this week started off absolutely swell as i received my trophy from atlanta homes and lifestyles as one of their bath of the year winners!!!! i'm not sure how to express the gratitude and excitement i have over this?! it's tremendous and i am so deeply honored, it's just wonderful! and just to remind everyone, this win was the impetus for quitting my "reality" job and pursuing my "fantasy" job full time.
i was joking that a trophy for bath of the year might perhaps be a golden toilet or maybe even a silver bidet. so i was pleasantly surprised when i saw the real deal and it's beautiful!! a special thanks goes to oldcastle surfaces for creating such a lovely piece. it is glass, etched with my particulars (last name spelled correctly and all), with a pretty little accent of stones and sparkly mosaics. i tried to take some pictures, but thanks to the glass, i fear it needs it's own glamour shots session to get it right. complicating a solid shot are the fingerprints and some lipstick marks. don't ask.
anyway...here are a few shots of some beautiful people and fellow winners!!
stan dixon (hottie), mary kathryn timoney, jo rabaut, georgia rappole, matthew quinn, me, and john coulter
porcelanosa hosted the party and let me just say i closed the place down, thanks to nicole, rep extraordinaire, who gave me a tour of the showroom and sent me home with 50 lbs of catalogs!! never mind the free wine. there's even a complimentary trip to their plant in spain if i can somehow manage to spec porcelanosa products in, like, 15 projects. no sweat.
me and brad hanner, important person at ah&l, me and matt quinn, and me and robert soens, my contractor for my winning project
so above we have some of the good looking males in attendance. brad is really lovely and we had some nice bonding time over all the insane tile offerings on display in the showroom! matt and i go back to a very funny time when my ex husband and i were attending the opening night gala for a showhouse in atlanta. i overheard someone giving "congratulations" to my ex (who is a surgeon, no where close to the design industry) and when i asked him about it he asks me who matthew quinn is. um, why? well, he says, apparently i must look like him, because everyone keeps congratulating me on such a nice job. matt and his team had done a few of the kitchens and baths in this particular showhouse. i proceeded to scold him profusely for impersonating a design god! it's funnier when i tell that in person.
robert is my contractor who was in charge of making the winning bathroom happen and i'm so grateful to him! not only is he a good friend, but he gets my style and my obsession with perfection.
the kick ass shoes i wore, me and kelly carlisle, favorite gal at matthew quinn (now a published kitchen designer extraordinaire in her own right!), and me and georgia rappole of jo rabaut design
these shoes are perfect, a little tough, a whole lot sexy, and comfortable as all get out! they make me 4 inches taller too, which is icing on the cake. actually it's the bride and groom on the cake! they're about that tall, right?
i love kelly. she used to work over at matthew quinn collection, his hardware "jewelry" shop and was so on top of things! not only did she know everything about everything, she was quick to respond with quotes and has fun with an impromptu sing-a-long to the oldies but goodies in the showroom (this is something i look for in my reps). we had so much fun chatting and singing whenever i came in the shop. she moved on up to the big house, design galleria in adac and i haven't seen her in about 2 years. i can't say how nice it was to see her. happy, looking good, in love with a great guy, moving up in the design world!!! so thrilled for her and even more thrilled to have her back in my life!
georgia on my mind, girl!! she works with jo rabaut and together they created one of the other winning baths. georgia and i had a class together at scad and she is just a super cool chic! she is also speaking at scad this friday to all the new students and their parents!! i'm so proud to know her in many ways! it's also always fun to see people who knew you way back when. like when you had crew cut short platinum blond hair, a la billy idol. she actually told me she prefers me with that blond crew cut look!! hmmm. given that we have very similar hairstyles now, i think she's angling to live vicariously through my crazy hair bravery.
again, such an honor, this award. i can only hope to continue to produce the level of work that would deserve such recognition again. as you can read above, the other winners are the real deal and are completely established as known talents in the industry! wow. wow. and more wow. i am so excited for tomorrow!
beijos,
beth