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chosen (thoughts + free art prints)

    chosen-free-artprints

    My parents divorced when I was 20.

    I know they say that adult children deal with divorce better than younger ones – and that probably is true to a point – but it sure doesn’t feel good or easy or right even when you’re grown and out of the house.

    Let me back up for a second …

    My childhood was just about as good as I could have ever asked for. I am the middle of three girls, our parents were young and fun, we lived in family-friendly neighborhoods with good schools and activities nearby. We grew up close to our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins spending a lot of time with them for holidays, sleepovers, every chance we could. We had traditions and memories, vacations and love. Truly, I could not have asked for a better childhood.

    Which I think is what made the break-up of our family even more difficult to deal with.

    A handful of factors led to that devastating moment when my dad made the choice to leave us.  It never made sense to me – maybe it still doesn’t – how a man who adored his family and did everything he could to protect and provide for us could make the choice to walk away. I don’t think he knew what the true consequences were going to be. Maybe if he did, he would have chosen differently. I’d like to think so.

    It still stings all these years later. I’ve healed a ton, but gosh my heart is still fragile. I miss him and feel sad and let down and even though I know their divorce was not my fault, I still can’t get over the feeling that maybe we just weren’t worth enough for him to choose us.

    I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I guess I’ve just been struggling with some of the long-lasting issues that come with feeling not-chosen and it seems like something I should confess. Maybe you feel rejection in your life, too?Continue Reading…chosen (thoughts + free art prints)

    caught my eye

      This weekend we had friends over for football watching-turned movie watching. When we put a movie on for the kids upstairs (mr. peabody), we poured ourselves a glass of wine downstairs and decided to turn on a movie for the grown-ups, too.

      chef

      None of us knew much about this movie, but the reviews were good and so we went for it. We all loved it.

      Here’s the summary: “Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what’s next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen — and zest for life and love.”

      The story was great, the acting perfect, the food makes your mouth-water and from what I’ve read, they do a good job depicting the reality of the life in a restaurant kitchen. There is bad language – just to warn you, but you’ll fall in love with the cutie-pie kid and you’ll probably want to make a really yummy grilled cheese after watching the way Chef Carl makes one.

      So we loved the movie, but what really caught my eye was the great honeycomb wine rack in the LA restaurant scenes.

      honeycomb-wine-rack-chef

      It looks like a sculpture and is so graphic against the white marble and stainless steel kitchen. I love the a-symmetry of it and would totally put this in our house. I’d also take the marble and stainless steel.Continue Reading…caught my eye

      six favorite looks for fall

        six-favorite-looks-for-fall

        Fall is my favorite. For many reasons – changing leaves, football season, apple crisp – but right at the top is fall fashion. Sweaters. Boots. Jeans. Cozy.

        I feel best wearing clothes that cover up this pale skin (shorts are not my favorite) and love dressing in layers. I live in the Seattle area where we have cooler weather (it’s been in the high 60’s this week), with likely drizzling rain on one day and crisp clear skies the next.

        Since we can all use a few new outfit ideas, I’ve put together six of my favorite looks for fall. And BONUS! most items are recent purchases and not crazy-expensive.  All items that are available are linked to the sourceContinue Reading…six favorite looks for fall

        diy glitter gratitude banner

          gratitude-glitter-banner

          Here’s a great project for this fall: a glitter gratitude banner. I generally tend towards simple, inexpensive and less-than-one-hour crafts and this fits on each level. Of course you can use the same method to spell out any word or initials – a monogram would be super cute hanging over a bed or use individual letters as gift tags, place cards or party favors this upcoming holiday season. We can all use a little more glitter in our lives.Continue Reading…diy glitter gratitude banner

          custom artwork for a fun client!

            joanna's-design-essentials-artprint

            My favorite HGTV show is Fixer Upper – where the darling couple Chip & Joanna Gaines help a family buy a major fixer-upper and turn it into something jaw dropping. Chip takes on the reno, Joanna works her magic on the design and interiors. She is beautiful and fashionable (I want all of her outfits) and has great farmhouse/cottagy/classic design taste.

            I was asked to create a custom watercolor with Joanna’s design essentials and was beyond excited to see what I could create.Continue Reading…custom artwork for a fun client!

            a seahawks birthday party

              seahawks-birthday-party

              Our second son turned 9 last month and we celebrated with a Seahawk party. We started with his invitations (seen here – which turned out super cute and not too seahawky/footbally/cartoony) and carried the theme into the actual day. We watched the game, ate football party food, played a few games and celebrated the birthday boy. It turned out to be a perfect party for Brady and his friends.Continue Reading…a seahawks birthday party

              newly organized pinterest boards (and how I did it)

                reorganizing-pinterest

                It was time for a deliberate reorganization. I started pinning a few years ago and created only a handful of boards. Most were titled generally – like decorate and things I like – which was fine until they started filling up and the categories no longer felt specific enough. As I have saved more favorite images/ideas/inspiration, it seemed fitting to make them more easily find-able for both me and those who follow my boards. So one day a few weeks ago, I finally made the time to begin my pinterest makeover.Continue Reading…newly organized pinterest boards (and how I did it)

                choosing new floors

                  We’ve lived in our house for just over 8 years. It was new when we bought it, but too far along in the building process for us to make changes to fixtures, colors, finishes. One of the upgrades we would have made if given the choice would be to switch out the carpet on the main floor with hardwoods.

