In Pursuit of Passion- My Journey to a New Career

As a young child, I started collecting old House Beautiful and Southern Living magazines.  By the time I was 16, I was subscribed to the newly published magazine; Real Simple.  The desire for "Home" has always been in my heart.  Fast-forward 11 years and my husband and I were ready to buy our first house.  Little did we know that journey would take us 3 years.

Photo by Scott Webb from Pexels

Thirty-six months of daily listing searches and countless hours of driving around, looking for the perfect home.  Then on February 8, 2014 at about 8:00 in the morning, we found it.  We immediately called our realtor to schedule a viewing, were the first ones in the door, made an offer that night, and moved in less than 5 weeks later.

The interesting thing is when you spend SO long searching for the perfect home, it's somewhat difficult to stop.  I loved our home but had unknowingly also developed a new love: real estate.  Scanning the pages of newly listed houses, constantly using apps to pull up houses where "for sale" signs had appeared overnight, and dragging my family on Sunday afternoon outings to see open houses continued to be the norm.

As our children have grown and our season of life has changed, Chris and I decided it was time to turn this lifestyle hobby into a career.  I spent the fall and winter of 2018/2019 studying and finally received my Georgia Real Estate License on June 10, 2019.  I quickly signed up with Harry Norman Realtors, Atlanta's oldest residential real estate firm.

Real Estate isn't just a career for me, it's a passion.  While the classes were long and the exams stressful, I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to help people buy and sell homes.  I believe that everyone deserves to have that feeling we felt when we walked into our house and immediately knew "This is the ONE.  THIS is our HOME."

In Pursuit of Local Fare... Citizen Soul of Alpharetta

This post was originally going to be an addition to a "Linger Moments" post, but after writing it, I decided it deserved its own place.  So, get cozy and prepare to get hungry as you read about Alpharetta's new offering, Citizen Soul.

Just when you thought Alpharetta didn't need another restaurant, along comes one that makes you realize what's been missing all along.  Citizen Soul is situated on South Main Street, Alpharetta, directly in front of the new Alpharetta City Hall.

Don't let their Northern Californian pub-style fare conjure up images of dark, seedy pubs.  Instead, think refined comfort food with a cozy yet bright atmosphere.

Unique furnishings include a glass-case meat cooler and wine cellar.  Their menu changes seasonally to spotlight in-season produce, and even boasts a gluten-free fried chicken.  Their charcuterie and fromage plates are an absolute must, and their remarkable wine list has something for everyone.

Executive Chef, Asheville native Sean Clark (former executive chef of Aspens Steakhouse and mentor to head chefs at multiple Alpharetta restaurants) brings it home by giving us one more reason to skip the downtown traffic and stay in Alpharetta.

Linger Moments No. 10

lin·ger

/ˈliNGɡər/

verb

to stay in a place longer than necessary, typically because of a reluctance to leave.

You know those moments: the ones often catching you by surprise, causing you to pause a little longer than perhaps intended.  Whether your upcoming weekend is one filled with activities or has the promise of being a relaxing weekend, you are invited to take a moment to linger before heading to the end of the week.

Faith and Fizz Bath Bombs

I experienced my first bath bomb (ever) last fall.  I bought it on a whim at a wine festival after I had avoided giving into the craze for many years.  I decided to try it because it smelled good and I'm a sucker for good scents.  It was (of course) amazing.  However, it was also $10.  Considering I draw a bath at least three times a week, I knew it would not be wise to incorporate this bombing routine on a nightly basis.  I started looking into shops on Etsy that would offer these bathtime explosives with high-quality ingredients but at a more reasonable price.  And then I found Faith and Fizz Soap Co.  She has an incredible assortment of bath bombs which she offers in multiple sizes!  My absolute favorite is the Charcoal and Rose bath bomb which has the most intoxicating scent of rose (without being overpowering).  The milky coconut and calendula bath bomb comes in at a close second!  All of her bath bombs contain special oils that always leave my skin feeling super silky.  Amber (the shop owner) is super friendly and even slips some samples into my orders which is always a fun surprise!  

