BalncalndedLife is like a painting.

We all start with a blank canvas and little by little we add to our canvas.

Are you choosing to add all one color?  Are you staying just in one area of your canvas?  Are you playing it safe?  Think of the relationships in your life...  Is everyone around you the same?  Does everyone in your tribe think, act, dress, and look alike? 

Are you ever reaching outside of your comfort zone and choosing a paint tone that may shake things up a little?

This can also work the other way.  Did you know if you mix too many colors at once, you will get muddy tones?  Are you adding so much to your canvas of life that you aren't able to enjoy anything.  Are you doing too much?  Have you left any white space to make the other aspects of your life pop?  Think of the relationships in your life...  Do you have people in your life that are so dark and life sucking that they are dulling your colors? 

Or are you choosing a chaos of different tones?  Is your canvas vibrant, full, with some white space balanced to allow room for your eye to enjoy it all?  Is your painting subject all on the canvas or does it move off canvas to allow breathing room and  room for imagination?

Some things I have noticed in my travels and people watching, in my businesses and interacting with so many different types of people over the years, and also learned about myself in therapy.  We often add so much to our lives we are miserable instead of living this one life we have to live as we are, who we are, why we are.  

So the next time you are unhappy, overwhelmed, miserable think about the root cause.  Is it something you can change, is it someone you can edge out of your life, is there a way to approach the situation with a better attitude?  Do you need to gesso over a section and start over?  

I learned in therapy most of my unhappiness stems from my high expectations.  That I put on myself and on those around me, so whenever something didn't live up to what I had dreamed, expected, wanted I become sad and disappointed.  I battle with this everyday.  I can tell you that once I learned that about myself it was the biggest ah ha moment in my life.  Am I still hard on myself?  Yep.  Do I still get disappointed by those around me when I don't feel like they are giving all of themselves?  Yep.  But knowing this about myself has helped me with resetting my expectations, live a bit more in the "it is what it is" mindset. 

What it also makes me aware of is the energy I see sucked out of people who are so busy doing all the things, they aren't enjoying any of the things.  Take some time each day to turn off the noise.  That may mean waking up earlier (ew) or staying up later.  I read at night when everyone else is in bed to quiet it all out.  I paint to quiet it all out.  

Are you involved in too many activities?  Are your kids?  Are you allowing time to be or are you afraid what you find out about yourself if you quiet down?  Are the things you are involved in filling your cup or are they draining you down.  

Do I have it figured all out?  Nope.  I keep wanting to add businesses, or move to a new town, to deal with things when they get stagnant.  I recognize it.  I am a ennegram seven.  I like new shiny things, I like the process of thinking of new things and having new experiences.  I have learned I physically need to travel to keep that fresh and new aspect in my life because it lights me up and fills my cup.  I also have learned it often a coping mechanism when I get bored. 

So take stock of your life canvas.  What do you need to add?  What do you need to take away?   Are the people you are surrounding yourself with helping or hindering your progress?  

This post was originally posted on another site and moved here.

​Why is my favorite number one?  Because we were named the BEST Paint and Sip Art Studio in Georgia!  Number ONE, my friends.  Which is amazing.  I work SOOOO hard to make sure everyone has a good time.  My staff works SOOOOO hard to make sure everyone has a good time.  I have no idea how we were chosen, who did the choosing, etc.  In my heart we are number one, always.  Now it is nice to have proof from an outside source.  Thank you to Best Things Georgia for the ranking!  We LOVE it!  Want to check out the rankings?  Click here:  https://bestthingsga.com/paint-and-wine/

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Lush Lounge is now open!  Come out and check out our new digs on Wednesday, November 15 at 6 pm for our Grand RE-opening of Lush Art just in time for our 4th Anniversary Party and the Grand Opening of Lush Lounge.  What is Lush Lounge?  It is a common use space for customers of Lush Art and Escape Artists.  We sell beer and wine, have board games to rent for a small fee, tables, chairs, sofas, and a big tv.  It is a space to relax, to connect with your friends, to hang out and enjoy our great creative vibe!  We will be having some fabulous prizes to give away the night of the event, followed by and invitation only FREE paint class for our VIPs, Very Important Painters.  Plus our friends at Just Tap'd will have a beer they brewed just for us, after a drunken conversation with Jayme the owner.  It is called Lu Shart.  Get it?!?  HAHAHAHAHA.  If you don't get it, we had a photo backdrop in our old studio and if we took the photo and didn't get all the letters in the photo it looked like it said SHART over our painters heads...  SO many people got a laugh out of that, and we prefer to laugh at ourselves and embrace our awkwardness.   So come out and taste our Lu Shart beer, register for prizes, check out the space, and hang out with our tribe.

This post was originally posted on another site and I moved it here.

​One of my favorite things is seeing Facebook friends of mine interact and tease and comment on each other’s posts and realizing they met at Lush Art. That I met them at Lush Art. I love the little community of smart, strong, (obviously brilliant since they came to Lush in the first place), creative women (and a few also obviously brilliant men) we have helped join and unite. Color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age doesn’t matter and never will.  ❤️❤️  I love that we have created a network of people who comment, support, and boost each other.  


Another favorite thing I did this week is meet someone for a brainstorming session.  I love other fellow business owners.  It is great to meet up for coffee and hash out issues you and they are having, offering each other solutions or just some moral support.  I met up with Lindsey of Inner Sanctuary: Be Inspired.  It is helpful to meet with another creative and figure out ways to collaborate and incorporate the businesses for a future event.  We can't wait to share our ideas!!  I will put a little hint here, mark Jan 6 on your calendar.  You have heard of a staycation right?  What about a retreat, you don't have to leave town for and you get to sleep in your own bed?  More info to come soon!  


