Painting the exterior brick has been on the to do-list for a while now. We even bought the paint 2 years ago thinking that 2021 was the year, but life happened. We decided we needed to do some more important and pressing maintenance issues like getting a new roof, soffit, fascia, eaves, rain gutters, and a new garage door…

There’s still A LOT we need to do to get it to the place we want it.

Fill in with landscaping rock. (We also just built a deck, or what I call a platform, in place of where 30 scrub oak used to be). Paint the bay window the same color as the brick. Add some kind of wood slat siding to the porch area to warm up the charcoal color. Finish the landscaping. We will be putting on a new/old front door which I found on Marketplace. I need to re-finish it and am trying to decide whether to paint or allow the natural wood to shine through.

I’m also trying to decide if I want to paint the window frames black or leave them white as-is.

The paint we used is called Ramabio which is a specialty paint for masonry in a shade by Benjamin Moore called Iron Mountain.

I researched the heck out of different exterior paint options and landed on Ramabio for it’s finish, durability and longevity. We opted to have someone paint the house instead of do it ourselves because I’m dealing with a shoulder injury (thanks Pickleball). Ricky and Samuel from Ricky Paint LLC were probably the best contractors I’ve ever worked with. Customer service, attention to detail, quality work…I give them an A+. They started by power washing the house then let it dry for 48 hours. Next, they sprayed it right on the brick with a sprayer (no primer needed). I love how it turned out!

1). One item that can make or break a room is art. But finding large art that looks custom can be expensive. That’s why one of my Favorite Things is Juniper Prints. They have thousands of digital prints that you can download for $20 or less, print them yourself (or take them to a drug store or Costco) then frame them yourself. They highly recommend IKEA frames which are very affordable. Large, custom looking art for a fraction of the price? Yes, please!

2). I’m a sucker for a cute bag. And as mom’s, we are the Bell Hop’s for our families. Give it all to us and somehow we’ll carry it, messed up back and all. So the bigger the bag, the better! I’m a huge fan of designer Raili Clasen. She just partnered with Love Bags and designed four awesome one’s that speak to her style. This Rainbow bag is my fave!

3). One of my favorite things are beautiful bottles of hand soap. Not only are they a fun accessory to any bathroom but yummy smelling soaps feels so luxurious. The problem is that all these one-time use bottles are filling up the landfills and not good for the environment. Public Goods is a company that recognizes that problem so they’ve come out with a line of soaps, cleaners and hair care products that sell refill bags to refill your bottle.

3 con’t). Another company that is doing one better and eliminating all those one-time use bottles and even the refill bags is BlueLand. They send you one bottle and tablets that dissolve in regular tap water to create an awesome foaming soap. Brilliant!

4). I’ve been living in yoga pants for the past 6 months (and I’ve also done zero yoga). If you’ve ever shopped for athletic leggings they can be expensive (especially from that pricey place in the mall, you know the place). A friend introduced me to Colorfulkoala leggings on Amazon and they are great. There’s four main things I look for…1). Look 2). Comfort 3). Stretch (and when I say stretch I mean, can you see right through them when you bend over?). 4). Price. Colorfulkoala checked all the boxes! At $29. I don’t feel like I’m breaking the bank. (Tip: get the ones with pockets. They are everything! I can jam my phone in the pocket without it moving around or feel like I’m carrying a brick).

5). All blenders are NOT created equally. If you’re not familiar with a Vitamix Blender then you’ve been living under a rock. These are those fancy, high priced blenders they demonstrate at Costco that seem too good to be true. Let me tell you, they are worth EVERY PENNY! Trust me. I used it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Other blenders aren’t able to crush and blend food like this baby. My three boys are all about the texture of food. The Vitamix creates the smoothest smoothies everytime. They also aren’t great at getting their fruits and veggies in but little do they know they get more then the recommended serving in the daily smoothie I make for dinner every night. I throw all sorts of frozen fruit in addition to lots of spinach, kale and avocado (they have no idea because they can’t taste it). In my opinion this is a must have for every family, especially if you have picky eaters.

