My husband is self employed.
He and some of his college buddies decided to be all entrepreneur-like and buck the idea of a steady paycheck, benefits, and life in a cubicle to stay on the central coast of California and be their own bosses. (Although if you or your spouse is self-employed, you know that the whole “be your own boss” thing is pretty much an urban legend.)
It’s been a crazy ride, with some lean (i.e. LEAN) years, late nights, and second guessing ourselves. Also tears. Mostly from me. Because it’s stressful sometimes. Truth is, I’ve always known that the boys would rock it out…the question was when. I once described it as being in a long train tunnel. You saw a light far off. You knew it was there. It flickered. It dimmed. But it was so dark you couldn’t really tell the distance. How far it was. But you knew it was there. There was no question of that. The end existed. But hot dang if the dark didn’t seem endless some days.
A few weeks ago, the boys (as they will forever be called…even if we’re 97) celebrated the company’s 10 year anniversary.
Jen and I (one of the other wives) commandeered the planning of the celebratory event. Because boys.
The boys specifically wanted something really nice, as the guest list would consist of the key clients who have been instrumental in their success. The players ahead of them who believed in this small team of young 20-somethings and gave them a chance. Because really, it’s pretty absurd to think of giving a bunch of fresh faced 25 year olds contracts for the likes of Boeing, NASA, and the rest.
Thing is, my boys…they’re SMART. Like, smartest people I know.
And one of them in particular is pretty hot.
After touring a few places, Jen and I settled on Lido’s Restaurant. It’s part of a snazzy new hotel/resort and right on the Pacific Ocean.
Jen handled all details of food and wine, and I happily volunteered (demanded?) to be in charge of decor.
Obviously this wasn’t going to be my typical burlap, bunting, cricut cut outs kind of gig. It had to be classy. Upscale. But masculine. Because boys.
I wanted something simple, understated. The venue is gorgeous on its own, so I didn’t want to compete with that.
But we needed something.
Succulents are my love language.
Besides, pallet DIY is super hip right now.
This was such a simple project. I was able to get a few pallets from our local farm supply (for free!). We (and by we, I mean Andy) took them apart and built these little troughs in less than an hour.
I purposely didn’t clean them off, because I wanted them to look weathered and rustic.
Turns out it was mostly just dirty. Whatever.
I also planted a bunch of individual succulents in little candle holders to be strewn around the table.
And tucked some seashells into the troughs to tie in the beachy location.
Because nothing screams beach like cacti.
Ironically, I had to buy these shells from a craft store.
I considered taking my kids to the tide pools and searching for shells…but then I remembered sand.
And while I adore the beach, I prefer to adore it from afar.
So there we were.
Just on the other side of those glass wind breaks.
Nestled snugly between the rolling hills and the crashing waves.
Oh California.
I won’t ever leave you.
Pacific Ocean, I want to marry you.
Except for sand.
We’ll have to work that out in our pre-nup.
It was a fancy night.
With champagne chilling in big silver buckets.
The sun setting. The salty air. Boys in suits and ties. Girls in cocktail dresses and heels.
I got to be a grown up for the night.
No diapers to be changed. No babies on hips. No sticky fingers to wipe up.
So fancy.
And I had a great time. Truly.
But. You know there’s a but.
My comfort zone? Nowhere to be found that night.
At one point, I really needed to clean my sunglasses off. Little fingerprints making it almost impossible to see out of them. I wandered into our perfectly appointed private room looking for a napkin. But they were all precisely folded and waiting for their guest.
A server, dressed in perfectly pressed black and white, without saying a word took my glasses and started to use his tie to clean them off.
“Oh no. Please. You don’t have to do that. I’ll just deal. It’s fine. Really. Please.”
He assured me it was no big deal. That it was his job. And then m’am.
“Okay, stop. Just stop. No more m’am. I can’t. It stresses me out. Also, please know: this isn’t my real life. I don’t do this. We don’t eat at fancy places like this. We don’t stay in fancy hotels like this. I’m all ALL YOU CAN EAT BREAD STICKS at Olive Garden. Or places that give you free chips and salsa and you dump the salt and it goes all over the table next to your beer. Peanut shells on the floor. That’s my life. Not this.”
He laughed. Handed me back my now clean glasses. Promised he wouldn’t call me m’am again.
And then called me m’am five minutes later.
It’s this funny place.
To have snippets of luxury. To enjoy them. To sip the expensive wine. To wear the heels with rhinestones on them. To cut into the filet.
But to want nothing more than to be around the BBQ, with garlic bread dripping with butter. In jeans. And littles running through your legs. Dogs barking.
