2015: A Year to Be Thankful

Oh yes it’s that time of year again, yes indeed it is.

Really can’t allow too much more time to pass before it will be “too late” to put out what has become my annual New Year’s missive, recapping 2014 and putting out there my aspirations for 2015…and so here it goes.

Wedding bells rang in the air at the Olbrych family this 2014, which in essence was the main theme for the year….and might I say, one I wasn’t aware would be when I wrote my blog this time last year…which you can revisit here….so yes, things got reprioritized as the year panned out.

I really can’t take any credit for the beautiful weddings each of my  girls orchestrated, less the fact that they inherited my love and skill of throwing a good party, as each  did a fabulous job doing just that/throwing  a lovely party for their family and friends….Arianna in Toronto in September, and Avery at Disney in November….yes, my Fall High Point Market was flanked by a wedding on either side.

 

Our family is blessed with the addition on Nick and Jesse, and I, as their mother, am happy that Ari and Ave have each found someone that loves and supports them as these young men do. God Speed to you all.

And so on to 2015 . Can you believe it? This will be my 15th year in business…nothing to sneeze at eh?

I think this landmark anniversary is the perfect impetus to making this A Year of being Thoughtfully Grateful. So, to that end I have launched a Gratitude Campaign….wanting to reach out to ALL that have contributed to getting me from what was an idea of a business, to being a business. There are so many of you!…this is a HUGE job…good thing I have help!

Yes,this is my year to say thank you to YOU, and YOU and YOU. To not only the hundreds of customers I have had that have trusted me with providing them with the purchase of a very personal product/giving me opportunity to give the exceptional customer service I like to give…but also to the people that have partnered with me to help get me from there to here, and to those that are quite simply  in my corner. I have so many cheer leaders, supporters, friends and helpers . I am truly humbled.

And so it is with ALL of  YOU in my head that I work.

I look forward to  continue on offering a very interesting product line…whether it be for my own business, Antiques by Zaar, or the company I rep, Distinctive Chesterfields.

I look forward to seeing both businesses continue to grow and flourish, one customer at a time.

I look forward to promoting the businesses of others and organizations of which I am a member, namely  WITHIT and High Point Design Center.

I quite simply look forward to sharing my gratitude with my world this year.

….and on that note, a final, only for this missive, Thank You.

May your 2015 be one full of Gratitude, Joy and Thoughtfulness…whether you are the recipient or the giver…it ALL counts.
Ruth

 

 

 

 

 

Moving From 2012 to 2013: The Magic of Goal Setting

I just went through my 2012 blogging calendar to verify what I already knew. I have been, at the best, sporadic in my blogging the entire calendar year…and no, it doesn’t make me happy to bring attention to this, but it is what it is and rather than pretend that I’ve been attentive and just roll along, I’m going to address it head on.

As I said in my October blog, I believe that as a blogger it is so much more than just opening doors for your respective businesses, it is also about honestly sharing about YOU. Frankly, I tend to over share and so it is as much a surprise to me, as it may be to you, that I quieted my Voice so much this past year. And so I’ve been thinking on this and what 2012 was all about for me.

In my New Years Blog for 2012 , “My 3 Words”  I made mention, among other things, of the intention of getting our house sold. It was couched with many other Goals. Little did I know how that ONE would consume my entire year…and for various, not necessarily obvious reasons, get  in the way of , among other things, my blogging/sharing….not necessarily because of the real time it took to do the job but more so the emotional roller coaster I went on as I tried to stay the course of a big decision made….and only now, with the task behind me, am willing to put it out there.

The intention of this missive, aside from expounding on what was my focus  this past year…did we really expect it to sell as quickly as it did?  is to share with you an example of the magic that can happen with some specific goal setting in place, as that is what I felt happened this year. Things did line up well, and many people helped out, read about my “gifts” here, but I do believe that setting a course and the intention did help things along.

As someone shared on my Facebook wall today:

“To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action until the goal is reached. The key is action.” Michael Hanson….and might I add belief AND the universe helping to line things up, as I said above???

Goal.  Have house Market ready for Fall 2011.  Check!

started this in the Spring, and good thing we did too…

GOAL .to have it photo ready for Thanksgiving 2011. Check!

ready the day before the Holiday, talk about cutting it close.

GOAL. To have one last Christmas with all the kids. Check!

understand a couple of the kids anticipated at least one more, after 2011, Christmas in their Maine home. I had other plans...sorry.

GOAL. To have the house show ready, not quite the same as photo ready, by the New Year. Check!

