Seventeen years ago, about three months before my husband and I got married, we traveled to Kona, Hawaii, with most of his family.  Since that trip, we have been trying to plan another trip with his family to do Hawaii again.  Two years ago, we threw a dart at a date and landed on 2018.  That would be the summer that we would plan to go back.

It seemed so far out there, and yet, here we are; Kona, Hawaii, 2018.

Day #1 – Sunday

We arrived mid-day on a Sunday.  It had been a loooooonnnnnng day.  Leaving our home in Virginia at 4 am, we arrived in Hawaii at 2 pm that same day absolutely beat.  If you’ve never been to The Big Island (Hawaii), the setting is quite unexpected.  Think more ‘landing on the moon…with flowers’ and less Gilligan’s Island.  The terrain is rough and rocky courtesy of eons of volcanic eruptions.  But as arid as it appears, life still finds a way to take root and grow.  The flowers are lovely and they are everywhere.

We went straight away to move into our new home for the trip and then headed out for dinner.  The hilltop restaurant, Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai, provided an outstanding view of the Pacific, but the jet lag was a heavy weight to muscle through. In hindsight, cocktails were probably a bad idea that evening, but when in paradise…..  We went home and crashed hard for the night.

The majority of homes in Hawaii depend on “the trades”, or trade winds, so central air is rare.  Our rental had 3 air conditioned en suites, plus two more bedrooms in a loft.  A typical beach style home, we had a very small pool to cool off in, an amazing west facing view of the ocean, and and a very colorful tree outside of our second story Lanai that attracted the most spectacular collection of birds.  And let’s not forget the occasional visits from ferrel cats, kalif pheasants, and mongoose.  Our literal bird’s eye view made it easy to take in the sights.

The REAL Day #1

Hawaii-Aleutian Time is 6 hours behind our home Eastern Standard Time, so waking in the morning is a non-issue, especially early in the trip.  My husband and I were up before 5 am, and made our way to a local craft coffee shop, Green Flash Coffee, right when they opened for the day.  There we could purchase our favorite coffee beverages and some yummy pastries, bagels and cream cheese, and egg sandwiches.

All together, our whole group was a total of 20 people.  Three generations of family.  A real population explosion since our last trip together.  The group decided to meet at Magic Sands Beach for some sun and fun.  A small, white sand beach, was a beautiful host for the day.  Soft sand and gentle waves made for a great first day out in the sun.

That evening, we ventured, once again as a group, to a restaurant popular with the locals.  Big Island Grill; not a fancy place at all, but the food was good.  The menu had a huge variety of choices for some of our more choosy eaters.  Fish and Chips, the clear favorite for the night.  Still jet lagged, we made an early night of it to live to fight another day.

Day #2 – Tuesday

We started our day, once again, with Green Flash coffee and Holy Donuts!  The yeast donuts were awesome and came in interesting flavors like, S’mores and Girl Scout Samoas.  I tried soooooooo hard to resist, but the siren song of fresh, unique donuts is impossible to resist.

On Tuesday, we all met at Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area.  Probably the most spectacular beach I’ve ever been to.  A spacious white sand beach with pristinely beautiful water.  Great body surfing and minimal rocky hazards.  Bath houses and a snack bar are on the premises.  Totally worth the drive, but boy did some of the group get fried.  The trade winds are gorgeous and really fool you as to how much sun you are actually getting.

We traveled a route back to our rental that took us through very arid, and sometimes grassland type scenery.  Wild goats were dotting the landscape so often that we finally stopped saying, “Goats!” every time that we saw one.  Those tough animals spend a lot of time perched and posing on the mini cliffs of lava rock.

For the evening, we explored the main town of Kona.  We had dinner at Bongo Ben’s Island Cafe which had a memorable view of the sunset, as well as a collection of homeless folks.  The food was really good and the people watching quite interesting.  We tooled around town a bit after dinner and then, once again, wimped out and headed home for bed.

Day #3 – Wednesday

Wednesday was a much needed day out of the sun.  My one son got super burned the day before, so we opted for indoor activities.  We had paid a visit to Walmart to purchase breakfast necessities, so we ate at home before heading to Kanaloa Octopus Farm.  This super cool research facility offered a lesson on the diminishing population of octopus in the wild that are captured for aquariums and for food.  Fully funded by tourism, the little farm studies and cares for octopi in hopes of cracking the mystery of how to replenish and restore the numbers of animals in the wild.

Patrons get to invite the octopus to touch their hands.  Each octopus is named and has its own distinct personality.  Some are shy and some are much more friendly and outgoing.  These fascinating creatures can turn from brick red to white in an instant and can even change the texture of their skin to help camouflage them from predators or woo a potential mate.  At the end of the visit, each person is allowed to feed the octopi.  It was an engaging and educational trip and not a huge time commitment.  I encourage everyone to pay them a visit.

Now you might find this lame, but after the Octopus farm, the family and I went to the movies.  I know this seems crazy that we would travel all the way to Hawaii and duck inside for hours to see Incredibles 2, but this is vacation.  We don’t often get the opportunity to see a movie as a family back home, so why not go here while we have the opportunity?

After the movie, we were able to walk over to Royal Thai Cafe for some tasty takeout of Thai and Asian fusion cuisine.  Delish!

Day #4 – Thursday

Ok, today, we had some plans.  We woke early, which at this point was still not an issue, and made our way to Kona International Airport for a quick 35 minute flight over to Honolulu on the island of Oahu.  Prime objective was to visit the Pearl Harbor Historical Sites.  A tremendously moving collection of artifacts and stories, we worked our way through several Smithsonian-esque, museums. (Being from the DC area, we are quite spoiled with the quality of our museums.)  Each pavilion contained loads of exhibits, informational and emotional accounts of the infamous attack on American soil, and some hands-on activities to let you get a better feel of responsibilities of the servicemen of that era.  Personally, I found the memorial very interesting, but as a parent….  There is nothing I love to see more than my teenage, gamer engaged and interested in a museum and American history.  A day I’m quite excited and proud of.  (Heart hands!)

Due to some structural damage to the observation platform, the opportunity to view the USS Arizona, that still rests at the bottom of the harbor, was not an option for us, so our trip was limited to the land exhibits.  Our next stop was the gorgeous Waikiki Beach Walk.  A plethora of fine shops and restaurants, there really was something for every part of our party.  From 10 years old, to 80; from cookies to hats, every one of us found something to fall in love with during our walk.  We strolled through the Sheraton Waikiki to get a glimpse of the water and beach.  A breathtaking view of sparkling white sands and clear light aqua waves, it was just gorgeous.

We drove by the public beach of Waikiki.  Heavily populated, it is quite odd to experience the beach in the midst of a sizable city.  But it works!  We headed up to Diamond Head to see what we could see.  We were not correctly outfitted to summit the hill, but it was obvious and shocking to our kids that we were enjoying our icy treats inside a dormant volcano.  We wrapped up our visit and headed back through the city, past the University of Hawaii, to the airport to return to our home base, Kona.

We were able to meet up with some family at Umeke’s Fishmarket Bar & Grill for some delicious cocktails and meals.  If you ever see a cucumber lemonade cocktail on a menu, do yourself a favor and order it.  I could really go for another one right about now.  So refreshing.

Day #5 – Friday

Today we stayed close to home.  Directly across the street from our house, is a black sand beach that boasts the 2nd best snorkeling in the area.  The very rocky terrain, in and out of the water, made it difficult to move around, but gobs of species of fish and sea life could be viewed in super shallow water.  Eels, sea turtles, sea urchins, and many colorful fish were a plenty.  The beach has on-sight bath houses, snorkel equipment rental and a food truck for a snack or lunch.

The dark sand really holds the heat, so it was a very hot day with or without the trades.  Dips in the perfect temperature of the ocean were a must, but you better run for it, or wear your shoes ’cause that crushed up lava rock may as well still be on fire.  It’s HOT!

After getting cleaned up, we headed back into town for dinner.  This time, we tried Foster’s Kitchen.  Now we’re talking.  On the second floor of the building, this open air restaurant had a gorgeous view of the Pacific and the impending sunset.  The food was spectacular and the drinks were even more so.  Anything from pastas, to the fresh catch of the day were offered and beautiful and refreshing cocktails were to die for.

We ended the evening with some Kona Coffee from the cafe just downstairs and strolled around the shops until we made our way to the car for the ride home.  Keep in mind, the sun sets in Hawaii around 7:30 pm give or take, so it gets dark (and I mean really dark) really early.  It makes our weary East Coast bodies even MORE tired.  So bedtime is hard to resist.

Day #6 – Saturday

My husband and his brother and father went deep sea fishing for the day, bringing home a sizable Wahoo that we would partake in for dinner on Day #7.

My sons and I stayed home for the day.  In the afternoon, we walked down to the black sand beach to grab a snack.  I stayed behind to snap some pictures of St. Peter’s by the Sea Catholic Church.  My husband and I discovered this little seaside church on our trip 17 years ago.  I was so excited to learn that we were going to be staying nearby.  The little church was established in 1880 and looks to seat maybe 30 people.  I was disappointed that we could not attend a service there, but I did get some sweet photos.  I finished up my walk for pics with a dip in our tiny pool and took advantage of the quite to read my book.

Showers all around and we headed back to Foster’s Kitchen for dinner.  It was that good.

Day #7 – Sunday

In the morning we had our sights set on hitting a local shopping market.  Filled with booths selling all kind of wares.  Sadly, the majority of the shops were not open, so our trip there was quite short.  We grabbed a quick lunch and headed home to prepare for our afternoon snorkeling trip.

