5 Things (I want) to Do this Summer

Summer! I can barely wait. I mean - I should be better at waiting for summer. Most of summer in Georgia is near sweltering. Despite the incoming, face-melting heat, there are a few things I'm really looking forward to this summer!

Plywood Presents

This is my birthday treat each year. It's an awesome conference of change makers and inspiring people. This was the very first "community" I became a part of as an adult. It's hard to find your people when you are out of school. I was lucky to find them through my first job, and even got my boss to pay for my ticket that first year. #goodboss. I think this year would be my fourth year (?) and Dusty is coming too for the first time! It should be a really fun. I like the opportunity to get out of the office and think. Check it out here. :) 

Six Flags Season Passes

We sprang for these last year after having my first successful roller coaster experience. Our passes also include White Water, which for some is not a selling point - but for me it was! I hope to take more days here and there for fun like this over the summer.

Woodstock's Bluegrass Concert Series

This is one of our all time favorite things to do in the summer. Our awesome little city puts on a bluegrass concert each month. It's the perfect opportunity to pack a cooler and picnic in the park. My dad always joins Dusty and I and it's one of our favorite things ever. Get more info here. Let us know if you're going!!

Getting Product Ready for Fall Markets and Launches

This has been sitting on my list for a while. I have so many product ideas and I want to make all of them happen. It's tough to carve out time for this, but I'm planning on it this summer. I will be dedicating some time to think it over. I have so many things "in the works." It's time to order samples and work on production! So fun! Do you know of any markets I should be a part of this fall? :)

Ride My Bike Around Town

I love to ride my bike and I recently found that ^ picture to prove I've been riding bikes in overalls since at least 1998. Good times! Our city has a trail system called Green Prints and it's the perfect shady place to ride bikes and take a stroll. Can't wait!!!

A Beaulieu Studio Tour!

Dusty and I have become pretty smitten with this little town of Woodstock, GA. We are renting the house I grew up in from my parents. It's a pretty good arrangement for the time being. A constant mix of new experiences and nostalgic moments. We're dreaming of our next space. (What will it look like? Where will it be?!) But sometimes, in all that dreaming you can miss the good things that are right in front of you. One thing I love about this house is all the little nooks we have carved out for our art. We've converted the sun porch into a screen printing studio with a little work table for what ever projects we happen to be working on.

Growing up, my mom used the sun porch as our dining room for a while and then as her studio for jewelry making. I had a little desk in there too! She let me tape things to the window. It was a pretty magical space and I spent a lot of time writing and painting in there.

It has the most perfect light and looks out into the forest that surround the back of the house. It's really beautiful. 

Dusty and I recently reorganized the space to make a little more room for screen printing. Originally it was our studio for everything, but recently we've been focusing more and more. Hard to do when you love so much. Dusty has such a knack for fixing things and understanding how things work. I feel like he could solve just about any puzzle. (Good candidate for a fixer upper, no!?) 

The studio has a door leading to the wrap around deck. So many great moments have been shared back there. It's a great little place to grill out and chat. All of our parties seem to spill out to the deck, even in the winter when it's freezing cold. 

Murphy is pretty fond of his "backyard" too. He hangs out, patrols and tends to bark at anything that moves.

We are excited to one day buy our first home together, but this one ain't too shabby. We have plenty of space for our art experiments, guests and parties. It's pretty incredible to think of how much has happened here in this house. It's really special and I'm thankful to be able to live here again as a grown up. What's your studio like? 

Photography by the beautiful Angie Webb. Hair and Makeup by the incredibly kind and encouraging Renee Locher.