The Ugliest Chair Ever

I see a lot of ugly furniture in my line of work, but this one takes the cake.

This chair is from Sicis, a company that makes beautiful glass tile.  Why on earth are they making furniture?  They have absolutely NO business making furniture.  And I'm sure it's expensive, too.  Please, people, stick to what you're good at.

I Feel Like a Bad Mom & Holy Cow the Dog Kennel is Expensive!

When I go to Portland next week I have to board Lulu in a kennel for the second time in her 11 1/2 years.  I am (ridiculously) upset about it.  When I was researching kennels online I was actually crying thinking about how abandoned Lulu is going to feel.  Which is why I feel like a bad mom.

The first time I boarded Lulu was when she was still a puppy.  I was traveling a lot for work and one of my trips coincided with my parents summer vacation.  We decided to board both Lulu and Zelda at a kennel that was recommended by my aunt.  This was so long ago that it was before the days when everybody really pampered their pets.  It became such a hassle.  First, they didn't want to keep Lulu and Zelda together because Lulu is a small dog and Zelda is a big dog, and they usually separated the dogs by size.  Then it was a huge ordeal to feed them their own food, an ordeal to feed them a mixture of wet and dry, an ordeal to feed them twice a day.  To me those things should just be standard operating procedure.  They wouldn't allow them to have their own beds or toys.  I would think that those items from home would help with the separation anxiety.

Even with all those problems, we felt like the dogs would be okay there.  When I picked them up, I decided that I would try to never board my dog again.  And I would definitely never board my dog there again, if I had to board her at all.  Lulu was pink when I picked her up.  PINK!  She had been wearing a pink halter collar and during her stay she chewed it off of herself.  The kennel employees never bothered to take it away from her, so she kept chewing on it and turned herself pink in the process.  Nor did they bother to give her a bath to remove the pink.  Thanks.  They never returned the container that held Lulu's food (which was a nice one!) nor the 1/2 cup scoop that portioned out her food.  I still have the rest of the set of measuring cups and every time I see that the 1/2 cup is missing, I'm irked all over again.

For the last 11 years, my parents and I have always made sure one of us can take care of the dogs because of that kennel experience.  But now since all of us, as well as the rest of our family, will be in Portland for Kristen and Stacy's wedding, we have to kennel them again.

After some research and talking to my vet about it, I decided on the PetsHotel at PetsMart.  It's expensive!  $28 per night for their regular room.  But included in that is two feedings per day, and they actually provide the food!  It just so happens that they use the same food Lulu already gets.  It's absolutely no problem to feed a combo of wet and dry and they'll even include the green beans Lulu now gets (part of her diet) if I provide them portioned out.  And they didn't bat an eye when I told them the particulars about how much she eats - 1/3 cup of dry food, 1/10th can of wet food, and 1/4 cup of green beans.  No biggie.  They also said that it's fine to bring her bed.  Because its makes the separation easier to have something from home.  Of course you can bring a favorite toy, just no squeakers because it's a choking hazard.  They also walk the dogs multiple times a day.  If Lulu wasn't so old and wasn't such a bitch, she could also go to the doggie day camp to play with other dogs.  It would cost me and extra $16, but since she doesn't really like other dogs, I don't have to incur that expense.

Turns out that my parents plans for Zelda fell through and she has to be boarded, too.  We thought it might be nice for Zelda and Lulu to be near each other, but they do get sick of each other and definitely need to be separated at meal times, so a shared room wasn't a great option.  The PetsHotel people had a wonderful solution!  Adjoining rooms with a close-able door between them - perfect!

They will give your dog special treats - a treat filled kong or doggie icecream ($4 each), and will give your dog a bath before you pick it up ($11).  They will give your dog it's medication ($2 per day).  You can give your dog individual play time, I guess for if your dog isn't good with other dogs ($9).  They actually even have what they call a Dog Suite - it is a larger room, with a better bed, and a TV tuned to doggie programs. :)  That once costs $38 a day.

I had to fill out a three page form about Lulu and her history.  It was really quite funny.  I had to provide a local emergency contact, too.  Since, again, my entire family will be in Portland, that honor goes to Michelle.  Hopefully she doesn't actually ever have to go get Lulu, though.  Although Lulu absolutely LOVES Michelle and Russ, she doesn't exactly care for Tuli or Mira's method of love by smothering and hugging to death.

I feel so much better about the situation knowing that the PetsHotel people have figured out how to make it work for us.  Although I'm sure I'll have a shock when I pay the bill, I know it's worth it for my precious baby Lulu.

