Just an update.

I haven't performed any major feats here. I did, however, get everything I need on the computer for my portfolio. Really. My Dad and I set up the tripod and easel and got a shot of every elevation on every project board. Now I have the images in the computer that I need to work with to get my awesome portfolio finished.

Now all I have to do is... everything else. Don't judge me. I'm working on it...

I have officially opened the 'Photoshop for Dummies' book. It's scary. And large... The first sentence says something about, "The depth and breadth of the program is unheralded"... great. At least I will mostly just be setting portfolio page layouts and not mastering the art of illusion like my Dad does.
I would be lying if I said that I was looking forward to this part. In reality, I should be... but who lives in reality anymore? I would much rather curl up on the sofa with an episode of True Blood than teach myself how to use Photoshop.

This is when I get this odd appreciation and respectful awe of my boss... I know she doesn't go home and plop herself in front of the television at night. She will take her work home with her if she needs to. I've seen her do it. She just recently took her work on vacation with her. She works with a restaurant/resort in Tahoe, where her family stays a lot... and I kid you not: she came back with a list of crap they need and catalog pages marked.
It can't be easy to own and run your own business. There is a reason she has repeat clients, and a reason she is serious about work... it's who she is. It's her baby. I get that.

So if I want that, then I have to work for it.... so excuse the short blog, but I have some reading to do.

Something old, Something...

This weekend, I was a wedding date. Going to the wedding was a big deal for me because I knew my boyfriend was going to be introducing me to a large number of close friends and their families. And he was expecting them to like me.


Now, my boyfriend knows these guys because they all went to school together at USC. They all have MBA's and great, high-paying jobs. No sweat, right? I knew I was mature enough to handle myself and carry on conversations with them, and I did. However, I noticed that in each conversation with a new individual the same subject was inevitably brought up.

My job.


They would ask me, "What do you do?" and I would respond, "I work for an interior designer. That's what my degree is in." They would then answer back with one of the following comments; "Cool", Very cool", or my favorite: "Oh, fun!"

Maybe I should have just smiled and nodded in agreement. Kept my mouth shut. But I just couldn't do it. It felt wrong for me to let them walk away with a picture in mind of me laughing and rolling in fabric samples, proclaiming how much I enjoy my Career and tossing paint swatches in the air.


So I told them my job sucked, and that it isn't what I pictured myself to be doing this far out of college. I said how my main focus right now was figuring out how to bust out of there. How to find that thing that I've been dreaming of. Then I would say, "Don't get me wrong, Interior design is great I love it, but I'm not designing." They were all very understanding and not the least bit judgemental, but it still kind of got under my skin. Not the fact that they asked... but the fact that I couldn't be proud of my current job, like they all are.

Talking about it though, made me want to get the ball rolling that much more. I have to be honest, I haven't done much to work toward my goals in the past couple weeks. So I finished this weekend with a bit more drive and reason than I had when I started. I'm brainstorming all my options, and consulting with Dad. We had a good long talk tonight, I think.

Here is a bullet point list of what I've come up with so far:

1. I can take some business classes and learn how to run my own business. This may or may not be helpful, we will just have to see if I do end up with my own business someday.


2. I have an appointment set with my Dad for Saturday morning at 8, to finally get pictures of my projects taken so I can finish my portfolio. I will then sit in front of the computer for many, many hours with a 'Photoshop for Dummies' book where I will learn to use the program -and create a magnificent portfolio at the same time... I multi-task.


3. I will "pick up the paintbrush" as my boyfriend says. Some of you may not know this, but I paint. Maybe not remarkably well, but I do it. If I can get back into the swing of that, then I might have a nice little way of making some money on the side. Included in this are all the little art projects that I cook up on the side. Which also means that I will refinish those damn chairs (Cause, yeah, I "do" that too).