Now that we are nearing the end of another school year, I was thinking how raising kids and getting through each school year is like a race. In the Fall we go back-to-school shopping. We buy clothes and endless supplies and stock up on lunch snacks and new shoes. It's fun and exciting and we are actually ready to get back to a routine. We want to have a schedule and be busy again, and we feel rested and rejuvenated after the long summer. Thinking about that now seems absurd.  How could we really be tired of the lazy days of Summer and really want to get back to the starting line? But it happens, just like clockwork, every Fall there we are, with our foot on the block waiting for the gun to fire.  
The race starts out with a bang! We are prepped and ready. Out of the start gate, the kids are off. They have their first day of school outfits, fresh haircuts, new lunch boxes and backpacks. They are organized and so are we as parents. We have read through the mounds of handouts, filled out endless forms, signed all of the slips, stood in the lines at registration and orientation, and written umpteen checks. We have written and highlighted on our calendars,  made lists and placed sticky notes for all the reminders. We have signed up for the sports, the after-school activities and the multiple other enrichments. We have enrolled in the email blasts and sign-up genius lists. We have signed the waivers and the emergency cards, all 3 copies, per kid. We have it covered. Our houses are clean, the groceries are stocked and we even got a car wash. It feels good to be ready and we blast out of the start gate with gusto. The race is on. 
Then as we are all sprinting through the first few laps we decide we can settle into a moderate jog. We fall into a pattern. We keep up but we slow our breathing and find a comfortable rhythm. The kids get used to waking early and going to bed on time. We volunteer and donate and bake and carpool. It becomes surprisingly easy. The pace is set and it remains there for many, many, miles and months. 
Then we round the bend directly slamming into the holiday season. Things get rough in the new terrain. We have to run uphill, through very rocky twists and turns for almost three months. It's stressful but we push through it with all our power. It takes a toll, physically and mentally and we suffer a bit of a set back in the race. But then, just when we think we cannot pull ahead, Spring arrives. Like a cool drink of water, we sip it in. The sun reappears and we peel the layers of clothing just to feel it on our skin. We get our second wind and our momentum suddenly picks up again. The kids feel invigorated and distracted and begin to lose focus of the finish line. They start becoming forgetful. They lose their belongings constantly and start slipping on their assignments. The finish line is too close and they just can't remain motivated. Parents are constantly bringing up the slack, running forgotten lunches to school, administering cold meds for those coughs that have lasted for months, gathering sports equipment that was left on the field, and trying to remember that one last mandatory school trip meeting. We struggle to stay on top of it, the sign-ups and birthday invitations come at us from all directions and the lists and sticky notes seem to swallow us whole. Not to mention the ever intrusive events; last minute meetings with clients, trips to the E.R., weddings, and funerals. Our houses are dirty, messy, and unorganized, and our cars haven't seen a wash since November. But somehow we manage to squeak by without feeling like utter failures as parents, friends, sons and daughters, and spouses. 
As we close in on the final lap, we begin to care less about finishing first. We know will just be happy to drag our tired, battered bodies across the line. At this point there is no shame in crawling. We see and feel the colors of Spring splashing across our chests like the hues of a color run, and all we want is to bask in the glow of soon-to-be Summer. We are done with rushing and impossible schedules. Done with the e-blasts, permission slips, appointments, play dates and lost and founds. And done with the race. The air is filled with renewed joy and an eagerness to just be. We are all just be proud of entering the marathon of all marathons, and in the end, whether we drag or dash over that line, we are all winners. 

People often tell me they love how we decorated and furnished our home. My go to response is always the same, "Thank you, it was all done on a dime." And the reaction is always the same as well, "really?"  Yes, really, you can create a gorgeous, layered, looks like it was styled over many years, look on a budget. Our home is old, really old. But it has tons of character and charm. It was updated by the previous owners and continues to be updated by us. The bathrooms needed complete gut jobs and the whole house needed to be painted, inside and out, and the finishing touches are still in progress. And my style for the house is what I call Prairie style, meets Hunt club, meets Restoration Hardware. Sort of a modern farm house with lots of traditional elements. When it comes to decorating I am more traditional but still love modern touches and rustic, time worn accents. This is our 6th house that we have owned together and it is my pride and joy. I'm hoping that this is the house that we stay in until we are old. It took many years to get here, and will certainly take a few years to get the house to where we want it to be. 
So for anyone wanting to design a home with lots of charm and make it beautiful, it doesn't require a ton of money. The first room we enter in my house is a parlor, so to make a first impression I styled it with a huge vintage Ralph Lauren armoire that I found on Craigslist. It was the one that was in the Detroit Hudson's store in the men's department many years ago and then was gifted to the gentleman who retired from the store. It is hand-painted on the front with English horses grazing and on a fox hunt. It is beautiful and practical for holding kids gear, hats, gloves, sporting equipment etc...I paid around $150 for it. Then I have a cowhide zebra print rug that I bought on clearance for $80 and some repurposed drawer fronts that were made into coat hooks which I found at a resale shop for next to nothing. They are unique and add decoration and function to the room, rather than just plain hooks. I also have a petit second hand store Ethan Allen table to hold keys and such that I paid around $30 for . And a bench found on clearance to sit and put shoes on that was about $55. The art on the wall is a set of pretty horse prints, matted and framed that I found at a resale shop for $45.  And the petite chandelier in the room is an antique that I scored for around $60. In our dining room, which is huge, I had to pay retail for a large enough table that could expand to hold our large holiday gatherings, but it was worth the splurge. But since the room is so large and the scale of that table is large I had to find a similar height buffet to fill the space. I searched around and found a woman on Craigslist who refinishes old pieces and she did my Dunkin Phiffe buffet for a few hundred dollars. A piece that big would be over $1000 retail. Plus I love that it is old. I also found a cool old laundry cart turned into a bar, on wheels for $65 which is in the corner of the room and wonderfully handy to move around for parties. Most of the art on the walls is either from my Mother's basement, or from resale shops in my area or from the Salvation Army, found literally for a few dollars. The living room is based around a large curved custom sofa that I bought from a friend for next to nothing, even though is was thousands of dollars new. And the old leather chair was a Craigslist find. The artwork and mantle decor, all second hand stores and Home Goods. The end table next to the sofa is really and old chick incubator turned into a table that I discovered at an antique show many years ago, before I raised chickens. It is one of my favorite pieces. In our den, we have an Ethan Allen sofa, found on Craigslist, an Ethan Allen chair, bought new, and two ottomans from Target. The hand painted farm scene lamp is from Salvation Army for $10! And the Arhaus light fixture is a Craigslist score. I will post pictures of all of my best finds that have helped to make our home a home. There are so many thrifty ways to decorate a home, from garage sales to clearance sales, to second hand stores. Start with one piece of art or one main piece of furniture and then design around that piece. Fill your home with things that make you happy. Choose pieces that make a statement about you and your lifestyle. And go with your instinct. When I see something I love, but I'm not sure where it will go I get it anyway, if I love it, I know it will find a place in my home.