Smoothie, dah-ling??

My bestie, Cai, had surgery yesterday.

Now, to say she's my sister from another mister is an understatement. Her parents and my parents have been friends since they were in high school...so we literally have been raised together, and our friendship is a lil' more than the usual "bestie" relationship. (Its also totally awesome that she and my brother-in-law have been dating for the last year and a half...SQQQQQUEAL- one day we will totally have the same last name. Just like real sisters do!)

So anyway, today was one of those days that makes me super thankful for being able to do what I do (have my own bid-ness, and work from home). Lemme set the stage for you:

Last week I receive a call from a client I haven't worked with in years. She said she's hung onto a letter I sent her a while back and she wanted to work with me again. I was so excited- but I had to ask, "why?" and do you know what she said? (This part made me smile-big.) "Because since working with you, I've worked with another designer and you paid attention to what I really wanted. She didn't. You gave me your suggestions, but you always let me make my own choices without yours being thrust upon me" So I told her I was doing my 'happy-dance' (because who doesn't want to hear great things like that?) and we setup a meeting for today.

Yesterday Cai had her wisdom teeth pulled. All four. (I had mine done back in October, with some after affects, that still today (March 15) are present- so I feel for the girl.) While I was getting ready for my meeting today she and I were talking and she said she'd really like a smoothie (obviously she can't drive) so I asked if she'd like me to bring her one. "Really?" "Yeah. What kind?"

The stars aligned and my sitter was able to come over a little earlier than planned so I could run and grab some hardware for a client (whose bathrooms we are just wrapping up and OMG, they look uh-mazing!) stop into Smoothie King and get the smoothies (of course I got one for myself), stop at my clients house, drop off the hardware and paint color suggestions, drive over to Cai, drop off the smoothie and go to my meeting at my old client's new home.

Once I got home from everything and I laid Lil' man down for his nap, I was changing and I realized, "That is why I do what I do. Getting Cai her smoothie is why I do what I do." I might have sounded like a crazy banana to anyone walking by (thankfully its too cold for people to go walking...) but it made perfect sense to me. The whole reason I do what I do, is so I can be available for my family.

There is nothing more important to me than my family. Never has been. Never will be.

So even while I was super busy today, making sure Lil' man was taken care of, making sure I was put together to go to meetings, making sure my client's were happy and making sure my family was taken care of I still have the clarity (?) to be able to sit back and thank God everyday for the blessings He has given me and my family.

And, just because I can, tomorrow night, St.Patrick's Day eve, I will be hosting our annual party :) (I think I've talked about this before, but I prefer not to celebrate the actual holidays- I like the eve's because there isn't any pressure...and you can serve cheeseburgers and everyone is super happy...why? Because its not the actual holiday and there aren't any rules!! I'll post more about it later!)

12x12 Love

When we (and by 'we' I mean 'me', with the hubs blessing) decided to go with an under the sea theme in the nursery I didn't know how far to take it. Like, did I look for fish sheets? Should I start investing in a huge aquarium? And what about wall art? Is the tidal wave painted on the wall going to be enough? Too much?

See, this is what happens when your a designer. For other people's homes, its really easy (I find) to make decisions for them. When it comes to our home, I tend to over think things or leave things empty until I find the perfect item for the space. (Because I know it exists, I might just not have found it yet...) So when it came time for the wall art in lil' man's room, I got the best of both worlds.

I used (6) 12x12 frames over his crib (three on top, three on the bottom) and put scrapbook paper inside so I could switch them out as I saw fit. One of my favorite reasons for this is that when we switch out the papers, its a project lil' man and I get to do together.

We shop for the paper together, he points to ones he likes...and I point to ones I like. Then we buy the ones that make most sense.

When we get home and make the paper switch, its always fun for me to watch him lay in his crib and look up at the papers and go, "ooooooh" (Especially at Halloween when we hung super cute paper that had friendly spiders and mummies on it. He LOVED it!)

I've found it to be a super fun, easy and cost effective way to spruce up his room each month (or more frequently) and keep him entertained as well. He loves Mickey Mouse, so I try and keep at least one Mickey in the frames...(when he was super little, having his crib against the wall wasn't a big deal, but now he knows he has arms, and they are long, so he can easily touch the frames...so normally his crib is pulled away from the wall about 12"...I'm all about straight pictures! Oh, and safety. Of course!)