My husband and I have been lucky enough to have snorkeled in some really great places; Haiti, St. Thomas, and Aruba.  I have to say, in all sincerity, this was the best snorkeling trip by far (with our private snorkeling trip in Aruba a close second).  The crew of Fair Wind Cruises was very helpful and the boat was outfitted with excellent equipment and amenities.  The standard masks, fins, and flotation devices were provided in addition to inner tubes!  These were brilliant for newbies.  The boat also had a high dive platform off the upper deck and two wet slides off the main deck.  Our kids went CRAZY for these activities.  Juice, water, and chips were available while we cruised out and the cash bar opened up and platters of fresh fruit were brought out for our trip home.

Well spent from our day of activity, we got cleaned up and headed over to the home that my husband’s sisters were renting.  They cooked up a feast for the family with the star of the meal being the Wahoo that my father inlaw caught the day before.  FRESH FISH!!!  DELISH!!  (Take that Dr. Seuss.)  We closed out the night with cookies and cheesecake and a round of Happy Birthday in honor of my husband’s sister.  You know what comes next?  Night night for us.

Day #8 – Monday – Final Day in Kona

I neglected to add, that most mornings began with the family gathering around the tv to watch the World Cup Soccer tourney and this morning was no exception.  We watched Belgium come back and beat Japan and then had to high tail it to the beach to meet up with the rest of our group.  We met up again at Hapuna Beach State Park.  We just loved this beach.  It is so beautiful and appointed with some really nice amenities.  I think most would argue that it is totally worth the 40+ minute drive.

It was a short trip to the beach for us this day.  We had a luau to get to.  We said our goodbyes to those that we would not see again on this trip and entered into the line of cars crawling back to Kona through road construction.  Some quick primping and we were out the door for our luau reservations at Royal Kona Resort.  This is the same luau location that we attended as a group 17 years ago.  Everyone in our party felt that the quality of the food and entertainment was even better now than it had been all those years ago.  The food was really good.  Buffet style, so even the choosiest eaters (and if you’ve traveled with kids you know the struggle is real) can find something they will like.  They made a great production of the unveiling of the pig and even provided stations of activities like flower bracelet making, faux tribal tattoos, and wood carvings.  The show was an excellent education in the life of the indigenous people of several islands in the Pacific.

Time to go complete the laundry marathon and pack for the next leg of our trip.  Oh, you didn’t think we were done did you?  I will pick up with you in our next post for the completion of our summer vacay in Kauai.  See you there!

I was feeling a little old when my sister inlaw and I were discussing perfumes and body sprays (Girls talk about that stuff – don’t hate.) and she did not remember Love’s Baby Soft Perfume. Love’s Baby Soft was the acceptable body spray for young girls to wear when I was a … young girl. (Although when I look at the old ads from back in the Stone Age, they were quite provocative and a lot creepy….Holy Geez!)

This conversation got my crazy train of thought rolling about the progression of my personal scent profile. (You like how I just made that sound sophisticated and cool?) These are the things that I think about sometimes. (Oh shut up. It’s fun. Let’s play!)

LET’S PLAY!

As we have already established, as a young girl, I wore Love’s Baby Soft (more like bathed in because I was not skilled in restraint or moderation). It was beautifully pink and powdery, and a super big deal if you got a gift set for your birthday or Christmas.

As I matured through junior high school, I started to dabble in the, dare I say, musks; Wild Musk to be exact. Can you say Signature Scent? Yep – all through high school. But then my eyes were opened to the designer world of the late ‘80s that was smacking us all in the face in a full frontal assault with their acid washed jeans and must have fragrances.

Oh, you heard me. I had moved on to fragrances (said with jazz hands). What fragrance you ask?  (You’re dying to know, I’m sure.) I was a Calvin Klein Obsession girl. If one was lucky, their best guy would wear the corresponding men’s fragrance. (‘Cause we all know after watching that Happy Days episode when The Fonz thinks he’s allergic to women, the lady’s perfume should compliment the man’s cologne or DISASTER! – Or is it marketing genius?!).

Once I started down this road, I couldn’t get enough.  I started experimenting with other designer fragrances. I went through Christian Dior Poison, Esprit’s Esprit, Estee Lauder’s Beautiful, Pleasure, and Knowing. There was also Giorgio Beverly Hills Giorgio, and Red. It was clear, I had a problem. (But I was super easy to shop for!). The madness had to stop, especially discovering some of the perfumes made me sneeze.   (Awesome.)  I finally enrolled in perfumes anonymous and settled back to Obsession…for years.

When I was finally lucky enough for a super guy to see through the sweet cloud that surrounded me, and propose, it was time to get serious. I had read in one of the 1400 wedding magazines that I was reading that a newly engaged woman should select a special perfume to wear to all of the prenuptial events and especially to The Big Show. Through this form of trickery one was to plant a scent “seed” in the unsuspecting groom. A seed, or scent memory of happy feelings, that the cunning bride would be able to reactivate at will, by simply wearing the perfume again.

It worked! For our wedding I chose Givenchy’s Amarige. I still wear it for our anniversary every year and to weddings. Without fail, my husband will always ask, “Is that the perfume that you wore for our wedding?” (Shhhh. Don’t tell him about my nose control tactics. Our little secret.)

I have since simplified my life in this arena. I usually wear my fav, Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker, but only when getting fancy. Day to day, I like to layer seasonal scents from Bath and Body Works; Honeysuckle or Rain Kissed Leaves in Spring/Summer, something spicy and warm in the Fall, and something that makes me smell like cookies for the holidays. (Why not? And YUM!!) And don’t forget my mad love for my own scent creation that I made at DIY Scents Perfumery!

Whew! I’m exhausted from that trip down memory lane. I hope this sparks some sweet smelling memories for you. And I pray that at least one of you out there remembers Love’s Baby Soft. Maybe you and I could hit up an early bird special for a Geritol cocktail, a nice piece of fish, and a parting gift of some Crepe Erase. Call me!

 

Blog

Noun | \’blôg, ‘bläg\

1 computers: a website that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks, videos, and photographs provided by the writer; also: the content of such a site

Blogging has taken the world by force. It’s an interesting career path that takes, above all else, dedication. Cristina Chavarriaga is relatively new to the scene, but comes with presence and gobs of style. Set in a spot that splits, DIY, interior spaces, and science, Cristina brings a fresh new twist to blogging. Says Cristina, “My blog is a little bit of a mixed bag. When I ended up launching, it wasn’t my original intention to do as much as I’m doing. I really thought I would stick more to the interior DIY scene and I’m finding that I’m making it a little more about who I am. I have a lot of different interests; I’ve always been that way. I’ve never been able to settle on one thing and so what I’m doing is putting myself out there.”

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A blog follower herself (one she follows is this SUPER cool blog called jenniferthebeholder.com….just sayin’), she got to thinking that maybe she could do this. Her first stab at blogging didn’t take off. Her husband had even purchased a camera for her to help her capture the all important visuals for her new blog. Cristina shares, “I thought I’d follow what I was seeing from other lifestyle or fashion bloggers. I was going to document my life through photos and outfits, but the bloggers I followed always seemed to be one step up above the rest. They would always take pictures of exciting events they were attending, or vacations that they were going on, and our life wasn’t really like that. I also felt it wasn’t my personality to do that anyway. I just kept pushing it off.” It wasn’t until her recent move to Atlanta that she got a spark to start.

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A newlywed with her new husband starting his medical residency, Cristina began setting up house. She was putting her creative energy into cultivating her personal interior style in their home. It was this momentum that she felt she could carry and showcase on a blog with a little side gig as well to provide a service to help people locally or remotely with their interior spaces. But that also did not get launched, because everything suddenly changed.

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“Life,” as Cristina puts it, “turned into a whirlwind.” She shares, “When I moved here I was excited to start something new. I had just graduated with my masters. I was excited to get my feet wet in a job. I really wanted to work with a start up, to get experience and to potentially go back to school for my PhD. I also wanted to start a blog and was going to pursue some of my interests. I was really excited about it.” Ironically, Cristina had started her first blog post when she and her husband went away to Colombia for a week.  The plan was to launch when they returned. Immediately upon returning from their trip, Cristina started feeling sick. Surprise! She was pregnant.

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She shares, “It was a huge shock. (1), we weren’t necessarily planning and (2), I thought I was going to have trouble. We had seen a reproductive endocrinologist and were on a path of what we would do when we wanted to start trying, which involved money. We were going to have to wait.” So she went into “rush mode”. It became imperative that she now, and quickly, figure out what she was going to do. If she was going to have a shot at finding a job that would potentially afford her the opportunity to work from home, she needed to hurry.

But come December (2016), when she really started to show, the writing was on the wall. She came to terms with the fact that she wasn’t going to land a job that would allow her to work remotely. It was time for her to really figure out what she wanted to do. She says, “I thought, ok, maybe I’ll start my blog again. I started waking up early. I started getting a plan of attack, and then February came, and the baby came early.” And we’re talking really early. The focus became her very premature baby.

It wasn’t until this past January that Cristina was able to start thinking about her career. Says Cristina, “Not that I don’t love staying home. I do love that I get to be with my daughter. I can’t imagine having someone else care for her other than family and we don’t have that opportunity here in Atlanta. But I found that I didn’t feel challenged with my mind. I was almost jealous of my husband because, even though he was stressed, and tired, and working like crazy, he was getting to do what he wanted and be a dad.” (Preach Girl!) She (like the rest of us) needed to do something for just her.

