Outside of Austin

Could this be any more lovely of a ceiling, I ask you? Being a designer myself, I vividly recall wanting a skylight in my bathroom since I was like 7 but to have one moving over the entire length of my living room is absolutely inspired. This proves you don't need square footage to impress you just have to have a fabulous architect!

This is the home of a friend of mine Judy Ridley's friend. I still want to send these fabulous pictures to editors at several shelter magazines in the hopes that they will pick it up and use it for an article. The owners have done both the exterior and interior with living in mind and living with art in mind. And that is what I love. When one notices a work of art in a home something happens to us internally. It sends a message to our brains that this can not be duplicated because it was an inspiration from some one else. I want to search for those houses that are not decorator perfect. That are not Elle Decor homes where one wouldn't dare put their feet on the cocktail table. And I want to find out what exactly it is about a work of art that makes a home so much more inviting that just another piece of prefab from Ikea. Don't get me wrong though, I love Ikea, but, when you add something artistic a room changes and it is that change I want to capture from people.

So here we go. My husband just informally interviewed for job in Austin so you never know. Keep us in your prayers because I would LOVE living in the Hill Country.

Cheers..Robin

Same Texas Home...front entryway

This house is absolutely exquisite. It is nicely situated on a smallish lot with plenty of open space outside to garden and to sit in the wonderful Texas weather. The architect made very good use of the indoor/outdoor aspects of building a home and so it's proportions are fabulous. I have lots of pictures of this home and will be sharing a few more with you before I change over to the next house. But, I think Texas has a wonderful way of changing the atmosphere in the housing industry because of the influx of money coming into the state of Wyoming, namely, Jackson Hole. And the influx of big money coming from people in southern California. These people want their money to last them longer and in order to do that they need to move to areas of the country where their dollars can stretch further than in California-- a state near bankruptcy.

My dear friend, Judy Ridley, who lives in the wonderful Horseshoe Bay are of Texas, turned me on to this house as it is her friend's place. Judy as been instrumental in showing me homes that she knows I will love and appreciate. My next push will be to try and get some of the houses I don't use in my book to be picked up by magazines. Yahoo. That should be fun. It is what I wanted to do originally, before my health went terribly south, so I am going to work on that too. I owe it to Judy for spending so much of her time with me. I also want to film Judy's house in Horseshoe Bay. What a sensational area. Wow. I often wish that Mitch and I would have had some extra money so that we could have purchased the unit next door to Judy and Mike. Now, that would have been a blast!! Hah.

Okay, I am going to be helping my step mother for the better portion of this week, so if I am hit or miss this week, bear with me please. I will do my best at keeping you all informed on houses and on my loved ones as they move through the healing process.

Have a wonderful day and let me know what you think of the houses. I love hearing from you! Happy Thanksgiving.

Robin

TheRockin R

Book Started!

Voluntary Simplicity

I am actually beginning the book that has been inside my head for years now. What I like about the idea for my book is that it has never been done before and so it will be new to the market. People will hopefully react in a positive manner to the ideas and concepts and homes that I have selected to exemplify my ideas. If you haven't noticed, things are a changing in the home furnishings industry and in the housing market. There are major reasons why these changes are occurring and I am not going into the economic reasons in my book, only what I see as examples of where housing and furnishings should be going and then highlighting the people who are forward enough to already have houses that exemplify these notions of mine. My believe it that we are headed in a brand new direction and leading the charge is a new demographic group.

I will give out one more teaser too. Trend merchandising is over, in general. I began noticing the decline in this type of marketing a number of years ago when all of a sudden the home industry was cluttered with trend people who had absolutely no idea what a trend curve was, what trend merchandising was or how to manifest it properly, or the difference between and trend and a fad. When I began to notice this, I got out of being a "trend and color"consultant. I will still use it as a valuable tool, but I will NOT highlight myself as trend person because there are simply too many people out there calling themselves that who have no idea what they're doing. When this happens the notion of trend marketing is ironically, post-peak. So, I have come up with a brand new idea on what this means moving forward and how I can best implement this in my new business, The RockinR Design Group. So, be looking for some really good mojo to come your way from me and I would love for you to follow on my Facebook page to see the pictures of the homes I will be highlighting. Or, perhaps I can figure out how to do that here. Hang on....Very cool, it just loaded up top. Now you will know why that image is there as it is part of the beginning of letting you see what I am up to now.

