My Favorite Breakfast

January 21, 2016 Jacqui

I love the tea and croissants my friend Heather makes. Here are some of her brewing and baking techniques.

The Jewelry Designs of Sarah Matthews

January 20, 2016 Jacqui

With her cat, Cassiopeia, Sarah gives us a sneak peak of her latest collection. Tudor readers get an exclusive discount!

If I Won the Lottery

January 19, 2016 Jacqui

A lot of people say they’d buy a mansion, an island, and a bunch of cars. I’d probably buy myself a mountain and build a cabin.

The Apartment of Rudee Chua and Darien McDermott

January 18, 2016 Jacqui

Overlooking High Park, this gem of a one-bedroom is the perfect example of making “eclectic” actually work.

When You Need a Vitamin C Boost

January 17, 2016 Jacqui

A blood orange is an excellent snack in between meals, especially in the frigid Canadian winter. Bundle up, everyone!

Green Exposure

January 16, 2016 Jacqui

Adding plants to your workspace can really energize your productivity. It might be the color. It might be the oxygen.

Building Modern Homes with Architect Roderick Hayes

January 15, 2016 Jacqui

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois the innovative Mr. Hayes drew inspiration from his city’s eclectic skyline to create beautiful modern homes.

Making More Room in Your Home Office

January 14, 2016 Jacqui

If your home office is no bigger than a walk-in closet, here are some DIY tips that can create more space for your productivity.

How a Shelf Can Tell a Story

January 13, 2016 Jacqui

The objects you collect can represent moments in your life or parts of your personality. It’s how you display them that turns them into a tale.

Oak & Granite

January 11, 2016 Jacqui

Chris and I love this store. They had a beautiful antique bureau desk. Simply unfold the desk to turn any living room into a study.

California Dream: Derek Nguyen’s Bungalow

January 10, 2016 Jacqui

I got a chance to visit Santa Barbara and stayed at my uncle Derek’s house. Other than impeccable taste, he really has a green thumb.

Repurposing an Antique Spice Cabinet

January 8, 2016 Jacqui

A cabinet can be decorative in more ways than one. Storing plants in extra drawers is an innovative way to breathe life into any space.

Sit on a Zabuton

January 7, 2016 Jacqui

In Japan, it’s common to sit on the floor with a only a cushion for comfort. So, is the zabuton furniture or accessory?

Spa Treatment

January 6, 2016 Jacqui

Sometimes a bathroom makeover just needs a coat of white paint. Simply add antique items and fixtures to create a classier ambience.

Landscaping with Amory Herd

January 5, 2016 Jacqui

In a male-dominated industry like landscaping, Amory Herd has set herself apart by shaping gardens the natural way.

Linen Couch Slipcovers

January 4, 2016 Jacqui

Winter is when we prep for the summer heat, or at least dream of it. Here’s a perfect solution for keeping your couch cool.

I'm Jacqui, the mom behind the camera. Wife of one + momma to five. Writer + speaker. Unqualified philosopher + theologian. Accidental mentor. Chaos manager. Lover of coffee + wine, perspective, and Jesus. Truth teller. Freedom fighter. Worth affirmer. Wanna-be author + world changer. Laundry piler. Emoji enthusiast. It's nice to meet you!

I hope you'll stay awhile and take a look at life through my lens, as I seek to find joy in the mess and walk with God through the beauty of everyday life.

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That last-week-of-school hustle is reeeeaaal. 😩👊🏻😴

Oh haaay, summer, haaay!! ✨😎 It’s almost 90 degrees with a breeze here in CLE, & we’re not minding one little bit. We just got back from a Target run, as one does on a Saturday. 🎯 I swept yesterday’s chalk dust and all the helicopters off the porch (as far as propagating strategies go, this is a very good one. Those suckers are EVERYWHERE!), and now I’m watching my little corner of the world go by from my second-hand rocking chair on the porch, iced coffee in hand. And it’s so, so good to be right here. In this moment, in this place: the wind tugging at my hair, the kids arguing about something in the backyard, the wind chimes next door, the dogs sunning themselves at my feet. These are the days. This is the abundant life. And I wouldn’t trade it for the whole wide world. My corner is enough.

