to do before i die...

my surrogate little sister suggested i go check out the Shelia Hick's retrospective at the UPenn Institute of Contemporary Art the next time i am home in philadelphia. that spurred me to look up her work and found some very inspiring images. she is doing serious trim and embellishment on a grand scale.

cut it all off...

do you ever have one of those mornings 

where you could just about take scissors 

to your hair and cut it all off? 

today was one of those mornings.

 i don't think i would look as chic as her...

luckily no cutting took place.

TGIF.

i see paris...i see france...ICU

so this little posting is long over due. i have been mean to give one of my dear RISD friends a shout out. she is currently living and working in paris (though i hope she eventually makes her way back to this side of the pond). she recently got a new gig doing media relations & design for this sweet french jewelry company. one of her responsibilities is keeping there blog. and that is where i found her hiding.

make sure to check out their website...the stuff is amazing.

stop and photograph the roses: part II

my roommate pointed out to me 

that she had taken a very similar photo 

as my friend 

during her own brooklyn trek. 

larger embroideries

i shared some small embroideries i had done earlier this week. these are some larger (about 4x5") embroideries that i also did during that project. i love these. they are very mixed media. i got to use felt, ribbon, beads, thread, fabric and yarn. i think it would be fun to add one to the arm of a jacket to brighten it up.

stop and photograph the roses...

i had a lovely sunday brunch with a dear friend and then took at long walk through brooklyn. it was a walk i have taken a hundred times before but my friend had not. when she pointed out how neat the view was i nodded. but then she actually stopped to take a picture. "i have to be better about actually photographing things i see, i need to remember the inspiring things around." she said chiding her self aloud. she is a designer too, but the sediment is applicable to us all. it is important to not only stop and notice the beauty around us, but sometimes we need to document it too. here is her photo:

little things...

my new job is a full time commitment and i have had to accept that i will not be able to continue freelancing. mostly that is fine. but i am sad not to be able to continue to work for the bedding company. i love the work i get to do for them. i recently got pictures of all my past work and wanted to share. these are some very small embroideries i did mixing yarn, thread, and beads.

a few thoughts...

i wanted to make sure i took some time to sit down and write about the things i learned while "unemployed." a lot of these thoughts i have expressed to my friends and family in conversation but i wanted to make sure to put them down all in one place. i know that the clarity i have now will fade with time... i know how easy it is to forget what it feels like to struggle once everything is coming easy again.

all work is work...

i could also say; "the grass is always green on the other side." while struggling to decide to quit my last job and go freelance i was so sure that freelance work would be so much better and i would be so much happier. and in some ways this was true. i would choose doing a beautiful beading while sitting on my couch and watching Oprah over balancing a budget in Excel any day, but it is not that simple... even in the freelance world i often had to do things i didn't enjoy. negotiating rates and invoicing clients is never fun. also doing crazy amounts of work in short periods of time which often means working well outside the normal 9-5 hours. also i wasn't able to quite survive on my freelance design work, so every month i supplemented my income with many hours of babysitting. and i love kids but babysitting long days sometimes starting at 9am until 11pm was definitely work. so as i start this "dream job" i must remember even a dream job is work.

i need very little to be happy...

i never really have thought of myself as being materialistic or not materialistic. growing up Quaker but also wanting to be a fashion designer meant i had to find a balance between living simply and being fabulous. and i like to think i have done a pretty good job...my clothes are always fashionable but never very expensive, i always have had nice things like computers and cell phones but have used them until they have worn out rather than get the next hot thing the minute it comes out. but over the past few months i have had no disposable income to spend on anything... no makeup, no clothes, no shoes, no jewelry, no impulse shopping sprees at duane reade. i thought this would be really hard but week after week slipped by and i didn't spend and didn't really miss it. when i did finally have a little extra money i thought i would run out to spend on me...yet all i wanted to do was take my sweet supportive boyfriend out to dinner. and that was kind of how it went for the past months. every time i did have a little extra cash at the end of the week i ended up spending it going out with my friends. seeing my friends always felt more important than having any material possession. i won't lie i have a list in my head of things i will buy with my first pay check...yet some how i doubt i actually will. i have a feeling i might just go out to a nice dinner with my friends. :)

friendships are what makes life sweet...

this i already knew but it has only been re-enforced. the only hard part of leaving my job was leaving my friends. when you see certain people everyday it is hard to imagine how they will fit in your life when you don't see them at the office. yet these friendships never skipped a beat. yes, it takes a little more effort to keep in touch but a true friendships moves forward even without daily contact. but beyond my work friends i also got such amazing unconditional support from my friends else where. friends from philadelphia, boston, memphis, florida, england and france reached out and followed up once they knew i had left my job. and over and over again they asked, how i was doing and when i did get my new job the congratulations were amazing. i literally could not have gotten through these time without my friends.

i can do anything...

i have to hold on to this, because in some ways i feel that i have failed since i could not make a living off of freelance work. but i did live 4 months in new york city on my own, with no constant source of income...and if you know anything about this city, you know what a challenge that is.

if you have stuck with me until the end of these thoughts; thank you. i just need to make sure i said them before i forgot.

let's go here!

it is nippy today in new york. i wore a light jacket this morning and my pants cuffed, but i can not pretend i was not under-dressed. why do we rush into spring clothes? is it because we are sick of our winter wardrobe? or just because we some how make ourselves believe that wearing lighter clothes will bring warmer weather?

today i want to be here. in the dry heat. 

wearing shorts and sandals 

and letting the sun beat down on me.

casual thursdays...

I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes.

~Yves Saint Laurent

the one left behind...

i made it through my first hump day in more than 4 months. i can't even pretend i am not exhausted. i have spent the last few days so tuned in. i feel like i left work everyday mentally fried. but you know what? it feels good. its like the first few weeks of a new work-out...your body hurts and you are so tired, but in that good way. i know that with each passing week i will have a better understanding and the work will get easier...and that is an amazing feeling. confidence.

at the same time i did find myself looking at the clock a 4pm today and wondering who was on Oprah. during my time off Oprah was my daily break, my self proclaimed lunch hour. i would curl up on the couch with Adlai and enjoy it. leaving Adlai is hard. today my sweet boyfriend took glamour shots of him for me. i had to share.

a little help...

up late tonight working on the last of my freelance work...

luckily i have some help.

first day...

my first day went great. everyone was so nice and welcoming. i don't plan on writing to much about work here. mostly because i don't think that would be very professional (and i am really trying to be more professional this time around.) but i did want to share the view from my new desk. because this really feels like making it.

(yes, that is bryant park!)

don't worry i am not going anywhere...

thank you all for your congratulations! i have been asked two questions over and over again since i posted my big news....


A) what is your position? well see that is where is gets really good i will be the Beading/Production Development Designer. that mean every day i get to go to work and bead! clearly no job is perfect but i am optimistic that working hard on a product i love will bring happiness at work.


B) are you going to keep the blog going? this was most people first question which really made me feel the love! and after some careful thought i decided YES! i have fallen in love with blogging and just can't imagine giving it up. i hope to keep a good pace and continue to post everyday despite working. i have too many projects and ideas i still want to share. i guess i am just too narcissistic to give this lovely spotlight up. i hope you will all continue to follow!