6). White teeth are one of my “things”. When I make those daily smoothies I won’t drink unless I’m drinking through a straw so my teeth don’t get berry stained. I’ve tried a whole slew of teeth whiteners and many of them work really well. The problem is they leave my teeth feels SOOOO sensitive which in the end, just isn’t worth it. I recently discovered Lumineux Teeth Whitening Strips and they work really well without the sensitivity issues. Plus they are non-toxic and totally vegan!

7). I fell victim to all those fun soda joints popping up all over the place. After realizing I was treating myself too often I found several of them sell fruit water (which is really just fruit chunks at the bottom of a huge cup of water). Throw a dash of coconut milk in and oh baby! YUM! Healthy but a little kick of sweetness. I decided to save myself $4.00 each time and make my own. My kids tease me for being one of those cool moms who always has their Hydro Flask in tote.

8). Let me introduce you to the Bed Head Deep Waves Iron. I LOVE THIS IRON! It’s like the modernized version of a hair crimper from the 80’s (yes I was a devoted hair crimper back in my day). It is the perfect tool to get deep beachy waves in just minutes! (I can do my whole head in 8 minutes)!

9). These little packets of Malibu Hard Water Treatment are life changing for your hair! My faucets deliver the finest hard water to my hair (cue sarcastic ugh!). You don’t realize it but over time, hard water minerals can actually build up on your hair making it difficult for your product to absorb. Hard water build up also works against your curling iron making it resist the heat and curl. This little packet is one treatment worth and just $3.70. It comes in a powder which you wet in your hands and massage throughout your hair and scalp. The hard water minerals are dissolved and wash away leaving your hair clean and soft. Use this treatment monthly.

10). Pretty sure a box of razor blades have NEVER been on any Favorite Things List but here me out. With all the time on my hands at home 2020 has been the year of cleaning. I’m talking roll-up-your-sleeves and get after it kind of cleaning. If you follow me on Instagram you know I use these A LOT. They are so perfect for getting mineral deposits and soap scum off showers, gum and goobers off of floors and walls, getting grime off of of household items that no chemical can tackle…they are just the best. Once you use a blade to help you deep clean you’ll know how priceless and helpful these babies really are.

11). For my husband’s birthday I got him this Ryobi Rechargeable Battery Operated Leaf Blower (but really it was for me). We actually had an older version that was a plug in. The chord was such a pain! The Ryobi is wonderful for cleaning off the back patio, blowing the pinecones off the trampoline, cleaning off the driveway and blowing the leaves off the roof in the fall. I use it more than him but I let him think he’s the man with his fancy leaf blower!

There you have it… my top 10 (ok 11 actually) Favorite Things for 2020! What’s on your list?

(Check out everyone participating in Melissa’s Favorite Things 2020 here).

*(This post contains affiliate links)*

Being as I live with 3 former boy scouts I knew they we be the perfect inspiration for some project. I took to social media to see if I could find any ideas and check out what I found…

The main bathroom that my boys share was in a need of a small facelift. They needed new towels, new art in the frames, and a few new “boy-ish” accessories.

I took my handy-dandy seweing maching and sewed on some of those Boy Scout badges on the the edge of the towels to personalize them.

I then took some vintage maps, cut them up and added them to the picture frames above to go along with the “exploration” theme I had going with the Boy Scout Badges.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Those picture frames above the towels…they are actually concealed medicine cabinets. Each boy has their own to use for their own personal toiletries. They are a huge space- saving addition to this small bathroom.

You can find these Concealed Cabinets here. The bathroom feels so much better. Amazing how small updates can make a room feel almost new!

If you’ve been following me over the past 10 years you know I love me a good DIY furniture refinishing project. Over that time I’ve tackled just about every kind of furniture piece and every different method out there when it comes to refinishing. I’ve had disastrous project outcomes and also amazing successes through my trial by error experimenting. Today I want to share the tried-and-true method for painting furniture that will give you amazing results.

My dear friend List (@tulsaforatime) recently moved to OK and left me this bookshelf she found on one of her pickin’ trips.

