Make it sparkle

Hello my sweet people and happy 2019!

I hope this year is off to wonderful start for you all.

January is always a lovely month in my household. Our anniversary is on the 3rd and then we go on vacation around mid-month, after the holiday rush. This year, Marc & I celebrated 9 years of marriage and 10 years of being together. We’re headed to Kauai later this week and I can already smell the plumerias. 

You’ve probably heard of Marie Kondo by now- I’m fascinated with her! She’s a petite powerhouse with a book and Neflix special called The Art of Tidying Up. Marie’s “Konmari” method is radically simple and so very brilliant: approach everything in your home with this question “does this spark joy?”.

One of the most cathartic parts of each episode (at least for me) is when the client empties their closet, putting everything into a big pile. Every piece of clothing gets the question, “does this spark joy?”. Then the joyful items go back in the closet or folded in the “Konmari” way into the dresser. The entire process is transformative.

I’ve always gone through my closet regularly, and prefer quality over quantity. But when I posed the joy question to my current closet contents, I was surprised to discover that I’d been holding onto things that totally sparked zero joy. So out they went. 

It’s pretty wild and I highly recommend you try this out and see what happens. And feel free to email me after you do and tell me what it was like for you. I’d love to hear about your transformation!

Two of my recently completed jobs are being photographed in February and I can’t wait to share them with you! Stay tuned!  

Lastly, I just want to send out a big and marvelous thank you! Last year was librastudio’s most successful business year so far and I’m thankful to each and every one of you, both clients and friends. I get to do what I love but it’s you who make it all possible.

I’ll be back in the office on January 28th, refreshed and ready to get to work on all your design needs. 

With love & joy,

Libra

Pura Vida!

In Costa Rica, when you ask someone how they are doing, "Pura Vida!" is what they say. The literal translation of this is 'pure life', and they say it just like we in the states, might say 'Awesome'. 

We flew into Liberia airport and stayed in Guanacaste (northwest part of the country). Our hotel, El Mangroove, was fabulous (excellent mattress and pillows!, incredible staff, beautiful grounds).

We explored many different beaches (Flamingo, Tiburon, Nosara) and bathed in the thermal hot springs in Arenal (Check out Tabacon resort & spa, it's BEYOND!). 

There were many memorable moments of course- I mean the whole trip was so lovely!- but one in particular was when we met Emy. She and her husband, David are excellent cooks. They're both from Italy and they run this little pizza spot in Nuevo Arenal, called Los Platillos Voladores (meaning flying saucers/ UFO's). We were headed back to our car when Marc & I looked at each other and were like, 'She was adorable! We need to go back and get a photo!' And we did! 

Trip to London

Sept 17-18. Our first two days in London. Lots of walking, sightseeing, yummy food, and struggling to remember to look right, then left, when crossing. 

Sept 19, Day 3. The time change was unusually hard for some reason. We were waking up late, having lunch for breakfast and staying up till 1 or 2am. It was kinda cool, actually. Certainly not a lifestyle I could sustain back home, but perfect on vacation. Tate Modern, sightseeing, drinks at the Mondrian Hotel. We thought an evening walk around Buckingham Palace would be spectacular, but it was eerie how dark it was. While the palace was minimally light up (with loads of construction cones and gates), the surrounding gardens and The Mall were perfectly black- no lights at all. It was weird. 

Sept 20-21, Day 4 and 5. We went on a Banksy hunt, walked and wandered, found tons more fabulous street art, and grabbed a bite at The Ace Hotel. Then it was time to go home. Cheerio!

Trip to Dublin

Dublin

On Friday, we took at day trip to Howth (Hoe-th), a charming seaside fishing town, east of Central Dublin. Excellent seafood, so many colorful front doors, and lots and lots of ultramarine blue! 

The next day we went to Bray, a beachy seaside village, at the opposite end of the line from Howth. It was rainy and I wore the wrong shoes. My meshy trainers became a soggy disaster pretty quickly, but I still managed to get a few nice pics before we headed back in to Dublin. On Sunday we traveled by ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales. Then got on a train to Euston London. What a lovely way to get around! 

Dublin Food:

We ate at two noteworthy restaurants in Dublin, both were tapas places- go figure! 

Viva in Portobello neighborhood. Wonderful owners and staff, excellent food! We got to enjoy live Flamenco guitar music, which they have on Thursdays & Saturdays. It was magical. 

Salamanca, near the Temple Bar area. Very busy, kinda loud, but excellent food. We got a table in the back near the fireplace where it marginally quieter and extra romantic.