The Bumbys.
If there was ever a time I was beaming from ear to ear because of something said about it me, it is now.
Why? Because according to them “I have the essence of a unicorn” and am the “CEO of electric ladyland”.
Don’t believe me? See for yourself….
I’m thinking this should totally be my new About Me.
So Brandon opened his mouth a couple of weeks ago.
Of course, you probably follow me on Twitter so it’s quite possible that you already know that I do this often. And more often than not, a foot (or two) may or may not need to be inserted into said mouth. Shoes don’t taste all that well (even my Louis Vs with the little floral pattern in the leather).
The story goes that a couple weeks back, I spent a little time chatting on one of the most awesomest chats on Twitter, the #KBTribeChat (Wednesdays at 11am PST). This particular chat was just before the Kitchen and Bath Show in Chicago. I casually mentioned wanting to cook in someone’s kitchen for the show. Nick Lovelady out in Alabama (check out his blog…) chimed in as well.
Turns out, someone was listening. Actually a big someone. Ok, it was two big someones. You might know them as Capital Cooking (of super cool range fame) and American Standard Brands (do I even have to tell you who they are?). Little did either of us know that they’d be putting together a great kitchen at this year’s Dwell on Design. 
Do you see the feet appearing?
Several messages later and Nick and I are committed to going head to head. Mano e Mano. Designer to Designer. Blog to blog. We’re going all West Side Story where I’m heading the Jets and he’s part of the Sharks.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
But guess what…. That’s right. There’s more. Nick and I are looking for sous chefs. Are you going to Dwell this year? Want to spend a little time in the kitchen? I heard rumors of a prize.
So if you’re interested and you want to come cook for me (and maybe tweet a little in the process, send a message over to Leanne@flyingcamel.com and let her know.
Come don a chefs hat with me on June 22nd!
I know, I know.
Monday was to be the introduction of the awesome new weekend transformer posts where I finally start making a designer showcase of the home of mine. I would have. I really would. But it’s been a bittersweet week to say the least.
As most of my awesome Twitter family knows, my grandfather took his final breath on Tuesday, 3rd of April. I think that for the most part it was something expected. We knew the time was coming. But we waited with bated breath for that day to come. Even still. Even with the expectation and the knowledge that his days were numbered, it still came as a shock.
I’m lucky. See I had the privilege of knowing all four of my grandparents. Though my father’s parents passed in the late 90′s, I still have memories attributed to each of them. But it was my maternal grandparents that I had a fondness for. I hold them fully responsible for my addiction to Lego’s (an early Christmas gift) and still hold in high regard their unconditional love for their grandchildren. Even the “not so accepted in many other families” grandchildren we like to call my partner. Steve became family from day one.
Needless to say, the week’s end became more about reflection. Gathering the family from all corners of the mid-west. Making plans. Celebrating my grandfather’s life. And mourning his death.
So today’s Let’s Blog Off post was a fitting one simply because there was only one thing I did to my home this past week. It was a small gesture but still something that I think makes one of the biggest differences. Something about it breaths fresh life into what might be a stale environment. A splash of color in a foggy room.
I bought my first bunches of Springtime flowers.
I admit, I slack and forget or just get too busy. But there is something about a dozen French Tulips. Their blooms tightly wound until finally, they begin to open showing the depth of their color. The striations of pink and purple. Or the arrangement I threw together for the office. All white I know but seeing the fragile blooms stare back at me from one side of the computer is a momentary walk in the garden that I’m not even close to capable of planting (I’m all thumbs and none of them are green).
So I apologize dear reader for not putting together some awesome tip for you to start working into your home. But do this…. stop at your florist or farmer’s market or even a random roadside stand. Pick up some flowers and infuse them into your home.
I promise, you’ll be glad you did. (And I’ll rest assured that I bought myself another week….)
This blog post is just one of the dozens of super-excellent blogs participating in this week’s theme “Flowers”. To see the other great blogger’s take, click here to take you to the Let’s Blog Off page.
Images copyright D.Coop and may not be used without permission.
Before reading this I think you should sit down.
