CHANGE IS GOOD

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I'm also not so sure about my RSS feeds.....seems it didn't work for my last post, and some of yall never received the last post about "Tommy's Crib"?
Does anyone else ever have that Blogger problem? Where your posts don't get actually sent sometimes, but they're on your blog site? I know it's happened to me twice!

Anyways, the past 2 weeks have been fun with a mix of our "end of summer" vacation down in a Texas coastal area called Key Allegro (in Rockport, Texas) , followed by new positive changes for everyone in the family. (yay!) (Or let's just say I highly believe in the power of positive thinking and I'm believing a new, great chapter is happening!)

HAPPY CAMPER!

I'll start by telling you about our Rockport vacation first (and of course add in some info about interior decor, right?).
Rockport is just about 20 minutes away from Port Aransas. Most of yall remember that we used to have beach houses in Port "A". (we bought, fixed up, sold a couple over the course of the past years) However, we've always had a love for Rockport because of the quaint shops , great coastal canal communities & great fishing. Some of yall also know that I have sold some beachy decor items in Rockport at The Warehouse , under the name of jvw beach. jvw beach is a mix of new home decor items along with shabby antiques that were repurposed with fun new beachy colors.

jvw beach is slowly being phased out because it's just too hard for me to get down to Rockport alot & restock. Some items will stay down there on consignment, but I brought back just a few pieces that I'll sell on the blog, under the heading of jvw barn .

JVW BARN

We need to move the stuff OUT of the barn, and so we'll be offering great prices on alot of fun things.
jvw barn will be the area on the blog where I'll sell merchandise that is coming from "jvw beach" but also alot of fun stuff that is either from our own projects or client's design projects. Stuff that is still good, but I just don't have the room for......(i.e. art, accessories, fabrics, pillows, etc.)

Will let you know when I get them all posted to the blog site, until then, here's a sneak peek of jvw barn:

MAC BETH COLLECTION BUCKETS

ARTWORK

ACCESSORIES

Back to Rockport......

AERIAL VIEW OF ROCKPORT BEACH WITH KEY ALLEGRO ABOVE

Key Allegro is a coastal community on a peninsula off Rockport. The homes are all situated on waterways with boat docks. We've been going to Key Allegro since the 70's when it was first being developed. Most of the homes built back then still look great because of their classic design and/or people are updating the older ones, or building new ones. The area is very peaceful and the people are nice. George Strait loves to call Key Allegro his 2nd home too.
We love to bicycle around and check out all the houses because they're all different and total eye candy! I photographed a few faves from the boat....but there are tons of nice ones:




Rockport also hosts a nice, very clean beach. I love it because it's calm and great for little kids to safely swim. (if you want more waves, head to Port Aransas....just 20 mins. via the Ferry down the hwy.)

ROCKPORT BEACH

We had alot fun doing our usual beach stuff: fishing, tennis , bicycle riding & catching some rays. We also took the time (finally after all these years) to tour the Fulton Mansion which overlooks the bay:

FULTON MANSION


VIEW FROM FULTON MANSION
(looking out to the bay)

Later we checked out a new coastal community that is too cute: Sailhouse.
Sailhouse reminds me of the great communities in Rosemary Beach & Seaside, Florida. A collection of classic coastal cottages with welcoming front porches & charming designs. However, Sailhouse is great because the price point is lower than Rosemary Beach or Seaside, and it's a smaller community . Sailhouse is actually in Fulton, which is just next door to Rockport.

ONE OF THE SAILHOUSE COTTAGES

WALKWAY BETWEEN THE COTTAGES LEADING OUT TO THE BAY


INTERIOR OF A SAILHOUSE COTTAGE KITCHEN
(white Carrera marble countertop island with black granite elsewhere)


MASTER BEDROOM IN MODEL HOME FURNISHED WITH MAINE COTTAGE DECOR


Sailhouse also offers a community pool with a breezy, cool pool cabana.

SAILHOUSE COMMUNITY POOL

With a private beach by the bay and a fishing pier, Sailhouse will soon become a great Texas getaway locale. One of the cottages is also available for short term rentals. click HERE to view the Sea Mist Cottage & rental prices.



We always are sad to leave the coast because we would love to live there full time. However, school started this past Monday and life goes on.....

The new week brought many positive changes for each one of my family, and some of them were:

Luke started middle school,

Billy (Tiger) , my older son, started a new insurance job with Kershaw Insurance in Austin. .... but having a flexible schedule, he's still keep signing & songwriting with Crowded Hill, yay!
TIGER
(photo courtesy of the beautiful & talented Lauren Lesley of Lauren Lesley Photography!)


Precious Jackie , my daughter, is on a good & positive path....she passed the first part of her Cosmetology exam and is now studying for the 2nd part, the Practicum (where you have judges watching your every move). After she gets her License, she wants to work at a Dermatologist's office as an Aesthetician.

Another happenin' is that I started taking real estate courses this week!
Going back to school AGAIN and studying is a little out of my comfort zone. Also, adding a new career element is a scary new change. However, I'm up to the challenge. After I signed up for the courses I quietly asked God to please send me some type of message that I was doing the right thing cuz I immediately got "butterflies" & had scary buyer's remorse!......as I was getting into my car, a beautiful butterfly landed on my heart (promise this is the truth!!) and I knew it was a sign!
My goal is to incorporate real estate along with my interior design. While I'm entrenched in studying, I won't be taking on new design clients. Just this week I had to say no to a potential new client in Austin. I just knew I'd be overwhelmed if I had to work on new designs AND focus on this incredibly demanding course! I felt awful doing so, but knew it was the right thing to do for now. I have to keep my head completely focused and please say a prayer for me, that I'll pass the test the first time!!! I've heard people don't always pass the first test and so I'm pressing forward in my positive way, so that I won't have to take that dreadful exam twice! Anyways, I will still finish out existing projects and keep you updated. Once I pass this test (think positive), then I'll hopefully incorporate some new design work, when time allows.


A few notes before I sign off:
Alot of us face new changes with the new school year. Always remember to look at change in a faithful direction. Changes are always a little scary, but they're always for the best & God gives us those changes for a reason.
(image from Etsy)


(image from Etsy)



.... I'll be back later in the week, if time allows, to post the jvw barn pictures and pricing.
I hope you have a fantastic week & check back soon for jvw barn!!

xoxox,

p.s. I promise to get the photos of Fish Camp on this blog soon. My client took some photos of the Camp over the summer and I hope to get them soon!! (see "older posts" if you haven't read about Fish Camp)

Also, some of you didn't know that IF you click on the highlighted words, it will pull up a link about that particular subject! (i.e. Sailhouse, etc.)
Try it, cuz those links provide soooo much more info on any given subject!
xoxo