The Studio

Upstairs, at the very end of the hallway, there is what I've donned as "the studio." You see, I've always dreamed of having a space for art. A room to sprawl out with a mess: paper, paints, pencils, fabric, glue, and all the goods that messes typically spill out as when I make them. So when we moved, and ended up with three bedrooms in addition to a basement, this room emerged as the space I've always wanted. One filled with natural light, a big wide desk, and room to sprawl out. 

An art room really needs materials right at your fingertips, am I right? That way no setting up really has to happen. Its all right there, whenever you need it. It's kind of funny to think that the over the toilet shelf that we built for our tiny place in Denver has now become the perfect set up for all of my art supplies. You wouldn't even know it if I told you that is was in a bathroom for the past two years. Between the shelf, the wire drawers from Ikea, and the closet; this room has such great storage.

Secretly, I chose this room not only because of the lighting, but because it feels like you are in a treehouse. The ash tree in the backyard nearly reaches into the window. Its so calming and pretty to work on a piece of calligraphy or paint up here.

Although the closet side of the room is basically art storage until they each find a home on walls throughout the house, I feel like this room is pretty well under way. Eventually I'd like to have a little lounger or a comfy retro loveseat that can go between the door and the closet. Wouldn't it be great to just curl up with a book in here with a view into the winding branches of the ash tree outside? I've been playing with color ideas, and want to stick with something that is bright and clean, and still allows the aquas and red that are in the collection of art above the desk to have that pop. I may stick with the neutral for awhile until maybe just going with white, but I've also been toying with the idea of a color blocked/two-tone wall. Like this, this, or this. Kind of bold, BUT lately I'm obsessed with this idea. I'm just so thrilled to have a home. And so thankful to have this studio and space to make messes. Trust me, this is the cleanest its looked since we moved here ;)

Thoughts on Age and Beauty

I'm finding that with age, beauty comes along with it. Not just because smile lines around my eyes mean that I've experienced joy, or sun spots that used to be considered freckles reflect sun kissed moments - what I mean is that with age, I am learning how to allow myself to truly embrace my beauty. The beauty that was there all along, but I allowed comparison, and "I'm not enough", and all the other lies to cast a shadow on--that beauty--I can see it and I can feel it more than I could ten years ago. With age, I am better able to appreciate what it is that makes me uniquely me. Beauty comes with the years I add to my life, because with age I am more equipped able to ward off lies that try to tell me I'm not something. When really, I am something -- something beautiful. Someone beautiful. Inside and out.

And you know what? It's taken time and a transforming of my heart to see it. But I'm finding that with getting older, and with a community of women who focus on true beauty (like Natalie, Anne, Allie) rather than all the rest of superficial things that this world can focus so closely in on, that I'm welcoming age with open arms because wrinkled hands and a grey hair, to me, means a straighter aligning of my understanding of the beauty that is within. The beauty that really matters.

photo taken by Jenna, in Breckenridge after a Spring mountain adventure in which I felt truly alive and beautiful despite dirty hair and freezing hands

Oh, Spring!

Spring is either a favorite season or completely loathed, it seems. Favorite because its warmer on the flat land, yet snowy and abundant in ski days in the mountains. Loathed because winter seems as though it can't let free its grip, hanging on as long as it can, with snow days arriving as late as May. It's a rare find when you hear someone say that Spring is somewhere in the middle. A second or third favorite? Yeah, not really. Well, at least here in Colorado. 

For me though, Spring brings an overwhelming feeling of fresh, clean, and bright. I fall on the end of loving it. You can escape to the mountains and feel the need for a beanie, after spending all day in sandals and a dress. You can eat ice-cream one day, and need a bowl of hot soup curled up on the couch the next. The window lets more light in, and the brightness brings rejuvenation after a long winter of early days cold to the touch. That first sign of Spring? With the bulbs pushing up through soil. beginning to make their green mark all around, with fresh cut tulips to ring in the season, waiting all winter long to pop up and say "Well, hello! Didn't you miss me?" Longer days, with nights that are still cool, and mornings that are still damp, with birds chirping before the sun even rises. Summer doesn't have these things, because hot and beaming and sun burnt cheeks arrive--but Spring, green and bright and new--in Spring--those things are abundant. 

So here's to an end of April and almost May. The last month of this Spring love-loathe relationship. To warmer days on the flats, and melty snow in the mountains. To cool damp mornings and fresh earth piercing blooms. To early birds chirping and bright light waking the day. To new life, and growing roots. To Spring!

photos from my Instagram Feed (@lauren_tien)

Calligraphy, lately.