There. Take a seat. Grab your coffee (Need a little Baileys? Need a little more Baileys?).
Ok. So let me let you in on a little secret. You know how Architectural Digest publishes that yearly “Designer’s Homes” issue? And how all the blogs and rags and mags feature homes that we interior designers claim to live in? They’re all gorgeous and beautifully styled and spotless and freaking amazing. Hell, I’m even a little jealous.
Well anyway, it’s a myth. A sham. A game of smoke and mirrors. Let’s just say we’re pulling the wool over your eyes better than Copperfield at an Amtrak station. It’s true.
We don’t all live that way. I think Meredith Heron started blowing the lid off that secret a few weeks back by showing you photos of her now very famous living room strewn with toys (I love that Luke!) and clothes and what have you.
I always joke that it’s a case of the Cobbler’s Kids. I wear shoes but I’m still using patio furniture in my living room that came with us when Steve and I took the gamble and signed a lease together some five and a half years ago.
Can you believe five years have passed since we took the keys? Hey! That’s longer than the marriages of all the Kardashian sisters combined. I think we have a record.
So anyway, aside from giving you a sneak peek into my humble abode, I am introducing a new little series on the Bloggie. See, I WANT that designer house look without a) ripping down walls in what is really my long-term rental, and b) without paying $6,000 for a chair. I’m sure that there are quite a many of you that are in the same position. Starting next week and continuing every Monday for the next decade I at the Bloggie will take you through my home’s rebranding of sorts. There will probably be a little DIY, more drama than you wanted to see, a lot of shopping, with a dash of the sordid tales of the Smith-Stephens household.
Stay tuned…. because we’re going in deep.
- DirtyMartiniGal
I’m a Twitter whore. I love my followers. Some of them love me back. I never thought of myself as famous but if one person knows who I am then I feel that I should be followed by paparazzi. Right?
Follow her on Twitter…. you may get a rash and your ears may fall off but it’s worth it. DirtyMartiniGal
Last night, on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the really creepy Sharin’….. Oh. Wait. Wrong post. I really must stop having that last piece of super late night pizza so close to bed time because weird things happen. One night I dreampt I was Kelly Cutrone’s spaceplanner (Let’s just say she’s much nicer in person than she appears on TV). Another night I was staring at people through glass vases in Nigeria (though it looked surprisingly like the Carlsbad coast).
No. I’m not straight trippin’ boo.
This message is brought to you by the National Drug Council.
You didn’t pop ’round here to read about my weird and insanely improbable dreams or to find out the winner of last night’s RuPaul. You came by to relish in stories of grandmotherly love. I think.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve pondered the Let’s Blog Off topic for the last few days and couldn’t quite put my finger on a specific story or tale or sage bit of advice from an elderly woman in a June Carter-esque apron (though I do have one of those myself, the apron that is). I never had much of a relationship with my paternal grandmother. To the detriment of my father she wasn’t the role model type and it wasn’t until just shortly before her death that she even became part of the conversation.
My maternal grandmother, on the other hand, had always been a staple in the lives of myself, my sister, and our many cousins (I kid you not we’d have given any decent Catholic extended family a run for their money…Trojan was not going to be sponsoring us anytime soon). I recall that it was my grandparents who gave me my first set of LEGO’s (addiction much?). Whenever thoughts turn to my grandmother, who left us two years ago, I always remember that she was the first of my extended family members to recognize Steve as my husband. She always referred to him as her grandson long before the others even considered him a part of the family. Talk about walking an unconditional walk.
That little moment, coupled with thoughts on the recent recession (so we weren’t cashing in worthless stock and standing in bread lines but….) had me thinking. As designers (and architects, bloggers, etc.) I think we fall into a mode of complacency from time to time. Call it a super busy schedule. Blame it on a lack of hours in the day. Maybe it’s just laziness. I know I get there from time to time. We are engrossed in talking the talk but often times we forget that there IS an accompanying walk. Listen, before you throw Big Stones (odd reference to blog search terms) at me, I admit to being in those same shoes. When times were super great who didn’t talk about Being Green while climbing into their Hummer to drive to the corner store. It happens and if you know me you know I don’t judge. I’ll use it as a humorous aside in my blog posts but I won’t judge. Ok, maybe just a little.
