About Sarah

My name is Sarah Anne Watson, but most people just call me Sarah.

I was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, but I somehow ended up with a bit of a Southern accent.  It could be all the sweet tea I grew up drinking, or the fact that I was raised on soul food and Southern charm.

I got my start in design in high school when I was on the William R. Boone High School Legend Yearbook staff, and studied (diligently, I might add) under the magnificent Renee Burke.  Now you may not know who this fabulously talented and gracious woman is, but I feel it would be highway robbery to talk about my career in design without giving first a nod to her. 

Before yearbook, I had a love for color and things that looked pretty -- yearbook taught me to appreciate type, photography, balance, symmetry, asymmetry and so on, and so forth.

I studied Journalism at the University of Florida, but quickly discovered that my classes weren't going to teach me everything I needed to know.  Though I was lucky to enter into a program that allowed me to choose or create my own focus (Design for Print and Online Media, thank you very much), I wasn't learning about what I really want to learn -- design for branding and personal stationery. 

The kind of design I really wanted to do -- the personal, practical and contemporary, yet classic design that spoke to people -- well, that I had to learn on a wing and a prayer.  And, really, I'd be lying if I didn't say I still learn something new every day.  In fact, it is usually the client who challenges me to learn something new or reach outside the bounds of what I've already done, who tops my current favorites list.

Now y'all, I readily admit I have a favorites list -- a list of the work I love the most.  But, I assure you, there is not a single client who doesn't receive my best effort and, in turn, my best work.  It's just that sometimes the stars and moons and planets align while God ordains the perfect partnership between myself and a client who just might as well be surfing my same brain waves and then we create something together that we can just step back, stare at and say "Wow."  I mean can I get an Amen?

I'm a fan of the Amen -- you know the kind,  it's usually accompanied by a hand waived in the air and follows some sort of profound statement.  Yeah, I love a good Amen.  I didn't grow up in the church, but rather, I found myself haphazardly (though, by no coincidence) dropped into a fabulous community of young believers when I joined a friend's youth group because it was "something fun to do" on Sunday nights.  Little did I know God was moving me, pushing, prodding, molding and forming me into the woman he wanted me to become.  That's how this blog got its name, y'all.  Praise at the City Gate is a nod to Proverbs chapter 31, where we learn about the role of a Godly woman.  It says "Charm is deceptive, and beauty fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruits of her hands, and let her works bring her praise at the city gates."  I want nothing more than that, for my works to serve Him.  I hope you will allow me to boast in Him, and to continually acknowledge that I am God's workmanship, and I was put on this Earth to make manifest the Glory of God which is within me.  In all things, let God receive the Glory.

So that's what this blog is for.  I call it a lifestyle blog, because it will be a reflection of my life.  I will discuss fashion, weddings, design, decor and many other topics that interest me.  But, more often than not, I will use this blog as a forum to spur others on to achieving their dreams by sharing my own journey of doing the same. 

Border Graphic by Emily Ley - from the Making Things Happen Intensive