Gimmy Some Shimmy!

It's been almost 12 hours since I participated in my first organized fitness class in over three years. I thought I would ease into it with a little Zumba - ahem, make that Zumba Gold (aka "Active Older Adults Zumba") - a class that promised to "focus on balance, range of motion and coordination. Come ready to sweat, and prepare to leave empowered and feeling strong." 

In sum: I didn't fall over, I explored a variety of motions, and I got to (was forced to?) move my hands and feet AT THE SAME TIME. And yes, I broke a sweat. That was my goal, right? To sweat and start the long road back to fitness. 

But. But. BUT. I did not leave "empowered or feeling strong". Instead, I wondered for a good portion of the class why I, a professional woman of 43, do not know how to get down with the shimmy (try to spell that after two glasses of wine...). Then, to make matters worse, while browsing the interwebs, I came across the YouTube.com video posted above and realize that a techie teacher has better shimmy moves than I (and probably most of America). It was great fun to watch, but didn't do much for my sense of accomplishment today. 

Instead I sit here with my tightening muscles and wonder where did I go wrong? Something has seriously been missing from my life's education and I think it comes down to the shimmy - those little life skillzzz that define your personal joie de vivre (cheerful enjoyment of life for you bums to lazy to click on the link). 

So what's your skill? What's that thing --- when you bust it out --- that means you are having a GREAT day and in the company of your besties? I used to think one of my skills was dancing (see above), but I think I need to consider a broader - and more physically feasible - range of options here. And while I am willing to work on my shimmy, I'm going to see what I already have in my personal arsenal of awesome and focus some attention on those skills too.

1. Setting a beautiful table:

Vintage plate, hand-stamped nappie, some twigs and blooms.

2. Finding beauty in the ordinary:

Roadside grasses. See that Spring green peeking through?

3. Growing things:

Paperwhites. So hopeful . . . 

So find your shimmy people (or your booty-shake). Life isn't a dress rehearsal and bringing your joy to the table is all you need.

Everything hurts (including my ego),

Stacey

P.S. Can't see the embedded YouTube.com videos? Head up to your browser bar, right click on the very British looking battleshield and click "load unsafe scripts". I promise it's just YouTube. 

Making Sausage (in the crafty sense)

Painting with a side of gin. Because I can.

Raw materials.

I've spent the past 8 days working many many many hours to pull together a "staged" booth that reflects the Twig & Bloom aesthetic. Why you ask? Because, by Thursday of this week, I need to submit my application --- complete with photos --- to two vintage fairs scheduled for March. These fairs require their vendors to have their poop-in-a-group and even a newbie better have a "look" that reflects their inventory. At times it was NOT pretty (somehow I deleted all the photos of me wearing safety goggles and a face mask) ---stuff was everywhere, paint and chemical fumes wafted magically from the basement to the first floor to the second floor . . . and I'm sure a few brain cells were the casualties of this craft-blitzkrieg.

A coat of paint and voila - MAGIC!

But, it all came together on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Throughout the day, between various and sundry boothiness, I hopped on line and was reminded of what a great man Dr. King was not only for this country, but for his family. An MLK quote that rings true in my own life right now:

  "Faith is taking the first step

even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Spring vignette. 1/4 of my final boot(h)ique.

Twig & Bloom is a leap of faith. I find myself at a crossroads and, while I consider all my options, I am committed to educating myself, learning new things (Booth Staging 101), and dreaming big dreams while taking baby steps with Twig. I believe that the underlying reason behind Twig --- to bring comfort and beauty into people's homes --- is a value that needs nurturing these days. We can all buy the same ottoman, the same candlestick, and the same lamp at the box stores, but without a dash of something uniquely personal that catches your eye and makes you smile, you're not making your house a home. And I want all of you, my lovely readers (I think we are up to ten now), to relax after a busy day in a space that soothes you, reflects your personality and cultivates creativity in this mass-market world.

That Velveteen Rabbit book breaks my heart.

Finally, Dr. King has another quote that rings so very true to me right now:

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." 

Throughout our lives people will disappoint us (and vice versa, holy mackerel vice versa...), violate our trust, and cast aside our friendship as if the love was meaningless. It is our responsibility to ourselves and to our families to find a pathway to personal forgiveness and that whole letting-go-of-the-anger thing. Now, keep in mind that the offenders MAY NOT do this on their end of the equation, but for you it is paramount to do the work, forgive, and move forward. You will lose people in your life through this process, but that's okay.

Find the love.

Live the love.

BE THE LOVE.

