A New Look for Living Large in A Small House

I’m so excited to share will you the redesign with a new look for Living Large in A Small House.

I was furloughed from my job in March and last week permanently laid off so relaunching my blog right before Independence day has special meaning. I’m heading into a whole new adventure and I’m not sure where it’s going to take me. My hope is that it will be the independence from corporate america that I’ve so desperately wanted.

During my furlough, I’ve completely transformed my site, with the help of Anchored by Restored 319.  It took me some time as the technical stuff still is so challenging for me. I had hoped to be ready on April 1st and here we are at the beginning of July and I’m finally ready! I’m so pleased with the new look and I can’t wait to share all-new content with everyone.

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I’ve spent a lot of time sitting at my desk learning the ins and outs of blogging.  I’ve been trying to make this seamless for years.  It was frustrating and fulfilling at the same time. I honestly feel so accomplished and so happy that I can now just write and share all of my passions with you, my friends. projects that have gotten done during this time. 

What else has been happening at this little house?

I’ve deep cleaned most of my house.  Reorganizing drawers, cabinets, and closets have also been part of my daily life.  You can follow along with my 30 Day Cleaning & Organizing Challenge.

My 30 Day Meal Planning is working like a charm.  I’ve become an expert at using Instacart and I know the trick to always get same-day delivery.  Don’t tell anyone but if you put your order in and submit, no matter what day it says it will be able to deliver (sometimes a week out), I’ve always been able to go back about an hour later and am able to change the delivery time to some time that same day.  It occasionally takes me a few tries but it hasn’t failed me yet.  I have ordered from Instacart dozens of times and I’ve always gotten same-day delivery.  I hope if you’ve had issues, this little trick helps you out. 

Wearing a mask really takes some getting used to.  I wear glasses and they really fog up with a mask.  That being said, I wear one whenever I do go out.  Online shopping and curbside pick-up is still my usual method of getting food and supplies. In the beginning, I would also get up in the wee hours of the morning, donned my mask and gloves, and headed to our full-service grocery store.  A few times I’ve visited a larger store when I’ve needed some things for special occasions and another time when I just had to have flowers.  I have also visited several garden centers. Again, I go when it is off-hours and I love that I’m mostly outside.

As our state (Illinois) is easing restrictions I’ve been venturing out to a few places that I know aren’t busy (you won’t find me at a Home Depot or Costco). I think we all are finding the need to get out of the house.

That being said, the virus still has not gone away and I prefer to still stay vigilant and take precautions. I certainly would not be happy if the relaunch of Living Large in A Small House was that last thing I did 🙂

Glamour has gone by the wayside here.  Both Emma and me were guilty of overplucking our eyebrows and this is giving us time to repair our long-time mistake.  I’ve also wanted to let my grey hair grow out when I was working, but I would always get to a point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and head to the salon.  I’m thinking I might be able to get far enough along that I can finally stop processing my hair.  Emma and I did try to groom our dog, Molly. For all practical purposes, it worked but she wasn’t pretty. We were recently able to take her to the groomer and she looks and smells amazing!

Mentally I think the staying home part has been easier for me because I’ve worked from home for 15 years. My stress has been mostly over simple fear & anxiety.  Last year I found out that I have a rare gene that predispositions me (and my kids) for some autoimmune diseases. We need to be extra vigilant. I’m happy to do my part to keep myself and everyone else healthy.  I hope that everyone will look at this time as an opportunity to care for each other and do their part to honor their friends and families by being safe. Wear your masks and stay at least 6 feet apart. It’s not one or the other, it’s both.

On the Horizon

There have been so many changes and I hope this exercise of a new life will be for the better, in the long run.  Our environment is getting a break and in many cases healing itself. That is so exciting to me.  Maybe working from home can become the norm.  As a designer, I’m already thinking about ideas for making home office spaces in your home.  Are you spending more quality time with your families? I hope this will become a healthy part of daily life for everyone. My siblings don’t live near me but I’ve been in closer contact with them than I have been in years. We enjoy a weekly Zoom cocktail hour. Hope that continues for a long time.

I love that I’ve had time to redesign my little life in my little house and I can’t wait to start working on all the projects that I want to share with you, now that the blog is working with me, not against me. I’m really excited for a new look of my life in this Little House!

I would love to hear from you (be nice!). Is there anything you would like to hear about at “Living Large In A Small House” Reboot? Please leave your comments below.

So many things have changed in all of our lives.  I sincerely hope that you are being as positive as possible and making lemonade out of lemons.   My wish for everyone is that they are healthy and that their family and friends are healthy.  If that isn’t the case, know that my thoughts and prayers always include everyone affected by this horrible virus.

Stay Healthy * Stay Hopeful

Peace my Friends,

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