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So with her super supportive hubby’s encouragement, Cristina decided to take the time to actually start her blog, Spatial Dwelling (spatialdwelling.com). She’s doing it! Admittedly, Cristina has no preconceived ideas of what this could turn into for her. She’s content to just getting it out there. The concept of her blog transformed even before she launched. Originally to focus on DIY and interior spaces, Cristina has found that she’s really more interested in making the topics more about her many interests. This concept is actually what I find so interesting about her blog.

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Mrs. Chavarriaga is one big science nerd. And I mean that lovingly. With a Bachelors in Biology, and a Masters in Biomedical Engineering, Cristina is a full fledged smarty. She has a love of science, architecture, interior design and crafts. But even with all of those credentials, one still begins to second guess when confronted with the blogging scene lies. We’ve all been brainwashed that you probably shouldn’t have a diverse offering of topics; you should stick to one. But why? And who says?  Says Cristina, “A lot of times people are either all fashion, or all lifestyle, for example. I just felt like, I’m just going to do kind of a mix of what I like. I’m still finding things I want to add to my blog; different topics or sections. It’s evolved because I’ve evolved.”

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To me, I think she is providing such an interesting mix. Something fresh and new that’s not out there. Her combination of creativity and science; I haven’t seen anything like it. She could be on to a whole new genre! Cristina shares, “Science is a huge part of my life. It’s something that I love. It’s a creative process as well. I think because I’m not currently able to pursue a career in science, it’s a way for me to still bring it in. I like the way that it challenges my mind.”

The beauty of blogging is it can be very fluid and flexible. A self proclaimed procrastinator and perfectionist (which is a dangerous combo), Cristina can often get derailed. Or, if something like a sick child happens, blogging must take a back seat. When the ship gets righted once again, then watch her work. The blog will always be there.

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Spatial Dwelling offers segments on DIY craft projects, Friday “Plant Prattle”, and sections on life, books, interior spaces, and Cristina’s own musings where she shares whatever she feels like talking about that day. Says Cristina, “That sums up my mixings; the thinking aspect with the musings, the plants because, well, I love plants, and the creativity through spaces or projects. That is me. It’s a mix of things that I’m thinking about or topics that I like. They might be science related, or they might be life related, or just stuff I think about on a daily basis. I use my blog as my way to live out loud. I’m a pretty introverted person, especially when it comes to my thoughts.  It’s always been a bit difficult for me to share what’s in my head. It might sound weird, but I live a lot inside my mind. A lot of the things that I think about, or plans that I have, are just iterations in my mind that I play out there. I’d like to try to bring that outside more. This is just a way to do it.”

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Her blog also showcases amazing photography. A self-taught photographer, Cristina explains that she understands how the camera works, and understands apertures and light from working with microscopes. (nerd power!) She knows what she likes to see and truly enjoys that part of the process; an unexpected perk. Look for Cristina to start an Etsy shop offering some of her photography as prints.

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Inspiration comes from everything. She shares, “I have a lot of ideas that I get from science as far as artistic perspective, or ways of looking at things differently. Shapes and colors are also a great source of inspiration for me. Whether it be in a pattern for a pillow I want to make or even something I want to wear, I love geometric elements and colors for their use in pattern play. They also, in my opinion, offer a great source of expression in spaces. Books and magazines, albeit pretty obvious, is another source of my inspiration. Then sometimes I’ll just take a walk through Target, Michael’s, or Anthropologie and I’ll see something that I like that maybe I could use to create something else that I can afford or would like in my own home. Or maybe I don’t like the way that they did it, and think how I would like to change it. I’m also inspired by other bloggers. Sometimes people put out stuff that I like that I might reinvent. Inspiration really comes from everywhere.” Her pro tip, if she’s ever feeling stumped, she just goes out and walks around and challenges herself to find something to recreate or something that sparks an idea.

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Reality of blogging versus her expectations has been a revelation. She shares, “I didn’t think I would like the photography and the staging, especially because I’m limited to my apartment space. I thought that would be more of the hassle of the process. I also think I might have been a little less realistic about the time that it does take to put together a post. I have to be a little more organized with my schedule having a child now and I think I was going in with my old college ways; last minute! I’ll just pull an all-nighter! My daughter doesn’t necessarily agree with that schedule all of the time.”

I asked Cristina, knowing what she knows now, and where she is in her life, what would she tell her younger self. She replied, “Don’t’ wait seven years when you think you have a great idea. Just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be how you think it should look, just start. I think about it all the time. What if I had started it back then? Maybe it wouldn’t be the direction it is right now, that is true, but what would it have been like had I started? I think that advice was something I had always heard but put in the back of my mind, stored away. But it’s something that’s so true.”

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Cristina’s dream is for Spatial Dwelling to be a stepping stone for everything else that she wants to achieve. She says, “I have big and lofty goals for other things, in addition to my blog, and I’m using this as something I’d love to grow, but also to use to build my confidence to say, you know, I have some pretty great ideas and I can get them out there in other aspects, namely science and engineering goals. In my dream life I’d love to be like Elon Musk. What I mean is, I’d love to have the autonomy to start all the projects that interest me. Whether it be my blog or a science and engineering related venture, I’d love to have the ability to pursue it all. I don’t feel like I’m just a one direction kind of person, which has sometimes been hard for me in choosing a path. When I was young, I was always indecisive, especially when it came to my future career. I just thought it was because I didn’t like to make decisions, but I realize now, it’s really because I want to be, and do, it all. That’s something that doesn’t always work in this world. Sometimes your fields don’t mix. I want to eventually have my fields mix. That’s what I’m trying to do with my blog in the smallest way I can right now. I’m using this blog as a confidence booster to say, “I can,” and will work my way up from here.”

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Like, subscribe, and follow Cristina and Spatial Dwelling on these social media sites:  www.spatialdwelling.com, Facebook @spatialdwelling and Instagram @spatialdwelling

1 Definition provided by Merriam-Webster

2 Read the post featuring these photos: http://www.spatialdwelling.com/what-which-who/

3 Read the post featuring this photo: http://www.spatialdwelling.com/valgalpalentines-craft/

4 Read the post featuring these photos: http://www.spatialdwelling.com/art-meet-wall-wall-meet-art/

5 Read the post featuring these photos: http://www.spatialdwelling.com/plant-pratte-four-ferns-faces/

6 Read the post featuring these photos:  http://www.spatialdwelling.com/giraffe-llama-glama/

7 Read the post featuring this photo:  http://www.spatialdwelling.com/a-physicist-a-biologist-and-a-chemist-walks-into-a-bar/

8 Read the post featuring this photo:  http://www.spatialdwelling.com/the-one-with-the-embroidered-shirt-sweater/

9 Read the post featuring this photo:  http://www.spatialdwelling.com/a-little-goes-a-long-way/

10 Read the post featuring this photo:  http://www.spatialdwelling.com/tablescapes/

 

Father’s play an incredibly important role in our lives. Their presence shapes who we become. Their absence can also shape who we become.

I’ve written about my father quite a bit on the blog, particularly his passing since it affected me so much. I feel very fortunate that I had a great relationship with my dad. I have several family members and friends who are great dads. I thought it would be fun to have people of all ages (and some who are included in this are elementary school students!) and backgrounds share the best advice their father ever gave them. Whether you had or have a good dad or not, there are some great ones out there. Borrow them if you need to. Let the good guys shape who we all become.

Thank you to dads everywhere for sharing your wisdom and humor. Here’s to you Dads.

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SELF ESTEEM

“Don’t worry about what other people think because you can’t fly like an eagle if you’re walking with a turkey.”  ~  Caitlin

“Just be yourself. Don’t worry about other people, worry about you!”  ~ Katie

“Who cares what other people think, just be yourself. ”  ~ Regan

“Just be you.”   ~  Eli

“If someone is being mean to you, stand up and say something.”  ~ Jillian

“Be strong, be independent, and stay out of trouble.”  ~ Dorothy

“If someone is bullying you or being mean to you, don’t care. If you act like you don’t care they can’t do anything. ”   ~ Taylor

“No man who doesn’t know that you are the very best thing on earth for him is not worth your tears. You are worth waaay more than you even know.” ~ Doreen

VALUES

“Always use integrity!” ~ Hailey

“It doesn’t matter if you aren’t perfect, or if you don’t beat someone else. It just matters if you try your best.”  ~ Gracie

“Always try your best.”  ~ Reid

“Never give up and try, try again.”  ~ Annabella

“Always be the better person.”   ~ Riley

“When outside of the house, you are representing our family, so you better be good.” ~ Temple

“If you don’t have anything nice to say…. don’t say it all.”  ~ Imanuel

BEST PRACTICES

“When you are upset just tell [your parents] what’s wrong.”  ~ Emma

“Do your homework.”   ~ Avik

“Turn the other cheek…and be quiet!”  ~ Kayla

“Be good, keep your nose clean, and leave the girls alone.”   ~ Cole

“Mind your business!”  ~ Braden

“If you do something nice for someone, you might get it in return.” ~ Aidan

“Try your best and have fun!”  ~ Katie

(When I was trying to choose a major in college and was totally overwhelmed), “Draw a square.  Next to each side of the square write a talent, subject you like, or an interest that you have.  Then search for a major that incorporates as many of the sides as possible and that goes in the middle.” ~ Liz

“RTFM..Read the f***ing manual.” ~ Christy

“Always put your marriage first and not the kids. The kids will move out one day and you are with your spouse for life.” ~ Meredith

“Buy American.” ~Jennifer

“When I was in high school my dad used to tell me, ‘Don’t get involved.’  But I did.  When I was in college he said, ‘Don’t get involved.’  But I did.  Years later I thought, egad!  I got involved! ~ Deanne

