JO Blog

listening: the music from my blog eating: nothing drinking: hours old latte from Starbucks wearing: pajama pants, tank and a sweatshirt…hot! feeling: content weather: cool fall evening wanting: all my Brave Girl sisters around me needing: to finish my winter collection thinking: about the women I know that are hurting and wishing I could carry […]

My love story began like so many….in a bar:-) OK…it was a restaurant too…which my mom always likes to remind people. I was sitting at the bar with some girlfriends. The most handsome of boys walked in with a group of people. I leaned over to my friends and whispered, "I would like you to […]

  If you live in the Chicago area I encourage you to take a drive this weekend and enjoy the prettiest of barn sales. My friend Anne Marie will be having her annual barn sale with talented vendors from around the area. Everything Anne Marie does is so full of detail that I know you […]

These are the little things that are making me smile today…   Quick project in the kitchen.  I took the door off and sewed this little linen curtain to go in its place.  I loved the idea so much when I saw it in this beautiful lady's livingroom (under their built in cabinets). My green […]

One of our favorite things to do at the end of summer is to have an outdoor movie night. Last year our rainy and cold September didn't allow us to have one.   This year Benjamin wanted an outdoor movie night for his birthday party. (Benjamin getting his glow stick bracelet and then rocking out […]

When I knew that my friend Vana Chupp's new book was out I was so excited for her! Her taste is exquisite!! The first thing I ever ordered from her was a set of cards with the silhouette of all three of my children on it. Everyone that ever received one of these cards oohed […]

  There are few things that I miss from growing up in the Midwest as much as the trees! Trees that provided us endless hiding places and shade throughout the hot summers.   Trees that painted the hills with the most gorgeous colors in the fall.   Trees that were my dreaming place.  I can […]

  When I was making plans to go to the south of France I couldn't imagine coming all that way and not spending a little time in Paris. I really wanted to make sure my time in Paris overlapped with the flea markets. When I dreamed of coming to France I truly couldn't get the […]

While Kelly, Benjamin and I would sleep in every morning…..Jack and Madolyn would wake up early and go with Grandpa to get coffee and donuts at "The Depot." The Depot is just the local gas station in town (VERY SMALL TOWN) that has a cafe and grocery store attached.  Yes, I allowed my kids to […]

  Every year we travel back to Illinois to spend a few weeks at my parent's farm. This is a place of pure joy for my children! I didn't grow up here.   When my parents told me four years ago that they were going to sell the house I grew up in I cried and […]

  I grew up in a small town in rural Illinois. I walked to school, to my dad's office in town and everyone knew us (that can be good and bad). Every home was different. There were no subdivisions or track homes. Most yards had a clothesline. All summer we would help my mom hang […]

Everything that is left in my shop from the summer collection is currently on CLEARANCE.   Help me clean out my shop and make room for all the wonderful new items coming in my winter collection….The French Brocante! The closer and closer I get to unveiling the new collection the more excited I am becoming. […]

 An average day is from the moment I wake up I am already thinking of all that NEEDS to be done. Clothes are waiting to go into the washer and waiting to be folded from the dryer. The children are waiting for breakfast. Dishes are waiting to be emptied from the dishwasher. There is usually […]

I got all my sisters with me We are family Get up everybody and sing I hope this song now is stuck in your head for the rest of the day! Every year Maddy and I have a back to school shopping trip/sleep over to celebrate the start of school. Our big shopping trip with […]

I interrupt Franceapalooza for a life update. I had to show this cute boy.   He won't be four for a few more weeks and he just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. That's right….we build them really cool around here! This same super cool kid has been asking for a mohawk […]

As our time in Montauban was nearing an end we all rested in the courtyard enjoying a cafe au lait and sharing our treasures we had found that day. This was always one of my favorite times of the day when I could see all the amazing vintage finds that each woman had spotted and found beauty […]

  As my time in the south of France was coming to a close I tried to breath in the details that I was afraid of forgetting. Would I remember…really remember…what it was like? Would I remember the people, architecture, foods?  Would I be able to close my eyes and be transported to this place […]

Most of us live such a busy life. I feel like our schedule is slower and easier because we homeschool but I wish I could slow it down even more. I admire many of my friends that also have the joy and privilege of owning land, animals and growing so much of what their family […]

I have to stay away from Target. I go in for hand wash and leave poor. I don't know how this happens. Seriously! I plead the fifth. I don't even know why I go through the clothes because that dang Converse line gets me every time. How can you turn this down for $29.99?? How??? […]

I love the magazine section at Barnes and Noble. I love bringing home a big pile of new mags and curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea and drooling over the pages. Unfortunately, so many of the magazines I used to adore have closed their doors this past year. Like so many […]

    I love this title because believe me….after France my wallet is ANYTHING but full! Now..I can't let a little thing like money keep me from fall fashion:-) OK..I can. If you are anything like me you don't go and buy a whole new fall wardrobe..you just want a few UNIQUE and DIFFERENT pieces to […]