It’s old, and dinged, and very…brown, but it’s bones are good and sturdy. With a little foundation and lipstick I knew I could give it a punchy-makeover.

I’ve been finishing furniture long enough to know that results you get are pretty equal to the amount of work you put in to them. Cut corners and you will be able to tell in the end result.

I know, I know. Everyone hates sanding…including me! But it’s less daunting than you would imagine. I spent 10 minutes sanding this whole bookcase. The hardest part about it was dragging myself outside in the cold winter temps (I was just as freezing as I looked). If my surface is in good condition I sand just to rough it up and give a texture for the primer and paint to bite in to and adhere. I’ve done projects where I don’t sand first and I always tend to regret it.

*Disclaimer…Always take the proper precautions to not inhale dust when sanding as some surfaces can have toxic finishes or lead-based paint. Use a face mask and/or respirator.

After sanding, make sure to thoroughly wipe down your furniture piece so no dust is present.

Next step is to prime. Primer is an undercoat that gives your paint better adhesion, durability and longer life. Many people skip the priming step (and I have too in the past but it never serves me). So which primer to use?

Hands down, one of my favorite primers is KILZ® Brand. The thing that KILZ has is sealer and stain blocker. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve skipped the priming step, move on to painting and find a stain on the furniture piece bleed through. No many how many coats I apply, the darn stain still comes through. Don’t skip primer! KILZ makes every project worth it.

For this project I chose to use KILZ 3 Premium. It gives great adhesion for paint, blocks stains, is mildew resistant and has very low VOC’s.

Application is simple. Even my little guy could roll it one without any issues. My plan was to wallpaper the inside back wall of the bookcase. You wouldn’t think I would need to prime or paint but what I’ve found when wallpapering, the color of the surface will be bleed through and tint the overall look of the wallpaper. (I learned this the hard way on a bathroom wallpaper install). The wallpaper I had planned had an overall white background. So I primed the board before wallpapering.

The other benefit of priming before wallpapering is your paper will have better adhesion.

After the primer dried overnight, my bookcase was ready for paint. Choose a good quality paint. One of the major problems of paint not sticking is often times what’s underneath it. If you’ve done your sanding and priming your paint will have the best chance of good adhesion and longevity.

Ready for the result?

Say “Aloha” to our new tropical-inspired bookcase. Interested in learning more about KILZ primers? Click here for more information.

What I admire about Leanne’s work is that she isn’t one of those designers who goes in to a space with grand plans to demolish every wall, and make everything look new and shiny. Occasionally yes, but she’s very selective. Instead, she seems to have a “horse-whisperer” sense (except for interiors) where she gets in touch with a space’s soul. She embraces an interior’s character, “flaws” and all, and makes them the stand-out star of a room.

Take this room for example…any designer would have probably turned their nose up at this heavy wall texture but she embraced it with a two-toned paint treatment, almost bringing more attention to it, and now it’s visually interesting.

Another aspect I love about her design is her ability to break the design rules and have it look even more beautiful. Check out her “shelvie’s”…I’m over here trying to achieve the perfect balance, color scheme and collection of items while she on the other hand, makes shelves functional AND beautiful.

“Rule of thirds”? Forget it. Just throw what you love on the shelf . She debunks the idea of perfection when it comes to interiors. Leanne is helping people create spaces that are actually functional rather than museum-esque rooms to be observed and not used.

The last point I want to emphasize is Leanne’s use of vintage pieces, which is what I think really sets her rooms apart from other designers. One of my complaints about buying new is rooms are starting to look like copy-cat versions of everyone else’s. You start to see the same sofa’s, lamps and tables in everyone else’s homes.

Good luck finding that sofa…

Or those carts…

Or that cabinet turned wash basin…

Leanna Ford can be found on HGTV, she recently wrote a book or check out her website. She is definitely one to follow!