SAFETY FIRST

“Wear your seat belt.”  ~ Connor

“Advice my dad shared while teaching me how to drive a stick shift in his Scout International Harvester at a local beach parking lot, is currently just as valuable today as 52 years ago.  ‘The best advice I can give you when you drive is to stay away from everyone.’ The expletives that come to mind when glancing out of the rear view mirror are also what I learned!” ~ Darlene

“Know how to change a tire.” – Temple

CAREER MINDED

“As an artist, you come with a price tag.”  ~  Chris

“Ideally your job will both pay well and be rewarding/stimulating .  During any given week one might matter more than the other, and it will change, but overall you need both.  “ ~ Liz

LIFE LESSONS

“No one wants the people they love to die. But death is God’s way to bring each of us home to heaven. We can be sad when we lose someone we love, but that’s why we have faith to lean on. Death is part of life. It hurts but it’s just a temporary goodbye.” ~ Doreen

1 Picture by Daniel Sjolie Photography

Kathy Kupka is a portrait photographer, specializing in children and pets, who started her business in 1998. Her love of photography was apparent even as a child. Kathy shares, “I always had a camera as a child. Growing up, I was the only one of my friends with a camera, way before cell phones and digital files, so of course, it was film.” Kathy graduated from high school in 1967. At that time, women either became a nurse, a secretary, or a teacher. Kathy became a secretary and was a secretary most of her life. She reminisces, “When I graduated from high school, we didn’t have a really good counselor to talk to that would have said, ‘What do you love to do?’ I probably would have said photography.” Although not her dream career, Kathy was grateful for the steady paycheck.

At 19, Kathy married and had two children, and took some time off to raise her kids. After a few years, she went back full time as a secretary, but started taking night classes at her local community college to earn her associates degree for business. She wisely decided to make one of her elective courses a photography class. It was there that Kupka learned the dark room. She loved the whole process of black and white film photography and only reluctantly says that, “WITH FILTERS”, digital photography can come close to TRUE black and white.

A year after graduating with her business degree, her husband got a job in Chantilly, Virginia. Once there, she learned of a great photography teacher at NoVa named Eliot Cohen and began taking his classes. Kathy would work during the day as a secretary and take photo and dark room classes at night. She studied under Cohen for years. It was during this time that Kathy’s first grandchild was born.   Says Kupka, “The minute my grandson was born, I was taking pictures and I realized that I love taking picture of kids!” She took that new found discovery and began photographing families of the people she worked with at no charge. These photos would be used for her photography class assignments.

Once she got comfortable, she started booking appointments and charging for her work. She shares, “My husband said, based on my bookings, ‘It looks like you’ll at least be making this amount of money, so you can quit your full-time steady paycheck job during the day to do your photography business’.” So in September 2000, Kathy had a lot of work lined up for Christmas and was quite busy. She took a break to head to New York City with a friend and all of a sudden got very sick. Kathy ended up in the hospital with Pneumococcal Pneumonia for nine days. It was the first time in her life that when she wasn’t working, she didn’t get paid. Says Kathy, “Thank God my husband had a great job and good benefits. I had to cancel all of my Christmas appointments, I was so sick. It took me a while to get better. When I started getting better, in January, I started getting back pains. February I started getting bad back pains. I went to my doctor and was told that I needed to stretch more before I exercised.” She goes on, “Then I was photographing a little boy in my studio. I brought my dog Buddie down to distract the boy and I leaned over and I felt a horrible pain in my collarbone. I thought, ‘Oh great, first my back, now my collarbone?!’ After my clients left, I was making lunch and I leaned over to put something in the trash and I felt a snap. Long story short, I broke my collarbone picking up a 17 pound dog.”

It was then that Kathy was diagnosed with stage three Multiple Myeloma, a disease that at the time, nobody had ever heard of. Her first reaction was, “Where are the experts?” Kathy was directed to The UAMS Myeloma Institute in Little Rock, Arkansas. Years prior to this, there was no treatment available for this type of cancer, but advancements in medicine made it possible for Kupka to have two stem cell transplants, using her own stem cells. Says Kathy, “Long story short, I’ve been in remission for 17 years. Thank the Lord.”

Kathy took advantage of the times when she was feeling good, between chemotherapy treatments, to get back to her photography work. She had adopted her dog, Buddie, in 2000 and had begun utilizing her new companion (and model) to build up her pet photography portfolio. She decided to do a presentation about her life’s journey beginning with her days as a secretary up through her time during her cancer treatment. Kathy explains, “There are side effects from the treatments. When I showed the different side effects depicted with pictures of dogs, and told in a humorous way, everybody laughed. I realized that people really reacted to that part. That’s when I decided to make a book of the side effect of cancer treatment.”

Kathy put together a book signing for her newly published book, Cancer is Ruff, and sold 50 copies that night. In addition to her book, Kathy has quite a prolific greeting card business as well. Her cards feature her beloved dog photos accompanied by humorous or inspirational sayings about cancer treatment recovery. Her book is available for sale on Amazon, and you can purchase her book and her greeting cards on Etsy and at various local stores.  Kupka shares, “This book is really good for people who are going through treatment. They can relate to all of the side effects. A woman called me to say that she was giving my book to her grandchildren. She wanted her family to understand what she had gone through.”

I asked Kathy if writing this book had been therapeutic for her. Yes was her answer, but not for the reason you might think. Sadly, Kathy lost her husband in 2012 and then two years later, lost her daughter in a car accident while she was working on her book. She shares, “I believe my photography and my book have been very therapeutic and distracting. I’m not just sitting around. My daughter and my husband were a very big part of the book.” Kathy has chosen to live her life being productive and honors her family and all who have suffered through treatment by creating her book and her greeting cards.

When talking about dreams and professional goals, Kathy’s story is quite unique. Coming up when profession options were limited for women in our country, the thought of a creative job was not only unheard of , it was un-dreamed of. Stepping out in her career as a secretary, Kathy never imagined that she would later become an award winning professional photographer or a published author with a product line! Says Kathy of her photography business, “In the beginning, my dream was to just be photographing families and kids. I never even thought of a book or cards.”

Through her professional and personal journey, Kathy has done her share of public speaking. She would get requests to speak at hospitals and she now offers, what she calls, “presentations”. She can be hired to talk to groups about photography. This step out onto the public stage took some major changes on Kathy’s part. Says Kupka, “I belong to Toastmasters. I could never say my name on stage, even though I never stop talking in social settings. I was invited to do presentations at different hospitals and that’s why I joined. Public speaking is very hard. At my first Toastmasters meeting, they asked me to get up and introduce myself. They must have thought that I had a real problem because I think I cried. It was awful. I don’t know what happened! I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or what, but now I don’t care! But still, you don’t want to make a fool out of yourself. Lol!”

Through her career Kathy has been able to meet so many wonderful people. It is her biggest joy (after her kids and grandkids, of course). After all of her years as a professional photographer, she still looks for ways to challenge herself and for ways to give back. Last Fall, Kathy set a goal for herself to photograph a different dog, wearing a pink cape, every day for the month of October with all proceeds to benefit the Loudoun Breast Health Network. Her commitment to the project was real and her commitment to the cancer community is also very real.

Kathy Kupka is a living example of fortitude. She encourages everyone to never give up. She says, “Never give up. You never know, somebody might pick up on what you’re doing. I’ll let you know when this happens for me. LOL. But I can tell you, just from all the people who have written to me; my book made them laugh; that is payment enough.”

You can follow Kathy Kupka Photography on the following social media sites:  www.kathykupka.com, Facebook @KathyKupkaPhotography, Instagram @kathykupka, and Twitter @Kathykupka

 

Mary Shelton is the owner and one of the talented dance teachers at Rhythm and Arts Center of Virginia. Rhythm and Arts Center is a performing arts school, currently specializing in dance, and building their singing and acting offerings. The grand dream includes cultivating a music and instrumental side to the school as well as adding visual arts such as drawing, photography and more. That’s the long-term plan. For now, dance and musical theater, complete with voice and acting coaching are in their repertoire of classes.

Mary attended Oklahoma City University and received her degree in Dance Management and has been teaching dance, for other schools, and now her own dance school, for 23 years. Shelton opened her doors to Rhythm and Arts Center in 2015 and has directed her passion for dance into educating children and adults in the strong traditions of dance and theater history and technique. She uses her education in marketing as her foundation to push her to implement different strategies to set her school apart from the others.

I was particularly drawn to the concept of Mary’s dance school. It is very different than most offerings in our area. Unlike other schools, this one is not competition focused. Mary believes in healthy competition and participation in them offers the opportunity to see what’s new and fresh in the industry. But for her, the competition portion is not top billing. Competitions that she does participate in are held in conjunction with workshops where her dancers can train with master teachers. The classes and workshops, and opportunity for personal growth, are the focus, with the competition portion treated as a bonus. Mary explains, “Most of my students are not going to have a dance career. The competition experience should be more about exploration and growth. I really want that to be the focus; about growing as a dancer and as a person versus the competition side. I also think that we should serve and be good ambassadors in the community so we provide nursing home performances and participate in local parades. I would like to get more involved in the community by offering classes to those who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. I think everybody should have access to the arts. It shouldn’t just be for the people who can afford it.”

