We just got back from a week in North Carolina.  We started out with three days at the beach, which was awesome. (I had crazy hair the entire time, but I just have to be at peace with that when I’m in humidity and wind.) My boys have never been swimming in the ocean before. They did some wading in Maine a couple of years ago, but it was way too cold to swim.  It was so amazing for me, as their mom, to watch them rolling in the surf, laughing, jumping over the waves.  We didn’t have the greatest weather, but we had just enough clear sky to build sand castles, collect shells, swim, stroll in the surf and just sit in some beach chairs with our toes in the sand. When the weather wasn’t cooperating, we hung out at the pool inside the hotel and the boys loved that

Since I work out of my home, most days I’m, well, at home.  No surprise there.  I’m a homebody, so it really suits me.  I could probably stay in the house for a week straight and be totally fine with that.  It would drive Jeff nuts, so he’s usually the one who runs little errands.  But, there are days when I just need to get out!  It’s good for me creatively and it prevents me from getting into a rut. So, Thursday was a get-out-of-the-house day and my mom and I went shopping.  I hit a couple of my favorite local antique shops and found some really amazing things… A vendor had just put out these corbels when I walked by and snatched them up.  Talk about chippy goodness… I usually don’t like this style of scale, but the color of the paint on it was really beautiful… …and I

Back when I was an itty bitty baby blogger, I took a big step and went to my first blog conference – Blissdom.  I went by myself and roomed alone, so it was a little intimidating.  I awkwardly walked around, hoping to recognize someone from their 125×125 profile picture or maybe someone would recognize me, but I wasn’t hopeful of that.  I did manage to connect with some other DIY/Home Decor bloggers within an hour or two of being there and more began to gather. Someone suggested a group picture, so we bunched up on a grand staircase, turned sideways, so we all looked skinny and smiled.  In the midst of the tummy-sucking-in and hip twisting, someone next to me said, in a soft voice, “Hello.  I love your blog.”  I was taken aback that someone knew who I was, so I turned to see who my “fan” was.  The

Before I get into today’s post, I just want to share how encouraging it is to hear how many you are going to pull out your china and silver and start using it regularly in response to my spurring yesterday!  I started to chuckle at the thought of all of the families who came home to a set table with folded napkins and fancy place settings…probably thinking there mom has finally lost it or there was bad-news-bomb she was about to drop.  I love it.  Anyway, onto my topic today… I used to be an HGTV junkie.  Remember the days of (the original) Design on a Dime and Room by Room?  And when Candice Olson and Sarah Richardson hit the scene and brought it to a whole other level?  HGTV was like my comfort background noise when I was at home.  I loved watching the makeovers and getting new ideas.  Sarah started