The next adventure
As I've mentioned before, one of the main reasons we chose to move (and bought this house specifically) was the need for a better office space. Our office at the last house was slowly caving in under a mass of disorganized files, cables, and Things PR People Send Me That Are More Often Than Not Addressed To Sarah Armstrong.
Hey, Sarah! Is there a reason companies keep sending you hand sanitizer? Oh, right. You keep mentioning that dog who eats her own poop. Understood. Except, why don't they just send you a new dog?
I remember the first time we walked through the house, how we kept gasping around every turn, and it was all amazing and everything we could ever want in a home. But then we walked into The Office. Capital T. Capital O. And Jon looked at me and I looked at him, and cue the love scene from Top Gun. Except behind the flowing curtains you find both of us naked and licking the walls. And Tom Cruise is just standing there shaking his head going, maybe some people DO need medication.
No, really. It was a romantic moment. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Like it was speaking out loud and asking, "Where have you guys been? I've been waiting all this time." Is that gross? Did you just pick up a trash can and throw up your breakfast? Not my fault, dude. You better go get a pregnancy test.
The possibilities for this office are so exciting, both in terms of functionality and in terms of design. There's plenty of space for storage, tons of light, and there's even a nook where we can hold meetings together, meaning I'll sit on one side of a couch, Jon will sit the other, and Tyrant will sit across from us and say, "It's his turn, Heather. Jon, how does this make you feel?"
What's even more exciting is that when our ad partner found out about the new space, they put us in touch with a sponsor that has been wanting to work with us and was looking for the right opportunity. Note: we're very picky when it comes to working with sponsors for obvious reasons, among the most noteworthy being that some sponsors like to EDIT or CENSOR, so you know. Any sponsor that works with us has to be comfortable with sweaty goat balls.
And luckily for us, this one is. Enter: Verizon. Just what is it that they are going to sponsor? Well, I want to take you guys behind the scenes with us as we set up and design our office. This includes the orchestral nerdery of setting up our network, the design of the meeting space and desks, the organization of All That Stuff, and a look inside Tyrant's point of view. No seriously. They have provided him with a smart phone equipped with a camera. And considering how much he likes to exploit my anxieties and thinks it's funny just how easily I startle, I might not survive this.
You can follow his flickr stream here. (please be nice to him, he's new to flickr, also don't believe a single word he says about me)
Words, photos, videos. Meaning I'm going to CGI John Larroquette's head onto Jon, Gisele Bundchen's onto mine (in fact, I'll just go ahead and use her whole body), and for Tyrant? Who is that villain from the bond movies? Oh, right. Jaws.
These posts will be interspersed between all the other goings on here, meaning I'll be updating normally, and then posts about the office will appear as we make progress. So this certainly doesn't mean I'll be depriving you of Chuck or Bobo, and oh! The fact that I had a giant cold sore on my lower lip going into that photo shoot on Tuesday because of all the stress! And when they mentioned that they might be able to cover that up I asked what sort of tricks they could pull with my chin. Turns out they don't make software for that kind of blemish.
.......
Many thanks to Verizon for helping us take this next step. This house requires a phone on one's person at all times, so another big thank you to Verizon for the 3 Motorola Droid X phones that help us stay connected during this time of chaos and adjustment as we redo our office. We'll be sharing some behind the scenes photos and videos over the coming weeks. Learn more about how Verizon helps keep you connected here.
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Foguete said:
Hmmmm
I think it's great that you're getting hooked up with Verizon but I call foul! We all know the Armstrongs are iSnobs (=AT&T)!
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08.05.10 - 03:17 PM / 1jacqueline said:
woooo mre blurbodoocery!!!! and tyrant!
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08.05.10 - 03:18 PM / 2jon said:
Actually, I'm stoked to try out an Android phone and a different network! Although I did not apply pressure to Heather in this regard. I swear.
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08.05.10 - 03:19 PM / 3barbara said:
How cool is this! I can't wait to see what you guys do with the office.