Many of the teachers at Rhythm and Arts Center are people that Mary has previously worked with in the dance and musical theater industry. With regards to how she selects her teachers, Mary says, “I look at personality and how they interact with the kids, but in terms of their knowledge on the subject, it’s really important to us that our teachers have college degrees and have professional experience. That really is what sets us apart. I want to make sure that people aren’t teaching bad habits that they have picked up.” Because the school is not as competition focused, the pressure to constantly be producing is not present. With this concept in place, the teachers are able to dig down to the fundamentals of dance. Time is taken to not only teach proper technique, but also the French terminology and their meaning. It’s rare. You don’t see that much any more. Mary says, “Well, as much as I hope that I’ll have these kids from now until they graduate from high school, it doesn’t always happen that way. I want my students to be prepared, wherever they go, whether they move, or they just decide that they want to get something else out of dance. Or when they graduate, maybe post high school and into college, I want them to be prepared for wherever they go. That’s why I want them to know the terms and definitions. I want them to know the technique. I want them to know that some steps are called something else because if somebody says I want you to do this, I want them to understand that it’s also known by another name or know that’s the move that I really have to stretch my knee on, for example. If they go to another country, because kids study abroad, they can go anywhere and take a ballet class and probably figure out what they’re doing even if the main language is not English.” She goes on, “It’s important to me that the students are well rounded in their dance education. From the foundation that we give them, they can go into musical theater, they can study in college, or they can go into a professional company. For some people dance is just something fun that’s a hobby and that’s totally fine. We’re not just setting up one track and our dancers have to follow this track. Dance is for everybody. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same for everybody in terms of what they choose to do with it.”

Making the decision to open her own dance school was a scary moment for Shelton. She shares, “I am not a financial risk taker; at all. I’m very conservative with my money, so it was super scary knowing that most businesses don’t turn a profit for the first couple of years. We’ve been very fortunate that we have.” She goes on, “It was really scary to think about not bringing in any money. When my husband and I were discussing this, he mentioned this Michael Jordan quote where Jordan says that throughout his career, he made many shots but he missed 100% of the shots he didn’t take. I actually get a little choked up when I say that sometimes. We were in a financial place where we could afford me not having an income, so we did it! And so far so good!”

From the age of 12 as a babysitter, to teaching at summer camps in high school, Mary found at an early age that she truly loves working with children. She shares, “I’ve always had more patience for children than I do adults. Kids are expected to be ridiculous, and I mean that in a kind way. They just don’t know. They’re fun, and they’re silly, and they’re learning their way.” Mary really enjoys working with kids of all ages. She adds, “I like having the variety. I tend to get bored if I’m just doing one thing over and over. Choreography is obviously easier with the little ones, but then keeping them occupied and excited is the challenge. With older kids I can challenge them with choreography, which is more demanding for me, but behavior is usually easier to manage.”

In addition to her full time gig as artistic director of Rhythm and Arts Center, Mary is also a performer and president of the DC based tap dance company SOLEdarity. Her involvement with the tap company, coupled with her true love of the dance community, exposes her to inspiration via the multiple dance genres performed in our region. Says Mary, “We have some really amazing companies in the DC area. They’re just so innovative. I love watching their work. It pushes me to think, ‘What’s something different that I can do?’” Mary confesses that often, with kids, you can get into the cycle of just recital or competition-style choreography, but she continues to work on pieces that push her creatively.  Mary adds, “Honestly, when I went back to performing, it changed my teaching. I had been out of performing for almost a decade and I had forgotten what it was like to be on stage. It gave me a renewed perception of other things I had forgotten about and hadn’t realized I had forgotten.”

Rhythm and Arts Center puts on two shows annually, so in the short term, the goal is to make sure that she and her students put on another quality performance. Says Mary, “I always strive to make each show better than the last, which is a lot of pressure. But I really just want the kids to have a great experience. I’ve had really great experiences in dance and I want them to have that.” In addition to her upcoming Spring performance, Mary is also preparing her summer dance program offering. During the summer months, the school will offer regular dance classes in all genres including yoga and Bollywood, as well as a few week long dance camps and intensives.

Mary’s long-term objective is to get into a permanent space of her own. With this achievement, Mary anticipates a sense of permanence. She confesses, “I feel silly saying this because I’m in my third year, so it’s still strange to say, but it still doesn’t feel like it’s permanent. Maybe that’s just part of being a new business. Maybe someone’s been in business 20 years and also doesn’t believe it’s going to keep going. I think having my own studio space would really help me feel grounded and would solidify the feelings of, ‘Hey I’ve done it and I’m doing it.’ I am doing it.”

Mary went into her business venture with eyes wide open. Having worked in the dance industry for so long, she understood what she was getting into. She shares, “I knew in this type of work you’re on 24/7. So even when I’m not teaching I’m still answering emails, and responding to phone calls. I guess some part of me thought at least there would be some down time when I’m not thinking about it, but I am really thinking about it all of the time. But even when I’m thinking about it when we’re in our off time, I don’t feel stressed. Besides that I’d like to have a permanent location, it’s not something that I have to have right now. I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.”

In college, Mary took a lot of non-profit classes which addressed trying to keep the dance world relevant and trying to grow it. Says Mary, “I find here in the DC area, it’s hard. Support for dance comes mostly from our friends from within the dance world. How do we branch that out? One way to do that is through the kids. I think it’s important to start young and get them exposed to all the arts, even if they don’t want to dance themselves.”

This dance school is more than just a business for Mary. Although she’s quite proud that the school is by definition successful, the real joy for Mary is seeing how her students grow. Shared through tears, “I have a group of girls who I used to teach at another school that have gone on and graduated and some of them have gotten married. I’ve been invited to their weddings and it just makes me feel so good that I made that big of an impression on them. All these years later, they still think I’m an important part of their lives.” She goes on to share, “I had a mom recently tell me that her 5 year old wants to be a dance teacher (again tears) and she’s 5 so obviously there’s a lot of time to change, but just the thought that she loves dancing that much and that I had a hand in it’s introduction to her, is reward beyond measure.”

Mary also stresses that dance is for every body. Although there are the traditions of say, Disney, or the Rockettes, or some specific ballet companies, most companies do not have strict molds that they demand all their dancers to fit into. Says Mary, “I dance with people of all shapes and sizes. I see people who can dance in all shapes and sizes.  When I was in college, because of their strict image requirements, I felt that there wasn’t going to be something for me. I was not going to be able to dance. So it wasn’t an assumed dream to be a performer, but I’m glad that I can do it. Even though I don’t perform for a living, I teach for a living, the fact that I’m able to perform makes me so happy. I love dancing.”

Mary’s parting words. “If you’ve ever thought about dance, do it. I have a lot of people who say, I can’t, or I have two left feet, or…. I always joke, that’s what the lessons are for. I have an adult right now, a dad of one of my students who I’ve had for a long time. He came to our tap show last year and he said, ‘You know I think I can do that.’ He is doing it! It’s a great way to exercise without feeling like you’re exercising. I mean you’ll feel it the next day, but it’s not like getting on a treadmill and just running. There’s great camaraderie in class, the music is really fun, and if you don’t want to perform, you don’t have to. Don’t let that stop you from taking a class. We offer free trials. Adults don’t have to dance in leotards and tights, they can wear whatever is comfortable. I would just say, if anyone has thought this would be fun, if it’s something you’ve always wanted to try, go for it. It’s so good for the soul.”

To learn more about Rhythm and Arts Center of Virginia classes and summer programs, please visit and follow on these social media sites:  https://www.rhythmandartscenter.com/, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

To learn more about SOLEdarity Tap Company please visit and follow on these social media sites:  https://www.soledarity.org/, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

When I was young, I took a psychological quiz that has haunted me my whole life.  You know those fun quizzes you would give to your friends and compare answers?  Yeah, one of those.  Stupid.  But man, this one did a number on me and I reflect back to it even now.

Let me lay it out for you.  But I must caveat this by saying that I’m certain I don’t remember the whole thing or exactly what each question represents, but I’ll do my best.

THE QUIZ

Imagine you are walking through the woods.  Describe the woods.

How do you make your way through the woods?

Within the woods you come to some kind of body of water.  Describe the water.

How do you get to the other side of the water?

You continue through the woods and you see a house.  Describe the house.

Do you go inside?  If yes, describe the inside.

At the house you see a bear.  Describe the bear.

What do you do with the bear?

You remember these quizzes?  I loved them.  I still love them!  I’ll travel down the rabbit hole of Facebook quizzes so I can know which Disney princess I am, or which Harry Potter house I should live in, or what my spirit animal is.  Yep, I’m a sucker.

But the quiz I shared with you above, that one… I took it over 30 years ago!  I remember it (well, the important parts) like it was yesterday and the picture of what I saw in my mind then is still the same picture that I see now.  I find that remarkable.

When analyzed, none of my answers were bad, especially to an outsider. (Some of them were down right interesting, if you ask me, but I digress.) But to me, there has been one aspect of the quiz that I’ve gone back to time and time again.  It literally has haunted me.  I went through many years near angry about it.

But now that I am older and wiser and really happy with my life, I can see my answer as a blessing and I couldn’t be more grateful.  Truly.

So did you take the quiz?  If not, and you want to, do it now and I’ll run down what each answer represents based on this silliness. I can wait.  BUT, if you read on without taking the quiz, you won’t get honest answers after.  Once the meanings have been revealed, you will engineer what you want your answers to be and that’s not cool.  You’ve been warned.  (Just sayin’.)

THE QUIZ REVEALED 

Describe the woods.  Your description of the woods is how you look at life.

How do you make your way through the woods?  This describes how you make your way through life.

Within the woods you come to some kind of body of water.  Describe the water.  The water represents your problems.

How do you get to the other side of the water?  This is how you deal with your problems.

