Mimi – Page 3 – Unlikely Martha

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Catching Up

Coming back to this space more frequently to write, air my grievances, share my purchases, what I wore, and document my life is something that while high on my priority list hasn’t been made a priority as I continue to navigate a pretty strange world that is slowly presenting itself as our new normal.

I started this journal in August of 2010 as a 31 year old SAHM of a 4 year old and a 3 month old. Well I’m now 43 and they are 16 and 12 and I am grateful to my core that I took the time to document our lives then because this has become a window through which to peek back at our past life.

Life has shifted, I’m entering my mid-40s and would love nothing more than to document this next stage of our lives, and most of all my own personal growth. I’ve never felt more grounded, beautiful, confident, and rooted in who I am as I do now and I think that realization deserves a little documenting as well!

Over the past twelve years I gave my family every bit of me, I still continue to do so but in a different capacity that is allowing me to move differently. I used to think everyone was passing me by because I wasn’t interested in giving my everything to blogging or social media because what was happening at home was always my priority and I was never willing to put them aside for my dreams. Whether that was the right decision or not, I know it was the right one for our family.

I now understand that I wasn’t behind, I was just building a solid foundation and now it’s time for me to build! My family is settled, happy, and mostly self-sufficient and I feel good about chasing my dreams with a new fervor because MY truth is the dream is always there, but the children aren’t always small and it’s really hard to erect anything on a shaky foundation.

My goal is to show up here at least twice a week, share with you my journey to opening a storefront for Unlikely Market, ramble, show you what I bought, what I’m wearing, what I’m reading and just share whatever is on my mind. There’s a gap missing in content around women with older children that in my opinion feels natural and authentic and I want nothing more than to fill that void in my own special way! I enjoy content that is not always centered around luxury or perfectionism but just good ole regular damn life.

School is just about out for summer and I have a break from being a daily chauffeur and cook. I’m hoping to create a new habit of writing here that I make space for when the craziness picks up again in the fall.

I hope you’ll hold me accountable and follow along. If you aren’t following me already, I share my daily happenings on Instagram. Give me a follow for all of the crazy behind the scenes moments in my life!

See you soon!

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Living

Happy Fall Y’all | What I’m loving for the Season

After a real rocky start to this month, its like the first day of fall knew I needed to feel seasonal temps while observing a few rogue leaves blow across my yard to know its real. I love fall, hands down it’s my favorite time of the year for a multitude of reasons. I’ve already scheduled our annual trip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, I’ve started picking up a few fall items for our home and for my wardrobe. We’ll be heading to Asheville at the end of October and just doing some of the fun fall things we didn’t get to do last year. This season is so fleeting so I intend to savor every bit of it.

I’ve been feeling a pull to come back to this corner of the internet, it really is like my little home where I can look back at who I’ve become over the years. I’m committing to coming here at least once a week on Wednesdays to share with you what I’m buying, wearing, baking, growing, cooking, etc. This space is another way I can connect with this community that I adore so much, so I hope you’ll sign up for my newsletter and share in the bits of my life that I share here.

My fall porch isn’t completed, I still need to pick up a few items for the house, but hopefully after our trip to the pumpkin patch Friday, I’ll have all the mums and pumpkins my car can carry and I’ll have a reveal for you. If you need something to go on, here is one my faves to date. Not sure what direction I’ll go in this year, but I’m kind of itching for new porch lights…might they lead the design?!

I’ve also been purchasing a few new items for my wardrobe and I’ve added a few new fall inspired home decor items to Unlikely Market. Here are a few items that I’m loving for the season ahead! (some of these items are affiliate links, if you purchase, I make a little bit of change!)

Headbands: As I’m starting to get back into my workout routine, headbands are a quick way for me to pull my hair back. Loving this mustard one I have on Unlikely Market. It comes in multiple colors here.

Plaid: To know my style is to know I’m a classic girl and plaid will always be a friend of mine. This raincoat is by H&M and is made of recycled materials. In all honesty, it is very thin so it’s easy to layer your favorite chunky sweater under it.The hood zips in and it’s just so chic with the stand up collar.

Rosé Rewined Candle and candle accessories:The woodsy smell of this candle embodies fall. Not to mention once the candle is burned out, you can remove the wax and repurpose it as a pot for a small plant or decor. And I can’t stress this enough, pretty things make the mundane everyday things feel more fancy read the matches, candle snuffer and wick trimmer.

Brass Stirring spoons: Lashawn shared these brass stirring spoons on one of her Amazon Lives and I had to have them…cause again it’s the small items of luxury that bring the greatest joy. I feel all kinds of fancy stirring my daily beverages with these spoons!

