Excerpt 1:
Many people think they know you. That if you were asked certain questions, that they could be certain of your answers. This book will surprise many of those people, and I’m sorry. Maybe it will surprise no one. But I should take blame where it is due. My silence may have indicated agreement when I felt very differently. My fear of losing you kept me from saying what I truly believe. And now some would say I’m a coward, revealing my true feelings in a book far removed from apparent reproach. However from where I stand, it is my hope that what I say will not be diluted by memory or emotion and easily referenced.

You’re never ready; for pregnancy or death, for life or loss. I can safely say that life has continually caught me off guard. Almost nothing has turned out the way I imagined. People like Bill Withers make me forget how awful I am and have been, and Jarvis Cocker reminds me of my basest thoughts. I’ve known that I, and the world, need a savior for a long, long time. Someone that actually has the authority to make all the wrongs, right. I never questioned the person and purpose of Jesus, quite frankly it always made sense to me. What I wasn’t able to do, was believe that the extravagant love He promised could be extended to me unconditionally. My self confidence, or lack thereof, didn’t let me believe fully that I was part of His redemption too. When I learned about Jesus I would feel this overwhelming happiness that someone out there was going be who He said He was, and do what He said He was going to do. But that happiness was always lined with a deep sadness; while I was able to believe his provision and love for others, I could not imagine it for myself.

Excerpt 2:
I’m Not a Player,
I Just Dream Crush A Lot

Some propagate the idea that in order to be authentic you must like the same things for a long time. Well, adversely I find those people very dull and self-absorbed. I spent a lot of my teen years feeling stupid for liking Paula Abdul or Neneh Cherry in 5th grade. Because heaven forbid my musical tastes should stray and someone should find out that just a few years before I was obsessed with something mainstream. But eventually I realized that there is always going to be someone older and cooler than you to remind you that you didn’t discover something, and that they were there first, so to speak. There are three things that are really jerky about that: those types of people are perpetual dream crushers, they’re always talking about themselves, and no one their own age likes to be around them.

Excerpt 3:
Stop Thinking You’re God

A hard learned lesson, that would have served me well to learn earlier, is that I’m not totally in control. But neither are my oppressors, antagonists, allies or friends. Not one person I know can add or take away a single day of my life from good or evil motive. God numbers my days, and accidents are only accidents from a certain perspective.

Excerpt 4:
Give People Some Credit

One of the most annoying things an adult can do to another adult is speak to them as though you know everything and they know nothing. And it’s usually the people without a clue that think they’re educating the world. Some people are storytellers, and some storytellers are boring. Save people a lot of unnecessary annoyance and ask a question rather than pretending you discovered North America, cause chances are you’re just as delusional as good ‘ol C.C.

If I receive feedback, I will take it to heart. I have only read these excerpts over the phone to one person. It is with a sigh of relief and exhale of horror that I publish these words on a blog. But faith without works is dead, and I’ve been talking about doing certain things for far too long. Is this where I write: All rights reserved.? Booyah Grandma.

Sewing… and more specifically altering.

Spring has sprung and it’s time to jazz up that summer wardrobe. Hopefully soon I will be posting photos of my latest sewing accomplishments. Until then here are two sewing machines that sum up my personality and design aesthetic; highly technical with a classical sensibility, and couture taste on a flea market budget. Thank you and good night.

She’s a thing of beauty, and is now something that is looked at rather than used.

She’s unaffordable and does things that can only be qualified in monosyballic sounds. And by unaffordable I mean $9,000. Eat your heart out.

And… we’re back. So I’m a nerd and I’ve been thinking about mimes a lot lately. I mean, a lot. Maybe it’s their lack of words to achieve understanding. Vow of silence in my future? Doubt it. Actually it’s the mime’s first trick that appeals to me most, establishing walls around themselves. Perhaps because my area of expertise lies in interior design and most of my creative expression occurs within four walls.

In my quest to reinvent interiors, walls have been my obsession as of late. Generally when people think of interiors, they try to figure out how much stuff they can possibly cram into a space, and the walls (ceiling and floor included) are usually an afterthought. After rearranging my apartment recently, I’ve been thinking about ways to create the illusion of a well thought out room, but in a 2-dimensional way instead of 3. Stay with me. When people think of walls, they think about colors to paint them, where to hang art, and that’s about it when it comes to the vertical spaces. You might see a shelf here or there, but largely wall space is not maximized. And with my new vision, belongings could be mostly an illusion… on the wall! Let me illustrate my point.

Don’t really have a green thumb? That’s ok, me either.

Don’t eat at home much?

Don’t have a junction box?

Just like cute things?

Skeletal Lamping?

Do you like touches of elegance wherever you go?

Can’t afford anything else by the Eames’?

So many uses, so little time. Explore more wall creativity at whatisblik
That’s where all the photos above came from and they have some really ingenious ways of utilizing all surfaces flat. Very affordable too, I might add. Keep your eyes out for options labeled re-stik, a re-usable option!

See you around the way!

A customer came into the showroom I work at last night and I literally wanted to snatch her handbag from her and keep it as my own. It was that lovely. This reminded me of how much I love neon. Especially neon orange. Those close to me have seen me with neon orange nails, handbags and accessories for quite some time now. I tried to find an image of the neon orange Swatch watch I wore until it was beyond repair, but was unable to. I even replaced the original neon band with a beige and white striped one; because the neon numbered clear face was neutral. I received many compliments on my custom designed Swatch watch.

