Right now, the season finale of Survivor is on TV.  The fact that this show has come back, season after season, shows who the real survivor is, but it does bring up some interesting questions:

1. Could you survive without the comforts of your daily life, and for how long before getting really cranky and a little nutty?
2. Would your values remain intact if you were competing for the chance to win a million dollars?
3. And the one we all love to consider, what would you do if you won a million dollars?
   

It's sort of funny that these competitors learn to live with very little in their quest to win a lot of money. I wonder if they take any of that back with them—a sense of what they really do need and an appreciation for the little luxuries.

Whether you have a lot or a little, I think it's so important  to appreciate the little luxuries. An expensive necklace is just that, something expensive. But a one-of-a-kind, handmade necklace that you love for it's uniqueness can be so much more valuable, even if it costs less.

A chest of drawers that you stripped yourself and stained exactly the shade you wanted, with the hardware that you chose specifically for that piece—it's worth so much more than something out of a catalog.

A five-star restaurant is wonderful, but sometimes a gooey slice of pizza is more satisfying than a complicated gourmet dish. And a homemade chocolate chip cookie can trump the most perfect creme brulee, depending on your mood.

This isn't to say that you have to refinish your own furniture or bake your own cookies. And I'm by no means knocking gourmet food. But I do believe you should recognize the things that mean something special to you, not because they're expensive but because they're perfectly suited to you or to a moment.

Are you the type who goes from place to place, looking for the perfect piece of furniture—that piece that's really you?  Or the type who heads to that well-known retailer that has perfectly fine, but not all that exciting, stuff. Things that will make your house look generic, unless you head back out to find the perfect accessories to make it yours?

Well, stop searching and start thinking outside the big box. You deserve something custom made just for you. Take a few minutes to immerse yourself in the many choices of fabric at Brown's Custom Furniture and you're sure to find something that's, well, perfect.
 

Today is May 1st—officially known as May Day. I'm sure you're dancing around the May Pole right now as I type. On the other hand, mayday is an internationally recognized distress signal.  Ever wonder how mayday became a call for help?  A quick Wikipedia check shows that mayday comes from the french term venez m'aider, which means "come help me."

So I thought I'd come to your rescue on May Day.

It strikes me that spring may have you thinking of a trip to the garden store—but maybe your thumb isn't really as green as your good intentions. If that's the case, here's a great cheat—support a local farmer instead.

Friday, April 22, is Earth Day.

Here are some quick and easy ways to do something good for the earth.

1. Turn over an old leaf. A leaf of paper, that is. Turn it over and use the other side. 
2. Give up the bottles. Drinking water is good, but buying lots of bottles you have throw away later, even if you recycle those bottles, is unnecessary. Get a refillable water bottle that you can use over and over again. Or use a good, old-fashioned cup or glass. 
   
3. Speaking of recycling...do it. Recycle as much as possible. All that junk mail—recycle it! Cans, bottles, aluminum foil. They all go in the recycling bin too.
   
4. Buy locally-grown food. Locally-grown food supports farmers in our own community, which is a very good thing. And it also limits the amount of fuel consumed by big trucks and airplanes moving produce all over the planet.
   
5. Share. Give something you don't need anymore to someone who could use it. The more you share, the less you add to the landfill.
   

If you want to spend more time learning about what you can do to help Mother Earth, check out The Earth Day Network, and while you're there, pledge an act of green.

Have a very green week!

Are you still awake, trying to get the last bit of weekend in before waking up to the dreaded Monday? Or are you sleeping soundly, after a busy weekend that just didn't seem to stop for a moment?

Here's an idea.  Why not vow to slow the weekend down next time? Don't you just love a slow, lazy Sunday?

And isn't it even better when it includes a nice big lunch—one that you don't have to fix?

Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton has been serving up a spring lunch buffet from 11:30 a.m - 1:30 p.m., three Sundays a month since February. You have four chances left—including next Sunday—to make it over there. And if you're there on the third Sunday of the month, you can also visit the natural history museum for free. (Yep, next Sunday is the third Sunday...free museum day!)


And you get more than just food. You get 1,428 acres of forested land and a 110 acre lake. That's a lot of atmosphere.

Enough space, enough quiet, enough pie to slow you down...at least for a little while.

As the weekend starts to wind down, are you wondering what to do next weekend?  Here's a wonderful family activity to add to your calendar that I ran across while looking at JBDesignIT's events listings—An Easter Egg Launch.

