right now at this very moment

i heard this morning on the radio that Etta James died last friday...this is my favorite song, i love her confidence, i wish i could borrow some of it right now



right this very minute, i'm getting ready to present about Relational-Cultural Theory to the Idaho Counseling Association.... LT and the kids are watching TV, and everyone is full from a good dinner of frybread and roast beef (yeah, healthy, i know.)

my bags are packed, but i'm working on my powerpoint, making changes, doubting myself and the audacity of a student presenting to a group of people who have more experience and more letters after their names

i'm worried about my size....about judgement, disconnection, and my ability to convey my message: a message that is, after all, so close to my heart and has a good chance of being dismissed by people afraid of change

i keep going over a quote by Audre Lorde's in Sister Outsider:

"...it is not those differences
between us that are separating us. It is
rather our refusal to recognize those dif­ferences, and to examine the
distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human
behavior and expectation."

today I took down my tree

this year, my tree didn't stay decorated.

My little E and J spent weeks deconstructing the decorated tree

breaking ornaments, losing pieces, and adding their own

taking it down today made me think...

about new starts, decisions, and the future.

I've been hanging on to the past, using the same ornaments every year, even though I've changed.

losing control helped me let go

of things I didn't love

but thought I had to hold on to

and decide which things I really love: it forced me to choose

today, I kept what I really love, threw out what was tired, and created a new start.

I bought this lovely a few years ago, after Christmas sale at Joann's.  She still makes my heart sing :)

I wasn't going to do any resolutions, but taking down the tree got me thinking.

In 2012 I will...

have fun

be bold

sing

be me

rock the boat

be grateful

giggle

love

have a voice

CHANGE THE WORLD

Vintage Glider

I'm so pleased with how this turned out, I just have to share :)

I have had this old glider sitting on the porch at Abigail's all summer. I found it at an estate sale a while ago, and have been using it for summer days on the porch.

Yesterday, I decided to paint it. I didn't have many good colors in my paint stash, so I made my own color.  I had a pretty ugly light moss green.  You know, the color that was hot about 10 years ago, but now, not so much.  I also found a really painfully bright turquoise.  I mixed the two....using the lighter green as a base, and added the turquoise a bit at a time.

  At first, it looked a little brown....I kept adding and it turned out so pretty.

The pictures don't capture the color as well as I had hoped, it is gorgeous in person.

Check out a sneek peek of a new project I'm working on here.



Pinterest

"That's a neat idea.."

"I like that one.."
"Me too!"
"I digg that one."
"I'll tweet that."
"Hmm.. where did I find that website?"
"Gosh..I wish I knew..."

These are all comments that many of us have had made a million times. Now, thanks to the wonderful world of PINTEREST we are all having {endless-gasps} of pinning our finds and sharing our ideas while we log everything!

I'm sure you've seen it, but if you haven't, you don't know what you're missing. Come follow me :)

Some of my favorite pins:

My favorite find of the summer...

This carved wood face which is a fragment off of something, a mirror? a column?

I'm not sure, but I found her at a yard sale this summer for $2

It's my favorite find of the summer :) And I'm going to keep it for a while, at least.

New Furniture at the Shop

SOLD Cute 4 Drawer Desk with Lion Head pulls

This sofa table is beautiful, the picture doesn't do it justice :)

 SOLD Black painted drop-leaf vintage table

Three different vintage nightstands: The cream/gold one is on hold.

UPDATE: THE WHITE IS SOLD, PINK IS STILL AVAILABLE, AND GOLD IS SOLD

Seven metal outdoor chairs. Rustic, chippy paint.

I priced over 100 new items today, this table was FULL by the end of the day!

These blue chairs are back.



Uptown Photography

So, I've been needing a new photo of myself.

Taking pictures isn't my favorite thing, but I needed one for the Idaho State Journal "At Home" column that I write.  I asked Jessamyn from Uptown Photography

to help me out.

I've been using a picture from about 5 years and 2 babies ago :) Lots can change between 5 years and 2 babies. You know what I mean, right?

So, I just wanted to say how much I love how the photo shoot turned out.

I don't know how she made extra chins and wrinkles disappear....magic? Possibly...

And I wanted to give you all a heads up about her work <3 .