The tension of visiting sites and being shocked. “Jen! What are these people doing?! It’s Tuesday. And they’re here. Eating dinner. Like it’s nothing. On a Tuesday. I should go tell them. Let them know. That this is weird. This is not normal. I need to go tell them.”
Jen laughed. I’m certain she thinks I’m insane.
I like my simple life.
I like that this is weird.
I pray I always feel that tension.
But I’ll keep the succulents.
And I did.
Also, I have a super cute little black dress and heels with rhinestones if you need to borrow them. Because I have no idea when I’ll ever wear them again.
Maybe Tuesday.
Latest posts by jeannett (see all)
- Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
- Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
- How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015
you forgot to post a picture of you in the cocktail dress and sparkly heels!
Ha!
I was the one behind the camera. Not a one of me. Which is so totally fine.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! My father is has his own company too, so I completely understand the stress. But I am so glad you took the opportunity to celebrate! And be fancy. Its important to be fancy every now and then. You never know where the roller coaster is going to go next, but its good to enjoy the ride!
Katie´s last blog post ..MN Blog Con 2013 Recap
congrats on ten years! and you did a gorgeous job decorating. love the understated elegance. we just celebrated 10 years of ministry this year too with the non-profit we started. so I totally get the hard/scary/walk-by-faith/dark tunnel stuff. So glad He’s faithful in the midst of it.
emily hope´s last blog post ..flea market + weekend sale
OH my goodness, I love this so much!!! From my head to your blog ;) I am SO uncomfortable in situations like that…I actually avoid them totally if I can. And I feel kinda bad for the hubby because he is Mr. Social Butterfly. I have often said that if Starbucks delivered, I would never leave my house :) ~ Your decorations were perfect. Succulents are pretty amazing, quirky little things!
Amanda´s last blog post ..Nurture, Love, and Focus on the Beauty
I feel the same way about sand! I cant even deal. Thinking about it in my shoes gives me hives. When you work out that prenup let me know :)
Whitney
Whitney´s last blog post ..5 on Friday: odds and ends
Hello there, i have faith that i personally observed anyone visited this site well, i came to return your select? . I am just seeking what you should strengthen my website! I guess it’s adequate make use of some of your current aspects!
Beautifully written. I laughed out loud at the thought of fancy dinners on a Tuesday. So true! Glad you had a glamorous evening to celebrate your husband’s success.
Howdy! Someone in my Facebook group shared
this site with us so I came to take a look.
I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
Fantastic blog and superb design and style.
超安 ブーツ 最新´s last blog post ..超安 ブーツ 最新
My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on
a number of websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to
another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net.
Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into
it? Any kind of help would be really appreciated!
格安通販 ステンカラーコート 正規´s last blog post ..格安通販 ステンカラーコート 正規
Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell
and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed.
There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
大人気 折りたたみ財布 通販´s last blog post ..大人気 折りたたみ財布 通販
Ahaa, its nice conversation concerning this paragraph at this place
at this webpage, I have read all that, so at this time me
also commenting at this place.
Melody´s last blog post ..Melody
Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this website.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between user
friendliness and visual appearance. I must say that
you’ve done a fantastic job with this. Additionally, the blog loads very quick for me on Firefox.
Exceptional Blog!
最新 トートバッグ´s last blog post ..最新 トートバッグ
I leave a response when I appreciate a article on a site
or I have something to valuable to contribute to the
conversation. Usually it’s triggered by the passion displayed in
the article I browsed. And on this post Succulents, Pallet Troughs, and Tension | Life Rearranged.
I was actually excited enough to drop a comment ;)
I do have a couple of questions for you if it’s okay.
Could it be just me or do some of the comments come across as if they are written by brain dead visitors?
:-P And, if you are writing on other social sites, I would like to
follow you. Could you list all of all your public sites like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
大人気 折りたたみ財布´s last blog post ..大人気 折りたたみ財布
Hello there! I just would like to offer you a huge thumbs up
for the excellent info you have got here on this post.
I’ll be returning to your website for more soon.
ninja kingdom hack´s last blog post ..ninja kingdom hack
Hi there, I discovered your blog via Google whilst looking for a related topic,
your web site got here up, it looks good. I’ve bookmarked it
in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, just was aware of your weblog thru Google,
and located that it is really informative. I’m
gonna be careful for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this
in future. A lot of other folks might be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
Baby Wall Decals´s last blog post ..Baby Wall Decals
Hi, I do think this is an excellent blog. I stumbledupon it ;) I
will revisit yet again since I book marked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you
be rich and continue to guide others.
bijuterii cristale swarovski handmade´s last blog post ..bijuterii cristale swarovski handmade