Social anxiety and surviving a blog conference

Last year I attended my first blog conference, Relevant10, a conference for Christian bloggers, and it was just up the road from my home. Here’s an excerpt from a post I wrote after the conference.

It was a big deal for me, a huge deal,  because I’ve never been to a blogger’s conference before and didn't know what to expect. Hundreds of women I’ve never met before, all ages and all blog niches brought together with a few things in common…..all women, all bloggers and all Christians.

It WAS a wonderful experience…..mostly. I knew no one, not one person and I was definitely feeling the weight of my social anxiety. I am NOT unfriendly, snobby, stuck up………….I AM intimidated by YOU. I AM terrified of YOU. I AM in awe of YOU. If I were a doggie I would put my tail between my legs and cower in the corner!
 

Then something wonderful happened. Someone noticed my anxiety and crossed the room and started to chat. That sweet gal was Shelly Noonan. I didn’t know then that she was a published author, I only knew that she was warm and welcoming and beautiful. Later I learned she created Pumpkin Seed Press and writes a blog, B’Twixt & B’Tween which is aimed at mentoring girls and women.

She’s speaking this year at Relevant11. She will be an inspiring and uplifting speaker and sadly, I’m not attending this year.

With Shelly I also met Dani from Domestic Serenity.

Taken from her blog,  a space for preserving beauty, gathering grace, celebrating family, and nurturing the soul. No lavish displays of 'the perfect life', instead a humble record of an intentional one, mistakes and all.

She writes about her love of God, family, the pleasures of a simple life and I always come away from her blog feeling peaceful.  

If you suffer from social anxiety like I do,  know that despite your fear, you will meet incredible women at a blog conference! 

  So……. I decided not to go to Relevant11 and attend Haven12 instead.

 

  I truly want to meet the fabulous gals of Haven12, but my social anxiety will be with me…. I’m choosing to ignore it…..GULP

  I think I can I think I can I think I can

 

 

                  Amanda from Serenity Now

asks the question, “what do you do if you feel like the odd man out?” Here’s the part where I’m cowering in the corner…..under the table.
 

She’s written a post about blog cliques where she answers that question and offers some really great advice.  Some bloggers feel that niche=clique. I’m guilty of feeling that way too sometimes, but I know it’s a coping mechanism  ….thinking negative of others because you feel left out helps lessen your anxiety.

So if you’re going to Haven12, get over to Serenity Now and read THIS post.  Read her whole Blogging Myths series while you’re there.

And remember this, the people you’re terrified of may be just as terrified of you. Just keep telling yourself that!

 

If you see me and my camera at Haven12, please say Hi, because I have this social anxiety terror and am afraid of you!

 

 

 

Debbie (((xx)))

A Fun Boat Ride around Canandaigua Lake

Recently while visiting my daughter, we spent the afternoon on Canandaigua lake in NY.
At three, my granddaughter Mia is already a seasoned sailor and a real cutie!



My daughter Dawn and Mia enjoying the ride and, of course, baby comes along too.

Homes from water shacks to palatial estates surround the lake.

Wouldn’t you love to see inside? I bet the interior is just as gorgeous. It takes some mega bucks to own a place like this! duh      _(SWOON)

This property is part of the Wegman estate, as in Wegman’s grocery stores.

Just imagine owning this property and four boats! Their barn, which is across the road behind this estate, is every bit as spectacular.


This next home is a estate that seemed to go on forever!


Check out the guest house, far left, love it all!


When it was time for swimming, I was too chicken to get in the lake, but Mia wasn’t! She went right in.

Dawn’s “it’s freezing” face.

Time for a little nap after all that fun. Isn’t that precious!

Dark clouds from Irene were rolling in as we headed back.


You can revisit an 08 lake post here to get a glimpse at more beautiful homes.


The few days that we were away, our neighborhood had some wind damage. Some of our patio furniture and large urns were overturned, all of the tomato plants were laying over and a large shrub was pulled right out of the ground. I’m counting our blessings, it could have been so much worse………
I hope you have fun on Labor day and embrace these beautiful days as Summer ends, cold will be here soon enough!

Debbie (((xx)))

Some Kohl’s links

 

Great sales are happening at Kohl’s. Some offers will expire soon and others offer free shipping if you spend $50.

 

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Have fun shopping online!

Debbie (((xx)))

Disclaimer

Target and Kohl’s are affiliates and pay me a small fee per click on ads.

The Living room gallery wall

I previously posted about a gallery wall I was working on in the living room. I wanted to use a collection of oil paintings that I found at yardsales and thrift shops.  While I did like the colors, the scale was wrong and I didn’t have any smaller pieces to add in, so I decided to sleep on it and see what I could come up with.

What I came up with was moving it to the adjacent wall.

The leaning mirror may not look quite right, but I always liked how it added depth to this small room. Ill be on the lookout for something else to put there and keep everything in balance. Right now it’s reflecting the stuff on the other side of the room where I’m working on another project.

Here’s the whole room now, next week I’ll post pictures of the old living room. It was more formal and rarely used! I’m hoping the casual feel of this room will remedy that.

