Goodbye Summer- Hello Fall!

It is September and that feels CRAZY to say!! Summer flew by for us and after having one of our toughest summers last year, this one was definitely one of our best!

We have so much going on right now but we’re finally over the hump on a bunch of things we’ve been working for so long on and that feels amazing!! My new book, down to earth, comes out next month…

I got the first copy last Friday & am so excited!!

…along with my furniture line with Woodbridge Furniture and my upholstery collection with Taylor King, which are both debuting at High Point Market, and my tile collection with Architectural Ceramics.  Along with our teams, we’ve poured so much into all of these collections for so long and we’re all beyond excited to finally be able to share and sell these products!!

We’re just about to begin work on Lost Cottage, our tiny beach shack in the Outer Banks…

The live oaks around Lost Cottage so old & gnarled…   We’re really thankful that the house weathered the storm ok.  My heart is aching for all of the people who have lost loved ones and homes in Dorian.

I’m working on the materials selections now and it’s shaping up to look a bit like this…

The house is only 800 square feet and all the kids will be bunking in one tiny room but it’s all about the beach down there and we’re just thankful to get to visit so much more now….

love those dunes

We had a lot going on but I also finally just had some time to think a bit this summer, and to catch up on reading, spend quality time with the kids and to just exhale a bit.

evenings on the empty beach are my favorite

We’re on the fence about renting it out or not when we’re finished… I have always had this desire to create vacation homes and rent them out and to create this super cool experience with gifts and activity recommendations etc.  but I’m struggling with how tiny the house is and needing storage for our things there and not having anywhere to move those things out of it for renters.  (The house is so tiny we don’t even have space for an “owner’s closet.” )  And I worry that people will just think it’s too tiny to enjoy.  We’ll see, but for now, we’re pondering.  (If you’re on Instagram, you can follow along with our progress and all things beach life on @thelostcottage )

We’re continuing to work on the gardens and get organized at home- which I feel like is never-ending & that’s ok.

It’s SUCH a struggle to keep the window boxes alive but they make the house so cheerful!!

our back porch

We presented some amazing projects this summer for amazing people and I’m almost sad for them to be over!!

The garden went crazy this year and this will be the first year I got it together and harvested some seeds for next year….

And there’s been lots of (too much!! 🙂  good food this summer….

Aurora is always into the cheese

I’m working on a full book tour schedule with my publisher, Abrams, but it’s looking like we’ll have a bunch of local book signings/ events in the area and I’ll be sure to post those soon!!  I’m trying to figure out how much I can actually travel to other cities this time around, because now, having 5 kids, the travel is just really tough on us so we’ll see.

I’ll be back soon- I’ve got sneak peeks of the book to share with you along with some behind-the-scenes stuff with the furniture!! I’m feeling so excited but also incredibly nervous about it all coming out.  I know everyone can’t love everything and that’s totally okay but I do really care and hope that my things resonate with people.