I used to think the old woman who lived in a shoe was nuts. I mean, why in the world would you choose live in a shoe? With all those kids?? 😱 And withholding the bread? Straight up neglect. Some versions say she kissed them fondly, but we all know that mean broad spanked the daylights out of them before sending them straight to bed. Then I became a parent. Life has a way of waking you up to realities that are literally impossible to understand until you’re completely immersed in the incessant demands of a sacrificial season, or in some cases, a sacrificial existence. And you can fathom now how life can wear a person down to a shell of who they were, how one unfortunate circumstance can tragically alter a trajectory. And you finally realize that no one chooses to live in a shoe. A shoe is where you live when you have no choices, when you’re out of options, when it’s either a shoe or the streets. She had so many children she didn’t know what to do—so many mouths to feed every day. If broth and bread is all she could afford, there might not have been enough to go around. She didn’t ration out of neglect but rather out of necessity. And she whipped them all soundly before she put them to bed because she didn’t have anything left. Because she’s an overwhelmed, exhausted single mom without a shred of a support system. She never gets a break. Carrying the weight of their survival solely on her weary shoulders, she beats them now so the police won’t later. She whoops them because she cares, and that’s the only way she ever learned how to show it. . ...and what you can see now is, she loves them.

Anyone else feel the pull to show up here every so often to say, “Hey! I’m still busy doing things! My life is still interesting! And it matters! And here’s why…” When I feel compelled or obligated to do something, for whatever reason, one of the best things I can do for myself, at least for a little while, is….don’t. Don’t log on. Don’t post for the heck of posting. Don’t force something that doesn’t want to come. And I let the silence begin to speak for itself. God speaks in a whisper, you know, but how often are we quiet enough to hear it? And how exactly did we arrive at the place where our worth was determined by the number of hearts tapped out on 2x2 squares? It sounds quite ridiculous when it’s all spelled out like that, doesn’t it?

This is how we showed up at church tonight—legit looking like maybe we just crawled out of a garbage dump. Or at least a construction zone. 🚧 It’s actually worse than it looks and literally the best I’ve got this week. Bless it. Also, the nursery worker made them wash hands before snack, so we’re good. What matters is that we showed up. On time, in fact, which is no small miracle in and of itself. . ✨All that is required of us is that we arrive as our truest selves. And today? We’re filthy. So, here’s a gentle reminder to you, fellow traveler: come dirty, come late, come ill-prepared or even irate. Come with a smile on your face, or come because you need some grace. Come stressed, come sweaty, come imperfect, even petty. Just come, in spite of your mess, and trust that God will take care of the rest. He always does. See for yourself. ➡️

These jokers are my favorite. 💖 #happymothersday

‘Tis the season. 💜🌸 The only problem is choosing just one! 🤩 So I didn’t. 😬 Did you know that lilacs only bloom for 1-2 weeks a year? Kinda makes you wonder about humanity’s over-emphasis on “blooming”—always producing, striving, hustling, creating output. Even if we’re blooming where we’re planted, as the saying goes, it’s brief. Stunning, yes. Breathtaking, yes. Colorful, vibrant, full of life, yes please. But also short-lived. Temporary. Fleeting. Seasons are not only temporary but necessary. Don’t focus so much on the fruit that you miss the seasons of watching and waiting, of hunkering down when the landscape is barren and learning to weather the storms. These create the fertile soil in which flowers grow. 💜

*new headshot* 😬

Today is Good Friday, and it arrived exactly how I always picture it—the sky weeping, the earth soaked with tears. This is the inevitable darkness that must come before the morning, the necessary death which precedes resurrection. This heartbreaking pattern of life is something my human heart always struggles to embrace as “the way.” Surely, there has to be another (less painful) avenue toward truth and life? . Selfishly, I want what we all think we want at the end of the day: a life of comfort and ease. We quickly realize, however, that comfort is fleeting and ease is overrated. With each excruciating step up the hill of Calvary, Jesus reminds us again: every good and perfect gift arrives on the other side of death. It is finished, forever and ever. Amen.

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. —Rumi

HELLO!

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