As 2009 winds down human nature dictates that we both examine the past year and speculate about the next. I look forward to 2010 after a roller coaster 2009.
Let’s look back…….
January 1st, 2009, I land at La Guardia amidst the coldest winter in decades….Happy New Year! I was so excited to start my new life in the Big Apple, and could never have predicted how far I would come in the next twelve short months.
By February 1st I was feverishly distributing resumes to any and all who would accept, and to some who probably wouldn’t have if I had given them a choice!
With the high of college graduation still firmly gripping my optimism meter, I had pie in the sky hopes that the most sophisticated design firm in the city
would snatch me right up and pay me top dollar to grace them with my presence. I would like to blame the economy for this particular dream not coming true,
but I don’t think that would be fair. While yes, I know I am talented, the interior design world is all about two things, your body of work, and who you know.
I had zero experience and had never met any of the other 8 million New Yorker’s, who daily proved to me that they had it all figured out as they strutted
past my living room window, focused and productive. The rest of February was spent hibernating, afternoons spent in denial about the frigidity, both real
and imagined, that lurked just beyond the thin glass of our Queens windows.
At the end of February, after weeks of discouraging job hunting, an angel from the city called to say that I could come intern at the luxury showroom
where she managed. While this wasn’t a paying gig, my prayers had been answered! For a moment I lived the dream….I was one of the millions who
silently rode the early train into the city, I walked importantly the few blocks from the 33rd and Park station to the New York Design Center, and I
greeted the doormen with quiet, confident smiles. I had made it!!! If only in my own eyes.
March, April, and most of May were consumed, Monday through Friday at the showroom. I learned VALUABLE lessons there, although very few
that actually applied to interior design. The highlight however of my internship in the city was meeting my design partner. From day one there was a
natural grace to our interactions. She got me, and I got her. We shared thoughts and dreams and she inspired me to think bigger everyday. So when she
came to me asking for my help with some residential projects she was working on, I jumped at the opportunity! What began slowly, quickly became my focus
over the next 6-8 months…..more about that later.
At the end of May, I was able to go home to the desert to witness my brother graduate from highschool and to meet my best friends new baby, Kai Daniel.
Both were glorious events and it was replenishing to be home amongst those who love me the most. I also got the see family from Nebraska whom I hadn’t seen
in years. Lucy, my cat took the flight home with me and was an absolute trooper throughout the whole 9 hour ordeal. She never made a peep and kept her little legs
crossed the whole way! I never loved her more than that day for being such an angel on those planes.
Upon returning to NY, June 1st, I dove in head first on the residential design projects with my design partner. She was working on a two living room decorating project
in New Jersey and a bathroom renovation in Manhattan. More of my dreams coming true! I was really working on an interior design project! It was just the two of us!
No teachers over seeing the mission, for better or worse, we were the captains of the ship and all decisions, important or not were ours! It was exhilarating! She and I got
along famously and complimented each other in magical ways.
My first summer in Queens was consumed with these two projects. Some days I could work twelve hours without thinking about it….I was sooo inspired and motivated!
I was also very grateful to my partner for allowing me into this process with her. She never tried to be my boss or dictate my assignments. I have to say from the
very beginning our relationship was respectfully diplomatic and agreeable.
As the summer wound down and the bathroom project neared completion we began the next phase of the Manhattan project which was the rest of the house
(minus the bedroom) and the garden terrace. After presenting our design plans for the next phase, more dreams come true as the client loves my ideas.
Yes!!!!! I have achieved a huge mile stone in creating this elaborate design plan, getting through the three-hour presentation and in the end, the client loves it.
There is nothing more satisfying as a designer! And to her credit, I could not have done it without my partner.
Autumn was quickly upon me and I was blown away by the colors of an east coast fall. My life was coming together in all ways except one, financially. After a family
filled road trip in October that took me from AZ to NM to NE and back to AZ again, we made the choice to move to Connecticut which put the boyfriend closer to the work
that put food on our table and me still an east train ride into the city.
November 1st, I have fallen instantly in love with our new little city. The first couple of weeks I spend nesting and getting things unpacked (although boyfriend would beg
to differ as there are still boxes about….what boyfriend fails to recognize is the lack of furniture with which to store belongings in said boxes). All joking aside though,
I did get us set up with one grand trip to IKEA and hours of assembling the separate furniture components.
A few weeks into November Thanksgiving was approaching and it was time to swallow my designer’s ego and get a job, any job! I spent a day wandering on foot through
the nightlife region of my small town looking for any and all paying opportunities. I dropped off a few resumes but was only really hoping for one call back…..and I got it!
Though not the dream job, it is still inspiring and is also allowing me to be more independent. I wish I could say that the aforementioned sophisticated, New York City
design firm had finally decided to snatch me up, but alas, I am working retail…..
And with that we are back to the beginning. I am here on my IKEA sofa typing these words. Christmas is around the corner, it will be the first that I have ever not gone
home, be it to my mine or the boyfriend’s family. It’s slightly freeing to “just say no” to all x-mas invitations and focus on the new job and the man who makes me happy
everyday, the one who loves me the most, the boyfriend. 2009 has been swell now that I look back on it. It was a year of development for me, and I have set myself up
for success in the new year. I am proud of my accomplishments and the designer I am becoming.
What’s up, 2010? Can’t wait!!!
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