Currently 02

I am not sure if this upcoming three day weekend is going to have any actual impact on my life but I am enjoying the psychological affect of knowing it's a three day weekend. The last couple weeks have been extra busy around here. And I do know that once this weekend is over a few of my bigger projects will officially be checked off my list, surely to be quickly replaced, but I should have a good couple days of procrastination to look forward to before I dive in again. Ah, sweet procrastination, I miss you!
Looking Forward To / I finished my order for West Elm Portland store and will be delivering it this weekend! While it wasn't a huge order by any means, the pressure has certainly been on to get it done in time, and make sure I felt zen enough while doing it that I wouldn't find myself crying and ripping seams. The best part will certainly be my return visit to see my work displayed in the store. Looking forward to that moment.
Reading / 10 reasons why losing your sh*t will make your life come together. Yes.
Finding / These amazing mid-century danish chairs (pictured) that I made a quick u-turn to recover from a dumpster near my house. I saw one sticking out and once I pulled it out of the bin I stood on it to see if there were more. Much to my delight I ended up with a set of four. I am hoping a good power washing will bring them new life. My grandparents had these chairs when I was little and I still remember the sweaty pattern they'd leave on my legs each summer day. They have long haunted me as something I didn't take when they passed away and I've been keeping my eyes peeled for some for years. Recently I saw a set on craigslist, but at over sixty dollars a chair I had to ruefully pass them up. So I am sure you can imagine I didn't second guess piling half of my body into that dumpster.
Working / I have to admit that I can attribute much of the successful moments I have had in my shop to Etsy in one way or another (even if I still despise their new front page). Awhile back they asked me to send them a print for their spring/summer lookbook that they send out promotionally to media outlets. Of course I was honored to be asked for one of my products to be a representative to the Etsy marketplace(!) so, while not holding my breath, I sent my Joie de Vivre print off to the Etsy headquarters to be photographed and maybe included in the lookbook. Just this week I got an email that they did, in fact, include my print! You can see the online version here.
Mothering / This week at school the teacher told me Milo was crying in music class and she couldn't figure out why (he's never cried at school before so she was pretty concerned). Once we got home, Luca, was helpful enough to let me know all about it: Milo was being teased for being a 'pretty girl.' And then my heart just broke when I asked Milo if this was true and he said "Yeah, and I want to cut my hair." I found my first reaction was to say "okay, we can cut your hair." However, upon saying this I immediately wanted to take it back. Milo loves his long golden hair. His favorite color is pink. He loves my little pony. Elsa is his idol. Every make-over girl/kitty/pony/doggy app decorates his ipad. He also loves minecraft and spiderman and batman and wrestling and being a boy. Luca loves these things too, though not as fiercely. Milo is a gorgeous boy (his words. true words). In six short years that boy has made me love pink. A color I never liked, I now love it almost as much as him. The emotional range of pink is vast. I see that now. He's also someone I look at and think of as an inspiration. His confidence and sense of self is intoxicating. So as you can imagine to see this shattered also shattered my little heart.
In the end, after I asked him: do you want short hair because you like it or because you don't want people to call you a girl? And he responded with the latter. I said we'd wait a week. I realized then that the lesson I don't want to teach him is to change yourself to please other people. It's the last lesson I want pass on to him. It's a lesson once learned is so difficult to unlearn (I am still trying to unlearn this). And, truly, what makes him great, what makes all kids so wonderful at these tender and innocent ages is that they can be however they want, they can find joy and beauty in themselves, they are full of 'look what i can do!'s. We should honor that in others and in ourselves well into kindergarten and throughout our whole lives. And with that I think we will be spending much of this week nurturing that in ourselves and each other. While I am not sure he can understand at 6, that he has been such a mentor to me well past 6, I hope someday he knows this. I hope he continues being exactly who he is. And with that said, when a weeks time approaches. . . well, I am open to suggestions!
hope you all have a happy weekend! did i mention it's in the 60's and full of sunshine here? yeah, that helps.