We transformed our backyard from dirt to a dream. Two years of Saturday/Sunday sweat and hard work came to fruition, finally! We love our yard, and we’re so proud of what we accomplished.

I started by working with Yardzen to illustrate my backyard vision into digital renderings, and then we got to work.

We removed the deck since it covered the entrance to our crawl space, and replaced it with a much smaller set of stairs and a beautiful stone flatpad, which also gave us more privacy. Local Atlanta company Wilson Brothers Landscaping was hired to grade the slope of the land and complete the stonework for the sitting area. They also installed the new set of stairs.

Justin and I took on the rest! We spent weekends laying the pathway pavers, spreading stones, creating the fire pit area, and gardening. Once the area was defined with edging, stones, and mulch, we hired another local company to install turf. Easy to love this space after all that sweat equity!

BEFORE - VIEW FROM GATE

AFTER - VIEW FROM GATE

BEFORE - VIEW ACROSS BACKYARD

AFTER - VIEW ACROSS BACKYARD

BEFORE - VIEW TO DOOR

AFTER - VIEW TO DOOR

Ring the bell! Chili is served! Our third year participating in Atlanta’s famous chili cookoff was our best yet.

Every year I change the recipe slightly and try something new. For 2022, I experimented with making my own chili paste to influence the heat, and it was an awesome addition. I also started using tomato paste and beef bullion to sauté the onions in, which really did add more depth. The recipe and cook are mostly muscle memory for Justin and me at this point. Plus, we fit in 3 practice rounds this year before the final go for Chomp & Stomp.

We did 4 back-to-back chili-making sessions the night before the competition. Each round has 4-5 pounds of meat so we have to work in stages to meet the cookoff requirements (at least 5 gallons). We finished with about 8 gallons to serve this year.

The day of the competition has turned into a full family affair. My dad and brother both help Justin dish and serve the chili, and as the chef, I bring the vibes by playing host of the booth. We keep the cooler full of beer for our friends and fans, and of course … the Tums are free for all.

Onto the next home project - refinishing the front stairs of our home! I made multiple attempts to remove the old, peeling paint from our concrete stairs and hardly made a dent (see ‘before’ photo below). I bought an angle grinder, watched a YouTube video, and got to work. The paint came right off, although it required some patience and muscle.

Once cleaned, I applied a fresh coat of paint. The project was completed just in time to host the post-wedding family brunch for my brother and his new wife!

FRONT STEPS BEFORE

FRONT STEPS AFTER!

We got a dog!

After applying to Southeast Corgi Rescue to adopt a dog, we were matched with 5-year-old Speck, a Pembroke Corgi who was an owner surrender. Speck had a special story of surviving being hit by a truck, which badly injured his left hind leg.

Southeast Corgi Rescue paid for his medical treatments and his foster family cared for him until he was healthy enough for adoption. He’s full of energy and is one happy boy. Welcome to your furever home, Speck!

In the winter I went to visit my grandmother and her sister in Florida. These fantastic women are 92 and 94 years old and are very artistic; I love spending time with them. My grandmother Pat is extremely talented musically and her sister Jean is an incredible fine artist - specializing in paint and wood mediums.

When we went to my great-aunt’s condo complex, she asked if I wanted to see the woodshop that she runs in the building. Even at 94 years old, Jean still uses power tools and designs relief sculptures out of wood! She is the shopkeep, and told me there was a guy in the building disrespecting the tools and using them improperly so she put a “broken” sign on a tool she had personally replaced so he wouldn’t use it. I loved that story so much.

I was so inspired seeing Jean navigate the woodshop and make her art for her and for fun. Really lucky to have these good genes and know these badass grandmas.

GRANDMA PAT ON LEFT / GREAT-AUNT JEAN ON RIGHT

JEAN’S DESK AND MATERIALS IN THE SHOP

JEAN’S WORK-IN-PROGRESS

JEAN’S DISPLAY CASE WITH A FEW OF HER CREATIONS

First time I ever installed a bathroom vanity! After watching many YouTube videos and adding an all-purpose oscillating saw to my toolbox, the work began.

Let it be known, I hate pedestal sinks. They are silly; there’s no storage! I especially dislike when they have ornate features, and our first floor powder room had one of the worst contractor-grade types. It had to go!

