B. B.

a Birthday shout-out to my cute nephew!

11:06 AM

About 6 years ago (holy cow has it really been that long?) I met a girl named Susan Petersen who moved into the neighborhood. From the moment I met her I could tell she was an entrepreneur at heart. She was very talented and incredibly inventive. We did a few boutique shows together when I was making and selling baby blankets and burp cloths.

She would often talk with me about sewing projects and want me to brain storm with her about ideas for new products. I always shyed away from the topic as I knew I was not nearly as skilled as she at sewing and creating patterns. In fact, I remember when she got her first serger machine and she was soooo excited...I acted very excited for her, but as I smiled all I kept thinking was, "what is a serger?" hahaha.....

She was also very generous and would share/trade her products with me. For Christmas one year she made my sister a purse and matching wallet and to this day I still use her Freshly Picked wallet for my "square money" (that's what Henry calls it). She also created a pattern for a darling bird shaped sachet to fill with my moms lavender. I remember spending an afternoon with her and Liz Stanley at Liz's home in the Aves. making them.

When I had Henry she gave me an awesome handmade baby wrap and a pair of her handmade Freshly Picked moccasins. Henry loved the moccasins and so did I. I love Robeez and had Max and Madeline wear those when they were babies, but I never needed to buy a pair for Henry, as he had his mocs. I think these were some of her first mocs and she has since tinkered with her design and medium, but we love this older version just as much as the new. I was so sad to pack them up that I actually did a post about it here on this blog almost 4 years ago.

Here is that post:

"GOODBYE BABY MOCCASINS"

the links on this 2010 post may be outdated as she has moved her business since then.

I am thrilled for her success, she has been on Shark Tank and is selling some of her goods at the fabulous children's store, Land of Nod.

If you have a wee one or know of someone that does, check out her baby mocs at FRESHLY PICKED. They are well worth the money. The quality is impeccable and sure to last through many little feet. My only question now is, when is she going to make a silvery pale pink color in my size?!

D.I.Y.

Life is reconciling our ideal w/ reality & making the best of it

9:25 AM

4 years ago when we moved into our "updated" (in the early 90's) 1940's brick rambler I loved it's simple charm with lots of mature trees, mountain views, large master suite and restored wood floors. But that is pretty much where the love ended. The rest I knew would be a lot of work, but together my husband and I, along with the help of our families could do it. I was also excited at the prospect of our weekends being filled with home improvement projects.

Well, you know that saying about how you can make god laugh? Tell him YOUR plans. Apparently the above was one giant joke. NONE of it would come to fruition. I've been married 11 years, but I found out about 3 years ago that my husband hates home improvement projects and when we first tried to do projects he was miserable and it always ended in a fight. To add insult to injury, both of our parents became incredibly busy with their own projects. My in-laws started and currently run a farmers market and my parents are vendors at a farmers market, both ventures take up 100% of their time from May-October.

So, 4 years ago when I walked into this house I didn't see:

~ almond color appliances - I saw stainless steel appliances

~ square kitchen tiles, really? why couldn't they be subway? - I saw an awesome backsplash

~ leaf print laminate countertops - I saw granite or honed marble countertops

~ stark white walls - I saw warm hughes with beautiful pieces of art

~ functional doorways and window - I saw decorative molding and trim

~ functional/minimal base boards - I saw tall substantial looking baseboards

~ old levelor 1" blinds - I saw plantation shudders

~ outdated faux oak ceiling fans (there were 8 of them!) - I saw bronzed or silver updated light fixtures

~ almond color kitchen sink with old faucet - I saw a deep stainless steel sink with updated faucet

~ weird single beams in our bedroom - I saw thick beams with large bronzed bolts

~ brass hardware on every door and cabinet- I saw oil rubbed bronze hinges and pulls on all the doors (oh and the doors needed to be replaced/updated as well)
~ unfinished 1,000 sq.ft. basement - I saw a lg. family room and another bathroom. Laundry/craft room and theater room.

The list could go on and on.....

For a while there I felt a little deceived, foolish and stuck. Stuck in a house that was far from what I envisioned and left with no resources (except my 2 hands) to get all the grand projects in my head finished (not to mention I had 3 younger kids, a demanding church calling, I still volunteer too much at my kids school and we had and have lots of extra curricula activities).

Without sounding too dramatic or ungrateful, I was pretty sad and bummed out about it. I was stuck in a late 80's looking, 'diamond in the rough house' all day every day with the constatnt visual reminder of how naive I was. It's still hard sometimes, but I decided one day that even though I can't do any of the big projects above, the ones that require expertise and a lot of $$, I CAN do small improvement projects that make a big difference.

I am NO expert and I'm NO perfectionist, I'm pretty good at looking at something and saying, "good enough". I think if a contractor ever saw what I did they'd be mortified. But I've done most of it on my own, with limited knowledge and no experience.

There are a hand full of projects (big ones) that we had help on and I will give props to those who helped us when we get to those projects. I am going to start blogging about these small home improvement triumphs. Triumphs achieved with my limited knowledge, expertise, time and funds.

In the words of Andy Dwyer from Parks & Rec:

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I read that one on a can of lemonade.

I like to think it applies to life."

What would I do without these guys to help me laugh and "lighten-up" when I've reconciled reality with my ideals and seen how far I am from where I want to be?