A Twofer! - What I'm Reading and a Little Rant about Equality

I finally read Jodi Picoult's latest book, Sing You Home.  It came out in March and it's been sitting in my "to-read" stack since then.  I always like Picoult's books.  She writes about current, hot-button topics, and doesn't shy away from controversy.  She's written about teen suicide, autistic kids and murder, and this one is about infertility, gay rights/equality and evangelical Christians.  There's some serious controversy for you!  A lot of Picoult's books trade off narrators in every chapter, which I really like.  It lets you see different characters point-of-view.  It was especially helpful in this book because the main characters have such VERY different points-of-view.

In this book, Zoe and Max have been trying to have a baby for ten years.  Their infertility has taken over their life.  In-vitro treatments have cost them a ton of money.  They have had multiple miscarriages.  And after they lose their baby, a still born at 28 weeks, Max decided that he can't do this anymore and wants a divorce.  Max, an alcoholic, copes with the loss of their son and their marriage by drinking.  Then one night, after a drunken car accident, he finds Jesus.  He joins a "born-again" church and becomes a completely different man.  Zoe copes by finding a new best friend, Vanessa.  Vanessa happens to be gay.  Zoe and Vanessa fall in love.

Now, I'm probably going to give too many spoilers for people who want to read this book, but I have to talk about the rest of the book.  I have read many, many books.  They've made me sad and I've cried, I've laughed, I've been bored, I've been confused.  But I don't think that a book has ever made me so angry.  I'm sure that part of the reason I got so angry is because my sister is gay and I see all the time how the world treats her differently because of that.  But I also know that I would feel this way about gay rights even if she wasn't gay.  My sister is getting married this summer, but gay marriage isn't legal in the state of Oregon.  I think that absolutely sucks! 

And full disclosure here, I'm not religious.  I was raised Catholic and I have found that my beliefs and the Catholic church don't match up well at all.  My ex-boyfriend considered himself a born-again Christian, and though I went to church with him and his family and I enjoyed the music, that didn't fit me either.  I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not having religion in my life, but I don't begrudge people their beliefs and their religions, even if I don't exactly understand it all.

 In the book, Zoe and Vanessa go to another state to get married.  They discuss their options for having children and Zoe remembers that they still have three fertilized eggs from when she and Max were going through treatment.  She wants those eggs and the children they might produce.

When Max finds out that Zoe is gay, he is understandably shocked.  That news would be shocking for anybody's ex-husband, but it is doubly so for Max because he is now so ultra-religious.  His church believes that gay people are..., well, basically, the devil.  He and another member of the church, a women who was formerly "gay-identified" (because being gay is a choice, and now she chooses differently), try to talk some sense into Zoe.  They quote bible passages at Zoe and Vanessa, trying to get them to see the error of their ways.  At the end of the visit, Vanessa finally goes off on them and says: "How dare you tell me that what makes me me is wrong?  How dare you say that you're tolerant, as long as I'm just like you?  How dare you suggest that I shouldn't be allowed to get married to someone I love, or adopt a child, or that gay rights don't qualify as civil rights because, unlike skin color or disabilities, you think that sexual orientation can be changed?  But you know what?  Even that argument doesn't hold water, because you can change your religion, and religious affiliation is still protected by law.  Which is the only reason I'm going to ask you politely to leave my home, instead of throwing you out on your hypocritical evangelical asses."

I wanted to clap when I read that passage!  Good for them!  I'm sure that any gay person who has been preached to about how wrong they are, in the name of God, has wanted to have a retort like that.

The rest of the book is about the lawsuit that happens when Max doesn't want to give Zoe the fertilized eggs.  It becomes a fight between gay rights and the evangelical Christians.  It gets messy and disgusting.  Most of the arguments Max's side brings up pissed the shit out of me, to be honest.

At the end of the book, one of the characters says, "Jesus didn't make exceptions, Max.  He didn't say we're supposed to love ninety-eight percent of our neighbors...but hate the ones who play their music too loud or who always drive over our lawn or who vote for Ralph Nader or who get tattooed from head to toe.  There may be days I don't really want to love the guy whose dog ate the heads off my day lilies, but Jesus says I don't have a choice.  It's not love if there are conditions."

That's they way religion is supposed to be.  There isn't supposed to be hate or condemnation.  Everybody should be accepted, no matter what.  And no matter what your sexual orientation is, you should be allowed to marry the person you love and have children how you choose to have them.  Last week New York passed a law giving gay people the right to marry.  Though they are not the first state to do so, they are one of the largest.  And it seems like it got the most press.  Now we just need to rest of the states to do the same.  This country was founded because people wanted freedom from England.  How is this freedom any different than that?  I have to believe that our country will eventually do the right thing, because they have always done it in the past.

I highly recommend this book, and any of Jodi Picoult's books, but reader be warned that this one may stir up some serious feelings and thoughts.

At Peace?