You continue through the woods and you see a house.  Describe the house.  This represents how you think people see you.

Do you go inside?  If yes, describe the inside.  The inside vision is how you see yourself.

At the house you see a bear.  Describe the bear.  This represents your fears.

What do you do with the bear?  This answer describes how you deal with fear.

Ironically, my personal haunting does not come from the problems and how I deal with them, nor did it come from the fears.  My haunting comes from how I would get through the woods!  In other words, how I would get through life.  You see, in my vision, in my woods, there is no clear path.  There is no path.  But, I could easily make my way.  No underbrush, just sparse grass decorating the entire ground.  There’s even enough light for me to see.

I have never had a clear path in my life.  I never grew up desiring to be a doctor, or always wanting to be an actress.  Sure, I went through phases of wanting to be a veterinarian in fourth grade, or a wedding dress designer in high school, but after I graduated from college, and I began my real walk through the woods… damned if there was no clear path.

It was a crushing frustration throughout my young adulthood and even more so after I had children.  Life had to be more than just laundry, and dirty dishes, and praying to God that no one missed the school bus.

But now…

Now that I have embarked on this new role of writing, I’m almost grateful not to be tied to a path.  What used to feel like walking through a maze of dead ends, or running on a treadmill to nowhere, now feels open, and free, and exciting.  I don’t have to look down to be sure I stay on the path.  I get to look up and go where the light leads me, only to look down, once in a while, to see if my feet are still touching the ground.

Mia Belotti is the interior designer and owner of Maison Warehouse, an interior design service and home furnishing shop located in Sterling, VA. Although the shop, as it stands today, has only been open for 4 years, Maison has been around since 1998. Being family owned, Mia grew up in this business. The original company was started by Mia’s stepfather in Great Falls, Va., under the name Maison et Jardan (which, in French, means Home and Garden). Says Mia, “My stepfather is a design genius. He owns and operates Fine Landscapes; a landscape design and build firm.” Maison was originally developed as a way to furnish the gardens that Mia’s stepfather was creating. The business blossomed.

Going through many changes and growing pains over the last 20 years, Maison was once housed in an old nursery they had acquired. They began filling their interior greenhouse space with planters at first, some outdoor furnishings and then antiques and accents from France. Then they really started to grow.

When their lease expired at the Great Falls location they opted to relocate and set up shop in Sterling, VA. The 1600 square feet of showroom space allows Mia to fulfill her professional dreams of offering home furnishings to her customers at warehouse prices of up to 30% off of suggested retail pricing. This discounted price structure was important to Mia. She explains, “If you’re going to drive to a warehouse, you need some kind of incentive. We’re kind of off the beaten path, so we offer really good prices. The goal is to meet or beat the Internet wherever I can.” And, I must add, that although the building is definitely a warehouse, you do not feel as if you are shopping in a warehouse setting. There is a more intimate feeling about the shop and it is beautifully merchandised, in true showroom fashion.

Mia’s underlying belief is that good design should be obtainable. Her feeling is that, at any price point, you should be able to get something that is nice, good looking and affordable. She keeps that idea in mind when buying for the shop. Says Mia, “I always try to be price conscious. Perhaps it’s because our housing is so expensive in Northern Virginia, but my customer is very price conscious.” Having been in the business for a long time, Mia has cultivated a very loyal following. But she adds, “If you’re prices aren’t right, the customers are not going to come back. You’ve got to give them a reason to come back.”

Knowing that her competition is often Amazon and the Wayfairs of the world, Mia doesn’t take for granted the retail climate or the loyalty of her clientele. She explains, “The difference is, on Wayfair, you can see a pretty picture and you can buy items at very cheap prices and that might be very appealing to some people, but there is nobody that is personally editing the quality. In my store, I’m personally editing the quality. I don’t bring it in, if I wouldn’t put it in my own house.”

Mia was exposed to the world of design at a very early age. In addition to her stepfather’s landscape architecture company, her aunt was a designer and an antique dealer who would participate in antique shows at the DC Armory. Mia shares, “My aunt would set up a booth and bring all her things. She used to have a shop called Antiquities in Chevy Chase, MD. I would sit on some Louie the 16^th settee, in my poufy Laura Ashley dresses in the 1980’s, and hand out her business cards and say, ‘Please buy from my auntie’. That was my early introduction into décor and design.”

Mia’s always been a really hard worker. She’s been working her whole life, sometimes holding down multiple part time jobs, and even pushed herself to graduate a year early from college. She jokes, “Get a job. Get two jobs if you want to be cool like me. Then finish college early and save your mom a whole semester or two of tuition. She’ll love you. That’s better than a scholarship! (LOL.) That’s the way, if you want to be a real hero….to you’re mom. (Lol.) If you want to be your mom’s favorite kid.” Looking back, Mia wishes that she had taken her time. She imparts, “Time is one of those things that you always feel is in front of you. That you have so much of it, but when you rush through things, you don’t have it any more and that time goes away.”

During high school, Mia worked as an intern under local designer Alice Bush of Great Falls Distinctive Interiors Inc. Mia went on to pursue her Bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University in interior design and merchandising and business and then returned home to help in the family business. There really has never been a life before Maison or design for Mia. She explains, “It’s always kind of been this. I was really thrown into it when I graduated. I really would have appreciated taking a little time to figure myself out because I graduated a year early from college because I was… weird. (Lol) I should have taken my time. I was always in a rush to grow up which now, as a parent, I think is so silly.” Mia had no real desire for a career in retail. Her true love was residential interior design. But she found that there were parts of retail that she really enjoyed. She shares, “I enjoy engaging with people. I enjoy talking to people and hearing what their projects are about. It inspires me. I love that round table discussion about design. I like when creativity feeds off of more creativity. I feel like it just grows. You can really breed creativity in a petri dish and watch it explode. It’s amazing.” Being naturally creative, Mia thrives on those experiences and having Maison allows her the opportunity to get that interaction constantly. And even though Mia has spent nearly her entire life in this business, she still has a lot of energy for her work. It is clearly a passion for her.

The concept of Maison Warehouse, as laid out by Mia, is quite inviting. She says, “I wanted to have a place where people can come to find good design and get it at a great price. They can bring us a picture of what they have and say, ‘This is my room. What do I need?’” It’s through this type of exchange that Mia can make her recommendations. Whether it’s accent wallpaper, a piece art, throw pillows, a lamp, end tables, or all of it, Mia will lay out just the right products and placement to bring your room together. She explains, “Basically Maison Warehouse is like a bar. You walk up, you get some great advice, you can order what we don’t have here, or you can purchase stuff that we do have and you can make your dream room come true. That was the idea behind it all.”

In addition to the retail space, Mia also provides in-home client design consultation and renovation. It’s a natural progression from the “sidle-up-to-the-bar” style of consulting she offers in the shop. Mia shares, “Some people are scared to have me in their house the first time. They’re afraid I’m going to come over and judge their house. I’m like, ‘Listen, I’ve got two little boys at home that leave Legos everywhere. My house is always a mess’.” She and I agree that it’s what I call “The Instagram Trap”. You don’t know what’s behind the camera!

Ironically, Mia’s creative process involves losing herself down the rabbit hole of Instagram for inspiration. She’ll scroll through the feed soaking it all in. She picks up on subtle trends and relies on sparks from her past to develop, what she calls “a feeling”. Once she lands on that “feeling”, that connection of present to past, she begins to put together the space that she’s tasked to build. She shares, “I’ll get onto something that’s in my head. I will look for it until I find it. If I don’t find it, I have to make it, or draw it. I have to see it, and then I have to construct it somehow. Build it and make it come to fruition.”

Mia’s own Instagram account has great examples of her creative process. You will find posted pictures of concept to creation; Mia’s sketches along side of finished rooms. She jokes, “It’s how my weird brain works. When I’m really inspired I start drawing. My drawings are not beautiful, but they are reminiscent enough for me to get a likeness in reality.”

Mia and I discussed what her long-term professional goals were. Now, I’ve interviewed quite a number of people by now and I’m still surprised by answers that I get..and always in a good way.   Long-term dream job for Mia? A TV show! As if that answer wasn’t surprising enough, I wrongfully assumed that she would be interested in an HGTV-style show, but no! She explains, “When I was little, the other job I always wanted was to have a talk show. I love talking to people and people tell me all kinds of things. I guess it’s because I don’t really judge. My ultimate goal would be along the lines of Oprah or Martha. Someone with some longevity in their career. Not a one hit wonder. But, I always say, you know what God, don’t give it to me if it’s going to come at the expense of my family.”

But back to HGTV for a moment. The design business is not as glamorous as TV would suggest that it is. When I asked Mia how the reality of her business differs from the dream that she had for it, her answer? “This is the least glamorous job you could ever want. It is more work for less money. If you don’t love it, and you don’t love talking to people, and it doesn’t fulfill you or give you any inspiration, it’s not worth it. Really it’s not; especially the retail side. Retail is hard and fickle. My heart is in the design, but I enjoy the retail experience.” Some of you locals might recognize Maison Warehouse from their collaborations with Chick’s Picks by Hillary. Mia and Maison host the holiday pop-up shop for the popular Chick’s Pick shopping experience. It is through this pop-up that I found Maison. Says Mia, “Those are exciting retail experiences. I love the pop-up.   That stuff gives me such a rush. It’s really fun, but it is so hard. I don’t think people realize that when we put on those shows, it’s a lot of work. I am literally physically here, not sun up to sun down, but sun up to sun up again. People don’t think about what it takes to put on a production like that.”