What's an Easter Egg Launch? It's your chance to see how far into the pasture you can slingshot an egg!  The three longest launches win prizes, and if that's not enough entertainment for you, you can also spend time petting some of the farm animals, making a craft or hunting for Easter Eggs. 


It all happens at Crooked Pines Farm between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 9th. There's even food to fortify you before your big launch—ham, potato salad, fruit salad and a roll for $6.  You can get full details by visiting www.crookedpinesfarm.com or calling  (706) 347-0274.

One more thing—here's the address: 355 Harmony Rd. Eatonton, Ga. 31024

Whatever you do, hope you have an egg-cellent weekend!

In my last post, I talked about spring cleaning. When you were in those closets, did you happen to notice your kids' clothes? Or lack thereof?

When the weather turns, it's easy enough to switch out some of your own heavier clothes for the lighter things that have been hanging out in the back of the closet for a while. Not so easy with your kids, though, because last year's clothes probably don't fit any more, do they? Life is moving along swimmingly until suddenly it's time for a swim lesson and your kids don't have bathing suits that fit. And things are pretty carefree until you notice the bottom of your son's short sleeve button down rides up above his belly button.

 

Well, this year you don't have to be surprised by the change of seasons—just hop on over to 2 Peas in a Pod in Lake Oconee. They've got new spring clothing and shoes in stock—and if you mention their ad in JBDesignIT.com...

 

...you'll get a free monogram on any new spring outfit. So go ahead and spruce up your kids' wardrobes before you find yourself scrambling for something that fits. 

It is officially spring. March madness. More daylight. Spring training. Breezy days. Flowers and showers on the way.

What's not to like about spring? It's a great time of year.

Of course, it's also time for spring cleaning. I've never really understood why we don't do more winter cleaning—how are we supposed to get motivated to do spring cleaning when we're tempted outside by nice, mild weather?

But it does feel good when things inside are fresh and clean and clutter-free.

So are you ready to tackle your closets? De-clutter your drawers? Not to mention the stacks and stashes of stuff that haven't made it into either?

Getting organized isn't nearly as hard to do as it is to start. So stop procrastinating and get out five bags or boxes. Label them:

• keep
• sell
• donate
• recycle
• throw away

Everything that goes in the "keep" box will have to be put away again, so make sure it's really worth keeping. Donating and recycling should make you feel good—you're helping your community and your planet—so remember that as you wonder whether to hold onto something or not.

And then there's the "sell" box. It's a lot easier to part with things when you can get money in return. It will take you just a few minutes to list items for sale on JBDesigntIT.com and then, cell phone in hand in case potential buyers are calling, you can take out the bag of garbage...and maybe lay down on the grass and watch the clouds for a little while...after all, you've earned it!

If you’ve been over to JBDesignIT lately, you can’t help but notice that we have a whole new look!  We’ve evolved into a site that does everything our old site did, plus a lot more. Here’s why. JBDesignIT was launched to create an online community that makes it easy to promote different products and services online. I talk to people every day who find the online world sort of overwheming even while they recognize the huge potential it has for reaching lots of people.

At the same time, once people had become part of the JBDesignIT community, they started wanting more. Maybe that’s why I’ve been so busy…and JBDesignIT has grown so quickly. 

I started thinking about what would make JBDesignIT even more useful for our community and decided it was time to evolve into a classifieds-style site. 

Now, it’s even easier to be part of the JBDesignIT community. In less than five minutes, you can post information on products, services and businesses that you want to promote and sell.  And it’s FREE! How great is that? (Of course, if you want to stand out from the crowd, there are low-cost options like feature ads and banners, as well.)

JBDesignIT also creates websites. If you need a new or different website, I’d love to help you with that. (As an artist, I’ve been surprised to find I like the coding almost as much as I like the designing!) And we’re offering social media services, too.  If you know you want to be on Facebook but have no idea where you’ll find the time to keep up with it, we’re here for you. We’ll create your Facebook page, help you find fans, work out a Facebook strategy and then put it into action.

The JBDesignIT community is built for you—so if you have questions, comments or ideas, I’d love to hear them.  I really hope you like the new-and-improved JBDesignIT!

Ok, folks. Ready to work off all those Valentine chocolates the JBDesignIT way?

Just follow these steps:

1.  Wear a pedometer when you go treasure hunting and shop 'til you drop a pound or two. (And make sure to buy a few things so you get your weight training in.)

2.  Pick a really big piece to refinish—a bureau or a cabinet or shelves—that requires you to stretch and squat and move around while you sand and stain.

