How DO You Get it All Done?

2015 has commenced with a bang, greeted headlong with enthusiasm, new found energy and a chance to "do it all over again" mentality. Winter weather and the anticipation of possible "snow days" cause us to turn inwards and reflect on life, our goals, our aspirations and...our junk! Purging and de-cluttering strategies fill up my "To Do List, which really should be kept on a Rolodex file (remember those ?) so I can just keep flipping through them as I shuffle them to tomorrow, next week, month or year. Very little seems to get checked off in it's entirety.

This list is about two years old and I did pretty well on this one!

In the hopes of not sounding like a braggart, women often ask me, "How do you do it all?" when they first find out that I have a large family, a little farm, a labor of love business and that everything looks "pretty." I secretly cringe inside as my list of unaccomplished projects, plans and the likes, float in front of my eyes. Sometimes you might even see me blink a bit when asked that question... it kind of looks like a tic.

 I think of the stack of all occasion cards and unwrapped gifts that have both been written and purchased but have never been wrapped or sent. I take inventory in my head of the rooms and closets that need to be de-junked, of their games, artwork, old teaching materials, books, photos etc that I could never throw out. Should one of my children become Picasso what would I have to show of their "early" work. When I have grand kids, surely I will need those "Circle Time" books that I used with their parents? Having four boys, no clothes were EVER thrown out, they were passed down and kept in Rubbermaid containers until someone would grow into them. Umm...I do not think the out grown pants of my 23 year old will ever suffice for my now 13 year old who is at the end of the line. Add the de-cluttering to the list of projects that need to be done and...

What they don't know won't kill them, but it's killing me. Why do so many of us as women, measure ourselves by what we accomplish? By how we keep our houses... By what we do with our kids or don't do...By what App we can download to organize more easily or quickly so that we can DO MORE. Is it really simplifying our life or is it just creating more stuff that you have to keep up with, to renew, to upgrade...why are we always upgrading??? Isn't the grade that we are operating at, "good enough"?

The bottom line is, I don't do it all. I do a lot...but I do not do it all.  One trip into my office will attest to that.

My inspiration board still thinks it is Christmas.

 A trip into the kid's old art room will blow your mind on cementing what I haven't done.

 My unfinished photo albums, one for each kid, the knights and castles themed art work that still hangs on my thirteen year olds walls, the lack of a dresser in my 19 year olds room, the fact that I cannot load any more of those "simplifying" Apps onto my phone because I need to properly download and sort my thousands of photos onto my computer. The computer in which my i-photo keeps shutting down so I cannot access the photos I have already downloaded. That requires a trip to the Apple store...and so on and so on and so on. 

"I need to, I need to, I need to," encircles my head like the smoke from Santa's pipe...I am still thinking about Christmas people because I still "need to" de- Christmas my house. Yes, I am the person of which you speak of when you say, "I cannot believe that her tree is still up and it is almost February!" It's not that I want to extend the Holiday season, love it though I do, it's just that I seem to live life by putting out the fires first and the tree hasn't caught fire...yet.

The tree has lost some of its girth and won't the kids who are still left home after the college departures be happy to find out that they will be partaking in the defrocking of the tree this Saturday? They are going to love me for this tidbit of family togetherness!

I am divulging all of my "cluttered" secrets in the hopes that even though you see beautiful photos of pretty rooms, pretty stuff, pretty food and a pretty farm with pretty thoughts on my blog, Face book page and website...that is what is on the surface and we all know that we are so much more than what is on the surface. Don't compare yourself to those surface images. Enjoy them, copy them, let them inspire you for I truly believe that the beauty of life, with all of its flaws, is inspiring. Wallow in those images on the pages you admire but again, do not compare yourself to them. That creates shame in the fact that you are not keeping it all together like the woman with the pretty pages... so you think. You are trying your best and so is she. 

