Journal Revolution

May 17, 2013 at 12:59PM

Something becoming on my desk today. #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ZbOm9GRIZw/

May 15, 2013 at 01:35PM

There are some new spirit houses in my shop. One includes a wee patch of grass. #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ZWJPjDRIcH/

May 13, 2013 at 11:54AM

When I was a little girl, my uncle told me I could move clouds. I always think of it when I see big fluffy clouds in the sky. Tell your kids that, it should keep them quiet while they stare down the clouds😊 HAPPY MONDAY! #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ZQ0GYpRIf0/

May 12, 2013 at 10:56AM

Thanks to all women who supported, encouraged, laughed with, and loved us in the past and in the present. Thanks for all the mothering! *I found this photo of Nana and @dininok at Capitola in our mom's photo album. #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ZOImWjxIQy/

May 10, 2013 at 03:51PM

A "no dogs in the garden" sign I acquired in Germany when I was a teenager. Funny when you consider there is always a dog in our garden now. What goes around comes around...#iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ZJgwVgRIUb/

Depending on how you prefer your gray/grey

I have been slowly redecorating our loft. Before, the walls were red and now they are a relaxing blueish gray. Or blueish grey, depending on how you prefer your gray/grey. I wanted to use relaxing colors since the loft is also my husband's Call Of Duty basecamp. He can yell "CAMPERS!" while I treadmill and both our needs will be met. Blues and greens are my accent colors for this room. As I mentioned before, I could not find just the right pillows in just the right shade so I decided to design my own. These two on my corner of the couch are from my pillow collection. I simply popped older pillows in the new covers. Easy peasy! A whole new look!

*My pillow and pillow cover collection is available here.

May 08, 2013 at 04:23PM

I'm still laughing at Emily's observation of me and @dininok. #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/ZEa0YPRIaw/

Tennesseeing it

We've had a crazy few weeks of travel and travel adventures. And by travel adventures, I mean we went places and our car broke (it was the valet's fault!). I also mean we went places and were reminded of why we hate our luggage. I also mean we ate a lot of fried chicken. I also mean we had a great time. We laughed, we walked, we ate, we slept too little. It was perfect! We love to travel together and see new places.

I was very excited to visit Nashville for a week. I've been watching the Vandy Cams since Emily became a Vandy Girl and the cam just does not compare to the real thing! I wanted to see where my beloved niece lives, eats, studies, walks, gets drunk on weekends. I wanted to see where she was being a college student. I wanted to see where I imagined her being. As luck would have it, Emily needed to be packed up for summer break and we were happy to help. This also made me think about how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were crying about her being gone. One year of four down!

We loved Nashville. LOVED it!  I can totally see why Emily chose Vanderbilt from all the options. It is beautiful, colorful, quirky, and the people are friendly. We made some observations while we were there:

1. With the exception of Loveless Cafe, almost everywhere we ate had a cute female hostess and primarily male servers. It's a town full of waiters. Where do the waitresses work?

2. Macaroni and Cheese in Nashville is not good. It's sour and white. We know this because we tried it everywhere. Hashbrown casserole is good there, order that. Also, Nashville does sweet potatoes better than we've ever had.

3. Women in Nashville do their hair, wear makeup, accessories, and have confidence! A belted shirt or dress, a denim jacket and makeup looks good on anyone, no matter what your size is. The style is colorful and bold and it seems nobody is too shy to wear red shoes.

4. Driving in Nashville is terrifying. There's a fork in the road or a triangle shaped round-a-bout at every corner.  You have to be prepared to pick a side the entire time you are driving.  Also, the street signs are tiny and poorly lit.

5. The stone walls, patches of green grass, old trees, and ivy and moss covered rocks are beautiful and picturesque. Driving into the more rural areas is like visiting England. I long to return with my walking shoes. I can see where so many songwriters get their inspiration while there.

6. Parents of college kids  think their kids do not realize they were also in college once. Or even that they were once 18.

7. College kids think their parents know nothing and more importantly, that we "just do not understand" life. If only we got a dollar every time we heard a parent say "they don't realize we were them once" or a student groan, "Moooommmm, you do not understand..." we could afford first class tickets to Nashville monthly. It was hard not to be giggling all the time.

8. The toilet in our Hilton hotel room broke. We were too exhausted to deal with it when we realized it late at night, so we flushed by hand. Ah, the joy of sticking your hand in a toilet tank to make the lever work. When we told the front desk about the broken toilet (and a burned out light bulb), the front desk girl did not say sorry or that they'd rush to fix it. Uh, when your hotel guest says the toilet is broken, you better say, " I am so sorry, we will fix it immediately!" The toilet was eventually fixed, but the light bulb was never changed.

9. The french toast at the Hilton was on my Best French Toast Ever list. It totally made up for the hand flushing and doing our makeup in the dark.
10. Houses and front doors in Nashville are colorful! Red doors,yellow doors, green doors! I could totally live there.

I can't wait to go back to Nashville in a belted shirt and denim jacket. Tennessee, I love you.

*Photo by Karen of us being us.
 There are more photos in my flickr and instagram.

May 02, 2013 at 06:36AM

Thoughts from Nashville #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/Yz668CxIYq/

April 28, 2013 at 10:46AM

It's the last day of free shipping worldwide in my pillow shop! http://society6.com/lindawoods/pillows #iamartblog via my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YqEYj_RIfJ/