Yours-in-paint-fumes-and-forgiveness,

Stacey

P.S. A valentine to me from my Sweet G. She was probably 8 or 9 at the time.

Going back to high school.

When I was just a babe (aren't I still?), I loved the movie Grease. Every day after school, a friend and I would put the album on and dance, sing, and generally swoon over John Travolta. Well as I dig deeper into Twig & Bloom, this darned song keeps playing in my head:

Why? Because every day I am learning new things. How to run Quickbooks, how to start a blog, how to construct a fair booth, how to "feel" for thrifted cashmere sweaters (more on that another day), how to make these (fabric rosettes for you neophytes):

How not to make these (almost broke the stamp with the burlap): 

How to decorate for Valentine's Day

(which I NEVER did when working full-time):

There is a note in that heart from my daughter. It says I'm awesome.

Looking for less-cheesy craft birds. Make one perhaps?

Valentine's meets Easter. A twofer...

XC skied 3x more than last year. Already.

So often, as adults, we stifle and stymie (what a great word!) ourselves. Not only are we overwhelmed by our day-to-day lives as parents, spouses, and employees, but we also have limited time to explore our favorite things let alone learn new things.

Intellectually, I knew that many of the things on this list of "lookie-at-this-cool-stuff-I-did" were not complicated, but the sheer effort of gathering the supplies, finding the time, SITTING DOWN, and just doing it were enough to halt any progress I was making in my creative life.

So, I'm going back to high school. I'm going to stop being a drop out in my own life. I'm going to keep learning new things and remember to spend time on the things I already love.

And for you, my lovely readers? (I think there are seven of you.) While I can acknowledge that I have more free time than most right now, the point is the same: love the life you've built and keep adding to it over your lifetime. Don't be a dropout in your own life. We're just getting started and there are rosettes to be made, lessons to be learned (damn those burlap tags anyway), and seasons to celebrate.

Yours in don't-know-what-I'm-doing-but-I'm-doing-it-anyway,

Stacey

Shticks and staple guns. (Did you just say "shtaple" in your head???)

Smart-lady glasses, plaid, and pearls. Because I can.

Yesterday, I had a "conversation" regarding an interesting job. The whole thing was conducted electronically - first through a less-than-ideal-Skype-format and then over the phone (like normal people). I took the time to dress up, do my hair, put on lip gloss, and wear my smart-lady glasses, --- the whole shebang. Once it was over, I disrobed from my "formal" wear, put on some casual "crafty" clothes, and then --- for no apparent reason --- put on a string of pearls. I'm not sure what compelled me to glam up my plaid, but the mere fact that those pearls rested against my collarbones all day brought an awareness to my day that would have otherwise been missing. An awareness that even in my new reality, the little things matter whether they be a splash of perfume, a swipe of lip gloss, or the smooth weight of a cultured pearl. I know some crafters out there have a "shtick" - an accessory/mannerism they adopt to differentiate themselves from the masses and to add an element of their business to their personal appearance (flowery aprons, hair bow thingies, dangle-y earring bits, etc). I don't think pearls are likely to be my thing for the long haul, but for the today they were just right.

Tools (and tricks) of the trade.

And these days I definitely need something just right. When one is working from home on various projects, be they crafts or correcting one's -ahem - unemployment problem, one has a lot of time to think. Pneumatic staple gun in hand (watch out world!), I thought a LOT about my current circumstances. I realized over the hours - between the humming in my head and the hideous noise made by the air compressor - that I truly enjoy home improvement (Beth's re-upholstery project? Done.) or reclaiming a decrepit and sad piece of furniture (my Nana's deacon's bench is finally rid of the most goddawful orange color known to man). It is so much more thrilling

Chair seats ready for the mothership.

 to me personally to see a Twig & Bloom project come to fruition than it ever was to file a flawless travel claim or prepare a well-crafted budget. Not to say the work I used to do wasn't important: I was (and remain) fully committed to changing the world and improving the lives of Montanans. However, at the micro level - my personal level - this unexpected deep dive into my creativity has been revelatory.

Nana's deacon's bench. It's a keeper.

I hope that the future holds great things for me and my family. It may be a new job with a great organization or it may be a Twig & Bloom boutique, but at the very least I hope to stay in touch with this rediscovered love of home and garden and keep the Twig dream alive in some form or fashion. Everyone needs something that lights up their eyes and taps into that well of creativity that we all possess. That "something", whether it is a Twig-like project, a passion for music or an obsession with running on the trails, is what makes us special. In a world where the grind of the workday frequently (always?) collides with the responsibilities of home and family, feeling special (even if it is just to yourself. Especially if it is just to yourself) is what makes the promise of tomorrow an opportunity for joy rather than a day to dread.

