Happy New Year!

2013 was a whirlwind of a year, both personally and professionally. It was fantastic on so many levels, yet also quite nerve racking and unpredictable. As I am more of an "in the moment/what's next" type of girl, I'm not going to really reminisce any further. Let's just say that 2013 was lovely - now bring on 2014! I have been prepping for 2014 for a while. I've been getting all of my ducks in a row to start the year off right with my business (i.e. organized and ahead of the game), as well as truly finding the balance between being self-employed/working from home and my actual home life. Honestly, it will forever be an ongoing battle but I'm trying to, again, be ahead of the game.

So here I am, starting off my official first year of complete self-employment. On top of that, I am celebrating the fact that my husband literally just quit his job of about 15 years to pursue his own dream job (more on that later!). Yet again, both incredibly exciting yet frightening on more levels than I count. I couldn't be more excited for what lies ahead!

Here's to a fabulous new year...

New Year's Day Park Adventure, 2014.

My Office.

There was a time, and for quite awhile, that I had office envy. I knew of other people, working from home, who had the coolest offices imaginable. They had a theme and spray painted, flea market furniture. I wanted that! I would come home, throw my bag on the floor and think, while sulking, "My work would be so much better if I had cool curtains." When we first moved to our house (where my little space is), I had high ambitions of ripping up the carpet, tearing down the ugly border and curtains, and painting the walls. I had plans to build my own desk and a custom shelving unit (pulled from Pintrest, of course). My Freshly painted walls would be filled with artwork and the shelves filled with books that inspire me. Then life happened, none of my plans were followed through, and I finally realized that my office was exactly how I wanted it to be.

I look around and think, "What a perfectly messy, hodgepodge of an office. Man am I lucky to come here to work everyday!". And I mean it. My office is a collection of random pieces of furniture from different stages of my life - a credenza from my childhood living room, a "storage" tower that Ryan got me for Christmas one year (yes, I like to put things on top of the storage boxes vs inside of them), a couch from my first apartment, chairs from our first kitchen table, a folding table for a desk and a lot of wooden crates stacked in different manners to create shelves. You may be thinking, "Oh, how eclectic!". But you would be wrong. It's just a ridiculous hodgepodge and it's very me.

I love my office. I love it for being the new home of all the little treasures from my life leading up to this point. I love it because I have the coolest job ever and this is where I go to work. I love it because when I stand in the door way and look in, I know that it's my own little corner of the world. Not to mention, I get to take my dogs to work every day!

So here you have it. My office, as is, no dusting, organizing, tidying up. This is it. And today, I wouldn't change a thing about it:)

A Day in the Office.

Tank is typically my little office mate. Today, however, I heard a little nub of a tail going crazy behind me, and who do I see kicking it on the office couch?! Well, none other than Mr. Peter Jameson. This was fishy. As cute as he/the situation was. I knew something was up.

So where was Tank?... Downstairs rummaging through the recycling bin and destroying an empty hummus container, of course. Where else?

Lucky for Tank, his brother's cuteness put me in too good of a mood to get mad. I mean, I did leave the lid open:)

Tank Zero

This past Saturday was our 1 year anniversary with Tank. Our little one. Our "tank-a-roo". Our Teak. Adopting Tank was one of the most irrational decisions I ever made, and I am so glad I did. The past year with him has been far from easy. He came with baggage to say the least - some of which we are still (and probably always will be) dealing with. Now, one year later, I can honestly say I'd do it again in heartbeat. He is the best little brother to Pete and I couldn't ask for a better office assistant.

Dear Teak. We love you to the moon and back. Love, Ryan, Petey and the Girl.

The New (Sample) Guest Album!

One of the most daunting tasks for me has been choosing an album vendor. There are so many fabulous ones to choose from, but picking one that met my business style was quite tricky. I am happy to say, I think I may have found my vendor! 

This is a lovely flush mount book made with photographic prints and a photo wrapped cover.

It's a lay-flat album, with not gutter, so we can print panoramic!

Plenty of space for all your wedding day love notes!

What do you think?!?