As promised, I'm going to be featuring what's going on in the Raleigh area more on the blog! I thought it would be great to start of with a lunch date with my friend Rachel Stewart. We went to lunch a while back at this super cute grille called Rock Harbor Grille. The food was amazing! It's located just southwest of downtown in Apex. A little out of the city limits, but worth the trip.
I loved the tin tiled ceiling...
...Rachel being fabulous as usual!
Rock Harbor specializes in seafood, and this plate did not disappoint!
I was excited to see that they had a good selection of local craft beers too. I forgot which beer I'm drinking in this photo tho, oops!
And I had this amazing salmon burger with fire roasted tomatos, pesto and melty provolone cheese. So good!
By the way Rachel has a new collection up on her site! It is inspired by her favorite sci-fi novelist Octavia Spencer. I love the statement pieces, because they are a great way to dress up a simple outfit in this humid hot weather without adding more clothing.
Check out the rest of Rachel's new collection HERE.
Sometimes we see something that bothers us enough to make us pause but not enough to make us speak up about it. Such was the case for me about a year ago when I was doing my normal rounds at a Goodwill store in the Atlanta area. As I was perusing one of the racks near the perimeter of the store, I heard what appeared to be a manager speaking very intensely to one of his subordinates. The store design was set up with a tall half-wall which separated the shopping area from the receiving and sorting area. What I heard was coming from this blocked off receiving area. The manager was speaking loud enough that his voice traveled over the wall and smacked me in the ear. I don't remember the exact words he said, but his tone was as if he was speaking to a disobedient dog and the words basically summed up to calling the intended recipient an idiot.
What I overheard was enough to make me stop what I was doing and frown. I did not, however, do anything about it. At the time, I thought, "Maybe that manager is just having a bad day..." and remembered that there is always a bad apple in the bunch. Since then, there have been a few more times when I went to a Goodwill store and behavior or working conditions stuck out to me.
But after seeing this video, posted by one of my Facebook friends, I have decided to no longer support Goodwill stores with donations or my money. I cannot support a company that calls themselves a non-profit and pays disadvantaged/disabled workers pennies per hour while their leadership makes 100s of 1000s (in some case millions) of dollars!
This really hit me deeply as I am such an avid thrift store shopper. (About 60% of my wardrobe is thrifted!) You may remember that I even dedicated a Design Talk webisodeto it. And being that Goodwill is probably THE most popular thrift store I feel like in promoting the fun of thrift store shopping I have inadvertently helped their business. What they are doing is disgusting to me. The gentleman in the video said it best, by paying these individuals next to nothing to come to work everyday, Goodwill is telling them that they are not worth it. Every human deserves to be compensated fairly for their work & especially those who have limited capacity to make more. I will no longer be supporting Goodwill, and I encourage you to do the same.
Here are some of my favorite thrift stores in Raleigh that you can enjoy instead:
Cause for the Paws (benefits SPCA)
1634 S Saunders St
Raleigh, NC 27603
(919) 755-8906 http://cfpaws.com/
Father & Sons Vintage
107 W Hargett St
Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 832-3030 Father & Son on Facebook
When I decided to start interviewing my friends for Design Talk, these are exactly the type of stories I wanted them to share. We all have our own preferences and things that we love about our homes and it's so personal. Sometimes it has influence from other family members, and sometimes the things that we choose to include only make since to us!
I absolutely love how Beverly & Rebecca has taken their love for thrifting and filled their home with only significant things. It goes to show you that you don't have to have a LOT to make a house a home.
Enjoy part two of the interview! And be sure to reach out to The Knight Twins on Twitter @bev_knight and @RKnight_light
I remember when Rebecca & Beverly came to my high school and I instantly fell in love with them! They have an infectious energy and a sense of self that just makes you want to be around them all the time. When I thought about who I wanted to interview for Design Talk in Raleigh, I immediately thought of them. We share a lot of thrifting and all things Southern! This is just a peek into their home, which is a work in progress. I hope to share some "before and after" shots with you in the future!
They had so many great finds that I couldn't fit all of it into one webisode! I'll be uploading part two of this interview next week, but until then, here are a few more shots from our time together.
Beverly shared her collection of vintage & new jewels in this cute tray.
Rebecca shared her inspirations for her bedroom decor, including this beautiful little vanity chair she found at a friend's house.
They saved these chairs from the dumpster, painted and recovered them!
Another amazing find... this camelback sofa! You won't believe how much they grabbed this one for.
And lastly, they have a collection of vintage tea sets. This one was my favorite!
I hope you enjoyed part one of our interview! And stay tuned for the next one.
Rachel & I had so much for chatting about design and art last week that it was hard to cut down this video to 5 minutes! One of the things that I loved about her home is she really collects only the things that she loves and are personal to her taste. Each unique piece had a story; much like the one she told about the "Charles" mirror!
This was my first time trying a new format for the web series and I hope you all like the "interview" style. Next time, I'll remember to face the camera, I promise! Rachel is so awesome, I'm hoping we can do some more webisodes together!
Here is another piece of Rachel's that she painting 10 years ago! I loved the combination of paint & photographs and there are even little shells on it too.
Rachel told me the craziest story about how she dreamed about this whiskey pourer, and then found it sitting up high on a shelf at a thrift store. She bought it, and wound up giving it to her boyfriend at the time. After they broke up, he refused to give it back & Rachel waited years before she scored another one on eBay!
Rachel's living room was bright, and modern with a twist. Her artwork pops against the sleek lines of her furniture.
And she has a great mix of "high & low" plus vintage pieces.
Please go check out Rachel's work here and let her know I sent ya! Thanks to The Stuyvesants for the background music and Creative Silence Photo for the intro photography of Rachel & me.
When I was in high school, I used to volunteer with my church and give monthly birthday parties to the residents at the Salvation Army shelter in downtown Raleigh. It was such a fun way to give back, and the residents absolutely loved it. Many of them had never had a birthday party of their own, and just to be able to have some decorations, cake and FUN during their time of transition makes a huge difference.
So recently when we were challenged to come up with a community service project in one of my classes, I decided to do a little plan to revamp the community room. Our group decided to call the project "Salvaging the Salvation Army". Here's what I came up with
How awesome would it be to actually make this happen? Unfortunately, I couldn't find a photo of what the room looks like now, but trust it's desperately in need of an upgrade or two. I may not be able to get this makeover done right now, but I'm definitely going to keep it on my list of goals.
In the meantime, if you are interested in volunteering or donating to Salvation Army, you find more info HERE.
I love Amy Sedaris because not only is she hilarious & cute, she grew up in Raleigh, NC! She recently added "textile designer" to her list of accomplishments and her collection is just as fun & colorful as she is.
Her collection, I Like You, is available now through Windham Fabrics.
