The big reveal...

I haven't been feeling well the past few weeks...and the past few days have been even worse.  Each day swallowing seems to be getting increasingly difficult.  I wanted to eat all my favorite things now...before surgery...because I know I won't be able to enjoy anything afterwards for a very, very, very long time.  But, I'm already having to turn down a lot of my favorite stuff because it's just way too painful to eat.  Actually everything and anything is painful to eat.  There's no longer any rhyme or reason to it.  Sunday afternoon I ate a sandwich for lunch, and realized that I was crying as I was eating it because it just hurt so bad.  My friends  invite me out for meals, but eating with people is starting to give me anxiety because I wince and make strange faces as I try to swallow...  I definitely don't feel like my insides and my outsides match at all.  People tell me that I look like I'm doing so well because cancer hasn't left me looking emaciated or weak....(and also bold lipstick colors work wonders) but inside I feel terrible.  The pain is so intense it wears me out.    I try really hard not to focus on what I feel like inside...I've been so busy with the one goal I had set for myself for this time post radiation/chemo and pre-surgery....the craft room.  It was a huge task to take on, and I had loads of volunteers ready and willing to help me with it.  But, in the end, I wanted to do it myself.  So despite the pain...and the fatigue...I pushed through and have been working on the room and I'm fairly  happy with what it looks like now. 

I went through everything in the room, cleared out 4 huge bags of trash, sorted, organized, labeled...it was SO exhausting!!  But, boy did it feel good to get it done...on my own!  But, I wasn't fully satisfied...I then wanted to work on the cosmetics of the room.  I wanted to paint my craft table and chairs, but everyone kept telling me I would have to sand it first...and that didn't sound like fun at all. Thanks to CCL for telling me about Annie Sloan paint...you can paint without sanding!!  Also, a big thanks to Jeeves for helping me move the furniture outside, helping me paint, and helping me move everything back!  He was such a good sport...and a pretty decent painter!  We got the furniture set up, and I added some finishing touches to the room and.......VIOLA!  It's finally done!!  I wish I had a before picture...but I really couldn't even get inside the room to take a decent before picture.  So, we'll have to make do with the afters...

I decided to go with a gray/white/robins egg blue color scheme.  I thought the colors were inviting for my clients (when I'm ready for clients again, that is)...and it makes the room look brighter and more spacious!

The dead lady's shelf....I got this shelf from an estate sale, which is why I call it the dead lady's shelf.  With the help of  some bins and labels...it's all organized and tidy now

You know what happens when you can't see all your ribbon/tulle/streamers?  You buy more!!  I won't have that problem anymore

The inside of my craft closet!  It's organized to perfection!  

I put this quote up when I bought the house...I didn't realize how messy it'd actually get in there!!

I thought this accessory fit the craft room project quite perfectly..."She believed she could, so she did!"

This wreath was in my closet collecting dust, so I refurbished it to match the room.

Some of my favorite invitations that I've made in the past on display...along with the mobile craft table my uncle built for me!

A special thanks to my frenemy and Janson, one of my grooms (as in one of my wedding clients) for cutting down the jungle in my backyard!!  I love sitting on the swing back there  and listening to the birds sing now that I don't have to worry about what's lurking in the jungle!  When I'm better, I'm looking forward to planting a flower garden and sprucing up the yard since it's now a blank canvas!  In the meantime, I had this old ladder that's been sitting on the fence forever, so I thought it would be perfect to hang some flowers from it!  It's amazing how much cuter that old, tattered ladder looks now!!