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08.05.10 - 03:30 PM / 4Gemmyner said:
Okay, I have to comment about Tyrant's lair. It's so tidy. I'm kinda jealous:)
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08.05.10 - 03:32 PM / 5Becky Cochrane said:
I'm excited to see things as they develop, especially since my home office/writing space is so tiny.
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08.05.10 - 03:32 PM / 6imjeffp said:
So now Jon's going to be carrying two phones? How's that going to work?
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08.05.10 - 03:36 PM / 7Kuffy said:
Funny, Cause I had trouble seeing the pictures posted this morning through my reader and came to the site directly and thought - huh, Verizon is all up in this shit. And then reading this post, it was like aha, and then I thought, where are the iphones crying in the corner? Are they for personal use and the androids for business? Are we(and by we, I mean you) not allowed to mention iphones with the new sponsor? If so, I gotta hand it to Verizon for their clever advertising. And I am looking forward to the new pics and updates of the office. PS Where is Leta? Can we get more Leta?
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08.05.10 - 03:36 PM / 8bouched said:
I absolutely cannot believe my "sweaty goat balls" comment still lives on five years later.
It's basically the highlight of my virtual life.
LOVE!
Jena
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08.05.10 - 03:43 PM / 9jen.yaya said:
Excited that there will be more of Tyrant! Interesting sponsor for the iFreaks, but cool!
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08.05.10 - 03:43 PM / 10happyfunpants said:
Seems to be a stretch that you need Verizon phones to communicate and can't do that with your own phones...but hey - what good is being rich/famous if you can't have these kind of perks?
I'm a bit sad because I have always associated Apple products with you all. And that seemed more...genuine somehow.
I have to say that if this is going to be a regular thing, you're might need to doctor the photos though...they're dark (because I assume they have no flash built into the phone) and we've been spoiled by the awesome lighting that you usually have on your other photos.
Not sure it's going to be a successful thing for Verizon, but whatever floats your boat!
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08.05.10 - 03:47 PM / 11tracy said:
Funny that with all this design talk (and I LOVE design talk), my burning question is over the switch (addition?) to droid phones. And it seems I'm not the only one!
Not judging, just curious!
Tyrant has been added to my Flickr contacts & I can't wait to see how the office progresses.
Oh hell, I get excited over the thought of seeing how you're going to design this house. It's a gorgeous house, and again ~ not judging! ~ it just doesn't look like a house I would have envisioned for the Armstrongs. Too traditional maybe? So, I'm really curious to see how you can work your modern magic into the space, and I have no doubt you will!
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08.05.10 - 04:08 PM / 12wordsupmixed said:
you could have done worse with the sponsor. from my perspective (IT weenie) choosing between Verizon and Comcast is like choosing between a child molester and a pederast for a babysitter.
And I'm still waiting to hear about the chickens.
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08.05.10 - 04:12 PM / 13Leask said:
I'm ridiculously excited about this, I'm not embarrassed to say. While your home reno/design work is always interesting, it's home office design that truly fascinates me (largely because I'll have to do it someday soon). I can't wait to get your take on things.
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08.05.10 - 04:14 PM / 14dianemaggipinto... said:
can you read me NOW?
;)
isn't apple/iphone heading over to vzw? i thought i heard that.
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08.05.10 - 04:15 PM / 15apostate said:
Heather,
I just want you to know that I covet your chin. I am a gal with chin issues. I hate my chin above all. I have NO chin. My chin just kind of blends into the rest of my neck, causing me to always look about 80 lbs larger than I actually am in photos. Thus, every time I'm called to wait outside the temple so that I can be in a family picture, I am distressed for two reasons instead of just one. (One reason is enough to deal with in this type of situation as I'm sure you well know.)
I have quite large (and in charge) girlfriends with reasonably shaped chins who look much thinner than I look in photos taken from the shoulders down. Life is unfair.
Every time I see Heather Armstrong's chin, I think: Now there's a girl with a chin that doesn't just blend into her neck, causing her to look about 80 lbs larger than she actually is in family photos (standing next to her three size 0 sisters in law. THREE. All size zero. Even with the extra layers of clothing. I'm not shitting you.)
