Post - A Tale of Two Phillys

May 6

May 6 Why A Revamped Chair Has Me Bowing to Betsy Ross

I sit here and write this between Anthony Bourdain's sentences. The CNN series No Reservations is on in our apartment, as it often is, and in this episode he lends his prose to a place, as he so often does, that is largely, at the very least "existentially" unsavory to foreigners.

In 2011 I lived on the cusp of Appalachia, 12 miles outside of Bunker Hill. It may have been a short lived stint in West Virginia, but long enough to know that Bourdain's wording defined this fascinating state impeccably. He found similar success in verbally exploring Nathan's home state.

Bourdain, in all of his crudeness, late-found sobriety and carnivorous boasting has long been my journalistic idol. For this, I have earned a range of reactions, all of which I understand.

I feel like I speak for more women than would like to admit it in that it can sometimes feel like a struggle to find female idols, especially in the industry that I work in. It is not for the lack of strong role models, that is not the case whatsoever. The things I admire (The crudeness. The Rawness) perhaps have been less acceptable for we females to play with artistically.

Despite that, a weekend project has changed something within me. Late last month a great friend of mine, Jessica, took my registry plea for a sewing machine seriously and generously gifted it to me for my bridal shower. Skip forward to yesterday as I began to learn how to prepare for a sewing expedition and one might have taken a look at my face and thought I was trying to reassemble a car engine.

My first thought while staring cross eyed into this machine that somehow requires the endless wrapping of wispy thread around levers and other parts I have never heard of, was something like "Women have been the ones doing this?!"

I am currently astounded how little credit has been given to the seamstresses and homemakers in history for the technical mastery and patience required to complete what has classically been brushed off as a delicate task.

Sewing is no joke. My goodness! Maybe the bigger joke is that these modern sewing machines are a vast convenience IMPROVEMENT upon what had previously been utilized.

Nevertheless, I persisted (get it?) and 24 hours after this journey into upholstery 101 began, Nathan and I are now enjoying our Sunday alongside a not-so-shabby revamped chair. Inspired by a few Pintrest guides, impatient improvisation, and Nathan's loving support (despite my frustration and demands for a Bloody Mary) I was able to pull together not only a slip cover fashioned out of cloth that we picked out in the city's fabric district (South Philadelphia), but also a matching pillow!

Anthony Bourdain, you are pretty damn great.

You too, Betsy Ross.