The Perfect Party

Take a front porch in historic St. Elmo. 

Cover it with a mismatch of tables and chairs. 

Add some candles and flowers.

Let the sun set and gather friends from the various pieces of your day to day.

Prepare a delicious meal complete with two desserts. 

Add in some wine. 

Top with laughter and good conversation.

And there you have it. You've created your own perfect party.

Happy Birthday, C!

Dear Friends...

Dear Friend,

I see you, southern sassy in the land of Yankees.

I see you being brave and wise and creating a life of adventures instead of "I wish I had..."

Thank you for being a broken place for me, with me; for letting me be a broken place for you. Thank you for creating laughter across the miles.

I can't wait to come visit again and tackle the island once more!

Love you more'n my luggage,
Leslie Ruth

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Dear Friends,

Over the years, you've opened your house up to so many of us. We've watched as you created a family like no other, full of love and wit and laughter. You've been honest and open and generous.

We're all sad with you now. But I'm so grateful for the bigger family God created for you, the one that you're standing with now, loving patiently and faithfully. Thanks for sharing them with all of us.

Love,
Leslie

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Dear Church,

Thanks for creating an evening Bible study for the women in our church. It's pretty darn great.

Slacker on the homework, but still attending,
Leslie

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Dear Knox,

The farts you create really stink. Cut it out.

Love,
The crazy lady who calls you Bubba and Monkey

Singing About Feelings

I stayed home from work today. Lack of sleep (my own fault) and internalized stress brought on a massive migraine that had me down for the count. So I slept and thought and kept things quiet. I went online a few times and I came across this little gem.

Yes, it's Sesame Street again. Yes, I'm 35 years old and Sesame Street is still teaching me about feelings.

{p.s. Grover is my favorite muppet. Don't even get me started on the genius of "The Monster at the End of This Book."}

{Also, Dave Matthews. YES.}


Like Grover said, "Oh, David, to be honest I do not know what to call this feeling I feel."

It's weird and serendipitous and maybe a little ridiculous, but this little song helped me to sit down and think about it. I have a wish that I made almost a year ago and it hasn't come true. I'm jealous of my friends who have what I want, but proud of them and so glad they're my friends.

It's not a good feeling. But it's there and it's valid and I have to make space for it.

I grew up in a house where we always had permission to feel what we were feeling. There were healthy boundaries about how we expressed those feelings, but they were always valid. Somewhere along the way, though, acknowledging those not so good feeling started to be too risky, too vulnerable. Too painful. So I started to push them down or cover them up. I cover them up with distractions or projects. I create a million ways to avoid those feelings, but I rarely create space to just feel them.

I had the gift in the spring and summer to regularly meet with a therapist. BEST THING EVER. One of the things she helped me realize is that while, yes, I can do hard things (a family mantra), there has to be room for me to just be. She helped me give permission to myself to once again feel what I feel and create space for it to just be there. That doesn't mean I dwell on it; but acknowledging it, finding that word to tell what I'm feeling helps me to move forward.

{print made by my incredibly talented friend Robin Plemmons 

and available in her etsy shop, lemonswithapea}

When I do this, when I don't squelch the uncomfortable, risky, vulnerable feelings, I can then say with all the enthusiasm of that sweet Grover, "I am joyful that _____!"  And I can really mean it.

Happy Sunday.

{So yeah, I'm kind of creating a little schedule of my own within the bigger 31 Days idea. 

On Sundays I'll post a Scripture that points towards creating.}

Creative Copycat - Weekend Edition #1

Today was a deliciously lazy day. I'm actually feeling a little remorseful that I didn't use more of the time to clean out that closet and start on a new quilt, but c'est la vie. It was still a good day, even if it did end with a heartbreaking loss for our Vols. Football season in the Petree home is a roller coaster, y'all.

I thought each Saturday of this month, I'd share a few lovelies. Just some thoughts, recipes, ideas that I've admired, things that would be fun to create.

• Autumn is the perfect time for apple pie and I'm thinking Natalie has the perfect recipe.

{image via natalie's sentiments}

• Katie of Dear Mushka is writing this month about the tricks of the trade when it comes to scoring the top notch deals at Goodwill. She also makes absolutely gorgeous jewelry and I would love to have these earrings in pretty much every color. Swoon.

{image via Dear Mushka etsy store}

• Painted pumpkins. Yeah, this is going to happen at some point.

{image via Urbanic Paper}

• Basically, I want to recreate this look all fall/winter long. 

{image via Pinterest}

• This potluck quilt is next in the line-up for me. Four years of sewing means I finally have enough scrap fabric to pull this off. I have the strips already cut and can't wait to start piecing it together!

{image via orange you glad}

• I love my iPhone, but truth is it quickly becomes an unhealthy addiction for me. This post over at Momastery and this one about achieving a sane relationship with the Internet have been good reads for me this week. 

Anything else you've seen this week that I should check out?

Creating Happy

These guys always have, always will. Happy Friday!

Making Space

Just a quick thought tonight on making space for creativity. Practically, if the physical spaces around me are cluttered, I find it really hard to create well. I need wide open spaces (hello, Dixie Chicks) where I can spread out my materials and envision a finished product. The trouble with that is I'm a stacker. Little stacks here and there add up quickly for me. So today, I put (almost) everything in it's proper place and created space. 

I think the same applies to mental space, too. I don't do well creatively if there are lingering guilts about tasks left undone. My inbox and feedly reader were out. of. control. So, I took a few hour to reply to emails and leave comments on blogs I've had in there for weeks. Something about looking at that clean screen gives me permission to spend more time in that corner of the den where my craft table and sewing machine reside. 

Now, this closet? 

