Few things

August 16th.
That's the last time I wrote? Impossible.
I'm sure it was just last week.
In typical Emily fashion, I've managed to cram a kajillion things into the last 2 months. I'll tell you about them now if you like.


It's safe to say I have completely adjusted to life without the store.
Not once have I felt any sense of remorse or regret. Only relief really. And a small pining to start decorating for Christmas.
I suppose I could just do that in my own damn house. Though I never get anything done there. So I guess not everything has changed.


So what am I doing with myself now you wonder?
Back in August I started working out of the Humm. I was there 2.5 days a week just pretty much using up their oxygen and taking up a desk space while I continued with my freelance writing.
They also offered me a column in the paper. Maybe I told you about that.
It's an advice column where I get to just make shit up and occasionally impart some of my marketing/business know how. Which I love 
I very much hope no one heeds anything I write in there.
I've written two now.
You can find it on Page 6 here.
I have a scan too, but it's not the best.

It's been fun to stretch my creative writing muscle with something that's slightly heavier lifting than a headline here and there. Hopefully nobody gets hurt.


After a few weeks of getting very comfortable leaving my children to work in an office environment, I decided to branch out further. One of my very best friends and her mother own Mahogany Salon and Spa in both Stittsville and, now, Carleton Place.
I've been helping them with their ad work since they opened over 7 years ago from a distance, and I thought it might be worth everyone's while if I pitched myself as their in-house marketing and merchandising girl.
I put together a little proposal and they took the bait.


So now, I'm not at the Humm anymore. I'm still writing, but now I'm at Mahogany 3 days a week.
Things are good. 
I love what I'm doing (something different everyday really), it's a beautiful space, and every now and then I sneak upstairs to get my nails did.
I feel like I really have my you know what together.


It was a busy transition figuring out a new schedule with the kids, but we're in the swing of things now and I feel like I'm contributing to society once again.


I'm actually twice published this month. 
So, you know, whatev.
We squeezed a Handmade Harvest article in there too.

It was a joint effort between me and Colleen for the record.
That girl doesn't always get the props she deserves.

With less than a month until the show, we're getting pretty jazzed up.
We try to be better with each event. Offering our vendors as much as possible to help them be inspired and successful.
One of the things Colleen and I both love to swoon over is creative merchandising ideas.
We went hunting for inspiration online and found the mother load on this site.
Also, gotta love Flickr.

Have a peek.
Hope to see you at the show in November!
And hope to write before then!

Em

The Girl's Room

Oh hi again.

What a difference a week can make.

I'm in the shop today (a Thursday!!) and, though all I pretty much manage to do is catch up stuff while I'm at work these days, it's got to be done and it makes me feel good to do it.

Leslie, in her infinite search for adventure I can only imagine, has offered to take both kids for 2 hours on the days she's at our house with Clemmie.

So Griffin and I have been getting out of their way in the mornings to run errands, etc and then heading back around 2:30 so I can drop him off with them and go in to the shop.

Tuesday and Thursday.

3 to 5.

It's not much, but it's routine, and babies aren't the only ones who need a little routine you know.

Poor Leslie might not like this arrangement forever so I'll have to be sure to check in with her often about how she's fairing.

She puts on a brave face that Leslie.

Now that I type her name, I don't know if I've ever really talked about her on here.

She's our angel-on-earth, gift-from-God, couldn't-live-without-her caregiver who has been coming to our house 2.5 days a week since Clementine was one.

She bakes, she cleans, she makes us supper, she loves our kids, she gives great advice, she makes my friends jealous that they can't have her, she rocks the casbah...you get the picture.

So that's Leslie.

The woman who allows me to live my life at least to a fraction of what it used to be.

And that's something.

Tuesday when I got home she had a can of paint in the bathroom so she could "touch up" some spots on the wall that were bugging her.

The craziest part about that sentence is that SHE painted the bathroom in the first place.

You know, on a whim.

Because she knew it was something I wanted to do, and she wanted to help me out.

And now you're jealous too.

I love it.

But this isn't about Leslie. It's about me having some time to write.

I finally took some pictures of Clemmie's new room!

Now that I've got this adorable crib (courtesy of the fellow freelancer Jen Hughes btw) all outfitted with matching fabrics and custom bed skirt etc etc, she's probably ready for a big girl bed, but she's just going to have to suffer through for a few more months of getting her legs stuck in the rungs.

For "finished project"'s sake if nothing else.

Insert drumroll (please):

Our reading chair, crochet blanket courtesy of Jean Newton (Lisa's mom), photo of Clem when she was 5 months courtesy of Robin Andrew - Unposed

My unmade bed in the background...oops. And here you thought I was perfect.

The dresser I painted before she was born

Anthropologie drawer pulls

My most amazing vintage chandelier find from Vintage Wear/Ware right here on Mill Street!

The quilt mom sewed for me with all the gorgeous Etsy fabrics I bought.

AND matching baby doll blanket for the bed my uncle Steve and aunt Jude made me when I was a kid.

Leslie gave Clemmie the tin "Three Wishes" sign above her door.

It belonged to her daughter when she was a girl (or a kid I mean...she's still a girl as far as I know) and I joke that of the 3 wishes, Brad and I each get one and it's always "we wish you'd go to sleep" so that trumps whatever piddley one wish she has left.

I don't think she gets the joke though.

She's only 2.

So there it is.

The girl's room.

And, as promised a long time ago, here's a picture of the FABU custom bedding I had made by Etsy seller Heidi Rose.

Not great shots, but his room is still a bit of a mess.

See you soon!

Em