Animal Skins | More is More Mom

I can’t exactly pinpoint the moment in time in which we lost control of our lives. I suppose like anything it was a natural progression; Chuck and I dated, were engaged, got married and started a family. When Nicholas and Amanda were little tykes it was mind numbing, but relatively simple; wake up, keep the house, care for the children, cook the meals, bathe the babies, watch a little TV and head off to bed. The fact that we have a pocket door that separates our Family Room from our Kitchen has been both a burden (completely lacking in the “Open Floor Plan Concept,” hence limiting the “flow” when company is present……and, as I am the More is More Mom®, you can imagine that company, of some sort, is frequently present) and a blessing (in the beginning the pocket door was a wonder, enabling us to corral the children in the hours after dinner and before bed…our people are total night owls…..allowing us time to catch up on evening programming like Seinfeld and E/R, back in the day; while also allowing for peace and privacy in our Family Room for reading (ha,ha,ha) or TV viewing (far more likely) and permitting a flurry of daily activity in our Kitchen simultaneously.). One day, out of the blue, madness ensued…..

Then, it would appear, over night, it all changed; at the tender age of 4, Nicholas started playing hockey, and over the years, added baseball, added basketball, added cross country, added track, and added golf. Amanda begged to take a gymnastics class herself, at the age of 4 (must be a magical age), was instantly invited to attend class twice a week, and all of the sudden that was that, she became a full time competitive gymnast……life became pretty busy.

As if Chuck’s career pursuits haven’t been crazy enough, sustaining our family, eleven years ago I started my own little Interior Decorating Business. Plain and simple; I Am A Worker. This probably comes as no shock to you, but you are looking at your 2005, Our Lady of Perpetual Donations, Volunteer of the Year. Oh yeah! One of my mottos is: If it takes up all of our time, uses up all of our resources and makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever… sign us up!!

Now, like a hundred years later, I find myself with a little more free time than I’ve ever experienced before. Nicky drives (frightening and fantastic), Amanda is at gym 20hours a week (frightening and fantastic), leaving me with time I could have only dreamed about! So, what is a girl to do?

Well…I must share with you; one of my pursuits has been to take advantage of all of the wonderful opportunities to develop relationships in the world of Interior Design. I have been racing from cocktail party….with SWAG (!)….to cocktail party….with SWAG (!) and have learned of, and seen (oh bliss!), many wonderful and exciting things.

Last week I attended a soiree at the Arhaus Store. Their store in South Barrington, IL was a visual delight! I had an opportunity to chit chat with the Visual Art Director, Adam, who represented their three Chicago-land stores. What I observed was over-the –top, repetition-for-visual-impact Design….

A gigantic cylinder vase, filled with river rock, water and a fresh stem of greenery.

Another of their gigantic cylinder vases, this time filled with grass (organic and brilliant)!!

Simple green recycled bottles, displayed as a beautiful collection.

Back to the Beach: Bell Jars displaying a collection of sea-shells and an enormous hurricane filled with sand, a candle and more sea-shells! I am dreaming of a visit from Frankie Avalon (Venus, if you will….) and Annette Funicello (of Mickey Mouse Club Fame)….

Again (See my Cinco De Mayo Celebration and my visit to Home Depot), we are observing the whimsical spiky plant as a decorative element (can I pick ‘em or what?)…