Tag: life

Brand, Uncategorized

Out of My Comfort Zone

lauraleeimhoff

What have you done to get out of your comfort zone?  Going out on a Friday night (when you much rather be at home in your pjs eating pizza and drinking wine by yourself)?  Making the first move?  Skydiving?

Well, for me…. it’s something pretty crazy: Asking for help.

Sounds easy, right?

Wrong.

This is absolutely soul crushing for me.  I’ve always been able to take on anything: folding laundry, doing dishes, vacuuming for an entire household all at age twelve, doing the jobs of three different positions throughout my career while only getting paid for one, working 60 hours a week with a debilitating illness. Now at thirty years old, I’m getting over it.  I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and I am asking for help.  It is absolutely terrifying.

What’s all the build up?  What am I asking for?  Short answer: your money.  Long answer: I would like your help in helping me grow made by laura lee not just as a blog but as a brand and as a business.  Help me be the next Martha Stewart, minus the felony. Check out the Kickstarter video!  It’s beautiful and I am so proud.  I hope you will be just as proud as me to be apart of it.

HELP MADE BY LAURA LEE GROW!

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Embroidery, Uncategorized

Busy, Busy, Busy Bee

lauraleeimhoff

FullSizeRenderI feel like just the other day I just wrote an entry about how I’ve been working far too much and not focusing on what matters to me.  I get stuck like a hamster in a wheel or a drone working for the Queen.  It’s the daily routine, the grind, the mindlessly trudging away, and when I get to the point of pausing I find myself scratching my head, “Why am I doing this?”

In the past, this hasn’t actually gotten me anywhere, in fact, it’s torn me down and landed me in the hospital.  I go through cycles and I am fine working all the time, but when I come to my senses I feel the need to satisfy myself emotionally and intellectually.  Not too long ago I asked my Facebook friends what I could do to switch things up or to take a break from the monotony. People recommended cutting my hair, going on tour, but the feedback that got me sitting up straight and peaked my interest were “more blIMG_3231og entries.”  They were onto something without a doubt.

Since then, I am still working my day job just as hard as I always have, but have made an effort to focus  on myself, crafting, music, and art just as much.  I have been going non stop for about a month now.  People have asked me, “How do you do it?” They say that I am like a machine!  Maybe that’s true. Of course, giving up coffee and alcohol have been a serious contributing factor to my new found creative energy plus creativity breeds creativity.

I have never felt so fulfilled the last month as I have my entire time living in Austin.  I make sure to spend at least two hours everyday doing something creative for myself.  Not only am I happier but I’m sleeping better too.  If that’s not great enough, I have a lot of new opportunities on the horizon, which I am looking forward to sharing more with you very soon.

xoxo,

Laura Lee

 

 

 

Before & After, Story

Finding Balance

lauraleeimhoff

I’ve been sitting at my computer for the last thirty minutes surfing the internet, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

“Geez, there is something I need to be doing right now, but I can’t remember what it is.”

I know I have lots of work I need to do: updating menus, creating how-to guides, itineraries, checklists, blah, blah, blah.  I realize, now, thumbing through the pages of the web, that I need to take care of me.  I haven’t written something for me, you, a post in general, in weeks.  In fact, it’s been so long that I don’t really even care to check.

Don’t get me wrong, a promotion at work is always a good thing.  I’m thrilled to be working with wonderful people (I cannot stress that enough), a boss that cares about her business, employees, and that trusts me to do the right thing, and of course, a raise.  The thing that sucks me in the most is I have the opportunity to make a difference, like my furniture projects, I will leave it better than I found it.  The drawback is that I go head first with such gusto that I lose myself.

The not sleeping has started, my craft projects are collecting dust, my guitar.. ha!  I haven’t touched it since my last show.  Let me say this first: I am not complaining about work.  Nope. Not here.  What I am expressing is my disappointment with myself.  There needs to be balance: if I’m going to polish of a pint of ice cream, I need to do some yoga the next day; if I’m going to stay up late doing god knows what, I need to make sure I rest up somewhere; and if I’m going to throw myself into work 7 days a week, I need to schedule some time for me.

This initial workload will dissipate, but I can’t burn out before then.  I’ve been down this road before (flashbacks of working a 8-7/6 days a week in a windowless office, come to mind). Today marks the day that I will refocus and start balancing.  Okay, maybe not today as I am taking a break from steam cleaning the carpet in my apartment, but tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  I have my music, my furniture, my embroidery, and more.  Thanks for listening and reading and your support.