on Sunday, where we spent the rest of the week with the boy’s parents who live down there during part of the year.

It was the first Thanksgiving I’ve ever spent away from my family which made me sad, but I was happy that the boy and I could spend our first real holiday together. After spending countless Thanksgivings in Syracuse with family I’m used to seeing my first snow over Thanksgiving, so it felt kind of funny eating turkey with a palm tree right outside our door. Although considering the kind of weather the rest of the east coast was getting over the holiday, I’m happy I was able to stay warm(ish) and dry in Florida.

This is the view from the boy’s grandma’s apartment in a retirement community. Not bad, eh?

Despite being sick and enjoying unseasonably cold weather in Florida, I had a great time. Now I’m home and kicking it into high gear so that I can get all my grad school projects finished in the next two weeks. Wish me luck!

holiday, sweet clover barn

Barn Sale This Weekend

1 Comment

Hi friends! If you haven’t seen already on my facebook page, the Sweet Clover Vintage Market is open today – Sunday, 10am – 5pm!

I really love all the pieces in my space right now, even though I know that they don’t necessarily all quite fit together. That’s OK…they’re all representative of my personal style, which I’ll tell you a bit more about next week.

I styled this really cool navy blue campaign chest as a sexy mid-century bar, complete with vintage whiskey bottles, champagne glasses with gold trim, brass swans and a shiny trophy-style champagne bucket. 
This Duck Egg blue dresser is actually quite old. You can tell because it has pin and crescent drawer joinery, a style that was used as an alternative to hand-cut dovetails before dovetailed joinery was mechanized. It likely dates to the late 1800s, and I bought it from someone who pulled it out of the original owner’s estate in New Hampshire. I’m pretty sure the hardware isn’t original, but I kind of like the way that it breaks the lines down the front of the drawers. 

I LOVE coming across dressers like this because they always look amazing painted. I try to be very careful not to put the paint on too thick in the details so that they stand out. I painted this one ASCP Paris Grey, which looks especially cool since this piece comes with a mirror and it amplifies the silver mirrored effect beautifully.

Cassie pulled a bunch of prints from my space to decorate the Cottage behind the barn, which is decorated in a “Bohemian Christmas” theme for this month’s sale. It showcases an assortment of architectural prints, a couple paint-by-numbers landscapes, and a needlepoint peacock. I try to have an assortment of artwork at each sale since gallery walls are one of my favorite ways to make a space feel collected and lived-in.  

My little herringbone table has gone completely retro. I have refrigerator boxes, vintage Nestle promotional gift boxes, and a junior marksman handbook. I’m not really much into guns and none of my immediate family hunts, but I have an appreciation for this little book that teaches children how to use their guns safely, namely by not pointing and shooting your gun at other people. Let’s just say that if Ralphie had this little book, his mom might not have been so worried that he’d shoot his eye out.

Vintage Shiny Brite in original boxes…**swoon**. This is the Christmas Attic employee in me coming out in full color. I get so excited when I find vintage Christmas goods at estate sales. A quick education in Shiny Brite: Prior to World War II, a significant portion of glass in the US was imported from Europe, especially hand-blown ornaments. During the War, a lot of those glass imports came to a halt so American manufacturers were quick to fill the void. Shiny Brite was one of those brands that emerged at that point in time. It continued to be the most popular blown glass ornament manufacturer in the US through the rest of the 1940s and 1950s. Christopher Radko bought the rights to the Shiny Brite name in more recent years, so you can still buy fun reproductions at places like The Christmas Attic, but you can’t beat the old stuff. Vintage American-made ornament goodness! 

This little book stand has come in handy for displaying my architectural prints and other knick-knacks. I have no clue where it came from, but I imagine it in a Sunday school classroom for some reason.

I gave my rattan lamps a bit of an upgrade with a fresh coat of gloss black paint and new shades. I have a pair of them if you’re interested!

I bought this chair a while ago with the intention of keeping it for myself, but I just don’t have a place for it. When you lift the seat off you can see that it originally had a hand-caned, which leads me to believe that it’s pretty old. It also makes me miss my dear Grandpa quite a bit (explanation here). I thought about reupholstering it, but I think I like the needlepoint seat for now. It would add a hand-made, aged look to an eclectic living room.

This pretty gold mirror would also make a great tray for greenery and mercury glass in the center of your Thanksgiving table!

Vintage Christmas bulbs, 3 large or 4 small for $2. I love all the colors. I also have a few strands of vintage lights that work and are so fun and colorful. Just be careful, those bulbs get hot!

Can you believe I found this cool, painted pallet on the side of the road near my house? It was perfect for an ornament Christmas tree.

 The bottom table is a vintage Lane table with two felt-lined drawers. I am such a sucker for brass hardware. And you can see my grey and gold love in both my paper pinwheels which can be used as ornaments or gift tags, and my French Linen table with gold accents.

I’ll be at the barn on Sunday. Definitely come say hi if you’re there!!