Design Center Makeover!

Last night was our Design Center Makeover at Room and Board! For the last few months, we've been completely immersed in training for the launch of our new Custom Windows Program. Admittedly, there were days when we all thought, "I can't absorb any more information about drapery and shades!" But the day has come.

Sunday night was the big makeover. We started at 6pm when the store closed and worked until a little after 11pm to get everything in place for business the next day. It couldn't have gone better! We planned and prepared for everything ahead of time and we were blessed to have Paul, my visual boss, there with us too!


Room and Board is a modern furniture company; but within that 'modern' classification, there are still more 'classic ' (i.e. traditional) looks and more modern looks. Our company is moving more modern each year and our old Design Center was very reflective of the 'classic' side of our assortment. Time for an update! Every other showroom made plans to integrate the two new Windows fixtures into their current Design Centers, with the rest of the project expected to implement in October.

Denver is unique though. We have very limited square footage and in order to keep everything as-is, simply adding in the two Windows fixtures, we would have to lose a living room setting to accommodate for the new pieces. No can do. We weren't willing to give up the potential dollar loss of that space. So....we worked to get early approval for the complete makeover. It was a bit nerve racking because as all the other showrooms were preparing for this addition, we were preparing for an entire switchout. New fixtures were still in design re-development until the week before (ACK), and parts/pieces were coming from all different locations.

But everything came together! God was gracious to allow us to have our most experienced resources from the Distribution Center helping and everything went smoothly! We are waiting on some minor additions but they really have no visual impact on the space.

Before

 After

 

 It feels so clean and bright and modern! The buzz around the showroom today was amazing. The staff was so excited and especially loved the laptops. :)  

This was my first big project to spearhead and I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow in my role!

food for thought.

God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.
-Oswald Chambers

 "If I were dealing with a man's promise, I should carefully consider the ability and the character of the man who had covenanted with me. So with the promise of God; my eye must not be so much fixed upon the greatness of the mercy-that may stagger me; as upon the greatness of the promiser-that will cheer me. My soul, it is God, even thy God, God that cannot lie, who speaks to thee. This word of His that thou art now considering is as true as His own existence. He is the God unchangeable, He has not altered the thing that has gone out of His mouth, nor called back one single consolatory sentence. Nor doth He lack any power; it is the God that made the heavens and the earth who has spoken thus. Nor can He fail in wisdom as to the time when He will bestow the favors, for He knoweth when it is best to give and when better to withhold. Therefore, seeing that it is the word of a God so true, so immutable, so powerful, so wise, I will and must believe the promise." -Charles Spurgeon

 

Meeting Leena!

 I had the opportunity last weekend to meet Joanna's baby, Leena! It's hard to be far away from friends having babies but sweet Leena was just as darling as I imagined her to be! :)

We hung out at Callie's house so Leena, Clara and Emery were all together for the first time! 

Babies everywhere!

Taylor can sure make that sweet girl giggle!

 Clara love the new kittens...cuddle time!

Girls day...just missing Sarah!

 Love that we have Clara, Leena and Emery added to the mix in the last couple years!

Callie and her girls. :)

Joanna and Leena!

Out for some frozen yogurt...yum.

So thankful for these meaningful, lasting friendships and honored to witness these families growing!

Weekend with Sister!

 Sister came up to Denver this weekend and we had so much fun!

Friday night, we went to a Rockies game and they actually won. :) It was a lot of fun (I love baseball!) and we got to see an amazing sunset over the Rockies from the stadium! The Coors Field sign isn't lit up but you can sort of make it out in the background.

Saturday morning we went hiking in Matthews/Winters Park. It's in the foothills and a just a quick 25 minutes from my house. :) This is a great 4.8 mile hike with some vista views and great valley shaded areas. I think I'll go back to trail run!

After spending the morning outdoors, we of course felt the need to visit REI! There was a yummy food truck outside; perfect timing for lunch!

REI in Denver is right at Confluence Park and this is an incredibly fun spot to spend a summer day. People are out with tubes, rafts, etc...the water was the perfect temperature and boy, did we need to cool off!

 Such a wonderful weekend. I am so thankful for my sister! We had a great time. :)

4th of July Fun!

Coming off such a fun weekend with Robyn, I was inspired to participate in more activities around Denver for 4th of July! It is America's birthday after all...we must celebrate!

My favorite thing was the Independence Eve concert in Civic Center on Tuesday night, July 3rd. It was free to the public and the amazing Colorado Symphony graced us with incredible music while we sat in lounge chairs watching a lights/fireworks display going on in the background. There were some pretty rockin' French Horn parts bringing me back to my band days...ha.

 

This fireworks show was really magical. 

