Hey friends, it’s been a minute. Life has been coming at me fast lately, and the blog has taken a bit of a backseat. I didn’t ever plan to take almost three weeks off from blogging, but I’ve also learned that managing stress means sometimes things have to be pushed to the back burner.
But, not to worry, I’ve got no plans to stop blogging anytime soon! To kick off getting back into the swing of things, I figured I’d revive my old coffee talk series to bring y’all up to speed on life lately. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and join me for a catch up.
Professionally speaking, I’m still a full-time blogger. However, you might remember from a previous blog post sharing the flip house powder bathroom transformation, that my husband owns a remodeling and renovation business – ALEHouston.com. I’ve always helped here and there with social media and marketing, but by happenstance a few months ago, a client of his asked for in-house design assistance on a light-kitchen update, and I have more knowledge then him on design, ha!
I’ve always dabbled here and there in design and interiors. My grandmother worked for Baker furniture and instilled in me a love for the line. She had amazing taste, and I always soaked in all her design knowledge like a sponge. I look back on it now and wonder why I didn’t pursue interior design in college, because I’ve since realized I really love it. Suffice it to say, she would be pretty thrilled that I’m venturing into this outlet.
I should probably pause and share a little about the plans for this blog. Blogging full-time fell into my lap quite unintentionally, a handful of years ago. I’d had my blog since junior year of college, and kept up with it as a hobby. But it wasn’t until 2015 that I had the opportunity to run with it full-time. I’ve always been a writer/blogger first and an influencer second.
My blog is my baby, I own it outright, and as a testament to Monday’s Instagram outage, it’s proof that you have no control over these social media and third party outlets – you can only control what you own!
All that to say, we’re hoping to start a family soon, and I’ve come to realize that I may not want to share my future child on all my social media outlets. This is an entirely different conversation in itself, one that I’m sure I’ll clarify more if we’re blessed with children. Plus, time may become an issue if I were to become a mom.
If you’ve been reading here for a bit, you’ve seen that my focus here on the blog has shifted to more lifestyle and less fashion-centric posts. And I’ve always enjoyed interiors, so it’s my hope that I can continue with the lifestyle trajectory here and on my social media channels. I’ll still share style posts here and there, but I’d like to get away from the need to be constantly photographed, and instead be the photographer, where I can take photos of tablescapes, design projects, needlepoint, etc. and not necessarily personally be in all the photos.
But back to what I’m doing now!
Since I helped the initial client with their tile and slab selections for the kitchen update, I’ve been tapped by two other clients to take on design projects. I’m working for each by the hour and making design selections for kitchen and bathroom updates, as well as decor selections for interior design updates. It’s been a little bit of trial by fire on my end, but I dove right in and have been learning everything I can: applying for a resale certificate, creating trade accounts with vendors, and learning all the lingo and ins and outs of the industry. Along with all the time spent at different tile vendors, slab warehouses and more. It’s been a whirlwind, but I have to admit it’s been working a side of my brain I haven’t used in sometime, and I’ve been loving it!
So where does that leave us now? I’m figuring out how to juggle it all day by day. Some days I just don’t have the mental capacity to jump over to writing blog posts, after spending hours at my computer creating design selection decks or visiting showrooms.
Since writing has always proven to be a form of catharsis for me, I figured sharing what’s new with me and how I’m working through it would be helpful. And it has been. In writing this post, I’ve realized I miss it and I miss y’all! This little community on the web has been wonderful, and I love that I feel like I’m friends with you.
I ask y’all to bare with me. I’m figuring things out, but I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time and feel like now my titles of blogger and self-taught designer/decorator are apt job titles for me at the moment. I’m so fortunate to be doing what I love, and don’t take a moment of it for granted!
In the meantime, stay tuned for new blog posts. I’m working on needlepoint content, home and lifestyle content and some style posts, too. I’m excited to be back!! xo