5 years ago we installed a natural woven shade from Smith & Noble in our kitchen window. It was perfect because it let light through while giving privacy when pulled down. (Perfect since I can look right into my neighbor’s backyard and home and they in to mine). The other thing I ADORE about this shade is that it was cord free. To maneuver it up or down, you simply pull it down anywhere on the bottom of the shade or lift it up without any cords. I kid you not, I could lift the whole shade up by using just one finger. Simple and no strings to get tangled.

I believe it’s very important for us bloggers to be honest and truthful when we use products in our homes and you’ve probably noticed I do quite a number of reviews months and/or years later on how those things have held up. Admittedly the shade malfunctioned after 5 years. Somehow the uppy/downy mechanism (for lack of the correct terminology) popped and it stayed in the downy position (no more uppy). I immediately called Smith & Noble customer service and they were extremely helpful. They were eager to fix the problem and replace the shade at no cost. In fact, life got chaotic for me this summer with my kiddos where I dropped the ball and they stayed in touch by consistently following up with me. Unfortunately, they no longer had the same material in stock to make a new one, but fortunately, I was able to pick a new shade. (Great because you know how much I like to change out and update things in my home).

I went with a fabric Roman shade in the “Traffic/Dove” material.

All the samples are free so you can see and feel how they really are in person. This material ended up being a little darker in person which I actually loved even better.

To maneuver it up/down you simply pull the ring cleverly hidden on the back of the shade. It has a mechanism similar to those spring-loaded rolling maps your teacher used to fight with in class. The only difference is this actually works and works WELL! It really is so easy to use and again, no hanging cords to get in the way or tangle up.

I’m not exaggerating when I say, “I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT”! Not only does it provide privacy and light control, but it’s just dang pretty. It’s like lipstick for the window. And now that it’s up, all my other rooms’ windows look pretty sad and frumpy.

Smith & Noble does everything from blinds, shutters and shades to curtains and pillows. They really are a one-stop-shop for everything windows. They’ve also partnered up savvy designers like the Property Brothers, Wendy Bellissimo and the Madcap Gents to bring their exclusive lines of window coverings which will leave you swooning.  Definitely check them out!

Then my oldest son decided he wanted to take it over so we fixed it up for real (see here).

(See the full details of the first room makeover here).

Now that my son is officially in his teen years and the size of a full grown man this room needed to go through another transition.
For this makeover the room needed to be 1) functional (bye-bye twin sized bed) and 2) “lit” as the young-ins say these days.

The first thing we did was get a new full size bed.  The teen is over 6′ and  probably would have been more comfortable in a queen sized bed but unfortunately, the room is small.  We’re talking 9×14′ small.  So a queen bed would have truly been a “bed”room and nothing else.  With the addition of the new full size bed the teen had to choose between getting rid of his dresser or his desk.  He said “adios” to the dresser and all his clothes moved to his closet.

Next, I painted the wall a two tone effect. Sherwin Williams Pure White on top and Clark + Kensington’s Weathervane (almost black) on the bottom.

We then made some DIY peg boards.  We’ve done pegboards in the past for our basement apartment (here). Not only are the lit (my son’s words) but they are one of the most functional things you can put on your wall.  They allow you to move the pegs around so art, decor or collections can be moved around at anytime.

We bought a 4×8′ birch veneer plywood board at Home Depot for around $50.  There are less expensive board but I loved the birch veneer look.  Home Depot then cut the board in half for free to create 2 – 4’x4′ boards.  At home, we measured and drilled 3/4″ holes with a Forstner Drill Bit every six inches.

My plan was to keep the birch peg boards in their beautiful raw state, however, we noticed we drilled the wrong side of the board where there was a large blemish on the front of the board.  It’s not bad in the picture but in real life it was ugly.  Grr.  So I ended up painting the boards the same two-tone effect as the wall.  It ended up being a happy accident because afterwards I thought they looked way more “lit” painted then raw.

Another detail I experimented with was the pegs.  You can buy wooden dowels at the hardware store and cut them down in varied lengths to create your pegs.  However, since, I ended up painting the boards I didn’t want the pegs to stick out like a sore thumb.  Instead I opted for acrylic dowels and ordered some from Acme Plastics for about $2.00 each.

