Updates and Happenings

Hello!

Well, I certainly have missed you all and I have some wonderful emails and blog comments to catch up on. Please know that if you commented on any of my postings in the recent past and you haven't seen it yet or seen a response yet, know that I haven't forgotten you and I will respond and I appreciate you taking time to write me:-)


I am wondering if I should catch you all up with a few fun things first and then end my post with a few not so fun things or the other way around? Fun first? Or, not so fun first? Hmmmm....


I think I will start with fun first. We all have our own life's ups and downs and sometimes, we just don't really want to hear (read) about one more problem (well, at least I feel that way sometimes). It doesn't mean we don't care or have concern for others; but sometimes, when we click on our computer, and after we get past all those news ads, pop ups, more ads, and other Internet things we must sift through in hopes to get to some eye candy or fun reading, it can be a little disappointing to be faced with yet another life issue, that well, frankly, we just may not be in the mood to read at that very moment. With that in mind, I will start with fun things first!


So, having said all that, let me say how nice it is to have you pop on by and visit with me again and how I so much love hearing from you all.


I know how much you love (and me too) "before's and after's" and below I wanted to show you some before pictures of some windows that are about to be covered with some drapes that I designed. The home owner wanted everything to be light and sweet and yet have a luxurious feel. She also stated that she wanted her bedding to look like "a wedding dress." And she wanted some of her curtains to remind her of elegant "ball gowns." She is a true romantic. Just about all the fabric used was silk and my seamstress, Maureen, used a lot of interlining and backing to really make the delicate silk very opulent and full. Not an easy feat.

Below is a photo of the living room and the windows. This is before she really moved in. And right after she moved in, she had to move out again due to some builder's mistakes in installing the woodwork and flooring. However, the finished product is beautiful with all the finishing wood touches that you will see a bit later. For now - look at how high the ceilings are! And no, we did not cover all the windows! In fact, we covered very little in this room....

Just look at the scale by studying the size of the french door and where the door knob on the door is compared to the height of the chandelier (which is changed in the "after" photo)!

Her bedroom is very sweet and romantic. The bed, she got from England and she wanted it to feel like a wedding dress. She has a long hallway (2 photos above) that leads to the master bath that is to die for.

The room you see at the foot of the bed is a room she is using as an office, but it could be a sitting room, dressing room or whatever - but wait until you see the fireplace!

Don't you just hate it when your windows are just so large that they make your beautiful European armoire look like a little toy that belongs in a doll house? I hate when that happens! :-)

Okay, back to reality - well, my reality at least. That is her dream home that she worked very hard for and saved for over the years. And while her dream has finally come true, someone else's dream has come true as well....

...While not nearly as glamorous, or large, or breathtaking (but you will gasp at the sight - but not in a good way...), my handsome barber of a husband had his dream come true when he bought his own business, a barbershop, a little over a year ago. Randy has been cutting hair for about 23 years now and is a licensed cosmetologist (he cuts and colors my hair - sleeping with your stylist is one way not to lose them) and he now "barbers," as he calls it, and so he also a business owner!

He bought Big Bend Barber Shop, from a gentleman named Clifford, who had owned the shop for 35 years. But the shop has been around for about 45 years, so Randy is the third owner. Clifford now works for Randy two days a week (Friday and Saturday) and it turned out to be a beautiful relationship. But it didn't start that way. Clifford (everyone calls him Cliff except for me, I love calling him Clifford) pretends to be a gruffy kind of guy who is short on words and smiles. He did NOT like the idea of "retiring" at all and certainly did not like the "young" guy taking over his shop. His children had been asking him to retire for years due to his health and age. He is 72, I believe.

When I first met Clifford, he would barely look up when I walked in the shop. He was not happy that someone else was cutting "his" clients' hair - who could blame him? But, Randy did pay for the shop after all, and it was bound to happen some day, and he knew it, but it still was a bitter pill to swallow. So, I made my way over to the shop a lot in the beginning and I would head straight for Clifford and give him a big hug every time. I could feel him bracing up for the embrace and the more he braced up, the longer I embraced. He lived on peanut M&M's and diet Pepsi and nothing much more. He is single and has his truck, and his TV, his buddies, and he cuts hair. So, I would bring him in cooked meals in Tupperware and put it on the back bar by his chair and tell him to eat it or give it to Randy and I would walk to the back and have lunch with Randy. He always grumbled that he wouldn't be eating it. But, sooner or later, he would hobble to the back (he had a foot problem) and place the empty Tupperware on the desk and mumble "that was good" and go back to his chair and read the paper.

His foot problem needed surgery and he finally gave in and had surgery. He was out for six weeks. He was worried that all his customers "forgot him" and no one would need him. The day he got back from his surgery, I swung the door open wide and stood there with a big smile on my face and said loudly, "There he is!!!! NOW we can finally get down to business!! Finally!! Someone who knows what is going on around here!! Clifford, I am counting on you to keep Randy in line for me, you know. He got out of hand while you were gone. Do you realize how hard it has been on me not having you around to keep him in line???" I went and gave him a hug and he seemed to slowly over time warm up to the idea of retirement.

How is he now? Well, let's just say that if it is too cold for him, he has no trouble taking off for Florida. And when I come in now, he actually opens his arms just slightly, because he knows he can't get away from me, and he actually makes me laugh with some of the stuff he comes up with. Randy is such a character he had Clifford almost falling out of the chair with laughter just last week. Clifford now volunteers at the hospital, takes off early on most Friday's and Saturday's and retirement isn't so bad after all. He fills in for Randy when we go to the lake and that helps Randy get some much needed time off. I hope we get to have Clifford around for a long time. I might even get a photo of him smiling for the "after" shots that I post!

This past year, we have slowly been making improvements to the shop. We have painted, put in new floors, and we finally just ordered two new barber chairs. We would love a new back bar, but that will have to wait, so, I am hoping I can do my "magic" and paint it - my next project. I have never done a back bar so this will be interesting. I am not sure about the sinks either. We have no budget after getting the chairs - have you ever priced barber chairs? Geesh!

You can take a gander (and a gasp) at the before photos below on the day Randy bought the shop and our friend, Debbie, stopped by to congratulate him:

Our friend Debbie - she is the one who had the cute, cute living room and dining room that I did for Romantic Homes (and bedding) with the hose nozzles garden theme table....her daughter, Caitlin (sorry if I misspelled that) just bought a home - that will be a big "before" and "after"... but I digress...this is suppose to be about Randy's shop...

Notice the yucky floor and old chairs. These chairs are old, but not in a good way. They are too big in the back which makes Randy lean just slightly forward all day while cutting hair. This gives him a horrible backache. Hopefully the new chairs will help because they will be smaller.

Also, notice the back bar - it is such a mess - it will be a real challenge for me to paint this with all the cords and the all the equipment that is needed daily....the sinks may have to stay - not sure yet. But all of this will be done very soon...so you will get "after" photos soon!

Here is my business owner of a husband who is just too happy for words to be sitting in his very own shop after 23 years of cutting hair for someone else - now - he cuts for himself. You know, when it comes down to it, even though most of you who read this blog, are boutique owners, or use to own shops, or want to own shops, or just like to shop....the pride in owning and running a business crosses all trades and even a barber shop, even an old, dated barber shop, still has a very happy and proud barber sitting inside thinking: "I did it!"

But Randy is no different than most of the rest of us. He didn't do it alone and he is very grateful. While he is the one that studied and had to pass his exams and get his permits and work all these years he always credits his paternal grandmother that put him through his tech school. He hunted for several years to buy a shop and almost gave up on this shop until I suggested he write a letter to Clifford. I drafted a letter for him and he sent it without much hope and to his much surprise he got a positive response. His mother graciously and lovingly assisted with the sudden financing needed and lent help when Clifford suddenly decided to sell his shop to Randy. And now, the very unexpected passing of his (step)father's (Jim) mother, Mary Benitz, he now is able to purchase two new barber chairs.

These past two months have been less than productive or happy. First, Randy's grandmother, Mary Benitz, very unexpectedly passed away recently. It was a shock to us all. She is pictured below. She attended our wedding, and I am so grateful that I had a chance to get to know her. Knowing her such a short time only makes it all the harder to say good-bye because I was so looking forward to finally having a "grandmother" in my life for once. I never had a grandma. And she was the perfect one. And I mean perfect. She made me feel like I have been a part of the family all along. And obviously, she loved Randy and felt he was her grandchild as well because she loved him enough to think of him and because of her loving and giving nature, he is now able to purchase two, very good chairs, that will hopefully save his back from aching so much.

So, when Randy cuts his father's hair (Jim), Jim will be sitting in the chair that his mother bought while his son cuts his hair. Mary will be a part of the barbershop - which I find so wonderful. A day won't go by that she won't be thought of and when the chairs finally arrive and when the customers comment on them, Randy will get the honor of telling customers who bought them for him. Mary will be missed and I am grateful to have known her. Her funeral was a testimony of how a life well-lived is rewarded in the end. She lived for others and not herself. The love she showed others is an example for us all.

I have one private and special memory of Mary that took place at my wedding. We were about to have our picture taken and she and I were alone together. She was holding on to my arm while someone was finding Randy for the photo. She patted my arm and looked up at me and just simply smiled and said, "You are a beautiful bride, Elizabeth." And she patted my arm again. What was so nice about that moment was that she said it with her eyes, not just with words. With all the bustle, the laughter, the noise, the people, and activity all around me, when I looked down into her eyes, I could see so much love in them. I never had that given to me before. I never had a grandma and now I finally did. It was a really nice moment. And how lucky I was to have it captured. The photo of that very moment is below. No one knew about that moment until now. And if you look closely at my eyes, you can just tell by my eyes and by my smile that her words and her look just touched my heart so deeply. It was such a simple little moment, but it meant the world to me. I am so glad the photographer just happened to snap that moment.

She was my grandma for a moment.

(I love you, grandma.)

Also, this past past month or so, my health isn't what it should be for now. My headaches are back and I am tired a lot. I am having some complicated female matters that are being looked into that are causing a lot of other issues that I won't go into. Tests are being ran and I am taking care of myself, but it is tiring and at times, I will admit, a little scary. Nothing conclusive at this point, but sometimes, you just want to get on with life, you know what I mean? It seems if it isn't one thing, it is another. But, I will keep you posted. Some days I feel just fine and dandy, and other days not so much so. That is what is so tiring - the up and down of it all. That and the headaches.

Also, I have decided to take somewhat of a sabbatical. What is a sabbatical exactly? Well, the college professors take them and researchers take them, and even pastors take them. It is suppose to be a time of renewal and exploration. Actually, I think it is just a fancy word for, "I aint' working for a while." Call it what you will, but what I am really doing is what a friend of mine called: mining for new gold. I really liked that when she said it. Because that is what I am really doing. I am "mining." But I am doing it slower until I feel better. Actually, I have been mining slowly on something new for some time now, and I can't wait to share it with you all. I am very excited about it, but not feeling up to par lately and have put that little gold mine on hold for a bit. But it is a fun gold mine. :-)

My other news is that I will not be participating in the December Miss Frenchie Show as a vendor. If I am up to it, I may help out in other avenues, if needed, but for now, my sabbitical or rather, my mining is taking priority. I will certainly miss it though! I love, love, love putting my little booth together - but, if the ladies need any help, and if able, I hope I can help them in some way. I do hope to attend one way or another, those vendors have lots of goodies that I never get to shop!!

However, I do plan on writing (sans deaths, illnesses...who knows what lies ahead lately, geesh!), I do plan writing a shop talk, I will be adding more wedding photos - more news on that to come...and more photos on "before" and after" projects. I hope to offer encouragement when I can and inspiration as well. You inspire me, you know! The things I read, see, and hear about are just wonderful and I am so honored that you share your accomplishments with me.

Also, one last thing, and I will let you go - and kudos to you for reading this far down - I am not sure I would and I am the one doing the writing! But, if you have any particular subject, or idea, or project, or topic, or theme that you wish I would write about or address (design wise or not, it can be anything), feel free to drop me a line. I am not saying I will address it, but I have been getting some interesting emails lately requesting some topics that I never would have thought of.

For example, do you have any interest at all in my thoughts or opinions on how to live simply but elegantly and on a budget? I had a reader ask my opinion on bed making. She (or he) didn't specify exactly about bed making she wanted to know. I had another reader, inspired by my kitchen, ask me what I cook and how I serve it (she liked my ironstone...).

If you have a thought or two, please feel free to pass them along. I hope your summer is safe, fun, and happy. And I will leave you with this:

"No matter what you do in life, stand up for yourself because no one can do it for you." Alfred Maxson (as said to me at age 10 by my father)

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

Better Late Than Never!

Well, although everyone else has had their photos up for some time now and the Miss Frenchie show is definitely a "been there done that" event....I thought I would throw mine up anyway. I have been so swamped and it seemed the second I returned from that show in KS City I haven't stopped long enough to download the photos. Hence the kitchen photos on my prior posting (those I already had and they were timely since the article is being currently featured in Romantic Homes magazine...).

I thought I would at least start with a pretty shot - this is a beautiful French youth bed at the right. But below, I will tell a quick story of the show because once again, I am off - this time - for fun! My sweet barber of a husband (poor guy, he will probably never be known for anything else now) surprised me and is taking me to NYC to celebrate our anniversary of the day we met while running in the park here in St. Louis. And now we are going to run together in Central Park, NYC - so while I should be packing, I am instead trying to get this out before it is really way too late to even mention it!

Okay, I will keep it short and get to the pictures - and no bloody photos of any fingers this time. The story begins with me, in the dark, with Randy, loading up an 18' truck with goodies that I am to drive to KS City for the April in Paris Show for those of you who may be new to the blog.

A lot of people can't believe I drive such a big truck, but actually, the bigger the better because I feel safer in them, I sit up high and I can see the road, and I know how to use the mirrors really well. When I pulled up to my hotel at 2A.M. the security guard and hotel desk clerk got the biggest kick out me driving the truck. He said, "look at you...wearing earrings and everything..." I actually thought he was funnier for noticing my earrings than he thought me driving a big truck. But I digress.

Below is a photos of just one of about 20 totes of small stuff I had in my home that needed to be loaded along with the big stuff.

I made it safely and was greeted by Carol of Raised in Cotton, and her fantastic husband (Sam?) who took a day off work to help us - is that great or what? I mean, he took a day off to do hard labor - so he is either really, really sweet, or really, really crazy...I choose sweet... And no, I am not making a fashion statement, my really, really sweet husband insisted that I wear a back support while doing lifting - which helped a lot, even though it can get really hot.

I like this photo because I call it the "chuck wagon" photos of all the "wagons" gathered around in a pow-wow. The flea-market takes place in an historical site (barn) in the middle of KS City. For more info you may go to Alexander Majors Barn and check it out - it is great to rent for an event such as a wedding, reunion, party or whatever!


Here is the big space I am about to fill up - I discover that I have only one electrical outlet and I am now left to figure out how to plug in about 10 chandeliers that will be hanging about 20' high.... Carol is looking up at the rafters questioning if I should be hanging anything at all....

Stuff is getting moved in. Carol from Raised in Cotton is my neighbor, we sort of blended our booths' entrances and her stuff and my stuff went well together! Those are my huge columns that lead into my area where the rafters are.

Yes, that is me up on the ladder, which freaked out the ladies. I used to be in theater and hung lights so climbing ladders doesn't bother me too much. When doing a lot of climbing, I always wear knee-high leather boots with rubber soles. The leather protects my shins - which lean against the hard metal ladder - and I mean lean....that is how you keep balance when not holding onto the ladder....

We had a lot of laughs making fun of my "vampire" chandeliers. They all hung in garbage bags. Remember the posting with my bloody finger? Well,this proves that those chandeliers are indeed vampires! All those broken chandeliers are inside. Keeping them in bags prevents them from poking the hell out of me while hanging them and from grabbing the cheese cloth as well.

This give you an idea of the scale of things.

