Michelle Watts came into our COLLECTIVE like a beam of Salt Lake sunshine, and she's precisely the dose of warmth our organization needed. Michelle is something of a staple in our good city, having tended bar at plenty of our favorite local watering holes. We've known her for years, but working with her has opened our eyes to a plethora of magical traits we didn't know about.

Michelle came on board with a good deal of experience in accounting, office management, and customer service, and she's proven to soar in all three. Given that my desk is very near the door and I do not possess a naturally-happy demeanor, I'm absolutely thrilled to have someone like Michelle on greeting/client duty. She loves a good conversation, this one, and she's a fellow Fair Park resident, so I'm thinking I should make at least a few visits to her back yard come summertime (in part because I know she can whip up a tasty cocktail). Her husband, Bill, is a tattooed and handsome fella, and the friendly pair is raising an adorable, chubby-cheeked boy and two pups. Michelle might be one of the actual nicest poeple I've ever met, and for this reason, my fingers are crossed that she'll stick around our COLLECTIVE for a long time to come. If you're lucky (or smart), you'll come see for yourself by stopping into our office. But if you'd rather not make the trek, do yourself a kindness and get to know her better by reading below...

Describe your perfect home or space. What does it look/feel like? Lots of light. I feel like I was born in the wrong time and age. There would be some old mixed with older...and some new. I love knick-knacks. Think about your grandparents house mixed with some negative space. Gobs of gray and brass.

One thing you absolutely cannot stand: Drivers who don’t understand that there is a difference between yielding and stopping...closely followed by dishes left in a sink overnight.

One thing you absolutely, unequivocally LOVE: The sea.

You're an office manager and accounting assistant. Tell me why. What lead you to this work? I needed a season pass and my job at the time wouldn’t pay for my habits. So I fell into a job at a ski resort and quickly made my way up the ranks. I enjoy wrangling an office and setting a tone. I like accounting because numbers and patterns make sense to my artist brain (artist at heart...photography f o r e v e r).  I was lucky to work under a kind CPA & Controller who offered Accounting 101 in the break room.

Give me your take on our little COLLECTIVE.  I have stalked cityhomeCOLLECTIVE’s blog since before blogs were "in." I adore everything the COLLECTIVE touches. Most importantly, I'm infatuated with the team behind it. If you want to feel their warmth and have your heart wrapped in gold, come by headquarters!

Describe your perfect day. What, exactly, does that look like for you? Sleeping in, followed by coffee with my two favorite dudes and schnauzers. Thrift shopping and a bike ride around town. Catching an afternoon movie and some Takashi. Sitting outside of our house watching the sun go down. If it happens to be winter, I get up at the crack of dawn, load up the truck and hit the slopes. End up in a hot tub and order some Chanon Thai to go. Or if we are talking Oregon, my perfect day would be in Astoria, eating at the Columbian and shopping Main street. Followed by beach bonfires and naming baby seals.

Favorite read/watch: I go in and out of reading phases. Have you ever watched Sunday night programing on HBO? It is spectacular.

On my first day of college, I walked through the crowded part of campus without knowing that my backpack had slowly pulled my skirt up over my ass. It shaped me as a person, I think, in that it ruined my life. Tell me something humiliating about you. I once got in a full-on argument with my 7th grade biology teacher. He asks us to all write down what we thought was the smartest mammal on earth. He started to read answers like, "dolphin," "whale," and "monkey," then he started to choke and laugh. "Who wrote white rat?" I stood up and said "I did!" We argued back and forth and I told him to stick to coaching football....that my stepfather was one of the smartest men I know and he told me white rats are the smartest...that when they run through mazes, they always score the cheese. We agreed to disagree, after which my teacher explained it was a trick question (apparently humans are the smartest mammals). I went home to tell my stepdad, and he started laughing. Told me he'd been messing with me for years. That it was a joke from Idiots Guide to the Galaxy. I learned boat loads from the experience, but I'm still gullible.

You could be living anywhere, really. Why SLC? You can drive 90 minutes in any direction and be in a totally different climate and landscape. Low cost of living with all the big city food and entertainment. The airport is 10 minutes from our house! You can fly to all the high-cost-of-living cities you love and actually enjoy them instead of working 80 hours a week to live there. The people, the seasons, all of it...I'm very proud of and in love with the 801.