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My office is my happy place in our home. Being able to have an actual home office at our apartment was a treat after living in NYC, but having a dedicated space that isn’t playing double-duty as a guest room is solid gold! It was one of the things I was most excited about when we bought our house! Working from home for my business, I spend a lot of time in my office so I really wanted to make sure it was a happy and inspiring space. So today I’m giving you a full tour!

One of the first things I decided I HAD to have in the office was a pink couch. You know your girl loves pink and I decided I had to make it happen! I spent a lot of time looking into different options before I decided on this one. There were a lot of different options but they felt either like the wrong shade pink or were way more than I wanted to spend. After spotting this option on Instagram I decided to go for it! It’s actually also a futon too in case we ever did need an extra bed.

Pink Couch: Wayfair | Side Tables : Similar | Faux Deer Head: White Faux Taxidermy | Letterboard: Target

It’s definitely the shining star in the office if I don’t say so myself! Next up was mixing up my gallery wall. I love having a variety of different prints that I find inspiring (some of which I make myself). Another thing I also like to have on display is my vision board. As you guys know, I’m bigggg on goal planning and my vision board is a big part of that too. I like having it front and center so I have a constant reminder of what I’m working towards. If you haven’t made a vision board before, I also wrote a post that walks you through the process on my business blog.

Aw, if you look closely in some of the other pics you’ll also spot Scoots. The office was one of his favorite places too. So even though he didn’t make it for this post to be shared, I still wanted to include him. One of my favorite parts of the office is I have a sliding glass door that goes out onto a Juliette balcony which was perfect for him being able to people-watch and look outside while I worked.

Sequin Pillows: Similar | Double Macrame Plant Hanger: Similar

Another thing that was a priority was having plenty of space for my plants! #PlantLadyLife is the best life!

Besides being an inspired space, function was also really important. Cue my wall of shelves! For years, I dreamed of having a props closet to organize all of my props for social media photos and this is my version of that! It’s one part prop organization, one part plant shelf and one part office supply organization!

Shelving: Ikea | Wood Crates: Target | Blue Bins: Similar | Wool Woven Storage: Similar

At the Tacoma apartment, I had a double shelf and then when we moved into the townhouse and I had more room I decided to get an extra one to make it 3 shelves. I ended up getting these at Ikea and they’ve worked out great, plus were a great deal!

Desk: Similar | Whiteboards: Lowe’s | Pink Chair: Similar | Faux Chandelier: Similar | Salt Lamp: Similar

Now for a peek at the other side of the office! If I’m being totally honest, I definitely spend more time working from the couch than my desk, but I like to have options! Plus, with all the Zooming we’ve been doing lately it is a much better location for that. Another one of my favorite things in my office are these ledge shelves. They’re such a great option for an alternative to a gallery wall and I love the layered look you can create.

I’m also very into my whiteboards! The one by my desk is for tracking goal progress and monthly intentions but I loved having it so much I also have two right behind my door. They’re perfect for brainstorming and having plentyyy of space at that! The great thing about them too is they’re only like $6 each! You can spend wayyyy more on whiteboards… but Lowe’s (and Home Depot) also sell these ones that are thin and super affordable. They also have a chalkboard on the back if you wanted to use that side instead too. One of my best finds for the office I think!

Here’s a peek at the current print line-up! I think the key to having a great layered mix is mixing and matching the frame colors and sizes. I also LOVE framing cards in the smaller frames. I’m such a sucker for a good card and it’s a great option for adding some artwork that is inexpensive to your space too! Ikea is usually my go-to for frames because the prices (especially for the bigger ones) are tough to beat. I also DIYed the glitter frames. As you’d imagine, those are a little bit messy but I love the look so it’s worth being careful with them throughout the moves!

That’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed checking out the space as much as I like working in it! Truly one of my favorite spaces I’ve ever decorated! 💖🎉

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Gardening season is here and I am PUMPED up about it! When I moved to Tacoma last year I noticed there were community gardens ALL over the place and I immediately knew I wanted to join one. It took some researching and a little legwork to find one that had available plots but by the spring of last year I was the proud new renter of a box! I had mini balcony gardens for a few years while I lived in NYC, but having 14 by 6 ft of space?! So many options! So now that we’re in prime gardening season again I wanted to share some of the things I learned for other beginner gardeners. So you can skip some of the mistakes I made and just grow a badass garden yourself.

