updates

let’s catch up.  it’s been a while since we had a talk.

i’m perched on tigre sofa today, werking on a few design projects and ome promos for furbish this week, with intermittent attention lapses that lead to pinterest.  and now, has led me here.

i was in orange county last week with a group of lovely decorators and design-mavens.  we were invited by garden & gun, and hosted by thermador at their headquarters for a two-day brand immersion.  i went into the trip knowing next to nothing about thermador’s kitchen appliances, but thanks to the amazing experience provided by the thermador team, i left with an arsenal of info on the history of the brand, why they are so good at what they do, what to look for when choosing high-end appliances, and also, a full belly because they continually fed us delicious bits cooked in their steam ovens, and on their induction cook-tops.  i thoroughly enjoyed myself, and most of all, enjoyed the company of ladies like charlotte lucas, callie jenschke, barrie benson, erika powell, kate reynolds, meg lonergan, angie hranowsky, kate ukrop and haskell harris.  really, what a time.

from the OC, i flew to aspen to meet tad for a mountain rendezvous.  friends joined us a few days in, and i got in my dose of snow, cinnamon swirl pancakes, thrift store shopping, house zhushing, sushi eating and general silliness with my boo-thing.

unfortunately i got some very bad news from home in winston-salem that my aunt passed away, a bit unexpectedly, so tad and I drove through the night to denver to catch the first flight home so i could be with my family.  my aunt was my mom’s sister, and she died of lung cancer and complications caused by chemo, just like my mom.

my grandmother, my mom and my only aunt are all gone now, and that’s really tough.  my definition of family has had to flex in the last few years.  i’ve learned that showing up for your family can be a valuable practice, even when it’s challenging work.  there’s a lot to learn from trying to love without judgment.  it’s HARD af, but each time i try,  i get a tiny success under my belt and i can feel the bonds of family hold me where i’m supposed to be.  i’m learning to accept where i’m from, to maybe try to embrace it a bit, and to work on the relationships that i have left – like my uncle, and my dad.  i’ve learned that tad is my family, and when you have a partner that shows up for you in the shittiest stuff, and somehow finds a way to make even pain an adventure, you’re truly supported.  and in that support you can do things you didn’t think you could do.

my aunt had a lovely service in the moravian church i grew up in, and she was buried in god’s acre in old salem.  she was a real piece of work, and her funeral was no exception.  she’d planned every bit of it, from being buried in her favorite cat cookie jar, to a you’re-gonna-cry-even-if-you-don’t-cry 8 minute rendition of amazing grace on the church organ.  o’ll miss her, and I miss my mom, and my grandmother.  she was the end of an era, and I do think it’s a perfectly reasonable thought to imagine them back together.  strong, stubborn, fiercely loyal, insistent on their independence, sharp-witted southern woman.

i’m back in raleigh now, settling in for two weeks here.  it’s great to have time at kondo to make a little more progress each time i’m in town.  it’s starting to feel like it gets me – for a while we were all out of sorts, getting to know each other, but we’re settling in nicely.  it’s springtime, the schnauzies are all of themselves, my hair is growing out finally, and soon it will be time to eat tomato pies again.  we ok hurr.