We've made it! I am now proud to call Chicago my home! We were lucky enough to find the most beautiful apartment, that would also allow our furry friends. It has been a month of ups and downs, laughter and tears...but we are here. We are alive and well and living our dreams.

I cannot tell you in words how incredibly grateful I am feeling. It can only be felt, deeply in my heart, welling up from within. Joy is upon us!

I will be back soon with a more detailed update! I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend and take some time to relax and enjoy life!

Cheers friends!

We are moving to CHICAGO!!

re:find Joy will still be running full steam ahead, so no worries! I will be making some minor changes and adjustments, but things will pretty much stay the same around here. I am very much looking forward to making the trek to the windy city, making new friends, and putting down roots in a new place.

There is so much to do now (I have to pack up ALL of my inventory!!) and I am sure we will need a small semi to get us to our new home, but it is with much anticipation, hope, and joy that we are embarking on this great adventure.

I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

Now, I do not claim to have any photography skills, and all of these photos were taken with my handy iPhone. The REAL photos were taken by the talented Julia Franzosa, and I will be posting a link to those as soon as they're ready for your eyes to see! For now, you'll just have to make do with my sad attempts with Instagram!

Enjoy!

Antlers at work!

Rentals can be used for jewelry displays too!

Shot of Mignonette Bridal! I told you it was gorgeous!

We took a little trip to Chicago a few days ago, and I have been absolutely dying to go to what I knew would be a little slice of heaven. Salvage One, an antique shop that also doubles as a venue space, is brimming with gorgeous pieces and hip furniture. I admit that it was a little hard to tear my eyes away from each little bit that I gazed upon. There were quite a few times that I had to be pried away from a treasure...

If you ever get to Chicago and have some extra time on your hands, I urge you to take a stroll through their endless floors of beauty. You'll catch a glimpse of history, and probably see more than a few interesting gadgets lying about. The day we were there, the space was being prepped for an event, and it was pretty dazzling to see what they did with the place.

Here are some pretty photos for you to fawn over:

In the end, I left with their business card clutched between my little hands...and dreams of someday working in this beautiful haven. 

Six vintage suitcases

Aqua painted table

Look at this pretty lady! This lovely aqua dresser and the table above are compliments of Lindsey Nartker of Flourish Event Design in Metro Detroit, Michigan. I was lucky enough to take them off her hands!

What do you think? Do you like the new finds? 

Mid-century modern has become a bit of a theme in our home. We love the structure of the pieces and the tailored fabrics. I personally love the funky colors and beautiful textures you often find in these pieces. We're really looking forward to finding some hip artwork to go with our new look!

What draws your eye in home decor? Do you have a favorite era?

Our first big project was GOING to be having ten farm tables custom made. Obviously, this didn't really fit into our modest budget. BUT these did!!

We got really lucky and found these beautiful library tables that were being sold from the local college. They need to be sanded and restained, but in the end they saved us lots of money!

While we are keeping some of our plans a secret for now, there is one more I would LOVE to gush about! We have decided to grow our own succulents to use as part of our wedding decor. Ahh!! I guess we just figured that we had the time, and if it could cut some money that we could then put elsewhere...then why not? Plus it's a fun little project that we can work on together until our big day.

So today we went out and bought the "parents" of our someday wedding succulent family. With any luck these cuties will end up making 100 more plants. Aren't they the cutest little things?

I'm beginning to love plants. Ever since I spent a short time at a local flower shop, I have been addicted! Luckily, it seems that my black thumb has flown the coop, and all of my plants have been staying alive and well. Someday we hope to have a garden as well, but that's a story for another time. 

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're ready for the journey ahead!

But what happens when you pair all of that...with a wedding? The wedding world is one of traditions, pomp and circumstance, family ties, and history. There are rules...right?

Why is it that in all other aspects of life, you get to shoot for the moon and reach for the stars, but not this one? Why are you judged so harshly by people you don't even know for your choices, your style, your vision? This is your day. It should be everything you had hoped for and more.

There was an image on the Facebook page of Martha Stewart's Wedding that received some pretty harsh criticism in regards to the bride's choices in style and attire. It was funky, eclectic, but most of all...it was outside the norm. The bridesmaids didn't match. There were bright colors everywhere. Mismatched patterns and spunky tights. But it was REAL. There was a real bride behind those choices, who because reasons unknown to us, was comfortable with those looks. It is not our place to judge or criticize. Hopefully that bride never has to read some of the harsh words people had for her style. Hopefully if she does it doesn't hurt her feelings. I hope for her sake she stands by her shining creativity and artistic sense of style.