                  (photo from summer house tour seen here)

                  There are benefits to carpet – namely it’s softness – and it was great for when the babies were babies. But 8 years, four kids, a lot of walking back and forth on the same pathway and a puppy who was not the fastest potty-trainer later and the carpet is looking pretty dingy. We’ve wanted to replace it for forever and now we are finally ready to make the jump.

                  I ordered a handful of samples last week just to try out a couple of different looks.

                  floor-samplesContinue Reading…choosing new floors

                  free hand-drawn halloween clip art

                    My No.3 and I were doodling yesterday and we got on the topic of Halloween. We had a little fun drawing a few not-too-spooky pictures which turned out so cute I decided to make them into clip art.

                    halloween-clip-art-collection

                    The kids love Halloween (what kid doesn’t?!) and I thoroughly enjoy the candy (fyi: four kids acquire a lot of trick-or-treat candy) but the overly scary stuff I can do without. So these doodles are mild and cutesy and would be super great for party invitations, gift tags, scrapbooking or as overlays for the annual kids-in-their-costumes photos.Continue Reading…free hand-drawn halloween clip art

                    The time I was going to show you how to make paper dahlias

                      I was joking with my family just the other day about how I use the word favorite quite liberally.

                      flowers-on-coffee-table

                      My favorite candy? Good & Plenties. Sour Patch Kids. Hot Tamales. Fruit Mentos. Twix if I’m feeling chocolaty.

                      Favorite color? Blue – all shades – or sometimes just the jeweled tones. Green. White – ah, I love white!. Gray.

                      My favorite season? Which ever one is up next.

                      See? Lot’s of favorites. Don’t try to stick me to only one from each category because I just can’t decide. There are just too many great things to choose between.Continue Reading…The time I was going to show you how to make paper dahlias

                      sources for hall, living, kitchen + extras

                        Did you enjoy the week of fantastic home tours? Thoroughly inspired to bring a little fall into your home? We had dinner with my sister this weekend and she said she was inspired to finally take down her 4th of july stuff and replace it with leaves, pumpkins and cozy textures. Her house always looks great and I’m excited to see what she has done with it now.

                        hall-living-kitchen-extras-sources

                        So let’s talk about some of the items seen in the second half of our house tour (first half, click here. And for sources, here.) Most of the furniture and accessories are not new which means they are not always still available for purchase, but I’ll share links where applicable.Continue Reading…sources for hall, living, kitchen + extras

                        fall house tour: living, hall & kitchen

                          blogger-stylin-home-tours-jdc

                          Welcome to the second half of our fall house tour. We started last week with the front of the house: the entry, small bath, office, dining room and piano nook and today we’ll keep making our way through the main living areas.

                          entry-bath-office-dining

                          If you’re coming from DesignPostInteriors, welcome! A little about me: I love neutrals. Get ready for a house tour void of color, but full of texture. Also, you might not be able to tell from the photos, but we have four kids and a dog and things don’t always look so fluffed and tidy. I try, but in real life you’ll probably see remote control helicopters and lego ships on the coffee table and art supplies covering the kitchen table, random shoes littering the floor and dog toys everywhere you look. I like things picked up, but we also do life here and sometimes that looks a little messy. I’m guessing you can relate.  I love how our house looks in the photos and I do my best to keep things nice around here, but really what we’re going for is a home that is welcoming and grace-filled and warm.

                          Okay, so let’s start the tour!Continue Reading…fall house tour: living, hall & kitchen

                          how to hang platters on the wall

                            hang-vintage-platters

                            Do you watch Fixer Upper on HGTV with the darling Chip and Joanna Gaines? It’s our favorite. Ryan and I don’t watch much tv together (I don’t know, something about project runway just doesn’t capture his attention like it does mine), but we love being inspired by the makeovers done to the houses on this show. If you haven’t seen it yet, oh my, you should. So good. Or maybe not because it will make you want to buy the worst falling-down house and make it wonderful.

                            Anyway … you’re probably wondering what Fixer Upper has to do with hanging silver plates on the wall? Well miss Joanna (who has fabulous style) always hangs something unconventional or dimensional on the walls of the homes she styles. Now she goes more country/rustic than I do in our house (think chippy gates, architectural salvage, child-sized chairs) but hanging vintage silver platters on the wall in our dining room is in line with her dimension/unconventional wall concept.

                            dining-room-silver-plates-jdc-fall-house-tour

                            It’s interesting and personal and neutral.

                            Oh, and super easy to do.Continue Reading…how to hang platters on the wall

                            sources for entry, office, bath & dining room

                              The first half of the fall tour was fun, right? I loved pulling my house together and giving it a fall look (if you missed the tour, you can see it here). There were many questions about sources for items shown and I’m all about sharing!

                              sources-grouped

                              Not that you are going to go out and purchase everything you see here, but hopefully it helps show what can be done without spending tons and tons on furniture and accessories.  For the fall tour, I mainly shopped my house – rearranging furniture, moving around accessories, pulling out a few fall decorations I keep stored. Like I said on the house tour, I recently quieted the house and striped it of all of it’s ‘stuff’. It was the best thing for me! I actually had a semi-difficult time putting things back out because it was just so nice to have clean surfaces, bookshelves, walls. But it was time to put things back together and I like the more edited version of our house this time around. I’m sure things will change (as they always seem to do around here), but for now, this arrangement suits us.Continue Reading…sources for entry, office, bath & dining room