Mia constantly fits work into non-business hours. She’ll do floor plans at home after her kids go to bed, and she’ll take calls and texts from clients at all hours of the day and night. Mia explains that there is a huge differentiation from a client’s perspective of the work being done and the designer’s perspective. She shares, “For me, it’s business. For clients it is not their business. It is not a business transaction, it’s their home, it’s personal. So they’re talking to me on personal time and the worlds collide. If you are not prepared for your professional and personal worlds to collide, if you’re not emotionally prepared, it is not for the faint of heart.” She also reminds that in retail, you must be prepared to give up holidays, birthdays, and weekends. She adds, “I worked 10 years of Sundays before we moved, which is why we’re now closed on Sundays. I’m only open on Sundays for special events because I realized I needed a day with my family. I don’t like to work every single weekend, as much as a lot of clients would wish me here. At some point, I have to put my own kids first.”

Mia would like to encourage everyone to shop small family owned businesses. When you do you are immediately affecting the people in your community. Says Mia, “Loudoun County has been really nice to us. We’ve had a really warm reception since moving here 4 years ago and I appreciate that. I thank our customers for shopping small. It’s what feeds my kids. You’re helping to grow my family. I’m not rich by any means, but I’m happy and I’m growing healthy beautiful boys who are smart and trouble all at the same time. I couldn’t do that without their support. I couldn’t help clients with their living space and indulge in my crazy circus of creativity in my brain if I didn’t have the local support. I love loyal customers. I like when I see people coming back a lot. I like when I recognize my customers and I know them by name and I know that they like it when I know who they are too. It’s nice.”

After years of perfecting her shop and services, Mia is living her passion. She takes the good with the less-than-good of this career choice. Her proudest moment is when she successfully completes a client project and is hired back to work on another space in their home. She works happily for her clients, all with a smile and in heels because as she says, “It’s not glamorous, but ya gotta be in heals or it won’t look glamorous. (LOL.)”

SOCIAL MEDIA

You can follow Maison Warehouse on the following social media sites:  www.maisonwarehouse.com, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

Maison Warehouse is located at: 221558 Stonetree Ct., Sterling, VA 20166

Unless you have lived under a rock for the past ten years, you have undoubtedly heard of the infamous Oprah Winfrey’s Favorite Things episodes. Does this ring a bell? “YOU GET A CAR! AND YOU GET A CAR! AND YOU GET A CAR!” ??? Yes?

Even Ellen Degeneres picked up on the idea with her holiday giveaway shows. In truth, I really love this idea. I love the whole idea. I love hearing what other people like and can’t live without. And who doesn’t like to get a gift? Sharing what excites us and makes us happy is one of the biggest pleasures of life and friendships.

I made up my own version of this a few years ago. My sisters and I try to get together for a sisters weekend annually. We don’t live close to one another, so these weekends became quite sacred. Sure we talk on the phone to one another, but to have ALL FOUR of us together….in one conversation together…is a luxury. To commemorate our time together and because we never exchange birthday gifts, I began to put together a goodie bag, for each sister, of my favorite things for the year.  Things that I had undoubtedly mentioned to them throughout the year. The bags would contain a variety of items; magazines, mascara, toothbrushes, lipsticks, socks….really anything that I fell in love with during the year that made my life more awesome.  I wanted to share these things with the people who made my life more awesome.  And thus, the favorites…MY favorites had begun.

I thought it would be really fun to up the game a bit. I asked several of my very stylish friends to compile lists of their favorite things so we could share our finds with you just in time for Mother’s Day! I hope that you enjoy what we’ve come up with. Perhaps you will discover something new to give to your mom, or to give to YOURSELF!

LINDSAY – Chantilly, VA

• Orange Blossom Cologne – Jo Malone

This fresh scent is a lovely combination of Clementine Flower, Orange Blossom, Water Lily, Orris and Balsamic Vetiver.

• Silver Birch Candle – Yankee Candle

Although this candle has spicy, piney notes, the natural elements make this a winner all year round.  The official Yankee Candle site offers this candle in multiple sizes, and at killer sale prices.

• *Lush – Yummy Mummy Body Conditioner

Made with soft butters, almond oil and a bit of fresh strawberry juice. *Limited Edition.  May be out of stock.

• Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt with Lavender – Available at Target, Walmart and Amazon.com

Lavender is perfect for soaking your way to calmness while moisturizing an soothing your skin.

• Salamander Resort Gift Cards

Salamander Resort has an abundance of things that a mom could spend a gift card on.  There is a fabulous restaurant, a great little bar, a spectacular spa, equestrian activities, or how about falconry??!!  But wait!  There’s more……

 

LEASA – OAKTON, VA

• Audio Books – Audible.com

“I used to be a book snob.  I considered audio books to be cheating at reading.  I thought it’s not really reading if you are listening to it.  I also am a visual person and need to concentrate when I’m listening in order to retain the information.  And then I realized what a blessing it is to pair audio books/podcasts with the routine  activities like cleaning, laundry, carpool and food prep.  I can pick and choose what I listen to depending on my mood. I still have a book on my nightstand but I am able to continue the literary momentum with audio books.”

• Fresh Flowers – Urbanstems.com

“My new favorite flower delivery service.  Gorgeous, sustainably sourced flowers.  Easy ordering.  Simple selection process.  No decision fatigue scrolling through pages of options.  The DC location delivers same day to certain locations.  The added perk?  The delivery person will email/text you a photo of the actual bouquet in front of the recipient’s home right before delivery.  I love being able to see the actual flowers that were delivered and knowing at that moment, my friend would be receiving them.  I’ve also ordered for delivery outside the ‘same day delivery’ area and although we don’t get a photo at delivery (shipped via UPS/FED EX/USPS), I was pleased that the flower bouquet quality was equal to the same day delivery one.”

• Mom with a cause? – kickstarter.com

“Looking for a gift for the creative person? Give your lucky gift recipient a dollar amount that you will contribute to fund their favorite project. This is great way to support projects that speak to them. Kickstarter helps artists of all kinds connect with supporters to help fund their projects. If the project is not fully funded by pledges, then they will not go to production and your pledge won’t be processed. With varying pledge amounts comes varying incentives. For a book that I backed, pledges started as low as $5 which allowed access to a secret podcast episode, $15 earned you coloring book, tattoos, poster, and access to the podcast, $25 earned you a hardcover book plus. There are so many projects to choose from – artwork, film, publishing, food, design & tech.”

• Brené Brown Books – BreneBrown.com

“You can choose courage or comfort. You cannot have both.” – Brené Brown

“I recommend any of her books but her most popular are Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, and her latest one Braving the Wilderness. She is a research professor and studies courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy. Check out her Ted Talk on vulnerability to get a taste of her style.

• Fatco Fatstick – Fatco.com

“Best on-the-go, do-it-all lotion stick that I’ve used. It’s small enough to carry around in my purse, works great and smells amazing (lavender/peppermint). I use it on my knuckles and cuticles during the dry winter months and swipe at my kids dry knees/hands/elbows in carpool.”

JACKIE – WEST CHESTER, PA

• Yeti Cup – Amazon.com

“Being a new mama I drink a lot of water and this thing keeps it cold all day and it fits in my car’s cup holder (not the easiest thing to find!) $40″

• Ankle Boots – Universal Thread

“These are from Target’s new Universal Thread line which is so cute! I’m loving these because they are comfortable, have that fun little cutout, and they go with everything! Best of all they’re under $40!”

• Candles – Rifle Paper Co.

“I love my florals and candles and this beauty combines both. They smell heavenly and come in a variety of fun prints (I may or may not have 3 different ones). The one pictured smells like lavender, rosemary, sage, and bergamot. Plus I love to support small creative businesses like Rifle Paper Co.” $30

• Lollia Shea Butter Hand Cream in “Wish” – Antropologie

“This is my favorite hand lotion ever for 2 reasons; one it’s made with shea butter and leaves my hands so soft and two because the smell reminds me of sitting on the beach on a summer day. It’s the perfect pick me up for dry winter skin.”

• Larabar – available everywhere energy and protein bars are sold

“One of my favorite snacks that I always keep on hand in my diaper bag. They taste like you’re having a treat but they’re healthy and made with a few whole food ingredients. They’re vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO too. My favorite snack for when I’m stuck under a hungry baby and can’t make lunch, or wake up starving after a 2am feeding.”

DARA – CHANTILLY, VA

• Cherry Blossoms

These stems make a gorgeous, but simple centerpiece.  Particularly lovely this time of the year.

• Caipirinha Cocktail

This is Brazil’s national cocktail.

How to: Half a lime cut into 4 wedges, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 1 2/3 oz Cachaça

Place lime and sugar into old fashioned glass and muddle.  Fill glass with crushed ice and add Cachaça.  CHEERS!

• Glow Recipe – Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask – Sephora.com

A skin-smoothing sleeping mask.  Battles uneven skin tone, dullness, uneven texture and oiliness all while you sleep.  It’s breathable and won’t transfer to your pillow.  Facial in a jar.

• Glow Recipe – Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser – Sephora.com

Ultra gentle gel cleanser loaded with vitamins and antioxidant-rich blueberry extracts.  Combats dryness and those pesky pores.

• La Pure – Snail Regeneration Mask – Amazon.com

Yep, made from actual snail secretion filtrate!  Ironically (or not!), this product helps to sssslllloooowww down the aging process.

 

 

JENNIFER (ME!!!)  – STONE RIDGE, VA

• Charter Club Cashmere poncho – Macys.com

This super soft poncho is the best combination of style, comfort and warmth.   (Sold out)

• Sole Society Edie Velvet Loafer – Cloud Blue – Solesociety.com

Completely comfortable and especially stylish.  I call these my “I feel like a fairy princess shoes”.  The perfect shade of blue; almost a chambray color so they look incredible with jeans.