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08.05.10 - 04:31 PM / 16Truthful Mommy said:
You'll have to keep us posted on how the Droids are working out. I am in love with my iPhone but my husband keeps telling me when we move,I'm going to have to switch to Verizon. I'm more than a little bit afraid to give up my apple crutch. SO, hearing how it is working out will make it easier for me when the time comes. Congrats on the new office and the sA-wEEt new sponsor! Holy Sweaty Goat Balls, Batman...that's awesome!!!Happy Mothering!
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08.05.10 - 04:55 PM / 17jon said:
Verizon asked if we would use the Droids as work phones. Personally, I was dying to check out a sweet Android phone and was very very happy when Heather agreed to use the Verizon phones for work. It's always good to see what else is out there and put it to use in real world situations. Ironically, it is an advertiser/sponsor who is giving us this opportunity and it is sweet. I'm not sure how much more "real" it is to use product x over product y, but I understand that some people might get jangled.
I've heard stories of people having multiple phones (business people, famous people) as a back up in times of serious negotiating or at an event where one carrier might be hammered over another one. This isn't that kind of a deal, but as a geek, I'm digging on the chance to put a cool phone to the test.
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08.05.10 - 05:00 PM / 18Greta Koenigin said:
Tyrant is an excellent character. I'm glad you added him. And you tell a great story here. Never thought I'd be interested in the developing details of a home office, but I am. Bravo!
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08.05.10 - 05:07 PM / 19proudmary said:
for the love of God and lost hikers, tell the people at Verizon that we need some cellular service in the Catskill Mountains of New York State! They won't listen!
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08.05.10 - 05:21 PM / 20amw84 said:
I miss Leta. Also, Tyrant is hot.
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08.05.10 - 05:31 PM / 21lisdom said:
I've had my Droid X for a week and a half and I LOVE IT.
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08.05.10 - 05:32 PM / 22Jules K. said:
I can't wait to see what you come up with. Will we see any of this on HGTV?
Congrats!
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08.05.10 - 05:34 PM / 23Truthful Mommy said:
@ Jon,
I totally agree about the back up phone. We found that out the hard way. My husband is working contract for a company, had a VERY important phone interview with another and wouldn't you guess it..AT &T dropped the call...TWICE! My husband was livid and that is when Verizon first came up for us. If he gets that job ( Thank God they forgave the drop and interviewed anyway)..we will have to switch. So, I am very interested in how it compares to the IPhone. Seriously, you will know first hand having them there to compare.Keep us posted:)
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08.05.10 - 05:35 PM / 24Ezza said:
The timing on this is great, I'm in the middle of a home office re-design myself. (What is it the hipsters say? Squee?)
I love how there is a community of people who are all moist about voyeuring in on someone's new office design.
By the way - I'm in Australia and I have no idea what Verizon is ... I was reading it as 'venison' for a minute there.
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08.05.10 - 06:12 PM / 25heatherbot said:
i predict you are going to love your droids. seriously, i looooooooove mine. love.it! my only complaint... battery life isn't great. other than that, the phone is freakin' amazing!
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08.05.10 - 06:13 PM / 26Wombat Central said:
I'm still giggling over the nekkid wall licking.
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08.05.10 - 06:30 PM / 27Schnauzie_Mom said:
Yay, design porn! Can't wait:-)
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08.05.10 - 07:09 PM / 28Amanda Brumfield said:
Sounds fucking awesome to me.
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08.05.10 - 07:14 PM / 29Daddy Scratches said:
Man, what an unbelievable coincidence; we're experiencing almost the same exact thing. Yeah, we're moving from Boston to Philly at the end of this month, and we found a sponsor who's helping to make the move possible. Perhaps you've heard of them; they're called: My Wife's Parents, Inc.
Apparently, they really want their daughter to live near them again.
Unfortunately, their "sponsorship" is actually more like a "loan."
I really need to get more readers.
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08.05.10 - 07:32 PM / 30