I’ve heard multiple people talk about the sport (or art) of surfing and how going with the wave – riding it where it takes you – is key to being a successful surfer. We cannot try to fight it, because it’s so much bigger and holds so much more power than anything we posses. Now, I don’t surf, but in other aspects of life, at what point do we stop fighting certain constants and just ‘ride the wave’?
I am going to make a silly comparison, but, hear me out. Continue Reading…
I’ve been struggling a little bit over the last few weeks with juggling my day job, House of Earnest, freelance projects, and the new adventure, but when I was in the farmer’s market this weekend, I saw a card with this quotation. I just realized that this is a ‘bootstraps’ sort of situation. I can choose whether I’ll be brought down by the crazy, or inspired to fight, try, work harder.
It was last night when I hit one million total pageviews (eeek) for the blog and got my state of Ohio business registration for the new adventure (double eeek) that I realized that this is a great place to be, maybe hard, but great. And I only have you guys to thank.
So, thank you for reading the blog, passing it onto your friends, chatting us up on twitter, Facebook, instagram and what have you. Thank you for coming back each day to see what contraption I’ve created or project I’m sharing. Thank you! I certainly don’t think I’m a legend yet, but boy, is it something to aspire to!
Have a wonderful Tuesday out there!
photo source: cafe fille
Today is my third wedding anniversary and the traditional gift for this year is leather. Among all of the very girly wedding and holiday gifts out there, this is certainly the most masculine. I was actually pretty excited to buy a gift for Matty that supported the traditional theme this year and definitely bought one on the items featured above – can you guess which one?
I don’t talk a ton about my personal life or love life, but want to open up a bit and share that Matt, my husband, is my partner. In crime, in love, in every single sense of the word, a partner. Not only does he support me, but he challenges me. He’s my devil’s advocate, my equal, my encouragement, my biggest fan, my best friend. So many people may say the same, but I can’t imagine telling anyone else the extent of the thoughts in my head – except for Matt. I hold nothing back, we explore every subject, and we’re together though it all. We make dinner together each night (even if it’s at 10pm), talk about our days, discuss ideas, aspirations, and reconnect.
In some ways it’s felt like these years have flown by, but in others it’s like I’ve never known life without him. It’s hard to describe, and isn’t that the way it should be? What we have is ours and won’t make sense to another soul.
So today, we’re celebrating each other, our love, and our lives… together in this old farmhouse… one day at a time. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
leather gifts: leather desk set | iphone case | travel satchel | passport cover | flask
Did you collect things as a child? I can remember really wanting to start a serious collection (of anything) but never quite being passionate enough to stick with it. It was such a normal idea though. Now, I feel that the idea has kind of slipped away as a very antiquated hobby.
Lisa Congdon was an avid collector and even posted a picture each day for a year of her collections. I got to thinking about the fact that subconsciously, I actually have been a collector all of these years. I have a very extensive collection of glassware (almost rivaling another Erin) and am seriously on my way to a (bordering on crazy) vase and vessel collection – which maybe still falls in the glassware category.
All of this to say that maybe the difference between hoarding and being a collector is our treatment of the pieces. Lisa carefully arranged and photographed hers. I keep my glassware lined up and styled on my bar – bringing it out for many a photography session. Our respect and admiration for the pieces is the key here.
Which brings me to ask – Do you collect anything? Do you display it? or have it carefully tucked away?
photo credit: glassware | pillows | porcelain | books
To say that I’m ambitious would be an understatement. I might even be ambitious to a fault. Unlike a lot of people, it’s not with material things that I have the greatest need for accomplishment, it’s with knowledge. I want to know everything and I want to know it now. I’ve taught myself everything from basic HTML to basic German. At the risk of sounding like Veruca Salt from the chocolate factory, I have a need to be good at lots of things…and instantly, but as we all know, that doesn’t always happen. If something doesn’t come naturally to me, I often discard it and find something else. This has resulted in me being a jack of a lot of trades and a master at very little (like the aforementioned basic HTML and basic German, but not advanced in either). My problem isn’t with the desire to learn, it’s with patience to learn.
When it came to calligraphy, I’d always kind of dabbled, and wasn’t great at it, but my desire to be good overcame the initial failures. I was able to move past being uncomfortable without instant success and actually practice. I met with Tara from Swallowtail Calligraphy and learned some of the basics in an age-old art and, although I am improving, it will take a lot more meetings for me to feel confident.
All of this to say that as adults, is our emphasis on patience and practice lacking? Are we too comfortable in what we’re good at or what we already do well that we don’t put the effort towards learning new things that don’t come natural?
Today, I’m committing to being patient with my practice of calligraphy and being more open to the joy of the learning curve.