We purchased a more modern vanity from Potterybarn, and I loved the dark grey slate countertop. There was just enough storage underneath as well. I also replaced the faucet (yes, another YouTube video) with a brushed gold upgrade. The light fixture was switched for a less farmhouse-style option, and I added a fun mirror - both from Anthropologie Home.

It was a small update, but I’m so proud of it because I did all the replacement work myself!

(There’s no video proof that I was the one who did all the upgrades because I learned quickly that there’s no good angles when filming plumbing…)

AFTER! (so cute)

BEFORE (blah)

In 2020, I lost one of my employees. It was such heavy news in our Atlanta community, and the first time my district had experienced this kind of tragedy together. His name was Nico, and he was not only incredibly talented in his role at UO, but he was also such a compassionate person.

We all underestimated how it would feel to grieve this loss during Covid, when we couldn’t safely hug each other or wipe tears from our friends’ eyes. In my own healing, I wrote an ‘In Memoriam’ post for our company newsletter, which his family appreciated so much that it was also shared at his procession.

In January, a group of Atlanta employees and I decided to pull together our own celebration of life ceremony to honor Nico. We met outdoors in Piedmont Park, and repurposed old UO display materials to decorate our corner of the park. Many friends and family joined, and we had the warmest afternoon sharing our favorite stories.

RIP - Nico Sisneros - November 2020

Just married!

Despite the restrictions of Covid and 2020 lockdowns, Justin and I tied the knot in a small ceremony with just our parents and brothers. On a picture-perfect fall afternoon in November, we exchanged vows on the rooftop of the Clermont Hotel in Atlanta. It was the happiest day!

11/13/20

PHOTOS BY THE EXCEPTIONALLY TALENTED MICHELLE SCOTT (IG: @MICHELLESCOTTPHOTO)

Over the summer I started a watercolor painting for the first time in 10 years! On our family vacation on a lake in Wisconsin, I sat by the water and started a painting to gift to my brother and sister-in-law.

They just purchased their forever home and the new house they would raise their beautiful family in. But their first home had a lot of special memories too, and I wanted to paint that house with love, and present it as a housewarming gift. I hope the painting brings back their favorite memories. Happy Housewarming!

After painting a few rooms, I enlisted the help of my dad for the first big project I wanted to learn how to do in our new home - HANG WALLPAPER!

In the 80s, my dad single-handedly wallpapered 70% of our childhood home. His level of precision is incredible. A real measure-three-times-and-cut-once kind of perfectionism that he ultimately passed along to me. I knew this wallpaper project would take us some time, even in a small laundry room. We wouldn’t cut any corners.

The project began and immediately ended on our first attempt when my dad learned I only ordered one roll of wallpaper for an entire room (hilarious rookie mistake). After ordering three more rolls, we rescheduled and got to work. Our 100+ year old house tested us with no plum corners, but we finished in a few hours!

It was a great learning experience, and an awesome first project to do with my dad <3

In 2019, we bought our first home! Located in the historic West End neighborhood of Southwest Atlanta, we joined a gorgeous area with deep roots in the Atlanta community. Our house was built in 1920 and it was renovated prior to our purchase … but that won’t stop me from adding my own touch in every room! We can’t wait to get started!

As an avid art zine collector, my brother wanted simple magazine racks to display his favorite publications in his living room. His design aesthetic at the time was colorful, so I created simple shelves that let the playful magazine covers double as art on the wall. The shelves were made from pine 1x4s, 1x2s, wood glue, wood filler, and flathead silver nails. To finish the project, the shelves were sealed in a clear polyurethane to maintain the natural color of the wood. Merry Christmas, Tim!

It's twins!

When my brother and his wife Abbi found out that they were pregnant with 2 little baby girls, she asked me if I would make one of my wall hangings for the new nursery. Duh, dream request! She shared her inspo photos with me, including the room's future color story and the plans for playful decorations - we covered all the charming whimsy that often details a baby's first bedroom.

Abbi and Mark settled on a precious aqua, pink and grey palette, and I went to work on the wall hanging. As with all the others that I have made before, I waited until I looped all the yarn to decide what the shape of the hanging would be, and then trimmed the yarn at the very end of the craft process.

