Thank you so much for all the kind birthday wishes, and also for the bit of commiserating regarding age and the disbelief of such. But I gotta say, looking back over so much in my life, its a wonder I'm not 79. My age shock doesn't lie in wishing it were different, its just that I am amazed how life goes by, its so surreal and almost intangible.... no other words. I wouldn't trade places with any twenty year old, though, that I can say for sure. But speaking of, I am so glad you enjoyed my chat with Anna. She was blushing through the whole thing, it was kind of fun to torture the intern (that's the whole point right?).
Well I've corralled Crista, my other intern, to answer some of the same and some different questions. This is sweet Crista above wearing my new almost printed pattern, the Painted Portrait Blouse & Dress- wuuhhhl obviously she's just wearing the blouse version not the dress too. I like explaining obvious things like that, because it gives me typing practice. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Anyway, the moment I said hullo to her for the first time, I asked her to model this blouse in the same breath. We had been on the hunt for a fair girl for the next pattern cover, and we had no idea that she would just walk right in. But she did. And I am glad for many reasons.
bossy: How old are you?
interny:21
bossy: (Runs to get a bottle of wine) Is it easy to be 21?
interny: Most days. How much of this do you actually type? (sees typing) Whhaaahh? I'm so embarrassed already, uhh, red faces are contagious....(mmm, thats good (referring to her glass of wine)) I do have occasional bank account panic, or a hard day due to lack of sleep, you know from being 21.
bossy: You're a student. Where are you studying, what are you studying, and what impression do you have about how important your degree is to your life's work?
interny: O'More College of Design (I'm totally friends with Anna-I really do think she is the best, not just saying that)and I'm studying fashion. It remains to be seen, and this topic--education- is currently up for debate among my friends, how important it is....I love to learn, so ultimately, I'm not concerned with a piece of paper as long as I keep learning and growing at O'More. My dad seems to think that the piece of paper is a good idea.
bossy: What else do you consider an education, besides school or what single thing in life so far has taught you the most?
interny: I think at this point in my life, just watching and observing, doing my alterations job at a dry cleaners, my time here with you, just watching how a business works, and how I fit into that....learning about women's roles... its all so important to me. Growing up without a mom (she died when I was 9) there have always been my aunts, grandma, various mentors, in big and small ways. But being a woman, what that means, and ......I dunno, I can't even pick an ice cream flavor....its hard to say what one thing has influenced me. This past year alone has been a big deal, trying to carve out my own space, where I live, where I work, where I study, that everything be intentional.... so I guess just the process of becoming my own person has taught me a lot.
bossy: Picture yourself in 10 years -what-- you'll be like 14 then, right? What else do you picture yourself to be? Besides 14.
interny: I'll be drinking more wine (snicker). Man, 10 years, hmm. I can't wait to be 31... I've been wearing pencil skirts since I was 10, so finally I think I'll be dressing my age. As a really little kid I was a fighter, I wasn't afraid to talk back....I thought of bmw's, being a lawyer, (pencil skirts).... But now....I still see cities, but I see myself using that fighter instinct for good, for helping women, giving them a voice and empowering them with skills.
bossy: So how do you see that pairing itself with fashion design?
interny: Good question, sometimes I don't know. But my voice of reason tells me that I could use both my nature and my skills to do something wonderful and good. I'd like to empower women with sewing skills, and hopefully employ them too, to create a line of cute, and affordable clothing, that was created by women who are earning a real living for their work and not taken advantage of.
bossy: When I responded to your first several emails, did you believe me when I said that I was waiting for the right time to bring in an intern, or did you think I was feeding you a line?
interny: No way. I wanted to believe it, because I like you so much. But whenever I hear of other people getting internships, they have to show up, be persistent, beat doors down, etc. I figured I could either be annoying or forgotten.
bossy: You were neither. Do you have any take-away thought/lesson/idea/regret from your time here?
interny: I wanted to see how you do this, and I did. I learned that even though there are screaming babies at times (okay maybe just once, I expected more), that you really can have it all. The way that you write and communicate is exactly like you are. Which is cool. But really, the happiness and success that you have experienced is not by accident. You are careful with your children, careful with your time and energy. You are driven. It's been especially important for me to talk about business decisions with you-- even if I may never be faced with the same choices. I admire your thoughtfulness. (She had to leave while I typed this. You should know that. Also, she's not perfect and wouldn't claim to be. If I remember right, she wasn't even sure how to sew a buttonhole on her machine. That gives me hope.)
bossy: Did anything surprise you about this place/house/studio/chaos after your first visit? You can say that my house was a mess or whatever.
interny: Yes, it was a total mess. I walked up to the door, saw shoes, packages, toys, and more packages, and I figured I had the right house. I think I expected something more pristine, and then I opened the door and two little kind faces greeted me, led me to you and on the way I saw the most beautiful colors and prints, but everything was a little off, the rugs were askew, the pillows were on the floor, there was sort of stuff everywhere, really lived-in...... and you never apologized. Which I loved.
bossy: Are you in love? Loving me doesn't count.
interny: Just with you. I just wasted part of my summer on love, so no.
bossy: Does that matter?
interny: I feel that I want to share with someone, but realistically that's not now.....I want to take care of myself and the rest will work out.
bossy: Did you have fun taking Isabela out for sushi today?
interny: It was closed! Biggest bummer ever, she was so sad. For weeks she's been asking me: "Did you ask my mom about taking me for sushi?" I was like do I need to create a permission slip?... anyway we went to Five Guys.
bossy: And did you know that you would have to do horrible things like that if you worked here?
interny: What? That's the best part, new friends. She's a gem.
bossy: Is there anything else you would like for these kind interwebual people to know about you or your time here?
interny: I know you won't type this but you are funny in real life too.
bossy: I just typed it, stupid.
interny: Also, you're a jerk.
bossy: I wuvoo.
interny: (blank stare)
bossy: I said I wuvoo.
interny: I wuvoo too, damnit!
bossy: Hey there's kids in here.
interny: (internal gasp, notices typing) Can you curse on your blog?
bossy: You need another glass of wine.
That was fun. I'll show up again here sometime next week, once I get just a bit more caught up. I've been wanting to share some stories behind the talented designers in my Visiting Artist's pool, spill my official Janome news, introduce you formally to my new sewing patterns, show some other needleworks projects on the horizon and just get back to plain old life snippets here. Sound good?
I'm hoping you are well, xo, Anna