Working from my happy place: the ultimate dream destination
Most of our job is pretty fun. Most of it. Nobody here is psyched when we have to do carloads of returns, hours of invoicing, days of prop inventory, spending 2 hours putting a rug down underneath a grouping of furniture, or the inevitable client drama that I probably shouldn’t get into publicly. None of those would make the ‘what we love most about our job’ list.
The two parts of the job that are undeniably fun are 1. shopping, and 2. installing/styling a house. Seeing the project come to life in front of you, all your hard work paying off and just playing and playing with pretty things until it explodes into the perfectly styled room is pretty darn awesome.
But gun to my head, if I had to choose between those two things, it would be shopping, any day. We actually do WAY less of this than you’d think. I used to do so much more but now the emails, writing, shooting and parenting keep me away from the aimless meandering through random stores in the valley. We shop when we need something, but I don’t really just go out trolling in weird thrift or vintage stores anymore, nor can I really pay people to do that. When it’s fruitless it’s such a waste of time and we are all so busy that taking that risk is not really doable anymore. It’s a sad story, folks. Please send relief funds.
So HP and Intel approached me about ‘working from my happy place’ with the help of their HP Stream 8 with Intel Inside® (an awesome Tablet) and they wanted me to fantasize about where I would want to work for a weekend if I could work from ANYWHERE. This whole campaign is centered around the HP Stream Family that makes working (using maps, the internet, thrift store reviews) easy because it has built-in wifi and free 1 TB of cloud storage for a year.
I made a list of dream shopping/work destinations and here’s what I came up with:
I’ve always been sooooo bummed that I haven’t been able to make it to Brimfield. It’s the HUGE bi-annual flea market outside of New York that has more European antiques than brass mid-century stuff. But it’s just awesome. I would love to take everyone there and shop for the week, ship everything home, and just bathe in my east coast purchases.
Oh to go to the markets in Morocco. I know how cheap everything can be there, and it’s depressing. The colors, the prices, the sheer inventory of everything is enough to make this stylist cry with happiness. Now due to the whole ‘I’m pregnant and have a child who already doesn’t see me enough’ situation Morocco is out right now, plus we don’t have the budget to bring everyone and going there by myself sounds a bit depressing. But I’m DYING to go there on a shopping trip, so I had to include it in the post. Brian and I toyed with the idea of going this summer since we are going to Spain and Morrocco is so close, but I’ll be 7 months pregnant. I should probably keep it really mellow, not shoveling my way through the bustling Morrocon market with a toddler and a huge belly in the middle of the summer. Regardless, I’m coming for you, Morocco.
Round Top, Texas. I went to this bi-annual flea market a few years ago and had SUCH a blast. Shopped all day, partied with Texan men all night. It was INSANELY fun. 11 miles of flea markets full of steals, and well-appointed antiques. Of course we just missed this last one, it was a month ago, so it’s out for now. BUT it would be a total fantasy to be able to bring everyone out there for a week and show them how Americans really shop and party.
I haven’t been to Palm Springs in years. YEARS. But when I used to go it was AWESOME thrifting. Weird mid-century stuff just discarded everywhere for sooo cheap. Plus there are luxury hotels there, like The Parker, with spas galore, so it’s kinda a two-fer. Thrifting and massages? Yes.
So, those are my happy places, where I’d ‘work’ if I could work anywhere.
Now it’s your turn. Think of where you’d want to work if you could work from your happy place.
So go ahead and think about your ultimate dream work destination (or any fantasy vacation place) and enter to win your own HP Stream 8 with Intel Inside®. You can enter two different ways:
- Twitter: You must include the following (in no particular order)
- #WorkFromHappyPlace #Sweeps your happy place
- Blog: entrants must include the following (in no particular order) in the comments:
- #WorkFromHappyPlace Your happy place Your Twitter handle
No Purchase Necessary, Contest ends 5/10/15 and will be announced here and on twitter on 5/12.
*This post is in collaboration with HP and Intel for their #WorkFromHappyPlace campaign.