You can let them elevate your style or your presentation in life to create beautiful spaces. That will lift your mood and your spirits.  I just had a very close friend tell me how she and her daughter put some deep thought into their Christmas Brunch table, which they had never done before. In the past, they had used what they had and never took the extra steps to make it really "pretty."This year, using some things they got from the barn along with the china she already had she made it beautiful and felt great about it. It was a fun experience that she and her daughter shared for it was her daughter that spearheaded her into doing it. When I walk into my overcrowded art room I know how I feel...overwhelmed. That is an absolutely normal emotion to feel... so I just turn around and head to my computer to write a blog post. A blog post out of the many topics that I would love to write about. I have notes all over the house, scribbled onto little pieces of paper, so as to not loose the thoughts as they pop into my head. You should see the side of my bed! Why is it that thoughts come to me in the middle of the night? If I do not get up and grab them they are a forgotten memory in the morning.

On that note, I will have to wrap this one up and I leave you not with a solution on how to get everything done on your TO-Do list (for I have not figured that one out yet) but with a thought to go easy on yourself...you are doing your best! We all are! If we measured ourselves by what we have been able to cross off of our To- Do lists we would need some serious counseling.  Keep bringing your game to the party and do not let it beat you. You will master it and while mastering it, learn how to poke fun at yourself every now and then...it does a lot to lighten your load, for at least a minute or two.

Now to get back to the projects that I am avoiding of which I will show you the results of in a later blog post...a much later blog post.

~Meg

Goat Cheese, Lentil and Brown Rice Rolls

 What is one of the top New Years Resolutions?

Eating Healthier, why of course!

Here is a recipe that we tried and LOVED that fits that bill.

Hope you like!

I am going to try and post more of the recipes that we use in our house that we end up loving. I cannot promise you that I can take photos of each step, for that will happen in my next life, but will do my best. My family already thinks I am kooky for taking any pictures at all of our food. 

Here's to freaking them out a bit more!

INGREDIENTS

Cooking spray to coat the glass pan with (we used a coconut oil spray)

6 large Swiss chard leaves (about 1 1/4 pounds)

Salt

FILLING:

2 cups cooked short grain brown rice

1 packed cup baby arugula leaves, chopped

1 cup goat cheese, at room temp (8 ounces)

1 cup cooked green lentils (if you buy uncooked ones, make sure you leave enough time to cook them first)

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

One 26- ounce jar marinara or tomato-basil sauce

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (2 ounces)

2 Tbls. olive oil, or unsalted butter diced into 1/4 inch pieces

DIRECTIONS

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish. Set aside.

Remove the thick stem from the center of each chard leaf.  Cut each leaf in half lengthwise. Trim the ends from the leaves to make each leaf-half about 7 inches long and 5 inches wide. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the chard leaves and cook for 10 seconds (no longer). Remove the leaves and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

For the filling: In a medium bowl, mix together the brown rice, arugula, goat cheese, lentils, mint, olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and garlic.

Spoon 1/3 cup of the filling onto the end of each chard leaf and roll up like a jellyroll.

Spoon 1 cup marinara sauce on the bottom of the prepared pan. Arrange the rolls, seam side down, in a single layer on top of the sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with the parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil or dot the top with butter (I used olive oil), if using, and bake until the cheese begins to brown and the rolls are heated through, about 25 mins. Cool for 5 mins and serve.

 I know that there a few steps but it really is quite worth it. Let me know if you try it and like it Mikey!

Happy healthy eating~

Meg

Sensory Overload in Atlanta

Upon returning from spending four days at the Atlanta International Home and Gift Show, I had to take a week off from any activity where I had to make a decision. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit but dinner was simple (it helped that the hubby was out of town) and the writing of this blog took a week. I could not decide on what pictures to chose to go along with the story! Seriously, the decisions that we had to make were certainly not life or death but they confronted us on every level. I used to think that being a Buyer for a store sounded like a super fun job. I mean think about it...your title is a Buyer, inferring that you HAVE to Buy things for a living, not sell anything, but Buy... which translates into shopping.  Whoa...was I off on that count! Yes, buyers usually get to travel, which is always fun and they really are doing a tremendous amount of shopping, but once at their destination, it is all business and their buying and shopping involves a super heavy dose of sensory overload and decision making prowess. 

