The Grazing Board, vol. 8

This week's nosh plate is ready to serve up w. my home fitness studio project, the difference between a vision and goal, 50% off a favorite brand, & what we're reading!

Jun 22, 2025

On the menu is my monster task to turn a tool shed into a home gym (pray for me), what we’re reading in our very own book club, the handbag of the season, and more. Let’s dig in!

6 minute read.

1. This Will be the Ultimate Before & After…

In back of our house here in Charleston, we have a second building. I can’t call it an “ADU” because it does not have plumbing, but it does have electricity, ceiling lights, and a through-the-wall air unit on the second floor.

On one side of the building, you open barn doors to reveal a large shed on the ground floor. Around the another side, you open a front door to walk up stairs and be in a second floor home office. We inevitably use the bottom shed to house all of the things you accumulate, from landscaping equipment to tools to random piles of who knows what. I think I found a pile of 20 bed risers from four years ago. The storage aspect is nice, but neither Phil nor I really use the space for any sort of hobby, and so I’ve decided on impulse that the huge woodworking table in the middle of the room, along with everything else, is is going to disappear. Instead…

Welcome to my fitness studio.

This transformation requires no construction, but a lot of elbow grease. A lot, you guys. It’s a pretty large space and I need to transfer the big equipment out into an ancillary outdoor shed or under a lean-to, organize the random bottles and tools and endless crap into closed storage along one wall, deep clean (who knows what has been nesting in there), seal up seams, paint the walls and ceiling, then install rubber flooring tiles, mirrors with cool lights, gym equipment, and a monitor up in the corner to do online classes. We already have electricity, but I need to find a reasonable heating/cooling solution.

Vibe wise, it’s going to be sleek, streamlined and minimal. Think more Tracy Anderson than Crunch Fitness. I really enjoy weights and don’t need much more, but can fit a large piece of equipment (especially now that everything folds and rolls away, like rowing machines and treadmills), and really want to get some sort of smart weight system up on the wall like a Tonal or whatever is offered now.

I envision myself walking out of the house before dawn, when everyone else is still asleep, flinging open the doors to my Fitness Studio, feeling like I’m a million miles away without having to book an class on someone else’s schedule or spend 30 precious minutes total driving and checking-in, logging on to a live stream workout class, and emerging a new woman. Obviously I will feel smug and pleased with myself. Maybe a friend will join me for our dawn patrol workouts or I can get a trainer to meet me there for a real “Jennifer Aniston does this” private fitness vibe.

This will take work before I can do the actual fitness work. I am inspired by this concept of “vision” (different from a goal!), and mine is visceral. I can f’ing smell the paint and rubber. I can see the lights around the wall mirrors. I feel the sweat.

I can make this out of thin air.

Little by little, in 30 minute increments and late at night, I will make this happen for myself. I’m going to keep chipping away right after I send you this email. Root for me because I’m going to need it for this monster of a project. Some inspiration:

2. I’ve Been Many Things and Now…

I am a consultant. First I was a Client Development member for the Contemporary Art department at Sotheby’s in NYC (glamorous, but toxic and poor paying). Then I was an independent art advisor and curator with my own shop, Blaise + Co. Contemporary Art LLC (thrilling, but mostly a party scene). Then I was a litigator at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (anxiety everywhere, but extremely well paying and I was treated very well). Then I was the senior law clerk to a U.S. District Judge (the best job and the only job I would love to return to once Cosima is old enough that I’d feel comfortable). Then I started a hobby blog to stay sane, while also working full time, as an outlet during fertility treatment (lots of late nights, but gratifying). Then I became a full time mom with a hobby blog that made reliable, but not always large, amounts of money (even more gratifying; specific $ and % were shared here). Now, I am a consultant (ding ding ding!).

Over the past several months, four people have reached out to me via Instagram asking if I would chat with them about how to best use the platform to market their businesses, which generally were passion projects or “side hustles” that were starting to generate some income. I recently started saying yes, and soon professionalized the process, having now consulted with three clients with two more on the horizon.

You know me, so you know I very quickly created an entire system of Welcome Packets, Intake Questionnaires, Review Processes, Deliverables, and Ongoing Support protocols. This is serious business and it’s thrilling to transfer my experience and knowledge to another (generally a woman just like you and me thinking, “what if I actually took this hobby seriously and tried to make it a source of income?…”).

Realizing I had been providing these services without letting you know, I recently outlined them on BB.com and would love your input or support by sharing with your circle…

Services & Clients

3. Pause for Wardrobe Inspiration…

I’ve recently learned how to play mahjong and my favorite part is how you can yelp, “PAUSE!” to think for a second. I want to extend this beyond parlor games, LOL.

I hold back from sharing much shoppables in these emails because I figure you know to find them right here. But browsing is just so fun! We get inspiration to try something new or to revisit what we already have with new eyes.

This week, I was obsessed with the ultimate “Picnic Birkin” handbag in woven wicker and saddle brown leather for $208 (one third the price of the next best option).

And I was super excited by 50% off + free shipping from my favorite brand for classic pieces like polished blazers, pretty blouses and my favorite sailor pants. Here is what I would buy.

SHOP MY WORLD

4. Welcome to Our Book Club…

I used to read such heavy lifts, but for the past few years, I like to keep it light. I recently finished Funny Story by Emily Henry and thought it was adorable. The very, very end was a little too cutesy for me, but I liked the book a lot.

My next read is It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan. One of her prior books, Nora Goes Off Script, is one of my all time favorite reads. If you like that well-written rom com genre, have you tried Sophie Cousens? I loved Just Haven’t Met You Yet and This Time Next Year.

So I drove to our one and only local independent bookseller to get myself a copy, feeling all impressed with myself for “buying local” and driving to retail when I could just hit “order” on my Amazon app. But they had none; they’d ordered 3 copies, he guy said, and none had arrived. Oh well. I tried to be a good member of society, but I see that my Amazon guy has already flung the book at our front door and I will report back once I crack it open.

What are you reading? Tell me in a comment!