This is a free Dremel that I got from the DIY Network.
I know what this looks like. Like I’ve broken our no-free-swag rule. But this was given to me back in 2003, long before our self-imposed policy took effect (hence its worse-for-wear appearance). Heck, it even pre-dates our blog, our first home purchase, and even our relationship (we didn’t meet until 2004, and didn’t start dating ’til 2005).
So now you’re probably wondering what the single, 21-year-old, apartment-dwelling, college student version of me did to deserve a free tool from a home improvement network. Well, it’s because I was currently rocking the prestigious title of “intern.”
That’s me in August of 2003 on the last day of my summer advertising internship in New York City – coincidentally the day before the big citywide blackout. Clearly I was conducting myself with the utmost maturity by, yes, hugging the giant bubblegum machine in our building’s lobby. I actually worked in the same building where Big was filmed. Our office was the toy company where Tom Hanks worked – so you could say there was a bit of playfulness in the air.
I was a “Television Media Buying Intern.” For those who aren’t fluent in advertising-ese, it means I worked with the people in charge of negotiating the cost and placement of commercials with the TV networks. Which means they get schmoozed by the networks, sometimes a lot. My supervisors were always getting free stuff, being taken out to nice lunches, and going out to special events. And considering that I was working for free, they occasionally threw some swag my way too. Especially when they didn’t want it. Enter the Dremel, stage left.
By the end of my interning stint, I had racked up a copy of E.T. on DVD, a beach towel with The History Channel logo on it, tickets to see the Goo Goo Dolls tape a concert special for the Oxygen network and, of course, my handy DIY Network Dremel. I guess since my team was made up entirely of women, they figured their male intern would know what to do with a power tool.
Well, I didn’t. Best I could tell from the picture on the box, that whatsiedosie was for people who whittled chairs. Whatever it was, I figured it had no place in my life as a college senior – nor my expected future as a city-dwelling advertising professional. Never did I think I would become interested in DIYing, let alone have it become my actual profession. So I did what many non-tool-using-sons would do: I gave the Dremel to my dad.
Recently, he gave it back (as part of his purge-before-moving process). I happily took it. Not because I need a Dremel – in fact I got one last year as a Father’s Day present from Sherry (seen below – clearly they’ve updated their look since 2003) – but because it was a funny symbol of the weird turns that life can take. Perhaps that old Dremel was an omen of my future and I was just too young and gumball obsessed to notice?
Ok, maybe I’m reading too much into it. Hopefully my complimentary DVD of E.T. and my History Channel towel aren’t prophesying some future as an alien abduction victim or, I dunno, an old historic sunbather? So even if my free power tool of yesteryear isn’t responsible for my present occupation, I can at least give credit to that internship which led to a full time job, which led to meeting a copywriter named Sherry, which led to… well, you know the rest.
Have you guys ever regifted a tool only to re-encounter it down the line? Or been given something random that turned out to be some “symbol” of the life you would somehow grow into? Have you ever cozied up to a giant gumball machine or laid out on a History Channel towel? I figure I can’t be the only one.
Psst- I’m looking pretty tan in these old photos of yore, but Sherry and I are now blindingly white suburban parents. Proof here and here.
Rina says
Gee everyone is so polite today… am I the only one thinking that “young tan John” looks smokin hot!?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, I’m right there with you. Haha.
xo,
s
Colleen says
Totally unrelated question (sorry)… What paint finish did you use when painting your brick fireplaces? I couldn’t find that info in older posts. We’ve got the ugly red brick in a smaller sized living room…I’m thinking of taking the plunge! It’s scary though!
YoungHouseLove says
We used flat (all walls were flat except for bathrooms and kitchens in the old house). Now we use eggshell and satin in this house (so things are more wipeable with the bean). Any of them should look great so I’d just match the finish of your walls unless you want your fireplace to be glossier.
xo,
s
Colleen says
thanks
Christine Martorana says
I just love how the Dremel people word the manual on your original Dremel “HONESTLY NOW…Have you read this OWNER’S MANUAL?”. Like they know how quickly people just jump into things without really reading everything.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, so funny.
xo,
s
Ann says
I’m really glad you don’t accept freebies. I don’t know why but it irritates me when other bloggers brag about their home updates and they haven’t paid for anything. That’s not reality. Anyway, what was the question?
