I'm officially back from sabbatical. Did you miss me? I completely abandoned the blog for an entire month with no explanation, and I sincerely apologize for that. Every blog seminar I've ever been to stresses the importance of posting consistently and authentically, and here I am leaving you hanging for 30+ days. But let me make it up to you by being authentic and sharing where I've been!
During the last week of February I got an interesting call from HGTV. A show called Good Bones was looking for a ghost designer to help them wrap up the last 3 episodes of their second season, which will premiere in May. Admittedly, I don't watch that much HGTV. I've heard people rave about Chip and Joanna Gaines, yet I still haven't sat through an entire episode of their show Fixer Upper. Nonetheless, I was intrigued. Good Bones is a TV show featuring a mother-daughter duo who flip houses in their hometown of Indianapolis. After watching a few episodes on my laptop, I was drawn in both by their cute banter with one another and their ability to turn ugly rundown properties in to gems. I loved their strong personalities and found it impressive that they were killing it in a male-dominated industry. The entire process of staging the 3 homes would be done within 1 month, so I figured, why not go and try something new? The next thing I knew I was on a plane out of New York heading to Indiana.
{A finished house from Good Bones Season 1}
From the moment I touched down in Indianapolis until the moment I flew home last Saturday, the work didn't stop. Going in to the process I knew there would be many late nights- but I had no idea how hard I'd have to push myself to meet the deadlines. But man, was the process fun. Working in the world of TV was a new adventure for me, and I loved learning the ins and outs of how a home build show is filmed. Plus, the crew was amazing. I was lucky to have many great production assistants helping me get the designs done and the furniture staged in time for filming. We were constantly laughing and having fun, even when we were up at 2 am trying to get a house finished.
{1 of the Production Assistants, Shawn, secretly sticking a wig in my jacket hood while I was working on a design board}
Overall, it was a great month away where I enjoyed exploring Indianapolis and getting to drive a car again (one of the only things I miss while living in New York). The city of Indy reminds me a lot of Oklahoma City, where I grew up. The people are friendly, the city is up-and-coming, and the community is very tight-knit. But, I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life! So, I suppose calling this month away a sabbatical is incredibly inaccurate. Even so, I'm back in New York and feeling more inspired than ever. I'll be back here posting regularly so I hope you've stuck with me and continue to read. And when the episodes I helped with air on HGTV in late July/early August, I'll be sure to share a link here on the blog!
XOXO,
Sam