Whoohooo!!  Guess who is blowing out 40 candles today!!  Kristin!  My LoveFeast Table partner in crime.  Now that Kristin is at “the top of the hill” (I didn’t say it first!)  you could say that it will be all down hill from here ~ LOL.  But, I can tell you this (from experience) Kristin’s 40′s ~ will probably be more of all the wonderful things her life is already filled with a loving husband, beautiful kids, an artistic cozy welcoming home, a table full of family friends who admire and respect her.   And a bff and biz partner who wouldn’t want to do this wild LoveFeast ride with anybody else!!

Cheers to all that goes beyond this top-of-the-hill-vista at 40!!  It’s going to be a wild ride, for sure, lots of laughs, good times, apparently LF budget forecasting (who knew?) and adventures all the way!!

High five!  Here’s to more fun filled years of LOVE, FEASTing & good friends at the TABLE!!!

Now, don’t get to winded from blowing out all those candles!!

A couple of years ago Kristin and I did some promotional work for a lovely hotel in Playa del Carmen called Azul Sensatori.  During our trip we visited a Children’s Home that friends of Kristin and Devon’s, Mike and Terrill, had been working on for about ten years.  It was the perfect time to see the progress that had happened over the years, with our own eyes.

After our first visit my husband had the inspiration to invite his company to get involved with this project.  That inspiration became the beginning of yearly trips during his company’s sales meetings.  You see it is not hard to want to help a community that takes such pride in their homes, be they ever so humble and their children and families.

My husband Todd and I have been back 3 times total, including a trip with our children.   We just returned a few weeks ago from our 2nd trip with Todd’s company, Capstone, which is a children’s book publisher.  We spent a day handing out books in the surrounding shanty town area, working on the grounds, and helping make and serve meals to the children and families in that community.

We have an idea of how we would like to involve our LoveFeast Table community as well.  Kristin and I knew right away, the first time we visited, where we wanted to contribute.  We then decided that we would take on  The Kitchen Project. We want to help pull together the people, brands, and resources need to fulfill the dream of having a kitchen at the Children’s Home.  There are plans in place for a fully built out kitchen, clean water and beautiful community gardens.  When the time is right ~ we are looking forward to supporting this vision.

This cinder block shell of a building will become a vibrant kitchen that will serve children and the community.

We really want to do more together with our community here at LoveFeast Table.  We want to inspire savoring a beautiful life.  Sometimes that can be to enjoy beautiful things, the kinds of items we gather in our LoveFeast Shop.  But, we truly believe that savoring a beautiful life is just not about savoring external beauty ~ even if it brings some joy.  Lasting beauty is what the eye cannot see, and that means living in a way that is about giving.  We think being a part of making something beautiful for someone else ~ is a lasting gift of beauty.

We want you to be a part of making those kind of dreams for someone else ~ with us.

We have already extended ourselves with the Feed My Starving Children Mobile Pack effort to raise $24000 for a Mobile Pack unit to feed starving children.  But, we did want to share a peek into what else we would love to do in the coming years.  We know that these types of dreams don’t happen over night.  It’s a process and a journey.

You never know when you give someone a gift what beautiful new path it might put them on…

We hope you join us on these endeavors!!  Let’s together, help make something beautiful for someone else!

If you have ideas, connections, can right a post, or send  information to a friend, about either our project with Feed My Starving Children or The Kitchen Project, we would truly be thankful.

You can visit our LoveFeast Mobile Pack donation page HERE.

You can grab a badge and help spread the word HERE.

Let’s, together, make 2012 about savoring something truly beautiful – let’s REACH for the unseen beautiful something – Giving.

Today, I’m home in Baltimore, homeschooling my 3 younger kids (in theory). My husband is at work with our 14 year old who is off of high school this week.  My oldest son, Drama Boy (17) is in Minnesota with Chris Ann and her family.

My thoughts have drifted to 15 years ago, when our two oldest sons were toddlers sharing a plastic table with a plate of cut up chicken nuggets and apples. Their vocabulary was limited, but somehow, even then, Chris Ann and I saw how easy they were with each other. They accepted each other.

