Store Bought or Handmade?

Helloooooooooo and welcome to October 28th,07. Glad you are here to visit with me.

This week I'm going to get right to the point. I spent a delightful Saturday with my fun friend, Lydia Briggs. Lydia is a great person to use a sounding board. I guess what I love about her most is she is always straight forward, tells it like it is, and is not afraid to give her opinion. We always have the best discussions and pretty much, if I'm on the road alone, Lydia is the one person I always hope is home to answer the phone so I can drive with company! Love ya Lyd!!!!

Anyway, we went to Raleigh, NC to do a little shopping as we live in New Bern, aka "bo-hick NC." On the way to and from we had a lenghthy discussion about store bought things and handmade things. I find I enjoy visiting a big city on occassion for certain things (such as clothes for a 5'1" 88lb. woman). However, I'm truly board with the "chain" stores and "chain" restaurants. I find myself happy that my home does not reflect the current "trend." I love the fact that my home is welcoming, charming and one of a kind, (OOAK). Being in the homebuilding business, it is so delightful to work with clients that have created a "home" instead of a magazine page. I love to see what people have collected and gathered and the personalization that comes with adding things over time instead of stamping them out of the Pottery Barn catalog. Not that I don't enjoy Pottery Barn, but I really don't enjoy seeing everyone's house look exactly the same. BORING!!! Your home should tell a story about you and your life. It should reflect your personality, not the personality of a designer. If you think about it, what do you want people to remember about you when they leave your home? Personally, I want them to say "her house looks just like her," not her house looks just like 100 others in the Pottery Barn, Pier 1 catalogs!

So after a long day of shopping for clothes to fit a midget with no boobs (that would be me), I came home to find my latest copy of "Romantic Homes" magazine. Being the total magazine junkie that I am, I read each and every page! Low and behold, the editor's note smacked me square in the face! Jacqueline deMontravel, Editor of the magazine wrote this. "There are two catagories of people-- the store bought and the handmade. The store bought drinks grande latte mochas, finds inspiration from a "Pottery Barn" catalog and buys their Christmas cards 12 to a pack. The handmade person grinds their own coffee beans, decorates with one-of-a-kind finds, makes their cards from saved paper and has the most innovative ideas on what chan be created from a single piece of twine." Hello, can we say "step onto my soap box please!" She further goes on to say, "entering a home that shimmers with possessions culled from different places and time periods, each piece connected to a story, is to us, boy-intercepts-girl-at-the-airport romantic. These are the homes brimming with stacks of old books, their pages worn and inked with notes, and a collection of rolling pins your mother used to shape dough into something sinful. It is the way one's childhood jewelry box is perched on a dresser with a variety of empty perfume bottles. It offers a more intimate glimpse of the owner than the contents of a handbag."

Being a person that creates one of a kind (OOAK) things, this editor's note struck a cord with me. Make your home a reflection of you. Buy things that make your heart sing! Buy things that have a story! Surround yourself with things you love! Because... no one really cares about a designer home. People that come to your home love you and you truly LIVE in the home that you love!

Hugs, Best Wishes and Bunny Kisses to You!

Shell

P.S. Visit my website www.theraspberryrabbits.com if you want to purchase something one-of-a-kind.