Friday, October 21, 2011

Oh Hey!

Remember me?  I used to blog things...here...on the daily...we used to talk?  Yeah.  I kind of dropped the ball on that this week.  I'm sorry, pleasedon'thateme.  The thing is, blogging is hard to keep up in the real working world.  Obviously, it's hard to be here every day when my daylight is filled to the brim with work to-do's (quite a change from my recent life hiatus).  But what's more is that it's harder for me to be producing good substance here when suddenly, so much of my internal dialogue is wrapped up in work things, and work things are things I can't share with you, because, you know, what we do is secret.  (Plus, you don't really want to know.)  So it's going to take some adjustments (*ahem* planning posts in advance *ahem*), but I'm hoping that you'll stick with me and still stop by to chat, even if it's only once or twice a week instead of everyday.

Anyhoo, one work-thing that I can talk to you about is how to decorate my office.  Seriously, I'm concerned.  Some of the other attorneys have set the bar high.  First of all, they all have plants.  Real ones.  Alive ones.  Do I have to have a plant?  I can't seem to keep basil thyme orchids any living thing alive.  I will never be able to be an office-plant-parent.  I've already failed.

Secondly, people in my office have some legit interior design skillz.  I'm not talking about offices with some framed college dorm-room posters.  I'm talking artsy frame walls, "Keep Calm and Carry On" prints, and trendy tree-branch lamps.  Office decor that has character; that says something about a person.  I've got to step up my game.  This is what I've got:

1. I need a lamp, a trendy lamp (Homegoods, anyone?).  Everyone has a lamp.  But definitely no plant.  No, I'll just kill it and then everyone will know that I am the least nurturing human being on the planet.  No one wants to work with a plant-killer.

2. I should put some framed pictures of people I love on my desk.  That's what people do, right?  But work people always have these pictures that are cute, but not too cute.  Everyone looks like they're having a pretty dandy time, but with a 2-drink limit.  No open-mouth laughs allowed.  No candids.  Dress code enforced.  You know the ones.  And then there's the directional issue -- which way are they supposed to face?  Should I be looking at them?  Or should they face the people who come into my office?  It's all very unclear.

3. As for the walls, I should probably make some selections from my own photo library to matte and frame because it's cheap, and they'll remind me in my moments of work-induced despair that I'm capable of making pretty things sometimes.  But they need to be relaxing pictures.  Like grays and neutrals.  Not pictures that jump off the walls, or that are too distracting, or that remind me that I could be on a beach somewhere instead of in my office, but also not pictures that make me want to sleep.  Because when I work, I want to be zen, but not too zen, right?  And they can't be too artsy because I'm supposed to be a lawyer and all that.  So here's what I like:


 {ok, this one is totally not "neutral" but I like it}




And then there are these other ones from Turkey that totally don't match the others...but I like them, too.







Which 5 of these do I want to look at all day, everyday?

4. In the likely scenario that I never have the time to check off the "print and frame work pictures" item off my sticky-notes to-do list, I could always get one of these posters and hope that people mistake me for hipster.  Or funny.


What's your office decor like?  Got any tips for this newbie?

Oh, and a Happy Weekend to you!

6 comments:

Brittany said...

Any of those pics would be amazing! As for my office decorating, I work with lame stuffy engineers, so the closest thing I can have with a little of my character is a magnet that says "I haven't had my coffee yet, don't make me kill you." Perfect for me, but doesn't fit you at all. Sorry.

Ashley said...

Haha that is sooo you! Love it.

Amanda said...

Ohhh what if you do a cities / places / sea thing. I am thinking... a wall with the one from San Francisco with the beach and the bridge, then the one with the lighthouse, then the one with Istanbul's skyline, and then the one with the cliff and the sea. Those pictures are amazing. On the other hand you might be tempted to go on vacation by the look of all those beautiful landscapes . (And yeah, blogging daily is difficult, with work, and extra activities like dutch lessons in my case... )

Ashley said...

I like where your head's at, Amanda! I didn't make any progress in the decorating department this weekend, but my goal is to get it together next weekend! Thanks for the help!

Celia said...

I love all of your photos, Ashley. Any one of them would spruce up your office and make an excellent conversation piece ("oh, you like that photo? I TOOK IT"). What kind of camera do you have? I'm going to invest in a nice one and need some tips!

Ashley said...

Aw thanks, Celia! For digital photos, I use a Canon T2i and a Canon G12. The T2i is an SLR (so you can put lots of fancy lenses on it), and the G12 is like a really really awesome point-and-shoot. The G12 is substantially cheaper and easier to carry around, and it's a good way to learn manual settings, so I would probably recommend that one for you. I also use my dad's old Canon AE-1 film camera from the '70s/'80s with an f/1.4 lens, so maybe if you dig around in your parents' attic you'll find something cool like that!