Anyway, the whole idea of taking a stance and following one’s own advice has had me on a bit of a mission this year. Call them resolutions (though if you read my resolutions post right after the new year you’ll know I had no resolutions) but I wanted to be better about eating what I was dishing up.
So I cut Television out of my daily schedule. Gasp! No Guiding Light? No VMA commentary? How will I ever get over Rachel Zoe? I want to tell you, you can’t make an easy transition. This isn’t like smoking where you tape on a patch and call it a day. No sir. I had to cut the cable to make this one happen. Ouch. That hurt. A 30 year old umbilical cord. Surprisingly, I spend more time with my other half, have a better relationship with 1,500 followers, and manage to get to bed at a decent time (sometimes… that one is still pending certification by a third party).
I’m also lessening my dependence on my vehicle. I’m not doing it to bring the Troops home. It isn’t a political boycott of foreign oil. And by golly it isn’t because I’m afraid to be seen in my car. I live in a great little community just north-east of downtown San Diego. We’re still San Diego but not quite the proper part (fits me well doesn’t it?). Northpark has seen quite a resurgence as what were once super affordable neighborhoods gentrify and become havens of hipster and family goodness. The result is we’re walkable. I can hit the drycleaners, grocery store, bank, and even the place that develops my Black & Whites (George’s Camera on 30th… stop in, you will be amazed) within a mile’s walk of my house. My legs look better (even without the heels) and it forces me to see my immediate surroundings in a completely different light. So much so that it also means that I’ve been suckered in to helping with the development of a Street Level Development Guideline with a neighboring community. HA!
And of course, after years of telling clients to add some color to their lives I’ve finally done it myself. My office, the little haven where my writing gets done (no, not the room with the bed), where I produce the awesome goodness that is a D.Coop design…. it is now black. I don’t mean ecru with black pops. I mean that all four walls are now Olympic Paint’s “Black Magic”. Yep. I committed to a color. I know. Shut. Up.
I’m trying to walk the walk. It’s a stumble (have you seen the state of San Diego sidewalks?!) but I’m trying.
WordPress says I’m at 1,019 words so I should probably shut up now.
Oh, and by the way…. the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race is….. joking. I’m not that mean.
This blog post is just one of the dozens of super-excellent blogs participating in this week’s theme “My Grandmother Said…”. To see the other great blogger’s take, click here to take you to the Let’s Blog Off page.
Welcome to 2012!
Holy crap. Did I just say that? I mean, weren’t we just celebrating the millennium? I think I’m still trying to work out the kinks from all that Y2K mess. 365 days came and went. And you know what I got out of it? 1400 Twitter followers, a 30th birthday, a love of writing and a crap-load of debt. Let’s just say that 2011 was a roller coaster of a year. One that I’m glad to put away in a drawer, covered in moth balls, for me to forget about until that one time where I decide to move a dresser and it falls out of it’s carefully conceived hiding place. I think that the majority of you know what I’m talking about, and if you’re self-employed you know triply so. Say it with me….
2012 is my year.
Louder! Ok… too loud. I’m still nursing my 2011 hangover so let’s keep it to a growl ok?
Usually about this time of year we all start talking about our resolutions, those little promises that we start making that usually last until oh.. maybe mid January, February if you’re really dedicated. Let me just say that I don’t believe in resolutions. I don’t claim to go to the gym every other day in search of my missing set of abs. I don’t resolve to quit a vice or two (sorry, gimlets are too much fun and I still LOVE to drive fast…). I think my body would go into shock if I went cold turkey on a long list. I gave up on perfectionism the day I sold my soul to Louis Vuitton. (actually I resold it to Hermes, but that is a different matter).
There is only one thing that you can expect from me in this new year. *putting my left hand on a copy of Vogue, right hand in the air* I resolve to continue to better myself in the new year. To take every opportunity to enrich my life. And to further my dedication to the design world through my projects, through my blogging, and my travels. That’s a good resolution right?