We bought the bed from Wayfair.  I’m not usually a fan of bed without headboards but we needed every inch of space possible and this one fit the bill.  I love that you don’t need a box spring with it and my son hides all his shoes underneath.  I may paint it black or white when the weather warms up but for now it works great and very sturdy.

Bedding: Bed: Wayfair
Pillow Cases: Serena & Lily
Black and white grid blanket: Target
Cross Pillow: Target (I sewed on the red cross)
Gray wool blanket: Faribault

Make sure to follow more of our project and stories on instagram at: @4men1ladyblog

I almost wish they would have just made the linen closet bigger on the other side of the wall in order to keep the whole wall in this room flush.  There’s just barely enough room for a twin sized bed.  If I wanted to put a night stand next to the bed it would be floating in the middle of the room in front of that nook.  Not exactly ideal.
My solution…when life gives you lemons make floating shelves.

Making them is not as difficult as one might think.  The wonderful carpenter I found on HomeAdvisor (who also installed the wall planks) whipped these up in no time.  First, put up two pieces of 1×1 (which will be the main support for the shelves).  Make sure to nail directly in to the studs behind the wall.

 Next, cut a board so it aligns with your two walls.  Nail directly in to the top of the board so it hits the 1×1 support underneath.

 For the bottom of the shelf, cut an identical board as the top one and nail through the board directly in to the underside of the 1×1.

 Measure a face board that will cover the gap and nail to the top and the bottom boards.

 As before, make sure you are nailing the face board in to the top and bottom boards.

 I filled all the nails holes with stainable wood filler.  It you look closely you can probably see where the wood filler is.  Because the wood filler wasn’t the same color as the boards it also stained up differently.  In hindsight I wish I would have not filled the nail holes and just left the holes undone for a more rustic look.

 I used Frog Tape to protect the wall which worked great on top but staining the underneath was a different story.  Applying the stain without having it drip was really tricky.  Save yourself from having to do paint touch up and use two rows of tape or wider tape when staining the underneath.

Now that the shelves are up I really love the odd little nook.
And that, my friends, is how we turn lemons in to lemonade (or rather floating corner shelves).

The shelves are going to provide some much needed storage for that little bedroom.

See the whole room reveal here.

This past summer, our family of 5 went to Hawaii.
For a whole month.
We were able to figure out some travel tricks that cut our costs down drastically.

The first hurdle we had to jump was seeing if the Mr. could even get work off for that amount of time.  He had about 2 weeks of vacation time to use and his employer gave him the green flag to work remotely for the other two weeks.  That meant he often got up at 3am Hawaii time in order to take East Coast business meetings but it was a small price to pay for living in paradise for a month.

Next trick, finding affordable accommodations.  Hotels were out of the question…too pricey.  Airbnb’s, although more affordable option, would also bust our budget for the amount of time we wanted to stay.  Then a friend turned me on to the idea of house swapping and/or pet sitting.  House swapping is where you find someone who would be willing to swap houses…you stay at my house, I stay at yours.  There are several sites that help connect interested parties such as Love Home Swap, Home For Exchange, Guest to Guest or Home Exchange. After considering this idea we didn’t feel it was right for us so I didn’t look too far in to it but it’s a unique concept.

Another friend told me she was part of a Facebook group with people from her same religion where group members post house-sitting opportunities.  She and her family went to NYC and stayed in a loft at no-cost in exchange for watching, walking and feeding the owner’s dog.  I was all over this idea.  The more I looked in to it, I found there are several similar groups all over the internet.  Getting in to them often takes some investigative work and asking around but they’re out there.  And when you do find an opportunity you have to be flexible with your travel dates.  We weren’t able to find a match for the dates we wanted to travel so we put that option on the back-burner for a possible future trip.