Today, Chris Ann is being “stand in mama” and she is taking my oldest to his first college audition.  He has spent the past 3 1/2 years at a well known arts high school, learning the craft of acting.  It has not been easy. The school’s program prides itself on conservatory training, not making exceptions because the kids learning are just teenagers. They take a journey of discovering and owning who they are as people.  It has been a challenge.  Who knows who they are at 15?! There were challenges that arose along the way that made my husband and I wonder if Drama Boy would be able to survive. But, as I waved goodbye to him last week, when he was boarding the plane, on his own…I knew in my heart, he’d done it.

And, can I just tell you?! I am one blessed girl, that my bff is able to be by my kid’s side at his first audition!  She has spent the week, spoiling him.  They have shopped for a new audition outfit, shared sushi, played like they were suburban Brits while shopping in the posh grocery store…and shared meals with the whole family.  Drama Boy and Chris Ann’s oldest, have done homework together, toured the college with Todd, went snowboarding, dancing…and spent moments catching up.  Drama boy called me last night and said, “I have more friends here in Minnesota than in Baltimore.” That statement speaks of just how treasured their friendship is…how easy it is.

I’m so grateful today.  I’m also, patiently waiting by the phone for the update that he nailed it!

When looking for products for LoveFeast Shop, there are a few criteria that we look for.  1) Does it make us happy? 2)Would we have it in our own homes and lives? 3)Is it unique? 4)Is it finely crafted? 5)Does it reflect a part of our journey?

Recently we added Skateboard Art to our Shop.  As soon as we stumbled on this artist at a local craft show and saw the unique ways she had upcycled used skateboard decks, we knew it was a perfect fit.

Upcycled Skateboard Luggage Tags $15

The luggage tags were unique and made us smile.  Not to mention, added to a Gussy LoveFeast Vacation Bag, added just a bit of urban edge that we like.

We had never seen skateboard decks upcycled in such a way that they could grace a table.

Upcycled Skateboard Salad Servers $65

And every time we look at these items, we remember the boys at Ridge.  The boys we LoveBombed for over a year.  The boy, from Ridge, we had live with us for a year.  These products remind us of the place these boys have in our hearts.  Recently, skater brother moved out.  He left us with a gift. This gift.

If only I could package it and put it in the Shop, I’d be able to share it with you.

I was at my aunt and uncle’s on Christmas.  They are both entrepreneurs.  They each had a dream, set out to pursue it and didn’t let anything stand in the way of making it happen.  My uncle was our business manager when we opened Jahva House.  He helped us write a business plan, think through the finances and marketing and was a wealth of information. He has an entrepreneurial spirit.

One of my cousins was sharing how he thought he may transition one day from being in law enforcement to starting his own company.  I said, “It’s a roller coaster ride.”  My uncle said, “It is, especially in the beginning. There are highs and lows.  But, then as you begin to walk it out, the distance between those hills begins to plateau and slowly climb.  That’s when it gets fun.”

My husband is self employed.  The past couple of years have been a roller coaster ride.  This last year, we’ve been hanging on for dear life.  But, the thought of going back to work for someone else doesn’t make us happy. There is something exhilarating about having a picture or a dream of what you want to create, then slowly building it…step by step until it takes on a shape and a personality that is all your own.

Chris Ann and I are beginning to move on from the beginning stages of our start up.  It has been a bumpy road.  We had a dream and a vision, but to be honest, we weren’t totally clear on that picture.  We knew we wanted to create careers for ourselves and we wanted to have a business that was a creative playground, so to speak.  The past three years we’ve pushed and pulled this lump of clay until it began to take shape.  Can I just say, last weekend, we had a “pinch us” moment.  The picture is becoming clear!  LoveFeast is becoming tangible and this roller coaster is moving.

If you’ve ever wanted to go into business for yourself but weren’t really sure…can I just encourage you, it is one of those rides.  You know the kind, while you’re on it, you’re screaming with every drop and wondering in your head why you ever talked yourself into getting on…but once you’re off, you go get back in line…’cause it was a thrill!  Here are a few of my tips for enjoying the ride:

1. Being willing to take a risk.

2. Have some sort of picture of where you’re going.

3. Determine to have white knuckle tenacity

4. Surround yourself with great people who will encourage you and who have an entrepreneurial spirit.

My daughter just asked me if I thought she could start a nail salon business at our house. (Chris Ann and I both have entrepreneurial kids.) I said, “Maybe not right now…but one day.” Then I picked up this knitted coffee cup cozy she made me for Christmas and said, “But, you could make these right now and start a business.” I love that the entrepreneurial spirit is being passed on.

