I love an ‘ask me anything’ because I love to think, process, journal and self indulge, really. I’m always so curious about people that I follow so I chose the most personal questions that I would want someone to answer.

Are Your Farm Babies A Ton Of Work? And How Much Acreage Do You Have?

Here’s the deal – we love having these animals …. in the drier months. They are funny, sweet, make us laugh, are a hit with the neighbors and the kids will do their chores without too much complaining. But from November to March, OOF it is challenging and WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY less fun. It’s pitch dark for both feedings, so muddy (and mixed with so much poop – like so much) and no one wants to go out there. So battles ensue and threats fly out of our mouths. In the drier months it’s totally fine! Brian and the kids don’t mind doing the work and we enjoy their company. We have 2 1/2 acres or so and I’d say their enclosed paddock is 1/2 an acre, maybe? Again, they are fun to have and we enjoy them, but I can’t really recommend them to most people as pets. They don’t give love back like our pups and the shoveling of poop is not for the faint of heart. But they make us laugh and it’s good for the kids to have to take care of them. But if you are debating and on the fence, think about it LONG AND HARD. 🙂

How Often Do You Go Back To Coos Bay? Fun Fact: Your Mom Was My 4H Leader In School!

Where Are You At In Your Faith Journey?

Thanks for asking 🙂 I haven’t found a new church (still looking, but admittedly super picky and not trying that hard), but I’m feeling really grounded and connected to the universe/God right now (after a lot of seeking). While I’ll likely never join a traditional organized religion again (raised Mormon), spirituality and feeling a big universal connection is definitely part of my daily life which has helped me immensely. I also recently dove into Laura Lynne Jackson’s books, Signs and Guided (she’s a professional medium) and it’s really hard not to feel comforted about mortality when you read these stories of life after death and all the interconnection we all have. It’s weird to write this so quickly without giving decades of context or recognizing how messed up the world is right now, btw. Anyway, I’m open to a church in Portland still, and if you are in LA (specifically on the east side) Kyle is still the best most open and wonderful pastor at Silverlake Community Church (on Hyperion) that just feels like a friend. It’s Christian and they obviously teach Jesus and the bible (of which I enjoy in the right context from the right teacher) but I never felt judged for not being a “real believer”. He is my absolute favorite spiritual leader – low-key, accepting, no bells and whistles, with really relatable stories and zero ‘performative’ speeches (you know what I mean). Brian loves him, too and he’s fairly atheist if that says anything 🙂 I wish I had him up here. Anyway, I’m always open and curious, but feeling spiritually connected right now 🙂 Thanks for asking. xx

How Can I Decorate My Home To Look Gorgeous Like On Insta When I Have Small Kids?

I hope this makes you feel better, not worse, but you kinda can’t have a gorgeous house all the time with young kids… at least not without being a version of yourself you might not want to be … or hire a full time housekeeper, lol. That life and house doesn’t exist, even for content creators. We either have help or we clean up so much before photos/videos (or both). I’d focus on having less decorative stuff, good storage solutions for day to day toys/kid garbage and just know that it will pass so fast. Having one dedicated “mess room” helps (aka a family or play room) and then just shut the door. A messy home is a happy one, but it still drove me nuts at times and I felt like all I was doing was ‘putting things away’ for like hours and hours a day. Hang in there, mama!

Do You Ever Get Tired Of Creating?

HA. Ok real talk. Since we document huge renovation projects we naturally have “construction years” and “reveal years”. Reveal years are full of the fun stuff (shopping, styling, photo shoots, and so much show and tell on the blog). The traffic is high and there is so much eye candy. Right now we are in a construction year (for the guest cottage) which is WAYYYY more work behind the scenes, and way less easy to document (and not as well received since a lot of people don’t care about the renovation process). So right now I’m trying to figure out what type of content we can create while also working on these huge projects that are very time consuming (behind the scenes). So this answer is “NO!, I never get tired of creating!”. But there are times, like now, when I’m not sure what to publish on the blog because we are months away from our projects being done so I’m looking around trying to come up with new things to shoot. There have been times in the past where I’ve needed a break from the pressure to constantly create, for sure (but that was more of an existential crisis). But I don’t feel like that right now. Right now I’m trying to meet the needs of readers while also designing these projects in the background. Since shooting is expensive (and so time consuming) we don’t want to create content just to create content. It has to have a goal, a point, something useful that you might get out of it. It’s a fun challenge, but sometimes can feel daunting. But designing rooms, shooting, styling and yes, creating is so enjoyable to me that I never get really tired of the process.

What Is It Like For You When Someone Recognizes You Or Stops You Out In The Wild?

It’s honestly so nice. Imagine if people just came up to you and gave you a genuine compliment that they like what you do! That’s how it feels and it makes my day, every day (especially when they say they are blog readers, not just IG followers). There are times when I look like garbage at the grocery store and I wish people didn’t have to see me looking like that, but I often put my real non-made up face on social anyway so no one is too surprised. Recently, in Mexico, I got recognized almost every day which confounded and delighted the kids. It blew their minds that people recognized me while in another country (and again, everyone was so nice and we just had normal conversations – not weird or awkward at all!). For now, it’s still really impressing them and since they are tweens, I need them thinking I’m cool for as long as possible 🙂 So I love it. It’s always nice to meet readers and tell them thank you in person for the support.

If You Had To Choose A Different City To Live In, Where Would You Go?

Hood River, Oregon. It’s charming, stunning and so much to do in nature (and I prefer forest + lakes + rivers over ocean). After decades living in New York and LA, I’m just way more content in a smaller community surrounded by nature and with less choices, less people, less energy, more trees 🙂 I get that all of that here, outside Portland, (and we have a cute village near us that feels like a small town) but Hood River is ridiculously beautiful and yet soooo much to do year in nature round there.

What New Place Do You Want To Travel To Next?

Scandinavia (oooh and Bali). I’ve never been to Finland or Sweden which seems criminal after being such a fan of the style for my entire life. I also love that it’s not crowded or hot in the summers (and looooooong days/nights) where the rest of Europe can be hot and packed. I have done a ton of research and have pinned a lot of places to stay, restaurants, museums, etc. I just want to make sure that it’s the right time for the kids and wonder if waiting a few more years would be better. I know that it’s extremely kid-friendly, it’s not that, but my philosophy is that these trips are such investments that I want to wait until they are old enough to enjoy the culture, food, architecture and not just along for our ride (i.e. my ride as I’m the one dying to go). We are in the last years of the ‘water and animal’ phase of traveling with kids which is why we go to so many Central American countries for spring break (warm, affordable, friendly, animals, adventure, zip lines, caves, beans/rice, etc). Next spring break we have two weeks off since it practically runs into a four day weekend for Easter, so we might finally go to Bali which I’ve also wanted to experience forever (a 20 hour flight so no joke – but the temples, nature, people, fresh food, colors, waterfalls, animals and affordable…except that flight!). I think it checks all our boxes and going in spring avoids the crowds and humidity. But we’ll see. It’s far and quite the commitment.

That’s all for now! Thank you for all the great questions, I love answering them. Maybe we can do a few more of these ‘ask me anything’ posts 🙂

 Pretty Photos by Kaitlin Green