Last month I got to take a little time off from my full-time mom job, to travel to meet with designers and business owners. The design world has so many facets, and I’m still trying to figure out where I want to take my business. My hubby was amazing and sent me off to learn on a kid-free trip.
First I headed up to Utah to see my mom on her birthday. Can I just say how wonderful my mom is? I’m always trying to capture a little speck of her kindness, and I’m so lucky to be her friend! We celebrated her birthday with a trip to the temple, puzzles, and parties! We played around with some of her decor as well and put together this vignette over her piano:
Since I only had one day in Utah, we packed it full! We visited with boutique owners, bloggers and interior designers. I asked loads of questions, and my mind is full of information!
We also squeezed in a trip to a thrift store where I located some furniture for my mom and some chairs for my sister! Check out this table I found for their grouping by the fire:
They needed a table to put books, plates and items on while they relax in one of their favorite spots! I found this little $15 gem at the thrift store, and fell in love with it’s clean lines and the castors on the legs.
Don’t you love my mom’s eclectic, shabby, neutral style? By combining industrial, vintage and even mid-century, she’s created comfortable spaces filled with pieces she loves, and it all works to create a soothing, relaxing home!
This is where I get to stay when I visit! So cozy!
The next morning I caught a 6am flight and headed to Phoenix. A good friend picked me up and we went for a hike. It’s been ages since I’ve been anywhere “elevated”, so I was thrilled to get to do a real hike to Squaw Peak in Phoenix. Check out the view! I’m so inspired by this color scheme!
In Phoenix I met with friends, spoke with 3 interior designers and spent hours discussing business strategies with an old college friend who owned a staging business.
By the end of my trip, I was mentally exhausted! There was so much information bouncing around in my head, and with all the late nights, hiking, and running around, I was dead tired!
I was also crazy homesick for my own family! I’m sorry if I was in your town, and didn’t get to visit with you! I’ll be honest… I was a wreck! When I get tired, I cry like a baby! It’s not pretty. The hours before my flight found me sitting in a parking lot bawling my eyes out! So tired! I’m laughing about it now… but at the time, I just wanted to be home.
To make matters worse, my flight kept getting delayed… and then finally got cancelled, and the small airline I was flying wouldn’t do anything to help me out. I had to scramble to find a different flight on a different airline… get a hotel room by the airport… shuttles back and forth… rental car… more crying… spending more money on the flight home than all my previous flights put together… sigh…
But I finally made it home, and by that time, I was so thrilled to see my family! It felt as if I’d been gone for months… not days!
All things considered, this design trip was good. I was able to take a few moments for deep introspection, and difficult growth. I’m still not sure how to put it all together and create a business… but I’m working on it, and feel a few steps closer.
The Humble Chair 
I don’t know how I got so lucky to have my best friend be my daughter. Every time she comes to visit, it feels like Christmas day! I love being able to share and discuss, talk over all my ideas, especially decorating ones. I’m inspired by her enthusiasm and positive nature. When we saw the table at the thrift store I was really uncertain about it. She practically had to twist my arm for me to spend the $15 on the table mainly because I didn’t know what I would do with it if I didn’t want it, it wouldn’t fit in my garbage can! I just couldn’t visualize that that little piece would look good in my house but I decided to trust Jodi and boy am I glad I did. We absolutely love it! Since the picture Jodi showed in the blog we’ve added a rug under the table. Partly to protect the floor from the cute little caster wheels but also it seems to finalize the area. One of my favorite things she did was the way she arranged the area above my piano. I smile a little smile every time I pass by it. I totally got the easy end of the deal with her crazy trip but I’m so grateful I was included in her itinerary. She made my birthday one I’ll remember forever.
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