The dirt you use matters

This applies more to the herb garden we have in the kitchen… but something I learned the hard way is the dirt you use really matters! I thought.. dirt is dirt right?! Turns out that’s wrong and we ended up getting dirt that had chunks of glass in it and fungus gnats in it and AHH it was terrible. So definitely be conscious of the dirt you buy for your plants — especially if you’re doing a windowsill garden. Our community garden is an organic garden and they provide TAGRO or traditional compost (aka 💩)or and our plants have grown awesome. Then for our windowsill herb garden and our other houseplants, we use miracle grow potting mix. So I’d start by saying definitely pay attention to what the dirt is made for and if there are natural or synthetic fertilizers in it. Starting with quality dirt is the first thing that will set you up for success!

Know your zone

Another thing you want to know going into gardening is what zone you live in. This is based on a lot of different things but is important to know! This will help you learn about when you should be planting different things and what their season will be. Once you know your zone you can find a ton of different planting guides on Pinterest too!

Some plants are easier than others

This totally matters on the location of your garden conditions and all of that jazz but some plants are just a little easier than others. this can totally depend on the season too I’ve learned from other gardeners. So going into your season accepting not everything will be a success will ease a little pressure on you! Plus, like I said you learn as you go. After the first season here is where I would rank some of the plants we grew.

Super Easy
These plants are hearty and super easy

• lettuce

• kale

• sugar snap peas

• broccoli

• potatoes

• peppers

• basil

Easy but need some maintenance or need specific conditions
These plants will produce a ton but need a little more maintenance especially if you’re in a smaller gardening space

• zucchini — these suckers get HUGE. Since our garden is smaller we have to keep them trimmed back some so they don’t take over the world.

• raspberries — same with these guys I mean they are an invasive species after all so be diligent about keeping them under control.

• tomatoes — They get really heavy so making sure they have adequate support is key.

• strawberries — These take a little more time to get rooted and produce (usually a few seasons)

• spinach — These need cooler temps and bolt (which literally means bolt and grow crazy) So make sure you have the right conditions

A little tougher
We didn’t have great luck with these our first year for a variety of reasons which is why I’m saying they’re a little tougher (but also may have just been our season)

• cucumbers — you need to be careful with the leaves because if they get too wet they will die off eventually killing the plant… We didn’t have great luck our first year so we opted for a vining variety our second season and had much better luck

• carrots — we actually grew a decent amount of carrots but they require a lot of patience. We grew them from seed and they took all year to be baby carrots

• onions — same with the onions. A lot of this was due to not spacing them out enough or thinning them out (that’s a topic for another post) but I used the tops for green onions a lot more than the actual bulb part.

Give them some room to grow

That little baby zucchini or tomato plant will be a monster in a few months. So make sure you pay attention to the spacing they need. I wanted to cram as much as we could into our box but I quickly realized that some of the plants definitely could have used a little more room. Another thing is some plants need to be thinned out. Which basically requires you to decide the survival of the fittest after they’ve been growing a bit and you’re supposed to pull out some of the weaklings so the others thrive. I didn’t really know about this… but another thing to consider for spacing. If you’re gardening in a smaller space the square foot gardening method is a really great way to make the most of your space. You can learn more on this website and there’s a ton of books and blogs on it too!

Here are a few books I recommend checking out:

• Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

• The Backyard Gardener: Simple, Easy, and Beautiful Gardening with Vegetables, Herbs, and Flowers by Lyons Press

• Rodale's Basic Organic Gardening: A Beginner's Guide to Starting a Healthy Garden by Rodale Books

• Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space by Rodale Books

• Field Guide to Urban Gardening: How to Grow Plants, No Matter Where You Live by Cool Springs Press

Plant some flowers

Bees are your friends so make sure they feel welcome in your garden! Once some of your plants start getting blooms, they need help with pollination and bees will help it happen! We had really great luck planting marigolds throughout our garden in between our veggies. As the garden continued to grow we ended up moving them around a bit (probably not great for them but they survived) and it’s crazy how much of a difference having the flowers made.