Last month, I took a calligraphy class in Boulder taught by Rebecca, the lady behind Manzanita. It was such a wonderful two hours, learning about letter structure, spacing, nibs, ink types, and all things calligraphy. Pure bliss. Can I just write all day every day? Preferably with other ladies who like nibs, and ink, and hand lettering pretty things?

When I was a little girl learning piano, discipline brought me to practice everyday. Or, most days….It's the same thing with calligraphy, I'm finding. Practice makes perfect. Or rather, practice makes you more clever at the nib, and helps you learn the basics so that eventually you can break the rules and find your own style. So that's why I practice, and make mistakes, and focus on letter structure and spacing. Because one day, I want to have a signature style that breaks the rules but is so darn pretty to the eye, like Rebecca's work or the likes of Lindsay Letters.

As I've been writing more, and putting ink to paper, I've had the treat of doing some calligraphy for Wonderfully Made's Instagram Feed (@madewonderfully). Every Thursday I sit down, open my bible, and pick out scripture to share. I love this part of my week. And lately, the warm spring weather beams through my window as I write.

Have you ever taken a calligraphy class? Would you want to learn? Rebecca offers workshops, and she has a few coming up in Los Angeles, Boulder, and Nashville. You can read more about them here.

The Start of Our Yard Revamp

What can be more gratifying than seeing progress because of good old hard work? Labor intensive, dirt on your jeans, roughed up knuckles, and sunburnt cheeks kind of hard work. Maybe I'm an odd ball, but pulling weeds, ripping up stumps, and clearing out overgrown shrubs is something I find such satisfaction in. And goodie for me we have lots of this ahead of us in our backyard! I'd be fibbing a bit if I told you I didn't grumble when I woke up this morning, though. Even with finding satisfaction in outdoor/gardening work, and pulling up weeds like I said just a second ago, there's so much do to in our backyard. Its a bit daunting, really. But I pulled up my boot straps and knocked off the grumbling. We just went at it. Starting one section at a time. The rollie pollies and earthworms didn't know what was comin' today.

Matt's already talking about how one day, once all the messy bushes are gone and we've taken care of some big projects out here, that apple and peach trees would be nice. I was pretty spoiled having so many fruit trees at my mom's house in Thousand Oaks. I think that even though Colorado isn't as gracious with growing fruit trees like California is, I will take what I can get. And, yes, apples and peaches would be so so nice, don't you think?

We've started on the very left side of the yard, pulling up a deck that used to hold up a spa. All the other work on this side consists of tearing out tons and tons of roots, shrubs, and stumps. Yippee! Such a pile of messy overgrown plants it all is. How wonderful it'll be once this is all cleared out and I can have a little vegetable garden all along this area of the yard. It already has the framework for a great garden bed. And the soil is the really great type that you hope for when it comes to growing veggies. Remember last summer when I started my own little garden DIY style began venturing into city gardening? Gosh, we've come a long way since then. How truly blessed I feel to call this yard ours.

Two Dressers, Lamps, and a Bed | Before

This is where you'll find me catching up on Downton Abbey on flake out Friday, or from 5:00 - 6:00 a.m. hitting snooze, or sipping my early morning coffee on those days I work later.  Our bedroom! The camera died about halfway through shooting our room, so this is really only part of the space. I know, I'm sorry! To the right of the bed are two windows, which are brilliant - literally. They give of so much light, and I intend to embrace that fully, you know, harness that clean and bright feel with crisp white window linens and such. And to the left of the wide dresser is the bathroom. Consider this an official before post (even if it's a halfsie). Half of the things in this room are old, thrifted, or waiting to be refurbished. Can you figure out which is which? There are a handful of Target and West Elm finds in here to. A gold star to the most correct guesses!

Oh and P.S. Went to Ikea today, and walked out a happy lady with the perfect pendant lamp. 

Dark Grey Bedroom Walls

Right now the master bedroom is neutral, tan, beige, skin tone. Oh how I want that to change. But something I've been challenging myself to do is patiently plan each room, and map out colors and aesthetics that Matt and I are both drawn to. Simple, crisp, and vintage is an overarching theme that I find myself mapping out in my mind over and over. And grey. Or gray. Grey/gray. The color keeps cycling back to the house plans, sneaking its way into every single room I redesign in my head. Gray so light it is almost white in the family room, grey base cabinets with bright white top cabinets in the kitchen, and subtle grey shelves in the laundry room. Leaving the the darkest of all the greys in the master bedroom. I've been trying to picture this bottom look in our room. What do you think? I kind of love it.

image via here