Where the F(th) Have you Been?!

Yes, I've been a little MIA lately and to say I'm sorry would be an understatement. I've been living life. If you follow me on Facebook you already know that we were hit hard in the house with sickness. First it was a cold for the Chrisper and I, which turned into something viral that hit our tummies hard, and finally, a case of the Strep for the little man that had me in tears in a Emergency Room and him completely lethargic and unresponsive. To say this Momma has been hit hard would be a complete lie, we have been at war for weeks taking massive blows left and right but are finally seeing the horizon beyond the smoke. Also, he has been stuck with me for weeks on end so I haven't had time to blog ;)

Today was a different day, he finally went back to school, something I think he was more excited about than me. I had grown really attached to our "being together all the time" since Dada had deployed so it was a bittersweet moment. Once he was dropped off I found myself trying to decide what to do and wasted a valuable, and expensive, 10 minutes sitting in the school parking lot. Instead of going to the gym, my would be normal, I decided to wonder off to my favorite thrift store to check out the furniture, not because I need a new piece, but because I need to create, make, and rebuild. Something in my very nature that always has me pushing myself and moving. As I roamed the aisles looking for inspiration I came across yet another french cane chair, I swear these chairs just leap into my cart at this point, knowing I would give them a fresh shot at life before they are thrown in the trash.

   

Guess the excitement of creating got the best of me and I managed to finish a project in just an hour, which I could say is a new record for a chair but honestly, I was hoping it would take a little longer. But I'm still very happy with the sweet little result and have already had interest. To say my dreams of one day opening a shop/cafe/children's boutique are always on my mind but with the military beckoning us every few years to pack up our belongings and move to a new location, those dreams have to be put on sidelines. Maybe I will get the nerve to open up my own Etsy shop. Lets just say, I'm a super strong and confidante woman, but when it comes to my own creations, I get a little overwhelmed with the thought that no one would like my stuff or even want to buy. Once that hurdle is concurred I will get busy..till then, Happy Tuesday Y'all! :)

Oh Dear Cane

I can't remember when I fell deeply in love with cane chairs, cane love seats, and pretty much anything of the cane and rattan family, but it is deep and never ending. To most people when they think of cane dining chairs they are immediately taken back to Grandma's house when they were covered in a rainbow assortment of crush velvet fabric….um, yuck! What grabs me mostly about these unique chairs is A: how easy it is to change the fabric, B: the wood frames are made of strong wood, C: they call to an era of traditional basket weaving that I find so beautiful. Now companies produce mass quantities of pre made cane that can be cut and fitted to replace the old, but once upon a time, furniture makers (mostly of the English colonial and French) used to actually hand cane these awesome chairs. Yeah, I do lots of research and go deep in terms of caning…it's like a fine art to me.

Mostly when I think of caning, I get homesick, and not because we had tons or any pieces in our own home, but it was the basket weaving of the ladies from Charleston who spent hours sitting and weaving gorgeous baskets (sweet grass baskets), a tradition that dates back to West Africa. Something about caning just makes it feel more like home, especially since being a military family and constantly moving, these little details can help.

So now that I given you a rather ridiculous history lesson in why I love cane so much! I.LOVE.CANE!!! I was in search of some cane dining chairs, something I could obviously DIY myself because as I was researching online for new ones I came to a quick realization, we weren't going to be able to afford a set, they run very expensive and since Restoration Hardware came out with a new line of awesome cane dining chairs, everyone is remaking them. Oh boy, I was never going to get my cane dining chairs because I needed six and who in the world has six cane dining chairs in good condition that won't cost me a crazy about of money?!

One day after dropping Chrispy off at one of his preschools, I decided to go to this Goodwill Outlet, which is not for the weak or weary mind you, with bins of "crap" and old furniture. Yes, I went in and started just looking around, mainly at the weirdest people you have ever seen with gloves on digging through bins. Gross! I managed to make it back to the furniture section and all of sudden, I saw a chair out of the corner of my eye….and it looked like cane :) I ran with the passion of a tiger hunting walked over and discovered that six cane chairs were gathered together, holding up the top of table. Could it be? Could the heavens really be giving me this awesome amazing gift of cane chairs? (insert teary eyes)

I stood there next to the chairs and as soon as a manager came by I yelled asked him to come over. The first question was can I buy these chairs and the next was, do I have to buy the table that goes with them? I got the best answers. Yes I could buy them, but I would have to wait two days before I could purchase without the table. I snatched grabbed the tickets off of each chair, so someone would think they were already sold :), and left. Two days later, I showed up at opening time ready to bring home my cane chairs (already very possessive). My excitement would be short lived as a new manager was on the floor that day, now I had to convince him that I wasn't a crazy woman and that this deal was made two days earlier with a different manager. After about 30 minutes of sweet talking but not letting them go, he agreed to let me have the chairs, probably to leave him alone, and at only $8 a piece!!! OMG!!