The outside of the barn is getting ready as well. Donny was my outside neighbor. I am sorry, but I was working such long hours, I never got out of my section of the barn for long. Carol, at Raised in Cotton did a great job in capturing names and vendors so please visit her site to get all the real info and all the photos. Karla did a great job too at getting info. I just had such a large space to fill I didn't have time to even shop! 

The early bird ladies are lining up on Friday night! What is so funny about this photo below is that I was working non-stop right up to the time the doors opened and these ladies saw me running around in my sweatshirt, looking dirty and sweaty and then someone announced that the doors will open in 10 minutes so I ran to my truck and got out my make-up bag and brown velvet overcoat ran to the bathroom, did a quick change and came out and took these outdoor photos....looking all "calm" and "collect" when only moments earlier they saw a sweaty, sweatshirt lady wiping dirty hands on her jeans....hahahaha...I guess I am not fooling no one!

And speaking of "calm" and "collected" this is Kenny - he is the manager of the barn site. He is basically the only guy on site and just about the sweetest and kindest man you will ever meet. He doesn't get excited over anything and if there was blazing fire in the barn, he would say in his quiet, southern accent, in a slow, soft way, "now ladies, you might want to finish your shopping before the fire gets out of control....just be careful now...." I saw him in this photo and this is the MOST expressive I think I ever saw him - poor guy - surrounded by a lot of a cackling ladies waiting to get inside! :-)

This is my "check out counter" that is an old utility cart on wheels. I ran out of time and I grabbed a bed cover and whipped it over it and tied it in a knot. Well, wouldn't you know it that the ladies made such a fuss over it that it made me laugh - I only tied the knot so high because the grass was wet! You would think that the knot was made of gold - but I was very flattered that my knot got so much attention - my lady customers make me smile and laugh every single time - the things they point out!

This was my "stash" that I kept with me at my counter. In my basket, I have my point and shoot camera, berry candy, pringles, soda and salt/pepper cashews. But what I really wanted to show you was the basket. That is my German shopping basket that I bought over 25 years ago when I lived in a tiny village. Germans don't really use bags over there when shopping and I learned that the hard way when I went grocery shopping for the first time. I bought groceries after living there only two days and when I checked out the clerk looked at me blankly and I stared back - she didn't speak English and the best I could say was "Nicht don't German" which is a really butchered way of saying "I don't speak German" as if I really needed to explain that to her. She pointed at the next customer's basket and I realized what she was trying to tell me. I didn't have one, so at the time, I was wearing a big, long shirt tucked in, so I pulled it out, and piled my groceries in it and carried all my groceries home in my shirt (I didn't even drive in their country yet). As soon as I got home, I went out and walked around the village and bought me a basket - and I have used it ever since. And once again, as my husband likes to say, I took the "scenic route" to get to my point...so to continue...

Here are some photos that I quickly took in my space in no particular order.

Me and Carol from Raised in Cotton. I just love this woman. She is so real, so sincere and so lovely. She threatened to blog something about me, but she was too nice to, and so, I will confess the thing she didn't blog about me. We were setting up and working and working. She said she saw me standing in my space studying my area intensely and wondering where to put my stuff. She said she watched me move stuff around and then I stopped, put my hand on my hip and got a serious expression on my face as I studied my space in silence. She said just as she wondered what creative thought I was drumming up in my head, I announced, "I think I need to go poop." She just about fell over laughing. I laughed too because l was like a kid playing with toys, and I didn't want to stop all because I "had to go." I don't care how many velvet coats one may own, how many crystal chandeliers one may light up, or how many elegant Belgium linen sheets cover your bed, when girlfriends get together, someone will eventually announce a bodily function - and you know I am telling the truth, so don't be acting like you haven't made a poop announcement before because we all know you have :-)

Me, Debbie from Curious Sofa and Marsha(?) in the center. I am so terrible at names! This is hilarious. I finally got a moment (just a moment) to go look at the other vendors and Carol calls me back to my booth. I enter my booth and Debbie introduces me to Marsha (so sorry Marsha if I got your name wrong) and she tells me she has been wanting to meet me and she has followed my blog and so on. The reason I am laughing so hard is that right before this photo was snapped, her little son, Drew (?) came over and stood in front of his mom and she reacted loudly with "DREW, NOOOO" and moved him to the side, out of the photo, and we just cracked up how she would get the mother of the year award. She was so neat, so funny, and such a sweet woman - and Drew, you were a doll - you waited patiently, you didn't mess with my stuff, and you made us all laugh. I am always so flattered when someone takes the time to meet with me. So thank you, Marsha (geez, I hope I have that right!)

This is Brandon (I know that is right!) He drove all the way from Iowa and has been following me (in a good way) for a long time. He has a little booth in an antique mall and is slowly growing his business. Brandon came to my store after reading about me several years ago and he emails me once in a while and surprises me by popping up here and there. I hadn't seen him in a good while, and it took me a moment, but I did remember. It was really nice to see him! He works hard at his space, like everyone, and like a smart business owner, he tries to stay on top of trends and keeps track of what is popular in his market.

Below are various photos of my space:

Below is the only photo I could grab of Secret Leaves' original artwork. Sharon Derry created four pieces for my show and one sold before it left St. Louis and the other two sold before I could photograph them! There is only one left - so if interested, contact Sharon, it is all hand made with authentic ephemera and all hand cut - you have to see it to believe it. The women who bought the other two just squealed with delight and one said, "I know Secret Leaves!!" Which of course, made me smile.

I never got a good photo which bums me out - I wish I could have spent more time taking photos. But this is my Big Bertha - who found a home this time! When my booth was all set up, I put her under all the chandeliers and well Bertha, being Bertha (sort of filled out) she looked a little out of place with all the super skinny mannequins so I put a sign on her: "An American in Paris. God Bless America. Every Ounce of Her." Everyone loved it and loved her enough to take her home. I loved Bertha - she was beautiful on the inside and out - just like America :-)

Here are some photos of Donny's space outside:

A few photos of Carol's space, Raised in Cotton:

A few of Curious Sofa Space:

Curious Sofa Head Manager, Pearl

Deb getting ready...


Well, there is plenty more to see with plenty more vendors, but what I showed you were about as far out of my space I ever got. I was at the very end of the barn and busy with customers and never got away - but look at the sites I mentioned earlier for all the vendors and more photos. When I saw the others' photos I died because I saw all sorts of thing I would had loved to had bought! It was a great show with a lot of people, laughter, and fun.

I am glad you decided to visit for a moment. I may not always be up to date or always current, but I do want you to know that I do appreciate you pretending that I am not that far behind. You really do mean a lot to me and I enjoy getting the chance to "visit" you on your sites as well.

I have no profound thoughts to leave you with, so I will leave you with this:

Don't hold it for too long....it's not good for your bladder. Or so I am told.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

From Soup Kitchen to Super Kitchen Part 2

Hello Everyone!

First, let me say, I am POOPED! I am back from the Miss Frenchie's show in KS City, and I don't have my photos down loaded yet from that event. But in the mean time, the June issue of Romantic Homes is now out on the stands which is featuring my kitchen cosmetic make-over. And since I do have those photos ready to go, I thought I would share those photos with you while I work on the Miss Frenchie show photos.....hope that is okay with you.

So back to my soup kitchen...

To refresh your memory from my earlier posting regarding our little kitchen: being newly married to my lovely husband and moving into his lovely little bungalow, and after "the honeymoon was over" and after regaining my sight from being blinded by love, I came to the realization that I could not live a day longer in his - ahem - I mean, our, kitchen any longer without doing something (anything, please, I mean anything) to keep me from stabbing needles in my eyes just to avoid looking at the torn, teal, plastic tiles falling off the walls and the burnt counter tops all surrounded by greasy, hospital yellow painted, cracked walls. And if I have to mop the torn, multi-patterned frog-green linoleum floor one more time in hopes that if I just clean it well enough "it really wouldn't be that bad," I will put pop my head in the microwave oven. But I digress.


To put it much more eloquently and simply: The kitchen was a real mess.


The kitchen needed to be completely gutted, torn out and rebuilt. It needed new cabinets, floors, walls, windows, counters, sink, lights, and hardware. However, we can't afford a complete rehab project at this time and I stood in the kitchen one day thinking that I can't be the only one who has this same dilemma.


The dilemma: What does one do when one truly needs to gut a kitchen, but can't afford to? How can one "fix" the kitchen in the meantime? I told Randy that I could give us a whole "new" kitchen for less than $500! (After I made this announcement, I wondered if I really could.)


What I wanted was only a cosmetic make-over. I didn't want to put a lot of time or money into something that hopefully we will be ripping out in a few years to do properly. This is only a temporary fix that will keep my eyes needle-free and hopefully the only thing popping in the microwave will be popcorn.


What I also hoped to accomplish is to encourage others that there is really something you can do with your kitchen as well. Maybe you don't know how to faux finish with paint, but you can straight paint (paint with just paint, not using any technique). And maybe you don't have a cool old workbench to put into your kitchen, but that doesn't mean you can't tear off the counter top of your kitchen island and put a cool old wooden door on top of it, or an old chunky counter from a bar you find in a rehab thrift store or at a garage sale. The point is, I don't want you to feel stuck with what you have. Just take a peek at what I had to work with and I will take a moment to explain what I did and how. I bet there is at least one project I did that you have the talent to do just as well that will make a huge difference in your kitchen - and doesn't break the bank either!


Below are before and after photos and then I go into a little more detail after you get a feel for the entire kitchen....

Before: Stove and tile back splash - which was torn on top left corner. The dishwasher had a little box built around it. The home was built around 1920 (pre-dishwasher days) and there is no room for the dishwasher. You can see our "beautiful" frog-green floor and in the background, you can see a snippet of an orange wall in the breakfast room...

After: This is probably one of my favorite photos because it is what you see almost as soon as you enter our home. I moved in my old 1940's O'Keef and Merritt stove which made all the difference. Randy tore down the plastic tile wall and filled the hole. I put joint compound over the hole and painted the walls and aged them down. You can see the floor is painted (a better photo is later in the posting of the floor). I hung old group photos and a mantel mirror over the threshold - which Randy made himself. Yes - I want to point out that Randy made that wooden threshold and did it on his very first try! And no orange breakfast room. I had hung my old chandelier from Belgium in the room earlier, but now that it is painted, you can really see it.

Before: This is the corner of our tiny kitchen. Yes, the plug outlet really had no cover and the walls were a yucky yellow. The kitchen probably had not been touched since 1940. In Randy's defense, he had lived here about five years and had spent most of his time redoing the floors, bedrooms and bathroom and other things in the home. The kitchen was last - as usual because it is the most expensive. The cabinets below the sink are metal and the paint around the windows are cracked, thick and have many, many holes from probably many different styles of curtains over the years from many different owners - but obviously not from Randy.... :-)

After: You can see what a difference simple paint can make!! Painting the floor, the cabinets, hanging an old European grain sack, building out the "box" around the dishwasher, adding a "new" sink and faucet. I scraped off the paint of the original window copper and brass hardware which I really loved. I originally wanted to paint the metal cabinets black, but once I realized how difficult the hinges were to remove, I just bought a couple of glossy spray enamel paint (the kind you use on outdoor furniture) and just sprayed it to keep in the theme of 1940's....sort of like Retro French-American, if you will. I added my ironstone on top and kept it simple. No fluffy stuff, no flowers, platters, or just "stuff." I wanted the kitchen to breath. It is so small, but I love the big windows. The few items you see on the counter top are for the photo shoot for the magazine, but other than that, what you see is for real - event the giant platter in the next photo is for real - meaning, I really do use these items and they are really a part of the kitchen. Even the items for the photo shoot are from my home and I do use them, I just put them together for a nice photo. I am a BIG believer in "living real" with "real beauty."

Before: This is a shot from the breakfast room. You can really see the plastic tiles, the yellow walls, and on the left side of the photo, the tile behind the stove is pulling away from the wall. You can also see the sink and faucet. But, you can also see the pretty floors that Randy did in our living room! :-)

After: Well, I must say, sitting in our breakfast room now, digesting my food is much easier! Painting the cabinets and removing the cabinet doors was probably the biggest change. The one happy accident was that both Randy and I had white dishes. He had white Fiesta ware and I had a combo of white ironstone and William Sonoma and others. My antique ironstone bowls are all lined up neatly on top and yes, it does my heart good to see my husband pull out the foot stool and grab one down to use to make our salad in - he thinks nothing of it and that is exactly what I hoped for some day. That using beautiful things are an everyday activity. And if something breaks - it breaks. They are just things, after all. It is the created memories of using them that makes them special, not their mere existence.

Before: This shot is taken from standing at the stove. That doorway goes into my office. We are not sure why it is there. It doesn't make sense. Randy closed it up with plywood, plastered it, and I put joint compound over it. Randy seemed satisfied, as a bachelor, with his TV tray and microwave "counter top" combo.....his bachelorhood decorating came to a screeching halt....

After: It was as if it were meant to be...I bought my workbench about 14 years ago and used it in my workshop, in my office and even as a kitchen island in another home and now it barely fits in our kitchen! We love it and it gives us more, much needed storage! My French shelf, another treasure I have owned for years, barely fits. Had it been only one inch longer, it would not be hanging there. I added some work lights and hung up our pots and it holds some of our treasures. Many of which were used in our wedding. You can see a better view of the floor too.

Before: Randy had a tiny fridge that held so little and I couldn't even stand a liter bottle of soda upright. More than once, I am sure he heard me mumble under my breath as I put away groceries so he surprised me by getting us a new fridge - which he didn't include in the initial $500 budget. It also meant removing the overhead cabinet in order for it to fit. I needed all the storage space I could get, but it was worth the trade. I put an old French basket on top of the new fridge to house small appliances that aren't used daily, such as our blender, steamer, and meat grinder. I also painted the food pantry to the right of the fridge and my girlfriends were sure that we added that pantry but I have proof in the photo that it was there all along. The fridge is counter depth, which makes a huge difference in such a tiny space. In fact, I think the area looks much larger and roomier even though we took out a much smaller fridge and put in a much larger one! Randy did a great job in removing the cabinet, too.



After: You can see the hard work paid off and I love that my antique English ironstone cream bowl found a home on top of the black cabinet. I hadn't really found a place for it in the home yet and I had owned it for so many years and hated to "store" it away.

Before: Sometimes, I feel like most of my time is spent right here, when not at the computer. Actually, I didn't mind it because my back was turned away from all the mess and I could look outside and pretend the kitchen would be different when I would turn around....and then one day, I turned around....

After: And one day it seemed I turned around and couldn't believe I was in the same kitchen. I suddenly felt like I was in another country...I half expected George Clooney to come walking in take me out on a ride on his yacht in Italy. But no, it was my barber husband coming in to take me fishing on his bass boat...I wondered who he expected (or hoped) to find in the kitchen? All I know is that my little kitchen seem so much brighter when my barber husband walked in with a giant smile on his face and gave me so good a hug that made me very happy that I wasn't in another country after all. I was very content to be right here...bald barber, bass boat and all. 

Before: Below is the counter top made of Formica. It is worn and rubbed out over the years and even burnt. I decided to just paint it. I painted with latex. I sanded it lightly. Washed it with TSP (Home Depot carries it), put 2 coats of Kilz on it, then 2 coats of paint, faux finished it, and sealed it with polyurethane (several coats). I made up my own color and faux finish - so please don't ask me what color I used - I hope I don't chip it too soon because I will have to repaint the whole counter because I don't think I can replicate it. Oh well. I was just playing around with color and came up with this and kept it. But, it is very little counter space, so no big deal. It should last a couple of years. The key is to take your time, do it right, prep it, and lightly sand and damp wipe between the sealing coats. I used about 3 sealing coats. It will hold up - don't worry about it. Besides this is a TEMP fix!

After: This is the EXACT same spot as above. You can see the brush marks and strokes - which is fine with me. I don't want it perfect because the rest of the kitchen is far from perfect and a perfect counter top would look out of place. In case your computer screen color is a little off, the real color is sort of an olive/brownish color.

