FYI: Holly Becker is my Homegirl

Where do I even begin....when writing about someone who has been a mentor, encourager, and positive influence in my life? It is really hard to put into words how I feel about Holly Becker of Decor8.....but I am going to give it my best shot!I started communicating online with Holly back "in the day" because I admired both her positivity and the positivity of her readers. I thought it was so great that she had such a good relationship with her readers, and that the overall mood and feel of her online presence was bright, happy, colorful, and inspiring. Let me point out that everyone has to deal with negativity at times...unfortunately it is just part of our world.....but the positive far outweighs the negative here and I was drawn to that. I remember the first time Holly featured my shop back in 2009.....I was SO excited...but also nervous...because I was used to such negativity towards my work... {"painting over this gorgeous wood?! You are RETARDED!" ...and so on and so on}... from other large site features. I remember being awestruck by the fact that there were over 80 something comments on that first post {comments have since been lost due to a server crash} and not one single one of them was negative! It truly struck a chord in my soul...and from that day forward I wanted to be a part of whatever Holly was doing. Positive people attract positive people...and that is right where I want to be.Since that time, through communications online and then our first face to face meeting at her book signing in SOHO {yes, that is me and my blue hair that she talks about!}....it has truly been a pleasure to get to know Holly.  Miss Holly is one accomplished and smart woman, but none of that gets in the way of her being a friend....lovely, transparent, honest, and in my eyes....the best in her field.I am truly honored that she agreed to write the forward for my book Furniture Makeovers and when I was allowed to view it for the first time....I cried. It is so special to me, and her words were so very kind. I can't say enough how much I appreciate the presence of this friend in my life......and how honored I am to have her name attached to my book.xo,Barb