Making it Lovely » Me

Pop That Collar

Making it Lovely — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:44:44 +0000

I had some photos taken over the weekend by my photography teacher, Arnold Klein. He likes to experiment with lighting and processing techniques and he needs willing subjects, so I took him up his offer to photograph us.

He is still selecting photos and editing them, but here’s one of his favorites. It’s fun to see yourself through someone else’s lens (literally). I came in with my coat on after running out to feed my parking meter, and we took a couple of shots with my coat collar popped.

I was doing my best to smize there.

Short Hair!

Making it Lovely — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:36:28 +0000

I chopped off all of my hair last week. I’d been considering it, but I hadn’t really decided until I just went for it. Susan at Sparrow did an awesome job.

Also, it appears I was channeling August. We wore the same foxy sweater that day — Brandon chose it for him while getting him dressed, not knowing I was going to wear mine. Then I went and got a little boy’s haircut. His haircut. Twinsies! I am not sure how I feel about that, but I guess we’re pretty cute together.

Also, looking at these pictures, I’m realizing that maybe I should be tucking the little ends behind my ears. (And probably also showering before taking and posting giant pictures of myself, but whatevs!)

The Vintage Bazaar at DANK Haus, Chicago

Making it Lovely — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:27:01 +0000

The weekend after Valentine’s Day, The Vintage Bazaar popped up again in Chicago. Brandon and I last went when it was a part of The Renegade Craft Fair, last September, and this time it was at DANK Haus.

The only thing I bought, these amazing brass lampshades ($45 for both), didn’t work in my house. I knew they’d either be really good or really bad, and I think they skewed toward the latter. I still think they’re awesome, but I just don’t have the right lamp base for them. Not to worry, they’re going to a good home.

Why have we not eaten at Big Star yet? I kept seeing them at popups and street fests, but after finally trying some tacos, I suddenly have a deeper understanding of this.

We stopped at the Smilebooth for some pics.

And then we looked around a bit more. I’m kind of kicking myself for not picking up a few more things, but there’s only so much room for vintage dinnerware in our house.

A Look Back at 2012

Making it Lovely — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:31:41 +0000

Brandon lost his job while I was out of town for Alt Summit last year. We were nervous and worried, and it threw our family dynamic out of whack. After several months, we decided that Brandon would become a stay-at-home dad, and I would try to support the family through my blog and other writing opportunities.

Throwing myself into the blog, full-force, brought about amazing things, but it was scary too. I was the sole breadwinner — realizing a dream of mine to support the family — but I had plenty of fears and doubts. I questioned my past academic failures and non-traditional career path. I was afraid, but I forged ahead. Now, as I look back on the year, all seems right and we’re in a good place.

I worked hard on the business aspect of my life, but I also actively sought opportunities to cross off a few of my Lovely Life List items. I put aside my fear of water and took the Chicago architecture tour by boat. I’ve never considered myself to be athletic, but I did the Color Run 5K. I helped break a world record on roller skates with some of my roller derby ladies. I learned that maybe I don’t have such a black thumb after all. I gave a keynote speech (and visited Canada). I met and interviewed Martha Stewart.

Next up on the list to cross off? Sequins. Watch out, 2013.

This past year, I also experimented with something new for the blog: working with a contributor. I had watched as other blogs have grown (sometimes rapidly) by adding more content and expanding from just the original author’s voice, and I thought it would be a good model to follow. I had been wanting to bring more craft content to the blog (like my handpainted clothespin dolls or my colorblock Christmas trees), and I felt like it was a good time to bring on a contributor to share more of these types of posts.

Andrea Howe was a fantastic addition, bringing us posts like this neon table setting and tutorials like how to make a statement necklace (which has been pinned over 27,000 times to date!). I love Andrea and was grateful to have such a wonderful experience with a contributor, but ultimately I decided that I felt best keeping this space 100% my own. I may be missing out on potential growth by not being able to produce more than one post per day right now, but it feels like the right decision.

And of course, throughout all of the professional and personal highs and lows, I decorated my house and doted on my kids. As Eleanor and August continue to grow into their own little persons, I feel myself becoming more protective of their individuality. Their stories are theirs to share one day, when and if they choose to do so. They aren’t gone from my blog and I’m sure I’ll always share my life with them here to some extent, but I want to respect their privacy too.

I’m still working on my house to-do list, but I’ve already changed out my coffee table, painted my vintage nesting tables, made progress on the bathroom, and switched up the dining room. My home office was featured in a magazine, and my home was photographed for a Christmas magazine issue to come out next year. I also went to New York and did three apartment makeovers in three days, which was amazing and exhausting.

I think that last phrase sums up all of 2012 for me quite nicely. Amazing and exhausting. Here’s to what’s next.