3.  Start turning over the soil for your new garden. The bigger the plot, the better results you'll have (because of the great arm and leg workout you get—I have no idea about the gardening results!)

4.  Spruce up the house. You burn 136 calories an hour just making the bed, so take that chore back from the kids until you look great in your jeans! You burn 170 calories per hour grocery shopping, so it stands to reason that if you're in the store buying lots of food, you'll lose more weight, right?! And then there's mopping and vacuuming. Both of those activities burn 238 calories an hour. So if you work hard, you'll have an enviable physique and great looking floors, too. (To procrastinate when you're supposed to be cleaning, click here and check out other calories counts.)

5. Play with the kids—or just play like your a kid. Why take a spinning class when you can Sit-n-Spin? If yoga feels a little too serious for you, there's always Twister.  And tag works way better than a treadmill.

Ok, with my calorie-busting plan in place, you're good to go. You can probably even afford an extra chocolate or two!

We just created a Facebook page for Mary's/M Squared Design Firm , so I thought we'd introduce her to all our blog readers.

Mary's is a retail shop that has all kinds of great accessories for your home or office.

You'll also find great gifts—including one of my favorite gifts, jewelry.

Mary is ready right now to handle all you last minute Valentine's Day shoppers and will even gift wrap your purchases for free. So I definitely recommend that you head on over to 115 Church Street in historic downtown Vidalia and check out the shop.

But maybe you have something bigger in mind than a new accessory for your home. That's where M Squared Design Firm comes in. Mary is a wonderful interior designer and she can help you turn your home or office into the haven you want it to be.

Last, but not least—if you are like Mary and would rather spend your time away from your computer, give us a shout—we'd love to set up a Facebook page for you and help you get social online while you focus on being social in person.

Make sure to "like" Mary's Facebook page so you can keep up to date on her style ideas, new inventory and specials.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Poor Christina. Everybody is talking about her today. And these days, "everybody" is bigger than ever.

Christina Aguilera isn't the first to mess up the words a little while singing the national anthem. And my guess is that she's not the first to get the song wrong on national television.  But isn't it a little crazy how an embarrassing moment can be multiplied exponentially thanks to Twitter, bloggers and Facebook?

Even if you don't follow Facebook, Twitter or blogs (a hypothetical, of course, since you're reading this), it would be hard not to hear about her Star Spangled Snafu...because reporters and DJs and friends of friends of friends have all been chatting it up and sharing their opinions. They are getting plenty of their info from social media, even if you aren't.

Whatever your position—whether you think it was an understandable error or an unforgivable lack of preparation and patriotism—what I want you to think about for a minute is not the mistake but the medium that turned it into such a big deal. Social media is a huge part of our world today—and it's getting harder to think about doing business without it. If you've got a business to promote or customers to connect with, now is the time to get social, if you haven't already.

At JBDesignIT, we've been using social media for quite some time and we're excited to now be helping other members of the JBDesignIT community get social, too.

Chances are good that none of us are going to get the attention Christina has gotten, but using Twitter, Facebook and blogs will give our customers a chance to get to know us better. And if we do make a mistake that starts our little social world buzzing, we'll be able to apologize in an instant, and move on to more important things.

Don’t you just love it when an old friend turns up and it turns out  you have something new in common? That’s what happened when I recently reconnected with Bill Culbreath, who went to high school with me and is now living in Kennesaw.

It turns out that over the years, we've both developed a love for antiques, and more specifically for bringing life and beauty to old, ignored pieces.

Bill sent me a bunch of pictures of refinishing projects he’s  completed and I thought I’d share a few, so you can be inspired, too.  (He’s an IT guy by day, but manages to get a lot of projects done in his spare time!)


Bill’s first step in any project is to sand the piece back to its  original wood. Then he stains it and finishes it…and along the way he repairs what’s broken and adds hardware when it’s needed.


Isn't it fun to see some of these great pieces he’s brought back to life? Thanks, Bill, for sharing!!

Now is the time when we find ourselves spending a lot more time indoors. Who can blame us? It's cold outside!

But it's also the time when we tend to go a little nutty from all that time spent inside. Maybe we're all a little too close for comfort or maybe we are feeling the effects of not being able to soak up enough sunshine.

So why not bring a little of the outdoors in? It'll make you feel better, I promise!