In the end, we put the word out to some old college friends who still lived on the island.  We ended up renting a 1 bedroom condominium unit from a friend who was planning on going to California for the summer.  We paid about the same amount it would have cost us for a 2 week stay in a hotel.  The condo was located just next to the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu.  Win-win for both of us.  This ended up being the perfect location.  We were in walking distance to the hotel, beach, tennis courts, pools and restaurants.  Plus having a kitchen at our disposal meant we could cook at home instead of eating out for every meal.  We stocked up on good ‘ole Costco pre-made meals so we didn’t have to do much meal prep at all.

Our next question was how to get around.  The island of Oahu is 112 miles around.  The North Shore is considered the country and has only one main road around it.  Car rentals are considerably more expensive than on the mainland and renting a car for a whole month would have been very expensive so we got creative.  We discovered the Turo app which by-passes traditional car rental companies and allows anyone to rent out their own car.  It’s like Airbnb for car rentals.  We found this to be a huge money saver.  The other great thing about Turo is you and the owner can agree upon a pick and drop off location.  We literally walked out of the airport and jumped in to our waiting Turo car rental.  No shuttle to take to a car rental agency and no waiting in long tourist lines.

On the weekends we rented a car from Turo to do grocery shopping and explore the island then for the rest of the time we bought 1-month bus passes and took the city bus everywhere.

Riding The Bus was one of the highlights of the trip for me.  I can count on one hand how many times my kids have ridden a bus in their lives.  You don’t realize what a luxury having a car is until you have to wait for a bus (especially the bus in Hawaii which was rarely on time).  Not only that, it rains A LOT in Hawaii.  Standing in the rain waiting for a bus that wasn’t ever on time was a good realization for how blessed we are.  I make it sound like it was an inconvenience but it was actually a real treat.  We didn’t get good cell phone reception on the North Shore so we were forced to sit out in nature in front of some of the most iconic surfing spots in the world and just be present. There was no rushing around like we do at home, just sitting and waiting with nothing but time on our hands to think, and see and experience paradise.  The Bus was a real blessing and we visited just about every inch of the island with it as our mode of transport.

Here is a list of our favorite spots:

Surfing: In the summer, the waves are small and ideal for learning how to surf.  My boys took lessons from an old college friend as well as from Ash at Hawaii Surf School.  Ash is not only an amazing surfer but awesome instructor and much less expensive than what the resorts charge.  The waves at Waikiki are perfect learning waves.  We also loved surfing at Turtle Bay.

(Surf photos by: Mark Holladay).

Favorite Beaches: I dare say we visited almost every beach on the island but my boy’s favorite was Hukilau beach in Laie.

As I said, the waves are quite calm in the summer but my boys wanted action waves.  Hukilau has phenomenal body surfing and boogie boarding all year round.

They also loved the Rock at Waimea…

For turtle viewing: Laniakea Beach is perfect to see turtles sunning themselves on the beach as well as coming and going.
Kailua Beach is as picturesque as they come and great for kite surfing or windsurfing.
Best snorkeling: Shark’s Cove, North Shore.
Hanauma Bay has long since been the go to snorkeling spot on Oahu but we didn’t think it was great.  The water was cloudy, the beach was overcrowded, it took forever to park and hike down to the beach and we didn’t love that they now charge a fee to park and visit the beach.

Hiking: Oahu has several beautiful hikes which all of us loved (except maybe my 7 year old).
1-Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail is a paved, 2.5 round-trip mile walk to see the lighthouse. Breathtaking views.
2-Diamond Head is a must. You can get 360 degree views of Waikiki, downtown Honolulu and the beautiful, lush mountains.
3-Laie Falls has spectacular views and is 7 miles round trip.

Other spots to visit:
–Polynesian Cultural Center is a must. My boys loved the dancing, temporary tattoos, food, activities and Night Show.
–Valley of the Temples. has gorgeous memorial with zen gardens and meditation pavilions. Awesome pond where you can feed the Koi and birds will eat right out of your hand.
-Nuuanu Pali Lookout will give you a bird’s eye view of the island from the mountains. You can drive right to the lookout.
–Aloha Stadium Swapmeet is the place to go if you need souvenirs. You can pick up t-shirts, hats, jewelry and Aloha shirts for a song.

After a month-long food crawl I definitely came back home needing to hit the gym.