So just what can you expect to come of that resolution? The TV show that Candy and I have been tirelessly working on. A bunch of new blogs not only here but also my second blog, “Boy and his Camera”. More photography (I’m finding I’m in love with my cameras). Collaborations with some of my favorite Twitter friends. And travels. Lots of travels. This year you’ll find us back in Oregon revisiting old projects, New York for new projects, and of course, Paris (and hopefully Belgium) for something awesome.
Of course, you’ll see me adding another 12,000 tweets to my count as I continue to enhance my life by interacting with all of you!
2012 really will be MY year.
Hold up, let me put my bottle of Veuve Clicquot aside.
There, all better. Happy New Year my dear readers! It’s been a roller coaster of a year hasn’t it? I, for one, am super uber ready to be starting a new year. A new year with great prospects on the horizons. With wonderful friends that keep me on my toes every day (Angel? Candy? Meredith? If you don’t know who these people are you need to follow them on Twitter because they will keep you on your toes and in stitches. You’re on your own for alcohol). And, of course, a new year with a newer drinking habit.
I jest. Except for the part about the drinking habit. Gimlet anyone?
Anyway, late last night in something I like to call “Twitter After Hours” because there are a handful of us insomniacs that end up Tweeting late into the night (and sometimes into the morning), a group of us decided that you needed to know more about us. Whether or not that is a good thing I’ll leave up to you. Of course you probably already know most of the easy stuff. Who is my father and what does he do (odd movie reference, please tell me you know it….). But there is a whole slew of craziness that you don’t know. Craziness? Who? Me?
So without further adieu…. 25 things you will now know about me (some of which you probably didn’t want to know).
1. If I were not an interior designer I’d love to drive cars in movies. There is nothing that gets me going like a good car chase scene.
2. I modeled for a dance instruction brochure and a fitness website. Yes kids, I was a model. Once. Minus the cigarettes.
3. This one time…. at band camp…. Joking. I’ve never been to band camp.
4. Although my first back injury was the result of it, I still like strapping my feet into a snowboard. Yes, they stopped the lift for me the first time I climbed the mountain.
5. My claim to dating fame is that I once dated one of the actors from Knot’s Landing. I don’t kiss and tell so don’t ask.
6. I will not stand on any balcony that does not have at least two of it’s sides protected by the building.
7. I can make a perfect pie crust but always struggle with the filling. That and I don’t trust my oven.
8. I am actually a native of Las Vegas (Henderson actually but they’re practically the same city).
9. I mumble in broken French. It confuses people. Or makes them think I’m crazy. Their choice.
10. I do not eat most kinds of sweets. Things like pies, donuts, scones, cake, and brownies are not in my diet because I simply do not like them. Now you know why I’m a size 2.
11. I auditioned for Bravo’s Top Design. I then turned them down.
12. My first word was not “mama” or “dada” like most normal babies. It was “shit”. I kid you not, ask my mother.
13. I can trace part of my heritage back to royalty. That’s right. Bow down!
14. I am allergic to and can smell Star Gazer Lilies the moment I walk into a room. The same goes for real milk in my Starbucks.
15. I do not know how to drive stick. To the detriment of every exotic car dealership out there.
16. My mother and I share the same initials. Yes, it was done on purpose.
17. Speaking of initials, I always use my middle initial because without it, I would simply be BS. No explanation necessary.
18. I have an aversion to using any kind of urinal. Public or otherwise.
19. I encourage New York City taxi drivers to drive like the movies. I can’t help it.
20. My maternal grandfather is Freddie Krueger. Well, Richard Frederick Krueger anyway.
21. I have a mild case of OCD. By mild I mean that I don’t lock the door twelve times but I will rearrange store counters.
22. I can only hear out of one ear. Though I do hear little sounds from my dead ear, if you notice me pointing an ear your way it’s probably because I’m ignoring you.
23. I wear a woman’s shoe size 13. This has been tested.
24. The quickest way to get me to relax is to put me behind the wheel of my car. Sadly this is also the quickest way to get me annoyed too.
25. I do not camp. Ever.
See now that wasn’t so bad was it? Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2012!