Need2Know Daily Email

I can't even remember how I found this, but am so glad I did.  The Cheddar Need2Know Daily Email arrives in my inbox 5 days a week.  It provides a short snap-shot at political, economic, sports, pop-culture (etc) news and I absolutely love it.  They recently started a podcast of the same headlines contained in the daily email, but the email contains little quips that I feel the podcast just doesn't do as well.  There's always a retweet of the day (which is always hilarious) and every Thursday features a "Love it, Hate it, Ate it" section which never disappoints.  

Schar Gluten-Free Artisan Baker White Bread

Gulten-Free people, Rejoice.  For realz.  Eight years ago I started experiencing random complete-body hive breakouts.  They generally happened when I would get very hot and sometimes when exercising.   For a while I thought it might be rosemary, which happened to be a common denominator in a few of the reactions.  I later discovered that it was actually wheat-based gluten which I have since learned to avoid.  For those of you who know me, you know this situation is actually pretty sad.  Why?  Because Sandwiches. Are. My. Jam.  Like Garfield has his lasagna or Kevin his cheese pizza, sandwiches have always been my favorite thing.  I can tell you all of the best sandwich places in the Southeast.  I know the scientific formula for creating the best sandwich ever.  We literally celebrate several yearly seasons with very specific sandwiches. All of this to say that I have finally found a gluten-free bread that does not have the consistency of pudding, nor does it taste like a cornmeal trying to be a sandwich bread.  Schar Gluten-Free bread is the absolute BEST (EVEN better than the handmade gf breads from the local bakeries).  It's fine eaten plain but is absolutely amazing toasted.  I discovered it at our Publix (which no longer carries it) but have also found it at Sprouts.  

In Pursuit of Closet Sanity

As a child, I have very fond memories of an event that happened a few times.   My mom and older sister would come into my and my younger sister's room and COMPLETELY clean it out.  Like, top to bottom, a full-on purge.  The nights after this happened were some of my favorites as our space was clean and so, it seemed, were our minds.  We would take out just one toy and play for hours with it instead of mindlessly rotating through a million toys and ultimately becoming bored.

As a grown-up, I still enjoy a good spring cleaning.  Although a similar concept, I now have a myriad of options of different areas of our home to purge.  Last night, it was the closet.

I have about 50 French Lifestyle books in my library.  24% of them talk about food while 22% of them are memoirs or fiction.  And an astounding 44% of them contain at least one entire chapter on a typical French person's wardrobe.  Over and over again, they each preach the gospel of selecting a few key clothing items that work for your body and make you feel great.

One opinion that they generally tie into this belief system is that "less is more."  Rather than mindlessly accumulating clothing, they often encourage readers to purchase fewer high-quality classic items and create their wardrobe around those core pieces.  While this is not a new concept, I do believe it is gaining momentum through Marie Kondo's Life-Changing Majic of Tidying Up.

Why is this movement becoming increasingly popular?  Read below to see my views on this budding closet-shift.

1.  When you look great, you feel great.  How much easier is it to look great when you only own clothing you look great in and love?  This view doesn't even begin to touch on the whole issue of regard for taking the time to look presentable.  Dressing well (notice I said "dressing well" and not "dressing up") shows that you respect yourself and others enough to put some time into your appearance, even if it's as simple as wearing clothes that fit you.

2. "Change your space, change your life."  Let's just take a look at this picture below.  The first is of my closet before I stuck it to it and did a major clean-out.  Now, keep in mind that I originally adopted the capsule wardrobe concept back in 2012 while living with my in-law's.  We had the largest closet I had ever owned and I had it filled to the brim!  I had always had my smaller closets packed and this larger closet just gave me more room to grow!  Although I had read of the concept of capsule wardrobes for years, it wasn't until I read Jennifer L. Scott's book, Lessons from Madame Chic, I decided to finally take the plunge.  Assessing my closet, I realized it was true- while I had many articles of clothing, there were really only a few items I repeatedly wore.  I started the purging process and that summer purchased a handful of thoughtfully purchased tops (that fit perfectly!) to complete my wardrobe.

Now, twice a year I take the time to evaluate my wardrobe: what's working, what's not.  What fits and what maybe no longer fits me or my lifestyle.  I change it out for the season, and then try to fill any holes with high-quality items that I know I will wear for a while.

