When I received my second COVID-19 vaccine this month, I immediately nailed down plans for travel over the next months. I am waiting 28 days from my second vaccine, and then I am getting on a plane and going to the beach. It has been one year of stay-at-home. I have not eaten at a restaurant, I have not gathered anywhere, I have not been in the presence of anyone outside my immediate household without a mask. The idea that, by this time next month, I will have been on a plane makes me feel freedom is around the corner.
We recently celebrated an outdoor Passover Seder on our terrace in downtown Austin. Last year, at a similar outdoor seder, we thought by this year we would be free of the virus and freely out and about in society. Last year we were naïve. This year, however, we were confident that this was the last forced outdoor seder, thanks to all of us currently in the process of being vaccinated. With freedom so close at hand, the Passover Story of freedom from slavery was especially poignant this year. I was very grateful to have hope for the future after all the sacrifices of the year that is behind us.
I wish you freedom to reconnect, freedom to travel, freedom from your bubble, freedom to make plans, and freedom to make a change.
Be curious, Jodi @LazarLaw
FEATURING AUSTIN
In the year of staying put, I have expanded my universe through Instagram, finding accounts of interest to follow and watching daily as their lives or their work unfold. Through education-by-Instagram on interior design, I came upon NORTHROP’s Furniture Shop, and to my delight, I have watched these craftswomen bring old, grimy, beat-up, wonky heirloom furniture to life.
NORTHROP’s Furniture Shop is woman owned. Their shop is located at the corner of Manchaca Road and Regal Row; they share a wall with Precision Auto. NORTHROP’s offers refinish, restoration, cane, wicker and rush weaving, upholstery and paint. They are badass women who know their way around power tools yet can weave with graceful hands.
The images on their website show you the beauty of the finished product, but you must go to their Instagram to see the before/after because seeing is believing what heirloom furniture is capable of.
My favorite piece is the walnut library table and chairs they restored, but mostly I just like to watch as each piece is transformed, especially when they post client pictures of the finished piece in its true environment. There is a mid-century modern sewing kit that is particularly charming and coveted.
If you have heirloom furniture that needs love and attention, NORTHROP’s Furniture will bring it back to glory, prolong its life and bring artistry into your home.
FEATURED BLOG
A CUSTODY LAWYER’S REVIEW OF ALLEN V. FARROW
The documentary television miniseries Allen v. Farrow explores Dylan Farrow’s 1992 accusations that she was sexually abused by her father, Woody Allen, when she was 7 years old, and the resulting custody and criminal cases.
