New Acquisition: I love horses

"Amish Horses" by Collen Plumb, 20x20 Gallery

Insane Bosses and Their Spotless Minions

I read this post on Gawker about the state of Martha Stewart's Omnimedia offices with a nervous chuckle.

Back in 2003, I worked in the same building as Martha (the Starrett-Lehigh Building in NYC) at an ad agency/publishing company. The owner of the company, a diminutive French businessman, worked in our NYC office two weeks of every month and two weeks in Paris. During the two weeks when our tormentor--I mean boss--was in Paris, our office was an average creative agency with the requisite mock-ups pinned to the wall and Pantone books fanned across every empty spot. But when the Tormentor came to town, the office was to look just as Martha wants it, i.e. as if no one worked there. Thus, every second Friday we'd purge the office of all papers, Post-its and cram the contents of our desks in hidden closets and cabinets. It wasn't a calm office clean-up, mind you, it was an insane five-garbage-bag hurricane where we all cleaned as if our jobs depended on it. And they did, actually.

Because I was the office manager at the time, I was ultimately responsible for the cleanliness of office and the Tormentor's apartment which was conveniently attached to the office. One of my job duties was to make the Tormentor's bed before he arrived from Paris. Unfortunately for me, the weekend before he arrived, our Creative Director had some friends over for a party in the Tormentor's apartment and didn't tell me. Monday morning, Tormentor arrives with his Louis Vuitton luggage and opens the door to his apartment. All I heard was the screaming of my name in a French accent.

I managed to keep the job for a few more months before I was canned. It took me a long time to get over that job. It felt as though something essential about me had been changed, like I was a prisoner who'd been terrorized by the warden. On the other hand, I learned an extraordinary amount about magazines, design, and style.

Nonetheless, looking at the pictures of Martha's office and watching her lame video explanation of the rationing of pens make me SO HAPPY that I don't have her for a boss.

(p.s. I wrote more about the experience here.)

Seattle Ho!

We took our first post-baby out-of-town trip this past weekend for the very special occasion of Spencer & Gigi's baby shower. I've never been much of a Seattle fan. It's so much like Portland that I find myself looking around trying to recognize people. But Seattle does have one very LARGE plus in its favor: H&M. Now that I know the best Euro-trash fashion source is a mere 2 1/2 hour drive away, we'll be hitting Seattle more often.

Would it be weird...

...to make a diaper out of a ShamWow™?

The Card Shark

Olivia, 15 days old

I promise to start posting more intelligent content here instead of photos of my baby... But until I think of something to write, these pics will have to do. (p.s. There are more pics at www.chrisandalisa.com)