Daily Dash: Ombre Linen Napkins by Kim Seybert

 

 — Sure, it's a little summery...I'm just not quite ready to move on yet, okay? —

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Since the Last Time We Spoke, or Views from My New Office

When I look back on the life of this blog -- an almost three-year endeavor, started in October 2009, officially because I "wanted to have a blog," unofficially because I needed a creative outlet to mourn some personal changes I had just been through -- I am amazed at where it's taken me and what it's all meant. More than anything, it's been my little engine that could: my space, my place without an editor, my inspiration for digging back into photography, my neck of the woods. 

I've recently gone through some personal changes again, but this time it's more of the happy sort. I've been holding back on sharing it here for some reason, like it's been my secret to savor -- or perhaps because, when I post this, it makes it all officially official. But it is official. And here's the deal: About a month ago, I left my job at Real Simple in order to become a freelance writer.

(Freelance! Don't you dig that word in every way?)

Now, to actually go freelance, you have to work to build a client base for a while -- and since the start of the year, I've been working around 80 hours a week to make sure I could comfortably make this shift. (Which should explain why my blog has been so quiet.) (Also: I'm exhausted, y'all.) I've been spending time saving and asking questions and consulting friends and family, and around mid-July, I announced my plans to my co-workers. They took the news with such grace, generously giving me love and enthusiasm for my decision -- a big one for me, especially since I had been at the mag for five years. I could not be more grateful for those friends and that amazing team. Their support meant the world to me.

I credit much of this new step to the work I've done on this little blog. It's the place where Cerentha Harris, then-editor of the Lifework blog at Herman Miller, posted a comment saying she wanted to do a tour of my studio. I started writing as contributor for her after that, and today, now that Cerentha left to launch Mom.me, I am the editor of that blog. And who replaced me as contributor? The amazing Jamie Latendresse, whom I met on this blog after I featured his "4 Seats on the 1" print in October 2010. (The print got a particularly awesome reception when I mentioned it in an Apartment Therapy tour of my digs -- another result of M-Dashing.) It's been connection after connection, blessing after blessing. All because I wanted a blog, and needed to deal with my life. And now here we go.

I'll continue to fill you in as this adventure unfolds -- there's much to share (like, much much), but I am, admittedly, still slightly overwhelmed with the possibilities and the flexibility and the opportunities that come with being my own small business. There.is.so.much.to.learn. And change finally feels so good.

xo

More Lovin' from ESPO

Artist Stephen Powers' "Love Letter to Brooklyn" isn't the only love he's spreading around in downtown BK. These two other buildings are also just as eye-popping. I dig that the sign in the top photo is actually supposed to be related to the pizza place below it (those red circles in "YOU" are, um, slices of pepperoni)--read about the debacle here.

"Love Letter to Brooklyn" from Stephen Powers

When you're a word nerd like me, there's something breathtaking about emerging from the subway and suddenly being surrounded by this project by artist and sign painter Stephen Powers (tag name: ESPO). Powers' painted text wraps around a parking garage outside the Macy's in downtown Brooklyn, and you just can't help but walk around it with wide eyes and a big dorky smile on your face. (Or, at least, I can't.)

According to this interview by WNYC, the piece was "largely inspired by conversations he and his team of a dozen painters had with people passing by the parking garage." If you're in the area, get down to Hoyt and Livingston and really take a long walk around it...in addition to the words, it has this interesting theme of painted hands. You can also see nearby details that may have inspired the shape of the text--the small black-and-white entrance sign to the parking garage, for example, or the 99-cent stores that surround the garage.

For the record, I would totally let this guy go nuts on the walls in my apartment. Beyond awesome.