Below are some more shots of the kitchen. Then below those are some details shots, and work in progress shots. Below is a photo of our pot rack. The crepe pan on the far left has a story to it. I will tell you at the end of the post. I think you will like the story.....

Below is a wide shot which shows a nice difference between the before and after:

Below is my deal of a faucet for only a $119 that I found at Home Depot. It is for a 4-hole sink and our sink is only 3 holes. Everyone (including the staff at Home Depot) said it wouldn't work. I was determined to get that faucet. It was the sprayer that was the 4th hole. I finally asked a plumber if water is sitting in the sprayer and he told me that only when the button is pushed is water ever in the valve. So I looked at him and said, "then, why can't we just coil it up, zip tie it, and tuck it behind the garbage disposal and let it just hang there out of the way?" He just looked at me blankly and said,"well, I guess we could do that..." and so as you can see...I got my $119 four-hole faucet to fit my three-hole sink! I am pretty persistent when someone tells me "it can't be done." I just loved the curves and vintage look and feel for such a low cost. I saw many faucets with the same look for about $400 and up.




Below you can see the floor better and the threshold. The pattern of the linolenium shows through, but I don't mind. In fact, it makes it interesting. I taped a 6" border around all the appliances and painted it black to give it interest. I designed the diamond in the center of the stove to bring attention to the stove. The design I did by hand and created on my own with just a ruler and eye-balling it. Good thing I didn't stick needles in my eyes after all! :-)


Yes, those are umbrellas on the wall.....I think they are the perfect color and I had them in my basement and I was too lazy to go hunt for something better because I was too pooped. Randy asked me, "Why not just hang up some platters? You got a ton of them..." And I said, "Nah, been there, done that, and beside, I don't want to hunt for the platter hangers and I know where the umbrellas are...." So you see, sometimes, as much as I would love to tell you how much thought and time and talent goes into my projects, to be really honest, sometimes, what really happens is just lack of time and energy and whatever I happen to have lying around will just have to do at the moment because I am too pooped to create another new thought....and as the late and wonderful Paul Harvey would say, "and that is the rest of the story..."

















This is an old doctor's cabinet we have in our breakfast room that stores my ironstone platters and the basket on top holds a lot of cookbooks. I try to find storage wherever possible!

Below are some kitchen pics of work in progress:

We just put in our "new" sink that I found at Habitat For Humanity store for $50. You can see the old counter top has not been painted yet.

You can see the hole on the left from the tile being torn off from behind the stove. Randy is working late into the night for me. You can also see the teal plastic tile is now covered with joint compound underneath the cabinet on the backsplash. I haven't aged or painted it yet.

I am trying to sand off about 6458 layers of old paint off the door trim. I later gave up and decided that the "new look" is the "layered paint look" and I am sticking with my story.


I decided that I couldn't live with the support bar going across the cabinet front. This piece is what held on the doors that were no  longer going to be there. I took a chance and decided it wasn't needed. And it wasn't. I had a back up plan in case I was wrong. You can see the joint compound is still drying over the back splash tiles.


Removing paint from really cool vintage window hardware!

Okay, my beloved will kill me for showing this - but it is either this photo, or the butt crack photo...and no rehab job is complete without either a butt crack photo or a "manly muscle" photo....as you can see by the dark window, it is late at night, and we are getting slap happy and I think Randy just figured out how to fill some hole in the wall without tearing it all out and he is actually doing some sort of "chicken-hula dance" and if you look at his hand on his hip/gut and if you can picture his head moving around sort of like a chicken.... well - that gives it away. But I guess if you put a muscle in the air (and with a heavy 5:00 o'clock shadow), the hula chicken dance becomes the masculine version. Either way, he can wear a friggin grass skirt and cluck for all I care, I am just glad to have him on board because he would do anything to make me happy - even dance and cluck for the camera, late at night, after working in a filthy kitchen...need I say more?

Well, I hope you enjoyed our little cosmetic make-over from Soup Kitchen to Super Kitchen. The entire cost was about $497. (Not including the new fridge, of course.) That included $119 for the faucet (Home Depot), $50 for the sink, about $180 for supplies, paint, trim, and $30 for the walnut butcher block top for the dishwasher from John Boos,  about $80 for the light fixture from Home Depot, buffet mirror from a flea-market for $28.50, which all comes up to around $497.50. The wall color in the breakfast room is Ralph Lauren, Broome, the window and door trim is by Benjamin Moore, Linen White.  The sealer on the counter top and the floor is by miniwax, water-based, satin, clear. Everything else is either custom blended by me or custom made, so I won't be much help with any questions about those things - but I hope the above info helped you some.

Now to finish off with my last little photo and my closing thoughts - you know I always have closing thoughts....

You see the crepe pan hanging on the left, next to the French wire turret? That was the very first gift Randy ever gave me. See how beautiful it looks, hanging on a French pot rack, against an aged wall, lit under tarnished silver pitchers? Very vintage and so very elegant....

Let me paint another picture for you. Randy and I had been dating only three weeks when one day, he drove up to my workshop, on a very hot day in May, in his very large, beat up old 1995 Ford pickup truck that has a huge crack going over the entire windshield. This truck is a sort of a shiny teal green in color, and so big I have to jump up to get into it. (He has another car, but this is his work truck, which by the way, I absolutely love driving around to haul my stuff...). He pulls up to the back of my workshop, where I have my garage doors open, and I am a very sweaty mess, working on a kitchen, on a deadline, wearing a bandanna, no make-up, in my work apron (one that looks like I have been butchering pigs), and I am shocked to see him pull up in his big ole truck because I am not expecting him (to say the least).

Out of this big truck jumps out this big guy in his barber uniform, which is a baggy white smock and black pants, but also wearing a big grin. He walks around to the other side of his truck and opens the door and gets something out. Now you have to picture what this must look like to someone who might be watching from the parking lot. My workshop was behind my store and very visible to the public. I am so tired, hot, sweaty, and looking really bad in a very dirty workshop and now a big old green truck with a cracked windshield drives up and a bald guy in a weird outfit hops out while a dirty woman wearing a "butcher apron" stands at the garage door watching him and the whole scene must have looked like "The Deliverance Gone Urban." Randy turns and shuts the door and then turns towards me with the most beautifully wrapped gift (he said he wrapped it himself) and hands it to me. I can't imagine what in the world he could have gotten me. We have known each other only three weeks.

I wipe my hands on the bandanna on my head (yes I do that because my apron is too dirty to even wipe my hands on...) and I open the gift and discover the beautiful (and extremely expensive) crepe pan. You see, I was in the process of closing my store when I met Randy. And at some point, I must have mentioned that I was looking forward to having a "real" life again, meaning, having time to myself again. I briefly mentioned that I missed cooking and that once upon a time, I used to be a really great cook and that I wondered if I even could remember how to make crepes because it had been so long. He told me the pan was a house warming gift (I was moving out of my apartment above the store). He also told me that he hoped someday, I would make him some crepes, when things slowed down after I closed up the store.

So, to someone who may have been passing by in the parking lot and  looking at this pitiful couple in their pitiful clothes, driving this pitiful truck and seeing a woman working manual labor in the awful heat, it would be so easy to pass judgement based only on appearances - and I have lost a couple of "friends" who have judged me or my choices based only on appearance and not on substance. 

And now, that same crepe pan that was given to me in a filthy workshop, on a hot day in May, by a man driving a beat up truck, is now hanging beautifully on a French pot rack, softly lit, in a tiny kitchen that both he and I built together, side-by-side, as husband and wife. And every single time I pass by that pan, I think of two things: the handsome man that drove up in the beat up truck and handed me a beautifully wrapped gift....and the a handsome man with a five o'clock shadow, doing a chicken-hula dance in our tiny kitchen just because he wanted to make me laugh - which he did.

And yes, I remembered how to make crepes. 

It might be very cliche, but it is very true: don't judge a book by its cover. Whether it is a grimy kitchen, a man driving a beat up truck, or a woman in a dirty bandanna, it all resulted in one very beautiful, shiny crepe pan hanging on a French pot rack in one very beautiful, tiny kitchen that is full of love....and chicken-hula dances.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

 This is short, sweet, and bloody...yes, you read correctly...this is no longer "blogspot," but "bloodspot." (Graphic photos below - you have been warned....)

This is also a very quick promotion to get you all out to KS City for the April in Paris Show that I, along with other very dedicated and hopefully non-bloody dealers, store owners and bloggers who will be selling their wares. Please check out Miss Frenchie for more info! 

Not wishing to burst anyone's bubble out there about the glamour of living in the creative world, but just to let you know how much we dealers, store owners, artists, boutique owners...love you and want your business...we will even bleed for you....well... only those that are really dedicated to you, that is! :-) 

If you get a chance to stop by at the show and say "hi" and let me give you a hug, I am attaching a few pics to just give a little reality to what you will see at the show which will hopefully be a woman with clean, washed  hair, wearing something other than a bright orange apron that looks like I have butchering cattle). 

Since returning from my quick trip to Texas, I have been super busy doing everything but getting ready for this show - more on what I have been up to when I return - lots to tell - but I am playing catch up and must run now... 

If I don't see you at the April in Paris show in KS City, wouldn't it be great if we could meet and I mean really meet someday in Paris?? And I am not talking, Paris, Texas, or meeting with that wealthy, weight-challenged woman who hasn't discovered crispy creme doughnuts yet; I am talking about the real deal - wouldn't that be great?? Okay, I am procrastinating. Really gotta go tag things now....right after I go eat the other chocolate bunny ear with some peanut butter.

Talk to you soon, hope to hug you more, and would love to get rid of my stuff...

Take care and have a wonderful and very happy Easter - it is so comforting to know that Easter is the day to remember that we will never have to deal with the big stuff (or the small stuff) all on our own ever again.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

For those who love a story:

Below is a slide-by-slide story of my trying to lift out a very broken, very heavy French chandelier and by the expression on my face, you can see that all does not go so well...

I am struggling trying to lift a heavy  French chandelier out of a bag...

I quickly realize I am strong enough to slice right into my thumb...

...And I am grateful that this is pics only and not volume and you can't see my mouth and the word I am forming behind my fist and thumb..

And for those of you who are squeamish, I posted the pic below just for you, because if I had to see it and deal with it, so do you. There is a reason why I did not go to nursing school....

And after I did my "nursing" of the wound, it refused to "heal" and so I just kept working...so if you find a "little color" on any of my items, it comes free of charge!! :-) I am sorry this isn't my best beauty shot that you are use to getting of my interiors - but hey, it can't always be eye-candy!!! (And no, I had no idea I had so much freakin dirt on my face until I downloaded the pics....I went straight to the shower when finished without even looking at the mirror. When I saw the pics I don't know which freaked me out more, the grime and grit or the bloody mess ....and they say Randy is the lucky one???? I beg to differ...)

Proof to the IRS that I really do use my nails as tools and so my writing them off as a business expense is legit.

Okay, okay! I just got three emails from some lovely readers who, thank you, yes my thumb seems to be better today, but while asking about my thumb, what my concerned readers really wanted was some eye-candy on the broken chandeliers! Due your devotion to my ever-so-irregular postings, I snapped some quick pics (okay, it was an excuse to stop tagging - which I hate doing...) and loaded up a few. Now, gotta get busy again. And thank you for emailing me so quickly. I just finished my bunny ear, came back to the computer, and your emails were waiting. I really do appreciate you more than you realize and I do mean that.

Elizabeth. 

So Much For Going to the Gym...

(Above is a how Me, Debi, and Carolyn looked after a day in the Bermuda Triangle - read below for clarification...)

A week ago Thursday, I am in my office, working away, trying to get 90 things done at once and accomplishing none of them, the phone rings mid-morning only to hear on the other end of the line, "Hey girl friend, whatcha doin'???" I immediately knew the southern twang - it was Debi Mattingly, the Junkin Yaya, of Yaya Chique in Houston. She is wanting me to go with her to Warrenton and Roundtop (Texas) antique show with her this year and of course I can't because I have a zillion things to do, but we chat anyway and catch up. She tries one more time to convince me to go shopping with her and so I ask her, "So when is the antique show this year, anyway?" And she replies, "Tomorrow." She thinks nothing of the fact that it is already almost noon, and I live in St. Louis, and the show is near Houston, Texas. She continues to entice me and I continue to say no.

But, I haven't been in several years, and I didn't really want to do the 937 things that I was trying to do in the next two days, but not accomplishing any of them anyway, and so I quickly called up my handsome barber husband and ran it by him, to which he happily agreed that I needed a break and gave his blessing (actually, practically booted me out the door because I think he wanted a free weekend of hanging out, eating pizza, watching guy movies as loud as he wanted...but I digress...). So, before I know it, I got a plane ticket, I am driving to Walgreens to buy travel toothpaste, shampoo, skittles, and People magazine, when only two hours earlier, I was just sitting in my office, minding own business, doing my work and wondering if I could find time to go to the the gym while also trying to convince myself that if I didn't go, I would be saving the environment by not driving the car and causing pollutants to fill the air....but packing for a quick trip to Texas was just the excuse I needed to procrastinate my work and so much for going to the gym....

The next morning, Friday, I was on the plane and was greeted with a "howdy" by Debi and her Texan hubby, Greg, and off we went talking, catching up, eating, more talking, lots of driving, and oh, did I mention talking? Greg offered to be our chauffeur for the day and drove us 72 miles to Warrenton. We made a couple of stops to hunt for antiques along the way and right away I met up with some people who knew me who knew someone who knew my friend who knew my store friend's sister who knew my cousin's dog walker who reads my blog who also has a blog.... and so I am going to be upfront right now before I go any further.

So please hear me loud and clear:  

I am the WORST (and I mean worst) when it comes to remembering names, places, blog names, and faces. If you don't believe me, ask my very good friend, Sharon Derry, of Secret Leaves, who worked for me for almost 5 years. She has told me many times that she has never seen anyone as bad at remembering names or places than me. Just to give you an example, I had met a woman in Warrenton (will tell you about her later) and only MOMENTS later, I went back to her, and I said, "I'm sorry, did you say you liked to go by Christy, or Christine?" And thankfully she gave me a friendly smile and said, "Neither, I go by Joanne." And we cracked up laughing. So, I only tell you this because I am dreading showing photos of people later in this blog because I know I will get blog people wrong, faces mixed up and even locations - so I may just be vague and let you figure it out - or let someone leave a comment and correct me. But just know I loved meeting everyone and it was great, great fun getting to know the people that goes with the blogs, the readers of my blog that I met, and the wonderful vendors and artists. If I get you all mixed up it isn't because you weren't spectacular people, it is just the wiring in my brain runs a little short in the name/face department.

Okay back to the adventure.

No sooner than did we arrive and parked in the field did I tell Debi to watch out for the cow patties. And I would say it took her only about 30 seconds to find the biggest, juiciest, cow patty to roll her shopping cart right through. Greg, her ever devoted husband, was glad to point out the evidence for all to see in blogger land. (He also was a sweetheart and washed off the cart for us when we got home so our cart would be patty-free for the next day.) 

We looked around and wondered how the vendors would fare with the high winds and threatening clouds. Having done shows before (actually that is how I started out), I know how hard it is to set up and when weather acts us, it can just throw off an entire show. I hadn't been to this show in several years, and I was very surprised at how few shoppers there were. Of course, this was the first day, and I wasn't there for the following weekend. The vendors seemed to have good spirits though. 

I got the opportunity to meet and befriend Carolyn Westbrook, of Carolyn Westbrook Home. She and I hit it off immediately. 

Me, Carolyn Westbrook and Debi Mattingly

Of course I love her look, her bedding and her style. I was going on and on about her look and her set-up in her space and she said, "Of course, Elizabeth you love my look, it is a lot like yours!" I laughed and said, "Well, you obviously have good taste!" We seemed to spend a lot of time at Carolyn's area, which I named "The Bermuda Triangle" because I couldn't seem to get out of a 100 yard by 100 yd triangle for most of the days there. And when I did make it out, I got sucked back in again and again.