So why was my closet SO full of SO many clothes if you do this twice a year?  Well, last season I didn't take the time to change out my wardrobes properly.  We were in a crazy busy season of life and so I just threw all of my other warmer-weather clothing in with my fall/winter wardrobe.  I didn't go through and evaluate anything, I just crammed.  And look at the result!  I kept forgetting about clothing I had and constantly had to weed through heavy winter coats just to get to what I wanted!  It was very frustrating and completely uninspiring to get dressed in the morning.

Now the after picture:

Everything is orderly, "sell and donate" items are removed and there's even a little place to showcase some artfully placed Chanel wrapping and a pair of my favorite shoes of Fiona's from when she was little!

3. Plan to succeed.  This last one can take on so many facets.  I'll give you three:

• When your closet is in order with a condensed wardrobe of what you actually wear, you will probably be able to see everything.  Being able to see everything helps you KNOW what you have (or don't have) and can help prevent unnecessary spending.
• When your closet is in order with a condensed wardrobe of what you actually wear, you will also be able to see what is clean and what is not, which will save you time in getting dressed and looking for that *one* shirt.
• When you have a condensed wardrobe of items you actually wear, you'll probably not have as many clothes as you have now (obvs, right?).  Well, guess what chore is directly related to the amount of clothing you have?  The ever-present-will-never-go-away-no-matter-how-much-you-do-it-chore of laundry.  Have hundreds of articles of clothing?  You'll probably be able to go a whole week (but probably more!) before you MUST do laundry.  I know in our household, laundry piles up pretty quickly.  I attempt to wrangle the piles by doing a little bit of laundry, every day.  And since there's a finite number of clothes in our possession, the odds of it piling up to unbearable heights are very slim.

So there you have it.  That same feeling that came as a child having a clean room carries on now into my adult life in many ways, especially in my clean and decluttered closet.   For me, the same satisfaction from taking out one article of clothing and knowing it will work and make me feel and look great will always outweigh the other option of having loads and loads of clothes (and laundry) that I may or may not actually wear.

Linger Moments No. 9

lin·ger

/ˈliNGɡər/

verb

to stay in a place longer than necessary, typically because of a reluctance to leave.

You know those moments: the ones often catching you by surprise, causing you to pause a little longer than perhaps intended.  Whether your upcoming weekend is one filled with activities or has the promise of being a relaxing weekend, you are invited to take a moment to linger before heading to the end of the week.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Coconut Almonds

I stumbled across these tasty little treats a few weeks ago and immediately fell in love.  It combines three of my favorite flavors into bite-sized deliciousness.  The almond is coated with a sweet coconut layer and covered in milk chocolate.  Added bonus: the serving size is 1/3 cup which contains approximately 20 pieces, definitely enough to satiate a sweet tooth.

When Life Gives you Lululemons

It's been 12 years since The Devil Wears Prada came out to movie theaters.  After seeing the movie, I decided to read the book which was great as well.  Apparently, ten years later, a sequel came out: Revenge Wears Prada.  I missed that sequel but somehow heard about the third book in the series, When Life Gives You Lululemons.  The characters include Miranda Priestly's former executive assistant, Emily Charlton, who spends a stint in the suburbs helping a new friend make a come-back from wrongly-accused police charges.  Ms. Weisburger's balances light and fun with suburban-suspense in her new book which would be a great quick pool read (and this was obviously originally written during the summer months).

Yoga with Adriene: 30 Days of Yoga

I stumbled across this YouTube channel when searching for a Yoga video I could watch and practice at home.  I do belong to a gym with yoga classes (both hot and not) that I love, but lately, things have been so active that stopping everything to go to a scheduled class just hasn't worked out.  While a 60-minute session can be an amazing addition to any day, it can take a whole lot of planning to coordinate the class schedule with carpool, chores, and other activities.  I was so excited to find Yoga with Adriene and started one of her 30-day yoga challenges.  After a little research, I found that she has a gazillion videos of every type of yoga imaginable (yoga for runners, weight-loss yoga, yoga for zombies (?!?)), and at least four 30-day yoga challenges, each with different themes.  She also has over 4.5 million subscribers, so chances are, you already know who I'm talking about.   I'm enjoying working through the one linked above and LOVE the flexibility of being able to roll out my mat and click on the video whenever my schedule allows.

