10 Year #Bloganniversary

Hello - Yes, it's been a while. I've been wanting to jump back into blogging after my much needed hiatus, and this rainy fall day seemed like just the right time - especially since it was ten years ago today I wrote and posted my first blog post. It's hard to believe ten years have passed. So much has happened along the way - from exploring new industries (blogging/social media to thrift and luxury furnishings) plus applying my past experiences of retail visual merchandising to now showroom (and even a showhouse!) styling, attending industry events (bloggers conferences to furniture market weeks), redesigning client spaces, and criss-cross-country moves (from Florida to Arizona to North Carolina) and I'm grateful for it all -- especially all of the people I have met along the way. Some people have changed my life, some have passed away, and for some, I helped to changed their life. And to think, all of the connections started from stepping out of the retail box into a whole new world... and that world started with blogging.

Junior League of High Point Showhouse set & styling with Ray Langhammer for designer Libby Langdon, plus Scot M. Wood - adjacent Dining Room designer.

But that new world also came with a price - health decline from sitting too much, weight gain, eyesight loss, pinched nerves, neck, back, hand muscle aches (even tearing my meniscus while cleaning) and an uncomfortable lingering stress of keeping up with the Jones'. Health & wellness was furthest from my mind, until cancer struck a close friend (killed another), Parkinson's took another close family friend, my husbands sister was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's (now stage 5-6), and my moms diabetes landed her in the hospital - now she's on dialysis treatments three days a week in Miami. Turning fifty had me heading into a downward spiral I didn't like, so I made changes to my lifestyle. 

 Salem Lake Trail - Winston Salem

Compound all of the above with my husband being let go at his job (after twenty years with the company - and the reasons for our moves, now feeling trapped). At this point, I was mentally drained. All strong reasons why I just had to STOP - stop everything, and reevaluate the purpose of it all (blogging and social media). Downing Cokes and sugary foods & Advil to power through sitting at a computer for hours on end, researching, resourcing, comparing, and striving for new daily content is not living. Taking NyQuil shots to knock me out so I could sleep. FOMO of events and worrying all the time if someone is going to copy or steal my content / photos (even after taking more time to watermark) -- plus documenting all the correct lingo + link-backs for copyrights of others, truly just drained all of the joy out of blogging - So yes, I stopped blogging for a while, and refocused myself to living with intent. 

 Reynolda Park - Winston Salem

My intent now is ensuring a work / life balance - practiced, not just preached. What started as stop drinking soda, a major cut back on sugary foods (alcohol too), and making sure I move my ass daily (counting steps + using tracking apps) lead to a major pantry purge and shift in the foods, not only I eat, but my husband and pets too. Together we also have incorporated a weekly nature trail walk in nearby parks, a great means of breathing in fresh air plus clearing a cluttered mind - and this past year, speaking of decluttering, I've been focused on 'letting go of stuff'. We've lived here now for five years - no moves in sight to prompt a purge, and things do accumulate. 

It's all still a work in progress, but I feel so much better than before - so much so that the second I slip up (over indulge in sugar, not eating enough leafy greens or getting enough sleep) I feel it right away - sluggish, nauseous, out of balance - and that's no way to live.

 SBC Innovation Quarter - Winston Salem

Pivot back to blogging, a task I have struggled with continuing during my hiatus, (is blogging dead?), and I believe, similar to sweets or anything in life for that matter, in moderation and with intent, it can still add value to the reader, as well as my life - or now brand - Focal Point Styling... especially since my husband and I are planting more permanent roots here in The Triad. Recently, I have even been taking some refresher classes on blogging, social media and business at Wake Forest's Innovation Quarter, Small Business Center here in Winston Salem.

Blogging daily as I was when I first began ten years ago I cannot do - but blogging a few times a month going forward is feasible. In 2020 though, I may need to step it up and make the shift to Squarespace or Wordpress. As for the content, I'll continue to focus on interior styling, layering in more home organizing tips & tricks, along with continued sharing local love for small businesses and industry events.

My sweetie & I at Greensboro Fashion Week

How have YOU been? What's new with you?

