Weekly Journal

 

This weeks journal was a little bland and simple but
the week in life was full of richness and  color .

I scheduled a family photoshoot for us with a great photographer.

I have always wanted to have a professional photoshoot to get 

great photos to put around the house or use in a Christmas letter. 

I even put it on my Vision Board this year.

Some how I crossed paths with a photographer on Facebook

and I loved his work so I made an appointment for a session.

It took a few weeks to coordinate the session, our outfits and a location. 

The day came and we where both scared and excited.

The photographer is a really cool dude and he made us feel at ease,

while corralling our silliness.

The end result is that we had a blast.

We'll get our photos in a few weeks.

Everything In It's Place..Linen Closet Shelf

Earlier this year I created a Vision Board for 2013.  It included lots of images of my ideal living environment. As I studied the images to get to the essence of what I wanted it boiled down to this. 

"Everything in its place and
a place for everything"

I'm always looking for new ways to organize my space and make it a more functional as well as beautiful. I want it to feel like a luxurious Five Star retreat. 

So today I took on my bathroom linen closet. Just the shelf with the towels. I was inspired by Alejandra's Home Organizing Videos on Youtube.  She is so inspiring about organizing I got excited about tackling a few areas of my house.  I started to look for spaces in my home to implement her techniques. 

I was particularly inspired by her "How to fold towels" Video and I wanted to try it right away.  I never really payed attention to how I folded towels before watching the video but the result is really cool. 

So here is my newly folded towel shelf in my linen closet.

Eliminating Visual Noise

One of the things that allows me to be creative is having a clear space to create. A space that is clear of visual noise or clutter that distracts me. I go through times when the noise is less distracting than others, but I can still create. Other times it is so loud I can't start a single journal project. Having a space that is clear of visual noise is not always about removing things, sometimes its about adding things that are beautiful and have meaning.

One of the best ways for me to spot the visual noise in my house is to take photos of my space. I live, work, sleep and create in the same space and the clutter shows up so gradually its hard to get a clear perspective.  I'm in an organizing and purging mood these days so I wanted to choose some particularly noisy spots to clear and add meaning. So I thought I would expose my process. Which is a bit scary, but It's a good opportunity for me to keep my focus on clearing my space and for me to identify spaces that keep getting cluttered.

Here is my first spot. 
This one might be deceiving...the visual noise for me is the meaning of those mix matched boxes and the contents of those boxes. I got those boxes for a project, then changed my mind and never used them. So I dropped junk in them and kept moving them round the house trying to find a suitable place for them. They landed here next to my patio door and they are filled with who knows what. Every time I look at them I think ..." I need to clear out those boxes".

 

I cleared out the boxes and took out things that didn't belong. Now I know there are art supplies and stuff for Dexter and little treasures from our travels.  I also painted the boxes one color. Now its clear but I need that corner to have more meaning. I've decided to create some art for that corner. Maybe something with inspirational words.

 Stay tuned...this one is a work in progress.

Vision Board 2013

My Vision Board 2013

My Vision Board for 2013 has a number of key themes...

Organizing my home.

 I want everything to have a place and I want to use everything.
No saving things for rainy days. This is the rainy day I've been waiting for.

Branding my work to reflect who I am. 

Bringing my unique flava' to everything I do. That means
bringin' "It" and embodying my message. 

Working Out

 Working on my tummy and working out at the gym with Andy.
I love seeing couples that workout together. 

Family Vacations

Taking Dexter on more walks and on vacation with us.
Exploring the outdoors and taking Dexter with us.