But while in "Berumda, Texas" I did get meet Chris Brown, of Urban Prairie Refueled and photographer, Cheryl of Stash Studios

Those of you who may not know of these two (and if you don't, you should! :-) they are talented beyond words. They have an edge and an eye that most of us don't and they see things in a way that only by visiting their sites will you understand why I admire their work. I had never met Chris nor Cheryl in person until now, and it was an exciting moment for me - I have been a long time admirer of their talents and Chris honored me a couple of years ago by featuring me as one of many artists on his blog.

On Sunday, I discovered that there is Blog Party, hosted by Theresa of Garden Antqs Vintage who provided lots of wine, cheese, fruit, but mostly a gathering of women who loved to laugh. I met many wonderful women that I am sure I will forget some names or mix up some names but here are a sampling:

I believe I have this correct, and if I don't someone will correct me. From left to right: Amy of Whisper Wood Cottage, Theresa of Garden Antqs Vintage (our fabulous hostess), Mindy of Primitiques 'n Poetry, Shelly from Sweet Pea, me, and Theresa of Time Worn Interiors. 

Do ya'll magazine junkies remember a couple of years ago that article in Country Home magazine (or was it Country Living?) with the trailer home that was all done up very, very cool, in Shabby Chic style, but even better? It was a fantastic article - anyway, if I don't screw this up, Theresa, the woman in the blue skirt, is the owner and designer of that trailer! I hope I got this right, but I was very excited about meeting her and I loved that article. I am a firm believer that with some imagination - space, location, and size have nothing to do with making a house a real home and Theresa proved that.

While at the blog party, I look up and I see a very familiar face with a look of disbelief, then curiousity, then, frustration, then finally a half smile - I think? Can't tell, she is too far away, but at least she is waving - yes, that is Debbie of Curious Sofa, waving at me - I don't go near her because I am pretty sure she is stronger than me - I may be faster, but she looks stronger and I didn't tell her I was in town. I didn't tell anyone for that matter - I didn't even know myself. Actually I am kidding about Debbie - she came up and gave me a hug and we caught up some and basically we both know we are all business when it comes to antique markets. I have no doubt she and Carol of Raised in Cotton, found some great stuff. They flew and then rented a truck and drove back. Carol, Debbie, and I will be doing Ms. Frenchie's Market in Kansas April 17, 18 - more on that later.

Debbie of Curious Sofa waves to me in surprise, but hugs me below - or is she squeezing me to a slow death for not telling her I was in town? :-)

I also had the opportunity to meet with Sue Whitney and get an autographed copy of her third book, Junk Beautiful, Outdoor Edition. We had a nice chat and I was inspired to work even harder on my own book (yes, I really am working on - more than you think - more on that later!) Below is me, Sue, Carolyn, and Debi.

 

I also had the fun opportunity of meeting and running into friends and people who either knew of me, heard of me, or has read my blog. I am always so flattered when that happens (not that it happens often, but it amazes me how thoughtful and kind you are). While sitting at Carolyn Westbrook's table in the Bermuda Triangle, two women were walking by and stopped and were trying to decide if I was who they thought I was. I was totally unaware of this, because, I was gabbing with Carolyn (what a shock, me talking). Suddenly, these two women just start to scream and scream in delight, and Debi, Junkin Yaya, almost spilled her tea as she walked past them, and these two women, with huge sunglasses on, standing about 15 feet away kept screaming at me and yelling, "It's us! it's us!!!" They were jumping up and down and so happy, and I was happy too, but I had no idea who they were. Finally, they took their sunglasses off, and jogged my memory, and reminded me that about 7 or so years ago, I painted Janet Cox's kitchen black, who lives in San Antonio, TX, and her friend Joanne's bathroom, aged ivory. I did these two projects under the gun, right before I left for St. Louis and have never seen them since. They were so kind and told me how they followed my blog and read everything I wrote and I was so touched by their sincerity. What touched me the most was that they went on and on about my writing long before they complimented me on my design work - which meant a lot to me because I have been doing a lot of writing "behind the scenes" so to speak (more on that later). But below are my two biggest "fans" from Warrenton and they made my day with their genuine sincerity, and while they said how much I inspired them, it was them that really inspired me and encouraged me more than they will ever know and I want to thank them so much for taking time to talk with me.

Oh - remember how I said earlier how horrible I am with names and places? Well, at one point, I was pulled away from our conversation and when I got back to them, I asked, "Now, please tell me again, do you go by 'Christy' or 'Christine'?" And she looks at me blankly and says, "I go by Joanne" We all just laughed and I think they realized that some things never change.

Joanne (aka Christine) me, and Janet of San Antonio

Okay, below are a mix of photos that I have been trying for over 30 minutes to load in order and it isn't working, so I give up. I will try to notate, but just enjoy!

Shadow box above from Willow Nest.

Linda from Willow Nest with me. 

Debi behind her counter at Yaya Chique.

Had to take this photo in honor of my husband, the fantastic barber!

Blog party!

I have more photos but I am pooped!  I do want to close with a few thoughts...

I enjoyed my time at Warrenton and meeting so many people. I didn't get to shop nearly as much as I normally would, but the Bermuda Triangle was in full force!  :-)  I did learn a lot about myself though. I learned that I have grown more than I gave myself credit for. I learned that I am really okay with where I am and what I am doing with my life at this point. While in Warrenton, I actually enjoyed being on the sidelines and watching others "do their thing." I didn't have anything to peddle and I actually enjoyed that! I didn't have store to sell, or a booth to empty (not yet at least), or a show to promote, or a product line to market, or brand to get out, or a book to push (hopefully some day though), or anything going on that required me to get out there and get my share of the pie so to speak. And the best part of all of that is that I am truly okay with that. I didn't have any little nagging voice in my head telling me I should be doing more, creating more, selling more, getting on-line more, starting a facebook page, twitter, flicker, or whatever. Whether this is good or bad for my business, I don't know, and I really don't worry about it at this point. Maybe later I will, but that is later.  Being around all the vendors and all the store owners and all dealers made me realize that while I admire their talent, hard work, and creativity, I am very happy to be on own path right now. Going to this show gave me the validation that I needed that I am exactly where I need to be right now and I am making all the right choices and I am very happy about that.

I am happy to share my path with you as I discover all its twists and turns. So far, it is good. Very good.

Happy trails to you too and may you discover that your path is actually leading you to an exciting destination...

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

Soup Kitchen to Super Kitchen Part One

Hello!

It is amazing how the time passes and how much I think of you all and I often wonder if time passes just as quickly for you as it does for me. I get so many wonderful emails asking me to write more often and I am so very grateful for the encouraging words - as I miss writing very much! Thank you for your concerns and taking time to write me. It often boggles my mind how I let life interfere with my true love - writing.

This will be a quick update and when I return from my very sudden "surprise trip" I will update you more on what I have been up to. My year began with my need to turn our "soup kitchen" into a "super kitchen" on a limited (very limited) budget. Our kitchen will be featured in Romantic Homes' June issue, but below is a sneak peek at the process. It is just a cosmetic make-over.

One morning, after staring and our studying kitchen (again) I mentioned to my handsome groom, Randy, that something just had to be done with our kitchen...I could no longer allow it to remain in this state of repair...I mean, this was no matter of differing tastes, but rather a matter of torn tiles, cracked walls, and burnt counter tops. I am pretty sure the kitchen hadn't been touched since 1940's. I bet him I could re-do the entire kitchen for less than $500. So, being a very competitive couple (remember, we met running in the park while training for a marathon), he took me up on the challenge. Actually, I wasn't so sure I could do it, but I was willing to try.

Actually, as I thought about it some more, I realized that there must be some other people out there in the same position: what does one do when a kitchen needs a total gutting, but the funds are yet a few years away to do it properly and one can't stand to look at it one more day? I was sure I could find a way to do our kitchen cheaply, quickly, and end up loving it, even if the results only lasted a couple of years. Besides, if we do get to gut it and put in a new kitchen like is really needed, I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time or money on it right now anyway.

I won't show you very many "after" shots, but below are some before shots. You will have to check out the June issue of Romantic Homes to get the full deal. I believe it will be a fairly long feature. I do explain the "how to's" and give tips.

I would like to add a personal note about doing our little kitchen. When some of my girlfriends had seen it, they all expressed how much personality went into it and how they couldn't believe the change. While I appreciate their comments and compliments, what I think they were experiencing was something that we all have the ability to include in our homes...and that is our own personal touch. Whenever we take the time to add that little "something" that is truly ours and ours alone, that is when we turn our houses into homes.

Yes, I love my little kitchen, but what I love even more is hearing my handsome husband tell me each morning how nice the kitchen looks. And I enjoy watching him crack open his little soft boiled egg in his little German egg cup,while he is sitting in his Barber uniform, and watching him scoop out the soft yoke with his tiny spoon and he then looks up and smiles at me and says, "I just love having breakfast with you in our little breakfast room...." Beginning our day with our little breakfast, in our quiet, little breakfast room, is the little personal touch that makes our house a home.

Enjoy the sneak peek of our kitchen and more photos of the finished kitchen soon to come!

Also: next posting: More info on the April in Paris show in Kansas City - don't miss it!

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

BEFORE PHOTOS:

SNEAK PEEK AT AFTER (MORE TO COME LATER):

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope 2009 has started out well for you all. I find that the new year always makes me think of the previous year and all that I did or did not do. The most exciting thing that happened to me in 2008 is marrying my wonderful husband, Randy. Right after the honeymoon, there was Thanksgiving, then the antique show in Kansas City, then Christmas and so on. I am finally getting to my wedding photos for you to view. I decided to make my wedding photos a new blog, as you will notice in the top left corner of this blog. My Carriage House Wedding is a new blog that will be updated frequently. I will post photos, wedding tips, behind the scenes work, family, friends, and continue to add photos as my friends and family give them to me. Please check this blog periodically as it will be updated. Also, please visit Atia Thurman's website, the photographer of my wedding. If you are on a diet, this eye candy is super delicious without an ounce of fat! :-)

I am finding much happiness with my new life. By "new" life, I simply mean that at age 45, I feel much younger than I am, I feel happier with my life's decisions, and I feel like I have lots of new adventures waiting for me. I want to thank you all for sticking by me when my posts aren't published as often as I would like. I appreciate all the emails and comments and I continue, to this day, find myself amazed at how many of you take the time out of your busy lives to send me a quick email or comment. I will never take that for granted and I am so very grateful for all of you. You inspire me more than you will ever know.

My next post will be some "eye candy" of a couple of article that were published in Romantic Homes magazine a few months back. I didn't announce my articles like I usually do, as I explained in an earlier post, I had a few troublesome months. I thought I would start the new year out with some photos of some projects and also tell you of some future projects that I am currently working on...thank you again for taking an interest.

Just in case you are wondering about the photo...that is my little guy, Monty. He is my little pug that now lives in Texas with his sister, Lulu, and their daddy. I miss him so much and when I took this photo, he was patiently waiting for me while I was on a photo shoot for Romantic Homes. He just sat and waited and waited. The wrinkles on his forehead are from him thinking he heard me open some food package and he is looking hopeful. Unfortunately for him, I was getting out a memory card for my camera, which was packaged in cellophane. His photos always makes me smile and I thought what a nice way to begin the new year - with a smile!

From my happy house to your house,

Elizabeth

"You're Not in Kansas Anymore"

Remember the tornado that took Dorothy and Toto right out of her home and into the land of Oz? "Your not in Kansas anymore" as was told to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. The version I heard customers say over and over again at our first French Market was more along the lines of, "This is as close as I will ever get to Paris..." If you didn't get a chance to enjoy the goodies that I brought along with Debbie of Curious Sofa, Carol Spinski of Raised in Cotton, Julie Reed of Reed Design, Karla Nathan of Karala's Cottage, Gwen McClure and Teri Eliott French by Design, and Beth Leintz, then don't fret, you will get a chance to shop "Paris" when we have our April in Paris market in April 2009, located right in the heart of Kansas City on a wonderful historical property, Alexander Majors, with a great home and barn.

It has taken me several unsuccessful tries to upload these photos in a certain order, but the blog did not want to cooperate, so in order to somewhat be "timely" I am just loading the photos, in no particular order and will make little commentary. Since my photos are in no special order, I will note only some, but not all for fear of identifying someone's product or a vendor incorrectly. For those of you who want more than just eye candy, at the end of this post, I give you a "behind the scenes" account of my adventure to Kansas along with photos. Mostly, I just hope you enjoy the photos and I hope to meet you at our next April in Paris show!

I want to thank Debbie for inviting me to participate and I especially want to thank Carol (Raised in Cotton) for her great help and hard work in assisting me with unloading my truck. I want to thank Beth, Karla, Julie, Gwen and Teri for making me feel so welcomed in their group. I also thank my mother-in-law, Diane Benitz, for bringing me some forgotten items and I want to thank all of those who attended, and those of you who sent well wishes. It was a HUGE success and a delight to meet so many of my readers. I look forward to meeting even more of you.

And awning, old post cards blown up to poster size and holiday lights greet the customers with a holiday French Flair!

Now these are my kind of people!! Sylvia, Debra, and Jimmy drove 13 hours from New Mexico just for the show! Debbie of Curious Sofa (on left, with cute hair and gorgeous eyes) and I got a photo of these wonderful people. They drove all night, Friday night, arrived in KS City in the morning, had breakfast, and waited in the parking lot for our doors to open. Debra told me that she saw me pull up in my huge truck and when I got out, she and Sylvia exclaimed, "There's Elizabeth!" I laughed when she told me this, and I noted that although Jimmy was polite, he had an expression that told me that he just didn't understand all the fuss...I don't blame you Jimmy, I don't understand it either, but it sure makes a gal feel good to know that someone thinks she is worth getting excited over! I just love all of my delusional customers/readers! :-)

I have to do a little bragging....my very good friend and former employee, Sharon Derry of Secret Leaves Paperworks, and her partner, Ann Hirshfield, supplied me with some their one-of-a-kind goodies such as these holiday labels and stickers. She also included greeting cards, scrap journals and more. Visit her site to order your own stash - this stash went quickly! It was nice to hear ladies commenting on their items with glee such as "Oh! Look at this journal! I can't believe all the work that went into it..." It was nice to see so many customers who "got it" and appreciate hand-crafted, very unique products such as Secret Leaves offers.

This is the "before" picture of my section. And below is the "after."

A GRAPHIC LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES....WARNING!!

This section may not be suitable for all audiences. Realistic content includes graphic tools, no make-up, ugly trucks, and hungry, tired women in a state of confusion as to why they agreed to do this in less than 2 weeks.

My adventure began with my forgetting my personal tool box. I asked Debbie, of Curious Sofa, did she have tools? She pulls out her bent "hammer" and said, "Will this do?" We cracked up laughing right there in her living room and I said, "This is going to be a long day, isn't it?"

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before I even arrived in Kansas City I had a very short time to dig through my HUGE mess of inventory, clean it, price it, pack it, and load it. And in my defense, I would like to remind my dear readers that I JUST got married, went on a honeymoon, Thanksgiving, and JUST (and I mean JUST) packed away all of my wedding stuff when I get a call from dear

Debbie asking, "Wanna do a French Market here in Kansas City?"

My reply: "Sure! When?"

She replied, "Next weekend."

And so the story continues...

For those of you who think I have a great stash in a well-organized warehouse...well, uh, I hate to burst any bubble you may have, but here is a peek of my "well-organized" stash...

Here I am, at 2A.M. wrapping French soap in a dingy dungeon with my ever-faithful "Big Bertha" keeping an eye on me. Bertha was at the show with me. She has low self-esteem issues and to help her out, I keep her close to me,

and don't let those 1880's skinny mannequins harass her. I told her that she has a beautiful spirit in spite of it being surrounded with a lot of padding.

And speaking of dungeons...I am currently looking for a small space for my inventory and photo studio in the St. Louis area or surrounding areas. I am willing to consider all avenues...garage with an apartment over it, warehouse with windows, carriage house...must be cheap and must have good lighting for my photo studio. If you know of anything, please feel free to email me! Thank you!