Part of me has been feeling oddly at peace lately.  I can't figure it out.  I don't know why.  I tried explaining it to John today and he actually understood what I was trying to say.

I feel like my soul has made peace with something, though my head hasn't quite caught up yet.  And I don't know what it's made peace with.  I just have this odd sense of it all being okay, of being content, of things making sense.  I've even had less road rage!

John says that I should definitely listen to my soul; it's probably right.  Our brains just mess it all up with too much thinking.

But what have I made peace with?  Have I accepted my lot in life?  Am I content with my place in the world?  Will I be okay by myself, without getting married and having children?  I don't know.  I do know that my life isn't perfect (who's is?), there is a lot going on right now - crazy at work, Kristen's wedding coming up, searching for a new Fundraising VP at Junior League, and I've been really lonely lately.  So how has my soul made peace with all this going on?

It's a confusing feeling.  I'll let you know if I can unify my soul and my head sometime soon.

What I'm Reading

This is the latest of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels.  I recently re-read all of them so that I could be up-to-date when this one came out.  I was honestly a little disappointed.  It seemed short and though it was still funny, it wasn't as funny as usual. 

For those who aren't familiar with these books, Stephanie Plum is a bond enforcement agent in New Jersey.  She's really not that good at it.  Lula is her usual sidekick and the two of them get into some of the most ridiculous situations.  She has a crazy grandma who loves going to showings at the funeral home.  She's in love with two men - Joe Morelli and Ranger.  They are both awesome.  She is constantly blowing up her cars and people are constantly breaking into her apartment.  It all makes for fun, light-hearted, fast reading.

Stephanie and Lula usually have some seriously hilarious hijinks and dialogue, and it just wasn't the same this time.  While I appreciated Stephanie's scenes with Ranger, her scenes with Morelli were a bit lacking.  The book jacket teased us that Stephanie was finally going to make a choice between Ranger and Morelli, but of course she didn't.  I always read through these pretty quickly, but this one I got through in one night.  And a work night at that.  I'm wondering if it was rushed to publication to try to satisfy the eager readers? 

The 18th in the series comes out in a few months, so hopefully that one will be better.  Don't get me wrong, I still totally recommend this series to people.  It is laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes ridiculous, but always entertaining. 

4 Things I Love This Week

Although this week has been incredibly busy at work - two nights of working late, working last Saturday, a presentation, my boss going out of town, etc. - there were some really great parts of the week, too.

1.  Potager, where we went for dinner on Wednesday night.  Yum YUM YUMMY!!!  We went after our successful presentation to celebrate.  For those who don't know this restaurant, it is in Capitol Hill at 11th & Ogden - just three blocks from where I used to live!  Their menu changes monthly, based on what the freshest ingredients they can get are.  They grow a lot of their own herbs and veggies.  My boss knows the owner, Teri, and the baker, Jane.  We started with a bottle of fabulous California Pinot Noir, the Risotto Fritters and the Sugar Snap Peas - wonderful fresh yummy.  I had the Proscuitto Wrapped Pork Loin - omigod so good.  It has a chopped salad like topping of asparagus, potatoes, currants, almonds and capers and though I don't really like asparagus, the bits were so small that I could eat most of it and actually really enjoyed it.  For dessert we had a Rhubarb Crisp with salted caramel ice cream and Lemon Pound Cake with Rhubarb ice cream.  I've never had Rhubarb before because I always thought it had the texture of celery.  Boy was I wrong!  The tart flavor that it has was a wonderful complement to the sweetness in a crisp.  I'm a convert!

2.  Shoes  These are the shoes I got for Kristen and Stacy's wedding.  My dress is mostly pink, so I wanted pink shoes.  I wasn't finding exactly what I wanted in the stores, so I ordered these from Boden, where I got my dress.  They recently came in and I love them!  The wedding is outdoors in the grass so heels weren't an option.  I also didn't want flats, so wedges it is.  Most of the wedges out there right now are really high, which I usually love, but since I'm going to be wearing these for hours and standing in them the majority of the time, I wanted something a little lower.  These fit the bill.  They are actually really comfortable and pretty!

3.  The Secret Circle  is a new TV show on the CW, well actually, it's scheduled to start in the fall.  It is based on the books of the same name by L.J. Smith, which I read back when they first came out in 1992 (!).  I loved these books, and the TV show loosely follows the same general premise.  Cassie Blake is a high school girl who doesn't know that she is really a powerful witch.  She moves to a new town where her family is from and finds the rest of her witch circle and her powers manifest.  But there are some differences, too.  In the books, the town in set in the north east, near Salem and where most of the witch stories of early US took place.  In the show, they are in the north west.  In the TV show Cassie moves to this town because her mom dies, but not in the books.  In the TV show the circle is complete at six members, in the books it's thirteen.  I assume they couldn't have a cast that big for a brand new show.  I think I'm going to miss those characters because they provided a lot of fun and growth for Cassie in the books.  I really like the actress that plays Cassie - Britt Robertson.  She was on another CW show I loved that got cancelled - Life Unexpected.  Hopefully they do as good a job with this show as they've done with Vampire Diaries, based on another set of books by L.J. Smith.


