What’s the Tea: Spring 2019
Well, my friends, somehow we're already five months into 2019. It seems like I blinked, and the calendar fast forwarded to May. I don't know about you, but I simply adore this time of year. It's been a joy to see everything come back to life. I'm living for these warmer days when I'm able to work and play outside. It's magic.
I haven't posted one of these "What's the Tea" updates in a while, so I thought I'd pop in today and catch you up on everything.
Inspired by Charm
Let's talk about the blog. As you may or may not have noticed, I haven't been sharing as much recently. This is for a few reasons. The main one being that 60% of my house is unusable at the moment due to my kitchen renovation. I did set up a tiny kitchen in the basement, but even that got covered in dust because the crew needed to access wiring and plumbing and such.
I knew that life and work would be messy during renovation, which is why I've been blogging about the kitchen redo and also why I took on the One Room Challenge, I thought both projects would allow me to continue sharing and connecting with all of you. I hope you've enjoyed seeing the many changes as my plans take shape.
During the next couple of weeks, the new hardwood floors will be installed, and the existing ones will be refinished. As each day passes, I feel as if we're moving one step closer to normalcy.
Although I knew this renovation would upend things for a while, I didn't realize what an impact all the disturbance would have on me. I've come to realize how much I count on my home to be a refuge from the world. I'm also an introvert so having a crew of people here every day and no place to recharge myself due to the construction mess all around me has been a challenge.
Despite the disruption to my peace and quiet, I am grateful to have a great group of professionals working in my house. They are task-focused and productive amidst the hustle and bustle all around them.
I've also been offering myself a lot of grace. Perhaps this is the season to be slow. Life has been crazy for the past couple of years, so taking time to inhale is a good thing - something that should be celebrated. It reminds me of this quote I love so much from Brené Brown.
“Tonight we will exhale and teach. Now it's time to inhale. There is the in-breath and there is the out-breath, and it's easy to believe that we must exhale all the time, without ever inhaling. But the inhale is absolutely essential if you want to continue to exhale.”
-Brené Brown
With all of that being said, as the ORC concludes this Wednesday (be sure to check the blog then for the reveal!), I'm going to "get back to work" (even though I've been working this whole time) to produce new creative, delicious, and inspiring content for the site.
Thanks for sticking with me!
Goodbye, Sebastian
While I have mentioned this on Instagram, I have yet to share it on the blog. At the end of February, my cat Sebastian passed away.
When I graduated college in 2005 and moved into my first apartment in Philadelphia, getting a cat was one of the top things on my to-do list. Sebastian was that cat. It was love at first sight when I adopted him from a local SPCA.
To make a long story short, I noticed in January that his back paws were extremely sensitive. I took him to the vet, and he was put on medicine. Shortly thereafter, he came down with a terrible cold. Again we went to the vet. That's when they discovered he had a mass on his lung (which was causing metastasis in his paws.)
After several long weeks of caring for him, I eventually realized it was his time.
Saying goodbye was more difficult than I expected. As much as I love each of my cats, Sebastian and I just seemed to have a special bond. I miss him, but time is helping to heal the loss.
I'm also thankful that Frankie came into my life when he did. Adopting him was meant to be. He and Jax (my other cat) have become close. I am certainly glad to share my space with them.
Life Coach School: Scholars
Those of you who have been following for quite a while might remember that I decided to move to Pittsburgh roughly two years ago. (It was intended to be temporary, but then I ended up buying a house!) This whole process was a way to shake things up a bit and help me find some happiness.
Life is a rollercoaster, and there have been a lot of ups and downs since then, but I'm still happy I made the move. Like most folks, however, I have areas in my life that I want to improve. For the past year or so I've been listening to "The Life Coach School Podcast" with Brooke Castillo. During that time, I've fallen in love with her perspective, advice, and teachings. She has a program called Self-Coaching Scholars that I had been wanting to join for months. Well, I finally pulled the trigger. It's a substantial monthly investment, but I'm hoping it will pay off.
If you're looking for guidance in your life, I definitely recommend checking out her podcast. It's free. I'm not in any way selling this program. I just thought it was worth mentioning. If it can help me, maybe it can help you, too. (Also, if there are any fellow Scholars out there, let's connect!)
Other Tidbits:
I think that's all the big stuff for now but In other news ...
Since so many of you asked, I'll be sharing an update on my front yard soon. The landscaper had to repair the lawn because the crew didn't do it correctly the first time. I'm trying to let the grass fill in a bit before I snap new photos. Despite the troubles and weeds, it's such a big improvement over the way it looked when I first purchased Bayberry House.
If you're not on the list already, I would love to have you join the IBC mailing list. You'll receive emails on new posts, inspiring ideas for the season, and a look back at the 2000 posts here on IBC.
And this is where I ask you for your input. As always, if you have questions or would like to see something specific here on IBC, now is the time to share. Just let me know in the comments below. I always love hearing from you!
And I think that will do it! Have a happy week!!
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