And so it begins ...

I am creative but I'm no Martha Stewart. I have great ideas, and even greater intentions. But for the most part, I craft up my little concoctions on the fly and sometimes they work and sometimes, well, they just don’t.

Six months ago my husband and I welcomed a little girl into this crazy world. Once I was able to lift my head above the hazy fog of new motherhood I found myself surprisingly refreshed and inspired. Here I was, home for a few more months in a house we were still settling into with a brand spanking new baby, and – because my little lady rocks – a few hours of downtime that needed to be filled every day.

So, I did what any pseudo-stay-at-home-mom-with-a-newborn would do: I kept starting projects and not finishing them. All of a sudden I was this brave new mom in a brave new world, fueled by creative tendencies that got lost back in college somewhere between physics and hydrochemistry. (I’m also a big geek, but we’ll save those stories for another day.) I was really fortunate to grow up with a really creative mom who taught me how to get around a house: sewing, painting, cleaning, baking, organizing, drawing, decorating, photographing … you get the idea. My mom constantly out-did herself and I wanted to be just like her.

In reality, though, I have quickly learned there are only so many hours in my day, and so many days in my weekend. And, I need to sleep every now and again.

I was so proud of myself last weekend for getting an autumn wreath together for the front door. I also baked gingersnaps to take to a friend’s Halloween party, but literally pulled the last batch out of the oven 10 minutes before we absolutely had to leave – and half an hour after the party had started. Welcome to my life.

I almost missed gathering these leaves from the back lawn before my husband mowed them over. And yes, my front door needs a new coat of paint.

I’m still trying to figure out which of my creative loves I’m good at, which ones are worth working on, and which ones I should have given up long ago. But, I am constantly inspired and completely undaunted by the ever-growing list of projects I can’t wait to get to.

So, here it goes.