  Favorites:
Eggs-n-Things.  Their Coconut and Guava Syrup is TDF!  I bought 4 bottles and had it all confiscated at the airport when I stupidly tried to take it in my purse instead of packing it in my suitcase.  Still bitter.
Food trucks in Kahuku.  Holy heck…the garlic shrimp from Giovanni’s truck is the stuff dreams are made of.  Get there early otherwise you’ll be waiting in line for up to 45 minutes +.
Matsumoto’s Shave Ice in Haleiwa is world famous.  Try it with ice cream at the bottom.

Hawaii for a month was one of the best things we’ve ever done as a family.  For one, These boys were never in lack of entertainment.  For these boys to explore the ocean, mountains and jungle’s was exactly what they needed.  We turned off our screens and saw the world.

Vacationing together for 30 days proved challenging at times.  Our 1 bedroom apartment was perfectly adequate but there was really no where to go to get away from each other.  Not gonna lie, these boys did a fair amount of fighting and got on each other’s nerves.  However, on the flip side, they also became much closer.  They had no one to play with at the beach but each other.

Hawaii has a much slower pace and life is much more laid back than any of us were used to.  That outlook changed my own perspective that maybe the things I’m fighting so hard for really aren’t as important as I thought.  When we weren’t at the beach we spent a lot of time catching frogs, lizards and playing games at our apartment.  Simple, yet bonding.

Visiting Hawaii for a month was so great because we weren’t in that frenzied rush to pack as much in as possible that you normally feel when you go on vacation.  Instead, we could do a full action packed day then take the next day off for some down time and relaxation.  Plus, we could really take our time at any one place to enjoy it instead of rushing through just to check that box to say we had been there.  If you have to opportunity to visit the Hawaiian islands, GO, GO, GO!

I’ve often seen older generations quickly spiral mentally and physically after retiring from their life-long careers.  Taking away one’s sense of purpose has a huge effect.  In the very mildest sense I feel like I can relate.  The after effects of selling our vintage shop in January has been challenging.  I went from having every second of my day filled with work and activity to having it all gone in a snap.  I stand by our decision to sell, as everything in my life was suffering during store ownership (family, spiritual, physical, emotional) but I wasn’t prepared for the tricky transition of letting go of my “other” career baby.  Don’t get me wrong, raising a family and managing a household gives me a tremendous purpose even though I’m running around like a loco chicken.  On the other hand, I also long for a creative outlet in addition to being a mother.

The past 6 months have been a journey of self-discovery.  I’m extraordinarily blessed to be able to stay at home, raise my family, and explore my next creative venture.  I get a huge sense of purpose from creating beautiful things…whether that is beautifying my home, creating thoughtful gifts or making exquisite food.  I want to do more of that.  But my game has changed a bit.  Blogging about my home is tricky because every inch has been renovated (twice) so I’m searching for how I now want to use my voice and leave my mark in the world. Home maintenance, more DIY, house flipping, design for clients, move and start over with a new house, expand my online store, become Molly Homemaker?  All questions I’m wrestling with.

In my pursuits I ran in to Cake by Courtney who is also a fellow contributor on the Studio 5 Show.

Her cakes leave me spellbound, speachless and in total awe.  That are works of art.  But what I love best is that she wants everyone to have the same enjoyment and shares her knowledge of cake making.  Her easy to follow tutorials will make you believe that you too are a closeted cake maker just waiting to come out.

After stalking her instagram, then website, then YouTube channel I made my first cake.

Seven hours later and flour bomb explosion in the kitchen, I had my first cake.

It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t too shabby either for a first cake.
The biggest delight was the reaction from my middle son who praised my cake making skills like I was a pro.

If the past six months has taught me anything it’s that the purpose of life doesn’t have to be all about accomplishments and results.  Learning, struggling, and wrestling with issues is okay and necessary for growth.  We are all on different trajectories and it is healthy to take time to smell the roses.  Valleys and peaks is all a part of the process for everyone.  And during my journey to the next door of opportunity, I’ll be in the kitchen making cake.