Are you an entrepreneur or do you have a goal to be one, one day? We’d love to hear about it.

A couple of weeks ago I flew into Baltimore for an LoveFeast inspiration weekend with Kristin.  Spending an inspiration weekend together turned out to be just like we dreamed it could be when we started our LoveFeast biz and blog!

We walked down the alley’s of Baltimore and met in coffee shops with artists who just might show up in our LoveFeast Shop!

We had lunch with friends at a table at the Golden West Cafe — where our LoveFeast journey began.  And went to a vintage jewelry pop up shop and to small boutiques looking for beauty and inspiration.  Some of these pretties from the pop up shop will find their way into LoveFeast Shop as well…

And of course we savored relaxing with some espresso in our jammies in the morning.  We’d sum it up life right now by saying that our plan is working!!

While that in-real-life weekend two weeks ago was all about inspiration the next one, two weeks from now in Minnesota is all about putting that inspiration into action!!  The way we dreamed up LoveFeast Table was to bring the two of us and those themes of inspiration and great finds together on our blog and in our LoveFeast Shop.  What happens when you visit, pull up a chair a nd leave a comment or find something you like that inspires you from our shop? Well, that’s just like glitter on top of cupcakes! ~ It just makes us happy!

We’re glad your here ~ if you’re new to our table, we hope you get to know us, linger, see what we’re giving to, savor some holiday stories and cookies and come back to follow our journey!  We hope to share some inspiration ~ to savor a beautiful life!

Cheers from our table!

Head of the table: Kristin’s oldest (about 9 years) now 17 ~ we just celebrated 16 years last year.  Kristin’s 2nd son and my oldest daughter about 5 years, a plate for Kristin’s baby girl (seen with the pigtail below at about 18 months), on the left my 3rd born (about 2 year here), next to him Kristin’s 3rd born (about 3 years) and then my oldest at about 9 years.  (Missing our two children born after we moved apart.)

This is the TABLE.  The table from where the heart of this blog began.  These are our peeps.  This picture was taken about 10 years ago back when both of our families lived in Maryland.  This picture brings back the fondness of memories.  It’s our kids.  At OUR TABLE.

Well,  I say OUR table.  It was really Kristin’s table.  There were actually two of them.  They were old doors that Kristin found in the attic of the centuries-old historic building that was home to their coffee shop, Jahva House in historic Ellicott City, MD.  There were two.  One served as the table all the time and the other alternated between desk and dining table depending on the size of the group they were serving.  We moved those tables into all sorts of arrangements, side by side, end to end or T-shaped depending on the mood we were after. (You can watch a vlog that shares a little more of that part of the story at this link.)

We were in love with those tables.  They were beautiful to us.  They represented a style we believed in.  Unique.  Original.  Special.  Relaxed.  With the right tablescaping ~ Elegant.  They were inviting.  Our children were fed a million cubed meals at the table.  Adults talked into the evening hours by candlelight, sipping wine after a fine gourmet meal dreaming, around those tables.  Mothers busy with toddlers drank mugs of cappuccinos avoiding laundry and waiting for nap time to come.  They talked about things they wanted to do like art, travel and explore.  They were us.  Timed ticked slowly then.

It’s hard right now at 10:36pm and a decade later to really wrap my brain around what I want to say about that TABLE.  What I know is that more laughter than tears was shared at that table.  That table accommodated us, our families, our friends and the sudden unexpected guest invited to pull up a chair.  Someone was always welcomed.  Last conversations and last meals mingled until we knew that TABLE would be packed up for moving.

When our families are all together, the men create the FEAST.  Oh you didn’t know that?  That’s our LoveFeast secret.  The men really are in the kitchen the most around here.  Devon, Kristin’s husband is a talented and seasoned chef.  And, my husband Todd loves to be his Sous-Chef or as we like to kid, Norwegian Lackey, depending on what the mood is.  Kristin and I set the table, light the candles and pour the wine.  We all have a rhythm.  We fell into our roles who knows when, we didn’t have to say who does what or who helps where.  We just create.  And, this TABLE is where we all learned to stop ~ and savor ~ a beautiful life.