On with my adventure....after a 4 hour drive in my 16' truck (packed full), I arrive at Debbie's at midnight, where we gab until 2AM, and I am up and out the next day by 10AM. I am tired after a week of digging, loading, cleaning, pricing, and packing then driving. But I knew the real work was about to begin - so I decide to begin with a big grin...

It looked like a huge yard sale with my stuff spread out everywhere. You are only seeing the half of it - the other half is all along the sidewalk...and I like how my truck is near the covered wagon. Can you imagine if I had a store back in the covered wagon days? My poor horses would surely run off at first chance, but I bet I could barter my way out of an Indian attack if I had to...

Carol, of Raised in Cotton, I am sure regretted when she sweetly asked me, "Can I help you unload Elizabeth?" She asked before I opened my back door of the truck...she was a great help, never complained one bit, and was careful with all my items. I REALLY appreciated it so much! She is the nicest woman I have ever met (and very talented too!)

This is Carol and I with an empty truck and surrounded by all our hard work.

Karla of Karla's Cottage, was just moving in as I arrived. It is amazing how the barn, unloading, and upacking mess can turn into such a beautiful event....

Okay, I am only including this photo for bragging rights...I drove that big truck in a field, around the barn and backed it up to the door, between the flag pole and building without any trouble at all. And on top of that? None of my inventory arrived damaged or broken! I have to admit, that surprised me.

Here is Debbie, about midnight, working away at tagging her items. My cream table became the "work and eat" table which is always needed during a show setup. Hence, it is the last item to decorate, display and figure out

what to do with since most items are already displayed. But with Debbie's pile of tarnished silver and

my 2 giant pairs of corbels, we got a great display.

And finally, at some hour in the wee morning, Debbie shows us her "lacy bat" lamp shade. It didn't turn out the way she wanted and we all laughed so hard. We get such lovely emails and comments about how creative we are, but just to let you know, we have our moments too.

Thank you for allowing me to share behind the scenes for you. I thought you would find it interesting to see how "glamorous" our lives are and how, right before you walk through the doors of our show, we are scrambling to make everything "just so" for you, our wonderful customers/friends. We feel very, very fortunate to live a creative life and we don't take it for granted. But I also think it is important to let others know that along with the path we chose, there are very long hours, lots of physical labor, lots expenses, risks, large amounts of time away from family, and true exhaustion after the creative juices are greatly challenged. But, for some of us crazy, creative types, our spirit soars higher than our doubts and that is why we do what we do.

It really is that simple: My creative spirit soars higher than my doubts.

May your creative spirit soar among the clouds.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

It Took Only Fifteen Minutes...

Fifteen Minutes....that is the amount of time between my writing my last posting stating:

"And for those of you who are so lovingly curious about what I am going to do next? I can honestly say (guilt-free):

I don't know yet.
But you will be the first to know. "

And only 15 minutes later did I find myself on the phone with Debbie Dusenberry, of Curious Sofa, accepting her invitation to participate in Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante next week!

So, the dilemma is: do I post photos of my wedding or do I keep my promise and let you "be the first to know"? So, as you can see, the wedding photos will have to wait for now. I have a lot to tell, a lot of people to thank and brag about, and a lot pretty photos to upload. I don't want to rush through it and just get something up...so I will wait until after I get back from the European-Inspired Market next week to share wedding photos.

So, what is this European-inspired market? Click on Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante to get more information. But basically, I just found out about it and without giving too much thought, agreed to do it. It will be located in Kansas City in Alexander Majors barn, part of an historical home. The vendors involved have a love of anything European, a vintage feel, and are known to most readers of my blog and similiar blogs as well.

There is Debbie Dusenberry of the Curious Sofa. And unless you have been living in a cave, (now if it is a well-decorated cave, that may be the exception), everyone knows the famed and extremely talented Debbie. She and I have shopped together and our tastes are so similiar, that when we enter an antique mall, she will aske me, "left, or right?" And I will say "right..." And without anymore words, she heads down the aisles on the left, and I head for the right and we begin to pile up our treasures on the counter as we shop our way, and eventually cross paths, and keep going. Our items on the counter always look like they all belong together and even though we are great friends, we do keep a teasing, watchful eye on our goodies to make sure they don't "happen" to end up in the wrong bag! :-)

The other very talented vendors, I have not yet met personally (but looking forward to!) but I know their work and I am sure you do as well. Vendors such as Gwen McClure and Teri Elliot of French by Design for those of you who must have French antique furniture; Carol Spinski of Raised in Cotton, for vintage inspired goods; if you love knit, crochet, felted scarves and brooches then you will want to see Julie Reed; for collectibles and odd little finds there is Beth Leinitz;and Karla Nathan was "green" before "green" became popular...she recycles vintage finds into charm bracelets.

Please come out and join in the fun, if you can. I would love to meet you and give you a hug. I will be selling "just stuff" from my inventory that is stored away. Having such short notice, it will be a "get it while you can" sale at my booth. I will have some furniture and whatever stuff I find in storage and I can honestly say, I really don't know what I have left. However, I believe this event may happen again in the Spring. If so, and if invited to participate, I will have time to hunt down some really good treasures, custom design a few pieces, and even have a few surprises in store. But this first time around, I will have items "show cheap" because I want a reason to shop for "new" old stuff for the second show!

I need to get busy and I hope to see you next week in Kansas City. And thank you all for the lovely comments on my last posting. I can't wait to do the wedding posting next. And after that I will post about Miss Frenchie's show.

So funny how I got only 15 minutes of "I don't know what I am going to do next"....and something just pops up. I think being opened minded about possibilities also opens doors....and in this case...a barn door and a cool one at that!

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

You Will Be The First To Know

This is the very bench where Randy and I first met, where he proposed to me, and where I continue to visit and sit in peace. I have been visiting "our" bench quite a bit these last several months...mainly to rest and to think quietly. I realize that most of you know that I just got married, and I promise to tell you all about it and publish lots of photos, but for now, I would like to catch you up on a few personal things in my life. But, I promise, wedding photos are to come soon. For those who can't wait, Debbie, my dear friend of Curious Sofa, has photos and lovely commentary about my wedding and you can visit her blog to get an early peek.

But for now, I just would like to talk to you from my heart.

First, thank you all for the lovely emails, well wishes and concerns. They are greatly appreciated and they mean a lot to me. I wish you all the very best too.

I have always been upfront and personal with my wonderful cyber friends, but I have struggled as to whether to share my personal struggle these last several months. My husband (feels nice to say that) reminded me that my blog isn't just about design and pretty photos. It is also about my personal insight of life. He reminded me that my readers have their own struggles, and writing about mine may comfort others. I thought about what he said and so I decided to share.

As you know, almost a year ago, I got into a horrible car accident. I was hit by a drunk driver, flipped my car twice, and only a light post saved me from going over the bridge down to the highway below. I walked away with no broken bones, not even a broken finger nail. It happened on my birthday, December 11th ,early evening. I did get a very strong hit to the back of my head with a gallon paint can (it was a full can of course) and that bump set off a chain of problems - both physical and emotional.

Since I came out alive, and I felt so lucky, I didn't pay attention to some signs that all was not really okay. I much later discovered that I was in denial about the effects the accident really had on me. I lost a great amount of sleep due to my pain in my arm and I had a headache everyday, all day long, for over two months right after the accident. After that, I have had many headaches that has kept me in bed many times. I was not use to living in chronic pain and I wasn't dealing with it well at all - but I was in denial about that for quite a while.

I wanted to just get back to "normal" and get on with all the plans I had made for 2008! I had just got engaged, I was moving out of my home, putting inventory aside for my Internet store, finishing up my book, plan a wedding, and so on. I had my whole year planned out and I wasn't about to let some accident keep me from my plans.

I won't bore you with any more details, but what I want to share is that several months after the accident, I felt like something was wrong and I didn't feel myself at all. Not really depression. Not really sad...but just not myself. I cried at the drop of the hat, seemed fearful of losing Randy (in an accident), I became fearful and unreasonably worried when he didn't answer his cell phone on his way home from work (I was sure he was killed or in an accident) and finally, I went to get help with these irrational fears.

I was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and I learned that I really wasn't as "okay" as I thought (or hoped I was). PTSD is a condition that I wouldn't wish on anyone. In my case, I would at times panic and freak out while in the car when I thought a car was driving way too close to me. I once pulled over on the side of the road and called Randy in tears because I had experienced road rage from another driver and I was too scared to drive home. While driving, I would have to really study the white lines on the road to convince myself that the driver next to me isn't too close to me. Many times, while Randy drove, I argued that he was too close to a car, going too fast, or just basically scared him with my gasps as a car pulled out of a driveway. I had always thought him to be an excellent driver up till then.

My counselor explained to me that my short temper was anger that I had for my life being so disrupted and living with the chronic pain. I had horrible nightmares that scared Randy to death as I screamed out for help in my sleep. I was not fun to live with. And I felt like I wasn't the same person anymore. I missed my old self and really wanted her back. My counselor explained that a significant life event always, always changes a person's life and there are no exceptions. None.

A part of me was gone and I had to grieve for her absence and then get to know and accept the new me. And during this process, I had to rest, rest, rest. I disconnected myself from most people, friends and others. I didn't feel like myself and I wasn't sure I even liked my new self. I was very forgetful, and got overwhelmed very easily. I stopped my design work late last spring and have had a few other personal issues that I had to deal with since. I have had over 110 doctor's appointments, physical therapy appointments, counseling and MRI's, X-rays and so on since the accident. I really didn't have the time (due to so many doctor appointments) or energy to be the happy, fun, creative person that I felt that others expected from me. And I didn't want to let others in my life at that time because I was afraid I would disappoint them and their expectations of me.

The blow to my head from the paint can caused some visual issues, headaches, and slight abnormal "spikes" in my brain during several EEG tests. These spikes were never clear as to what was going on except perhaps slight seizures. The doctors feel that I was experiencing post-concussion symptoms. Well, at least that explains why I didn't feel like myself. And the counseling helped in that I no longer felt like I was going crazy, that everything I was going through was a "normal" reaction. My reaction was delayed, as explained to me, because I was in denial and I was so busy feeling grateful to be alive and in one piece. It wasn't until after the holidays and several busy projects did I slow down enough to let it sink in how close I came to losing my life, the pain I was in, and the emotional turmoil of survivor's guilt. Not less than a week after my accident, a friend called to tell me that her young son-in -law-to-be just lost both his parents in a car accident...why did I survive and they didn't? He is to be married soon and neither of his parents will be there. It seems unfair and that feeling of guilt, grieving, anger, and fear are all part of having PTSD. And feeling those emotions just simply made me want to be alone, rest, and not be pulled in so many directions from so many different people.

So, if you have read this posting this far, I would like to reward you with it ending on a very good note and lessons learned. As I stated earlier, my counselor said I would never be quite the same again, and as much as I fought it, she is right. How am I different? Well, to my much dissatisfaction, I can't do as much as I use to and I am slower at getting things done and can really only do one thing at a time now. I don't like this one bit. But as my husband reminds me, most people do only one thing at a time. Another thing I am not too happy about is I sleep a lot more now. By that, I mean, I sleep 8 - 9 hours now, instead of only 4 or 5. Never mind that sleeping 8 hours is healthy, but it cuts into my work time, which means I get much, much less accomplished in one day. I don't like feeling so unproductive.

But, there are other things about the new me that I do enjoy. I no longer allow myself to be pulled like a piece of taffy in so many directions by so many people. I also find myself doing things (or not) that best serve my needs instead of always trying to meet other people's needs, wants, or expectations. That was a very hard thing for me to accept. It felt selfish and self-centered, but with time, I learned that it is a healthier way to live. And finally, one thing I like about my new self, that I really, really hated at first, is I am truly living my life without guilt or apology for not doing "it all". I let myself be convinced that I "should be doing this" or "should be doing that" and if I don't, I will fail others, my talent will be wasted, and I will let others down. I no longer feel guilty about not living up to the expectations of others. The only expectation I hope to meet is what God has planned for me and my life. I hope my life's path is truly the path He wants me on. And what is that path? I will have to wait and see.

So, how am I doing today? Well, I can't remember the last time I have been this happy. (Many photos from my wedding show me laughing and laughing). My headaches are less and less and after several treatments of acupuncture, my arm is so much better!! I have a husband that loves me dearly, good friends who are still my friends, even after my long absence from them, and I have so much to look forward to. I am taking time off from design work for the next couple of months just to rest and to be "happy." And for those of you who are so lovingly curious about what I am going to do next? I can honestly say (guilt-free):

I don't know yet.

But you will be the first to know.

And you know what? That is really okay with me. Writing this post was wonderful therapy for me - just the thing I needed to do...and I have you to thank. I had a very loving and caring friend tell me a while ago that "you are losing your fans if you don't keep up your blog..." The old Elizabeth would have felt very guilty and worried and would have got right to the computer and crank out a post. But the new Elizabeth just replied to her, "I know." And after I thought about what she said, I realized, that I don't write this blog to increase "fans" but rather, I share my photos, my design work, my thoughts, my adventures, and even my struggles with you because I feel a connection with you, my readers, my friends.

And even if there is only one left that still reads my blog and checks it now and again, then that is fine because I feel like I am having a conversation with just only you anyway. :-)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday...hug your family, eat lots of pie, and take a long nap....and I will talk to "only you" very soon!

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

"How Interesting!"

Welcome! Around my house, I have quite a few objects that could be considered "conversation starters." Which is ironic because I am not one really needing anything to start a gab fest. In fact, I find that my favorite topic is asking questions about the other person's life and their goings on. Which just now reminds me of a funny little story that I have to share, and I will keep it short....

Many, many years ago, while living in Germany, my ex-husband worked with several colleagues and I encouraged him to invite them to go out with us, as I was always excited about meeting new people. And being only 22 and living in Europe, everything was exciting to me. One evening, a colleague and his wife were to meet us at our apartment and the four of us were to go out to dinner. I have never met this American couple before and after the usual polite greetings we headed out to the car. The woman (I can't even remember her name) seemed "shy" and so I just began asking the usual questions such as: How long have you lived in Germany? Where are you originally from? Have you had the chance to travel anywhere yet? And she responded crisply with one-word answers: "One. Ohio. No."


She didn't look mad, or ill, or uncomfortable. So, in my excitement, I decided that she was indeed "shy." So I set out to make her comfortable during our short drive to the restaurant. I gave her a little info about us and then back to my questions: How did you meet your husband? How long will you be living here in Germany? I am learning to make ceramics, do you create any crafts? She finally shot me a look that could kill and said very sarcastically: "Hey! I got an idea, why don't I just write a book about my life and then you can read all about it."


Okay, I may be a little dense at times, but she made it very clear to me that she was not happy about our little outing. Dinner was uncomfortable to say the least and at age 22, I didn't have the life experience to realize not to take it personally. At that age, I didn't have the compassion to think that she had an issue which had nothing to do with me. I was very offended. If there was ever time I could have used a "conversation starter" it would have been during that painful dinner. I can laugh at it now, because it really was funny when I think about it. I am sure I drove her nuts, and she most likely just had a huge argument with her husband just moments prior to arriving at our apartment. Oh, and just to finish the story...we skipped dessert and I have no idea what happened to them because we never went out again. Moral of this story: Never let anyone keep you from ordering dessert! :-)

Well, back to my real reason for this post. I wanted to give you a little sneak peek at a conversation starter that was extremely popular in the Victorian era. In the August issue of Romantic Homes, I produced an article on Victorian Parlor Domes. My friend, Richard Cottrell, owns about 50 of them! Most of my blog postings are about my women friends, women business owners, and supporting women. But let's not forget about the important men in our lives. I have met and befriended some wonderful business men over the years that were kind, considerate, and so very helpful and encouraging to me and I consider Richard one of them.


Richard owns a beautiful antique store, Antique Center of St. Louis, along with his business partner, Louise Harre.