4.  Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain

 
I absolutely love this new album from Emmylou Harris.  Her voice is absolutely beautiful and soothing and soulful.  My absolute favorite song is Lonely Girl, it touches my heart, but the entire album is great.  I highly recommend it.  Here are the lyrics to Lonely Girl:

It seems to me lately
The days are growing shorter
The years are going faster
And time is flying by I wake up in the morning
And before I even notice
The sun is going down
And I'm left to wonder why

I'm a lonely girl in a lonely world
I never thought my life would be like this
To have no one to hold my hand
And feel once more a sweet caress

I'd give it my best effort
Love is always worth it
But even if I try
I might still end up alone
It may not be in me
To take what love could give me
Some of us are better off
To make it on our own

As a lonely girl in a lonely world
And though my life has been so blessed
I have no one to hold my hand
And feel once more a sweet caress

I've had my share of lovers
And cared for many others
I always thought there'd be
Another one to come along
But if love can't find me again
I'll put it all behind me then
I'll just go and learn to sing
Another sad love song

About a lonely girl in a lonely world
She never dreamed her life would be like this
To have no one to hold her hand
And feel once more a sweet caress


Check these things out, you won't be disappointed!

The Life & Times of an Interior Designer

It's been quite a while since I posted anything, and I apologize for that.  I've been really busy and stressed at work which translates into not wanting to anything when I get home except veg out.  I've been reading a lot, which has been nice, but it means I tune out the real world.  I've barely done anything for Junior League in weeks, I haven't seen my friends very much, even my People magazines have gone unread!  I've finally gotten some motivation back and now I have inspiration to blog about!

A little while ago my boss said something about how he never understood how interior designers wouldn't charge for their services.  I told him that I understood it.  For some reason it's really difficult to convince people that there is value in our services.  Let me explain a little bit about the myriad of ways designers charge their clients.

Some designers only charge their clients a mark-up on their purchases.  This can be any percentage, but mostly it seems that if this is the only profit for a designer, they charge their clients the retail price.  The profit is the difference between what the designer pays (wholesale or net) and the retail price. 

Some designers charge only an hourly rate for their work.  They might pass on the exact cost of the goods sold to their clients and not make a profit on them at all.

Some designers charge a set fee for the project.  If it's a small project or a quick project, this may be a good way to go because the price of things aren't likely to change in a short time frame and if the project isn't too big, it's not likely un-planned-for costs will arise.  

Some designers charge a combination of these rates.

At my current job, we charge our clients hourly and we charge them a mark-up on the cost of goods.  Our (my) hourly rate changes depending on what type of job I'm doing.  If it's administrative, we charge the client less than if it's design.  We charge different mark-ups on the goods depending on what it is and what our discount is.  If a sub-contractor goes through us for payment, we mark that up the least.  If we get a crappy discount from retail, we charge retail.  If the item is a fixed part of the home and the client is unlikey to take it when they move, we mark it up less.  For example the carpet, tile, fixed light fixtures, plumbing fixtures,etc.  If the item will go with the client, we mark it up a little more.  For example the furniture, rugs, drapes.  It is honestly quite complicated, but it works for us.

I think the best designers can charge for their services like this.  My boss has been doing this for a long time and has a great reputation.  He charges a lot for his time.  He charges a lot for my time.  If I were to go off on my own, I wouldn't charge as much for my time as he does for me.  I haven't earned it quite yet.

Some people think it's okay to juice a designers mind.  Asking their opinion without paying for it.  Asking for a designer's discount on something to be passed on to them.  Our style, our taste, our thoughts ARE our expertise!  That is our livelihood, how we make a living!  People pay for our opinions, our designs!  I don't ask a stock broker to give me advice without expecting to pay for his services.  I don't expect a graphic designer to design my business cards without paying them for their expertise.  I wish people would realize that it's not okay to do this with designers either.

There have been times in the past when I gave my "services" freely.  When I selected furnishings for my sister or my parents.  But hello!  They're my immediate family!  And I offered.  Once I also selected and ordered furnishings for one of my oldest friends.  I didn't charge for my time or make a profit on the furniture.  But I won't do that again.  The problems that arose from that situation have ruined the friendship.  And it made me realize the importance of charging clients.  If I had made a profit on the furniture they purchased, there would have been a "cushion" with which to fix some of the problems.

Any who, those are my thoughts on how interior designers charge for their services.  I hope this enlightens some readers.