My gift was supposed to be completed and presented at the baby shower, but wasn't completely finished until the week of the planned c-section! I gave them the hanging the night before Abbi went into the hospital - just in time to welcome home Penny & Harley Lampe, my new nieces!

professional family photo taken by @chrissynoelphotography

photo taken by proud mama @abbilampe

In the hot Atlanta heat of a July afternoon, I cohosted a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law. They were pregnant with TWIN GIRLS, which was incredibly exciting since their pregnancy journey was difficult, and also exciting because my brothers are twins as well! 

I cohosted the shower, and we divided out decorations responsibilities. I volunteered to create a large balloon archway for photos and as a large decoration on the deck in the backyard. You can find various tutorials online, but I primarily worked from this excellent one from the website The House That Lars Built.

The hardest thing to problem solve was how to make an arch structure in the wide opening at the top of the deck stairway (the online tutorial linked above was for a more organic shape). I found an 8ft PVC pipe at Home Depot that allowed for enough bend for a curved archway, and wouldn't snap. I inserted 2 4ft dowels into the ends of the PVC to give me some structure that I could attach to the deck stairway with zip ties. 

Lastly, the one thing that I wished I could have done differently was start earlier -- filling a structure this large with balloons was incredibly time consuming, and I would have liked to have made it a fuller display with more time (I invested about 5-6 hours total on the installation, and had most of the balloons already blown up prior to installation). Also, that hot Atlanta heat caused many of the balloons to deflate to about 1/3 of their size by the end of the shower, which is also good to know in hot temperatures!

Overall, I was so happy that I could create a statement that my brother and sister-in-law loved as part of their shower. Shout out to the Oh Happy Day party shop, which sells some of the most beautiful, durable balloons available, and in all the best color assortments. I love this source for party supplies! 

MATERIALS:  ARCHWAY FRAMEWORK -  1/2" PVC pipe, wooden dowels (must fit inside PVC), zip ties (and decorative ribbon to cover the zip ties for presentation), chicken wire, and clear packing tape. BALLOON DECORATIONS - assorted balloons in different colors and sizes (Oh Happy Day and Amazon), handheld balloon pump, low temp glue gun and glue sticks, and thin silver wire

(all throwback posts feature projects I did years ago, but have stuck with me as favorites)

It's never easy to talk about a loss of a friend or family member, but sharing about the death of someone close has always been therapeutic for me. I was close with my mom's oldest brother for my entire life, and he was particularly similar to my mom -- which I always loved to acknowledge when they were together. In 2010 my uncle Jim passed away after losing his battle with brain cancer, and the effect of his loss was incredibly impactful on my mom's family.

My grief sparked a creative energy in me that I used for healing soon after the funeral. I traveled back home to NJ from Columbus, Ohio with a large handful of flowers from the funeral. I dried and pressed the flower petals, and started thinking of a commemorative way to use them.

Once the petals were ready, I put a small handful into little favor bags that I bought at Michaels. I used other various scrapbooking/craft supplies from Michaels to make the details of a commemorative plaque. I made about 8 matching plaques in remembrance of Jim, and gave them to our immediate family. 

My uncle was a huge Beatles fan, so each gift was stamped from a lyric from one of his favorite songs: 

"TAKE A SAD SONG AND MAKE IT BETTER"  -THE BEATLES

As part of the bridal shower that I co-hosted for my friend Heather (see previous post), I handmade a guest book for the occasion. With our Pie & DIY theme, the guest book was our star DIY element.

I designed the book so that each guest could share 1 recipe and 1 note of sentiment or advice for Heather, and a photo of themselves. All of this was part of the fun we had during the shower, and provided the guests with another way to socialize and meet each other. 

The pages are accordion bound using paper tape (I actually prefer medical tape for this), and I used book cloth to assemble the hard cover. I drew and cut out a diamond ring "die-cut" for the cover page. Once all the love letters and fun photos were added, I actually needed a leather tie to hold the book closed -- it was exploding with well wishes for Heather in her new married life!  