And if you are ever in the St. Louis area, his store is a must! Beautiful chandeliers, silver, mirrors, furniture. His store is what I like to call "a real antique store" only because he leaves his stuff alone - his items are "pure" where as I paint anything that stands still long enough. Even if pure antiques aren't your thing, you must stop by and see Prissy - his old Basset Hound who can be found (and heard) snoring beneath Richard's desk.

Richard's store always has several domes and I really knew nothing about them. When he explained he has a collection, and after seeing them, I just had to photograph them! Historically, a proper Victorian parlor would always have a dome to which visitors could comment upon and be impressed. "How interesting!" a guest may politely say to the hostess and thus the conversation begins. To read more about these fabulous domes, their history, and to find out which one is Richard's favorite, you will have to go out and get the August issue of Romantic Homes!


I have not seen the August issue at this time of posting my blog, but I will share some of my favorite shots with you. I would like to add that Richard's collection of domes are housed in his historical home in a little town of Clarksville, along the Mississippi river. Yes, the town experienced the flood. Richard's historical home was on the front page of the paper and it showed an eight foot tall wall of sand bags surrounding his entire property. Richard's property is directly across the street from the river. I spoke with Richard today, in fact, and his home survived. The basement flooded and the yard is trashed, but his home, and his treasures, are fine. Richard is also fine, but tired. His town was saved but surrounding towns didn't fare as well. I don't live near the river and my area was never a concern. Our prayers go out to those who are struggling with putting their lives back together.

So, please, enjoy the photos below, read the August issue of Romantic Homes, keep the flood victims in your prayers, hug the special man in your life, and have a safe 4th of July. No matter what struggles we all may have, I wouldn't want to struggle in any other country than our own. How lucky are we to live in a country with so many freedoms? We even have the freedom not to like our own country, if we so choose. But I happen to like it. A lot. And for a lot of reasons. Now that's a conversation starter fit for Independence Day! :-)

From my house to your house,
Elizabeth
www.elizabethhouse.us
Richard's store, Antique Center of St. Louis, 4732 McPherson, St. Louis, MO, phone: 314-367-0588





Below are a couple of "artsy" photos that I took in an unfinished room of Richard's historical home. It was the light that came through the huge window that caught my attention. And of course, I loved the old, cracked walls. I loved this room, but I am afraid Richard will be horrified that I am showing it. Don't worry, Richard, you couldn't have a mess of a room if you tried. Even in a flood. Love you!

Knit Wit

I am finally learning how to knit - sort of.
Actually, the knitting lesson was a Christmas present from my fiance. A gift can tell a lot about the giver and the receiver. My fiance gave me the knitting lessons thinking it would help me to slow down and relax. My gift to him? Rock climbing lessons! I thought it would be cool for us to climb the side of mountains together via lessons at our local rock climbing wall downtown. However, rock climbing is on hold until I am out of pain.

If you have been reading my blog for a bit, you will remember that I was in a serious car accident in December, on my birthday no less. I was hit by a drunk driver and flipped my car. If you missed that post click here to read it, if you wish. I haven't been able to blog as often as I would like to (and I miss it). The past several months have been challenging in many ways and stresses. Chronic pain is one of them. The accident forced me to slow down, whether I liked it or not and whether I learned how to knit or not. So, I decided to learn how to knit.

As I struggle to properly hold the knitting needles, keep the yarn around my fingers, and try not to let my little loops fall off my needles, it occurs to me that knitting is very much like my life lately. There are two general schools of knitting: either English style, known as "throwing" the yarn which is held in the right hand or Continental style, known as "picking" the yarn which is held in the left hand. It doesn't surprise me that I fell into the "picking" style since it requires me to maneuver my yarn in my left hand, even though I am mostly right-handed. Sort of like learning how to knit backwards. And there has been quite of few times that I conducted my life backwards as well.

For example, I married before I went to college. I became a supervisor before I was really ever an employee. I became a stage actress way before I ever took a single acting lesson. I owned my owned boutique having never before worked in a store. And I bought my first home without using a realtor or lawyer. I remember I bought my first plane ticket for Europe before I ever applied for my passport and I moved to Germany before I learned to speak German. I was insistent on learning how to make crepes when I didn't even own a crepe pan. And I made my first (and only) quilt having never picked up a sewing needle. I even once agreed to have "my" apartment photographed for a magazine before I even had the keys in my possession, nor any furniture for it in the first place! Oh what a tangle web we weave. But what a fun web it was!

Well, some would call my life experiences as "leaping before looking." Or maybe just plain nuts. Then there is my favorite, "What is wrong with you???" I think, truth be told, it is a recipe made of excitement mixed with a dash of impatience stirred with adventure. But it can be a recipe for disaster at times as well as a recipe for a very rich life. Looking at my life so far, I would say I have very rich taste - and I ain't on no diet!

But on the other hand, life has a way throwing its own ingredients into the mix and that is when things can get messy - sort of like my ball of yarn right now.

When I find myself holding onto life "to keep it all together", that usually results in my feeling frazzled. And while knitting, I tend to hold and manipulate the yarn too tightly, which causes the yarn to fray and become fuzzy.

I like how this stray "hair" in my knitting demonstrates how deceptive life can become. The loops look fairly neat, orderly, and all in a row...but if you look closely, you see how frazzled the yarn became in my effort to keep all the loops just right.

These loops, which appear lined up in a perfect row, took much, much effort to get that way. The fuzzy yarn shows how much handling, holding, coaxing it took to get them lined up as they should (or at least how I think they should). While the end result is passable, the process was painful. At times, it required me to unravel the entire row and begin again. And at other times, my yarn was in such a mess, I couldn't even unravel it myself. I had to go to my teacher and have her undo my mess while I stood there and watched carefully how she slowly (once again) showed me the method, the technique, and the proper way to hold my needles so that I may accomplish my goal.

The best lesson she gave me though was a reminder: She reminded me that I was a beginner.

Like any good teacher, she encourages and she corrects. She expects mistakes but she also expects me to keep trying. She never chastises nor makes me feel guilty for having my yarn frazzled or knotted up. She is gentle with my yarn, as she patiently untangles my mess, knot by knot, and carefully rolls it all up into one neat ball of yarn again. Then she hands it back to me with a smile and simply says: "Now, try again."


I know of another teacher that is just as loving and patient with me. If only He could teach me to be as gentle with myself as my knitting teacher is with me. Currently, my life is not going as smoothly as I would wish it. But, no matter how knotted up it may get, it is nice to know that I can always try again. And again.

















So, at this time in my life, I am trusting my life teacher to help show me my way. I will try again. And I am going to take the time I need to gently and patiently roll my life up again neatly. Not perfectly. Not quickly. But you can bet it will be very rich.

May the knots in your life untangle easily and know that you can always try again.

And again.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

Common Cents Creates Comfort

"...but the concept of the new Cape Cod and Nantucket II is to show how people can live comfortably in the $600,00s."

This is a direct quote from the April 27th issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch Sunday newspaper in the new home section. This comment came from a local developer. Is it me or do any of you also find yourself re-reading the quote two, maybe three times to make sure you read it correctly and then roll your eyes and are screaming in your head "you have got to be kidding!!"

I can't believe that we Americans "need to be shown" that we somehow can manage, without too much discomfort, find a way to find to live in a $600,000 home comfortably. I know that the majority of us lack the imagination and know-how in finding some impossible way, to make our inhabitable shack of a $600,000 home livable...but thank goodness for the beloved HGTV shows to set us all straight and to inspire us to get off our lazy butts and do something to get our half a million or so home livable and presentable for company....

Okay, I will stop with the sarcasm...I just couldn't believe that someone feels the need to show us how to live comfortably in a half a million-plus home. I only hope it was a misquote. Anywho, while there are many people who can well-afford such a home and in certain parts of our wonderful country, $600,000 really is the average price for an average home. I have lovely clients that live in homes three times that cost and the owners all feel very fortunate and blessed and have made them very comfortable and they didn't need me to show them how. They just needed some custom drapes or bedding. But for the rest of us, a $600,000 home would be very comfortable and we would most likely not need some developer to show us how to live in it.

I would like to prove my point with a little eye candy from a feature I designed and photographed for Romantic Homes June issue (now on stands). While this home is not $600K, nor the size of a McMansion, it has all the comfort, warmth, and love that any mansion would envy. The owner, Debbie McReynolds, and her daughter, Caitlain, have turned their tiny home into a haven. I will give you a sneak preview of photos that were not used in the magazine. To see the entire 10-page feature, you must buy the issue, or better yet, subscribe to Romantic Homes magazine!

(Nothing wrong with a little PR :-)

Enjoy the photos - the concept is simply that even the smallest home can pack in the personality. I also took a formal dining room, and with a few simple changes, I made a rustic, whimsical "Young at Heart" party to kick off the summer. A corn drying wrack over a glittery mirrored buffet, and antique hose nozzels on vintage china. And Little Debi snacks for dessert - summer is finally here!

If you would like to see many more photos, please pick up the June issue of Romantic Homes Magazine.

Texture, texture, texture! Linen table cloth, French collars, wooden floors, mirrored furniture, Oriental rug, vintage china and upholstered chairs all make this tiny room a room to remember!

What's up with all the friggin antique hose nozzels? You can read all about it in the June issue of Romantic Homes magazine....sorry - I can't tell you everything, now can I? :-)

Yes, I designed this bedding for Debbie. She gave me the most endearing compliment. She told me that when she goes to bed at night, and covers herself, she feels like "Elizabeth is giving me a hug goodnight." I teared up when she told me that because I had no idea that the bedding meant so much to her. How fortunate I am to have such lovely people in my life?

Thank you for allowing me to share with you.

I hope you enjoyed the photos of Debbie's home. I had so much fun with the photo shoot and dressing up her table. I especially got a kick out of my friend, and Debbie's neighbor, Renee. Renee came over during the photo shoot and couldn't believe all that went into a shoot and how long it took (three days). When the magazine feature came out, Renee was the first to call me and tell me about it and she couldn't believe that while the photos in the magazine were beautiful (thank you Renee), but how they also didn't even begin to show how much work went into capturing it all. That is the magic of a photo shoot...it all looks so effortless which makes us (yes, even me) look at the rooms in magazines and think, I want to live there! But in reality, I think most of us just love the thought simply living in just a clean and orderly home...never mind the style....I just want someone to clean my home for me....that is my goal anyway.

A clean...orderly...comfortable home are things we all strive for. But until I am "shown how I can live comfortably in a $600, 000," I will have to make do with my common cents in creating comfort in my little abode.

From my abode to your abode,

Elizabeth :-)

Note: For those of you who are waiting for my notes from the Country Living Magazine seminar, please go to my other blog, Shop Talk for the notes. Thank you!

Blooming with Inspiration

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I get so many e-mails from women around the world stating that I provide inspiration for them. While that makes me so very happy, I am also very happy to report how YOU provide inspiration to me! I haven't been able to write a new post to my blog because I have been so busy being inspired by so many women these last four weeks and I would love to tell you about my adventures these last several weeks.

My adventure actually begins with a wonderful phone call from Sanya Pallos, owner of In the Pink, who happened to be in St. Louis and wanted to meet me and just say "hi." We "knew" each other via blogs and cyber space and how wonderful to meet Sanya in person! We agreed to meet at a local antique store, here in St. Louis. We found each other in the store, Sanya's hands filled with found goodies and we hugged and chatted non-stop. Just like a true antiquer, chatting and spying a great find just go hand in hand. Sanya inspired me in so many ways. She also reassured me that my taking my time with my online store was "very smart" as she is very experienced with that venue and she validated my concerns and challenges with designing my online store. So while my online store is taking much longer than anticipated, Sanya inspired me to continue with my path and she offered to help me over some of the online challenges. How wonderful is that?


I so enjoyed my visit with Sanya, but it was a quick visit as I was leaving for Houston, Texas the very next day to meet with Debi Mattingly of Yaya Chique. Debi is not a Texan; she is quick to inform you that she is from Louisiana and very much a Yaya. To find out what a Yaya is, visit her site. Debi found me via the blog world but mainly through Sharon Derry of Secret Leaves Paperworks. I will get to Sharon in a minute. Back to Debi. Debi is an artist. She designs purses and jewlery and is now entering the retail world. She hired me and flew me down to Houston for a week to consult with her on opening a retail store. Debi is a talented artist of 30 years but new to owning and running a retail store.

When she called me she said she needed a little help in getting her store designed and started. "It is such a huge canvas and I don't know where to start!" said Debi. My mind just whirled through years of experience as I provided her with all that I knew, tips to save time and money, and what to expect and when. It was like going down memory lane - I had forgotten how overwhelmed I was when I first started my store.


I assured Debi that she really had taken all the right steps and she was doing fine.
Debi calls me regularly and tells me in her Louisiana accent, "Elizabeth! Everything you said that would happen is happening! Everything you said that I would hear or experience is coming true!" But honestly, what an honor to be chosen to be there with Debi during her very first beginnings, to witness her store sign going up, and help build her very display in the store. I also got to meet her lovely family and very supportive husband Greg. Debi has a lot of experience in manufacturing, which inspired me to keep working on some of my own personal goals and dreams - no matter how overwhelming they may seem.




My week in Houston was very busy and I was hoarse from all the talking I did (I know, hard to believe, isn't it?) But not only was I talking to people in person, I was also talking via Internet through an interview that Secret Leaves published on their blog. They ask me some very good business questions and generously included some of my detailed photography. Sharon and Anne, owners of this wonderfully designed blog that details their adventures as business owners in the creative paper world. If you ever want a special journal, note card, or custom designed album, you will surely miss out on the best if don't visit their site.






As most of you know, Sharon was my employee for over three years and she helped me and my business grow. She, now being a business owner herself, tells me quite often, "Elizabeth, now that I own my own business, all the things you did as a business owner that I thought were crazy are all making sense now!" And in return, I regularly thank Sharon for all the marketing and press kit knowledge she passed on to me. I find myself calling her or emailing her and telling her, "I am doing a very Sharon thing right now...." And she knows exactly what I mean. I am being super picky about every single letter, font size, spacing, and any little tiny spec that may print on my sheet of paper for a press kit. She drove me crazy when she worked for me and did all that nit-picky stuff and here I am doing exactly the same thing! She inspires me beyond words and I am happy to know that she no longer thinks I am quite as nutty as she once thought.

And the reason I was doing "the Sharon thing" and being so nit-picky about printing information is because I recently returned from Chicago as an attendee and to pitch my product to Country Living Magazine Women's Entrepreneurs Conference. My future mother-in-law, Diane Benitz, signed us up to attend as a Christmas present to me and then she informed me that she signed me up to pitch my product to the editors! I had to complete an entire package and send in lots of information (thank you Sharon for teaching me to be picky) and then wait to see if I would be chosen to present. Diane kept calling me and asking me if I got picked or informed yet, and to be honest, I never gave it any thought at all until she called and asked about it. I was just certain that my package wouldn't be chosen, and I had so much work to do, I just didn't think about it much. The day that I received my acceptance, I called Diane and was in shock. She, states, she never doubted that I would be picked. It is nice to have a cheerleader. Very nice.


Oh, I just noticed that I didn't mention the product I pitched. I pitched my custom baby bedding line, little Bit. Elizabeth House baby. The baby crib sets are now available nation-wide. Each set is made-to-order and custom designed just for your little one. If interested in the details, email me at http://www.elizabethhouse.us/ and please send me your mailing address and I will mail out a brochure to you. The website for this service is being created as I type.


But back to the conference:

I had only three minutes to present and I believe 75 women were chosen nation-wide to present. My presentation was nice and Cathy Penton, an accomplished artist from Australia, designed a special baby charm that I tied on my bedding as a good luck charm. Only 10 women presenters will be chosen and we are to find out sometime in June if selected. Whether or not I am selected doesn't matter. I met so many wonderfully, creative women and I have my friend and future-mother-in-law, Diane, who continues to inspire me and encourage me and that is an honor in itself. There were over 600 attendees and I highly recommend attending this very inspiring and informative conference next year. It will be held in Chicago next year as well. In fact, how fun would it be for a Elizabeth House get together in Chicago during this conference? If interested, please let me know and perhaps we could all meet at the hotel that the conference is being held and have a long dinner together and get to meet each other! How fun would that be? It would be a thrill and honor to meet you in person!