 

These sconces are another thing I’m not sure about, and I’ll be looking for inspiration for this area too. The pretty mercury glass lamps are from TJMAXX.

The beautiful seascape oil painting is right beside this chair. I got it at a thrift store, of course.

Finally I found fabric for the window panels! I looked and looked and was really disappointed in what I was finding.  I came across this paisley at JoAnn fabric on sale for 6 dollars a yard and bought all they had, 12 yards! I saw some pretty fabrics, but even on sale they were pricey and I wanted something completely neutral so when I grow tired of the blues, changing out the accent colors will be easy.

The rest of these fabrics I already had. They’ll make some gorgeous pillows.

 

SO that’s it, the room feels bigger and lighter now and that’s what I was aiming for. I’ll be posting the other side of this room and some before and after pictures too. And for a person who doesn’t like to sew….I’m starting sewing project #3, the window panels, they’ll have to be lined, and I’ve finished the slipcovered chairs and another project to be revealed soon. I’m on a roll!

 

Debbie (((xx)))

Online shopping at Target and Kohl’s

 

Shopping for back to school can be easy if you do online.     Here are some great deals from Target and Kohl’s. Some offer free shipping too.

And you know Target has everything!

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Kohl’s just happens to be one of my favorite stores. I can always find great clothes and they have so many great deals. Check out these Kohl’s deals.

Jumping Beans athletic schoes boy's and girl's Now:$19.99, Org. Price: $34.99-39.99

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**Please welcome my newest sponsor and drool over the beautiful shoes.

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Happy shopping!

Debbie (((xx)))

Disclaimer: Target and Kohl’s are affiliates and pay me a small fee per click on ads.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, gardening

We plant a garden every year and I have to admit, this year, our garden is a mess. Between too much rain, no rain, pesky insects and rabbits, it’s looking pretty bad.

Despite all that, we are still getting some vegetables. Not as much as we have in past years, but still plenty for us. Our neighbors must be wondering why they aren’t getting many tomatoes or zucchini from us this year.

The GOOD.     We got some absolutely delicious cantaloupe, there were plenty of zucchini for making relish and my husband got plenty of his beloved chili peppers. And I had a burst of energy and actually put up some peach preserves. Put up means canned around these parts.

The BAD.  Cracked and split is how almost all the tomatoes look and an insect is eating them up right on the vine. It has to be insects or birds because rabbits can’t reach that high. Next year I guess we’ll spray them.  We never have before and always got nice looking tomatoes.

The UGLY. This year I tried a new tomato, Black Krim. The pictures don’t show just how ugly they are. When cut open, the edges are black and I thought rotten, but boy are they loaded with a rich tomato flavor and not rotten at all…..just ugly.

We planted a couple rows of green beans and  harvested about…….four! That’s four beans. I saw that the plants didn’t have many blooms on them and sure enough it was rabbits. Our garden is completely surrounded by wire fencing but baby rabbits still get in and had a grand smorgasbord. We didn’t see them because they hid in the zucchini plants.

Next year a new fence will be the first project on the list………unless Clint Eastwood shows up.

 

How does your garden grow this year?

Debbie (((xx)))

My Pathetic slipcovers

Dark colors and red dining rooms were the rage and I loved this black and red print fabric from Calico Corners. Several years later I grew tired of it, especially since the decorating trend has gone in the opposite direction and the dining room has been lightened up.

 I’ve been sewing forever, but never attempted slipcovers, so making slipcovers couldn’t be too hard. Right?    WRONG
 I used Miss Mustard Seed’s video tutorials as my starting point. She sure makes it look easy, but I think it takes talent too. There’s no denying that she’s got tons!

And so I began cutting, pinning the pieces together and sewing,

and ripping out and pinning and sewing again. Pathetic, huh?

Then I decided to baste it together.
Amen, that did work better for me. I could see exactly where to sew the seams. WooHoo!

The hardest part was the skirt and I did NOT add piping. Phew, that would have put me over the edge!

Are you ready for the big reveal?

Ta da!

It’s not great, definitely could be better, but I think I like it as it is, loose and casual.
Just check out those wrinkles. Aren't they to die for? (snort) Wrinkles are so hard to get out of drop cloth fabric.

The back is just plain b o r i n g.

Here’s the spot I had the most trouble with. Since there are two chairs, I thought doing the second one would be easier. I would figure out how to make this better. That didn’t happen!
So now I own two (almost done) slipcovered chairs, wrinkled and puckered and lovely in their imperfections.
I honestly doubt that I would ever attempt to slipcover again, but have you got any tips on making slipcovers? Or a disaster story to share?


Linked to Furniture Friday at Miss Mustard Seed.

Since I'm still not quite finished with the skirt on the 2nd chair I'm linking up to





**I changed my mind about the gallery wall in the living room and am rethinking the whole thing. I still need to find fabric for the curtain panels and am thinking about skirting a table in that room that’s on the other wall.  Slow and steady………that’s how I git her done.

Please take a few minutes to comment on the blogs mentioned in this post. Design gives Back has helped many kids with cancer. You can help just by leaving a comment.

Debbie (((xx)))