The Atlanta Show is amazing! Anyone who is selling anything is there and whatever you are looking for, you can most certainly find, and then some. Once at Atlanta's Mart, there are bridges between the three twenty plus story buildings so you do not even have to see the light of day to get from one to the other. This was our fourth year attending and we finally felt that we had the lay of the land down pat...well kind of. By the fourth and final day we finally made it from our room to the correct floor in the hotel where we had to access the bridge across to the Mart, without any detours...and in less than fifteen minutes.

The trip began in usual "Murphy-esque" fashion, bright and early at 5 am. By 10:15 am as we landed, we were greeted with an empty carousel after everyone had claimed their bags, except for Chris. Even though ours were checked together as we were standing next to each other, hers got left in Philly.

 Maybe if she had packed in one of these Vintage beauties, it would have stood out and never been left behind?

We hit the floor of the Mart by noon after waiting with our fellow compatriots in the airport who would also be sleeping in the clothes that they were standing in. (Suitcase arrived next morn.) We had realized early on, that in order to offer the quality that we wanted at Life's Patina, you had to go to where you could touch and feel the product you were ordering. We always have that control with the things that we find on our picking trips and the pieces that we make but were dismayed upon receiving one of our first orders, to find that the beautifully represented table in the catalogue we had ordered from was...  plywood. Never a good thing, so we headed to Atlanta where I had heard you could find anything and order right then and there.

The choices were many...the displays and showrooms can be overwhelming. Much research is needed before you head South to figure out where you will be heading once you arrive. Conversation at one of the showrooms goes something like this:

"Do we order the silver or gold deer...or both?  What size?  How about those trees?  The chandeliers are pretty cool! Oh wait, did you see that angel? What is the price point on those chandeliers?...  

SQUIRREL!"

The distractions were endless and the choices...overwhelming.

First you need to decide which building to shop...1, 2 or 3. Then you decide which floor. All of the buildings have approximately twenty floors...just like this, 

and a Rib Shack...just like this...appropriately named after one of my sons.

Although most of our eating was done while walking so I wouldn't really call it eating. Grazing is a much more fitting term. As a ploy to get you into their showrooms and to keep you there upon arriving, many of the showrooms serve some sort of snacking type food and beverages. We followed the breadcrumbs and wound our way around the three buildings based on who was serving what and when. Margaritas at 4:00 on floor 12? We will be there! The best Bloody Marys? We have got you covered.

Besides the decisions of which floor to shop on and what showroom  do you head to once you get to the appropriate floor you also have to decide which tunnel or bridge takes you to the floor you want to end up on. We did not have a pedometer on but if we did, I would assume we clocked many many miles a day. 

At one point, we thought of taking this cute vintage bike from a showroom and pedaling to our next destination, but then we saw this handsome guy and thought that maybe he could give us a lift.

As we walked over to ask him, we glanced at the wall behind him and decided that we did not want to draw attention to him for he might end up like one of his unfortunate friends.

So on ward and upwards we went... 

or on wards and downwards in this case... when we thought we should have been going upwards.

Let's just say that every now and then we had to hightail it off a down elevator when we were planning on going up...or vise versa.

Pressing your nose into a map book, while carrying on a conversation whilst getting on a crowded escalator in the wrong direction, with a cup of coffee in your hand...is not a pretty picture. Don't even think about taking an elevator unless you wanted to end up with that cup of coffee pressed against your face and spilling down your coat as the jockeying began to fit one more person on.

Now that you have a visual, you might be able to understand that between the navigation of the buildings and the decisions making needed to find the product we wanted to have shipped home;

fabric choices,

candle choices, "did you smell that one? what about that one?"

how many pieces should we order?

this color?

this color?

or this color?

This product? NO

This alligator? NO (sorry if I misidentified you as an alligator and you are a crocodile

This life size, lighted up scene of a gaggle of trumpet swans surrounding an angel standing beneath a pine tree?  NO

why we sometimes gazed out the window and felt like we should get off the merry go round and take some time out hanging on the ferris wheel. At least we would not have to decide where to get off...

We always knew though, that we could always look forward to the last decision of the day...

which drink to have. 

As we tucked ourselves into bed every night with our computers and our stack of catalogs next to us, we never forgot to email our families our mantra...lest they forget.

So now that I have put my foot in my mouth

with my visuals, I feel that it is only fair that I reveal some of the treasures that we found that will be hitting the floor of the barn this spring...

in my next blog post!

