change

change is a good thing.  it helps us learn, grow, move forward and move on.  change can be a healer, a motivator and even a necessary evil - depending on the situation at hand.  change is always upon us, asking us to embrace it and go with it for a ride, never quite telling us where we'll end up, but always requesting our trust up front, paid in full.

change is difficult to make, even when we know it must be done.  happiness may be within sight, but we may be paralyzed by indecision, by doubt and most notably by the abundant fear that always impairs clear vision. 

the unknown has a way of crippling us, keeping us from acting and holding us back from a chance to find a solution, find happiness, find peace.  eventually we regain our footing, and when we do, we're often left wondering why we didn't act sooner, embracing change and moving on.

i have in the past known of changes i needed to make and waited longer than i should have to act.
these are lessons that no one can teach you, they have to be lived through, so you learn to respect time's sensitive nature, the briefness of life and the clarity that comes from not making the same mistakes twice.

ever since 2007, the first week in july has signaled major change in my life.  it may just be a coincidence, but it has been a constant, for each year, during this week, the winds of change breeze through.

today i am leaving a job that i have had for the past five and half years.  a job that during the first week of july, in the year 2007, allowed me to make a major change in my life.  a change for me, but more importantly, a change for my daughter.  one that finally afforded us the opportunity to start a life on our own.  a change that gave me the gift of being able to close the most difficult chapter of my life, albeit one that i dogeared and highlighted for future reference and life lessons to reflect upon. 

during the years that i have held this job, many things have changed around me, but it has remained stable while always keeping me on my toes.

this job has taken me all over the country, to 16 states and countless cities and introduced me to places and people who have had a tremendous impact on my life.  it has allowed me to hear stories and be a part of a movement, to help people who needed a voice, a champion and a prayer.

it is a job that i always felt good about, proud of and even in the worst of times, reminders of the best of times, always got me through.

today, with this change, i leave on the best of terms - my own - motivated by new opportunities and a fresh start.  but a piece of my heart gets left behind, intentionally.  what's up ahead remains to be seen.  there is no complete revelation of it yet, only hints of what may possibly come to be.  the fear of the unknown is ever present, but i have learned to not let it cripple me, instead it serves as a cautionary embrace.

i believe where we are is where we are meant to be and where we're going is always within our control.

i always shed a tear for change, regardless of its nature, because proper respect for the past is always due.  but today i also breathe a tremendous sigh of relief, for i have put my trust in change and built my faith around the past.   in the past five years, during this week of july, change has never let me down and i have no reason to believe that today, it will be any different.

-k

our first anniversary, instagrammed

just a little snapshot of our day according to instagram...

are you following us on instagram?  find us there & on twitter @twentysixeast.

she's a beaut clark

further proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  the 'ol girl cleans up nice!

we had a lovely past couple of days celebrating our one year anniversary, the fourth of july & a really fun feature in ink kc magazine, but we wanted to do a quick post and show you how the media center turned out.  but first, remember when she looked like this? sick.

and now...

she's had quite the transformation!  welcome to the 21st century ye giant media center!  now let's fill you up with all kinds of junk!

instagram of the day: one year

today is our first anniversary.  we'll be celebrating all day long.  relive our big day here.
we'll be back with pictures of how we spent today, soon. <3

preparing for the best

do you know what is going on here?  because i sure do.

we're one step closer to having a pretty wicked media center.  but we have to find a new name for it.  media center - really?  what do you call this thing?  i'm thinking: 10 feet of reality t.v. goodness plus storage.  too long?  i mean, you should see this thing.  it's huge.

let's recap:  we found this beauty at a free garage sale and she was looking a little rough:

but her extreme makeover is well underway and we'll be back with the big reveal in a couple of days!

we're almost there!

the roof is not on fire...

but the ceiling sure is HOT!

sometimes i get crazy ideas that cause my sweet husband to make eye contact with me, blink a couple of times and very sincerely shake his head no.  silly husband.  this only motivates me further.

like when i wanted to paint the dining room black and he wasn't entirely convinced.  or when i insisted that we dress up as jager bombs for halloween the year we met...

warning...man tights ahead!!

he didn't think anyone would "get it".  (we now know that the only person confused by that ordeal was the little old fella at the hardware store who helped me find "bomb-making materials").  they were replicas! 

regardless, sometimes i wanna try something strange and it turns out cute.


but on this particular occasion all credit goes to the hubs.  


you see, i was getting pretty serious about wallpapered ceilings after finding a few awesome inspirations online, but i was having trouble committing to a pattern.  shocker.  then the suggestion for painting the ceiling black came about. 


i was a doubter. 


i probably even shook my head no.


but in the end, i did for him as he always does for me and i approved.  we were back in black.  and the results were better than expected:

the ceiling went black.  the walls went white. and we both nodded our heads in approval.  then we enjoyed some jager bombs.


just kidding....or am i?  


and speaking of bombs (major shift of topic here) last night i attended my first kc blogger meet up event at saks off 5th and it was the bomb dot com.  mainly because of the fellow kc bloggers i met, but the awesome yellow maxi skirt i snagged at a serious discount didn't hurt either.  


black ceilings.  yellow skirts.  style explosion everywhere.  and it's friday.  boom! 