...good thing I started defrocking after Christmas ASAP, as we had our first showing Jan 5th!

GOAL .To have it Sold  by Spring/Mid Summer. Check! 

5/26, last day of Spring Market, an offer came in that we accepted. Closing date was pushed to 7/16, per my request….needed ALL that time to empty a house and barn FULL of Stuff!

GOAL. Simply to have IT all done….meaning yard sales, dumpster filling, salvation army pick ups, selling off of a

tractor, packing, purging and more packing and purging.…for said July 16th closing. Check!

…again, working right to the bitter end.

GOAL.  To find a home that had the following: neighbors, no more than 45 minute drive from Amtrak station, a small private yard where I would still feel like I had nature around me, IE  not look onto my neighbors back yard, master room with tub (yes, I love my baths and no, not every master en suite has a tub!), appealing office space, 3-4 bedrooms, so as to accommodate kids when visiting, ample storage space, close proximity to a marina, and enough wall space to hang the art that we’ve gathered over the years.  Check!

….although the yard is a tad smaller than we wanted and we only have 3 bedrooms,  I feel we SCORED!

GOAL. to find a new home with above specs  by end of August. Check!

again, cut this one tight…found our new home on August 31st! Didn’t realize I had hit this goal until the end of the day and made me smile when I realized I had . I had been looking since May and was getting quite discouraged and approached that day (trip # 15 i believe) with a negative nilly attitude of expecting to be again disappointed in what we would be looking at. Go figure, such would not be the case.

GOAL. to be moved in by Oct 1. Check!

had lined up temporary living in MD for 3 months. Was keen to save on that last month’s rent if I could. Closing was 9/29 and movers landed on my doorstep 10/1!

GOAL. to be unpacked and set up enough so that when I came back from October Market I wouldn’t feel I was coming to a disaster. Check!

in the course of a week all boxes, less wall art, was completely unpacked.

GOAL. to have all utilities sorted out and internet connected before hitting the road to Market. Check!

actually kind’ve messed up here, as, although I met that deadline,  I should’ve  had internet sorted out prior to actual move, but not having internet for that first week gave me the focus to unpack without distraction, and that I did.

Yes, it was hard to leave our family home of 13 years, but I do feel that it was the right decision and I do feel that I have landed well, here, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

And yes, my business was back burner ed while this was all going down. BUT, I am so grateful for the above time line, for when you look at it, IT all went along quite quickly. AND I am further grateful for the FEELING that I have, of seeing something through…that once the decision was made, and things were put in motion, that each motion acted as a stepping stone to a conclusion.

So, now. Big deep breath. I have indeed landed, and here I am, starting the new year in my new home. Settled into the home nicely but just getting my toes wet in settling into the community,  and now, READY to make a set of GOALS for my business that will bring the same magic that I experienced this past year….and THAT topic will be addressed in a separate blog posting, to follow shortly, for real!

Happy Goal Setting.

Enjoy the Magic of Seeing them realized.

Ruth

 

Getting from There to Here/Moving from Here to There…

…OR Change, Change, Change, OR Ending a Chapter/Starting a Chapter, OR to Uplifting and Being Uplifted, OR We Women Rock….or simply Thank YOU!

Yes, this blog has been mulling about in my head for weeks now….feeling the need to acknowledge not only what has been a very clear change in my life, central to this being the recent sale and move from what was our home in Maine for the past 13 years….to starting a new life in Maryland, address yet to be confirmed, but to also acknowledge the forces that have contributed to getting me from “there to here” and which I count on getting me from “here to there”

Yes, I am very well aware that it is all “up to me” but I cannot deny the “forces’ of which I speak of, which come in the form of  that growing bevy of womankind which have come into my Life, and which I can call my friends.

To my Maine based gals….

I thank you for sending me off so well. For those that attended my pre launch of yard sale party, to those that similarly attended the lovely soiree at Connemara Farm, by Anne, my neighbor and friend… to the  many that I was able to connect with for a farewell lunch or dinner.  I felt so incredibly embraced and loved.

For you, Nancy Morin, YOU were by my side for almost an entire year as we moved from one stage to another in making the move happen….moving forward when I felt stalled, assuring me of your calm presence and assistance right to the day the movers showed up.  You kept me from going over the edge, and I felt there often, and quite simply pressed on. I purged and you packed. You organized my barn into a full fledged Good Will Store for 2 two day yard sales and posted items on Craig’s List so I could do my part and sell sell sell.

