Dream a Little Dream

Last Winter, I read Christian Siriano's Fierce Style cover to cover.
I love Project Runway and totally adored Christian's style and attitude that went along with it. He was 22 years old and the youngest person to ever win Project Runway.

I remember reading a chapter in his book: "Finding Your Own Inspiration". He describes the scary and anxious feeling of having your dreams come true.

"When you're just reaching for something you want, the possibilities seem endless. But when you've got it, that's where the stress comes in."
"It can be scary when your dreams come true, because then there's a danger of it ending."

He goes on to write that "there are no guarantees in life, but I'm living my dream now, and dreaming up new ones while I am at it."


Apparently, "Living The Dream" is hard. For everyone.

When I grow up...

Something quite extraordinary happened in my life recently.
One of my oldest (and forgotten about) dreams came true!

When I was little, my favorite aunt, Tia Tenchi (short for Hortencia) worked at a Car Wash.
She pick my sister and I up from school and gave us rides often. I have the most fond memories of seeing her car and knowing that I would be greeted with a smile, a joke and August's fried pie when I hoped in. Every Friday, my Mom paid Tia Tenchi with a check and 1 Coors Light. She was one of the most carefree and independent people that I have ever known. She was partially paralysed and could not walk very well, but that didn't stop her from living a happy life.

From a young age, my sister and I decided that we wanted to be like Tia Techni and "work at the Car Wash!!"

Tia passed away when I was in Junior High. I was lucky to inherit her beautiful wood headboard and dresser which I have to this day.

I recently connected with a random client who "needed some business cards." I worked up the business cards and my client said, "I might have a really big project for you. You can design anything, Right?"

Well, the big project happened to be the remodeling of the Car Wash where my beloved Aunt used to work. And the project I was hired to design was the signage for the new Car Wash.

It seemed surreal that after all of these years -- my dream of working at the Car Wash has finally come true! Life is amazing.


View the Sign Installation of Brown Design for Racer Car Wash

Oh My Stars

I spent this past weekend on vacation. A real vacation. I thought for a while that I would even leave my laptop at home.. but in reality there is little that could separate me from my laptop. I am proud to say that I only checked my email twice while on vacation! wooohooo.

Family friends invited a huge group out to their ranch for the weekend. We were south of Dallas in an area that reminded me so much of the Hill Country near San Marcos. 2 fishing holes, a swimming pool, fire pit, delicious food and great family.
 We built a "Tent City" and slept under the stars. Each night as I lay down in my surprisingly comfortable tent on the earth -- I heard coyotes! Real Coyotes.
The air was crisp, cool, and filled with stars! I don't think that I have ever seen so many stars. It was beautiful.

And unlike I had lead myself to believe. The world (my world) did not crash into an oblivion because I took a day off of work. There were no Design Emergencies that couldn't be left for another day.
My mind and body are now thanking me for the sense of clarity which comes with a little rest and relaxation.

"Life in not about finding yourself. It is about creating yourself."

I am traveling my chosen path in life and beginning to understand that my path, my road is definitely not one of the smooth, commercially paved roads that sees modern vehicles with voices and navigating systems during rush hour. My road is much more of a back road. A dirty, natural and desolate road. I am sure a people have traveled it before, but... I feel alone.
Not scared. Just alone. But I persist. I must. Because on this road, there is absolutely no turning back. Nothing behind me could possibly be better than what is ahead of me. So, I persist, faithfully following the bumps and curves with the idea in the back of my mind that I am not the first person here.

Marfa, Texas | Chinati Mountains | 2008

World Wide Web at my finger tips!

Last Friday I officially launched the Brown Design website!

www.valbrowndesign.com

There is no doubt that the site will change overtime however for now -- I feel it is the epitome of Brown Design.

Simple. To-the-Point. Content-rich. Minimal. Brown.

first day

Monday was my first day of my life as a self-employed full time artist. And today marks the first Friday of my self-employed lifestyle. I can honestly say that Friday is no longer more exciting than Monday, Tuesday or any other day of the week. Except for the fact that this Friday I feel much more settled in my new work space.

I officially spend more time in this room of my house than any other. It is quite lovely!

Gone are the days of working with other's inabilities to lead organized and productive work lives.
THIS is my organized workspace.

In the past I looked to a color wheel for inspiration. Now I look to my Color Wall. Thank you to my local hardware store for the paint swatches. <3

I have always wanted a natural-lit space within my work environment to relax, clear my mind, read a book or stretch my legs... And now I have one!

So far, I am dedicated to starting my work day just after a breakfast, a cup of coffee, and a bit of yoga. I have allotted myself multiple breaks throughout the day for the daily grind and then another bit of yoga. I am sure my new schedule will become routine as time wears on. But all in all, this all feels like a vacation. And I think that is a great sign of good things to come!

last day

Today felt like the Last-Day-of_School.
Today was the last day of my corporate job.

I still feel attached. But just as I have overcome and moved past many things. This too soon will pass.

Exciting things on the horizon.

Free to be.

My sister's dog destroyed this happy stuffed baby octopus. Yet he remained incredibly happy.


Last week, I made one the most serious decisions of my entire life. I quit my day job..
I graduated from the bartending 3 nights a week/college routine in 2007. And for the past 2 years and 9 months I have worked professionally for companies. All the while struggling to maintain my individuality, my style, my creativity, my life.

Some aspects of working the 8-5 developed as they should. I learned to wake up early, eat a good breakfast, turn on my creativity at 8 AM, detach myself personally from every piece, take criticism, and most importantly I learned to believe in myself. My capabilities.

I learned my worth, what I am made of, what I am capable of, and what I am not.


I am not a one-trick pony, a follower, a negative person, a quitter, a failure, an irritating co-worker, lazy, helpless, depressed, unhappy, detached, bidding my time, untalented, worthless, ordinary, and I am not one of "them".

I am me. And now more than ever before -- I am me.
I quit my day job -- And that night I slept better and more aware than I ever have and I woke up with an exciting sense of clarity the next morning. Everything seems to be falling into place. And although I am very scared I truly believe that I am traveling the path that was meant to be.

Officially, I own Brown Design. It is mine. I am my company. And my company is me.

"Brown Design*

* Available in all colors."

This is my family.

I started practicing yoga after my friend Tom introduced it to me. My sister taught me how to sew, and now I am hooked. I recently developed a realistic optimism towards entrepreneurship because of Jon. And I feel comfortable with life's changes after listening to my friend Kristine tell me about her path.

We tend to take on characteristics and tendencies of those we are around. And anyone who has ever been around me knows that Design is my life. I live and breath it every moment of my life (even in my sleep) :)

So, it is no shocker that while sitting at dinner with my sister, my nephew and one pen -- we all had a logo to draw on the paper table cloth!

This was Taylor's tag (logo):

My sister's Therapy logo which we collaborated on:  (She drew it spot on!)

And my Brown Design logo, that is still in development:

And we gave a final homage to JMB with the "SAMO" tag:

Man, I love my family!

oh that feeling!

My sister and I took my oldest nephew to his first concert last night.
IT was EPIC.
One of my favorite bands. I remember the first time I heard the Ghostland Observatory, and recall knowing that I would never be the same.

I stood at the concert last night, feeling the heat from bodies packed in and wide-eyed, my entire body vibrating from the physical sound of the music and that familiar and wonderful feeling rushed over me. Like being hit with a wave of music that makes me smile uncontrollably.

It has been a while since I have been to a concert and I almost forgot what it felt like.

Pure Happiness, I missed you.