So find that something for yourself. Wear the pearls if you must. Revel in your special. Bask in your awesome. ~ Stacey

Felonious Monkey-dog.

P.S. Meet Cooper. He figures prominently in my life right now as a pup of 15 months. He's a troubled soul. (He has a record with the Helena Police Department. Which is not awesome.)

P.P.S. - I am not sponsored or paid by any of the products that I may link to in my blog (yet?). I just love affordable products that make me feel pampered (Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Lip Gloss is da bomb) and if I can include a product link that might make YOU happy, then my work here is done.

Post-holiday deconstruction and winter musings. And food porn.

More deconstruction.

Deconstruction.

How is it that I've spend the past three days deconstructing Christmas and my home still looks chaotic and cluttered? Granted, I've had a few hours out on the thrifting trail since Friday and found some a-m-a-z-i-n-g items to upcycle/plant/sew, but still. . . it's a tad ridiculous that it almost looks worse than it did when I started the effort.

All of this work brings to mind the following lines by Robert Frost: 

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promised to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep."

It's appropriate that the title of Frost's poem is "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." We are having what Montana NPR's weather peeps call a "High Impact Winter Storm" here in Montana. I personally love the snow and its soft beauty. The whole world becomes a wonder of white after a night of snowfall. Opportunities to ski, snowshoe, or nest are resplendent on a snowy day. And the bonus? The decision whether to swoosh down a slope or trail versus wrapping yourself in a down comforter is always right given that it is a "High Impact Winter Storm."

Anyhoo, enough about poetry and winter storms --- back to the chaos. In an effort to organize and be "smarter" about how I launch Twig & Bloom, I spent a huge portion of the day yesterday organizing the garage. (For reference: it was 3 degrees outside and the garage is unheated.) This effort, complete with the prerequisites of swearing, breaking fingernails, and general surliness resulted in T&B gaining a whopping three shelves for those items I will use to "stage" my booth (about 24 square feet). That doesn't really sound like much (nor did it LOOK like much), but clever use of bins/boxes/bags resulted in most of the T&B staging decor no longer being underfoot inside the house. Now, I'm not a religious woman, but even I can say a hallelujah to that improvement.

Now, you would think after the 3 degree temperature and the growing creativity with my cussing I would just call it a day, but no, the deep dive into Twig & Bloom organizing did not stop there. I then proceeded to tackle an 8' x 8' unplumbed bathroom in our basement and outfit it with three 6' tall shelves (all thrifted or secondhand). These shelves not only hold the growing collection of paint, primer, waxes, polys, and other painting and staining accoutrements (holy crap! I've been misspelling and mispronouncing that word my whole life), but also the bulk of the amazing items I've thrifted over the past 2 1/2 months since launching Twig. These are the items that don't need much work (hence locating them to the bathroom-room), but instead provide the pots for forcing bulbs, glass cloches and birdcages, footed pedestals . . . so many great things that really represent the foundation of my vision for Twig & Bloom. (I will confess to a few poor purchases in the early halcyon days of Twig, but let's keep that knowledge to ourselves shall we?)

This is what halcyon looks like.

After three days spent on this organizing extravaganza, I feel pretty focused and more than ready to return to work on some of my ideas this week. (Don't kid yourself with this early picture - the upstairs workroom is a disaster and definitely needs a couple of hours of my attention before I can even GET to my work table.) And, in addition to grooving on some creative energy, I have a couple of paying gigs this week as well: two dining room chairs are being reupholstered (gotta love that friend "Beth") and consulting a new client on staging her home for sale. An odd mix for a business, but it comes down to loving beautiful homes and gardens and helping people make their own homes lovely and appealing --- even if they are ready to fly to coop.

Finally, I can't leave you without a little food porn (what's a home without great food?). On Saturday morning, kidling-free thanks to sleepovers, we feasted on my husband's fantastic dutch baby --- actually Alton Brown's dutch baby . Sky (that would be my husband) has been making these for a few years now and it is one of the few sweet breakfasts that I adore. (We also had bacon. Duh.) Sky prefers the traditional powdered sugar/butter/lemon squeeze combo while I take my dutch baby with  a dollop of whatever homemade jam or jelly is available which, in this instance, was plum jelly (a gift from Sky's co-worker.)

Yummmmmmm. Isn't that a nice way to start the new year? (That and a *slightly* more organized home.)

Happy New(ish) Year!! Onward for great adventures, great food, and great friends.