To Nancy Strojny, my SCORE mentor and Carol Emerson of Custom House Business Services, I thank you for giving me latitude as I allowed this move to consume me emotionally, BUT did your jobs and brought me back, reminding me of the business that is mine/dependent on me to breathe life into it and spurring me to the next step knowing when this move was behind me that I would return to  nurture and grow this Gift I have in my business.

To my daughter Avery, who upon graduation from college, yup, last one!  and after being away at school for the last 4 years… spent a full 3 months with me. What a delight!

To my team in North Carolina, Jeff Moore and Sherry Mitchell, who, over the summer did a phenomenal job keeping all in a forward moving motion, initiating a complete revamp of the ZAAR Design Center, managing Designer Wednesdays and more. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. check out pix of the fine work here…and plan to come have dessert with us 9/12/12 and see for yourself! I’ll be there.

These forces, these women, all helped get me from There to Here, and I know that they remain with me as I continue to move on.

Further to this I add as a collective, the fine Women I find myself connected to through my membership in Withit.

How great it was to attend the recent WITHIT conference which was themed Pathways to Success: Strategies, Connections & Meaning.  A conference I touted I knew I couldn’t afford to miss, and as I shared on Leslie Carouther’s facebook….

I went to the conference this year, as I have past 2 years, KNOWING what I was needing/expecting…not only from the exceptional speakers I knew would be lined up, but also from the opportunity to meet/get to know better, the wonderful array of professional women that run and attend this conference. I was not to be disappointed in the least. If there was to be a big takeaway it is that simple reminder that it is indeed all up to me and it is indeed possible…to do/be all that I vision for myself. The conference itself is such a great venue for exceptional giving and getting.

Nuts and bolts is that were it not for the exceptional women that I’ve allowed into my life, and I’ve just scratched the surface here, my life would be so “without”. What I love is that there is as much giving as getting that goes on….that as I have been uplifted I know I have uplifted others, that as I have been mentored, that I can also offer mentoring. There is no base line here. It is a kinship of Kindred Souls….each of us reaching, each of us relating, each of us caring and each of sharing.

It is by doing all of this that we can indeed get from there to here, and move from here to there…each finding our way to do what we can to Elevate ourselves,  Be our Best Selves, and Shine Shine Shine.

….and so onward we go, individually, yet collectively, to make a difference for ourselves and to those whose lives we touch and whose lives subsequently touch us.

Yes, thank you for Being a Friend.

Ruth

 

Chinese Country Antiques in My Maine Country Home

13 years ago we moved our family of preteens  from Taichung Taiwan to New Gloucester Maine. Although the children were all Americans, they had only ever visited the U.S., with previous residences being in Ontario Canada and Bangkok Thailand, and were excited for the move State Side, specifically to the bit of God’s Great Earth we had purchased at 301 Peacock Hill Rd in New Gloucester, Maine.

Our 8 years in Asia had been good for the family, and it was a natural  for us to fill our home with items that reminded us of our travels and lives in Asia….and with a smattering from Haiti as well, where hubby and I met/lived for several years pre kids.  Our kids only realized how “different” their home was when friends would come over and oogle over what they simply knew as part of their expatriate heritage.

I’m pleased with the feeling that was evoked with the preponderance of the Asian touch…ok, a little more than just a “touch” of Asian I must admit…in our country home. In part because I feel that it is what having Asian pieces worked into your decor does, and in part because it represented a part of the world that was, and remains relevant to us as a family. For me,decorating with items that evoke memories enhanced by items that just look good is the perfect mix for making a house a home….

Antiques by Zaar, the family business of importing/selling Chinese Antiques, was established in 1999, and has continued to give us opportunity to keep our Asian connection alive….not to mention give me a treasure trove of items to choose from to place in our home. 🙂  It’s such a joy to have this venue in place to serve as a continuance of our Asian experience which started in 1991 with our move to Bangkok, when kids were a ripe 4,2 and 1, and to serve as a venue for me to be part of a world of people that, were it not for the business, I wouldn’t ever have known. Not to mention it’s pretty cool to be running an online antique business from a Maine farmhouse. My neighbors got a kick out of that.

Yes, 301 Peacock Hill Rd has not only been our home, where we raised our kids, and bunches of golden retrievers, it has also been the corporate headquarters for Antiques by Zaar. And after 13 years we are moving on , specific address to be determined, but can advise we have honed in on Eastern Shore of Maryland…giving way for another family of 3 pre teens to make their memories here, and to make this home theirs, with their own mix of treasures.

Ruth

P.S. For a peak at how the house looked before we came in to make it “ours” take a glance at the photos in this album….yes, same place but quite a different look.