On Going for It

Source: imgfave.com via Sarah on Pinterest

There are very few things that I can do for eight hours at a time and not get bored. But for some magical reason I can spend 8 hours sanding and be disappointed that I need to stop, shower, and, you know, be social on a Saturday night. I have the hardest time dragging my butt out of bed in the morning, but the prospect of snagging a great piece of furniture at a yard sale will get me moving.

I’ve always maintained that I will not be the person who spends 40+ hours of my week in a job in which I'm not content. I know that’s a huge departure from many mindsets, and that it’s a little entitled—many people don’t have an option and do what they can to put food on the table, and I respect that.  But it just seems to me that if I can somehow do something that I love instead, I should do everything to make that happen. And I should do it while I’m young, before I have a family and my priorities change. And keeping a family in mind, I should set myself up with something that could allow me to work and do something I love even when I do have a family.

No, I’m not quitting my job. No, I’m not going back to school to pursue a dream career. I don’t even know what that would be at this point. I do know this: I am completely happy when I am acquiring, fixing, refinishing, and painting furniture. I am so, so, so content to make things. So happy that I had this conversation with the boy, who had a (very good looking, ladies) friend coming to town on Friday:

Me: Soooo…what are you guys doing tonight?

Boy: Not sure, picking up [good looking friend], getting some dinner, and then probably going out.

Me: So you guys probably want to have a guys’ night, right? Because you can totally have a guys’ night if you want to have a guys’ night. I know you haven’t seen each other in a while.

Boy: Uh, yeah maybe. Did you want to go out this weekend?

Me: Uh yeah, sure, I just, you know, wanted to give you guys some time together tonight because I figured you would want a guys’ night and then maybe I’ll see you tomorrow night after my brother’s play.

Boy: What are your plans for tonight?

Me: Well…I was kind of going to sew some curtains. 

Hi, my name is Sarah, I am almost 25 years old, and I want to rush home from work on a Friday night so that I can start a project. It’s a good thing I already have a bf, because I think my chances of picking up a new stud muffin would be pretty low if I continue along this trajectory.

My bf is sweet. When I go home after work and debate between going to the gym and painting furniture, he tell me,“do what makes you happy.” That is almost always furniture/crafting/sewing (which I reason burns some calories and has me in some very muscle-straining positions sometimes anyway). His advice makes me more aware of what I enjoy doing, and prevents me from feeling guilty about letting the floor of my room become overgrown with dirty clothes and my letting my butt get a little bit bigger.

When friends from college ask me what my plans (for life?) are, I don't generally have an answer. I saw an old friend last fall and told him that I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do with my life, and that I had some ideas but didn’t know how to pursue them and blah blah and I was being mega wishy-washy about it. And he wasn't having my wishy-washiness and told me that I could do a lot, I just needed to be more confident in myself. I knew he was right.

This blog has helped me gain more confidence. The wonderfully positive comments on my projects, which have been featured on other sites, made me think, “Hey, I might actually be good at this.” I’m participating in a community of bloggers and furniture people, which makes me feel more professional too. I am by no means an expert, but when friends ask me how to refinish something, I find myself spouting off tons of information to them.

via The Old Lucketts Store

About two weeks ago I came across some information about the Lucketts Spring Market. Lucketts is a really cool “Vintage Hip” store near Leesburg that sells antique furniture from the likes of Miss Mustard Seed and other people who I unfortunately don’t know. I highly recommend a visit if you haven't been there already. Anyway, Lucketts was selling booths for their spring market for $75 apiece, first come, first served. I decided on a whim to fill out the application and mail in my check, thinking that they were probably full of vendors already, but who knows? Friday night, while I was sewing my curtains, my roommate said, “Oh yeah, there’s this big envelope for you that came in the mail.” It was from Lucketts; I’m in! Mark your calendars to come see me at Lucketts on May 19th and 20th!

I have a little under three months to do enough furniture to fill a 10x10 booth and--oh yes--prep for all the businessy stuff that comes along with it. It feels amazing. Finally, for the first time since I was in college, I am working towards a concrete goal. I'm also taking a risk on myself, which I haven’t really done in a while either.

I don’t know if this is the beginning of a selling-furniture on the side thing, whether I could turn it into a full-time gig, or where my career is going. But I know that at least I’m taking a professional step into doing something that makes me incredibly happy, and that’s worth something, right?

Source: etsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Have any of you sold at the Lucketts Spring Market before? Any tips? Does anyone have a 10x10 tent they need to get rid of? I better stop writing. I have SO much work to do.