Edom I miss you!
I have been on assignment with HGTV + on the road since April 2019! and now am rounding the last curve and ready to break away for the home stretch. (I ran track in school so love me some track lingo.) We are doing 10 episodes over this 10th season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and I am SO proud to be a part of it as Sr. Design Producer. I worked on the original show Seasons 5-9, so it was a bit like what they say about riding a bike. You never forget, but things do change! And similarly to riding a bike later in life, my butt happens to be a little bit bigger than I remembered.
My job included being first on the ground in LA to represent the design team while my lead and partner, Veronica Valencia renovated Air BnB rentals for Cash Pad, now airing on NBC. I was privileged and glad to woman the ship and also so glad VV could keep her promise to Production Design the full series to Ming, our friend who had sold her first show – a super big deal in the TV world! I was on hold for about the month of March with a packed suitcase, and when I got the green light, Tim and I left in matter of a few days and he joined me for the cross country drive. He is my heart, and both him and my family help me keep my head and shoulders on straight through this whirlwind whipping me all over.
Design Dept work for Extreme is always a sprint… so being in the office on prep was an added experience, gave me a minute and helped me adjust early to the fact we WE‘RE BACK, and making our beloved show again.
Y’all are gonna love it! It is, of course, different than the original, it is 10 years later, HGTV has it’s own demographic/ budget and we are no longer affiliated with ABC Disney. The heart and soul of the show remains, and this round we are giving more thoughtful, well designed forever homes to our families and EVERYONE is happy about that. Yea!
I carry with me everyone who worked on or volunteered for the former show. So much knowledge transpired for the common community goal of this modern barn raising. I take the wisdom + golden nuggets deep to heart and share it loud and proud to anyone who will listen. I often credit Michael Maloney for teaching me so much about design, both residential and design for TV.
When this is complete, I will have been in about 10 living spaces… and while I am packing with military precision, I confess I do still over pack. Most aspects of my life are with me and I find that comforting. I do consistently consider the Marie Kondo method, but rather than eliminating I am using things up because I’ve been at this going on 6months! Future blog post: packing with precision but also for comfort + and a sense of home away from home.
It has been a dream to be back in LA, and so many things have changed and not changed since I moved here 2002. California is pretty incredible (even if it’s not for everyone.) No place is! That is the beauty of it.
Driving down Fountain I will always think of Sonja. Yesterday on my day off I had a sensory memory of wanting to call her and see what she was up to and if she in town and was free. We used to do that a lot, it was very hit or miss…just call when we could as we were both so busy with work. I know she felt me honoring her spirit in wanting to hang out, like no time had passed. Like she was still here with us. She is still here with us, she is in my heart and I am lucky to feel it so deeply here as well in Texas.
I’ll see you ETX family at Edom Festival of the Arts, 2019. I’ll be ready for hugs, love and lots of familiar creative faces. I am going to have the shop stocked and loaded with some cool things I have found along my journey! Cade Republic will pick up where I left - planning for workshops and gatherings, and I will definitely have a premiere party for this first episode of EMHE come 2020, plus another viewing party for the Bakersfield episode (I was lead on interiors on Bakersfield episode + my other duties.)
And I’ll also be ready for local design work and collaborations, so let me have it ETX and beyond! See y’all soon!
Keep on Keeping On,
Vanessa