On Wearing Sequins

Making it Lovely — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:59:21 +0000

Under the “Just Plain Fun” section of my Lovely Life List is this item: Wear a sequined dress to a party. (Because doesn’t it sound like just plain fun?) It seems like the kind of thing you could cross off with a trip to the mall and a date night, except there’s more to it than that.

photo: The Collection Event Studio

This post started a few days ago as a fun, frivolous post with five or six sequined dresses. There would have been a sentence or two at the top, an image with all of the options, then numbered links. My favorite dress of the bunch was this one, but at $300 I wouldn’t have bought it. Today, I noticed that it had been marked down by nearly half, putting it squarely in the price range I was comfortable with. Yet I hesitated.

So then I thought, hey, instead of showing a bunch of pretty dresses today, why not expose some insecurities instead?

photo: Happy Mundane

See, I’m not going to go super cheap on the dress because the really inexpensive dresses tend to be sized for juniors. I’m smaller than I used to be, but I’m certainly not juniors sized (or shaped). I figured I’d probably go for something in the $150 range, but if I’m going to spend that on a dress, it needs to be for something that I’ll get more than one wear out of. I’ve had it in my head that I would hold off on buying pricier clothes until I’m at a settled weight… but I am. Just not at the one I wanted to be at.

I was a size 12 when I got married, eight years ago. I was a 14 before I got pregnant with Eleanor in 2007, and a size 18 (and over two hundred pounds) after I had her. I lost weight and went back down to a 12, then promptly got pregnant again in 2010 with August. Back up to a 16. Now I’m down to a size 10 and have been for a while. I should be happy with that, because it took a lot of work and discipline, but to be totally honest, I had hoped to get down to a size 8 before reinvesting in a new wardrobe.

A size 8, thin to some, chubby to others, feels like a healthy, attainable goal. And one that I’ve failed to reach.

There is no end to the affirmations I could invoke to boost my esteem, but I don’t hate, or even particularly dislike my body. I am slightly overweight though, and it’s because I don’t eat well. I’ve been at roughly the same weight for about a year now. Running and roller derby (and laying off the peanut butter) did help me go from a size 12 down to a 10, but I feel stuck. Any weight loss I experience moving forward, if at all, will be gradual.

photo: Sitting in a Tree

Funny how we set limits for ourselves, even for something as silly as whether or not one can buy a fun new dress. I’ve wanted to be that girl in sequins for years. The one who is effortlessly confident and who feels comfortable enough with herself to wear garment that not only shows her figure, but flaunts it. I was waiting to buy the pretty dress I’d always wanted until I was at an arbitrary size, but perhaps it’s time to stop waiting.

I’m teaching an online class next week for Alt Summit, all about what to wear to the event. If you’ve been, or even if you’ve only seen photos in recaps, you know it’s a pretty stylish crowd. The last night of the conference features a dozen mini parties, and attendees flit about between them all. It’s a sea of glitter, silk, and yes, sequins. I don’t know yet which form of sparkle and shine I’ll be sporting, but I did order a dress.

Young House Love

Making it Lovely — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:56:33 +0000

The Day John and Sherry Showed Up at My House

I’ve ‘known’ John and Sherry Petersik of Young House Love since 2007. We started our blogs around the same time and we’ve chatted plenty of times via email over the years, but we had never met before. When I read that they were going to be in Chicago for their book tour, I sent them an email hoping to find a little time to meet up. Sherry wrote back and said that they were down for one of their infamous house crashes, and so we set a date.

Do you know how weird it is to meet someone you’ve known for five years by them coming to your house? I mean, it was awesome, but it was also a little surreal to see John and Sherry walking up to my front door.

They came in, we all hugged, and then they house crashed. Brandon and August were home the whole time, and John and Sherry met Eleanor for a few minutes too after Brandon picked her up from preschool. Clara was back at home with her grandma, but we all agreed that she and Eleanor would have been toddler besties.

I drove John and Sherry to their hotel when they were done taking photos of the house, and on the way I tried to point out interesting things around Chicago. “There’s the Sears/Willis Tower, over there is the Trump Tower” and so on. And of course I blurted out “here’s where R. Kelly shot Trapped in the Closet!” I’m not sure if they were into that (but man, “En Vogue… with a new lead singer” had me and Brandon cracking up in the latest installment). Later that night, Sherry and I realized that we (professional bloggers that we are) forgot to take a picture of “Young House Love and Making it Lovely” together with a decent camera. We made sure to get one with the three of us the next day, but of course I only had my phone with me. Behold!

(Pics or it didn’t happen.)

See all those people behind us there? The line for them at their book signing was crazy long, with people wrapped around the store and waiting out in the rain. It was a dedicated (and really sweet) group of people. I’ve worked and attended a lot of book readings, but this was a particularly good one. A few people in the crowd even recognized me and had me sign my page in the book (I contributed project #199), which felt really cool.

John and Sherry are now New York Times best selling authors for their book, Young House Love, and I couldn’t be happier for them. (Congrats, guys, and thanks again for coming over.)

