friday free for all: 5 things you (maybe!) didn't know about me as a blogger!

Today I am mixing a special Friday cocktail of the usual outfit post with a 'free for all Friday' post.  I thought it would be fun to get a little personal and let you in on 5 things you maybe didn't know about me as a blogger.  While we also chat up how I am not quite ready to leave behind open toe shoes and white jeans for fall yet...

1. The first thing you would probably be very surprised to know about me is that I an introvert.  It took me several of my adult years to figure out why I was so drained after a social event or why making small talk at a cocktail mixer gave me a sense of dread and anxiety, while many of my friends and my husband are so good at it.  I took a personality test and realized I have an introverted personality and then the figurative lightbulb flashed on.  I'm just not wired to be ultra social unless I am in a small group of people I know well. Blogging is an odd job combination for my personality type then - but thankfully I have a photographer that brings me out of my shell a bit and I usually politely decline 'networking' events to save my sanity.  Weird, maybe? But I can live with it.  It is also why I read so much, if I've had to be extra "social" or extroverted for a day I can take time to rejuvenate myself with a little time in a book. 

2. I've been blogging for over 8 years.  (Eight!?!?)  That sounds like forever... doesn't it? Before Facebook had "Pages", before Twitter, before Instagram, before Pinterest, Snapchat, etc etc... the list goes on. I'm very thankful I got in on the ground floor.  Although it made for weird conversations with some friends and family at the time.  A what!?!? What's a blog!?!? Now I can say that I blog for a living and maybe get a few sideways glances, but nothing like 8 years ago. Another fun fact, I also had a different blog before this one.  It's long shuttered, but just remember that if at first you don't succeed: try, try again. 

3. Speaking of blogging for a living. Blogging is actually my "job."  I think a lot of people think since I'm a mom I just do blogging on the "side" or as a "hobby" or "isn't it so cute Jill has a blog?" It's true I often make it look effortless to friends and family since my schedule is super flexible, but I still log the hours and do the work - even if it's the wee hours of the morning or night or all afternoon on a Sunday to catch up.  If I didn't blog for a living I would have a different job because giving my fair share to the family finances is important to me.  As a mom, I am SUPER thankful I stuck it out in the blogging industry after 8 years of ups and downs.  Now my job pays well with great hours and allows me to take care of my kiddos and support my husband in his career which is very demanding lately.  

4. I take sponsored posts very seriously.  I think bloggers easily get a bad rap that they gets "tons of free stuff" or just take whatever money whatever brands throw at them.  For this blog that couldn't be further from the truth.  I rarely get free stuff and when I do, I make sure it's something I would have spent my own hard earned money on myself.  I get probably 8-10 junk proposals a day for the weirdest products people want featured on the blog (e-cigarettes, feminine products, baby clothes giveaways - what!?!?!) that don't even fit the vibe of this blog at all.  If I don't love it... it doesn't show up here.  The end.  That way when you see a sponsored post or a free product I've featured you know that it's gone through rigorous screening and thought.  I need to make money here on this space of the internet... but not at all costs. 

5. I worry about getting "old" in the biz.  It seems like there is a fresh crop of young and gorgeous bloggers popping up everyday all day.  At almost 40 years old it can be really intimidating.  I feel young (until I see a college age kid and they look like one step up from a toddler!)... but hey, the reality is I'm still getting older every day.  I think most women worry about their age and there is added pressure when your looks are tied to your career.  I am trying to be super level headed about it though.  Lately I've been contemplating lasers, botox, injections, etc but I want to make sure I am doing those things because they are what I truly want to do and not doing them just to make sure I look good for the blog.  It's important to keep it real for me... plus, (hate to break it to you) you lovely ladies are aging everyday with me.  My hope is we can all do it gracefully together.  Deal?

(photos by Jennifer Ketchum)

Outfit Details:

Sweater, Free People (or this one is pretty too, and I'm crazy for this one!)

Jeans, Gap (no longer available, love these!)

Bag, Rebecca Minkoff

Wedges, J.Crew - on super sale! Also, FYI I went down a full size on these.

Sunglasses, Tory Burch

free for all friday: my living room & dining room!

I'm super pumped for another fun 'free for all friday' where we go super off-script around here and talk about anything and everything but clothing or fashion.  So, remember my fun project with Havenly earlier this summer where we redecorated my bedroom?   When my photographer was shooting that project I also had her shoot a few other rooms in the house.  So today I'm showing off our living room and dining room combo.  One of our favorite (and only) places in the house to hang as a family and also one that I really enjoyed putting together.