I can't wait to hear what you think of the houses I select and be watching for my first newsletter to come out. It's called, TrendSavvy Magazine. I have had the magazine for years and done very little with it. I think I have two issues, so let me know if you'd like me to send you a pdf version of them. Anyway, I decided I was not going to change the name of it because it still has some equity in it and I have a Website already in that name. I have started the newsletter and that should be available to see in a week or two. I love getting back in the saddle and I love feeling better. I am still a little slow, but I can still work really well because my intuition is stronger than ever. In the world of marketing and branding you had better have a person who has strong intuition skills and strong design skills and that's what I come to the table with. Yay. So, here it comes. Hope you like it!! Let me know your thoughts!

Robin

Winter Wonderful Land...well maybe!

First Snow of the Season

We are experiencing the first snow of the season. Last night when I got up around 3am for my normal run to the bathroom I noticed snow mixed with rain. Yuck. Then, when the coffee maker went off at 6am, I looked out the same bathroom window and noticed the same icy mixture of rain and snow. Now, this is actually quite wonderful. I can feel a good storm coming for days. Meaning, with my arthritic body I am like a walking barometer, really. My body can feel the change in weather. My hands ache more, my hips crack and are super sore, my back and L5 impingement is irritating more than usual. It is amazing. And it all begins about two to three days prior to the storm actually getting to town. It's like the bad outlaws that would come into town in the old days. Everyone knew they were coming and so suddenly the energy in the town shifted to negative and scared. Hah!

I was talking with my Dad yesterday and he has the same experience with this arthritis riddled body. So we giggle about how our bodies tell us about storms. Snow storms, rain storms, tornado activity, you name it. When the barometer drops our bodies feel it big time. It is simply amazing. Then, when the storm passes our bodies go back to normal. I should do some at home research on the internet and find out why that happens. If anyone reading this knows the answer, please weigh in, as I would love to know.

I am picking Mitch (the wonderful husband) up from the airport this morning. Let's all pray the runways are open and the snow doesn't really pick up until later this afternoon. They're calling for 6-10 inches today. Riiiiigggghhhhhttttt. We'll see. Mitch and I were saying last night that it would be great having a job where you are right only 50% of the time. Think about that.....Anyway, I digress, I am picking him up this morning and he's coming in from Baltimore. I have had THE best crab cakes in Baltimore! I have spent a lot of time there when I had a client who did a bunch of work there so then I did a bunch of work there and it was a lot of fun. It is a great area of the country, but then again, I am very partial to the East coast. Well, I just shouldn't have said anything at all about the weather. I just looked out my patio windows and the snow is accumulating on the deck floor. Shoot. Oh, dear, I hope the airport stays open and he has no travel nightmares. Big wet flakes of snow people. It's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous no question, I just want my husband to come in this morning so let's all pray that happens. I wouldn't be so concerned except he was gone at the beginning of the week and he's gone again next week to Dallas so I would really like to see him this weekend. Jeez. At least it's only one of us traveling all the time. Someone has to hold down the fort!

I believe I was mentioning this travel deal on one of my last blogs. When the two of us were super busy and traveling all the time it was like no one was tending to our marital garden. I have a girl friend that likens a marriage to a garden and gardens need attention if they are to flourish, thrive, and be beautiful. Well, I can assure you, Mitch and I were not tending to our marital garden and we suffered some consequences as a result of that. I am not going to go into a bunch of detail, but suffice to say, we will not be living our lives like that ever again. One of us has to be willing to stay at home more and serve as the foundation for the marriage. We have found that that person is me due to my physical limitations (my girlfriend calls me handicapped, which I hate hearing). But with my limitations I can't get on planes all the time and travel the way I once did. I was Platinum when my husband was Gold. Now he's Platinum and I am a stay at home dog mother. Hah! We sure like it this way. I have been able to help my body get better and we have been able to communicate more making our garden look beautiful again. How great is that??