The conference included speakers such as the editor of the magazine, Nancy Soriano, Anna Griffin (stationary extraordinaire), Susan Mernit, Blogger and Yahoo Product Developer, designer, Heather Baily, Beth Ferreira from Etsy, Inc, Ann Fox and Donna King, owners of Room Service Home, a boutique catalog and the top 10 women entrepreneurs of Country Living Magazine, 2008. The talks were inspiring and the women I met were all so very creative as well.

During a break, I had three young women come up to me and asked me, "Are you Elizabeth?" I squinted at them, wondering if they were store customers of mine (I have a terrible, terrible memory for names and faces) and when I told them "yes, I am Elizabeth." They squealed with delight and asked to if they could hug me and told me that they knew me from my blog and from Debbie Dusenberry's blog, Curious Sofa. They were so excited and giddy about meeting me, that I found myself a little taken back at first, but it wasn't long before I got excited and giddy about them being excited and giddy!

These three women, Christine Laird, Estella Smith, and Teresa Wright, were so very inspirational to me and I am so very grateful that they took a moment of their time to visit with me. What is so truly amazing is that while they gave me compliment after compliment, it was me who was admiring them. They weren't sure what type of business they wanted to open yet, and they were attending this conference for inspiration and information....how very smart of them. I told them that they are way ahead of the game and are way smarter than I was when I first began. I hope they keep me informed on their adventures. They have such wonderful things waiting for them and I am so very proud of their courage.






I realize that is this is a long post and I have so much more to share with you! My next posting will be the notes I took during the conference and information and inspiration to take away with you. In the meantime, I just wanted to leave you with my final thoughts about what I just wrote.





Do you realize I mentioned over 15 creative, smart, inspirational women in this single post? And those who had a blog or website, I listed them for you. These women are hard working and like you, have dreams and goals. They are all at different stages in their businesses and no matter how little or how much experience one may have, there is one thing that we women business owners constantly need from each other: encouragement. We can go to the bank for money, read magazine and blogs for inspiration, and visit the gym for a much needed stress reliever (or maybe the day spa is better). But encouragement is something that we can only get from those who sincerely want to give it and we can only receive this gift from those we truly respect and admire. That is a tall order when you think about it.

At the conference, a panel member said, "Don't ever have coffee twice with a man or a woman who drains your spirit." That is so true! I was speaking with one of the three women who recognized me in the lobby and I was telling her about how we business owners and dreamers are like gardeners and she made me promise her to share what I told her on my blog, so I will and then I will close.

As creative business owners or business owners-wanna-be's, we must be careful to surround ourselves with supportive and encouraging people and that isn't as easy as it sounds. I bet you know someone (or several people) who are "supportive" but never really give you the feeling that you can really do it - that you are only dreaming. Oh, these supportive people love to hear about your dream, and they think it is great that you are dreaming, but they just don't really get it, get you, get you going, or get your vision. But they love to hear about it. And you sort of feel a little frustrated or drained after spending time with them because in your heart, you know they really do mean well, but they just don't get it!

These people are what I call "flower pickers." And we business owners and dreamers are what I call "gardeners." A good Gardener knows that it takes many seasons to have a lush garden. It doesn't happen over night, or even in one season. It takes weeding, tending, feeding and it must weather all sorts of storms. But, in the end, after getting our hands dirty, and with bruised knees after many seasons of kneeling in our garden and pulling weeds and planting new plantings, and if the weather cooperates, we have a garden full of beautiful flowers. The "flower pickers" walk by our garden, season after season as we tend to it. They offer advice and compliments and even admire our hard work - all the while standing on the side with their hands in their pockets as we work tirelessly with our patch of dirt. They even tell us how they wish they had a green thumb, but never could grow a thing in that "bad soil" that we are digging in.

But then one day, many seasons later, when all the flowers are in full bloom, these "flower pickers" walk by, and seeing the beauty of the garden in full bloom, reach down and pick a flower out of our garden. They don't even ask, they just pick it, enjoy the scent and beauty of it and continue to walk on. And if we allow enough people to just walk into our garden, pick a flower and walk out again, soon, our garden will become barren. As the gardener of our own garden, it is up to us to decide which of our flowers will be picked, and when we pick them, and with whom we wish to share them.

And that is something I have had a hard time learning over the years, and I am still learning. I sometimes, too willingly, allow flower pickers to just pick my flowers. They mean well, they enjoy my garden (once grown), but not once did they ever really encourage me, or help me to water my patch of dirt, or even bother to warn me about bad weather that is coming along. Yes, they were happy for me and my dreams, but they never truly believed that my garden would ever bloom. But other gardeners out there, toiling away, helped me, encouraged me, inspired me, offered some new fertilizer when my plants wilted, and they even called me or emailed me about some new website that may help me and my garden. These people, these gardeners, believed in me and never doubted that someday I would bloom.

And when the season finally comes and I finally bloom, it is these fellow gardeners that will stand proudly next to me and my garden and admire the beauty of it all and then turn to me and say to me, "It's perfect. Only you could have grown such a wonderful garden." And it is then that I will reach down, pick a beautiful flower and hand it to my fellow gardener who knows how much work, patience, tears, worries, tending, weeding, feeding, and dreaming went into this one beautiful bloom.




We women need each other in order to bloom. The more we help each other out, support each other, market each other, encourage each other, the more blooms we will have next season and the next and the next... And there are no two blooms exactly alike...we can't be afraid that our garden isn't as wonderful as the next. I have never seen a flower garden, in full bloom, that didn't take my breath away. Have you?

Until you are in full bloom, know that I will always be here to sprinkle a little water of encouragement. And when you are in full bloom, I will be next to you, extremely proud of your beautiful blooms...and catching my breath from its beauty.


(Future Blossom - my niece, Mackenzi)


May you bloom with possibilities season after season.

From my house to your house,
Elizabeth

GOT SILK?

I thought this dash of color would catch your attention...in keeping with the colors of Valentine's Day, I thought I would post a little pink, coral, and chocolate colors of a project that I worked on a while ago.

I had wanted to post the "after" photos of a entire room that I worked on and designed in conjunction with David Suttle, designer and architect. However, as I started to load the photos, there were so many projects for this one bedroom, that it will have to be a series of postings. I had forgotten how much custom work I actually did on this one project!

I can only show you sections of the room I designed and produced and not the entire room, as I am told it may appear in a design magazine. But for today, I am starting out with the largest of all the projects - the custom bed and bedding!

This bedding was designed for a lovely teenage girl who is very appreciative of all that her parents provide for her. She is classy, hip, and loves pink and chocolate brown. Not done in my signature Elizabeth House colors of creams, whites, tans, browns and black, this room is still very elegant, but youthful.

Everything you see was custom designed and built - even the bed itself!

These photos do not do it justice, as they were snapped on the fly and not styled. It was getting late and I happened to bring my camera along and snapped away. I hope to go back, style the shots and do it right. But for now, these will do.

Before we get to the photos, I would like to take a moment to say that while many of us aren't fortunate enough to afford such luxuries (a lot of what you see is silk), it does my heart good to see a young teeneager appreciate my work as well as everything she is given. She is the most polite, sincere young lady and she has a very good understanding that most people don't get custom-designed beds and bedding. And having said that, while the rest of us may not have a custom bedding set, we are still able to customize our own haven with our own personal touches.

Whether it is throw pillow that your aunt made, or a pair of heirloom pillow cases, or an antique jeweled brooch that is pinned on a new pillow, it is these little personal touches that make a house a home and a room warm.

Thank you for warming my heart and always remember it is your personal touch that gives your home its soul.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

This area was designed for the headboard of the bed to fit perfectly inside. Wall sconces are added later. The color of the wall is a pale pink.

The silk, chocolate crown is mounted to the ceiling. A chain cover is made of the same material. The bed is covered in a dusty rosy-brown chenille fabric.

Chris, a wonderful carpetner, is installing the dowls that he made, and I painted, to hold the drapes of the canopy. The measuring and re-measuring of this project was numerous!

Chocolate, silk rosettes are at the base of the dowls to finish off the drape.

The canopy is lined with a silk check, which goes with the dust ruffle below.

A punch of grape silk and green monograhm gives this pillow a little edge for a teenager.

The complete bedding set used over 100 yards of fabric....I died and went to fabric heaven with this fun project!

Running is Good for the Heart!

Hello! Have you ever really thought about the way we use the word "running" or "run" in our everyday language? We run to the store to get some milk. We run into a friend we haven't seen in a while. We run out of time. We run ourselves ragged. We run up our electric bill while we run out of patience. We run out of excuses, we will run for our lives, and we never stop running our mouths. An idea can run amuck as we run around with our heads cut off. Sometimes we seem to just run in circles when all we really want to do is run away from it all. We will run an ad in the paper to get rid of all the stuff that seems to be running our lives. And while a politician will run in a campaign, we will run in the opposite direction to avoid talking about it socially. Before a big purchase, we will run the numbers to see if we can afford it. And if we can't, then we will usually just run our credit card and get it anyway. We run here and run there and eventually, we run out of gas. We run our kids around to soccer practice or ballet and while they play we run and do our errands. And when we rest, we watch "reruns" on TV to relax. While at work we run the rat race and tend to run away with an interesting project if we are given the proverbial ball and are told to "run with it." So with all this running around we do, it is not surprising that it was on one of my Sunday morning runs in the park that I run into a man who will become my husband someday. Little did I realize how running is truly good for the heart! :-)

Yes, I am going to tell you a little tale...the tale of the

Barber of St. Louis and the Designer.

Many months ago, on a beautiful Sunday morning, I decided to take a run in the park, as I usually do every Sunday. As I headed for Forest Park, a beautiful park located in St. Louis, I realized that I forgot my baseball cap (to cover my unwashed, messy hair) and my sunglasses (to hide my mascara-free, liner-free blurry eyes). I have never, ever ran in the park without my cap and sunglasses, but on this particular day, I forgot them both. I ran a short trail and I thought about all that took place in my life the prior two years. You see, exactly two years earlier, on this very day, my ex walked out of our home and left me and our marriage of almost 22 years. And two years ago on the day he left me, I went to Forest Park and found "my tree" and I called my sister and cried and cried and was so fearful for the future. I stayed at "my tree" for over nine hours, fell asleep under it out of sheer exhaustion and was convinced in many ways, that my life would never be the same, ever again.

And it wasn't - Thank God.

Fast forward two years and there I was, running, thinking, and thinking and running. So much had happened in such a short time. I ran two marathons, performed in a play, became contributing editor to Romantic Homes magazine, getting ready to close my store and move on to explore other opportunities, traveled to NYC, Texas, Ohio, Florida, and other places. I began my professional photography, had a new nephew, got a small tattoo (yes, really!)and did a mini triathlon. I thought of all these things as I ran through the park and how far I had come and how much my life had changed in a short amount of time.

I came upon a bench and stopped to stretch my hip, as it was a little sore. I had the volume of my ipod up loudly and I bent over to stretch out my hamstrings...then when I popped up again, I was startled because out of no where, and I mean no where, a man was at the end of my bench, stretching as well. I turned down my volume in case he asked me a question (it is common for someone to ask the location of the zoo, the art museum and so on). And it wasn't long before this man simply smiled and said,

"It feels good to stretch, doesn't it?"

I replied, "Yes, it sure does."

It was my friend, Evelyn, who, upon hearing this story, told me how profound that statement was: "It feels good to stretch, doesn't it?" Because my life has stretched so much; I stretched myself in many ways, experienced many things, and not by the stretch of my imagination did I ever think I would meet such a wonderful man at a city park bench.

His name is Randy and he was training for the Chicago marathon. I told him that I ran that race the prior year. He asked if he could jog with me and off we went on what was the first of many runs together. He told me he liked my hair (to my horror, it was not washed) and that he always liked short, choppy styles. As we jogged, I asked him what he did for a living, and he said he was a barber. I jogged, and looked up at his shaved head and pointed at it and said, "now that's not good advertising, now is it??" We laughed and little did we know that we would be teasing each other many, many more times.

Randy gave me his email and asked me to email him should I want a running partner. It was several days later I emailed him asking if we could meet for coffee. A week later we met for coffee, which turned into a pizza dinner, which turned into a movie. And we haven't stopped talking since. The second time we met was for ice-cream, a drive about town, a quick game of pool, and more coffee. The third time we met was to have a picnic in Forest Park and watch the annual Shakespeare Festival performance at the outdoor venue. However, a very heavy and sudden rainstorm had us scrambling for cover, soaking wet, laughing, and gathering our picnic basket, running to his car and headed to his home. There, he was a perfect gentleman, got me a pair of warm pajamas and we salvaged our picnic food and ate in his little University City home and watched movies. That was three weeks after knowing each other. Yes, it was like a hokey Lifetime movie, but it was real fun, real simple, and real friendship.

Much later, Randy told me he fell in love with me that evening at Shakespeare in the Park. He said that the rain was pouring down, and as we held the blanket over our heads, and as I stood there laughing and blinking water out of my eyes, he fell in love with me at that moment because I laughed at the situation instead of griping about it. I fell in love with him when he gave me dry pajamas and left the room to give me privacy and he had our picnic dinner all served on a plate when I went into his kitchen.

Okay, so you have the story of our meeting and falling in love. Let me tell you a little about this man, if you don't mind. He is a licensed cosmetologists who just happens to now cut and color my hair. He is also the new owner of the Big Bend Barber Shop and now owns his own business. He is a brown belt in karate, plays guitar, has a bass boat and loves to fish, and makes the best bar-b-Que ribs you have ever tasted! He is a romantic at heart but loves to tease. He loves to make fun of "my quirks" as he likes to say. But he takes me to the opera, even though he is not a fan. His love for God is comforting and his sincerity in doing the right thing is humbling. Basically, he is a good man. A very good man.

And the most romantic thing he has done? Six months after I met him, he asked me one day to go for a run with him, which I did and we stopped at "our bench" to stretch. It was at "our bench" he asked me to marry him and he gave me the most beautiful sapphire and diamond platinum ring in an Art Deco design. I was floored. I was even more floored when he told me that he bought the ring only after knowing me four weeks. He said he knew in his heart that we would be together forever, but he wanted to wait at least six months before he asked me. Randy has never married (and no children) and as he likes to tell me: "I waited a long, long time for you." A couple of days after he asked me to marry him, he whisked me off to Marco Island, FL to celebrate. There we walked on the beach, rested, talked, ate out, and spoke of our future together.

Over the holidays I got to meet some of his family members, and I flew him to Texas to meet mine. His family is very loving and his mother is the most generous woman I have ever met. The love she showers me with is overwhelming at times and I appreciate all that she does for me. I am very blessed to be a part of such a loving family who cares so deeply for me and I for them. My family took to Randy right away and one would think we all have been together for years. What a joy!

As most of you know, it was only last month that I endured a horrible car accident with a drunk driver and unfortunately, Randy heard the whole ordeal over his cell phone. You can read about this ordeal in my posting, "Hugged by an Angel." That wreck took a lot out of me and so many emotions went through me over time. To give you an idea of what kind of man I am in love with please let me share one more thing with you and I will then close.

It was a while before I went back to work after the car accident and I was working in my workshop, about to start a paint project. I started to look for my paint apron and realized that I had lost it in the wreck. It was in the car at the time and I forgot about it until that moment. Right then Randy called me and I started to cry and told him that amongst a lot of other items lost in the wreck was also my beloved apron (shown at left). I had that apron, covered in paint, for over 6 years. It was like a photo or an imprint of my work over the years. It saw me through some hard times and I never painted without it. I cried and cried. I was so angry and got mad about everything. He just listened patiently and told me that I am allowed to have anger over the wreck and while I am so grateful to be alive, and I know it is just a dumb apron, it is just one more reminder of what happened to me and another yet another loss.

