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Can you all even believe the lush, colorful beauty of my mountains?! I had to post a few more photos from our trip to the mountains last weekend for a couple reasons:1. The color and beauty just get my juices flowin'2. this weekend will be the polar opposite of complete relaxation in the mountains! hah!For starters, I get the keys to my new studio today, and that will begin the moving madness {yipee!}.... my cousin is getting married on Saturday, family is in town for the wedding, and my guest bathroom is being demolished and gutted as we speak! Woot!I am so very excited about the bathroom redo...it has been a long time coming, and I have lived with a huge hole in the hallway for about 6 months due to a leak that brought on this redo! The bathroom is going from seventies avocado green everything......to white subway tiles with gray grout, recycled wood, and penny tile goodness. I will be sure to photograph along the way and show it off when it is complete.I hope you all have a great weekend!xo,Barb
18
I am going to stray from the normal etcetera post today because this weekend is a very special weekend. Not only is it Father's day,.....but our 18 year wedding anniversary falls on the very same day this year!I have been married to Jon Blair for 18 years this Sunday. Just writing that sentence blows my mind. We have known each other for a total of 21 years, which have been seriously the best years of my life. Together we have built and purchased homes, experienced the miracle of birth and raising our babies, braces, cars, loss of loved ones, starting businesses, highs, lows, good, bad....but through it all, we have been together side by side. I cannot imagine life any other way.I am so thankful for the love of my life.....and I am looking forward to our mountain getaway next weekend!{.....and a special thanks goes out to our 13 year old daughter "B" who pranced around in the prickly field with us and took these photos. She's pretty great at it right?!} xo,Barb
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I wanted to share just a few photographs from our lake vacation this past week. It was four days of complete relaxation {minus my phone being gobbled up by the lake...but once I buried my head in my husbands chest, cried about the stupidity of it all, and got mad at myself for being careless, I was over it} and we had the most fun we have had in a while. The weather was so beautiful..... it was mid 60's to low 80's the entire time and very low humidity, which is a dream for this time of year here in the south!You know how you have those awesome trips where everyone gets along great, weather is perfect, the food is delicious, and the friendships and memories just nurture your soul? Well, that was this trip. We jet skied, went for many boat rides, tubed, wake boarded, kayaked, and water skied. You name it, we did it....and we did it until the last bit of sunshine peeked below the horizon.I tried something new on this trip! I was challenged by my friend "J" to try wake boarding and I literally had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it! Every muscle in my body hurt from my very first wake boarding experience...but it was so worth every muscle pain. I was so afraid to try, and almost defeated myself before ever trying because I knew it was going to be tough. I have never snow boarded before because I don't like the thought of both feet being strapped down, so the thought of not only having both feet strapped to a board but then also being yanked up by a boat just had me questioning my sanity. I lived to tell about it, and I got up not once, not twice, but THREE times! It was so great to conquer that little nagging " you can't do this" voice in my head.....and to hear my friends and family cheering me on from the boat ahead. My husband and my son also got up on the wake board for their first time as well! Woot!One of my favorite things has to be the tubing though......that moment of sheer panic when you hit the "vortex wave of death" {created by crazy boat driving friend!} and go airborne.....yeah, it's pretty dang amazing! It was such good times. I am so thankful for the beauty of these memories that were just written across my heart forever.Have a great weekend you guys!xo,Barb
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photo via Reclusive North here
photo available on etsy via jessica torres
We are headed to the lake for four days! There will be lots of boating, tubing, water skiing, s'mores, tennis, pool floating, and just a great time spent with family and friends.I will be back here on Wednesday!xo,Barb
Backwards, or forward....a tale to tell
I know all of you who come here on Mondays, come to see a furniture makeover, and I know that some of you will go away unfulfilled today in the furniture arena....but I hope to fill you up in a different way today, and then give you your furniture fix on Friday! I am working on two really beautiful pieces of furniture as we speak, but neither of said pieces was ready for a photo shoot........yet!Today I want to share a little from my heart: Besides being a creative business owner, writer, furniture designer, and photo taking lover....I am most importantly a mom to two very busy teenagers, a little puppy named roo, wife to the very energetic and wonderful JB, and a friend to some really special people who have poured into my life. My family is making the transition into our Summer schedule, which for me means slowing down, less days at the studio, and longer days to enjoy a more relaxed schedule ......at least for the next couple of months! My daughter has already been out of school for a week and a half now and my son will be out next week.....so our life is in full swing transition mode as we prepare for a fun Summer ahead. This is one of my favorite parts about being a creative business owner....I set my own schedule, and I plan and prepare all year for the "slow down" in the summer so that I still have enough work and income coming in to keep the business thriving, while at the same time giving myself a little thrive time too! It is the best feeling......and as we head into this fresh new Summer season, I have some goals for myself and for my family .You may have wondered what the above veggie pictures were all about? Well, our local farmers market is in full swing, and this past Saturday I got up early and went with a friend of mine. We grabbed a coffee and strolled the booths of fresh goods. It was my first time at the market this year and so I was scoping out all of the different booths, and figuring out what I wanted to purchase . There are some new booths this year including a fresh pasta booth that had a line a mile long...and the piles of pasta were so beautiful and stunning! {I will see if I can get a picture of them next time since I will be purchasing some!} I hope to hit the market every weekend to buy fresh veggies, eggs, fruits, and specialty items like this amazing goat cheese, herb, and fig spread I spied and tasted on my way out! {yum!} I absolutely loved getting to chat it up with the local farmers and ask them questions about their goodies! I want to encourage and foster a lifestyle of healthy eating into our home starting this summer, and cut down on all of the processed junk food that gets consumed on a weekly basis. I would love to replace swiss cake rolls and zebra cakes with fresh strawberries and peaches...yadda yadda.....so on and so forth! We are taking baby steps, and hoping to make some changes in the activity area as well.....I for one miss my marathon running days, and the amazing shape I was in when I was running those marathons. The constant busyness and the growth of a business have all been wonderful things, but I have not been good to my body and it is time to get back to a routine of health. I want to be a healthy example to my family and to others around me....an example in making time to exercise, intentional eating, and lots of smelling the roses.Be intentional. This is my goal.xo,Barb
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Anymore, I only make custom cake plates exclusively for Pink Olive stores located in East Village and Brooklyn. This latest batch is my favorite batch yet....steamboats, a cabin in the woods, 4th of July stars, retro star bursts, and grains of wheat. I have one more batch to make and add to these, and then they will be on their way to NYC! It has been fun to work on this plate collection this week, and I had two commission pieces come in this week that are going to be beauties! Can't wait to reveal the furniture makeovers!Have a great weekend you all!xo,Barb
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I promise this post is all about the fantastic little white fireplace mantle I purchased out of an old historic house here in Greenville.....and not about the Italian leather fabulousness that was given to me this week....promise. Look away from the leather....Ha! I hope you all have had a great week...and that the weekend is even better! I have a very fun piece to introduce you to on Monday!xo,Barb
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