Jotting it Down | 005

Good morning all! We are in full renovation mode here at Quirk HQ, so I’ve been putting most of my creative energy into picking out treatments and trims (and not much blogging). I did want to hop on here to give you a little update if you’re interested in that sort of thing!

Over the weekend my folks came to town and my dad demo’ed all of the tile in our hall and kitchen and together with Adam tore out the carpet from the dining room. They also took down the large iron railings that were along the edge of the dining room, next to our sunken living room. The space looks so huge and I cannot wait to see what the finished flooring looks like! 

We found an amazing deal with remnant ash and it’s so so gorgeous. My last house had all of the original floors so I never had the chance to pick out anything new and I really enjoy making the updates and changes I’ve always dreamed of for this home. I originally wanted to stain it an English Chestnut color but now I’m leaning towards something closer to the natural color. It feels very appropriate for our farmhouse!

The railing will be replaced with horizontal black metal (steel I guess?) that our friend is making for us. We’re also re-engineering a portion of the floor, but that’ll be easier to show you in photos later. My goal is to blend elements of a farmhouse with the midcentury style I gravitate towards in design. The addition in our home was done in the mid 60s, so it all kind of works in a quirky sort of way.

I’m in the midst of picking a new dining table, rugs and light fixture as well. If you follow me on Instagram, check out my stories (I’ve posted some photos there!)

That’s all for now! My darling daughter needs some attention so I’ve gotta jet! Talk soon! 

Jotting It Down | 004

I really love Halloween. I love getting dressed up. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do this year when I settled on an autumnal Frida Kahlo. I felt so gorgeous - Including the unibrow! Like far and away so much better than I do on a daily basis.  For whatever it’s worth, I was also the only woman dressed up at the party and I kept telling people “I feel like this is my true self!” And I did! Why is it that wearing a costume is so freeing? Should I be dressing like Frida on the daily? If it makes me that happy? 

Adam and I talked more about it. People cross dress - maybe because they don’t feel like they can in regular life. Women wear really revealing kitty costumes or go as sexy versions of fairy tale characters. Guys dress in cosplay like heros from their favorite novels (and women too!) On Halloween, our conservative cultural boundaries are expanded and we can be whatever the hell we want! I wish we could all dress in a way that made us comfortable all the time without being ridiculed. It makes me feel really proud of people that are bold enough to dress in a way that’s not like everyone else. Adam was telling me about a friend of his from high school that’s fully committed to dressing in Goth all the time. I don’t have the courage to be Frida on a random Thursday in Small Town, Indiana, toting around two small kids to Kroger and the playground and the farm supply store. 

But man, I wish I could. 

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My in-laws have swooped by so I finally have a few minutes to sit down alone with my laptop. There are so many things I wanted to write about over the weekend, but as per normal - we were pretty busy so I just couldn’t find the time. 

On Saturday it was rainy and cold. It felt like the harshness of fall was really settling in. We bundled up the kids and packed on our layers to do some chores outside. Adam and his friends recently felled a couple of dead trees and our neighbor used his splitter to cut them down for us. We ended up with two six foot wide, five foot tall stacks of wood for our fireplace this winter. Blah blah sounds boring but I loved ever second of it. The kids took turns in the wagon or playing in the backseat of the SUV while we loaded and unloaded (the trees were probably 150 yards from the house - way too far for a hundred wheel barrow loads. 

As much as I love getting dressed up (more on that soon), I really really love doing yard work. Mowing the lawn was always a favorite chore of mine growing up and this year we’ve pretty much just tried to keep our grass cut and an eye on the small gardens we planted. Now we’re starting to get a little more serious about what we can grow to eat so we have about 15 fruit trees were planting this week along with garlic that needs to over winter for a harvest next summer. I’m really hoping to do a large plot (1000 sq ft?) for flowers to sell at the weekend markets. We’re also going to add chickens in the spring. I could go on and on and on but I’ll spare you. I feel so good about working alongside Adam to get the job done. I’m realizing more and more that I can be both glamorous at times and at one with nature at others. Sometimes both at once. They are nor mutually exclusive.

So after all that chilly outside work we made a great big fire and spent the afternoon listening to music and hanging out as a family. Saturday nights are so different from what they were five years ago, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Jotting It Down | 002

I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that I really don’t care about clothing the way I used to. Today when I walked into my bedroom, it was like a tornado had come through. I thought to myself “one thing at a time” but as I began picking up hangers and sorting through things, I felt like I didn’t even want to put anything back into my closet. I’ve assigned these things sentimental or physical value and I’ve felt for so long like I need to keep it because it’s from J.Crew or it was $200 or (hardest of all) it’s vintage. 

I just don’t know if I have the courage to actually get rid of these things. I’ll be honest - there are a handful of pieces I’ve sold in my instagram shop that I regret letting go of. Yet, things are just things. Clothing seems to carry a deeper weight of importance in framing who we are, than say, a tea cup or throw pillow or whatever.  

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Ok so I slept on it and I realize that the reason I feel so disconnected to some of this stuff is because my life has changed so much since it first became a part of me. Five years ago I had just bought my first house, didn’t have any kids, was riding high on my blog as a business and styling outfits day in and day out was what I had made into my job. Now my job is different. I get paid in smiles and I wuve yous. So of course I’m not the same person (PEOPLE CHANGE!) and it makes sense that I teeter totter between wanting a fresh start that outwardly vibes with who I am now and holding onto the person I used to be via my closet. 

I don’t know. Today’s a new day. Maybe I’ll go through a bin of stuff I haven’t hung up and finally decide to pass it on to a new home. I love the photos you guys send me of stuff you’ve bought from me by the way. Especially the handmade and vintage pieces. So keep sending ‘em! 

Anyway, hope everyone has a great morning and afternoon and Halloween weekend. I still haven’t made the kids costumes yet. Felix is easy - he’s going to be a fireman and wear his rain jacket and boots with khaki cargo pants and a black tee (I need to iron on his firefighter patch). Bea is going to be… drumrolll please… a bee. She’s going to have a black onesie with yellow stripes, a set of wings I’ve gotta whip together today and a headband with antennae. I don’t know if I’ll dress up yet. Adam was going to wear his bee suit to carry Bea around and I thought I might be a dalmatian to go with Felix. Let’s just see how the day goes…