Home is Where Your Cat Is

HALLELUJAH, Y'ALL— I HAVE A NEW HOUSE!

And what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. After jumping through about a million hoops, we finally got the rental house we wanted. We packed up, I got a head cold, we moved all of our stuff, I gave my head cold to Nick, we cleaned up our old place, Nick got a terrible virus, and now we're settling in.



I tried really hard to get the moving part out of the way so I could get back to making things (and blogging about them!) as soon as possible, but it just seemed to drag out forever! And moving is so terrible that I didn't wanna bombard all of your wonderful lives with boxes and whiny details so I just stayed quiet (and busy! and sick!) for awhile.

I got so overwhelmed that I even took the amazing Sarah up on her offer to help us pack. Seriously though, it takes a different kind of human to volunteer to help somebody move. I could not have done it without her and a handful of others that graciously packed and carried all my books and shoes and mason jars and life up a terrible flight of outdoor stairs.



Throughout the madness, I also managed to apply to my first local handmade market! So now I have a handful of custom orders to wrap up and then *INVENTORY* begins. I am excited and nervous and overwhelmed and thankful and on the verge of ralphing when I think about it. I definitely have my work cut out for me, but I think it might just be the catalyst I needed to jump start my business. The market will sort of be the grand opening/launch of my business, so ya know— NO BIG DEAL.

Just kidding. It's obviously a huge deal. But we can talk about it later. My mind is going a million miles a minute and I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I will be selling my work to people so I'm focusing on other things (aka I'm just a little in denial).



So that's what I've been up to! Today we "officially" don't live in the old place anymore. I'm looking forward to waking up without being sore from carrying boxes of books up and down stairs all day. I'm looking forward to having a bike lane all the way to work. I'm looking forward to a new studio, a safer neighborhood, my best friend coming to visit, making new and exciting books, and getting back to blogging more regularly (whatever that means now that so much has changed for me!).



We only have a bit more to unpack and then I think we'll get into a routine so that things feel more normal. All these pictures are a few of my current favorite details from the new place. Olive is adjusting pretty well— she gets a little freaked out by sudden noises and movements, but I think she likes the extra space here. I have a pink + periwinkle bathroom, lots of pictures to hang, a charming dining room, beautiful natural light, and lots of books to unpack!

Right now, I'm completely worn out but totally optimistic. There's so much change and newness around me and I'm trying to channel it as inspiration instead of letting it overwhelm me. I hope spring is treating you well and that you have lots of things to celebrate— I'd love to hear about them all :)

My Mission in Life, Blogging, and Small Business

I probably say this every year, but spring makes me feel like a completely different person. I know it's partly because the earth warms up and birds start singing, but I also feel like my life is getting a makeover. Right now, Nick and I both started new jobs, our lease is up and we are trying to find a new rental house, and I'm starting my own business (finally, finally, FINALLY).

There's a ton going on and it's exciting and nerve-wracking all at once. I feel like I have spent so much time planning things out— just to be sitting here with this much uncertainty in my life. But everything I have right now is better than anything I could've planned.

I have been so far in my own head lately (I'm a private person anyway, but I think winter makes this habit of mine even worse!) and I wanna get out. I keep hoarding away all these ideas and plans when I should be screaming them from a mountain top.

I have a lot I want to share here with y'all, but I keep getting conflicted about what and when to post. I'm currently in the process of building a new website that will house my blog, a portfolio, and my online store— so I keep feeling like I have to "save" all this content that I'm excited about for "the new space." And now that I type that out, it sounds rather silly?!

I'm also trying to finalize things like ~branding, my logo, shipping supplies, web copy— and it feels like any minute that isn't spent working towards launching my ready-to-ship store is wasted. I currently have a list of custom book requests that I can't even count on two hands— and I don't say this to brag. It is terrifying and wonderful at the same time. People actually want what I'm making so I'm focusing all my energy on making things.

SO WHAT IS ALL THIS LEADING UP TO? 

When I started blogging, I was so inspired by other women who owned small businesses. I never thought I'd be one, but right now is the closest I've ever been to seeing my dreams become reality. So now I'm thinking about a woman who might be reading this now, who wants to start her own business, but thinks she can never be that person.