I was able to find pictures of the handbag I covet. I will say it was more alluring in person, and the pictures don’t do it justice, but here we go. Many of you may be familiar with Rebecca Minkoff, I however am not, so let me be excited. Enjoy.

The color combination I most prefer.

A trio of options.

And an ode to neon. Other Minkoff designs.

Please share your design picks with me as well!

In San Francisco they can be found in Diamond Heights, Cathedral Hill, Russian Hill, and Visitacion Valley. Sequoyah Hills in the Oakland Hills is home to another cluster of Eichlers. And Marin is home to many, many neighborhoods of Eichlers, existing in North and South Terra Linda , upper and lower Lucas Valley, Sleepy Hollow and Strawberry Point in Mill Valley. More information about available bay area Eichlers can be found here. CA Modern or Atomic Ranch are great periodicals to check out the latest Eichler trends and furnishings.

I have been fascinated by Eichlers for some time now and have recently embarked on the journey of researching them and trying to see as many as possible. I will post photos of the Eichlers I see on my Flickr account, so stay tuned.

Joseph Eichler was not an architect, contrary to popular belief, but was a real estate developer. One major characteristic that sets him apart and earns my respect was that Eichler, unlike most builders at the time, established a non-discrimination policy and offered homes for sale to anyone of any religion or race. In 1958, he resigned from the National Association of Home Builders when they refused to support a non-discrimination policy. Eichler sought to provide inventive affordable postwar homes to the masses (in northern and southern California).

So what makes an Eichler an Eichler, you may ask. Features include floor to ceiling glass walls, post-and-beam construction and open floorplans. Basically a modernist dream. The primary design philosophy of these modern homes is to bring the outside in. Which I find incredibly harmonious and beautiful. The famous Eichler atriums embody this concept.

Eicher homes are also known for Tongue and Groove decking for the roof, concrete slab floors with integral radiant heating, sliding doors and cabinets with sliding doors, and Japanese Shoji style closet doors. These homes tend to only work well in temperate climates, hence the placement in California. An Eichler community is also evident by the mindful placement of parks, yards, and the appreciation of the land it inhabits. Minimal, purposeful, and peaceful.

Like most genius ideas, Eichler was way ahead of his time and had a hard time convincing his war weary clientele to opt for innovation rather than convention. By the mid 1960′s Eichler Homes was in financial trouble and by 1967 declared bankruptcy. I would venture to say that Eichler is pleased his designs are highly sought after at present, but probably wishes the selling prices were more geared toward the working class. Joseph Eichler was a pioneer and a visionary. I look forward to seeking out the creations he enabled through talented architects such as: Robert Anshen (Wright disciple) of Anshen and Allen, Claude Oakland and Associates, Jones and Emmons, A. Quincy Jones, and Raphael Soriano.

I still have it. And inside is a note from my aunt, uncle and cousins calling me their favorite Wild Thing. Not far off, as I was quite a wild, opiniated child. Imagine that. I now own the book by Dave Eggers with the same title, have seen the film and have been inspired yet again by that young boy Max nearly 25 years later.

The way the Wild Things slept in piles reminds me that I am in this bizarre interim of my life. No longer a direct part of my original family unit, and waiting to create my own, I find my pile quite small. It’s pretty much me and my pillows. I have seen this concept of sleeping in piles being synonymous with love and comfort in another book called Look Me in the Eye, by John Elder Robison, brother of Augusten Burroughs. The author has Aspergers and talks in the book of needing to create piles around him in order to sleep well. Again reminding me of the comfort found in these piles.

In recent furniture searches I found this genius design called Living Stones, by Smarin.

I mean seriously. Awesome, right? Everybody Pile UP!

Once I landed in New York, trying to squeeze as much culture as possible into a four day trip, I went to the Guggenheim, one of Wright’s masterpieces. Unbeknownst to me, the museum was curating a large body of Wright’s work. Amazing! I love when life connects the dots, and things seem to make sense and have an otherworldly alignment. Three (w)righteous alignments.

As if that wasn’t enough to confirm my timely obsession, Design Within Reach, my employer, worked closely with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to gain exclusivity and bring a few of his furniture designs back into production. Specifically a couch, recliner, and my personal favorite the barrel chair.

When reflecting on my summer of Frank I ask myself what did good ol’ Frank teach this young lady. Well a couple of things. The most important being that when it comes to greatness, vision and passion far outweigh functionality. For example, Fallingwater, a home designed for Edgar J. Kaufmann Senior, has cantilevered balconies that amaze and astound. The way he designed the structure to interact with nature rather than alienate causes much reflection with the way we tend to handle new construction.


However The senior Mr. Kaufmann called Fallingwater “a seven-bucket building” for its leaks, and nicknamed it “Rising Mildew”. The conclusion? Greatness is not determined by practicality and that’s fine by me. Because the exterior of that building inspired and continues to inspire exponentially more people than the few that were originally permitted to inhabit its damp quarters.

Apparently life had one more strange alignment for dear Frank and I. While fact checking Fallingwater I saw that the preliminary plans were submitted to Kaufman on October 15, 1935. My birthday! Don’t look at me, I’m just the messenger.

Addendum (11/8/09) And another fun fact… from my mother after she read this entry. In 1978 when my mother was pregnant with yours truly, she and my father were looking for apartments in Springfield, Ohio. My father wanted to move into the Frank Lloyd Wright “Westcott House” which had been turned into apartments in 1944. It was the only Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style house in Ohio. However my parents were rejected because my mother was pregnant with me and they primarily wanted to rent to students, which my father was at the time. Can you say discrimination! So close to living the dream…