{the decision...}

{the struggle}
I have struggled for months with this whole blogging thing. Actually I think I've been struggling with an identity thing.  I love writing about my family and keeping track of our journey throughout the year.  I love writing about interior design and have had a really strong desire to venture back into that world via blogging.  I was feeling like I was trying to mesh the family blog with a design blog and it just wasn't feeling right.  I love sharing my love for design with anyone and everyone, but sharing my family life with anyone and everyone just isn't for me.  I love my current following of close family and friends, but strangers... no.

{the solution}
Write another blog.  Duh... so simple.  I don't know why I have been so resistant to this idea.  I had a million excuses...  I just don't have time to maintain another blog, it takes me away from my family, I'm a mama right now not a designer, no one is interested in reading it, and on and on.  So, I sat down a few days ago & the inspiration just began to flow.  It came together incredibly quick.  I was so surprised.

{introducing...}
Imperfect Perfectionist {inspired design} Why start another blog completely devoted to inspiration and design?  Because it just makes me happy. :)  I need the creative outlet... desperately!  I also believe a lot of mamas out there get so caught up in being the wife and mom that they lose their identity without even noticing it's been lost.  There is nothing wrong with doing what you love while still being what you love to be {a wife and mama}.  It's funny how writing about your passion evokes a certain happiness.  Now I get to write about both passions... family & design.

What's with the imperfect perfectionist stuff?  I feel like it describes me perfectly.  I'm not only a perfectionist when it comes to being a mom.  I also get super caught up in the little details in design.  Sometimes that can be a good thing, but more often than not, I spend a lot of time focused on stuff that truthfully doesn't matter.  Realizing that perfection isn't realistic or necessary has been my saving grace!  I feel like there are a lot of imperfect perfectionists out there in the world... we tend to be creative people, with grand ideas & good intentions, who are insanely hard on ourselves all the time... when all we want is the best for our family.  So I guess this is my way of saying it's completely okay to be perfectly imperfect.  There, did you feel that?  ...I don't know about you, but I feel a little lighter somehow.

Anyway, thanks for following along as I recreate, reorganize and venture in new directions.

to gift: {a growth chart}

Finally posting a "project/gift" that I made for a friends baby shower a year ago... yes, a year ago {that's just how caught up I am :) }!

I have a curse... I have this insane desire {need} to make gifts rather than buy them. I love it!  The entire thing is a creative process for me which is probably why I love it so much.  I know making gifts sounds nice and all, but being the overachieving perfectionist that I am, making a gift can sometimes become a huge ordeal.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE making and creating things!  And more often than not, I would rather make it and give it away than keep it for myself, but when I make something for someone else I feel like it has to be absolutely flawless.  Flawlessness can be the doom of a perfectionist like myself. Ugh.

On to the project...

A friend of mine adopted a baby girl and I wanted to make something special for this sweet little soul.  

Growth charts are all the craze these days, I love to paint, so why not make one myself {or attempt to}.

Here it is...

{baby Alexis ~ tweet}

 Maybe someday I'll get around to making a growth chart for my own child.  And, hopefully that happens well before he's grown! Until then, I hope you enjoy my little work of art...........