But here's the thing...this day, it will be the biggest day of your life. It is about you and your Love starting your lives together. It is about your families and whatever traditions you do or don't want to follow. It is about these lovely friends and companions who have weathered storms with you. It is the one day to go all in.

What do YOU love? What brings you Joy as a couple? This day will be a celebration of your love, style, and personalities. And I encourage everyone to be true to themselves. If you love matching bridesmaids who wear similar dresses in all the same color, go for it! If you want everyone in your party to look different, but cohesive as a whole...good for you! If you want to incorporate your pets, a funky photobooth, a pancake bar, heck a hot air balloon ride...then all the power to you. Whether you decide on a big wedding, or a small, cozy affair...your day should reflect who you are as a couple and what you love about each other and your families.

We are personally taking on a lot of projects for our big day, projects many people would probably think us crazy for. But we're crazy about each other, obsessive about details, and in the end, we want our day to be just as artistic and thoughtful as we are. We want to use handmade items, because we care about artists and small businesses. We want lots of flowers and plants because we love going to the farmers market together and my experience working at a flower shop is what made me want to get into the wedding industry. We're incorporating details from a Tom Waits song because it is one of the reasons we fell in love. Every detail of our day means something, and has some significance to our lives. Not knowing those details might make us seem crazy, but I can say from the depths of my heart that I am happy being crazy if it means I get to have the perfect day with my perfect Love.

In the end, this day will be one you will look back on with fondness, love and warm fuzzies. It should be everything you had hoped for. It is the one day not to have any what-ifs or I-should-haves. So I ask you friends, will your day be everything you had dreamed of?

This is it. We're here living our lives day to day, month to month, year by year. Each day brings us a new set of choices, rules to follow or break, paths to walk...but the thing is, it is true that our lives are what we make of them.

It feels like summer here, and I've caught myself drifting off on more than one occasion. Wanderlust has dug in deep. I have found myself dreaming of somedays and what-ifs, wondering what the future holds. And you know what? My younger self would have let all of those thoughts and dreams remain just that. Wishes on the wind. She would have given up when it got tough. She would become too scared to move forward and fled.

But now? I know that if I want that dream to happen, if I really, truly want to be living a life of fulfillment and joy...then it is up to me to make that happen. No one is responsible for my dreams but me. No one else will carry the hope, love and Joy like I do. I know now that catching those dreams does not come about by sitting around on the couch waiting for miracles to happen. Real miracles are the result of hard work, devotion, dedication, and the faith in yourself to get there. It's about not giving up when life throws an obstacle at you. It's about taking what comes, accepting it, and moving on.

Life can be oh-so-very beautiful...if you're willing to accept that it won't always be a walk in the park. There will be hurdles, compromises, and such trying times you'll want to give up. There will be heartache and pain and suffering. They say that it's always darkest before the dawn, and if that is true, we need to push through our darkest hours so that we can enjoy the light.

I feel immense gratitude for this life that I have. I've made enough stupid decisions and mistakes in my past to know that I am lucky. I am lucky to have people who support me with more love than I will ever know what to do with, who push me forward and believe in me even when I don't believe in myself. 

Everything happens for a reason, I really do believe that. I am here today, full of love and hope and gratitude, because of a series of events that I never could have predicted. I have made the best choices that I could in life, but I never thought that I would find myself here. Running a business, pushing past boundaries, accepting the hard times and moving forward. Getting married to someone who is more than everything I dreamed of, who moves me past my comfort zone and challenges me in all the best ways. 

I hope that the next time you face adversity, you push through it. I hope that you accept the challenge, and see it as an opportunity to grow. I hope that you do not EVER give up on your dreams, and that you find someone who will not hold you back, but push you forward.

Life is waiting for you. 

Art and design are who I am. I have been designing and creating art in some form for my whole life. After thinking long and hard about what it is I want to be doing and what I can offer to you with my whole heart, I knew that this was it. I truly believe that this is the perfect combination, and that I will be able to bring even more to each lovely person I work with.

So in addition to the growing color collections of beautiful rentals, you will now have the opportunity to rent handmade or custom designed details to go with them. If you've ever dreamed about having handpainted runners, custom watercolored place cards, dyed fabric panels for backdrops or any other artistic, creative detail...then I'm your lady!