And that's why I don't wanna keep my journey/plans/thoughts a secret. I have a plan for now, and who knows if it's even going to work, but I want to share it. I'm tired of there only being a handful of small business books to read. I'm tired of every "handmade business" book telling me to start a blog, and use social media, and take better photos. I'm tired of outrageous link-bait headlines. I'm tired of pop-up opt in email boxes. I'm tired of 20 social media icons on every website— I know how to tweet links and pin pictures and like pages, thanks.

Maybe I'm just being a jerk, but I like to treat folks who come to my website like the real, intelligent people that they are. To quote Ghandi, I'm gonna need to "be the page you wish to see on the internet."

So this is my plan: 

I think it'd be dumb for me to launch a business and then move houses 3 weeks later. So for the last few weeks,  I have been taking custom handmade book orders from friends and family. This helps me five ways:

1. I can figure out what people ask for the most
2. I can gauge how long it actually takes me to make things
3. I can beef up my portfolio with recent work that I love
4. I can practice new binding methods and develop my own true style
5. I can save all the money I make from custom orders and use it to pay for bulk supplies, upgrading my tools, and new website costs.

Then once I get setup in my new house (wherever that is), I can start creating "inventory" for my online shop and for local handmade markets. So as far as my business goes, that's where I'm starting out. I have so many unique requests for books and I can't wait to show them to you. I don't have a "launch date" yet, but it seems like early summer is looking mighty fine :)

More than business plans, I'm excited about my blog. I will be more than happy to just take custom book orders part time and call that my business. Like I've said before— I just want to stop talking about starting a business and start it, for better or worse.

But blogging to connect with y'all rivals my passion for making books. I have some new features coming up that I'm hoping will really build a community of book lovers and friends. I'm hoping to turn two of my old features into link-ups so that we can all get to know each other better. But I don't mean the "follow me online in order to link up here" type stuff. I want a collective of makers and poets and writers and sketchbook lovers to join me in sharing what inspires them.

And I know this can work— I just need your help. I know you're out there hiding in the woodwork— I know because when I post about poetry, the things I'm making, and the thoughts I'm hiding in my sketchbook, that's when y'all are backing me up the most. Every time I get nervous to push that publish button on a blog post is when I get the most positive communal cheer from you.

So here I am again— typing out my secrets that I've only shared with a few close friends and wondering if I'll end up deleting or regretting this post. Sharing all these hopes and dreams I've been scheming up and then crossing my fingers that I'm not alone.

The last thing I'm going to leave y'all with is the mission statement I wrote for my blog. I was thinking about what I really want from blogging, so yes, I got super nerdy and wrote a mission statement to make sure that everything I post is good enough for you. I'm setting up high standards for myself so that together we can all make this little nook of the internet a fun and happy place to be in:

Kitty Cat Stevens is committed to supporting and celebrating handmade businesses and the people behind them. My mission is to create and fuel a community of bibliophiles by providing relevant, educational, and inspiring content to my fellow artists, writers, poets, designers, vintage enthusiasts, list-makers, scribblers, and creators to help them live the life they've always dreamed.

I hope you'll join me because I'm all fired up now and ready for all the changes, friends, and inspiration that spring has so graciously dumped into my lap. 

Rough Times, Silver Linings, and Bouncing Back

Dear Friends, 

This is the post I've been writing and re-writing in my head for weeks now. It's so long overdue, it's hard for me to remember where to start. I've been conveniently leaving out some messy details from my life for months— and now I'm finally ready to open up.

Back in December, I posted about the bitterness I experienced after our house was broken into. Sharing that news "publicly" was a really big deal for me because I'm one of the most positive and optimistic people I know, yet I still struggled to find peace with the situation. And despite having a blog, I'm actually a pretty private person. 

I like my blog to be a place of growth and inspiration for me to look back on, so it's not where I come to talk about crippling student debt, coming home so tired you face plant onto the couch, or personal struggles with anxiety issues. These topics are left for in person conversations with friends over steaming cups of tea and mountains of fresh baked treats. 

