My Kinda Town, Chicago Is!

Happy Monday, ReDo Readers, and welcome back! It’s been such a busy week after last weekend’s 2nd Annual ReDo Yard Sale event; even after the sale ended I still had a few extra sales transactions that occurred over the next few days! Too funny! All in all, the sale was a HUGE success for my clients, and the funds raised will go far for the next stage of ReDo projects in their homes.

This week’s blog is about what’s coming up this week as I begin the project staging the Macy’s Furniture Sale which I wrote about this last January. As you recall, I was very, VERY excited for this opportunity; when Macy’s asks you to do this, it’s a big deal, especially for a small one-man business that’s only been around a couple years! But what I didn’t share with you between the time I posted that blog and now, is that the project has changed, and I am most definitely nervous…

When I first met with the District Visual Manager for Macy’s Big Ticket at the State Street store (formerly Marshall Fields), we discussed my work for the St. Louis stores, my design ideas and aesthetics, how I work with a team… all the usual stuff that comes up in an interview. I was thrilled when he offered me the job on the spot, and have been patiently awaiting for this moment to arrive. However, between then and now, the project has expanded: what I thought was going to be a week-long job at the State Street store has turned into a total of three weeks (one in June and two consecutive weeks in mid-July) where I’ll be working with a team of designers staging the furniture sale at the Oak Brook store, the Old Orchard store, and, of course, the State Street store as well. In between all this I’ll be back in St. Louis staging the furniture sales at the Galleria and West County Mall Macy’s, so all-in-all, it’s beginning to look a lot like a Macy’s Summer for me!

I’m using my blog today for nothing more than cathartic relief, to get the nerves and anticipation under control and out of my system. As grateful as I am for this incredible opportunity, now that it’s here, and bigger than initially thought, I’m a bundle of nerves with butterflies flitting about my stomach (actually feels more like pterodactyls banging around in there!). I’m trying to use all the methods of relaxation I can think of, from warm baths to aromatherapy… I anticipate sipping wine later as well for medicinal purposes.

But when I get right down to the nitty gritty, this is a big deal for ReDo, for me and my reputation, and I’m as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I don’t want to winge on and on about how this makes me feel, but I just want you, the reader, to know that even as a professional designer and decorator, that sometimes nerves can get the best of us, and challenge us to fight them to put on our best face, put our best foot forward, and not let them see us sweat. Yes, we all go through this, and yes, we all face and fight these demons, but it helps to exorcize them by removing their power over one by talking it out, getting the emotions out in the open, and own them for what they are.

Not to sound arrogant, but I know I’ll do a good job with this project, and I know I’ll have a fun time with it; I’m confident in my abilities. But it’s the ‘unknown’ that scares me, and causes me to doubt myself. That’s the real challenge, and that’s what you have helped me face – and conquer – by letting me write about it. If you read this, and relate to what I’m going through, then I’ve achieved something more that I expected; I found camaraderie. And that goes a long way when facing times like this. So let me say thank you, in advance, to those who read this blog and can relate to it in their own lives through similar circumstances. Just know you have a friend in the same canoe, paddling with you.