Until then and thanks for reading about our adventure ~ Meg

New Year's Wishes from Life's Patina

“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”
― Roald Dahl, My Uncle Oswald

As I was searching for the quote to start off my New Year's greeting to you all, this one jumped out at me. No, it was not like the majority of them that espoused good luck, happiness, out with the old- in- with the new, clean slate wishes but it hit a chord with me and is what I chose to pass on to you for the new year. I love the first line, "I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life." This has become much more important to me the older I get. It is not worth the waste of time to sweat the small stuff, to bemoan circumstances in  life or relationships. Plow forward, move ahead and be enthusiastic about everything in life! Life is an Exclamation point! We coined this term in 2013, as Chris and I both realized that we used a heck of a lot of exclamation points upon communicating with each other and others. This spear headed our full day retreat on that point. We had intended to hold more events based around Exclaiming your Life, but we were so passionate about the other things that we were doing in the barn, that time ran out for us to carry it off.  As father time is ticking forward, one thing that we realize all too often is that  many of our best laid plans go to waste, due to a lack of time. It is certainly not slowing down for any of us! We will be bringing that concept of Life is an Exclamation point to the barn this year so stay tuned!

All that being said, not only did the being enthusiastic bit strike me, but the rest spoke to me concerning how we do things at Life's Patina. I was interested in this far flung concept of corralling all of the things that I  love and would have in my home or that I would make out of old materials and offer them for sale a few times a year. I embraced it with both arms and my soul, and went full speed ahead. We brought in artists who also were believing in something that they were doing and were moving "full speed ahead." We   have embraced what we do, we love what we do and we are passionate about what we do. 

We have grown over the four years that we began with an idea and have moved it forward. We have expanded with events that cater to ideas that we are passionate about. Each and every one of our sales is attached to a charitable organization that we donate a portion of our proceeds to. We have given close to $18,000 to various local organizations through our sales and raised friends for all of them. We have supported those local artists that I referred to above and will continue to do so in the coming year.

We spend way too many late nights to count in the barn, putting all of the finishing touches on our vignettes and design so that when you walk into Life's Patina, you not only are shopping, but you feel something. We like to create experiences at Life's Patina. We do that through combing antique markets on the East Coast, buying from vendors who embody the products we want to pass on to you and by creating an environment that you feel good in and want to come back to.  We offer design services that can help you do that in your own home and will be offering more of that in 2015 for I will be working with Jill Harris from Vintageologie, who has much the same design aesthetic as I.

When Chris told me that I had to start a blog and join Facebook, when we first started,  I was certainly not passionate about either of those two propositions. I really was not game in sharing where I was eating lunch or sharing any of the information that I THOUGHT is to be shared on Facebook. I was not a writer for that matter either. Yet, I begrudgingly embraced both and have become very passionate about what I write and share with all of you. That will continue this year, for I feel that by sharing our experiences we just might be able to help someone who is in the same place.

2015 is an exciting year for us, for we intend to bring to you more of what we love and are passionate about through our events. Stay tuned and keep posted for we have some exciting announcements to make in that department as well as some new services that we will be offering. You can trust in one thing at Life's Patina, and that is that whatever event we are hosting, whatever sale we are holding, whatever life experience we are writing about it, we believe whole heartedly in it and we are hugging it, loving it, embracing it and are passionate about it!

The most important thing that we are passionate about is YOU:

 our customers, our followers on Facebook, our Blog readers. You make it all happen and without you, our passion towards what we do would be worthless. We appreciate all that you put aside to come to one of our sales for we know that it is difficult in this world in which time moves too fast, to show up. We value your support and the support of some of the charities that we have hosted. We love talking to you and finding out a little bit about you when you come to Life's Patina. We appreciate our readers more than you know, for it is equally valuable as people showing up for a sale to get a comment on a blog post that you enjoyed reading it or that the words helped you in some way, shape or form, or reached you somehow or you just plain enjoyed it! We LOVE all of our supporters in whatever fashion and we have a special event planned, just for you in 2015 in which more information will be forthcoming. We love celebrating the beauty of life, past and present with ALL of you!