Don’t let the picture fool you.  I’m sure the food was tasty even if it’s was being spewed out at that moment.  See all the bite sized chunks?  We were big into cubing in those days.

Time has made some changes.  In the summer of 2003, we all moved.  My husband Todd and I moved back to Minnesota where we grew up.  Kristin and Devon sold their coffee shop and took their brood around the globe.  Most of their belongings they sold or gave away.  But some treasures like family Christmas ornaments and the TABLES were put in storage.  They came back and settled again after a year.  When they went to retrieve those items that had been moved once while they were away, something was missing.  The tables were nowhere to be found.  I remember imploring to Kristin on the phone, go back and look again, don’t give up.  No, they aren’t there she’d reply.  Well just call again, I encouraged.  You see, I didn’t want to let go.  Someone else hadn’t realized that the old, chipped, doors….were special.  Maybe they thought they were cast-offs, ordinary pieces of wood.  They didn’t know the story.  They didn’t know about the conversations.  The feasts.  The people.  The TABLE.  They didn’t know that that was our LOVE FEAST TABLE.

I’ll admit for Kristin and I, we didn’t get over it easily.  Even years later those tables, crept into our conversation.  We’d wonder, we’d get sad.  We try to remind ourselves that the they were just a thing.

(OK ~ it’s 10:59 now, and for the sake of some distraction from the sweet tears of memories that roll down my cheeks, I’d just like to interject that we did eat at our house to sometimes!  And we had a table too, but for years it was painted a hue, called Purple Marlin.  And, well, there you have it.  What table would you rather refer to as the LOVEFEAST TABLE?)

Back to the story ~ it turns out we’ve enjoyed many a LoveFeast Table moment, long after the years those door tables were lost.  A LoveFeast Table moment can really happen anywhere, in the car, on a picnic blanket, at my table or yours.  It’s about savoring the moments when friends gather, enjoy a meal or a morsel, hear one another stories and share each others’ lives.  Savoring those kind of moments to us is a never ending inspiration on how to enjoy life.

We hope like us, you have savored the kind of magic at the table when time stops, moments are held and memories are made to be treasured.

Life goes by too fast ~ not to enjoy the journey.

There is a saying around our home, “Pursue your passion.” My husband and I have lived our life with this motto. For some families, it’s not one they make their decisions by, however, it’s been front and center for most of our life choices. I am fortunate enough to be pursuing my dream business for the second time in my life. The first time was at the age of 26 when my husband and I, with only $50 to start, opened a coffee shop/cafe called Jahva House. It was our business learning curve. It was full of life, artists, musicians, antiques, great conversations, homemade vegetarian food and of course good coffee. Life brought many changes and we sold the coffee shop. But, now, I am living out dream business number 2 at LoveFeast Life. I co-founded this company with my best friend, Chris Ann. And even though we live miles and states apart, have been able to build this dream, one step at a time, on our virtual canvas. Never in my life would I have imagined that the virtual world would be the perfect platform for so much creativity. That’s what I love about pursuing my passion…creating. It’s the wonder of inception, dreaming and brainstorming an idea and then executing, that fuels me. That is the beauty of being a business owner. LoveFeast Life is a lifestyle company. Our main desire is to inspire others to experience and savor a beautiful life. We like to think of it as a little bit of a philosophy, a little food and lots of conversation. We know we just relaunched our look and feel, but this is just the beginning of our plans for LoveFeast Table. Our hope and dream for this company is to be a place where we can continue to create, meet people (both in real life and virtually) and continue to share the story of that journey. We’d love for you to join us.

It’s been very exciting starting our business, so I’m curious to know: What dream business would you love to start? (By replying you will be entered to win an iPad 2!)

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Intuit’s Love A Local Business competition. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs July 6 to August 9, 2011. A random winner will be announced by August 11, 2011. Official Contest Rules

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Lately we have had the travel bug bad.  Granted, we have had a get-away weekend with the GE Momsperience. But, for us that never cures the fever it actually infects us with more need to roam.  Kristin likes to think we’re nomads or gypsys at heart!  We don’t let much stop us from travel.  We have 9 kids between our two families.  Every couple of years we find time to go with just the 4 of us.  This past year we went to Cancun.  Did we ever tell you about the time we went to Italy with a baby?