But first a little back story... so technically this room doesn't look ANYTHING like this anymore.  Why? We sold our house!  It's been an unusually long and drawn out process but we move next week and we couldn't be more excited to make our new house a home.  It's so fun to look at these photos, especially now that our entire life is in boxes and ready for a moving truck next week.


Bottom line, we have LOVED our old house to pieces for over 9 years.  It was the perfect house with babies and toddlers and now that our kiddos are more like tweeners we needed more space.  We found a great new-new place and we can't wait to make it home.  So stay tuned for more from the new house... it may not be "blog" ready for a while, but I am going to try to Instagram more about house stuff at a new insta-handle: jillgghome

But let's get on to the room!

The focal point of this room is definitely the photo wall.  As our family has grown up the wall has evolved and we love to look at all the photos as a family and remember all the memories along the way.  (Especially the photos of our kids when they were really little... the photoshoots were HELL, but somehow the photographer made our kiddos look like angels and now we are SO thankful for those memories.)  Really the theme of this room is family 'mementos' - read on to see how I decorate on a dime with found items for a personal and memory filled home. 

Having this room be the combined living AND dining room had it's challenges, but the bold rug easily separated the spaces visually and decorating the entire space in black, white, grey and other neutrals made both areas come together cohesively. 

A lot of the decorative items are family mementos too... like this white piece of coral on the side table.  I found that at a cheesy shell shop in South Carolina on family vacation.  It was a horribly unsuccessful trip (it was cold and raining the WHOLE time) but we still have funny memories from that trip and the little piece of coral tells the story.  The side table is an inexpensive Target find.  I mean, Target can really do no wrong these days!

The room isn't huge, so to fit both a living room and dining room together in it was a challenge at times.  Small scale furniture like this tiny little dresser gave the room much needed storage and character but without taking up a lot of room. The "for like ever" print is a favorite of mine but a definite head-scratcher for my husband.  I'll be lucky if I get to rehang that at the new house... :)

This bowl (similar) was a Home Goods find and the rocks we have collected at the many beaches around the country we have visited.  Somehow there is always a rock in our beach bag... together they make a beautiful and unique collection.

From this view you can see a little peek into my office... which I will show you guys another time soon!  This bar cart is another small space work horse.  By day it holds a plant, candle and all our snuggly movie-watching blankets.  But whenever we have company over I wheel it outside or to the kitchen to hold drinks or appetizers. 

The one thing I will miss the most about this room is all the light.  There are windows on three walls in here and it's always been bright and welcoming.  Plus, it would always feel like living in a snow globe on snowy winter days. 

This cocktail table was a craigslist find (here is another one I like)... back from my heavy craigslist addiction days.  It's always been a favorite. I have a feeling that with a new house there will be lots more craigslist adventures.  My husband always loves the days I would call him on the way home from work and say - "We gotta go see about a table!"

We keep the mantle super minimal since the room is on the small size.  It's a simple floating shelf from IKEA for about $30 so it's also very economical too. The large piece of driftwood was another family find at Lake Michigan from when the kids were little.  It always reminds me of the crazy days of taking two kids in diapers to the beach (yikes!).  

The sofa is from IKEA, and yes it's kind of a pain to have a white sofa with kids, but the slip covers are pretty easy to either replace or wash so it's been a winner for our family.  Again, with the room being on the small size the white sofa visually opened up the space.  All the throw pillows shown here and the blanket and sheepskin rug are from Home Goods (for online options here are similar pillows here, here and here or a similar rug and blanket).  I could live in that place!

(photos by Jennifer Ketchum)

One of the space "splurges" for our house was putting a huge dining room table in a somewhat small space.  I never wanted to feel like I couldn't entertain in a small house so I made the sacrifice to have a big table just in case we wanted to have a lot of people over.  We never regretted it either.  This table could easily seat 8 and I think we've even squeeze more than that here!  Another fun and practically free piece of artwork are these framed feathers my kids found at the park.  I popped them in some cheap frames with white paper for a backdrop and voila!   The light is West Elm (sadly not available anymore, but this one is similar), the table is World Market, the chairs are Overstock (similar) and the rug is IKEA (similar).

