In light of Monday's Before + After post, I have something that I want to say. Something that I feel I should have said on Monday...but first: A GIVEAWAY! The fine people over at Frette are offering two of their fragrance products (shown above) to Starr Struck readers! Hooray! There will be two winners--one will win a set of three bedlinen fragrances and the other will win a set of three drawer freshener discs--and all you have to do to enter is one (or more!) of the following, as listed in the widget below:
Now for what I wanted to say about my Before + After post:
I don't think I made it very clear in this post that all of the work that went into those Before + After pics was really, really hard, and definitely wasn't as glamorous as the pics might make it look. What the bright, shiny, happy pics don't show are the fights and breakdowns that Ben and I had while working on the house, my dry cuticles that started bleeding from all of the chemicals and hot water (wallpaper removal), the tears that I shed when the light fixture we'd just tried re-wiring for the third time didn't work, and I could go on and on... The fact is, just like we all already know, the internet often only shows the highlight reel, and that's exactly what Before + After pics do, too. Yes, our living room/dining room and kitchen are coming along swimmingly, but our bedroom looks like a weird empty wasteland, covered with piles of clothing and discarded shoes, and we've started referring to our office as our "elephant graveyard." Also, what you can't see in the pics are the yet-to-be-cleaned Sayde pee stains on the *brand new* rug (Sayde has a newfound need to mark her territory in our new house), the gunky, yellowed trim, the scuffed up wood floors that we won't be fixing anytime soon, and again, I could go on and on. I so appreciate your kudos and encouragement, but just want to remind you that what you see in the staged picture isn't always the whole truth. So there you have it. I hope you still like me and think our DIY house work is cool, pee stains and all... ;) Now go enter the giveaway and good luck!
ANCA
3/18/2015 01:21:41 pm
I follow you in both ,but your pinterest account doesn't work ...But I let you my name from Pinterest ...I hope you don't mind :)
Mary Catherine
3/18/2015 07:57:55 pm
All fixed now (thanks for letting me know the link was broken)! You can follow on Pinterest now so you're officially entered ;) Thx!
Kira
3/19/2015 12:41:28 am
Oh Mary Catherine, you are so thoughtful to include the not-so-picturesque side of moving into a new home and redecorating! I appreciate your honesty and humility - and am so glad to know I'm not alone in having meltdowns or fights or cracked, bleeding cuticles from removing wallpaper!!. I like that you speak to the internet showing us everyone's "highlight reel." I keep a quote by my computer (where I'm most often browsing Pinterest) that reads "Comparison is the thief of joy." Most everyone IS trying to present their best self online - no one wants to open up about the nitty gritty ugly side of things. The desire is to make it all seem effortless. So thank you for sharing about the not-so-pretty side of things - it is a clear indication of how much you care about your readers and your blog's integrity ;)
Mary Catherine
3/19/2015 09:03:29 am
Thanks for saying this, Kira! I DO care about my readers and my blog's integrity, so I really appreciate your feedback :) And what a great quote to keep by your computer! Thank you for commenting--it means the world :)
Patricia
3/19/2015 12:53:35 pm
Hi Mary Catherine! Thank you for hosting such a great give away. I accidentally entered the contest only to further read that it's only for US residents (Canadian girl over here). Anyway, I wanted to still let you know that I'm following you on both Instagram and Pinterest :)
clynsg
3/21/2015 12:57:55 am
This is a great idea--there are so many times that I would like to enter a contest, but can't because I don't have the 'required' account, and am not about to get one just to enter! That said, I don't do Instagram, but do follow you via Pinterest! Comments are closed.
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HELLO!I'm Mary Catherine, a Cape Cod-based yoga teacher, painter, designer, writer, mom, and list-maker extraordinaire. My goal is to inspire you to start living a more creative, simple, joyful, + purposeful life.
{Learn more + read my story}
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