Kylie says
Guys, My husband and I were laying in bed last night (or the night before) drifting to sleep to the nightly news when I heard Sherry’s voice on the TV!!!!!!! It was the special on radon. I got so excited…. I was like “look babe, there are my peeps!!” (He just rolled over) Very cool though and great segment! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much! Ryan Nobles himself emailed us to say they’d be replaying it. So exciting.
xo,
s
Amy@Triangle Honeymoon says
Funny how things happen right? Congrats on all your Dremmel successes!
Sarah Mc says
Sherry where did you get your red swimsuit? Is it one piece? I’m looking for a post baby 1 piece, or concealing 2 piece and I love the top and straps on yours.
YoungHouseLove says
It’s a red one piece from Target. My two piece days are gone. Haha. But I will occasionally rock a tankini. I know, I’m a rebel.
xo,
s
deena says
cool story!
and please stay blindingly white with loads of sunscreen, and get your moles checked at least annually.
i just had a melanoma removed. scary stuff.
YoungHouseLove says
So scary! I’m so glad you’re ok. I’m a crazy person when it comes to sunscreen and skin checks since we both grew up in the sun (I was a lifeguard and John’s family has a beach house).
xo,
s
Dani says
I just want to say I love your blog. I know you hear that in every single comment, but it’s so true. I just finished reading all of your archives today. (My husband will be so glad. Now I’ll have more time to spend with him again, and I might not start every sentence with “You know that blog I love…”) Then I checked to see what was new today and it reminded me that my very first trip to NYC was during that blackout you mentioned. I was a 16 year-old from Utah, and my mom and I walked from Battery Park up to my aunt and uncle’s house on 91st. It was my favorite part of my trip because I got to see everything. Now I live in Baltimore, so I get up there quite a bit, but when I think NY, I still think of that evening.
Anyway, I just want to let you know you are my DIY/design heroes and thank you for sharing your knowledge, mistakes, and beautiful homes and darling family with the world.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks so much. Glad you found us! It’s so fun to hear about everyone’s memory of the blackout. I remember shops giving out free ice cream because it was melting anyway. I was in NY on Sept 11th so I was just so relieved that it was just a blackout. It was amazing how cheerful most New Yorkers were that day – even though we were all walking our butts off. Haha.
xo,
s
Tori Wilson says
Hi! I follow the tumblr Taxidermy Church (she gives great book recommendations)and she posted a chandelier DIY using the IKEA chandelier from your bedroom. Check it out! It’s pretty amazing!
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-sputnik-chandelier.html
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah I love that project! So amazing!
xo,
s
Fran says
Isn’t it amazing how you subsconsciously change sides of the bed like that. We worked out we did exactly the same thing when we moved houses, only I like to be close to the door! So weird how the mind works.
susan says
Never hugged a giant gumball machine but spent lots of time and pennies at a hardware store in Maryland with our first 3 kids buying gum. My husband would always chew the black gumballs because no one else would….susan
Amy says
Once upon a time (okay 2004) I interned at NBC on Last Call – we didn’t get much in free swag, but we got all the Snapple and Frito Lay chips we could eat AND I left with the nickname Bonecrusher. :) Five years later I ended up playing for a women’s full-contact football team here in upstate NY as a defensive end.
I’ve worked in advertising sales (in local radio) and learned quickly that I’m better off behind the microphone.
danielle says
Sherry – I am dying to know the color grey you used in your hallway. I have been trying to paint my dining room for weeks unsuccessfully because all the colors I pick out end up too blue.