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my (now past) home!  We are so excited to start getting settled in our new home... so stay tuned for more on that.  If you have any questions about the room let me know!  Or you can shop similar pieces below by clicking on the arrows left and right. I will try to link similar pieces if the actual piece is no longer available. 

free for all friday: how to clean out your closet (once and for all)!

One of the questions I get asked by friends and blog readers in person the MOST is: "can you help me clean out my closet?"  I usually beg off or tell people that it's not really one of my strong suits.  And that's the truth.  I can clean out my closet like a champ.  But when it comes to cleaning out other people's closets - I steer way clear.  Why you may wonder?

(via)

In my opinion, cleaning out your closet is a super personal thing.  It's is really between YOU and your clothes to decide what works for you and what doesn't. You need to decide what style you are going for, if the pieces you own are pointed in that direction also and then ask yourselves the hard questions about what fits, what doesn't, what you love and what you don't love. I think all those questions are (again) very personal and having someone in the room with you may skew your answers.

About two or three years ago I seriously (and I mean seriously) pared down my closet in a crazy ruthless way.  When I did that I was incredibly surprised at what I learned about my style and myself and how easy it made getting dressed with way less clothes.  I learned I was holding on to things I didn't love or wear "just in case" which made getting dressed quite difficult. When I got honest with myself about what I wear and how I wear it, my own personal style suddenly snapped into place.

(via)

So today I will lay out the steps I use to effectively (and ruthlessly!) clean out my closet and in the end to find your personal style (if you are having trouble nailing it down).  There are so many "rules" of cleaning out your closet... some I adhere to and some I totally break.  But this is what has worked for me.

1) Start with a vision of what you want your personal style to be... either with a Pinterest board or a dream board or with the inspiration of a favorite blogger or celebrity (Jess Lively used to ask herself "What Would Jennifer Aniston Do?").  This will be your new road map.  I personally did this with a Pinterest board.  I pinned 25 - 50 of my favorite outfits and then quickly found a few themes and stuck with that.

2) Weed out any pieces that don't fit or need mending... right off the bat these are not pieces you need in your closet.  If they don't fit ,give them away or sell them and if they need mending, fix them or pass them on.  Honesty is going to be the most important aspect of your closet clean out.  Be HONEST with yourself about what fits and what doesn't.  It can be too big or too small - whatever the case may be, it's time to send it on it's merry way.  It's doing nothing for you in your wardrobe right now.

3)  Ask yourself the really tough questions about EACH and EVERY piece... This is where the rubber meets the road friends.  This is where we again get ruthless and honest with our clothes.   These questions will help you weed through what works and what doesn't.  Some of the questions won't click for you and some of them will.  Go through these questions and see which ones equal a "lightbulb" moment for you and then use them to evaluate each piece you own. As you evaluate each piece, make one pile for "keep" and one for "get rid of."
-  Do you wear this piece? (yes: keep! no: get rid of!)
- Would you buy this pieces again? (yes: keep! no: get rid of!)
- Does this piece fit my desired personal style? (yes: keep! no: get rid of!)
- Have you worn this piece in the last year? (yes: keep! no: get rid of!)
- When you wear this piece do you feel good about yourself? (yes: keep! no: get rid of!)

(via)

If you are long overdue for a closet clean out, don't be surprised if you get rid of half or MORE of your clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories.  It's going to be completely shocking at first.  But as you start to load the "yes" pieces back in your closet or dresser drawers you should be absolutely giddy with excitement.