These are the little things that I have learned as I have gone through some extremely tough times. I am so glad I have learned and grown from all these lessons. I don't want to do them again I can tell you that, but it is wonderful that we are thriving again as a couple and as a mutual partnership. Mitch and I discovered that we are true partners in every way and that is very powerful information to have in a marriage. We didn't know this before I got physically ill and had to stop everything. But now we do and it's great. It's been worth everything learning that one thing.

Okay, I just looked out the doors to the deck again and it's still coming down in big wet moist flakes. Well, maybe they're not as big, which is good. I am going to wear my Ice Bugs today for sure. If you don't know what Ice Bugs are you absolutely have to Google them and get a pair if you live where there's snow and ice and you don't want to fall. These boots have saved me countless times and I have NEVER fallen while wearing them, ever. It's amazing. The pair I have go up to my ankles and have the side zipper just in case you see them while you're scrolling the pages. They rock and I get a new pair about every two years. But that will depend how much you walk outside. Since I love walking outdoors during the winter and know I can do it safely, I am over joyed. Again, these boots are a savior to me and if you have a fear of falling on snow or ice, get a pair of these please. Just Google, Ice Bugs, and you should have no problems finding them. If you do, let me know and I will help you.

Winter is here!! I hope Mitch will be too, we're going to the Louisiana Cafe for breakfast and their crab cake benedict is out of this world good! Yummy!!

Have a lovely day everyone. I am working on my new company name and logo right now, so be ready to see some exciting stuff coming from me soon. I am so happy to be back upright and functioning at my new normal. I am not handicapped, I just have a new normal. Now, that I like. Good Orderly Direction!! (GOD).

Cheers,

The RockinR

Ah, What A Wonderful Week!

Interesting Family Situations

Mitch has been gone the better part of this week and will be gone again next week to Dallas. This week it has been Michigan, Chicago, and Philadelphia. When this happens I get major dog duties. The good news? Gentle leaders!! They are the absolute best for handling dogs and making sure they don't go all over. Our dogs are about 95 pounds each and so 200 pounds of dog out weighs me by a bunch. With my hips the way they are and my spine the way it is, I must be extremely careful about what I do. However, I have been working so hard at getting stronger that my body is responding very well and the dogs are not pulling or rushing other dogs etc and so everyone is happy and well adjusted. Wow. Now isn't that just fantastic!! It is also nice having people who I can call for dog duties if I simply can't walk one day, but it is also nice knowing that I am capable and strong.

So, it's going to be trips to the Mayo in my future! But I am more than happy to help and be of service to my parents. We will be having a family discussion on Sunday and that will be a very good thing. My step-mother is taking her diagnosis and her surgery schedule and appointments to prepare in such an exceptional manner that I don't know how she does it! I am watching so that I can act the way she does. No drama, just get the thing out of me! Ha. What a great way to proceed. I will keep you posted on the outcomes and what we will be doing as a family. I think we are a very good family and we come to each other in service and help and that is such a good thing. I am wanting to make sure that my father is able to assist his wife without having to worry about anything else...so the everything else is going to be my department, I hope anyway.

Okay. more later...enjoy this beautiful day God has given us.

TheRockinR

xxxooo

Mayo Moving

Being of Service

Hello All,

Well, my husband is going back out of town until Saturday and so I will admit to some sadness over not seeing him for another three days. He was already gone over night on Monday and returned late Tuesday night. Next week he's in Dallas for three-no-four days and that always bums me out. I miss him when he's gone this much. I know he's got lots of irons in the fire, but it is difficult not having him around. I miss his energy and he's a lot of fun to watch football with. Or at least he says that about me. Hah!