After he wrote out a new slip for the chairs and handed it to me I happily ran walked to the front of the store to purchase my new babies! I couldn't have handed over my Debit card fast enough and with the purchase complete they were already bringing the chairs to the front of the store to load up in my Jeep. I pretty much smiled the whole way home, like my cheeks hurt kind of smiling, and once I got them home I couldn't wait to start on stripping the paint off of one immediately.

Like this picture? Chrispy is actually in the car with me, but directly behind me this picture!

They have been a real labor of love stripping all the dark white/beige/ivory paint off and reupholstering but every time I finished one, mind you there are six!, I would get excited again. As of now, four are complete and two are out getting the cane replaced by another crazy cane lady. It is honestly one of the best thrifted purchases I've ever had!

I seriously am just so in love!!! I really went for the Restoration Hardware look and was considering nail heads but with a toddler I have a feeling that I will have to reupholster a few times so I'm leaving them as they are. Aren't they just so awesome?!!!

Is there is particular style furniture you just can't seem to let go? Special reasons why? I know its just furniture but I love furniture and decorating and making really beautiful spaces. Happy thrift shopping weekend to look for your favorite pieces :)

So Not Perfect

The past few weeks I feel like I've been trapped in a rat race and finally now reaching the finishing line of it all. If you don't follow me on Facebook, which you would have to be an actual friend anyways, my grandpa died a few weeks ago. It was sad and it was so hard on my loved one's but in all I was simply thankful that his suffering had finally ended. He had battled with Alzheimer's and an extreme form of Dementia for years, and in his last months, it was found that he had cancer yet again, but this time, no treatment was done, he was already too far gone and to top it off no one told him because he just would forget a minute later.

After a trip up to Indiana to visit the family and say goodbye to this man who lived a long and full life, I couldn't help but wonder what would Chrispy have to say about me when my days are finally drawn to a close? I know, WAY DEEP! But seriously, would he think I'm a good mother even though some days it seems like all I do is yell at him for doing things, or when I have to give him the ultimate discipline (a spanking, which lasts about a second and I'm crying as I do it)? To be perfectly frank, I hope that he doesn't really reflect back on this time while his Dada was gone and his Momma had to be the good/bad cop every day..ALL DAY!

There are times when I feel like I should have done this or said that to him instead, he would love me more if I did it that way. The problem I face, and what every parent I imagine face when left to raise child the majority on their own is, YOU ARE NOT PERFECT! I lose my temper faster, I tend to stress out easier, or even worse, I don't care at all that you just used my $50 bottle of foundation as paint for your coloring book. I just tend to go through the motions of the day, and lately with all the stress of life coming at me like a roll-a-coaster, I sometimes lose my nerve and freak out on the one person I would lay down this very minute for if it meant HE would be happy. 

What I think stresses me out the most during these times, and it's usually not Chrispy, after all he is only two and I can't expect him to understand, is the lack of support you find yourself getting from other parents. I would love it more if a person would say something encouraging to me like, "your doing a great job" rather than a fake "let me know if you need again" and never actually fulfill their offer they just gave you. Or even worse, the one's who I love to call "helicopter mom's that are judging you not knowing what you could possibly be going through. I find it hardest when I feel really abandoned by friends and family when I need it the most, but yet I'm always there at their side when it is needed.

I love my son so much, and I try everyday to be that "picture imagine of a great mom" and some days (most days) I can pull it off without a hitch, but than you have those bad days or even bad weeks where nothing goes right and you are at odds with yourself and your poor baby is along for the ride. Did I mention I buy him lots of cars and ice cream :) All joking aside, even on our worst days, when I have tears running down my face because I feel like I can't take another minute of it, I still manage to hug and kiss my baby and mean every. single. minute. of. it. I'm not perfect, and I don't have to be, but hopefully to him I am at least a good Momma.