So please excuse me for my lack of open-ness while dealing with a few things. I've finally found a place of clarity and I'm in a spot where I can talk about tragedy with a clear mind. So here it goes: 

More details are here, but to bring you up to speed, in February, the grocery store next door to my place of employment caught fire and it spread to our kitchen and shipping facilities. We weren't there and there were no injuries, but we lost everything and there are no intentions of re-opening in the near future (leaving me abruptly out of a job). So in the last few months, I've been through a lot: our house was robbed, my car was broken into, and then through no fault of my own, I was jobless— talk about a roller coaster. 

If you've read my blog for awhile, you know that I loved my job. I got to listen to Harry Potter audio books + make and photograph candy all day— what's not to love? I was pretty heartbroken to get the news. And it took me awhile to find some peace. So what have I been doing since then? 

Honestly, I spent the first day or so freaking out about my life. Thoughts of updating my resume and beginning the job hunt overwhelmed me. Every time I began to read job postings my heart would race as I imagined myself trying to convince someone to hire me for a job I didn't want. I felt physically ill and on the cusp of ralphing often. So after some deep thinking and conversations with Nick, I decide to simply take some time off. 

Y'all know that starting + owning my own business is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and seeing as I got my business license literally the day before I lost my job, it seemed the most obvious place for me to begin rebuilding. 

{Yay— you're halfway through this post! I shall reward you with a ridiculous GIF of me + my business license!}

I decided it would be much more encouraging for me to have my handmade book shop at least ready and humming in the background before I moved forward with anything else. That way, when I took another job or part time job, the hurdle of opening up shop would already be gone. Otherwise, I felt like I would begin to frantically look for a job and then remain in the "I'll do it someday" boat with my business journey that I'm in right now— and have been in for far too long. 

So I spent the first few days of my newfound freedom sleeping in, eating cheesecake in bed, and emailing with my closest friends and family. I was completely overwhelmed with support and encouragement. I started working on some custom orders that I now had the time for, began doodling countless versions of logos, and simply keeping to myself so that I could organize my thoughts. To put it most simply: I poured my heart into several books/projects and used some good ole art therapy for healing. 

I was starting to feel better when my friend contacted me to tell me that her boss was looking for a personal assistant. I was kinda skeptical since I had actively just decided to deplete my savings account not pursue any work, but it was a part-time opportunity and I convinced myself to just go with it because of my new "when is the last time any of my plans worked out" mentality.

So I circumvented the stress of applications, phone calls, and references for a good ole fashioned "who-ya-know" meeting. Turns out my experience and availability was a great fit, and I was hired within 15 minutes of meeting my new boss— yay, some good news! So now I work part time for a wonderful local female entrepreneur who owns two successful businesses. I've been there for about three weeks now and it's awesome! It's low-stress, easy hours, and not physically demanding— so when I do get off work, I'm not too tired or burnt out to do my own thing: something I haven't experienced in years. It's also closer to home for me, so once it warms up a bit I can get back to commuting by bike {insert happy dance}. 

{^recent Stockroom Vintage goodness from instagram}

So right now, this is what my life looks like: I am working part time as a Personal Assistant while building up my portfolio and creating my new website. I have a job that pays my bills and a small trickle of custom orders that I'm squirreling money away from so that I can upgrade my bookmaking tools, build a new website, launch an online shop, and attend my first handmade market. I am also still working as a Styling Assistant for Stockroom Vintage, and loving it more and more. The lease on our house is up soon, too, so we will be moving and hopefully feeling safer and more relaxed. 

A lot is changing and I feel like an entirely new person. I'm making lots of books. I have a business license. I wrote a mission statement. I attended a free local small business workshop (with my new friend, Zie!). I took a critical look at my blog and thought about the community I'd like to create, so now I'm more excited about blogging than ever. I recently told one of my friends that I finally feel like myself again— something I didn't know I was even struggling with until I had moved on from it. 

I am in a really good place right now, and it feels amazing to say that. I told one of my friends that my plan right now is not to snap my fingers, open my business, "quit my day job", and have a perfect life suddenly. My goal is to simply stop saying "I'm starting a business" and actually have my business— for better or worse. I'm ready to start working on my own dreams as hard as I've been working on other people's. 

SO THOSE ARE ALL MY FEELINGS. If you're reading this and having your own personal struggles, please know my heart is right there with you. I can't tell you with any certainty that things will get better, but I can tell you I've learned that sometimes really good things in life can be taken away and replaced by really amazing things. 