The morning of July 4th, I ran a 4 mile race in Wash Park! This is my favorite park in Denver so far; it reminds me so much of Greenlake in Seattle and there are ALWAYS people there-walking, running, biking, volleyball, tennis, paddleboating, etc.. It was great to race again!

 
After relaxing during the day, I headed out to the Colorado Rapids game that night! I have never been to a professional soccer game before and it was fun. Pardon the glistening brow in my the picture below...it was hot and muggy! So fun to be out amidst other fans. :)

After the game, they let everyone come down onto the field for the fireworks show.

Pretty awesome all around and after a moving video of America's history, on the big screen, I proudly sang our national anthem at the top of my lungs with tears in my eyes. There has been a big price paid by many, many people that has allowed us the incredible freedoms we enjoy. I am so thankful!

Wash Park Sunset.

 Such an amazing sunset tonight during my walk at Wash Park!

Red Rocks Amphitheatre & Boulder Strollin'.

 The main thing we were looking forward to all weekend was the Avett Brothers concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater on Saturday night! First, you must know that people fly in from all over the country to come to concerts here because it is such a great experience. Second, an outdoor concert on a summer night?! Yes, please!!

I wasn't as familiar with the band as Robyn but they had a great, upbeat sound and being out in the middle of a crowd who can't get enough was all I needed. It was SUCH a fun evening; we even put on summer dresses!

As you can see in the picture below, there are giant red rocks that jut out of the earth and the amphitheater is nestled between two walls of rock. Absolutely incredible. You can see Denver in the distance to the east. The Colorado Rockies were playing that night and we could even see their fireworks show from the concert...pretty special.

The most amazing thing is that the Avett Brothers have a song that talks about a shooting star and we saw one that night! It went shooting all the way across the sky before disappearing just before they played that song and the crowd went wild...you can't plan something like that. :) Pretty neat!

On Sunday, I took Robyn to Boulder! This is the most fun town to stroll around in and enjoy a lazy day of window shopping and good food. :) We ate brunch at The Kitchen, which came highly recommended; it was amazingly yummy! Then we just strolled...it was blazing hot and we ducked into air conditioned stores as often as possible. :)

love the convertible and the cruiser bikes!

fancy and rustic....LOVE.

Robyn found this alley with all these colored tiles. SO BEAUTIFUL! Why not try to make an alleyway a little more appealing to the eye. :) 

I am so thankful to have had the chance to host a friend! Thank you for coming Robyn!!

'Hiking' Mt. Evans.

 Saturday was our hiking day! Robyn and I used to go hiking ALL THE TIME together in Seattle. It was only fitting that we explore some of the Rockies during her visit. :)

I had been incredibly nervous about driving into the mountains after the fires that we've had recently. The temperatures were not getting any cooler and the last thing you want to do is be buried deep in the mountains when the wind picks up and a fire comes burning your direction. YIKES.

After researching something that was FAR AWAY from either of two main fires, we settled on Mt. Bierstadt. This is also one of the easiest 14ers to hike. :) Early Saturday morning we hopped in the car and hit the road.

'Hiking' is in quotes because the whole day turned out to be different than planned. ha. First, my computer gave me incorrect directions (c'mon Google Maps...you're supposed to be the best mapping source!), so instead of driving to Mt. Bierstadt we ended up at Mt. Evans. Not the end of the world except that we accidentally DROVE all the way to the top too-ha! It was pretty frustrating but we had no idea where we were going and the Mt. Bierstadt hike starts at 11,669 ft so we thought we were driving up to the trail head.

We passed tree line and started thinking..."there's not much of a mountain left to hike!" as we kept winding up. Next thing you know, we were at the top of MT. EVANS....not even the right mountain. haha. So we 'hiked' a whole 300 yds to the summit from there to get some photos and then proceeded to get back in the Subaru for the drive down.

The drive was terrifying...narrow hairpin turns and no guardrails but we made it just fine after lots of squeals, pounding hearts in our chest and a million prayers. Since we had missed out on the hike up, we thought we could stop at Summit Lake on the way down and do a quick hike over to Mt. Hebron.

By that point the winds had picked up, the famous CO thunderstorm clouds had rolled in all too quickly and we immediately got distracted by a mountain goat sighting (couldn't get a good pic :( ). ha! It was over before it began...our motivation was out the window and we were more concerned about getting down the mountain safely than spending any more time hiking. As if we had already done so much...

SO, here are our photos from 'hiking'. No matter what, being in the mountains is my favorite thing and it is always, always breathtaking. It is such a blessing to live in such a beautiful state and to be in awe of our amazing God for creating this beauty!

Summit Lake

loved these little plants-so sweet!

 

 

 

 Here's to actually hiking it next time!