kelly kelly hot tamale

i'm so excited today because my coworker has decided to send one of our designs to my ultimate, absolutely, 100% favorite interior designer, kelly wearstler. when i think of kelly, i think of a rock star--a rock star of interior design, that is.

you may not know this but i used to be a social worker. my first college degree is in sociology and i worked many years in a juvenile treatment facility in albuquerque. i liked my job as a social worker. i worked with some truly amazing people and i met some of my very closest friends there. however, i just got my social security statement and realized that i was making $20,000 a year then, and it reminded me of why i left, that and the fact that i have always loved decorating.

i had pretty much peaked at my job as far as promotions went and needed to make a decision whether or not i was going to enroll in grad school so i could move up in my company. i thought long and hard about it and decided that it was not where my heart was. i had always loved homes, i had always received so many compliments on the places i had lived in and i decided that interior design was what i wanted to do. i researched interior design schools and found bassist college here in portland. i moved here, went to school and never looked back on my decision to change careers.



and that brings me back to kelly. there has just always been something that i love about her. and yes, i have loved other interior designers before her but she has taken interior design to a new level. before kelly, designers were sort of in the background but she brought it all front and center and said, "hey, look at me, i'm a designer and i'm just as fabulous as my fabulous clients." and for that, i am forever grateful. and now, i just hope she loves what we do, because i think it's pretty darn cool. and she gives me so much inspiration in life and in work.



that reminds me of when i was in ny for work last year, i HAD to go and see her collection at bergdorf goodman but i was so nervous. i'm still a little girl when it comes to entering department stores and bergdorfs really brought that out. i made my pilgrimage up to the floor that housed her collection and just stood there in awe. i was more than happy to just look at the room but my wonderful friend insisted that we take a photo so she distracted the sales woman so i could take a shot similar to the one above. it was awesome!

oh kelly. i heart you!

photos courtesy my my favorite mag, domino. RIP

get chucked

fugitives and refugees

if you either live in or are planning a visit to portland, i highly recommend this unconventional travel guide via chuck palahniuk, the author of fight club. as you may know, chuck has lived in portland off and on for many years and here he lists some of his favorite locales. i read this book a few years back and really enjoyed his very unique insight into my fair city and he made several suggestions for places that i had never been. i have visited some of the places, like the crematorium in sellwood as well as the "bins" (our nickname for the big goodwill over near milwaukie) but there are oh so many more destinations i need to get out to see. check (or chuck) it out!