If you're reading this then that probably means you are subscribed to my blog in one way or another, and I just wanna say thanks for following along and being there for me even when things aren't all sparkles and kittens and glitter. I'm excited to share my journey and experience of becoming a female entrepreneur, but I'm even more excited to continue building this amazing community of artists, poets, vintage enthusiast, cat ladies, and book lovers. Here's to learning as we go, warm weather, new beginnings, and friendship— cheers! 

Medusa of the Sea

Do I even have to type anything for this post or can we all just agree that jellyfish are the most amazing + beautiful creatures and then simply sit in silence + look at these photos?! Okay, great— we're on the same page!




I could just watch them float around for hours— they are so dreamy and rhythmic! I feel like this bottom photo looks eerily like a nebula. . . Imagine all the little jellyfish galaxies floating in the sea! Le sigh— my inner hopeless romantic is showing! I mean, I know our universe doesn't really lie inside that jellyfish but it's still fun to think of things like that (hello— Men In Black, anyone?!). They are just so ridiculously magical to me!


So that's the last of my photos from the little cabin trip we took recently! I had so much trouble narrowing down the jellyfish pictures so I just went ahead and dedicated an entire post to them since they were some of the best I took that day. (You can see part one of the Aquarium of the Smokies pictures here or go here to catch up on the whole trip!)

I hope you are all having a great weekend— I'm gonna try to work on some projects and maybe try not to pee my pants while we finish the last couple of season two American Horror Story episodes! Anyone else keeping up with it?! IT'S SO TERRIFYING I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH IT ALL AND HAVE MY LIFE BACK. Okay, bye! <3 jenna

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Swingin' On the Dock of the Lake

Y'all— I have a confession to make: I'm kind of powerless when it comes to ridiculous vintage floral swimsuits. I know it looks like I'm just wearing a tacky tank top here but I totally pulled a Liz Lemon and wore my one piece bathing suit as a top instead of getting properly dressed (okay, okay, I know she wore hers for underpants but c'mon, close enough?!). SO OOPS. But really I've done it before and honestly what's the point of wearing clothes in the summer when you're near a body of water anyway?




All these photos are from the cabin trip I've been talking about. I seriously want to live in a little country cabin so badly! I want slow days filled with good food, fun conversation, and an incredible view. I want piles of fresh grown veggies on my plate, zesty limes in my margarita, watermelon so juicy you can't eat it inside, and local eggs in my french toast casserole. I want to swing on a dock that overlooks a beautiful lake and come inside to a giant jacuzzi tub that's big enough for two. . . I mean, IS THIS SO MUCH TO ASK?!!



Seriously though— dream weekend. It combined pretty much all of my favorite things. Oh, AND I learned how to play Rummy sooooo who wants to take on the champ? Also, don't judge me for posting that tequila sign. 1) It's hilarious and 2) we whipped up homemade margaritas so it's totally appropriate. I guess if I'm never able to afford a lakeside cabin of my own I should be pretty content to just reap the benefits of a friend's parents owning a cabin, amirite?


So that's my idea of a mini-vacation. The only thing I'm kind of sad about is that I didn't get to photograph this entire swimsuit in all it's glory (the woes of living in the moment!). It's got this neat ice skater skirt that I also tucked into my shorts that generally looks pretty awesome. It's actually very similar to this one, for those curious. Maybe one day I'll get the chance to show it off!


(Until that day you can have this photo of what my hair actually looks like when I do nothing and some frumpy looking shorts!)


Have any of you had a completely relaxing + responsibility-free weekend recently? I sure hope so! Honestly, I can't remember the last time before this weekend that I felt so stress free. . . Just something about being near water and good friends that brings out the best in me! Have a great rest of the week!

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Aquarium of the Smokies (complete with snugglin' penguins, y'all!)

While we were on our little cabin getaway we visited the Ripley's Aquarium in east Tennessee [cue Little Mermaid Music]. Full disclosure: this was actually my second time at the Gatlinburg aquarium— I went once before back when I attended the local arts & crafts school there. So I already knew that it was awesome + we had free passes so I was not going to miss out on the jellyfish or the opportunity to practice my undersea photography skills.

top: lionfish / left: leafy sea dragon / right: weedy sea dragon

Here are some pacific sea horses. I have mixed feelings about sharing this picture because they were beautiful in person buuuuuut I only realized after the photos were on my computer that some of these guys appear to be. . . slightly less than alive? But what do I know about seahorses, anyway?

left: coral reef ft. regal blue tang / right: awesome iguana with his little tongue hanging out! 