You will begin to notice patterns and themes with the items you chose.  The pieces that remain will be your "favorites" and seeing them all together without the hubris will be super exciting.  Chances are your mind will already be buzzing with new outfit combinations and you will be excited to pick out a new outfit tomorrow.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't worry.  That is totally normal too.  Sometimes I clean out my closet and I feel so FREE and inspired that I head straight to Goodwill with all my donations and never look back.  BUT sometimes I don't.  And that is fine too.  If you are wondering if you are going to regret it tomorrow or next week - this is my secret:  grab a box, a plastic bin, some empty shopping bags, etc and pack up the "get rid of" pieces nicely.  Then find a hiding spot for them in an unused closet, the basement, storage room, under your bed or just any where that is out of sight.   Leave them there for a few weeks... if after a month or so you have completely forgotten about them and moved on, then you are good to go! If not, that is fine too.  Maybe choose a few pieces to keep from them and then donate the rest.  That is up to you.  It's better to try and know than to not try at all!

~~~ 

Now it's time for the fun part!  Filling your closet back up with things that you ABSOLUTELY love this time... right!?!? Take note of the types of items that you just got rid of... is there a theme there as well? Too many sale rack impulse buys? Too much color when you love black? Too much black when you love color? Too many t-shirts when you what you really love is blouses? Too many blouses when you really are just a t-shirt gal? You get the idea.  You can learn just as much from your mistakes in your closet as in your successes.  

You don't have to fill the closet up right away... take some time to get familiar with your favorites again and then shop wisely!  

free for all friday: 6 summer reads to check out!

So if you follow me on Instagram and have checked out the new "stories" feature... which is basically snapchat withIN Instagram (which I love, because the real snapchat is so un-intuitive and terrible for my phone battery and annoying in 10,000 ways) you would have heard me tease that I am going to try out a new more personal post series on Fridays.  I don't know if "personal" is exactly the name for it... but it will veer way off topic from the usual fashion and style posts that you see here on the regular.  Things I will be covering are those things that are going on in my life like what books I am reading, what reno projects we are doing at the new house, home tours of the house we are moving out of in a few weeks, and other random stuff.  If you have ideas for what you want to see... email me! Or leave a comment! I am really trying to have some fun, break the mold and just make this new series super fresh and different and see how it goes.  You in?

~~~

You gals know I LOVE to read... so today I am rounding up 6 of my favorite summer reads that I've enjoyed recently.  A lot of you always ask how I find time to read.  That is a good question!  One way is that I usually ALWAYS have a book with me.  I leave it on the front seat of my car or in my bag so when I have a few minutes before I pick up my kids from sports or I get to an appointment early I can squeeze in a few minutes.  Usually in the summer I have lots of reading time at the pool or park, but this summer is so crazy with moving I haven't had that time.  When my kids were younger I would sit in the driveway while they played or take them to the park and then they would play and I would read.  You've got to put down your phone to make it work (hard for me too!) but it's so worth it.  Who cares about the drama on FB when you have a good book to read?  The last is that I read before bed each night. I have a terrible time turning my mind off at night. And reading helps bridge the gap from the busy day to a restful night. If I don't read before bed chances are I won't sleep well.  It's weird, but it works for me. Some nights it takes 5 minutes to turn off my brain and some nights I can read for over an hour before sleep comes.  To me, reading is therapeutic.  As a busy mom and boss lady it's one thing I have just for me.

Here are 6 books I've read lately that would make great summer reads.... because there is still plenty of summer to enjoy ladies!  What are some good books you have read lately?

Eight Hundred Grapes... this is a super quick read about a family, a winery and love in all it's forms.  I loved that it wasn't super long and the story is classic yet fresh.  Plus, who doesn't love a great story with a winery in California as it's backdrop?  Grab this one and a glass of wine and enjoy!

The After Party... this is a glittering summer read perfect for the beach.  With mystery, love and redemption as it's key themes I also found this book a little sad, but in the end a satisfying read.  It follows the lives of socialites in Texas in the 50s. So there is lots of glitz and glamour too!

Tyringham Park... if you love Downton Abbey or historical fiction in general, this is a great read!  It follows the childhood and adulthood of a young girl born into extreme wealth in Ireland.  With vivid accounts of her home, childhood and adulthood - some spent in Australia - this book was a real page turner.  There are a few twists and turns you won't see coming either - which I always love in a book!

Rebecca... if you have been wanting to add a classic to your 'to be read' list and love a little mystery, intrigue and borderline thriller than this book is for you! I couldn't put this book down and loved every juicy page!  The basic premise is a woman becomes the second wife of a wealthy estate owner always living in the shadow of his first wife, named Rebecca.  Seriously, read this if you haven't! It would also make a great bookclub selection.

Flight of Dreams... the book is the fictional chronicle of the real life events of the Hindenburg explosion.  If you missed this lesson in history class you're not alone, the whole time I read this I thought... how is this the first time I am hearing of this!?!? It's a fascinating piece of history wound together with great characters and a quick story line.  This is a fun historical read by the pool for sure. 

A Paris Apartment... this book is basically my dream story line... woman works for auction house specializing in antiques, woman gets bad news, an apartment in Paris that has been closed for nearly a century is discovered, the apartment is full of antiques, woman goes to Paris to sort it and her life out.   Something about a closed up apartment in Paris being discovered is just plain my jam.  I loved this book start to finish. 

So what are you reading lately? I would love to hear!