SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP

I think my oldest sister missed her calling, career-wise. After seeing what Lex has been up to the last several weeks - the part of her new job that is way harder than she ever would have imagined - I've realized that this is something my big sis could practically do in her sleep. In fact, she would Eat. It. Up! You see, Lexie's company does model home design and merchandising, and residential staging. What I hadn't realized is that only half of her time will be spent in designing, presenting, making construction drawings for the builders, ordering fabric and furniture, having draperies and bedding made, and doing installations. The other half will be spent shopping. Lots and lots of shopping. A frickin' un-be-liev-able amount of shopping.

For her current project, Lex has spent at least two weeks straight, weekends included, leaving the house before sunup, getting home after sundown, and all the time in-between has been spent shopping. She has hit just about every store in Austin, from IKEA down to Goodwill, craft and hardware stores included, in her quest for just the right dishes to go on the table and in the cabinets, clothes for the closets, books and picture frames for the shelves - anything that will make someone walk into the home and think, "Man-oh-man, I can just see myself in a kitchen/bedroom/bath/home like this!" Who would have thunk that spending a day shopping, with someone else's money, could have her looking and feeling just about like I did whenever a huge container of giant pottery had arrived at the nursery, and I'd spent the whole day schlepping it into artful arrangements?

P.S. Many thanks to dbcpr.com for the above image.