Help!
ps. – love the new art. looks great and inspired me to do a similar print on canvas project!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s Moonshine by Benjamin Moore (color matched to Olympic No-VOC paint). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jill Stratton says
When I was in college, a friend of a friend was a bonafide psychic. She would do tarot card readings in the basement of the dorm and told me that I would work for a school but not as a teacher…she specifically said she didn’t see me working with young children. At the time I was contemplating becoming a teacher…but as my college years passed and I was sent out into the great-wide-workplace, I ended up not becoming a teacher but I work in the business office of a school district. When I was hired I remember thinking that she was right!
Rachel Tatem says
Jealous of your free dremel! I love dremels, so useful. ps: loved the gumballs much ;P
Donna Huebsch says
Boy, I hate to think that some of my past gifts foreshadow things to come! I’m especially remembering the Christmas that my husband accidentally drifted into the “Women’s” dept. at a store and bought me a size 2X robe because it was between a 1X and 3X and he figured that was a medium. :)
Sonda says
Well I DIY’ed some Christmas ornaments several years ago. I had found some images of 1880’s Christmas cards, shrunk them down to 2″x 3″, printed two on parchment paper, using twine for a loop hanger glued between the two images. I mailed some of the ornaments to my grandma and a couple years later she sent me a Christmas card with my DIY ornaments inside. I took it as a great compliment, knowing she had forgotten that I had given them to her, and that they must have looked professionally made in order for her to re-gift them to me!
Lori @ Richmond, BABY! says
Sherry, I love your and Clara’s suits in the pics! Hope you guys get to swim in the pool again this weekend…enjoy!!!
JR says
A few years ago my grandma gave me a fabulous set of white towels. Actually, she re-gifted them. Like, seriously re-gifted. They were in the same gift bag and had the original ‘Happy Birthday Mom!’ card from my aunt. Brutal, right? What made it worse was that we were at my aunt’s house when my grandma busted out this gift.
At the time I remember thinking ‘Sweet. A bunch of towels…’ but now, years later, I’m a decorator and I’m always on the hunt for amazing white towels like those ones!
Danielle says
Ok, So I know this is totally random, but how do the both of you make a living if neither of you have “jobs”. I just always wondered that!! (:
YoungHouseLove says
This is our job! Haha. It wasn’t always that way – we did this as a hobby for years (blogging to no one for the first 100+ posts) and slowly gained readers and sponsors. It still surprises the heck out of us since we never went into it expecting to gain a career from it. You can read more about how we got “here” in this post and this post. We never could have guessed that we’d end up here, but there’s nothing else that we’d rather be doing!
xo,
s
Lizz says
Um, I’m just totally jealous that you got to work in the ‘Big’ building!! That was one of my favorite movies growing up. How fun!
jenb says
My mother gave my new husband for the first Christmas we were together a log splitting wedge. At that time we lived in a modern apartment in a big city where we didn’t even have a fireplace. It was the wierdest gift. It wasn’t touched again for about 10 years. But now, 20 years later, and two DIY house overhauls that did include fireplaces, that wedge has been used many times now. And we laugh every time we use it!
xMikaeru says
aaahhh… i can’t wait.. its really awesome..
btw the second picture looks really funny for me :D
lauren says
John, didn’t we go to that Goo Goo Dolls taped concert together???
with Melissa Kahn?
I seem to remember that…
weird. hahahahahaha
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! So weird.
-John
antigoni says
Hey, I am Antigoni from Greece, and I have been reading your blog quite frequently. The reason of my comment is that I am a media buyer too in a big Media Agency in Greece, and I dunno i find it strange to have so much in common, from 2 entirely opposite places of the world. Love your blog! kisses to Clara…
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing. What a small world. Nice to “meet” you Antigoni!
xo,
s
Alicia says
My mom painted me a flower pot when I was a senior in college. It sat in my room and collected whatever was lying around that needed a spot to live – which was just about everything other than a plant. Now 6 years later (yikes I am getting old), I am madly in love with my garden and almost cried when a strong wind blew it over and cracked it.