Start by opening your blinds as soon as you wake up every morning. Let some sunshine in (but leave the cold air outside!). And then the next time you are outside, bring something interesting inside. Pine cones are pretty in a bowl. Twigs look cool stuck in a vase or a basket and you can use them for kindling, too.

This is the perfect time to splurge on some inexpensive flowers from the grocery store. You can also pick up potted herbs at the grocery store. Instead of planting them in the cold ground, set them on your kitchen counter.

And don't put all the fruit in the fridge—set some in a bowl. Yet another way to bring some of the outdoors in.

If all else fails, light some beach-scented candles and snuggle up with any movie you can find that's set in a tropical locale. 

Pina colada, anyone?

It's your home and it should be different than everyone else's place. Here are some easy ways to make your space a unique reflection of you:

1. Display a collection. All kinds of things make great collections—candlesticks on a mantle, rocks or shells on a windowsill, or jewelry on an dresser, for example. Don't stash things away, pull them out and group them together. Give yourself, your family and your guests interesting things to look at. Maybe you have small instruments, books, wind-up toys, glassware, dishes, magnets. Or maybe if you look around, you'll notice you have a lot of things that are purple, or smooth, or reflective. Group them and see how they become something else altogether.
   
2. Hang your child's artwork. And no, the refrigerator doesn't count. Be selective. Pick a few special things and get them professionally framed. Or enlarge them to poster size. Or take a bunch of pieces, make them smaller and create a collage. They'll brighten up a bathroom or the kitchen or the family room, and they'll make both you and your children feel good every time you look up.  
3. Go treasure hunting. Thrift stores, yard sales, dollar stores, art galleries...browse and ye shall find! When you're on the hunt, think out of the box. Antique luggage can be stacked and turned into a side table. Old juice glasses can become candleholders or vases. An old love seat can be recovered with modern fabric. You get the idea...
4. Find your signature scent. It's not just what you see that makes your home special. Light candles or use scented oil or sprays regularly (not too strong, though...just enough), and before long, smelling that scent somewhere else will make people think about you. It becomes your signature.
5. Play music.  Music adds to the feeling of your home, too. Sight, smell, sound...all of it comes together to give your home its own unique personality...a personality that reflects your own.
   

If there's someplace in your home that reflects who you are, take a picture and send it to gerri@jbdesignco.com. I'd love to share it with others in the JBDesignIT community!

Brrr....it's cold outside!!



Isn't this a great photo? I found it on the Atlanta Journal and Constitution's website. I'd love to see your winter photos, too.  Send your favorites to gerri@jbdesignco.com and I'll post them in my next blog. 

In the meantime, keep reading for five great ways to keep warm and avoid cabin fever:

1. Bake up something sweet.  There's no better time to spend a little extra time in the kitchen.  If you're worried about your New Year's resolutions, go to cookinglight.com and find recipes for healthy goodies.  You're inside.  You've got the time.  You baked for everyone but yourself over the holidays.  And—baking makes your kitchen nice and warm!
2. Soup—it's what's for dinner.  Soup will warm up your kitchen, too.  Go for something broth-based— it gets better as it simmers away, it's an easy way to add lots of veggies to your diet, it's healthy and figure-friendly, and best of all—it's so inexpensive!! If you've resolved to spend less money, homemade soup for dinner will put you way ahead of the game.
   
3. Craft. Any craft can help with cabin fever but if you want to stay warm, too, knitting and crocheting are no-brainers.  Depending on your skill level and your free time, you can make a hat, a scarf, socks or a blanket to keep you nice and toasty all the way through February.  And if you've got the skills, make some extra warm things for a homeless shelter...you'll feel warm inside and out. 
4. Warm up your floors.   This is no time for bare floors.  If you've got a big space to cover, check out this rug in JBDesignIT's online store.  
5. Bundle up and head outdoors.  It might be cold outside, but embrace your inner child, run around and enjoy the snow before it's all gone.  Create warm memories and then head back in for some hot chocolate!  

There's something about starting a new year, isn't there?  Yesterday wasn't really all that different from the day before it, yet I woke up feeling flush with new possibilities.  And yes, I made some resolutions.   

But today, I woke up with one more resolution on my mind. My resolution is to feel that sense of possibility that I felt on January 1st again and again. As often as possible.

All it really takes is a little awareness of the many times, big and little, when there's a thrill of fresh possibility in our lives.

There's the first day of the new year, we've established that.  But there's also the moment after your house has been cleaned, top to bottom, before anyone's messed it up.  Coming home with a trunk full of groceries.  Stepping out on the town right after a new hair cut. 