My Goal for 2019

I am not a researcher.  I have immense respect for those who are and know many people who pour over Consumer Reports, create spreadsheets with the data, then determine the best course of action shown by their due diligence.  I am not one of those people.

However, I feel pretty secure in the fact that because I do know those type of people, I can trust their research and opinions.  Why is it, then, that I often find myself in a situation where so many people are telling me to try something, yet I completely brush it away, thinking, "Well, that works for them, but I know me and that would NOT work for me"?  I know that not everything is for everybody, but for some reason, I have deep urges to resist trends/products/habits that don't immediately appeal to me, even when many trusted friends (who have undoubtedly done their research) are telling me to try it.

So, I decided to make 2019's Goal be "Give It a Whirl."  To try the thing, product, habit that seems so far fetched for me, so out of my comfort zone.  I'm not expecting everything to be fabulous and 100% me, but at least I'll give it a try!  The things that I'll be trying out will not be things that I've been considering or things that I have been wanting to try out and just haven't.  They'll be legit, I've-been-purposely-avoiding-that-things.  

I've begun to record my 2019 "Give it a whirl" list.  I'm up to 13!  Rather than posting them all today, I'll share them as I go and will leave two I've begun/completed here for now.

1. Read The Help.  

I know, I know... who wouldn't want to read this book?  The truth is, I've had this book for several years now.  A friend gave it to me, strongly urging me to read it because she "knew I would like it!"  Well, I resisted.  To me, it was probably a sad book with a heart-warming ending.  I'll tell you right now, Nicholas Sparks ruined me from trusting the New York Times Best Seller list, so the fact that this book is also on that list didn't help convince me.  Well, spoiler alert: I read it.  And of course, I loved it.  It was a little sad, but more so interesting, and the ending wasn't even that heart-warming!  I know I don't need to say much else about this book, because you've probably already read it, lol.

2. Do the laundry daily.

Nearly every runner of households recommends this.  Rather than waiting until it piles up, they daily run a load or two.  I've resisted this one for quite a while, even blogging about it stating "who wants to do laundry every day?!"  Well, in honor of my "Give it a whirl" pledge I decided to try it.  I've been at it going on 2 weeks now and it really is nice not having huge loads of clothes to fold.  Right before bed, I put our day's clothes in the washer and set it to start a few hours later.  The next morning, I transfer the load to the dryer and try to fold and put away the clothes before carpool begins.  I also took some time over our Christmas break to deep clean the laundry room, so everything is in order, there are no dust bunnies peeking out at me, and it all looks fresh and pleasant.

Do you have any suggestions for things I should try out in 2019?  Leave a comment below, and perhaps I'll give it a whirl!

Our Visit to Laurel, Mississippi

This past March we made Diaz Family history when we traveled with our (two children) by car from Georgia to Texas for a long weekend.  Having prepared ourselves for the worst, we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived and realized we had beaten our anticipated 14 hours by 30 minutes.  Our children were rock-stars and we completed at least one full Harry Potter on Audible during our drive.

Fast forward to this past week, when we were on another adventure to Texas.  We decided to split our trip out to Dallas in two by stopping in Laurel Mississippi for a day to visit the HGTV's town of Home Town.  I was a little apprehensive about splitting the drive into two days.  Were we tempting fate by having our children spend not one day, but two (in a row!) in an uncomfortable car seat?

We arrived in Laurel on a Sunday evening and after checking into our Airbnb, we decided to explore the historic town.  The ride to the downtown area was like stepping back in time!  The homes were like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting; a piece of the past frozen in time.

Once we arrived in the city, we were greeted by proverbial tumbleweeds as it was COMPLETELY shut down on this Sunday evening.  It did provide some amazing photo opportunities since we didn't have to share the landmarks, sidewalks, or streets with anyone.  We did run into Pearl's (of The Pearl Diner) son, who graciously offered us some water before we went on our way.  We made a list of the stores we would visit the next morning and headed back to the developed part of town to introduce the children to Hibachi (very un-southern, I know).

The next morning we started our adventure with gooey sticky and cinnamon buns from Sweet Somethings Bakery.  The buns were about as large as the children's heads and the entire place smelled heavenly.