(see the evolution of our home here)

instagram of the day: a midsummer night's dream

um... where have we been?  we mosied (mossied? is this even a real word?) on over to the nelson the other night to see what this heart of america shakespeare festival is all about and it is definitely a thing.  like a big thing.  a production.  a free production no less and it was awesome.

we were embarrassingly unprepared. we had a tiny blanket (a towel basically) some bubble gum and a bottle of acqua panna.  a bottle of luke warm acqua panna i might add.  not even chilled.  people had lawn chairs, picnic baskets, wine, crackers and nutella!  no one mentioned anything about there being nutella!  i am pretty sure the people next to us had a damn martini shaker!

plus there were margaritas and funnel cakes for sale.

pardon me for a moment.

MARGARITAS AND FUNNEL CAKES??!!?!?!?  ET TU BRUTE?!

we didn't even bring our wallets!  if you had seen me there, i would have blamed it on my allergies or something like that, but i would have been lying.  those were real tears starting to form in my eyes.  i'm sorry margaritas.  telling you "no" hurt me more than it hurt you.  i promise.

despite our lack of supplies, we had a fab time and we will go back with wads of cash and nutella next time...and a blanket that more than one and half humans can comfortably fit on.

black top

how does everybody feel about painting their ceilings black?  strong to very strong?!?!  okay... just checking.  too late to turn back now.

lights, camera, action

a couple of weeks ago we posted a rather obscure looking photo of a spotlight-thing on our staircase, and the world stop turning while all inhabitants of earth awaited news on the mystery wattage.

well not really.  my dad asked about it, but i think that was all.

there was also this giant thing in the yard that a couple neighbors inquired about it, so we did manage to pique a few people's curiosities.

we did not buy a minivan.  i just want to say that.

anyway, a few weeks ago the pkd foundation, nationally headquartered right here in good 'ole kcmo, asked if we would be so kind as to lend them our staircase and entryway for the filming of their upcoming public service announcement.  we were happy (and flattered) and figured it would be a fun couple of hours shooting in our foyer.

well....about 48 hours prior to our staircase's big debut, we got the call from the lovely kristin at reliant studios (who i will seriously gush about in a minute) asking if, in addition to the steps, could they also use:

- a bathroom
- a kitchen
- a living room
- a dining room
- a kid's bedroom
- a master bedroom
- and a front yard

now, i don't know about your housekeeping standards, but on any given day, approximately zero rooms in our house are ever ready for their close up.  so we panicked a little (a lot) and did what any reasonable family would do:  we tossed a bunch of crap in another room, closed and locked that door, then pulled an all nighter of dusting, vacuuming and general de-cluttering.

the catch was, we were right in the middle of doing something drastic to the entryway (!!!) when we got the initial call.  so in addition to slipping into the early stages of a full blown hoarders episode, we postponed the entryway project and welcomed these ridiculously cool cats from reliant studios (cornhusker holler!) into our home.

now, before we share the pics from the shoot, i want to talk about reliant studios for two sentences.
1.  these dudes & dudette have talent
2.  you need to go check out some of the seriously important work that they are doing for a number of organizations including the pkdf and tiny hands international.
and 3. - this is a bonus sentence - we were in awe of their passion for what they do and we loved having them in our home.

and the pkd foundation, a cause we hold near and dear to our hearts, can't say enough about them.  we're painting ceilings and potting weird little plants over here, meanwhile they are out changing the world.  nbd. 

now for the pics:

rad right?  we got to do things like meet a really cool group of people from nebraska and lawrence, ks  (okay jayhawk holler too!) and sit around on our front porch with them and the pkdf marketing team "working" all day:


Image Search

and then we got to play with their nice expensive camera lenses and do awesome stuff like this:

the actual commercial/psa won't be complete for another week or so, but when it's done we'll be sure to share.  until then, go check out reliant studios on twitter @reliantstudios and register to walk for pkd in kansas city, or in one of the other 50+ cities nationwide where a walk is happening this fall.

cut!

UPDATE: see the completed PSA here:

baby got back (from a garage sale with this)

behold.  this thing of beauty was being given away.  given i tell you!  at a free garage sale.  FREEEEEEEE.  as in: take whatever you want.  as in: $free.99!  as in: best. day. ever.

she's long.  and strong.  and down to get the friction on.
with sandpaper.

she ain't much to look at now folks, but just you wait!  that's over 10ft of quasi-mid-century modern goodness looking back atcha!

don't worry about the handles...those aren't anything.