Clearance sales, antique shops, yard sales—not just their existence, but having the time to dig through them.

Monday, the beginning of the week. And of course Friday, the beginning of the weekend.

Overtime at the big game.  Playoffs.  A child's performance.  Previews before a movie (and a big tub of popcorn).

An empty canvas. A stripped piece of furniture.  A can of fresh paint.  The first day of a new class.

And we can't forget snow on Christmas.  Or a warm sunny day, after so many cold ones. 

Milestones come every year, every month, every week.  The first milestone of the year is behind us.  Let's resolve to enjoy the many more that are headed our way.

All the shopping, wrapping, cooking, visiting, decorating, cleaning—done!

It's a good feeling, in a way—a relief that things are calming down. But then again, it's also sort of a letdown to wake up on Monday morning with all of that in the past.

Thank goodness for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day! The celebrations aren't over yet...and I've heard Valentine's Day candy is already on the shelf in some stores. (Um, give us a minute to catch our breaths, and work off all those Christmas cookies, okay?)

I love reading and watching all the end-of-the-year wrap-ups that every writer seems compelled to write.  Best News Story of 2010, Best Fashion Trend of 2010, Best Disaster Photo of 2010 (Really?! Can there be a "best" one of those?)...

Well, here's my entry.  Best New Discovery of 2010—JBDesignIT!  At least, I hope that's how you feel.

Right now, we're busy behind the scenes, making improvements so that JBDesignIT will be even better in 2011 than it has been in 2010.  But it will still be all about the discovery.  Through JBDesignIT, you can discover great new places that will satisfy your artistic appetite and your actual appetite. You'll find cool stores, unique gifts and independent shop owners who will remember your name.  You'll discover more about the community you live in, the communities nearby and the endless online community that expands our boundaries to no end.

What will you discover in 2011?  You've already made one important discovery in 2010 (JBDesignIT) and we look forward to getting to know you better in 2011.  So let me add to my end-of-the-year list:  Best New Discoveries—JBDesignIT. And the community that makes it thrive. 

What more do you need?

Happy New Year!!

p.s. Send me your favorite holiday moments or snowy photos (you know you have them!) and you'll be entered into our photo contest! 'Tis the season to share. Email the shots to gerri@jbdesignco.com.

Everybody's worried about dollars and cents as they head out to finish up their shopping, but tonight I'm thinking about scents, not cents.

To me, holiday scents are as important as all the decorating and shopping and parties and cooking. They set the mood and they're also a powerful memory cue. The smell of apple cider instantly takes me to Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's house. The warm, spicy scents meant family time and gossiping in the kitchen. I pick some up throughout the winter and warm it up for friends and family. I love the way it makes my house smell, better than any air freshener you can buy.

Here's another good one—oranges and cloves. Sticking cloves in an orange was an elementary school art project one year and I love that smell too. A few oranges, cloves, a bowl and a little therapeutic time spent pushing cloves into oranges—that's all you need for an easy,  inexpensive, aromatic centerpiece.

Any kind of baking is, of course, another wonderful way to make your house smell good for the holidays. I like quick breads—banana, because it gives me something to do with the bananas that get a little too ripe to eat out of hand, and cranberry orange, because it's seasonal and super-easy (look for the recipe on the back of a bag of fresh cranberries). My neighbor makes ginger snaps and I find excuses to stop over and say "hi" right around this time every year. In my mind, they're tied with good old sugar cookies for classic holiday smells.

There's the buzzer, so I better be going—my cranberry orange bread is ready to come out of the oven. I hope the house still smells this good in the morning!

Last week, I talked about how NOT to stress out during the holidays. (Are you aware of the countdown? Only 12 shopping days left...)

Now, I know the pressure's not getting to YOU, but just in case, I've got a new stress-busting idea for you...instead of a coffee break, consider an art break.

Isn't it a great feeling to walk into a museum or gallery and get lost in a world of art, even if it's just for a few minutes? If you don't know where to go, we've got some local museums and galleries listed on the Think Art tab at JBDesignIT.com.

And what if you're cold and tired and just don't feel like getting out? Well, I've got a solution for you, too. Take a virtual art break by clicking on the Artists tab at JBDesignIT.com. 

And if you insist on worrying about shopping, buy some art or give someone admission to an art gallery or museum, or better yet, give someone a homemade gift certificate for a shared art break. Aahhh, that's a quick fix, isn't it?

Enjoy the season!