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