My sister sent me the link to her Etsy shop yesterday and her stuff is amazing!

Here’s the deal. My sister, Emrie, is expecting her first baby in the next week or so. Everyone is freaking out about it. It’ll be my grandparents FIRST great-grandchild. My mom has been wanting a grandchild for years (“No pressure!). And of course, I’m super excited to have an adorable little nephew. This baby is going to be loved.

Emrie wants to stay home and take care of the baby, but she still wants to bring in a little money. That’s where her Etsy shop comes in. She’s making these adorable bibs, burping pads, washable wristlets, and diaper bags.

If you know of anyone who is pregnant or has a newborn, you should definitely send them the link to her Etsy shop – etsy.com/shop/ebdb. Or buy them something as a gift! She has all sorts of cute, reusable baby gear. Plus, you’ll be supporting a mom who has chosen to work from home!

Here’s the concept. Lots of guys want to take their girlfriend on great dates, but don’t know what to do. And lots of women would like to have romantic/adventurous experiences with their boyfriend/husband. Both these men and women deserve to have those amazing experiences that they’ve always dreamed of. Wouldn’t it be fun to create a book that could make them happen?

To that end, I put a survey up on Craigslist asking women about their best/dream dates, and have gotten over 50 responses. I’d like to condense those responses into an e-book. The e-book format would be negotiable, but I’m thinking chapters on Budget Dates, First Dates, Romantic Dates, Adventurous, Outdoor, etc. Then we would create a simple website and market the book.

It’s time to get going on this. I don’t think it would take long to write, maybe 10-12 sustained hours for the e-book (very rough estimate), and then a couple hours a week for blogging/marketing. Plus it would be fun. Imagine me and you sitting at my dining room table with some yummies, poster paper and markers, a laptop, and maybe a bottle of wine. If we do it a couple weekends in a row we could bust it out in just a few weeks.

One more thing, I’m looking for someone who’s willing to commit to the project. Partnership is good, because we can keep each other accountable.

Do you know anyone in the area that would like to make some money and have fun doing this with me? If so, please fill out the form on the Contact Me page.

Thank you!

Erin

All of which leads to me to the excellently enjoyable task of designing a dream home in my mind. If it’s such an important part of my life, I’d better create a good one. And since thought become things, well, I’ll start with my imagination.

It seems to me that every time I move, I figure out more things that I want. When I lived in a studio, I wanted a bathtub and an area for guests. Then I lived in a small 1-bedroom apartment and I wanted a porch  and more closet space. Now I live in a large 1 bedroom apt. with 4 closets, and I want a boyfriend. *grin* Actually, I’m very happy where I am. But I’m sure you know how enjoyable it is to imagine yourself in your dream home. Let’s play!

What is your dream home? If you haven’t thought about it in a while, here are a few important questions to consider. Do NOT consider cost. This is your dream home. You can have whatever you want!

• How big is it? (Remember, in your dream home you can have help- gardeners, cleaners, etc)
• Rooms? Would you like a music room? Maybe a place for all your crafty stuff?
• How much space do you have outdoors?
• Where is it? Do you have a specific location (ie. 45th St in East Sacramento) or is it more general (in the country near Napa)?
• What do you see when you look out the windows?
• How old is it?
• What style? Brick? Wood?
• Colors? Inside and out?
• Hard wood floors/tile/carpet?
• Do you have a swimming pool? Trampoline? Horses? A garden?
• Anything else?

Take some time and detail it out. What kind of experiences to you want to have in this home? Imagine it in your mind, write it down, maybe even draw a picture. I did. You can see my crayon drawing at the end of this post.

Having trouble envisioning it? Sometimes it can be hard to know exactly what you want. It’s like trying to imagine in a vacuum. Nothing comes to mind. You really need some place to start out, where you can say “I like that,” and “I don’t like that.” Start with what you already know, places you lived or seen on movies, and when those have played out, go to the internet.

One of my favorite places for looking at dream homes is on the Estate page at Luxist.com.  Every day someone posts the Estate of the Day. Here’s my favorite. I especially love the kitchen, master bath, play room, and flowers.

Another good way to view dream homes is to get on the email list of a real estate agent in the location you like.  They’ll send you an email with pictures and info of the available homes.

Take what you like from the homes you see and incorporate that into your dream.

It feels good to get the dream juices flowing.

Here’s my drawing. You can’t see it, but that’s a fancy house with 2 fireplaces, a 2-car garage, and a giant bathtub. In the back yard there’s a swing set, trampoline, BBQ, picnic table, tree house, and clothes lines.

What’s your dream home look like? Be sure to share it in the comments.

Crayon Drawing of my Dream Home