Yeah, that one's gonna have to wait until tomorrow. And I plan to be ruthless. Wish me luck.

The Office

Seriously, how adorable was Dwight by the end of the series? Precious and infuriating, loved that guy. However, I'm not talking about the TV show today. Nope, talking about my office, the chapel office at Covenant College. When I got there two years ago, it looked like this.

Bless its sad little heart, it had been neglected for a few years. The chaplain and my other amazing coworker had more important things to do, so the space had become a hodge podge of randomly collected items. At least, I'm guessing they were randomly collected because the decorative scheme didn't make a bit of sense to me. 

Now, I'm a nester. With every move Jason and I have ever made, I've always had things unpacked and pictures hung within days. Staying overnight at camp? Bed made with a quilt I brought as soon as I got there. Staying at a hotel for a few days? Clothes in drawers, personal pillows on the bed. I need cozy, I need warm, I want the space to be someplace where folks feel comfortable coming in and staying for a while.

So, the chapel office? It clearly needed a little love. Between Jo-Ann's Fabrics, Pinterest and a few ideas of my own I brightened things up and turned it into this:

{Sidenote: that "window" came down eventually. Not my style at all.}

Better, for sure. It was bright and cheerful and I think it reflected so much more of the personality of our department, our staff and the students who worked there. But the walls. Y'all, the combo of white walls and fluorescent lighting kills me. I don't like feeling like I live in an igloo. I lobbied hard for the walls to be painted, but that was a no go. Until...

This past summer, a new chaplain was hired and some of the powers that be (aka the guys in Maintenance & Operations who were tired of me nagging asking them to paint the walls) decided the chapel office needed a little facelift. A warm tan color on the walls, newly painted trim, fresh ceiling tiles- a new canvas! The new paint warmed up the space so much that I knew there was no way I could go back to using the overhead lights. 

I pretty much hate overhead lighting as much as Whitney hated Olivia on "The City." 

Anyhow, I did a little reworking of what already existed and voila!

{Ok, I still want to cover the area in front of my desk. Do I continue the panels that are already there or simply cover a padded piece of plywood with plain fabric to make a solid panel? Weigh in, please!}

{free print from Jones Design Company}

I am happy every single time I walk into this space. Because of what's on the walls and the couch and the other furniture? Sure, that helps. Even better, I walk into a space where students come to laugh, nap on the couch, pray, sit for a while and chat about anything and everything. It's a space where I really really enjoy who I work with and what we do. Playing a role in creating that kind of work environment? It's the best.

Where It All Began

If you've known me for any length of time, you know I'm just crazy about my very southern family. My grandmother, Ethel Cruise, created beautiful material things throughout her entire life. Her green thumb knew no bounds and she was an expert seamstress. My cousins and I played in the basement where there was a room with file cabinets filled with sewing patterns. She adored Christmas and I adored going to see her and Grandaddy at Christmas to see all the decorations that filled her home.

Grandmother passed these creative genes down to her five daughters. One year, they gathered at various times and together created a beautiful memory quilt that they gave to her that Christmas.

It was my Grandmother and my Aunt Joann who helped prepare the nursery in my parents apartment at UNC-Greensboro for my arrival.

My earliest memories of my mom are of her at the sewing machine. In fact, it was while she was sewing that I learned the value of a well placed swear word. From smocked dresses to a flower girl dress that has been passed down a generation to Halloween costumes, Mom made most of our clothing when we were young. She would stay up until all hours, the whir of the sewing machine lulling me to sleep in the other room.

{500 yards of red yarn to make that Raggedy Ann wig!}

{I would go on to be Dorothy for Halloween two more times by the time I turned 35. 

But this was by far the best one.}

{I'm pretty sure that Mom and Aunt Melba forcing us to participate in a local fashion show contributed to our need for therapy later in life. But the outfits were made with love!}

{All the girl cousins are wearing applique sweatshirts that our moms made. I'd also like to point out that I've seen Andrew's Air Jordans and my brown boots on more than one college student recently.}

It wasn't just the sewing that Mom created (although she totally hit out it out of the park when I asked for an Annie dress for my 5th birthday.) She makes every occasion special from birthdays to Christmas and little things in between.  There are probably more times than I know of that she stayed up until all hours perfecting a celebration that would happen the next day for one of us. She started the tradition of my red velvet birthday cake, my needlepoint mailbox Christmas ornament, my angel ornament collection, and it goes on and on. 

So this is where I come from. 

I'm the third generation of women who love to create, who love to make events and things and places memorable. 

Is This Thing On?

{Well, hello there. I thought I'd try on this blogging thing again and see if it still fits. We'll see...}

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Create (cre·ate)  verb

: to make or produce (something) : to cause (something new) to exist

: to cause (a particular situation) to exist

: to produce (something new, such as a work of art) by using your talents and imagination

I love creating. I love taking fabric and thread and paper and washi tape and brown wrapping paper and random finds from thrift stores and my mom's leftover Creative Memories stash to create something new. I love using words to create thoughts and memories. I love using groceries to create a meal for my husband or friends. I love creating inviting spaces where people feel welcome. Creating is one of the deepest and truest parts of me. 

I'll take the next thirty-one days to create. Here on this blog, in my home, in my workplace. I'll join a lot of other folks creating their own space and thoughts for the same thirty-one days. 

What is it you like to create? 

Intro: Is This Thing On?

1: Where It All Began

2: The Office

3: Making Space

4: Creating Happy

5: Creative Copycat - Weekend Edition #1

6: Happy Sunday.

7: (mental health day. no post. oh well.)

8: Singing About Feelings

9: Dear Friends

10: The Perfect Party