I’ve been busy at work: with interior design projects all over…

…new product collection launches, including rugs for RUGS USA:

…lighting with TROY LIGHTING:

…furniture for WOODBRIDGE and TAYLOR KING:

and wallpaper… (Yes, LL TEXTILES has FINALLY expanded and we now have a wallpaper collection in addition to fabric and it can be purchased through One Kings Lane!!)

…and finishing up my next book, Beach Life: Home, Heart & the Sea (which is coming out in May!!) You can pre-order a signed copy here. (If you click on that link and scroll to the end of the description there are also links to other small book shops, amazon, barnes & noble etc.)

On the (literal) home front, we are getting our current house ready to sell so that we can move back into our house at the Meadow. (If you or anyone you know are house hunting in Great Falls, VA email daan@propertycollective.com for a showing.)

Our original plan was to move back in when construction was completely finished but we’ve now owned two houses for almost THREE years and have had a TWO YEAR delay in expected construction completion so it’s just time to move back home folks. We’ve lived in construction before and while it’s less than ideal, we know the drill and don’t want to miss the spring real estate market so we’re just going to handle it.

I’ve been working on and sharing Meadow House updates through a little series on my YouTube channel so be sure to subscribe over there for the most up-to-date content. We recently hired a professional (yay!!!) to help us with these videos so that quality will be getting a loooooot better and the videos will come our much faster. (this will be a huge load off of my plate!!)

We’ve recently made some MAJOR progress on our journey (it’s a serious journey!!) turning the back pasture/ hill into a meadow that will support insects, birds, and other wild creatures. We have been using tarps, machinery etc. to try to kill the invasive grass so that we can sow native wildflower and grass seeds, but it’s been SLOOOOOW going. A few weeks ago, when they went to put our new septic system in, we were shocked when they dug up almost an acre of the grass!!!! We are SO excited because we now have all this turned over dirt to pop seeds in!!! We’ll wait a few weeks to get past danger of frost but then we are planting that baby up with wildflowers!!!

On a personal note: I’d like to share a little bit about how I’ve been personally for a while now… (I delve fully into this in my book, Beach Life, as it was going on at the time of writing.) For some time the last year or two, as we were dealing with the dementia and then the loss of my father-in-law, a couple of delayed flip projects down in the Outer Banks, and the massive delay on our home and subsequent need to own two houses- I was feeling a lot of stress. I would sort of walk around during the day feeling fine but wake up at night with heart palpitations/ chest pain etc. and be unable to sleep. When I was truly conscious I would tell myself everything would be okay and that God had a plan and I could believe it with my head and relax, but I really struggled to feel at peace in my heart in those in-between moments of sleep and consciousness. I knew I was in a struggling phase personally and was desperate to get out of it. And I knew the way out isn’t to focus on “getting out” or “getting through” but my humanity fought that inner-knowing and it was a weird time. I prayed a lot, did lots of breathing, meditating etc. and it did help. I developed a patience about it and truly believed it was a phase and we would be okay, but the fear/ anxiety hung over me sometimes like a cloud.

Dave and I stayed in close communication about our feelings, getting through it together, comforting each other and pumping each other up and I am so deeply grateful for having him. Things didn’t go as planned due to circumstances outside of our control and it was an exercise in trust that all would be okay and we were meant to be going through these situations. We were open with the kids about the pressure we were under and the sadness we were all feeling, reassuring them that we knew things would be okay and that we were grateful for all the blessings we had. And I learned that you can really be not okay and okay all at the same time. This difficult time was also an incredible, wonderful time for our family in so many ways. As the kids get older, we get closer and closer and I’m so thankful for that and all of them.

Anyway, I wanted to share a little bit about that because I know social media makes it all look so perfect & pretty but there is always so much more going on. And after all of this, I wouldn’t take the hard times away. I know we need them to grow. I’m not sure I “passed” or even that I have grown, but throughout the whole thing I was filled with the strong sense that I was meant to go through some of the things that were happening to learn to be “okay” when the things and situations around me weren’t “okay.” I’m not sure I did but it’s my current “impossible” goal (and one I struggle with every day 😉

Anyway, we look to be entering a new phase of life right now and while it looks to be chaotic, exhausting, unexpected, and messy, it also seems like it will be exciting and beautiful… and I’m ready for it. And grateful for it. Thanks so much for being a part of this with us. I know I don’t write much on here these days but I am so thankful for all the kind words and support you’ve shared with me throughout the years. Sending you love.