I first met Laura on a hot summer day in Austin, just after my big transplant to the city. We were both there to meet a mutual friend. I watched rather captively as she sacheted through the parking lot with her Jackie O sunglasses and rather large hat, which was promptly removed to reveal her effortlessly haphazard hair (hair that she cut herself...of course.) While at that very moment it was evident to me that this woman standing before me was not your average creature, it was not yet apparent that she would soon become one of the dearest and most impactful people that I ever called "friend."I would spend the next few months helping her to paint her kitchen walls black, being lovingly heckled by her while she taught me to climb rocks, and eventually being taken in by her during my time of need. It was during these times that I was privileged to truly discover all that Laura encompassed, while at the same time discovering all that encompassed her.
This is why after our first meeting I felt comfortable telling her that the white hydrangea and orchids that she originally envisioned for her wedding were, shall we say...stupid. "They're just so 'I'm getting married in the Hamptons.' Not that there's anything wrong with that...It's just not YOU," I told her. And then after she gave me her contemplative glare (the one where for a split second you're not quite sure whether or not she's really mad) she gave me a simple, "I agree." And that was that. The classic, refined perceptions she once had were given a bit of edge and earthiness. Two qualities that so embody Laura, it seems almost a crime to exclude them. And this was the result...
Laura and Sean- October 30, 2010