Keep up with Maintenance and support

Like I mentioned earlier, your plants are going to grow, grow and grow some more! If you’re in a smaller space pruning is going to be very important. During the peak of summer we were probably pruning at least once a week I’d say and watering every day. It’s crazy how much plants can grow in a day or too with all of that sunshine! I’d recommend getting to know what plants and how you should prune them. The ones that needed the most pruning were our zucchinis, broccoli, tomatoes and now our raspberries. The other thing is making sure your plants have adequate support. Tomato cages are essential and you’ll need to start those when you plant them but you’ll also likely need stakes and other things throughout the season. This year, we actually doubled up our tomato cages to give them more support since they get sooo heavy. Here’s are my recommendations:

• Trellis for snap peas/beans/cucumbers: don’t skimp on these.. we tried one of the plastic poles with netting and it was absolute crap… I also know you probably don’t want to spend a million dollars either.. we ended up getting wooden ones that are sturdier but also inexpensive. Of course I also painted them because I’m extra like that.

• Stakes: My favorites were these ones. You can get them at Lowe’s or other hardware stores.

• Garden Ties: These are just the little twisty ties but are really helpful for securing vining plants like your snap peas to your trellis, tomatoes or peppers as things grow

I hope this post has been helpful! I’m definitely not an expert by all means but this is what I’ve learned so far in our first 2 seasons! Happy gardening!

Originally published June 2019 and updated and republished in May 2020

We can all admit that we’re living in some crazy times right now and while I’m super thankful to be able to work from home and ride this out, I’ve def needed some time to unplug. In the biz community, there’s been SO much pressure to pivot your biz or creating the next BIG thing and I have to admit, I’ve gotten sucked into it some. There are definitely some moves we’re making at our biz and projects we’ve moved from the back to the frontrunner, but I realized I had spent an avg of 15-16 hours on my computer each day since all of this had started.😳

So in an effort to rein things in a little and give myself some adequate rest, I decided I needed to spend this weekend (and the upcoming evenings) relaxing a little more. Because while there’s a whole lot out of our control, burning ourselves out on top of everything isn’t going to do us any good! While I enjoy a good binge-watch sesh here or there, doing things that are creative or trying new things is def more my style. I think as adults, a lot of us write these things off because we say we aren’t creative or we don’t know how to, but to me, it’s much more about the process than the end result. Sometimes things turn out great, sometimes you find out you really like something and others it’s a big ol’ fail but there’s something magical about focusing on something new that clears your mind!

So to help try and keep us all sane right now, I put together a list of different creative ideas and DIY projects I’d recommend. Either from things I’ve tried or things that are on my list! I also tried to pick things that need minimal supplies that you either might already have or things that were in-stock online.

Writing

It’s no secret that writing is one of my go-to’s, plus you don’t need any supplies to make this happen. It sounds so simple but it can be such a therapeutic experience. There’s a lot of different ways you can do this but I highly recommend giving some form a shot.

• Freewriting: When I’m feeling overwhelmed, sometimes I’ll take a freewriting approach where I’ll set a timer for 15-30 mins and just write everythingggg that is on my mind. Sometimes the sentences flow together and sometimes it’s just sporadic thoughts but I’ll keep writing anything on my mind until the timer is up.

• Journal prompts: If you’d like something with a little more structure, I recommend trying a journal prompt. There are a ton of different options out there to see what feels right. Girlcrush Collective has a really great blog post with a lot of different options too.

• Creative writing: Another great option is to write your own stories. Writing fiction is a great way to escape from the world we’re in and write your own story. It doesn’t matter if you’re not the next J.K. Rowling, again it’s all about the process!

Watercoloring

This was the creative outlet I decided to start with this weekend! I had bought a set of watercolor paints years ago, but have never used them so I thought it was the perfect time to try it out. Full disclosure, I know nada about painting but that was kind of the beauty of giving it a try. There are a lot of cool tutorials and Youtube channels out there and I def recommend checking out Makoccino’s channel. She has some really great tips and content!