I’m feeling the itch to start baking, I’m thinking next week it’ll be my famous pear crisp. Will you come back next week for the recipe?!

Seriously, happy fall y’all. I hope this season is everything you need it to be!

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Living

Finally Breaking Down and Using Credit to Build My Business

This post is sponsored by Lexington Law but all opinions are my own. https://www.lexingtonlaw.com/disclaimer.

As a small business owner I chose to build the early stages of Unlikely Market with cash. However, my desire to move my business in a new direction as well as be more consistent with growing it from a small operation to a larger one, has made me realize that I will need to tap into my credit to make the moves I envision for my business.

I won’t lie and say it hasn’t been hard to charge large amounts, but it has been an amazing feeling to know that the credit is available to me and that’s because I’ve taken the time to understand how credit works, and be diligent about my overall credit health.

In all honesty my credit has had challenges in the past, to the point that I wasn’t sure how to rebound and was for lack of better words defeated at the thought of what it would take to come back from a few bad decisions and curve balls that life threw us along the way.

One day I took one step, I ordered my credit report. Then I candidly talked to a friend who has excellent credit and asked her for some tips, and from there I became a little obsessed with my score and credit card utilization. From there everything moved on up.

If you are in a position where you don’t know where to start, Lexington Law is an option to look into that offers you help in the areas of credit repair, removal of incorrect items from your credit report, credit coaching, and credit monitoring. Credit is a mix of things, and as I continue to learn it’s quite interesting seeing how all the pieces work together. I have spent my time with Lexington Law learning how to maximize my credit utilization while making sure low balances are reported and that has made such a difference in my score. I’m actually in awe!

Whether you are trying to fund a business, buy a home, a car, or like me looking to open a brick and mortar store in the next year or so you’ll need your credit. Get the help you need so you can achieve those goals. Visit Lexington Law for a free consultation!

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Scored a Clawfoot Tub on a Backroad. What’s Next?

When I tell you a clawfoot tub has been on my wish list forever, believe me the first time. I have actually put off any real strides toward renovating our master bathroom because I just knew the perfect tub was somewhere with my name on it… at a decent price.

On a chance encounter with a quiet backroad very early on a Saturday morning dropping my car to the mechanic, I spotted a clawfoot on the side of the road. My husband was already already too far ahead of me to turn around, so I called him and told him I wanted to stop back by on our way home.

Twenty minutes later we were parked on the side checking out the tub. It was still very early in the morning so I jotted down the number fully expecting it to be out of my price range, yet counting down the minutes to 9a so I could give the number a call. Like with all the anxiety that someone had already beat me to it.

I texted at 8a, and when I didn’t get a response I called around 9a.Fully expecting to pay around $650-$800 for the tub cause that’s the going rate, I was extremely shocked the tub wasn’t sold AND that he only wanted $450 for it. Ya’ll Favor ain’t fair. Not only was it only $450 he even volunteered to deliver it since he was local and it was already on a trailer that he could easily hitch to his car.

Prior to delivering the tub, he called to make sure I still wanted it. He mentioned there was a man at his house that stated he had called the night before to ask about the tub but didn’t get a callback. The seller said since he didn’t see a message or a missed call from the man he thought it was only fair that he double double-check with me since I was the first person he spoke with. I confirmed that I wanted MY tub, we set up a delivery time and he dropped it off.

Y’ALL!!! Favor ain’t fair!

Turns out it is an original Standard tub, I could probably sell it on FB marketplace for more than I paid for it, but NOPE.

So if you watched me on Instagram you already heard all this before, thanks for sticking around to see what’s next!

Mimi, you’ve had that tub for over a month, what are your plans?

Glad you asked!

When we do renovations around our home we pay cash for them, so the budget is real. I’ve decided to break the project down into a few stages.

First Stage:

We hope to embark on the first stage by the end of July. We need to get the original soaker tub out, we plan to have a roll-off dumpster dropped off at the house so we can remove the existing tub and (the rest of the junk in here that we don’t need). Once we have the tub out, one of my good neighbors owns a plumbing company, we’ll have him come in and give us a quote on how much the plumbing is going to cost. We hope to have that part completed by the end of August so we can start laying the tile.

Here is an example of the type of fixture I’m looking to have installed.

Source

In the interim, while the tub is in decent shape it’s likely that we’ll need to add another coat of glaze to it so it’s nice and shiny. We’ll likely DIY that part so stay tuned! Once we’re ready to move forward with the style direction of the bathroom, I’ll share photos of the current space.

Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter or following me on Instagram so you don’t miss any of the progress.

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