Dear Nate, You Rock My World

I saw a tweet the other day about an event at the Barnes & Noble at The Grove that made me jump right out of my seat! I was waiting until this week (thanks paycheck) to buy Nate Berkus’ new book “The Things That Matter.” Well good things come to those who wait because the event was scheduled for yesterday and was a talk/book signing by Nate himself!

Despite ridiculous LA rain traffic (for those of you who don’t live here, no one from LA can drive in the rain. Traffic speed decreases by at least 80-90% no joke), I made it with plenty of time to grab a seat for the talk.

I won’t go on and on trying to give you a poor recap of the entire thing, but I will happily paraphrase the gist of both the talk and the book.  Nate smartly pointed out that there are a million places we can get decorating info, from television and magazines to blogs and books. It is easy to get caught up in worrying about making all of the “right” and trendy decorating decisions: having the newest, hottest paint color in your home, not mixing the wrong eras of furniture pieces, incorporating a “now” color despite the fact that your heart and soul belong to another color palette, etc. Nate very firmly believes that your space should reflect the deeply personal story of who you are, who you’ve loved, where you’ve been, and where you would like to go. He emphasized that if you love a piece and it means something to you, trust your instinct and incorporate it. Rather than worrying about making your room reflect who you aren’t by following the “rules” from others, use only your instincts to make the room a true reflection of yourself and everything you love. Every “thing” in a room should have a meaning, a story, and a connection to your journey in life.

Sorry for the bad pics- I had to use my phone :(

Okay, so he did a much better job of explaining it but I hope you get the idea.  It was truly beautiful and inspiring, considering that is the way Walker and I try to live. I have gotten a chance to read through the first few chapters of the book and it is one part memoir, one part exploring others’ spaces that truly reflect their life stories, and one part GORGEOUS pictures of all of the above.

Just chatting with Nate. No big deal.

I did get my book signed (it’s SORT OF close to “Erika…”) but I have a grand surprise for you as well…. MY VERY FIRST BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!

Nate signing the very book that could be yours! Enter below! :)

One of you lucky blog readers gets to win your very own signed copy of Nate Berkus’ “The Things That Matter” courtesy of yours truly! The giveaway will be open for one week so enter now! I have given you guys lots of easy ways to enter and some of them you can come back and do again tomorrow. Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***I was not compensated for this giveaway nor was I provided a free copy of the book. I am just a big fan of Nate’s new book and his decorating manta. I love you all so much I wanted to share it with you, too!***