Makeup & Hair Tutorials

Another thing I’ve spent a little time doing lately is watching makeup and hair tutorials. I’m not really that into makeup normally, but I’ve always thought it was fun watching these kinds of videos on Instagram or Youtube. Right before all of this went down, my friend Brittany hooked me up with some really awesome makeup to try out too so I’ve actually been using it instead of just watching the videos! She recommended I check out Tati Westbrook, so I’ve been watching a decent amount of her videos and then usually I just look through the #makeuptutorial hashtag on Instagram. Then for hair, Melissa Cook has some great braiding ideas and then I also love looking through Pinterest for ideas. I actually have a Pinterest board with ideas I like too if you’re interested in checking it out.

Tie-Dye

I don’t know why, but I’m obsessed with the idea of tie-dying stuff right now… it just sounds like fun and you can get kits pretty inexpensively at craft stores online. It’s not just about the rainbow-colored hippie-style tie-dye either. There are lots of different colors and techniques you can do to get the vibe you’re looking for — ice-dying, reverse tie-dye and different folding methods.

Refrigerator Pickles

If you’re looking for something creative you can eat, this one is for you! When people think of canning or pickling, they usually think it’s complicated and you have to make a TON, but that’s not the case! In fact, you can make small batches without having to can them and it’s a lot easier than you think too! As long as you can get your hands on vinegar, jars (or some kind of sealed container), cucumbers and a few spices you’ll be in business! The fun thing about making small-batch pickles too is they’re ready within a couple of days and you can easily make different varieties by adjusting what spices you put in each. This is my go-to brine I use for dill pickles, the key to the brine is the vinegar, water and salt and then the others are optional based on what you’d like to try. Then this is my go-to brine for sweet pickles which I just LOVE!

Freezer Jam

Another thing I always thought was complicated (but it’s not) is making jam! This idea is even better for summer when berries are in season but you can really do it whenever. You can find a lot of different recipes online but this is one I’ve used before on berries from the garden. I’ve used raspberries but also a combo of raspberries and strawberries and it’s turned out delicious every time!

Glass Etching

Another DIY project I learned around Christmas time this year was how to etch glass. If you have a Cricut or Silhouette machine this project is awesome because you can make totally custom stencils. Even if you don’t (those suckers are pricey) you can still get stencils and have just as much fun. I made Evan some custom whiskey glasses for Christmas and was surprised how easy it was to do this project — well, as long as you get the stencil on right! This blog has a great tutorial on the process though and it’s a fun project or gift idea.

Paint Pouring

Admittedly, this is a messier project, but a fun one at that. You can paint canvases, wooden letters, coasters, or notecards — whatever you would like! It’s all about pouring paint onto your surface and then you can move it around so the paint mixes together and creates cool patterns. I was first introduced to the technique at one of the Martha Stewart events I went to with her marbling medium for paints, although you can do it other ways. This blog has a great tutorial that walks you step-by-step through the process.

Calligraphy

Something that has been on my to-do (admittedly for a long time) is learning how to do calligraphy! I’ve always admired people who can do it and now would be a great time to learn. You don’t need too many things to get started either. Plus there are a lot of great online courses including this one from Brit & Co.

Hand Crocheting

I know I’m not the only one who is smitten on those big, chunky yarn throws that show up on home decor shows. they just look so cozy right?! Well, why not make your own? All you really need is a bunk of the yarn and some time it looks like. This website has a great tutorial for learning how to make one for yourself.

Macrame

Macrame is another great idea if you’re looking for something new to try plus something cool to jazz up your house right now. If you’ve got the time, why not try and learn to make your own hanging piece or plant hanger too? I did a little research on the topic around Christmas this year because I got Faith a book and this stood out as a really great option, “Macrame: The Craft of Creative Knotting for Your Home”.

Start Garden Seeds

Gardening season is just around the corner which if you haven’t tried before, I SO recommend! Even if it’s just a balcony or herb garden. I have a whole blog post on getting started with that, but now is a great time to get seeds started and you don’t need anything complicated. Just some seeds, dirt and an egg carton or something else to start them in. This video has a great tutorial on getting started and then you’ll have something to watch grow during this time which is always kind of fun.

Hope you’ve liked these ideas and I’m always pinning new things that sound like fun on my Pinterest account so be sure to follow this board if that sounds like fun!