How does that spell DIRC?

Have you ever had someone drag you to one of those excruciatingly loathsome meetings with a group of people that sell something? I detest those meetings.

Something about all that rah-rah, at-a-boy, bug your friends, bogus cheerleading, creeps me out. As “W” says, “It sticks in my craw.”

The absolute worst part is sitting by an ultra-super-platinum-diamond-emerald- I’m-so-impressed-with-myself guy who brags that he earns sixty bazillion dollars a month and then gives you that look…..you know, that look that tells you what a sad, sad person you are because you don’t even have the synthetic stone pin ---- which, of course, everyone knows, is the lowest rung on the way to ultra-super-diamond-emerald fabulousness!

Any time I’ve been dragged to one of those meetings I’ve needed a shower immediately upon adjournment to get the eewww off me.

So, with much trepidation and a feeling of dread in my stomach, I attended my first meeting of the Dallas Chapter of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (DIRC) last week. Mainly I went because I was hoping to see Jimmye and Fern, two women that were in the September ASP class with me.

I’d already prepared a host of reasons for leaving early if they weren’t there – my Mom’s having her bat mitzvah, Tom Cruise is coming over and I have to hide my sofa, I have a hunting date with Dick Cheney….I would say anything if my ick factor got overwhelmed.

So I took a deep breath and….

I walked into a room full of….

drum roll, please….

absolutely normal people!

I could not believe it!!

There was no rah-rah, ookie, one-ups-manship, craw sticking here! There were actually ASP’s, (that in a parallel universe, would be ultra-super diamond emeralds) who were warm and welcoming souls! And guess what?

Not one condescending word.

Not one look.

Not even a glance to check my stone pin status.

Nope….to my utter surprise, they were full of remarkable, helpful advice and good wishes and kindness and charity. There was nothing but encouragement for the new Stagers. Sincere encouragement. They were genuinely trying to help!

You could tell that these are the kind of people who have ick-factors for bogus cheerleading gatherings too! It was almost too good to be true!

I tried to thank everyone (especially Karen Otto of Home Star Staging, who very generously explained tons of stuff to me that I just didn’t understand!) and I got to see Jimmye and visit with lots of other amazing supportive people!! (Sadly, no Fern).

I felt ashamed of myself for dreading that meeting. It was kind of like when the Grinch looked down at Whoville on Christmas and discovered..

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

It came without packages, boxes, or bags!”

Or in my case:

It came without cheering. It came without “ick”.

It came without sofas, bat mitzvahs and Dick!

Thank you, DIRC!

You’re one group of fabulousness!

Monica

Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right

I saw George Carlin the other night talking about American's over-consumerism and how obedient we've become to the incessant lure of the mall and the shiny things that we're told will make us better people. Could he be on to something?

I'm not sure how that glamorous Cindy Crawford sofa helps promote self-actualization or how having the perfect collection of Vera Wang's latest fashions from Kohl's will make my life complete but I know it has to have something to do with it, right? It wouldn't be on TV if it weren't true.

Have I been hood-winked?
Sold a bill of goods?
Bamboozled?
Could I be one of the obedient herd marching mindlessly to the mall every week?

Looking around at my bulging closets, drawers stuffed with things I never wear and three attics full of sentimentality, I'm afraid the answer is all too clear...I'm a bamboozled-hood-winked-bill-of-goods-owning- mindless-herd-marcher. Oh no!!

So how do I live my life "above the influence"? I'm pledging to try something old-fashioned. It's something that is stressed over and over again in Home Staging; living with less and getting rid of the clutter. Novel idea!

There is an interesting chapter about this very subject in a book called, "Professional Dreamer" by ghalil (www.professionaldreamer.com). She calls the process clearing and here is what she says, "Think of this act of clearing as your ritual of commitment, a commitment to welcome something new and better into your life. Here, you're taking a small step of letting go and burning the bridges that bind you to the same old way of being day in and day out."

I'm always ready to welcome something new and better into my life. Possibly freedom or joy or simplicity? I'm starting today and I'd love for you to add the ritual of clearing to your day too. Maybe the journey that begins with a single step doesn't need 30 pairs of shoes?

Dropping out of the parade....
Monica

coming soon....

Just a few of the things coming up this fall at center stage of plano:

• expanded website
  
• the launch of our quarterly e-newsletter: encore
  
• and of course, plenty of tips and inspiration you can use, right here on our blog

It's shaping up to be an exciting fall, with lots to introduce. But, most of all we're looking forward to meeting our neighbors and showing them the ways center stage of plano can stage, design, or redesign thier homes. - monica

our philosophy

I want to share a bit of our design philosophy here at center stage of plano, in order to give you a better idea of what the business of staging/design/redesign means to us:

• Our goal is to help people update, redesign, and stage their homes so they feel good knowing that they are giving the gift to another family of a home that is sound, updated, and worth the entire asking price.
• We want the seller of the home to be happy and the buyer to be happy too.
• We want to be an asset to the homeowner by making sure their home is worth every dollar of the asking price and that when they pass it along to the buyer, it is a home that the buyer will be proud of too.
• We want the staged home to show all of the possibilities of a warm, inviting sanctuary for the family that moves in.
• We want the sellers to know that every dollar they put into staging their home will be returned, not only in the amount that they sell the house for, but also in knowing they are helping someone else to achieve their dream.

-monica

welcome

I'm looking forward to sharing the work of center stage of plano with you. More to come....-monica