You can still find me on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram @nyclqinteriors.

Happy 10 Year Blog Anniversary to Focal Point Styling!

 Thanks for stopping by!

MOVING BACK EAST - RELOCATION ORGANIZATION!

Yay! When My husband called me last week to tell me the news, the first words he said were "Start Packing!" Just around this time last year (in November), a carrot was dangled in front of the hubs of getting a possible relocation for us back east, at the time, to Pineville, near Charlotte, North Carolina. Needless to say, I went overboard with delight, sharing the "possible move" on Facebook - sharing the house hunting plus saving pinned homes to a board on Pinterest... However, it wasn't our time and the relocation fell thru. Flash forward six months later, and it happened again, the possibility of Jeff getting us relocated, but this time not only back east, but to Florida (to the Gulf Coast - Ft. Myers area) -- However this time, learning from the last experience, I didn't say anything publicly, I just mentioned it to a few people -- and that too fell thru. But now, another 6 months afterwards and it must be our time because Jeff got rewarded with a larger store and we're being relocated back east - This time to Winston-Salem, North Carolina!

 

Sweet Sephora has no idea what she's in for again... This part of the move breaks my heart - Breaking Sephora's comfortable routine, but I'm sure she too will be thrilled when she see's her new surrounding - aka GRASS!!! :)

 In the meantime, she's been lounging on the new wool throw I had picked up for Fall at HomeGoods - which I'm sure will come in handy on the upcoming Winter evenings in North Carolina!

We're thrilled beyond belief to be heading back east - and so too are our moms, family, and friends, who even though they are spread out along the east coast (from upstate NY to South Florida!), we'll still all be so much closer for shorter travel trips. Not to mention, all the events that happen back east from Brummfield Flea Market to NY Fashion Week, to High Point (yay! FINALLY I will make it to HPMKT in the Spring!) and even the Design Bloggers Conference have been held in Atlanta (which is now just a short drive away plus Jeff's mom lives nearby).

Goodbye scorching hot summers, bacteria filled dust-storms and seeing brown at every glance - Hello change of seasons, crisp mountain air, American historical architecture and... THE BEACH - which now will be just 3-4 hours away vs the 6 hour schlep we were doing once a year driving through the desert to get to the California coast.

 

Drinking more coffee these past few days - and I'm sure plenty more to come!

Jeff shared the news when he was told on October 1, and since then, I've been searching real-estate sites, to find us a 'new place to dwell'. Over the weekend, I shared my findings with Jeff (pinned to a secret board) and together we voted yes-no on the homes to house hunt. Sunday, I printed condensed versions of each of the homes we're interested in - a diversified mix of styles from old and new, with both options to see: to buy or possibly rent (since we will be so new to the area.

I categorized all the homes I printed into a binder, divided with tabs by area, listing the MLS rooms, square footage and price at the tops of the pages. This should help not only us, searching on our own, but if we do connect with a local Realtor, we can show them our specifics since we're short on time. When we relocated in November 2011, we had more than 30 days to move - this time we have only 30 days to move -- across the country -- and just before holiday... which is quite alright. I can't think of a better Christmas gift or blessing to be thankful for on Thanksgiving than having the opportunity to move back east.

 

The highlighted dates are for my already booked & planned trip back to Miami (next Friday!!) to see my mom and friends - can't wait for that trip either!!

 

Thank you God for answering our prayers. And thank you too Focal point readers, because I know I haven't been quite "myself" since we moved to Arizona, and trust me, it wasn't from a lack of trying. I think we made the best of our situation, from Jeff getting into golf (although that lead to him injuring his back and having spinal surgery just this past August) to this "City Girl" embracing the more relaxed rustic styling, without getting into the Tuscan trap, I could take. 

It. Is. Time. For. A. (cool) Change.

 

 One of the last sunsets I've seen here in AZ, looking out from the loft space upstairs (third floor).

And so it has been already - Thank you Lord!! 

I hope October is good for you too as well!

Thanks for stopping by - and please stay tuned for upcoming relocation updates... plus a few last shares of the transformations made on this, our  Arizona rental home...