How cool is this poison dart frog? He was in the rainforest section of the aquarium.

left: penguin trying to stay awake / right: cuddling penguins— are you kidding me?

top: green sea turtle / middle: Nick in the underwater tunnel appearing to have no fun at all. . . but for some reason I love this photo of him— probably because the glasses strap? also, BEARD, c'mon! ;-) / bottom: school of fish (with one particularly angry looking fella . . . he's probably got somewhere real important to be!)

So there you have it! Final thoughts: 

-Taking pictures of tiny, fast moving creatures in dark, watery exhibits is very difficult! I managed to get some good shots BUT just keep in mind that I took 200+ pictures while there and this is all I'm sharing. Granted, I'm no photographer— just a blogger trying to get to know my camera a little better. (I'm pretty excited about the amount I've learned already and hopefully one day I can look back at these and realize how far I've come blah blah blah moving on. . . )

-In all honesty, I have mixed feelings about aquariums. . . The animal lover in me is really skeptical of the use of creatures for entertainment and questions the necessity of places like this. . . But the science + knowledge lover in me is amazed by the beauty in the world and the info I got to learn while I was there. Also the part of me that loves free stuff was like "WOO HOO" so there's that. So yeah, sorry if that's a ~total buzz kill~ but that's just the kind of stuff I think about so if anyone else here wants to talk about their feelings in the comments then go for it haha

-I'm not sure why I got all nerdy and posted the names of everything I photographed. . . guess my freak flag is showing sooooo I'm just gonna go now! I hope you have a great week—mine is filled with tons of driving and grilled food eating =]

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Barbie's French Toast Casserole

Imagine this: You leave work early on a Friday afternoon, drive home with the windows open down winding country roads, then pack a weekend bag. You and your partner pick up two friends and drive an hour and half east (the midway point of your trip) and eat fantastic Mexican food. Then you drive another hour and a half farther east and end the car trip at an amazing cabin on a lake in the country. You unwind in the hot tub, have a couple drinks, then call it a night. 

When you wake up Saturday morning, warm notes of cinnamon and pecans greet your nose and force you out of bed. You meander to the kitchen and find your friend's mom, Barbie, has made this amazing French Toast Casserole for you. Fluffy, flavorful, and topped with warm maple syrup— it's the perfect recipe to kick off a weekend of relaxation. 


This is basically what my life looked like a few weekends ago. My friends called me up to see if we wanted to drive the three hours to east Tennessee to see the Synchronous Fireflies that live in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We obviously said yes, since we're the kind of people that definitely wanna see some mating lightening bugs flash their butts in harmony at one another.


So we drove out to east Tennessee and spent the weekend relaxing. We grilled food, went on a paddle boat, and spent some time site-seeing (I already blogged about the terrifying SkyFlyer ride here!). The best part is that we had this amazing weekend and didn't even end up seeing the fireflies— ha! It was such a great weekend and really solidified my desire to move out to the country and live a little slower.


Anyway, I didn't wanna post pictures of this incredible casserole without being able to share the recipe. So my friend Rachel got her mom, Barbie, to send me the recipe. Only she sent me a hand written version from who knows where and it's the cutest thing ever, no? I'm so in love with this entire breakfast experience. Make it for yourself, make it for a friend— you won't regret it.


French Toast Casserole

Cut a loaf of Texas Toast in one inch cubes. Let set out all day with just a paper towel over them. Coat a 9x13 inch casserole pan with butter (use real butter, about 2 tablespoons). Mix together:

8 slightly beaten large eggs
1 cup whipping cream or half & half
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt

Pour over bread and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, let set out one hour to come to room temperature. Top with chopped pecans and bake at 350° for one hour.

***

Let me know if you decide to make this dessert! I know when I do that my version will probably have less dairy (I might try coconut milk!) and use fresh local eggs in it. I might also top it with fresh cut strawberries and powdered sugar instead of pecans— yum!

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