I love to get in my head, and think about things I like to do and try and incorporate those into my business.  I love filling a niche.  So the purpose of Lush Lounge was born.  Some of my favorite things are board games, being with friends in a casual low, key comfortable place, drinking (duh, I am the Lush after all), and vegging out in comfy clothes.  Lush Lounge will provide a place for all that and much more.  We will bring you info to better your life, simplify your life, encourage you, relax you, and live a lush life.  I was so happy to work with Kelli with Lettered Grace to create the new Lush Lounge logo.  

This post was originally posted on a previous blog and reposted here. 

One of the most given excuses I hear from people of why they don't come to paint class is their fear of not having someone to go to class with them.  It is also a frequently asked question.  Does it matter if I come to class alone?  What if I don't have any friends that want to come paint with me?  Does anyone ever come to class alone?  The short answer:  YES!  Almost all of our regulars come alone, frequently.  People new to town come alone.  People traveling in the area come alone.  People that have been to class before and have seen others there alone, come alone. 


While the classes are about having fun, they aren't dependent on someone else being with you to have fun.  Also I have often seen the groups that come in and have the Debbie Downer with them.  She brings the negativity and the mood of the group down.  Leave Debbie Downer at home, and come enjoy yourself.  Interact with those around you, make new friends.  Or keep to yourself and trust your process. Many of my friends currently in my personal group of friends aka my "tribe" are painters I have met through Lush Art.  I didn't know them before they came to paint.  But my tribe can also repeat something I have said maybe a few too many times "This is why I vacation alone." 


Many of the business owners I have met to brainstorm and collaborate with have been met because I tried something on my own.  Rachel at Homegrown Yoga (Yoga, duh), Kelli at Lettered Grace (a great hand letterer who made our new logos for the businesses who I contacted through Instagram), Lindsey at Be Inspired (Reiki who I contacted through Instagram),  Montine at Paint Awake (Intuitive Art retreats), all the fabulous women I met at Inspired Retreat, Lori with Awareness Counceling, Donna at Donna Downey studios (where I go to take art classes)
to name a few.  Reach out, make a connection, but most importantly find yourself.  


I frequently do many things by myself.  I prefer to shop alone, I often take trips alone
, I don't plan self care with others (I don't coordinate massages, mani and pedis with others).  Does this mean I don't like others?  No, but when I am ready to relax and decompress I often need to do that alone.  I spend my life planning the fun of other people, so I have found to plan MY fun...  it means I often do it on my own.  


Have I always felt comfortable doing things alone?  nope.  But I am always glad I did it.  You know why?  Sometimes it is nice to have a time where the only person you have to worry about is you.  You are important.  Sure, often to get to that point I have had to make sure my family is taken care of, my businesses are left in good hands, etc.  But then when I go, I enjoy.  I read books, I go to retreats, I learn, I improve, I make goals and plans.  


So I challenge you to do something alone.  Take a trip, book a paint class, go to a coffee shop and read, go to yoga.  Pick something you have wanted to do, and the schedule of your friends or family always keeps you from going, and DO IT.  Have a drink, relax, and enjoy!  


You will learn so much about yourself, you will find that you are a good time charlie all on your own, that you get to enjoy whatever the experience is because you are doing YOU.   It isn't selfish (or weird).  It is important self care.   Keep learning, keep growing, keep being you.  

Originally posted on another website, and moved here.  Lush Life is about how living your best life often starts with living outside your comfort zone.  What if I didn't open Lush Art?  I mean, it scared the bejeezus out of me.  What did I know about running a business?  Not a hell of a lot.  But what did I do?  Did I wait around?  Did I keep it on my dream shelf to think about every once in awhile?  No!  I did it.  I opened on a wing and a prayer, and a unsecured line of credit.  I found a place I had to do minimal to as far as getting it open.  I had the walls painted and started painting ideas.  I turned my dreams into plans and my plans into a purpose.  My purpose was to create a safe and relaxing place for women to paint, to play, to forget about all the stresses and responsibilities of life, if only for a short while.  I can say after 4 years of building this purpose, I am very proud of what it has become.  


Sure, I have days I cuss the day I decided to do this.  I mean it was pretty easy being a stay at home mom, comparatively.  Not that being a stay at home mom is easy, it is hard, but it had less pressure than opening and running a business.  I didn't open because we "needed" me to work.  I was lucky, my husband's job provides for us to live.  There are difficult customers, bitchy social media trolls, inventory issues, there is always something.  But I needed more.  MORE.  I needed a purpose, I knew I had a passion and I wanted to share it.   But some days it is REALLY HARD.  


But then I get a good review raving about Lush Art, I have someone run up to me at a restaurant and say "You're the Lush Art girl, I love you on Instagram!", or I have someone send me a message about how they are bringing their friend to paint because she recently lost her mother and needs a place to let loose and have a break from her grief for just one evening.  


That my friends, is why I do what I do.  That is why I keep adding to it.  We opened Escape Artists War Town last year to reach a different group of people, to provide another safe space for people to play. Adults need to play too.  And I have decided to add to it again.  Enter the Lush Art expansion, Lush Lounge.  Lush Lounge is a multi use facility that allows ideas I have had, and didn't have the right space for, to happen.  We have a comfy seating, tables and chairs, a bar.  We have board games, trivia nights, Fan nights, special guests, a book club (Club Book), Monthly Mimosas with Cara, smaller and more intimate class options, and so much more.  The Lounge is a fun relaxing space for our customers to use.  


What is my motto in 2018?  Be the 2%.