Remember when I was talking about going to Haven 2013. And how I was hoping to make some new bloggie friends. And how I was hoping my brain would hum with information overload. And I was hoping to be awestruck by all the creativity and positive energy. Guess what? All my hopes came true.
I did meet some amazing women who are now friends and I share about them here. Brain humming? Check. There was a crazy amount of genius over two days!
My Super 7 Aha Moments at Haven 2013!
I learned sooooo many things about blogging, creating, and inspiring that there is no way I can capture all the nuggets of goodness in one writing. And yet I’ll try to share a few things that touched me.
1. “No way. No how. I couldn’t successfully blog without the love and support of Mr. Rosey and our Girlies.”
For four days, Mr. Rosey kept the kiddos alive and held down the fort. Whoot~whoot! This may seem trivial. But really, any parent who normally doesn’t stay home with kids quickly comes to learn that it’s no easy task to be the chef, cruise director, referee, cheerleader, comforter, medic, hair stylist (try to comb hair into a ponytail if you never do it), chauffeur, arbitrator, chief picker upper and more. It was good for the three of them to hang out together for the weekend. It was great for me to go to Haven. (I adore the love note the Girlies texted me.) And it was awesome to come home!
2. “Be really good at one thing and good enough with everything else.”
Friday morning kicked off with the inspiring Ana White. If you’ve never been to Ana’s blog, go! She designs and builds furniture and shares her knowledge on her blog. Her presentation was to be your best self. Be original. Don’t worry about all the other stuff. (Whew! I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about all the other stuff.) “The tortoise wins, not the hare. Spend 100% of your blogging time on good content. Post good content and the readers will find you.” Wow! So true. You found me. Thank you!
3. “I must move Our Rosey Life to be a self-hosted blog!”
I had a mild panic attack when the rock star, Karianne of Thistlewood Farms, shared her “must haves for a basic blog design”. Huge!! The wheels are already rolling on this one and no worries. The panic attack has subsided. For my readers, moving to a self-hosted blog means an even better experience for you! Can’t beat that. This will be a learning process for me and won’t happen overnight. And for sure, hang on, because it’ll be a fun ride. How do I ever thank Karianne for her brilliance and then sharing her brilliance?
4. “Natural light is my friend.”
It’s such a simple idea. Little Miss Sunshine is the best for getting the best picture. This tip came from Photographing Projects and Rooms with Kristin Duke of Capturing Joy. I love this gal. She gave us lots of advice on staging a photo, tools she uses to stage, camera equipment needs, camera angles, camera settings, how to create natural light when there is none. Find the best window (or maybe it’s an open door) in your home with natural light and that’s the best spot to take pictures. Simple. Right? She shares all of her notes from class here. She also has two books about photography, which have been added to my birthday wish list. All her tips will work for you too. Check them out. Awesome!
5. “Find your own style!”
I took this uber cool painting technique class by Marion from Miss Mustard Seed and Shauna from Perfectly Imperfect. We played with milk paint and chalk paint. Candace at Vintage News Junkie did a great post on the How Tos and What Fors. Check it out. Besides all the tips and techniques, one of the best things they said was to find your own style. Create your own furniture painting signature. Personally, I think copies are flattering and original is best. I can’t wait to play with paint and find my own style. Isn’t that what we’re all hoping to do? Create our own style and make our home special and unique?
6. “I can use a power tool (and not kill myself).”
At Woodworking 101, the fabulous folks at Ryobi Tools and Kreg Tool Company explained the basics of working with wood and then gave us a chance to try out a bunch of power tools – drill, impact driver, saws… so cool for me to do this, because I was nervous. I can’t wait to buy our first power tools and get building something.
7. “Don’t wear bling on your shirt if you plan to fly.”
What? I’m sure you’re wondering. When I was going through O’Hare airport security, everyone did the full body scan. No big deal. After my full body scan, I tried to scoot through to get my shoes cuz I’m a little skeeved that my bare feet were touching the dirty floor. And the TSA lady stops me and says she needs to pat me down. Whaaat? And then she points to the bling on my shirt. “Your do dads on your shirt set off the machine. I need to pat you down.” So I let the TSA lady do a pat down and then a hand swipe for bomb residue. By the way… the only residue they found on my hands was cream cheese from my bagel at breakfast. True story. Who knew?
The sky is the limit and it applies to everything you and I do in life. Really, we are all limited by our own boundaries we set for ourselves. I need to follow my passion. Do what I love. Find my happiness. The sky IS the limit and it’s up to me.
So will I go to Haven 2014? You betcha! And I hope you go too and we have a chance to meet.
More bloggers share their stories about Haven 2013 here. Check them out! There is some awesomeness happening.
Our Rosey Life 