If only I could buy an hour or two...

Is it just me, or do you also believe that you get more than 24 hours in a day, unlike the like the rest of the world? I am so pooped you can't imagine....wait....yes...I am sure you can. Like I am the only person who ever moved? Of course you know that lovely fact of life - moving. This photo is of me and my new best friend - the broom. I call her Helga. It is a sturdy name. And I lean on Helga a lot lately - mainly because my feet are tired. And dirty. And stinky, if you really want to know - I know, I know. TMI. (Too much information.)

But moving should be a snap for me, of all people because in the last 24 years, I have had 16 addresses! Some are from one country to another and some are from state to state and some are from one side of town to the other. After 16 moves, you'd think I would have it figured out. But then again, I use electricity 365 days a year for 43 years, and I still don't have that figured out either.

But, just a short update for now - as I am up to my eyeballs in boxes, files, paint brushes, bolts of fabric and deadlines. Yes, I am alive! And thank you so very much to all of you who have emailed me with your concerns and worries about me be "absent" for so long. How heartwarming to know that so many care.

I apologize for the long silence, but my technical world has been out of sorts for a bit. New office, hooking up phones, faxes, computers, Internet, wireless at that, and then a brand new cell phone and service carrier. My phone numbers can't be transferred and I have to do it all by hand - but my charger is packed somewhere in this place of mine, and I have no access to any of my numbers just yet. I've also been out of town quite a bit and in short - I just refuse to accept that I get 24 hours like the rest of the population.

But in short:

I am still living in St. Louis. I will have an online store - but that has been temporary delayed as my online store is still being "put together" and I promise, you will be the first to know when it is up and running. I have a small presence in a store called Francesca's located in St. Louis on the corner of Nottingham and Mackland (South Hampton Neighborhood). This is a wonderful little street with wonderfully new coffee house, stores, and grocers. I will post photos of the street for you. If in the area, you need to check this little section of town out. It is a co-op and is opened ONLY Fridays and Saturdays. It is brand new, and I am still in the process of stocking my space. So, my local customers can still get soaps and candles, lavender and baby items. These items will be available on line as well. I will get the actual address and photos of the space in my next blog. (It is 11PM, and I can only guess where my address book is at this time and I am too pooped to hunt it down right now....but I promise to get you information soon.)

I still paint, design bedding, drapes, and do design projects. I will still do photography as well. But it takes time to set up my office, my workshop with all my tools and equipment, my design studio, my Internet business space and of course, my living space.

Future postings to this blog will include updates on my new neighborhood, projects, before and after pictures, and yes, the after pictures of that bedroom that I posted the before photos for you. Oh, and I will post some photos of my bathroom in my old apartment. I have had that request several times now, and I finally took some time to shoot it before I took it all apart.

Well, back to work again. Helga awaits. The photo above is me in my bare studio. Moving out of this apartment is bittersweet in many ways. So many hours spent painting and designing it. So many memories. But as I stood in my empty apartment, all alone, and walked through it one more time, I felt contentment. Content that I did my best. Content that I will continue to grow. Content that my time spent in this apartment, was time well spent. As I walked down my favorite tree-lined hallway towards my apartment door, I ran my fingers across the beautiful trees that my friend, Sherrie painted for me so long ago. Along the branches I wrote in tiny, tiny letters my favorite quotes all along the limbs. My fingers stopped on a particular quote that has carried me well:

"It is never too late to become what you might have been." by George Eliot.

I thought about that for a moment and decided that whatever it is that I am meant to be, I will be it with all my heart and soul. And with that last thought, I left my apartment and trotted down the steps to the street (I never walk down stairs, always trotting). And as I pulled out of the parking lot, I glanced over to the paper-covered windows of my empty store front, and my bare balcony of my apartment and thought "it was good, really good. I am now ready for better. Much better."

Thank you for helping me to be better. Without you, being better wouldn't matter much to me.

Have a very safe and happy 4th of July. We are so fortunate to have our freedoms and our safe home. And I hope you join me in finding a way to thank a military member for their service. Without them, our way of life would be so very different. And frankly, I love my life.

from my (new) house to your house,

Elizabeth

http://www.elizabethhouse.us/