meet rachel

well, its been awhile since i did one of these posts and, sadly, its not bc we havent had a family birthday in awhile...cause we have. both stephens and my dads birthdays as well as stephens younger brother. {happy birthday form the blog, guys}

i actually had planned on doing the bday post for stephens dad {whose bday was in january}, but i never received answers to my questions, which lead me to believe this kind of thing might not be his cup of tea ;)

and then when it came time for stephens brother and my dads bdays, well, you know, i just kinda forgot about the bday post thing. {OOPS - even though im pretty sure this kind of thing might not be their cup o tea either...so maybe i did them a favor :) }

HOWEVER, it IS a girly kind of thing...and i knew rachel would enjoy it {plus the fact that i have loved hearing family's answers to these strange questions...things i would never have known if i didnt ask.}

so, meet RACHEL

and today is her birthday.
she is 5 years younger than me.
this was a big difference ten years ago....
now, i wouldnt even know it

when i left for college we were as different as different could be:
me: an extremely mature young adult with everything in her life figured out and able to handle all things with ease and grace,
she: a stubborn young eighth grader with very short hair, a bad temper, and a flare for the dramatic
{...taste the sarcasm please...}

in all seriousness though, we were on very different pages in the book of life when i left for college. 
however, as i came home here or there {actually not too often that first year} i noticed how much she "grew up" while i was gone.  all of a sudden we laughed with each other, found we shared the same sarcastic, dry {and sometimes dark} sense of humor, could actually talk about more than the weather and "can you take me to ____'s house", she started to share a love for my college major {interior design}, and {gasp} we actually got along.
from that point on its been history - we are so similar its scary sometimes, bc its one thing to find someone who is a lot like you, but when genetics are involved its just a crazy-kind-of-similar.  she just "gets" me and we just "get" each other so effortlessly.

rachel is honest, individualistic, a good friend, a lot of fun, hilarious, sharp-witted, easy going with a fiery splash of stubbornness and temper {:)}, has great personal style, a beautiful smile, and admirable talent in many fields.

as i said before in erins post, i count myself incredibly lucky to be at a place in life where i am blessed with two sisters who arent just "the family i was born with" but the "best friends i couldnt have ever lived without" and who i just happen to be related to :)

love you rach!

and now, you can learn to love her too:

1.  what is your dream job

My dream job would honestly just be doing something I love and am passionate about. Probably co-owning a residential interior design firm that had clients that liked everything i liked, yet still challenged me to do something new, and happened to have limitless budgets. AHHH to live the dream. But really, just being able to create beautiful spaces for people and live vicariously through them :)

 

 

2.  best memory from childhood

My favorite childhood memories are definitely the family gatherings at Christmas time. I loved getting together at Aunt Elizabeth/Aunt Debbie's house will all the cousins, aunts, uncles, granny, etc for a big feast and fun reunion. I'll never forget playing with my barbies with Uncle Don who was sweet enough to humor me and play along (if he wasn't busy trying to crack my knuckles), playing in Aunt Debbie's backyard/riding 4-wheelers with all 4,647 male cousins, attempting to play basketball, sitting at the kiddie table till I was a teenager, the madness that ensued when we all opened presents, and the guarantee that there would be carrot cake at the end of the day. I miss these get-togethers. They were some of the best memories.

 

 

3.  best thing about being the youngest child

I got to have 3 moms!!  No, definitely just kidding about that one. ;)
Being the youngest was fun because I had 2 great role models growing up. I got to be close to you and Erin in different ways, and even though i was younger than both of y'all, we eventually reached a point where the three of us got along so effortlessly that being the youngest didn't seem to matter.
It was also pretty nice that our parents were pretty lenient by the time i came around and i got away with a lot :) haha just kidding.
                                ...kind of

 

 

4.  perfect day from start to finish

WELL, after waking up in my deliciously luxurious bed with my deliciously handsome husband, we would start our day off early and go to a rousing church service where i would leave inspired and ready for a great day. I would have to do lunch with all my closest friends where we would talk loudly, laugh and joke and make every table around us annoyed with our presence. Somehow, I would then be at the beach with my family and favorite assortment of people where lots of wine drinking would ensue and great conversations would be had and the entire afternoon would be relaxing and laid back, spent around the pool and porch. I would have to end the day with Hollis, hopefully spending it the way we did at the beach last time: cooking dinner, listening to Simon and Garfunkle, a little more wine, the best conversations, and a cool breeze out on the porch just the two of us. 

And then I would fall asleep to a rainstorm. Too much to ask?

 

 

5.  the first word that comes to mind when you read each of the following:

hollis:    wishwewereinthesametownimisshim

"that is the weirdest place to put a pool":    hahahahaha NATALIE [i feel like you are going to have to give a side note/background for some of these questions because they're random inside jokes]

nemo:     p sherman wallaby way sydney

lamp:     Great Odin's Raven!

 6.  if you could live anywhere else in the united states {and all your friends and family would come with you} where would you live and why?

Probably the beach. Or maybe Charleston. Or NYC for like a month. Or Jackson Hole, WY. Or Napa. Can we combine all those places + Mobile into one place? Kay thanks.

 

 

7.  which interior designer are you most inspired by?

Maybe I am biased having worked for them, but the partnership of Bobby McAlpine and Ray Booth (and Susan Ferrier) of McAlpine Booth and Ferrier is amazingly awe-inspiring. I feel like I will keep what I learned during my internship with me and utilize it when I [hopefully] am back to Residential design one day.  The foundation they set for each of their designs is such a feeling unique to them. I can only hope to be as talented as that one day.
I would also love to live in any space designed by Suzanne Kasler, SR Gambrel, ANY Christopher Peacock kitchen, Victoria Hagan, Windsor Smith, etc. etc. etc. the list goes on and on. And on and on.
Oh, and OF COURSE, Natalie Roe Interior Design. [this isn't really a joke. you truly do inspire me in so many ways, including but definitely not limited to your design aesthetic]

 

 

8.  after you go to the MET, turn left at the large egyptian boulder, walk past the man with the peg leg sitting on a bucket, but do not talk to him, approach the small porthole and climb through it, then see the large pool on your right but dont look directly into the water, close your eyes and walk through it, and when you reach the other side without getting wet and see the baby bear cub, but do not touch it, then throw it the nilla wafer in your pocket, turn around four times and go back to the man with the peg leg, what does he tell you?

"how did you fit through that porthole? those things are like 12" around?!"
                        ....and now we are officially the weirdest people in the world and your blog reader #'s are going to decrease in large quantities because of this. 

{hmmm possibly BUT by now the only people reading my blog are the ones who accept and are used to the fact that i have my moments of weirdness.  but i can put money on the assumption that they all do at times as well :) }

9.  three things you could not live without {not people}

chap-stick, a pair of jeans that fit perfectly, and a glass of ice water, NO LEMON EVER. [i was actually going to say black mascara, but i guess i could do without it... it is just really unfortunate that i apparently look depressed without it on. i forgot to put it on once, and i was constantly asked "what's wrong??" all throughout the day. NOTHING IS WRONG you fools. this is just what i LOOK like. kay back to the questions...]

 

 

10.  one thing you want to accomplish over the next year

i'm scared hollis might throw rocks at me if i answer this question truthfully SOOOOOOOOOO....
i will say that i hope to have a clue where my life is headed in a year, and be joyfully going in that direction

happy happy birthday to YOU!

xo
nat