From there we made our way down the street per Chris' request to the Southern Antiques store.  The main floor featured plenty of non-antique farmhouse decor but the upstairs bosted a whole floor of antique dealers' booths.  I know I'm not alone when I say I love picking up pieces and dreaming of their stories.

After the antique store, we stopped in at Loblolly Boutique + Crescent Line Toys where it was the children's turn to dream of all of the fun they would have with all of the many toys they were mentally adding to their Christmas wish-list.

Finally, we made our way to Laurel Mercantile Co.  The painted building and vintage Chevy told us we had arrived!

It was fun pouring through the kitchen goods, flannels, and vintage plates and quilts.  Every area of the shop had descriptions and notes from Erin Napier, the founder of the store and star of the HGTV series, Home Town.  The first sign I read explained their mission to manufacture as many of the products in the USA as possible.

Our half-way-to-Texas-Laurel-trip was rounded out by a visit to Phillips Drive-In, where we were sent on our way to Texas with one of the best chili-cheese hot dogs washed down with a rootbeer float.

My prediction on the two days in the car for the kids being a bit much was completely correct (please show me a 4-7-year-old who can feel the difference between a 7-hour and 13-hour car ride), but well worth the detour.  The quaint "City Beautiful" is well on its way to being revived and we look forward to visiting again on our next voyage to Texas.

Ta-da-flop: A look back on 2018

Sometimes you need a break... and sometimes that break is a 5-month break.  Or maybe it's not that you need a break and maybe you're just broken.  Broken from relationships, from expectations of others and yourself.  Maybe sometimes the brokenness becomes so heavy, the pieces weigh you down and you stop seeing beauty. 

So many of my posts are about finding beauty in everyday living, and yet, it seems that every year, I go through a season of drought, where life is bla and redundant and oh-my-goodness-why-did-we-sign-up-for-12-years-of-carpool. 

This past December, I discovered a quite odd correlation between what I'll call my "bla" season and the liturgical calendar our church follows.  Many of you have heard of different church seasons, whether you realized it or not.  ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, and even LENT, and EASTER are all actual seasons of our church that have been celebrated for thousands of years. 

Guess what liturgical season coincides with my personal "bla" season... Get this.  It's called ORDINARY TIME. 

While "Ordinary Time" is not as widely known as "Christmas" or "Easter," it's actually the season that dominates much of the year.  There are few weeks of this time scattered throughout the various months; however, the big chunk of it comes from the end of May all the way until December. 

I think part of growing up is being able to look back and assess what you did right, what could have been better, and perhaps just what the heck is going on?  What's interesting though is that because most of the year consists of this Ordinary Time, most of these accomplishments (and the work put into them) happens in just plain, ordinary days.

So, without further ado, I give you my less-than-impressive 2018's 18 accomplishments (which, by-the-way, were made in Ordinary Time).

Guys... I just clicked over to that post and was SO INSPIRED for just a moment, because I forgot it was mine... and all of the things I thought I would do in 2018.

I didn't completely flop 2018.  I did actually accomplish a lot.  I met many goals.  And instead of beating myself up about what I didn't accomplish, let's focus on what did get done.

Ta-da!

I read 17 books.  It's not 25, but it's the most I've read in YEARS.  Like, since-before-I-went-to-college-then-had-babies-years.  I'll post about them all sometime.  Maybe.

I ran a half-marathon.  And I actually enjoyed it.  There were parts that were difficult (and I DID walk part of mile 11) but I finished it and I haven't been that proud in a while.  Of course, there's no way on this PLANET I could have completed that without my people.  Watching my (our) kids during all of the practice runs (Chris), motivating me in the crappy weekly runnings (Colleen & Renee), giving me a reason to not forgo my long Saturday runs (Mary Beth), and being there for me at the finish line (Chris, Fiona, Eliot, Craig, Lisa, Roger, Renee, and Mary Beth).  I thank God for the strength of lungs and legs and hope to do another one this year.

I played in a recital.  The first by myself since forever.  And it was an easy piece I loved and had played before. And it was beautiful and the audience was just as transfixed by its beauty as I was. 

I learned a lot about myself this year.  About my weaknesses and strengths.  And while I KNOW there is still plenty more to learn and grow in these areas, I'm excited to bring on 2019 and all of it's Ordinary Time.