Affirmation for 2009

I am not a New Year's resolution type of person but I read a little article in Good Housekeeping about the benefit of affirmations in a totally non-hokey way. From what I read while skimming the pages (who has time to read an entire article?), if you want to feel or act a certain way or if you want something specific to happen, you just say it 6 or 7 times a day at least. This is not The Secret mumbo-jumbo - mainly because it's not news and there are no infomercials about it! It's an idea that's been around since the early 1900's and it just struck me as a good idea so here is my affirmation:

I will be successful and I will have fun doing it.

I like it because it's easy to remember and it makes me feel good just thinking it. Saying I will be successful relieves some of the stress associated with trying to get there. And having fun doing it - isn't that the whole reason I started my own business? Heck yes!

my husband: holiday temp in the Freshie and Zero shipping department

I'm a holiday temp in the Freshie and Zero shipping department, originally uploaded by Chewieez.

The shipping department at Freshie and Zero has a holiday elf helper! I couldn't keep up without my sweet husband helping me pack up my orders - especially with the last two week holiday rush. It's been completely crazy around here (bless all the people who have been buying handmade jewelry this holiday season) and I've also been trying to get ready for a huge HUGE wholesale show in January which I am pretty behind on in the preparedness department... I've also been trying to finish unpacking since we've moved, get ready for house guests in a few days, and not go crazy. Spiked egg nog, anyone?

Renegade Holiday Sale!

What a fun show! What a freezing cold weekend! For someone who has grown up in the south and has experienced 70 degree weather on Christmas Day, and has seen not only the entire city of Atlanta shut down (including banks) due to a couple of inches of snow, but also the citizens of Atlanta cross country skiing in their 2 inch blizzard, the weather was nuts! It was 8 degrees on Sunday, people!!! At least I was prepared with lots of layers, and it gave me an excuse to buy a new hat and some handmade lotion, a fabulous solution to dealing with the elements.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who stopped and shopped in my booth - we had a great time and met a lot of fabulous people! Thanks also to all the vendors who let me talk their ear off including Mary Ink, Cursive Design, and My Favorite Mirror. I did my fair share of shopping which I have been so good about lately, but there was just too much fabulous stuff that I was unable to contain myself. I can't giveaway too much of what I bought since I did actually buy some Christmas presents, but here are a few...

Giant Dwarf - i have already gotten so many complements on a hat similar to this one

Ol Factory Candle Company

Paper Parasol by my favorite illustrator Cindy Tomczyk


Biggs & Featherbelle - i love everything i got from her!

Tartella

You must visit the Vendor page to find more wonderful goodies. I will certainly be shopping off of that page for a while. I already have my eye on Fox & Clover, Spring Olive, and Pearl & Marmalade. Sue Daly did a great job of running the show, which believe me is a HUGE undertaking. I'm so excited to be a part of such a wonderful event!

December 9th

Today is my brother's birthday. He would have been 35. I was sad and sentimental today, which was actually kind of nice. I have been so busy being angry at him that I haven't had a lot of room for sadness. As my family and I psycho-analyze over and over and over again his personality and his problems and why he didn't tell anyone he was depressed and what possibly could have led him to commit suicide, all the explanations in the world still don't really clear things up. I still don't believe he is dead - like he'll show up one day and say "Surprise! I was just messing with you!" because he liked to mess with people's heads. He used to wave at random drivers when he passed them in his car, just to see if they would wave back, just to confuse them and make them wonder the rest of the day "Who was that guy? How do I know him?". He was an unusual person, to say the least.

Anyway, I had lunch with my mom and my cousin, who grew up with my brother on our grandmother's farm in the summertime. He told us stories of how they would hide from Maw Maw when she was mad at them. We toasted our iced tea to him and I felt a deep sadness, just for a moment. Then we ate some really good sushi and tried to figure out why he pulled the trigger. I know we will never really know, but there is a bit of comfort in our attempts at understanding. Maybe one day I can just be sad about it and leave my anger at him behind.

Thanksgiving Vacation

Seriously - it may sound odd but visiting my in-laws for a few days was a total vacation - we sat around, surfed the internet, ate, played scrabble and even did a 1000 piece puzzle. Overeating and laughs were shared freely. RELAXATION at last!!! A photo recap:

is this sausage ball too big?

if you were in this chair, Zero was in your lap

rock on bearded brothers

i loved these adorable cookie turkeys made by Sue and Jackson

Jackson proclaimed he had made a stegosaurus turkey, and then he ate it

our precious little angel

another precious little angel!

foyer makeover

Before and After! Or... possibly procrastination? I have so many Freshie & Zero orders to fill but I have been neglecting my blog duties so... I present our foyer makeover!

The front door opens up into a skinny hallway with stairs to the right. We called this wall color "crayon green".

The steps to the upstairs are on your left when you walk in the door. I appreciated the bold color choice, but it just wasn't something I wanted to live with so....

We changed it to a light cream wall color so that the art and accessories could be really fun. The rug and warm silver table were purchased for the space. That's my favorite "For Like Ever" print hanging on the wall.

On the wall by the stairs, I put up a collage of family photos and small artwork. I intend to finish it from floor to ceiling over the next few years.

The lantern light fixture replaced this fixture that I wasn't crazy about:
It wasn't bad, it was just kind of boring to be the first thing you see when you walk in the door. I love the lantern style fixture so much better!

A word of caution - once you start replacing light fixtures and fans, you realize how easy it is to do and how quickly it changes a space, and if you're like me, you go a little crazy in the ceiling fixture department. We replaced every single fixture and fan in the house except for four, and one of those four is going down in the next year. It added up to about $1000 - definitely not something I had factored into my budget but it looks FABulous!!!

Speaking of lighting, here is a sneak peek into the next room I will reveal...