Are you learning anything new? How is the practice going?
It’s my first day back in action after spending a week in beautiful Telluride on a ski vacation, and I had an amazing time. If you follow on Instagram (@houseofearnest) you saw some peeks of the action and can probably understand why I’m so stoked for spring after all of that snow.
Are you guys ready? This March, I’m so excited for a few of the changes I have coming up this spring on House of Earnest. Aside from continuing my regular weekly DIYs, Friday Faves, and home style & party tips, I am planning to integrates some new content. Between a new take on ‘Splurge & Save’, a ‘Beginner Blooms’ column, and some more styling and decor posts, we have a ton going on and I’m so excited you guys are here to join me for it all!
Now, I know some of you are probably thinking that I’ve lost my marbles because in the midwest, March really doesn’t mean that winter is over, but I’m here to get a jump start on the brights, the blooms, the sweet smells, and everything else that comes along with springtime for our homes and parties – and I sure hope you’re ready to jump in with me!
Have a BEAUTIFUL Monday!
Last month I met a couple who had an interesting quirk in that they didn’t have designated sides of the bed. Whoever went to sleep first, took whichever side and the partner who followed would take the other side. If they went to sleep at the same time, it was just kind of decided on the spot. I asked the couple if they had a side they preferred and they didn’t really seem to. I asked if they always took the same side upon getting in bed first (like he who gets the window side first wins). They didn’t.
I found this so interesting because we are such creatures of habit and I (for one) like to have something be mine. Matt and I even have designated spots where we sit in the living room. I’m always on the couch, and him on the leather chair (now, part of our situation is the layout of our living room. You cannot adequately see the TV from one side of the couch, making it really a spot for just one). But the main thing here is that the idea of not having my side of the bed seemed so odd to me.
I am not quite sure why I find it so hard to comprehend, but I just do. What’s mine is mine and what’s his is his, right?
Which got me thinking about marriage in general. We share everything else, so why not our sides of the bed. Is it really just habit? Or is it a need to have some ownership in an otherwise all-sharing situation? I thought maybe it was just preference. Maybe I just liked sleeping on the right side, but that isn’t true when I travel, so it’s not preference. Am I really just that possessive?
What do you guys think? Do you have things that are specifically designated? Or do you, like the above mentioned couple, see no division?
I’m curious to know, so leave a comment below!
p.s. We are hosting a GIVEAWAY which will have two winners! Check it out here and some silk cushions could be headed your way!
I wasn’t going to post a recap of Alt… Why? Because I strive to reach out to a readership that doesn’t just consist of other bloggers. Not that I don’t love all of my blogger friends (I do!), but if we’re all just writing for each other, then what’s the point? I love the idea that I have the potential to reach out to a wide range of people based on my content – and I sure hope that I do.
So although I won’t go into the details of the panels (which were awesome), I felt that, like I had mentioned two weeks ago, you guys might just want a little behind the scenes glimpse at what goes on here on House of Earnest.
I met some amazing new people, reconnected with some wonderful girls I met last year, and feel that the panel I spoke on went well. It’s so hard to articulate everything I learned, but at the heart of it all, I came away a little more intent to just focus on creating things that I love and to share with you all. End of story. Among the clamor to meet sponsors, pass out as many business cards as humanly possible, and wow some of the big brands into partnerships, I just wasn’t totally convinced that those things would make me a better blogger – or even reach a bigger success in the blog industry. I learned tips and tricks here and there that will help my day-to-day run smoother and maybe help me to interact with you guys better, but my goal here is to get the best, newest, freshest ideas out to you with my own spin – and that isn’t necessarily something you can be taught.
I assume that is why you guys are here too, so I’m glad we have the same goals! Don’t worry – we’re back to our regular programming tomorrow. I have two really easy and beautiful projects to share, one very exciting (Valentines Day) magazine feature to share, and more.
p.s. If you still haven’t taken my annual survey – please hop over and let me know some of your thoughts! I’m eager to hear what you think!
p.p.s If you are another blogger who is interested in detailed accounts of the panels, Lisa from Elembee has amazing recaps for each panel she attended. Check them out here!
The lovely ladies in the photos above are: Megan from The Fresh Exchange, Amy from Parker Etc, Jen from A Blog Named Scout, Mandy from Fabric Paper Glue, Audrey from This Little Street, Katie from Modern Eve, Meg from MegBiram.com, Kelly from Design Crush, Allison from Engaged and Inspired, Natalie from Bing.
So, I had a completely different post planned for today with a really fun and easy project that I love and am excited to share, but it just didn’t feel right to post about it when my mind is so far from home right now. I’m currently on a plane (in air wi-fi is the best) headed to Salt Lake City for the Alt Design Summit which is the yearly blog conference of blog conferences for people like me.