MATERIALS:  book cloth (purchased from Binders), assorted decorative paper (purchased from Michaels and Binders), paper medical tape, X-Acto knife and tons of extra blades, bookbinding adhesive (archival grade), recipe cards (purchased from CloudsandCurrents on Etsy), houndstooth note cards (purchased from Chaos By Design on Etsy), and a Fuji Instax camera and film 

In the Fall of 2015, my best friend Heather got married. Before the big day, her mother, her aunt and I hosted a bridal shower at her aunt's house in beautiful rural Pennsylvania.

Let’s start by saying I am a huge fan of a theme for any shower event.

Heather's mom and I settled on a Pie & DIY theme for our ladies' luncheon (see next post for the DIY portion of the party). The menu was quiche and a dessert table filled with homemade Pennsylvania pies, whoopee pies and pie pops. All of the decorations were geometric and made from paper to pay homage to the location where Heather got engaged (we were taking a paper origami class when her then-boyfriend proposed). 

My mom and I made all of the paper garland that I hung in the cabin above the tables. We used die cut punches to make various geometric shapes, and then we used a sewing machine to connect all the shapes together into garland. It was really special for me to have my mom involved in the shower prep, and I loved making the garland together.

For years, Heather has referred to me as the creative director of her life, and her shower was no different. After months of editing and finessing every detail, I made sure that the final touches checked in with her playful side. I added candy and toys to the party in the last weeks.

I've loved Heather for 9 long, incredible years, and her shower was one of my favorite ways I've ever been able to extend my love to her. Cheers to the future Mrs. Santana! 

DECORATIONS: handmade sewn paper garland, paper honeycombs and tissue paper fans (Oh Happy Day)  TABLETOP: aluminum pie containers (Amazon), mint and foil paper plates (Bash Party Goods), floral paper napkins (Oh Happy Day), wooden utensil sets (PG Supply Co) HUMOR:  felted pie set (Felt Food Truck), champagne with rock candy, and Looney Tunes toys.

Thank you to Julie McMahon for taking most of the stunning photos below!

In the Fall of 2016, UO opened a new store in the beautiful city of Athens, Georgia. I was very fortunate to get to work with the Events team from Home Office to help organize an oversized opening party at Creature Comforts Brewery. Nearly all of the details were solidified by the events team, but I got the opportunity to go to the party and bring a few of my direct reports to help with the setup. 

Once we arrived at the brewery, our team was responsible for adding our branding to the stage where Unknown Mortal Orchestra was performing later that night (!!!). We also added balloons and string lights outside Creature Comforts for the party. Inside the brewery, I directed the setup for the Dreamers and Doers Marketplace event. The vendors, who were all local artisans that UO invited to sell their goods during the event (UO takes no profits -- all money made goes directly back to the artists). I directed the fixture and branding placement, and added flowers throughout to brighten the marketplace.  

Most of the photos below were taken by Ian Abineri, and the Events coordinator of the entire event was Meaghan Creamer. However, I really did enjoy the small role I was allowed to serve in the success of this amazing opening event! 

My good friend Melissa had seen my oversized wall hanging in my house and mentioned how much she would also like to have one. I stored that little note in my head for a few months leading up to her bridal shower where I made her this hanging as a gift. It is another large hanging on a 4ft wooden dowel, but I used thicker yarn this time. I also made the pop color in the center a red/scarlet/burgundy color since that was the central color for her wedding ceremony. Hey, not every gift has to come off a registry ... 

In January I visited friends and family in the LA area. I arrived with a long list of swoon-worthy boutiques that I had been lusting after on Instagram, and a plan to visit them all. The edit and curation in each of these stores was so on point, and my shopping experiences gave me some serious inspiration for opening my own shop one day. Below is the list of the shops I visited, as well as some pretty goodies I couldn't go home without ...

• GENERAL STORE (my favorite!)  /  Venice  /  ceramic container with cork lid, shibori handkerchief & potholder

• INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY STORE  /  Atwater Village, LA /  clay ring & Mary Meyer candle

• MIXED BUSINESS LA  /  Silverlake  /  stunning drop-crotch linen pants and a black cape dress (not pictured)

• SPITFIRE GIRL  /  Melrose  /  sassy matches 

• MELROSE FLEA MARKET  /  Melrose  /  no purchases, but ran into an ex-boyfriend from high school in New Jersey!