Mary Kathryn

     

Mary Kathryn is the creative force behind Loretta Flower, a gorgeous independent florist in Austin. She's also a sharp writer (her Wild Love column for Design*Sponge is the best!), savior to a sweet rescue pup Lucca, forever cooking up a new project, not afraid of a challenge and a lover of family photographs.

I swung by MK's pretty Clarksville duplex early one fall morning. A new Wild Love column was being cooked up and Mary Kathryn asked if I'd like to join her on a run to the flower market. The answer was obviously, yes. Dahlias, ranunculus, poppies, kale, cat tails, more types of flowers than I could ever hope to name stuffed the chilly shop and MK whizzed through it like a pro. She quickly snapped up an armload of pretty lilies, lambs ear, black dahlias and all sorts of other things occasionally pausing to admire some unknown flower.

After our trip through the market we headed back to her cozy home to admire our floral haul. We also chatted about our shared love of heirloom jewelry (things are just better with a history, right?), Paris, Texas (such a great movie), working in the creative industry & blogosphere (it's kind of weird but definitely rewarding), her rad Nemadji pottery collection (scored at Room Service Vintage for a song, jealous!) and just how gorgeous a bouquet past its prime can be.

My personal style is... girlish. Somewhat sweet, but always relaxed and never precious or "adorkable". I like taking feminine things and finding ways to rough em up a little. I rarely wear anything that I don't like more once it's worn in a bit.

My style icons are…Leith Clark, Patti Smith, Sofia Coppola, Joan Didion, Tilda Swinton, Faye Dunaway in Network. I'm also consistently inspired by the style of the lesbians that hang out at Cheer Up Charlie's--those girls do not call it in.

I’m inspired by…California. The amazing things our bodies are capable of doing. My talented friends. My mother. Family photos, not even just mine but anybody's... the kind of photos that really let you in and opens up a narrative world. Poetry of all kinds. 

If I lived in another era I’d choose…pre-Facebook. I have a nostalgia for the mystery of other people.

The last book I read was…Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill: it was like taking speed, but in a good way.

Right now I’m obsessed with…the idea of dying my own fabrics to make my own clothes. Inspired by Maura Ambrose of Folk Fibers, who creates amazing fabrics by dyeing with things like onion skins and home-grown indigo.

Lately I’ve been listening to…a lot of girl sound from the 60's: The Ronettes, Lesley Gore, early Tina Turner. Also: Karen Dalton, Tim Hardin, Cass McCombs, Graham Nash. I've also become obsessed with (nerd alert!) NPR's Planet Money app.

When I’m at home I love to... day-dream about painting the whole place and filling it with crazy plants and becoming that old lady with the crazy plant-house.

If I were in a movie I’d be in…Paris, Texas

When I walk up to the bar I order…French 75, or anything else with gin or champagne and lemon, really.

My favorite thing to cook up is…grilled peaches, hands down.

My go-to beauty product is…raw honey. It's antiseptic and antimicrobial and it totally changed my skin. I wash my face with it twice a day. It's also amazing mixed with sea salt as a body scrub.

I’m crushing on…Transgressor Magazine, Ramen Tatsu-ya, and Joaquin Phoenix.

On a sunny afternoon I love to…take photos, go swimming, find some place to take a nap in the sun. 

When I’ve got money to burn I head to…JetBlue.com 

The last time I surprised myself I…bonded with someone I never thought I would understand.

Five things I can’t live without are…
1. Bobby Pins

2. N + 1 or The Paris Review (is it cheating to pick two? I could live with half-subscriptions to both.)

3. Sunshine. I do actually think I would die without this, please don't tell my arch-nemesis.

4. PUPPIES

5. Second chances.

I feel most myself when I am…Either eating a great meal among all my friends, wandering around a new city for the first time, or having that quiet time in the morning when I just fry myself an egg.