I’m packed up with stripes, sparkle, shoes, handbags (not the ones above, although that would be awesome), and a ton of business cards. What does this have to do with you? Well, two things…
Firstly, I am nervous as all-get-out. I don’t feel like I should be posting about homemade bath sachets when I’ve got a lump the size of Texas in my chest. Why do you ask? Well, last year when I went, I was so new to this blog and all of you were new to me. I didn’t have much to lose, but a ton to gain. This year I still have a ton to gain, but way more to lose. I wouldn’t want to make a change to House of Earnest that would lose any of you, or wrongly represent what I’ve set out to share, but I also want to shake things up and offer some newness to this place. OH yeah, and I’m speaking… double yikes.
Secondly, I’m so excited to share with you that I’m meeting with people from Better Homes and Gardens, Sherman Williams, Keep.com, and Bing to better this blog, explore next steps for how to get my creative ideas out there into the world and overall keep this blog thing energized, organized, and chalk full of newness for you, my dear readers.
So, That is what’s going on inside my head this morning. I know it’s not necessarily home decor based, but if you guys are up for hearing more behind-the-scenes of life in the blogworld type posts, definitely let me know.
IF you’re still reading and you also really like parties, fashion, and clothes, then follow on Instagram - I’ll be sharing lots of photos of the parties I’m attending all week (tonight it’s dinner with Better Homes and Gardens!), the outfits I’ll be wearing, and the tips, treats, and drinks that will be flying around.
Tomorrow I’ll be sharing one of my favorite things about being out west and I suppose the diy project will have to wait until next week! Have a fab Wednesday out there guys!
Photo Credit 1 – The Coveteur | 2 – Parcelpost | 3 – BergdorfPrincess
Well, It’s a pretty big day here on House of Earnest – We’re turning TWO! It’s been a whole two years of tips, tricks, decor, DIY, parties, entertaining, flowers, and festivities.
I honestly cannot believe that we’ve had so many successes in just two short years – if you’re new to House of Earnest, or love a blast from the past, here are twelve of my top projects from the past year – snoop around, enjoy, but keep scrolling down for my goals from the past year, how I did on them and what my goals are for year three.
My goals for this past year were as follows:
I can honestly say that I’ve accomplished every single one of these goals – and here are some examples!
ONE I got photoshop one year ago and my photos drastically improved, here is a before and after. TWO Have and Make was one of the more popular columns, but Style Splurge and Details With were also fun, regular columns we did in 2012. THREE I spent close to 4 hours making each of the little photos above flash words when you hover over them with your mouse. I’ve taught myself a ton of things on photoshop, but being that I cam completely self-taught, I’m taking a class this Saturday as well! I’m pretty excited for it! FOUR If these top twelve DIYs from last year aren’t proof enough, I don’t know what is. And I’ve had four of my projects in printed magazines! Woohoo! FIVE I’ve really tried super hard at this goal. I hate the idea of reblogging a photo that you’ve probably seen ten times on Pinterest, so I make it a huge priority to post mostly (90%) my own photos and my own content. No scans of magazines here, new, fresh ideas that are carried out by me. SIX I would love to still improve on the goal to increase reader interaction. I’d love for the comments on each post to increase and for more discussion to get going. SEVEN I completely revamped my site and my branding. If you don’t remember what the old site looked like, I’m not going to remind you! EIGHT I would like to collaborate a bit more with others, but my Details With column, the Trade & Made post series, and the 24 Merry Bloggers posts all count toward that goal. NINE I’ve currently got some amazing sponsors! Benjamin Lowry Photography, Betty Means Business, and a host of other non advertising sponsors help me get you the best content each day – A huge thanks to them!
All of this just means that I’ve got to make some even bigger goals for year three, and boy are they big. Here are some of the ones that top the list:
While my two last goals are some of the biggest, unfortunately, they’re not totally honed and ready to be unveiled. As soon as I do unveil them, however, I’ll add them to the list.
So if you’re still reading by this point, I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for another year. For coming here, reading my ideas, and trying them too. Nothing makes me happier than to see that you guys benefit from the time I spend putting together this site and hearing your feedback and comments. So, to round out my longest post of 2012, I’d like to as you to please take a quick little survey (just 8 questions) to help me continue and improve House of Earnest.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY (thank you a billion!)
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| Hi, I'm Erin! House of Earnest is the place for Home Decor, Hand Made Projects and Party Style made easy. My style is simple, natural, rustic and slightly modern. Take a look around, leave a comment and have fun! That's the whole point, right? |
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