Last week was a pretty crazy week. It was truly the best of weeks and the worst of weeks. One of the happenings on the best side was the opportunity to attend the Decorate Book Signing with Holly Becker at Anthropologie at The Grove on Friday night.
It was great to have BYW classmates Kelly of EverKelly and Jane of The Borrowed Abode to meet up with. Jane's an East Coast gal who we were lucky enough to have here on a business trip, so she popped up from San Diego for the book signing. It was so fun to meet her after knowing her online for a year now. I talk about Kelly all the time, you know I love her and her blog. Jane's blog is so very cool. It's all about decorating in a rental home. She has some great ideas, just got engaged this past weekend (Yay!) and is a great DIYer and organizer.
Both these gals inspire my creative side but also keep me laughing with their great senses of humor in real life and on their blogs. I also love that Jane's fiance Ryan sometimes makes writing appearances on her blog. He adds a lot of color to all the behind the scenes goings on.
There were two events last night, first a Mood Board class taught by Holly Becker, Leslie Shewring and Betsy Burnham. These are three incredibly stylish and talented women. Leslie's blog A Creative Mint is nothing short of amazing.
The way she puts things together is just mind-bogglingly inspired. And Betsy, well her outfit last night -- I could not take my eyes off it. I was instantly smitten with it when I saw her standing at the side of the room. She wore it so perfectly and I loved what she'd put together. I have to say her hair was sheer perfection. Considering that mine has been mangled by the heat of the downtown day and felt a mess, I was especially jealous -haa-haa.
Betsy shared a beautiful mood board they had made for an online client. The one thing I took from the mood board presentations is that you can have one "ugly" item that has a way of pulling everything together. It might be an offbeat piece of fabric or strange ceramic piece that doesn't seem like it's quite right. It's unexpected and somehow just works even though it seems like it totally shouldn't. So in the end it's not ugly but rather perfect.
Anthropologie was gracious enough to have the most delicious mint lemonade and charming little cupcakes for us too, which was so refreshing on such a hot, muggy day. I spent the entire day in downtown LA and had gone through several complete cycles of being soaking wet with sweat. Not a pretty picture.
Then I didn't get to go home to change because the day went much longer than expected. So I didn't get to pick up my cute business cards I spent the entire night before making and I didn't get to change into fun, cute outfit. I had to keep wearing this outfit I already didn't like that was incredibly hot and I was so tired of. Bummer. But it was so lovely that The Man could just drop me off and I was able to get a ride home with Kelly.
It was great fun to meet Leslie and Holly after taking the Blogging Your Way class they teach last fall. They are both so friendly and kind. I have learned so much from both of them and they have helped me grow and improve my blog in so many ways. I am incredibly appreciative for their continually generous spirits.
Afterwards Jane, Kelly and I enjoyed a nice long dinner outside at Marmalade Cafe. It was fun to chat blogs, weddings, creativity and business with them over a fantastic salad at the end of a long day. On the drive home, Kelly again inspired me with wise and comforting thoughts and fun stories. It was fun night and I am so glad we all had the chance to meet and enjoy an evening celebrating the publication of Decorate: 1,000 Professional Design Ideas For Every Room In Your House.
I have a ton of good stuff for you this week and some BIG news to share, if I can keep it a secret much longer. It's killing me a little bit but then I've been so busy I haven't even digested it yet. I will post a review of Decorate last this week, share my new business cards and other good things.
Happy Monday. Thanks for coming by. I am so happy to continue to get the chance to get to know you online and especially in real life. It's fun to think of all the cities I could visit where I could do a blog-friend meet up. Sending you my very best wishes, wherever you may be.