Of course, I realize the outburst over the apron wasn't about the apron at all, but an emotional release of the fear, trauma, the near death I had only weeks prior and not finding my paint apron was just the trigger I needed to vent it all out. After I cried some more and Randy just listened, I told him I needed to get to work and assured him that I was fine and then I hung up the phone. About an hour later, Randy shows up and hands me a bag. In it...was a new paint apron. He said, "I know it isn't like your old one, but you will have paint on it before you know it." Well, you can imagine the tears that welled up again as he tied it on me and adjusted the straps for me in the back. He said he hoped I liked it and I told him that it was the best apron in the world. I know he thinks he "just gave me an apron" but he gave me so much more. What came with the gift of an apron, also came security, came love, came compassion, came no judging, came a sense of truly being accepted for who I am. I am happy to say that my new apron is now covered in paint and yes, I wear every time I paint and every time I put it on, I think of the wonderful man who gave it to me.

Thank you for allowing me to share my life with you. It is an honor to have so many who take an interest. My next post will be some "after photos" of a design project that I showed you "before" photos many months ago...so stay tuned. In the mean time, if you are lucky enough to have someone special in your life, maybe take a moment tonight and just simply tell them how much they mean to you. Not only will you fill his or her heart, but your heart will beat a little stronger too just for telling them how you feel.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

Happy Chocolate Day Part Two

"More photos! More photos!" seems to be the topic of many emails I recently received since the Feb issue of Romantic Homes arrived on the shelves of stores around the country.
So, unlike the past, there will be more photos and less text in this posting....hmmmm.....not sure if I can keep my fingers from typing my thoughts though!

Below are photos that were not a part of the article and I hope you enjoy them. By the way, the photo of the lollipop wreath is shown without plastic over the candy...that was for shooting purposes only. Please keep them covered when you make the wreath. They get sticky and you'd be surprised how I had flick off little dabs of "floaties" that landed on the candy right before I took the photographs!

Oh - I also had a lot of questions about my coat. No that is not a ruffled scarf or glove - the coat has a fabulous collar and cuffs and even the bottom of the coat has about 8" of the same ruffle effect. I bought this coat last year at a tiny boutique - only after I had customer after customer come in and tell me that they saw a coat that was just made for me. After about a week of hearing this, I had to see what the fuss was all about and yes, as soon as I saw it I knew I would be pulling out my checkbook. The little boutique, The Time, was located down the street from my store, but it is now located downtown St. Louis. I can't say if that coat is available anymore or not - but it came in white, brown and black. And it is VERY warm and I just wish it would be cold enough for me to wear a lot more than I have yet so far.
Oh, and one more thing - I had a lot of people ask several questions me about the photo shoot itself. And so, I will answer some of them and I hope I don't burst your fantasy bubble...okay...that is fake snow! The shoot was done in Aug/Sept and yes, I am sweating in that coat! Because of the timing of publishing a national magazine, many articles are done months in advance. The candy is real, and yes, I made all of the crafts myself, yes I made up the poem for the nose gay, and yes, that door is really a door of a friend of mine. And finally, my hair is done by my fiance. He cuts and colors it! More on him later....

And once again - Happy Chocolate Day!
from my house to your house,
Elizabeth

A Healthy Heart Begins with Chocolate!

Just when we are all off to a wonderful start with our New Year's diet...along comes Valentines Day! No fair! Okay, I admit, I use February 14th to cheat on the diet - but I cheat all day long!

Just as I promised, I am posting a sneak peek at the next issue of Romantic Homes feature that I produced for Valentines Day. I believe it will be on the stands any day now. In this feature, I do something a little different: I use color! Yes, candy red, pinks, and shades in between. Why color now? Well, it is the dead of winter, no leaves on the trees, no flowers in bloom (well, for most of us around the country that is) and in some places, snow on the ground. A little color is needed this time of year and what a better way than to add some to your front door. After all, opening a colorful door helps us to cope with the dreary day we are about to leave behind as we enter our cozy home.

In this feature, I show one door, adorned three ways for Valentines Day. We have a tradition of hanging up a wreath on our doors for Christmas, and most of us adorn our door with a Fall wreath as well. I decided to add to the tradition by having a Valentines Day wreath on the door. When one enters your home, the "wreath of love" is a greeting and a welcome that all will enjoy.

In addition, my article also shows a new way of using a nose gay for Valentines Day, not just for May 1st, as tradition states. You will have to go out and read the article for yourselves to get more information on this "love thy neighbor" tradition that is bound to mend any fragile fences between neighbors or strengthen those already steady. Enjoy the photos and please pick up the Feb issue of Romantic Homes to see the article in its entirety. I have to brag for a moment about Romantic Homes...this magazine is fast becoming more and more popular and the editors are doing a stellar job in creating a magazine filled with photos, elegance, and practical tips for the readers. I love it!

In the meantime, remind yourselves that dark chocolate has been found to have health benefits! Ummm..yeah...right... Well, I am all for good health! If not a heart of gold, then a heart of chocolate will do for now. And a healthy heart is a heart open to receive love and to give love.

And may your February be filled with good health and your heart filled with love.

Happy Chocolate Day - er - I mean Happy Valentines Day!

From my house to your house,
Elizabeth

A Good Fling is Just the Thing We Need

Happy New Year!

Happy New Beginnings!

Happy New Memories!

Happy New Friends to be Made!

Happy New Places to Visit!

Happy New Clean Slate from which to Hope!

Yes, January 1st is always a day filled with anticipation for the next 364 days yet to come. It is a day to reflect on the last 365 days. So much can happen in just 365 days - it is amazing isn't it? In one year, we all may encounter anything and everything from new births, to burying a loved one, to buying a home, to losing a job, to getting a promotion, to finally taking that piano, French, or cooking class, or fighting an illness, to winning the lottery (okay, that is a stretch), to making a new friend, or losing a friend either to a death or to a death of the friendship in of itself.

We may encounter wonderful parties, picnics, a new love, a new hobby, or forgive someone that needs forgiving. We may encounter unfairness, heartache, emotional struggles, loneliness, or illness. We may have encountered moving to a new location, leaving friends behind, fearing a lab result, or taking care of a very sick parent or child. This is just the menu of life really. For some of us, I am sure, wish for a different menu at times, but basically, we humans all order from the same one. And sometimes our orders don't come as expected.

Yet, despite all the hardships the last 365 days may have brought to us, we humans are forever hopeful and even the most pessimists among us even feel somewhat optimistic on that first magical day of January. What a wonderful thing to experience, even if only for a day - hope.

I love this piece of stamp art (above photo) that is located in my friend's art gallery here in St. Louis. Henry's (my friend) gallery and day spa, Eve's Garden, has a collection of wonderful pieces from various artists. This stamp piece of a woman is my favorite. To me, she is leaning into the wind, without fear, her hair blowing freely and full of hope. Yet, she is made of paper - a fragile substance that can soften if rained upon with tears; can burn if caught in the crossfires, and fall apart at the seams if pulled in too many directions at the same time. I love that she is "well traveled" via her postage stamps. She is well traveled in emotions, experiences, heartache, joy, and she is stamped in the glory of it all. I especially like how she is leaning out, flinging herself out actually, into the wind of all what life has to offer - both good and not so good. But mostly in hope.

And that is what the first day of January is to me - a day to "fling myself" out into the new year with hope. To embrace fully all that awaits and to continue to "stamp" myself with new challenges, new awakenings, and new experiences. It is my wish, that if I get to be 90 years old, that I am so "stamped" up with life's experiences that any stamp collector would find me priceless - or at least worth a second look. And with that second look, one would find a multitude of "flinging" that I did in my day. And how my days continued to be filled with hope.

Happy New Year! And may your fling just be the thing that makes 2008 a year of beautiful new stamps on your hopeful soul.

From my house to your house,

Elizabeth

Note to all my cyber friends: I am doing better since my car wreck that took place on Dec 11th. My head still hurts but my heart is filled with joy to be here with you all. I realized after I wrote this post that I promised you a sneak peek of my photo shoot in my next post - well, I guess I got hit pretty hard on the head, as I forgot that promise until now. I will next post a sneak preview of that shoot and then a post about my beloved Randy. God Bless!

Hugged by an Angel

While I promised to show you a sneak peek of a photo shoot I did for the April issue of Romantic Homes, I decided to post an event that I experienced that truly touched me on many levels. I promise design photos in my next post!


Last Tuesday, December 11th, was my 44th birthday - and it very well could have been my very last one at that. Having celebrated my birthday the prior evening, I was free to do some painting work for a client. I painted a couple of bathroom cabinets at my clients' home and took the drawers and doors of cabinets in my car to be painted in my workshop. It was getting late, but I wanted to get in a short run.


I was in West County (St. Louis proper) and unfamiliar with the location of the YMCA so I called my fiance, Randy, to get directions. Yes, you read correctly - I have a fiance and I was hoping to introduce him at another time and tell you how we met and so on, and I will, but just not in this posting. I was wearing my bluetooth and listening to Randy's directions and as he directed me, he told me to look for the bridge that goes over highway 40.

I then said, "Oh! I see the sign for 40 and the bridge...." and that was the last thing I said to him.

Out of no where, and I mean no where, a car slammed into me full force on the driver's side. No braking, no slowing down. I was so shocked because I had no warning. It was as if I was calmly walking down a sidewalk, looking straight ahead, and large football player came bolting out of an alley and slammed me to the ground. I never saw it coming.

I saw headlights, bright lights coming through my driver's side window. I spun, then flipped (twice I believe) and landed upside down, smashed against the guard rail and lamp post at the side of the overpass bridge. That is the short version of what happened in a nutshell.

Now let me tell what really happened:





Upon the first impact and seeing headlights coming right at my door, I immediately, without thinking, threw both of my hands up over my face and tucked in my elbows across my rib cage and curled up my knees to my stomach - sort of like a fetal position. I held that exact position for the entire ordeal. I was shocked first, then I realized I was rolling, and then I realized I was rolling towards the edge of the bridge and I let out a blood-curdling scream because in my heart, I knew I about be tossed over the bridge and fall to my death on the highway below.

And in that split second, time seemed to stop.

As I continued to roll, I screamed in my head, "I am going to die! I am going to die!" I believed that with all my heart, that I was truly going to die in that moment. The entire time, my eyes were shut and my hands firmly planted over my face, but I still saw a very bright, solid white light. And for just a millisecond I told myself, in a very calm voice this time, "I am going to roll over the bridge, and land on the ground and will be killed instantly, and it will be over. And that is okay." For just a fraction of second, I felt a very calming peace.

I was actually okay with it being my time.



And at the very moment I was "okay" with what was happening to me, the noise stopped, the rolling stopped, and I found myself hanging upside down by my seat belt. I immediately began to shake, cry, and started screaming, "Help me! Help me! Help me!" over and over again as I listened to glass clinking to the ground. I was convinced that I was on the edge of the bridge, ready to go over any moment. The real fact is that I was at the edge of the bridge, but "safely" smashed against a very strong guard rail.

Several people stopped to help and a man unbuckled my seat belt and pulled me out of the crushed window. I was shaking uncontrollably and tried to walk, I just wanted to get away from the car. The people helping me had me lie down and they started to cover me with their coats. Then I heard my phone ringing from my smashed car. I thought, Randy!

You can see in above photo how on the other side of the sidewalk, it drops down to the highway.

Randy, unfortunately, heard the entire crash over his cell phone while he was driving home from a business seminar. He said that one moment I was talking with him and the next moment he heard the whoosh noises and banging noises. It took him about five seconds to realize what was happening to me. He said heard me screaming, then crying and then very faintly calling for help over and over and over again.





He didn't want to hang up, but he did to call 911. This dispatcher told him that the accident had already been reported and asked him, "you mean the overturned car?" He couldn't believe what she said. He called his mother and raced to wreck site and all the while, he believed I was dying or already dead. He was about 5 miles away and even at 9PM, the traffic jammed the streets. He then finally approached the bridge only to see firetrucks, ambulances, police cars flashing all their lights. As he slowly approached the scene he saw a very smashed car, upside down and thought it was someone Else's. Then with a closer look, he realized it was my car. Police wouldn't let him see me as they worked on me and he just about lost it. Some bystanders were trying to convince him I was okay, but he didn't believe them. He finally got a chance to see me on the stretcher and saw that I was awake and not bleeding. His mother pulled up, sees all the commotion and her son leaning on a bystander, crying, and of course she thinks the worse as well.






As I am loaded into the ambulance people are wondering what happened because there were no other cars involved - or so they thought. I told a policeman that I was hit. I am 100% sure of that. I never lost control of the car, as in slipping on ice (there wasn't any ice anyway) and I was hit. It appeared to be a hit and run. However, a little later, Randy saw a woman at the end of the bridge being given a sobriety test, seemingly failed, and was handcuffed and taken away. Her car was way down the entrance ramp to the highway. At this time, we do have not any official report other than she did in fact hit me. We do not have any official report stating it was a DUI or that she left the scene.





I was taken to the emergency room and the EMTs and doctors could not believe that I had NO broken bones, NO cuts, NO internal bleeding, NO broken teeth, and not even a broken fingernail. I did however, have a huge, huge lump on the back of my head, mostly likely from a gallon paint can flying about and knocking me from the back. It was (and still is) so painful that they couldn't even put a neck brace on me because it barely touched that part of my head. They did a CAT scan and it was clear. I couldn't stop shaking and I never shook like that before. The doctor gave me a couple of pain pills to calm me and to help stop the shaking.


Now I ask you: by looking at these photos, how, how, how in the world did I literally walk away from it all? I will tell you how....I was hugged tightly by an angel. And I firmly believe that. Remember when I said that upon impact that without even thinking, I covered my face with both hands, tucked in my elbows and curled up my knees? And through the entire ordeal, my arms and hands remained in that very tight position, never budging once. Had my arms and legs thrashed about, they surely would have been broken or cut up. I believe my guardian angel is the one who held my hands, arms, and legs securely around my body. No one, and I mean no person could possibly have the strength to remain in that position during such a crushing slam, hard roll and slammed against the guard rail. But I did - with help from my angel.

After I was discharged from the hospital, about midnight, Randy took me to his home. We were pretty quiet on the way home and being in a car again made me very nervous. I had several cans of paint and stain in my car when it crashed, and a lot of it landed in my hair. Randy got black paint all over himself as he tried to retrieve my briefcase, lap top, files, papers, purse and so on out of my paint-filled car. Once home, he drew me a bath and as I sat in the hot water, hugging my knees and letting my tears fall freely, Randy very gently washed my hair, careful to avoid my bump, and slowly and carefully picked all the dried paint out of my hair. It was finally quiet...there was no screaming, no sirens, no flashing lights, no people, no doctors, no IV's, no CAT scans, no questions...just me, sitting in the tub, hugging my knees, silently crying, while my wonderful fiance gently washed my hair. I will tell you about this wonderful man in another, happier, post.

Once out of the tub, Randy got in it to soak as well. He didn't have the pleasure of silence that I had. He still heard the noise, my screaming and my cry for help playing over and over in his head. He choked up and just simply said, "I thought I lost you." My tears flowed as I got a wash cloth and gently washed the black paint off his head and neck and we just stayed quiet.

It was a miracle. Only hours before I was being tossed around in my car and lying in the street with broken glass all around me, and now, here I am, clean, in a fluffy robe, eating a bite or two of my birthday cake to settle my stomach for all the medicine I took. My head was (and is) very tender, my shoulders, neck, and back are tight, but I will be fine.

Yup, Happy Birthday. I would like to think that God isn't done with me yet and I have much more to do in this world and that is why I am still here. But there is a small part of me that thinks that in that very moment, when I thought I was going over the bridge, and I felt a second of calmness, that God might have changed His mind and realized that I am just too ornery for Him to handle at this time. He probably would have a handful of people who would agree with Him as well. :-)

Life is good, but living it is better.

Please be safe and live as if there is no tomorrow - because you know, there just might not be...and I personally know that it is all okay.

from my house to your house,
Elizabeth