Sweet Escape

Gwen Stefani has NO idea how true those words are to me.

As much as being a mother and wife has its rewards beyond measure, there are those times when I like to be plain 'ol me.

You know what I'm talking about ladies.

The times when I want to have a REAL name

not just "Honey, have you seen my..."

or "Mom, Mom, Mom?"

Sometimes I simply like to be Angélique.

So I go to my sweet escape which happens to be my office.

It's not completely polished yet as I have just moved in, but it is my sanctuary.

I thought I would take a moment to share with ya'll (I am Texan you know) a few of the things that inspire me and make my escape so sweet.

Above my desk is a built in shelf that I have filled with pictures of my grandparents, my father, and great aunts and uncles.

There is a built in bookcase next to the doorway that I lined with scrapbook paper and filled with more pictures of my great grandmother and other relatives. I unified the look by placing my collection of birds with my photos.

A closeup of the bookcase. Each cubby hole has its own vignette.

This is own of my crown jewels of thrift shopping. I purchased this beauty about a year ago at a Salvation Army while visiting my sister. Just imagine it being that cheap 1970's plastic and colored to mimic cherry wood finish...ewwwwww but she had great bones and some facial features to DIE FOR. I knew that one day she would have the perfect spot waiting for her so I asked how much. The lady said fifteen dollars. KA-CHING!!!

I squeeeeeeeeeezed her in my car (as she is over three feet tall) and drove her to my grandparent's home. I stored it in their shed until I moved and now, after several coats of glossy white paint and some corkboard, she is the star of my office. I only use her for inspiration so she only holds pics of things that inspire me such as my children's artwork. (More inspiration will be posted soon, so don't fret over the few pieces that she is holding for me).

What's currently on my desk right now. A picture of my childhood home that has been in our family for five generations that I framed and displayed on a picture easel along with a piece of milkglass that holds some violets. (Fake of course, I can barely grow children... yet alone plants.) Violets are my grandmother's favorite so I always keep some around. I even have them on my foot.

This mailbox was original to the house in the above picture. My grandparents took it down when they were required to get a curbside mailbox. I found it years later in their shed just collecting dust, so I painted it with glossy white spray paint (my new BFF) and now it holds any mail or papers that I need to keep close by.

I found this little memo board while on another thrifting trip while visiting my sister at a resale shop. The lady only wanted two dollars for it. The paint as well as the backing is original. All she needed was a good scrubbing and she is ready to work. (She actually has a job now...holding pics of my family back home. )

I can't wait for my life to become completely settled in and for my office to be the gem that it is. It's not the most expensive things in life that make me happy as much as the things that make me smile. When I look back over my life many years from now, I won't remember the cost of hardly any of these things, as they are simply that...things. I will remember the memories that they hold and the faces of the people that make my escape from this life so sweet.