My Girl

Within 10 minutes a smooth recovery took a sudden turn for the worse and we lost our little girl this afternoon. Zoe was my best friend and Bryan and I's first child. She was my number one partner for reading, tv watching, crafting and most recently, my favorite co-worker. I cannot imagine a home without her.

Zoe Sophia Sabbe you brought us so much joy over the past 5 years. We are going to miss you terribly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



PSA To All the Kitty Mamas

First of all, I do plan on writing about design again very soon. I apologize for the mixed bag of posts I've been doing. These days I feel like I'm either doing interior design or teaching about interior design 95% of my waking hours, so writing about interior design has not been at the top of my list.

But back to my public service announcement. If you craft, keep all things string related far away from your cat. I have told you before that Zoe likes to chew on sewing thread. She's like a crack addict for it. I never let her do it (like my vet implied) but she seeks it out. This week the addict got into it while we were asleep. I woke up and found that she had knocked a spool off the shelf of my office. That morning she seemed fine. Last night she got sick and this morning worse. After visiting the vet and having x-rays taken ($$) they decided there must be string wrapped around her intestine. Zoe is currently having surgery ($$$$), full anesthesia, the whole nine yards, to get the string out of her belly. It's 100% my fault, her previous string binges have never made her sick, so I was not as vigilant about putting my crafts away as I should have been. But say a little prayer for my girl. She and her mama would appreciate it greatly. She's a very spiritual kitty.

In other news, this sailor rang in the last year of her 20's today.

I want to do a 30 before 30 list. Any good suggestions?

Mr. Sabbe Turns 30 + Walden Pond

This past Saturday my sweet husband turned a whopping 30 years old! We had a wonderful day that started with pancakes, presents, and lots and lots of cards. Then we packed our lunch and headed to Walden Pond. It was an unseasonable warm day and Mr. Sabbe had big plans of swimming in the pond along with the other New Englanders. Unfortunately growing up in the South has made us very intolerant to 60 degree swimming water, so we opted to wade instead. We wrapped up the day with dinner at Ginger Park and a surprise party at Burton's Grill. Thanks to everyone who came out! We'll get him to work on his surprised face a little more before he hits the big 4-0.

 

Thoreau had it right, I think I could hide away for a while at Walden Pond.

Emotionally Healthy Spiritually

Morning All! I have a busy day today, but I wanted to share a book with you that I have just started reading, Emotionally Healthy Spiritually

My church is actually walking through the book in small groups. Unfortunately I teach two night classes, which leaves me unable to attend. BUT I wanted to see if there were any blog friends out there who would like to go through the book with me? One chapter a week, any takers?

I know I personally could use a revival in my life. The past couple of months I have been carrying around a lot of junk and last Thursday night, as I laid in bed with my mind going 100 miles an hour and my stomach twisting from anxiety, I realized something has to change. My church has already preached two sermons related to this book and both Sundays I felt like they were speaking directly to me.

Just to give you a glimpse, chapter two has a section called Defining Emotional Health and Contemplative Spirituality and it reads:

Emotional health is concerned with such things as:

• naming, recognizing, and managing our own feelings
• identifying with and having active compassion for others
• initializing and maintaining close and meaningful relationships
• breaking free from self-destructive patterns
• being aware of how our past impacts our present
• developing the capacity to express our thoughts and feelings clearly, both verbally and nonverbally
• respecting and loving others without having to change them
• asking for what we need, want, or prefer clearly, directly, and respectfully
• accurately self-assessing our strengths, limits, and weaknesses and freely sharing them with others
• learning to capacity to resolve conflict maturely and negotiate solutions that consider the perspective of others
• distinguishing and appropriately expressing our sexuality and sensuality
• grieving well

Need help with any of these? I sure do! The book is 10 Chapters, so I will plan to post every Sunday, starting next week for the next 10 weeks. I would love for you to join me, get your feedback, hear about your experiences and struggles. Matthew 18:20 says "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them"...I think that counts for the blog world as well.

Best Fabric Store in Boston

Well, technically it's not in Boston. It's in Arlington. But close enough. They have both sewing and home decor fabrics. I was most impressed with the sewing/quilting fabrics. They are the only shop I've seen in this area that carries my fave, Amy Butler. Fabric Corner. There is a coupon on their website. Does this first photo make anyone else's heart skip a beat?

Have a great weekend!

Goodbye New England Summer

In the midst of all my craziness, summer slipped away! I had the pleasure of spending Labor Day weekend in Provincetown with some of my good girlfriends from Tennessee. Despite a week long hurricane forecast, the weather was gorgeous. We shopped, rode bikes, ate lobster, and stayed at the cutest B&B. One of my favorite parts of the trip was an afternoon whale watching cruise we took. It. was. amazing!

I apologize for being so m.i.a from blogging! I still have not adjusted to my new schedule, but have been keeping up with all of your wonderful blogs. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Nate Berkus Show where I met several of my long time blogger friends. Visit Camilla's blog for a little recap of the event.  Thank you ladies for organizing such a fun day!

I also had the pleasure of escorting my Boston blogger friends to their very first Sonic experience on the way home from NYC last night. In a panicky exit off the interstate to find a restroom we came upon the only Sonic in the state of Connecticut. I am not embarrassed to say I ate a foot long chili, cheese coney and tots. As the only one with Sonic experience, I felt I had to show them how to do it right.