So, in closing on my wishes to you in the New Year, I hope that you are an enthusiast in your own life, wherever it is going. That you are interested in something that you can embrace with both arms; an idea, a concept, a person, people. Run with it, hug it, love it and be passionate about it. I agree with the writer in that lukewarm is no good! Life is an exclamation point! If you have any exclamation points in your life that you want to share with us; a  charity or organization that you are passionate about, an artist or craftsman that you love, a blog that embodies the same spirit that we do or an intern that might be able to help us in advancing or growing our passions, please give us a shout out. 

Again, thank you for supporting all that we are passionate about and looking forward to seeing you in 2015~

Chris and Meg

meg@lifespatina.com
www.lifespatina.com

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

As the Christmas season formally comes to a close as the first day of the New Year is about to be put to bed, I cannot help but to reflect back. I am always a little sad at this time of the year, for the magic glow that is December is fading and our thoughts turn to the start of a new year and a new chance at doing things the way we REALLY want to do them. This year is going to be different, we say, for I am going to... 

That is the subject of my first post of 2015 which will be coming soon, but before that, I would love to show you some of my favorite things about this past Holiday that has just flown by. They actually both embody some favorite lines that come from The Grinch, and go against what that famous story has to say. They make me giddy with thankfulness that I have the families that I do, that enable me to participate in the shenanigans that we all do, to get ready for, and participate in the season that really is the best of them all.

It all starts with my four siblings and their spouses and our Secret Santa lists right after Thanksgiving. The Santa's are picked and each of the kids pick a cousin to be Santa for as well. The wish lists result in lengthy hilarious emails back and forth concerning the items on these lists. Tripp...are you kidding me? a walking stick with a silver flask on one end and a sword on the other? Is that just in case you run into a hooligan in NC and you have options, either a drink...or a sword fight? 

This year Aunt Jennifer started things with a bang after "finding" two safety cones that were on one of her children's Secret Santa requests from cousin Finn.

Unfortunately, they were on her school's property and she thought she could borrow them and take them all the way to PA.

You can see where this got her...

(no actors were hurt in the filming of this segment) After viewing this carefully crafted piece, we all of course, felt that we had to one up Jenn...we never did, but it definitely set the tone for the gathering that would soon ensue on Christmas Eve and continue for a few days after.

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

The music...

The Trans Siberian Orchestra performance at Christmas...

Baking with my daughter...

The Christmas trees...

and the fact that we all still gather around my parent's tree on Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve at my sisters this year with all four of my siblings present and their families and my parents...a blessing indeed!

Christmas Brunch...it certainly helps that we all like to cook!

Quiet moments on Christmas day...

Babies...

Cousins...whoa...that is a lot of boys!

more cousins...

and more cousins with Legos...

Creatively wrapped gifts by my uber creative sister in law Meg...

Sushi at our adult dinner out, where we tell stories of past Christmas shenanigans...

Mushrooms picked from the wood pile...yes that is correct and then whipped up into a most delicious appetizer by brother Tripp. (Don't worry, we have practically two naturalists/botanists in the family and they put the shrooms through all the testing before we all imbibed)

The decorations...

The good natured fun in the outdoors. Be it Football, soccer or row, row, row, your boat...

The second round of celebrations with my family in laws...the best ever...

Time spent with my grandmother and my children's great grandmother...and ALL of the people that are so much a part of who I am and what I have become...and what I still aspire to be. Loved ones are absent and sometimes it feels as if we are all acting on borrowed time. We have all aged and moved through the stages and challenges in life and have more to face, that is certain, yet this is a time when we gather together to celebrate each other. Quirks, idiosyncrasies, and "drive you crazy" attributes are put aside and seem to mellow in the glow of Christmas. 

It is by no means perfect, ( you did see little Cole playing with pumpkins when it is Christmas right?) except maybe in our own eyes. 

We all would love to crash on the floor like this precious little one once it is over...but it sure is a gift while going on that creates memories that can never be erased for all involved.

"It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!"

"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
             Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

           "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

              "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

My sincerest wishes for a Christmas and or Holiday season that was perfect...in your own eyes, for it does not matter what the eyes of others see.

~Meg