• Vintage watch necklace – The Vintage Key

I have a number of pieces from this jewelry artist of several different styles.  I love them all, but the one pictured is my favorite of the necklaces.  You can’t go wrong with any of her creations and the price point is perfect, especially for gift giving.

• Cherry Blossom mug – Starbucks Stores

From what I gather, Starbucks is no longer maintaining on online store.  This totally pretty mug was purchased in my local store.  I love it soooo much.

• Vanilla Birch Concentrated Room Spray – BathandBodyWorks.com

Oh momma.  This is the most heavenly scent.  Every time I smell it, I just drift off to Dreamland for a moment.  A combination of White Birch, Madagascar Vanilla, and Warm Sandalwood.  It’s sublime.

• O’Keeffe’s Working Hands – Available at most local retailers and on Amazon.com

I wash my hands a lot.  Between that and the dry heat and freezing temps of winter, I was able to stay off dry, uncomfortable hands all winter thanks to this awesome product.  The packaging is not sexy, but your skin will be so who cares.

I hope that you enjoyed our favorite things.  I hope that you found something that would be a special treat for a mom in your life, or something nice for yourself.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of the amazing moms out there. May you all have the most peaceful and beautiful day celebrating the HUGE contribution that you make to your families, to your communities and to our world.

Maura McKnight, of The Candy Drawer Confectionary might just be the master of reinventing herself, but with serious longevity. Not a fly-by-night decision maker, Maura has made three important shifts in her life and has stuck with each of her changes and decisions for the long haul. In the 1990’s Maura started her first small business as a Birth and Postpartum doula. For those that don’t know, a doula (pronounced doola) is a woman who is trained to assist in childbirth and the time directly after birth. She worked this very personally satisfying business for almost 18 years. A grueling lifestyle of working nights takes a toll, so Maura decided it was time to retire. It was during this new phase in retirement that Maura shares, “The bottom fell out of my life. I put myself in rehab. I came out of that feeling like the beginnings of a new person.” Thus ending her second reinvention and primed for her third; The Candy Drawer Confectionary.

The Candy Drawer Confectionary is a woman owned, family run, small business producing higher end, artisan-type chocolate bon bons, caramels, baked goods, and special order confections. Says Maura, “If someone doesn’t see what they want on our website, most of the time we can make whatever it is. We’re pretty specialized to the chocolate and caramel products, but we can do lots of other things.”

A self taught confectioner, Maura runs The Candy Drawer’s production alone. She jokes that she is clearly The Boss, but she does receive assistance from her daughters in the form of graphic design, branding, packaging and shipping, and taste testing (or what they like to call quality assurance!). She will also hire additional assistants when she gets really busy, but the day-to-day “making” is currently a one woman show.

The concept of Candy Drawer Confectionary started Thanksgiving of 2011. Says Maura, “My daughters and I had set out this beautiful dessert table; pies, cookies, all kinds of beautiful desserts for our family, and that winter we made barks and brittles and chocolate covered goodies, that we sent for Christmas presents for our friends and family. The feedback from that was, ‘You guys ought to sell this stuff.’   We were all jazzed and thought, maybe we could make some money doing this.” In 2012 they made their homemade Weebly website (which they upgraded in 2013) and The Candy Drawer Confectionary was born. (Good thing they had a doula on staff! Lol – I had to.)

In the early years Maura would basically just make goodies that she liked to eat. Her first self-imposed challenge with her new business was to replicate her favorite See’s Candy bon bon. That achievement took her a few months, but she adds, “When I accomplished that, I knew I had this.” Using friends and family as guinea pigs for new recipes, she rarely received negative feedback. But it’s been the company’s latest focus to start really paying more attention to the production of their bon bons. The goal was to elevate them to something besides a chocolate covered “something”. Says Maura, “It’s just my years of eating what I like, my heritage, and because I’ve been cooking since I was a kid, that I know what stuff goes together.   If it sounds good and it goes with chocolate, it goes in a bon bon!”

Maura is a true lover of every aspect of confectionery and enjoys standing up to a good challenge. Often tasked with commission work for special orders for corporate events or weddings, Maura delights in the research and experimentation. One thing is guaranteed in her process; she will never turn out a product that she doesn’t personally love. Whether it’s replicating her beloved See’s Candy, to creating a custom matcha chocolate block for a wedding favor, to developing a vegan caramel, she gets excited about the detective work and analysis to make a perfect confection for her clients and revels in each accomplishment of making their dream come to fruition. Often times, these new creations become standards on her online menu.

The Candy Drawer has even been commissioned by other businesses to make confections to be sold in their establishments. Want to try an authentic English or Scottish fudge on this side of the pond? Visit Maura’s friends at The Pure Pasty Co. in Vienna, Va. She worked through several iterations to land on the perfect recipe. The owner and chef of Pure Pasty were able to give their seal of approval and they now sell Maura’s fudge to their patrons at a fraction of cost of imported treats.

Candy Drawer is also trying out a new chocolate supplier, River-Sea Chocolates. Their chocolate would be used to produce a higher end line of bon bons. The chocolate made by this small company based in Sterling, VA, is expensive, but it’s made with exceptional ingredients and the company is conscientious of the process of growing, harvesting, and processing the cacao. Be on the look out for that new confection offering. (Come back to jenniferthebeholder.com in early July to learn more about River-Sea Chocolates.)

Ramping up during this time of year, The Candy Drawer is busy with their wedding favors business. You can see some of their confections featured in the 2018 Winter/Spring issue of Washingtonian Bride and Groom Magazine. But their current business objective is to increase the number of wholesale contracts that they have and to develop new products. The long-term goal is to make their brand so well known that they will be able to sell the business. Maura explains, “When I first started this, I went to a class about how to grow your business and learned, if you’re going to start your business, you have to go in with the idea that you’re going to sell it. It’s like a child. It’s yours for a while, but then when it grows up it’s not yours any more. It is it’s own.” She adds, “The business has been growing organically, without ‘performance enhancing pesticides or fertilizers.’ It grows at its own speed and so far I can keep up with it. On occasion I need a couple of assistants, but the business is doing what it wants to do. I believe that businesses are like people. They are living organisms. They have to be allowed to grow at their own rate.”

The Candy Drawer Confectionary is everything Maura thought it would be and more. She shares, “The breadth of product and the quality that we’ve developed, the people I’ve met, the new friends I have, the amazing fan club, and my cheerleaders, are happy surprises.” She goes on, “Late last year, I was wondering maybe I don’t want to do this anymore. Maybe it’s not going anywhere.” It was her daughter in charge of graphic design and branding who suggested that Candy Drawer needed to “grow up”. Last summer they invested some money to rebrand and put more time into their marketing strategy and just gave the business a push. Adds Maura, “It’s like sending your kid off to kindergarten. You gotta grow up now. And that’s what happened. Everything got reenergized. That’s when the new bon bons were introduced and we decided to pare down the product offering on our website. It worked.” Admittedly it was a scary leap, but one that paid off indeed.

When Maura arrived for our interview, she brought with her a goodie bag of her treats for me. (Ok. I secretly prayed for this. Just sayin’). Mind you, I had purchased a box of her beautiful bon bons at Roots 657 (Blog post dated March 23, 2018) as a gift for my husband for Valentine’s Day, which is how I discovered The Candy Drawer Confectionary. Within the bag were more of the same bon bons I had bought, caramels, some chocolate covered pretzels decked in St. Patrick’s Day accouterments and….it’s hard for me to talk about these without weeping a little….chocolate covered roasted sugar marshmallows. Absolutely. To. Die. For. Everything was exceptionally delicious, but my hands down fav were those marshmallows. I’m convinced these are what angels snack on when they need a sweet fix.

When you visit Maura’s website, you will find on her menu of sweets, treats affectionately called “Hoss” Caramels. When Maura was in the treatment rehab center she met a person who she refers to as “Hoss”. Says Maura, “You get really close to people really fast there. Hoss was this baby soul. His soul just hadn’t caught up with this grownup person and he was struggling in his life. I would send him my caramels and he would send me homemade jerky. This went on for a couple of years until he lost his battle with addiction. Because he loved our caramels so much, we branded them “Hoss Caramels”.” Each year, Maura donates 10% of the gross profits on all of their “Hoss Caramel” sales to the relapse department of the rehabilitation center where Hoss was also a patient.

Maura would consider her greatest personal achievement to date to be her long term recovery. She shares, “Recovery is the number one thing because that guides my life. Without that, I’m nothing.” A close second as a proud moment is being self employed for over 20 years and her ability to consistently land on her feet.

More than anything, Maura would like you to know that anyone can do what she does if they want to. She encourages people to reach out for help and take classes that are available. She says, “Tap in to people who are already working the business because there is always room for one more of me. If I can help somebody else I will do it. Don’t limit yourself to what you think you can do and get a mentor from the *SCORE Association.” She adds, “Put your best foot forward because you never know who’s going to notice you. Dream big, and don’t judge yourself or limit yourself by your dreams. You might go this direction, like we did, and it will be better, or you might go that direction and make a mistake; again the same as we did. Don’t doubt yourself, just do it. Reach out and ask for help because there are people who will help.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

You can follow The Candy Drawer Confectionary on the following social media sites:  www.candydrawerconfectionary.com, Facebook, and Instagram

 

*SCORE Association is a 501 nonprofit that provides free business mentoring services to prospective and established small business owners in the US.