Anyway, this does afford me the opportunity to be of service to my family and help them make their many pilgrimages down to the Mayo Clinic for testing etc. It makes me feel like I am helping and being of loving service and I like that a lot. And, it is something that removes the feelings of missing my husband as he travels. It is also funny how things change. There was once a time when my husband and I were actually meeting in the airport for breakfast or lunch or dinner because we were both so "busy" traveling to see clients. We were so busy in fact that we unconsciously decided our clients were more important to see than each other. Not a good scenario. So, we have definitely changed how we do business in that regard and that's why I miss him now when he leaves. I am the one left at home, which is always a little trying. But the good news is that it provides me the time to hang with my family...the very family I thought I didn't have much time for when I was so "busy" seeing clients. I will never do that again..even as I ramp up my new business, which is coming very soon people!! I will never forsake my family or my friends for work.

So, I will keep you posted as to the Mayo because my parents know it like the back of their hands! How cool is that!! What a great opportunity and I look forward to hanging out with both of them.

More to come.....pray.....Thank you God for this day!

The RockinR!

Musings Musings Musings!

Musing in the Woods

Yesterday I was actually able to go on another walk in the woods with my dogs. What an amazing change of events. My husband is shocked, absolutely shocked at the change taking place in my body as I work on my emotions and my spiritual life. My friends are amazed because suddenly my creativity and intuition is returning regarding the naming and intuitive thinking about my next company and what it will be and what it will consist of in terms of the nature of the business. I think I know, but it is still coming out of me intuitively, so I have learned to wait on that intuition--because I think intuition comes from God so I wait on Him to help me with everything. So, all of these great events are returning to me in such a way that I am thrilled and happy at the same time. I have not had these feelings occur together at the same time for a long, long time. Remember, a few short months ago I couldn't get out of bed I was so depressed. Then I eventually moved to the sofa and stayed there for more months until I finally said to myself :: "Self! Enough is enough. Do you really think that this is the way God wants you to live out your life? I don't think so sister, so get up and get going." I can't tell you exactly what that day was, but I haven't been the same since.

I am so excited because I emailed my terrific graphic artist and she agreed to meet me for lunch next week. Then I talked with my dear, dear best friends in Texas the Ridley's and they are doing great. I ran the name of my company by them and they loved it. I am not going to announce it here until it is a reality, but suffice to say, I am only asking the friends to whom I believe their insight and experience is so important. My husband actually blurted it out before I said it so we're on the same page. Holy cow! How about that? He's on a business trip and at O'Hare and he blurts out the same idea I had for my new company name. I love it!! He's a GOD!! Ha. He loves it when I say that. Okay, so, I am going to get really healed up and working on my body/mind connection so that I can take a trip with my husband to Texas the state my soul needs. I love that state and I haven't been there for so long that my heart aches. I can't wait to go back and I hope it will be soon. Mitch goes to Dallas next week and boy would I ever love going with him. We shall see....I doubt it though. Too many things going on here at the moment. Anyway, by taking these actions I feel like I am getting back in the game and that feels so very, very good. At one time I actually had an appointment with the governor of Texas' wife. I need to see if I can rekindle that opportunity. Another thing we will see about.

The other thing I do know is that my company will not be about trend/color any longer. These two ideas for business are completely post-peak. If you don't know what I mean by that write me and I will explain it. But these days, everyone calls themselves trend/color people and when that starts to happen you have a strategy that is post-peak or OVER!!

The real deal is that most people are not trend/color people because doing it requires enormous amounts of observation, intuition and love of detail. These three things do not come naturally to most people, they want it to be true, but it is not. That's why the true trendologist's are rare and extremely talented. (Like me) If you really want your sales to increase, products and packaging to rock, you need a person who totally understands the retail trend curve and the power of a well designed brand...but....please don't get me going or I will seriously be on my soap box. NO SOAP BOX FOR ME!! Hah.

The happiness that I am now feeling is wonderful and so long in coming since I have been jammed up for so long. Getting myself un-jammed is the work I am doing now. As I do it my intuition is coming back and that is truly a miracle. I am so blessed I just can't believe it. I am saying no more about it in case it is all a mistake and not true. Which is just the kid in me thinking that the sky is falling. Hah! The truth is, I am getting better and I am working on getting better and that feels fantastic.

Thank you God!!!!

Have a wonderful November day no matter where you are in this world.

RockinR