Did we ever share about how we made it into Rome?  Even though Devon, Kristin’s husband promised not to go over 100 miles an hour?  Even though we didn’t know where our apartment was?  Even though our tiny car barely made it down the tiny streets?  Did you know that our inside joke is to hold your nose like this when you’ve just about had enough?

On that trip we found out that Devon is a multi-tasking driver that can ramp a curve to switch lanes, avoid crashes involving motorcycles and semis and site-see while driving fast enough to keep up with any Italian.  And my husband Todd, can pick up any language instantaneously and therefore can speak perfectly fluent Italian when seeking direction from locals.  Kristin and I can provide a sound track worthy of any high flying roller coaster ride.  It was a joint effort.

Our thrill ride into the city of Rome landed us with a lurch almost miraculously on a sidewalk of a street right behind this wonder at the perfect time to meet the landlord of our rental apartment.  It stands my hair on end just to think about it.

What are some of your favorite travel memories?

The red penguins are on the move everywhere at the 21c Museum Hotel.  They greeted us at the door, welcomed us to the GE Momsperience and loitered in the lobby, restaurant and everywhere in between.

They get around those penguins.  One night plumb tuckered out after some fancy hat making they wandered around (or were they carried?) until they found themselves a place to rest.

Meanwhile, while the penguins were getting comfortable, the LoveFeast girls were downstairs at the 21c Museum Hotel with Aaron, the evening security guard, enjoying the contemporary art museum and getting an escorted tour of art that might not be as handy to view if your are not of the right sex.  Such as, visiting the mens’ restroom to see art that can only be seen from the user-friendly side of the urinal.  Just sayin’, we needed an escort to feel OK about crashing the mens’ restroom and Aaron was our man.

We were getting to know Aaron as we walked the rooms and galleries at 21c and were exchanging the friendly facts that one exchanges in those situations, like yes, we have 9 kids between us, where you are from (Minnesota and Maryland) and yes we co-blog.  And, then from Aaron that he had been in the army, had lived in many places, and that Lady Gaga was a really a down-to-earth cool chick and that a red penguin almost made it onto Justin Bieber’s bus.  Then suddenly as we were standing there we saw something shift in Aaron’s eyes and his comfortableness with us dissipate.  Suddenly he began walking backwards away from us and we heard him utter, “oh, you’re thooossee bloggers” and disappeared leaving us to fall into the elevator laughing as the doors closed.  We head back to our room, amused and kind of weird-ed out.

Arriving at our room, this is what we found.  Birds in our beds.  Birds in our derby hats!!

OK, in a normal less sleep deprived frame of mind we might have thought other bloggers might have done this prank.  Maybe the sign about twitter attached to one penguin might have been a clear giveaway.  But, there were other facts to consider.  We had been tweeting quite a bit with 21c Museum Hotel and we had just been with Aaron the security guard who had backed away from us with some kind of secret.

At 2:30 a.m. our conclusion was drawn.  We had been punked by the 21c Museum Hotel!!  To our sleep deprived minds there was only one choice and one choice only…we must punk them back!

And, like anyone else would do, we spent some time (we could sleep later!) dressing them in something that would be appropriate if they were to visit the spa.  Again, this made perfect sense at 2:45 a.m.

First a quick drop of joe and an orange envelope tucked in a pocket with a message for the front desk.

The penguins leave our room…

and wait for the elevator to take them downstairs to the lobby.

They seem to be getting along, although they are quiet in the elevator.  We speculate they might be a couple.

Turns out that we found out via twitter our real pranksters were the bloggers of Mommy’s Camera and Creative Kristi with a little help from Aaron, the security guard.  But, again, like I said at 3:00 a.m. there was no turning back.  We were headed for the front desk.

Here’s where we show the 21c Museum Hotel how to punk and what real-art-meets-pop-art-meets-real- tired-mama-fake-performance-art is all about.  Take that!

Word is they are training other birds in so the penguins can go on vacation.

Can you spy who with your little eye?