Vote

Making it Lovely — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:44:22 +0000

I know we’re all getting tired of the political song and dance, but here’s one more for you. (See? I’m keeping it light here, people.)

The majority of my readers are American women, like me. Vote, ladies. Our daughters’ daughters will adore us.

The Color Run 5K

Making it Lovely — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:09:53 +0000

I’m a new runner. I’m not even really a runner yet — I’m only on week four of a Couch to 5K program. My sister, Ashley, is even less of a runner than I am. She’s making up her own program by running on a treadmill to Ke$ha (I’m sure it’s a totally sound training program, sis). Yet I convinced her to join me for The Color Run!

I figured it would be a great first 5K, because it’s not a true race. It isn’t timed and it’s all about the experience of ending up doused in color as you’re pelted by volunteers while you run/jog/walk past intermittent checkpoints. Fun!

It had started raining the day before and cleared up right before the 5K started. The rain then stayed away just long enough to douse us as we walked from the L back to my house.

Now, question for people that can actually run longer than 3 minutes straight. It gets easier, right? I’m trying so hard, but it’s really difficult. My goal is to actually run a 5K.

Roller Skating with Eleanor

Making it Lovely — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:59:36 +0000

I recently took part in a record-breaking attempt to be the longest line of roller skaters, and I dragged my family along. I wanted to skate with Eleanor! August is too young still, and so is Eleanor really. Details, details.

She already has a pair of adjustable Fisher-Price skates with wheels that lock, so when the guy at the skate rental counter recommended them, I balked. The real deal, I demanded! We were given the cutest pair of ancient skates — toddler size 8. E hated them (“too slippery!”). So we swapped them out for the plastic Fisher-Price skates that she knew and loved, locked the wheels, and took one (long) lap around the rink as E held on to the wall. We both loved it.

p.s. I think the world record attempt was successful too, but I haven’t heard any official word on that yet.

Meeting Martha

Making it Lovely — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:03:32 +0000

I met Martha Stewart last week.

Let’s back up for a minute, because that is something I’ve been wanting to say for a long time. Meeting Martha was on my Lovely Life List. I admire her business acumen, her signature look and brand, and I’m grateful to her for being a pioneer and paving the way for what I and many of my blogging peers are able to do today.

Martha was in Chicago to appear at a Home Depot event. I received a casual email from her PR team, asking if I was interested in meeting with Martha and doing a quick interview. I resisted the urge to pepper my reply with OMGs and excessive exclamation marks (!!!), and instead said “yes, thank you.”

There were five of us there to interview Martha, but her plane was delayed and that threw her schedule off. Instead of one-on-one time, we went in as a group for twenty minutes. She greeted us with a smile and a grand sweep of her arms as she surveyed the surroundings. “Welcome… to the Home Depot break room.” Martha answered questions about her favorite designers (Kevin Sharkey for home, Vince for fashion) and recounted her biggest entertaining emergency (“It’s hard to have a true emergency when you’re prepared”), and then I was able to ask my question.

I was already familiar with the upcoming American Made Awards honoring creative entrepreneurs, and I wanted to know if Martha ever imagined having a brand with such reach and scope that she could do something like this. Here’s our very brief interview.

Nicole: I have this funny job of being a professional blogger, and I feel like a lot of the opportunities that exist for me today are the result of what people like you have done in leading the way. I loved this quote from Pilar [Guzmán] in her editor’s letter this month.

“We believe we are at a defining cultural moment, when so many people are making a go of their creative passions and, in doing so, fueling a new American economy.”

I know you have the American Made event coming up in New York, but looking back, way back to when you were catering, did you ever imagine that you would have a brand that would touch on so many of these things?”

Martha: I don’t know if I imagined it, but I certainly hoped it. Because I really feel very strongly that there are so many talented people in this country, and we’ve always made a point of introducing them to our audience. Our magazines have always been filled with people who were great growers, great artisans, great party-givers – whatever they do, we like to tell people about them. And this event is really bringing to the fore the importance and the need for Americans to start promoting “American made” again. It makes me very sad to go to North Carolina and not see a cotton mill anywhere. A weaving mill, a sheet factory — they’re all gone. And they shouldn’t be gone. We should still be making sheets and bedding in America. We grew all the cotton, and now we’re outsourcing it.

I just did a big piece on Toyota for American Made. Now Toyota, you think “oh, it’s a Japanese car,” but they have one of the largest car factories in America making half a million cars a year in Kentucky. I went and visited the factory, and we made a whole car. They make thousands of cars every single day, and it’s start to finish. So we showed the whole process and these are going to be a series of short videos that will be on their website and our website. We have the ability to do that. To show people a lot of the processes that go into various products, and it changes their business. It changes a lot of people’s businesses when you really show them to your big audience. And we’ve had a very big audience for a long time.

Thank you, Martha (and team) for taking time out of your schedule to meet with an admiring blogger.