2009 Here We Come!

I can't believe it's time to sign off, wish everyone well, and welcome in the new year! 2009 is coming, can you even believe it? Why is it that as a kid the school year creeps by so ::s l o w l y:: but grown up time seems to fly?

Regardless of how quickly the year has gone for me, I'm glad I spent it with all of you. I hope that '08 has treated you as well as you deserve, I feel blessed and happy to look back on many successes and joys in my own life. Sure, I screwed up more than a few times too, but I think the good and bad combined just continue to make us all richer, stronger, and wiser people. One major blessing is that I have a job I love, if you can even call freelance writing and blogging a "real job" as it's not the most traditional path... and I've made so many good friends to share this journey with that I find it all immensely rewarding.

I'll admit, I sometimes miss the corporate world but only the dressing up for work part, the mingling with other humans part, and the structured schedule part. I often forget what day it is because I'm so engrossed in scanning, reading, researching, web surfing, facebooking, tweeting, and skypping 100 hours a day that I lose all sense of time. I could also stand to dress a little more current. I try my best but I'm no Carrie. You lose some of these things when you work alone 98% of the time. That's why I value the many friends that I've made online, like you. I will attempt not to sound overly cheesy here but you really make this whole bloggy experience so pleasurable. This year I had the privilege of meeting 200 of you in person at various events I'd attended (or hosted) and it was exciting to put faces behind online names and handles. Real facial expressions kick emoticon butt! As much as I love blogging there is nothing like sitting around a table with talented passionate people dishing about design over boozy concoctions! My office is the web and I'm really happy to have colleagues like you because as much as you claim I keep you plugged in you do the exact same for me. We all learn and grow together and on many levels we are even accountable to one other. If blogger A. disappears for a few days, you feel concern. If blogger B. is having a baby you are excited and want to hear about the decor for the nursery. It's this accountability and friendship that compels us to show up each day, motivates us to reach our goals and to follow through with the words we've typed... these connections really matter. I know you expect me to follow through on the things that I write and knowing this has helped me to reach many goals that I may have otherwise gave up on.

In closing... thank you all for supporting me (and my work elsewhere) by tuning in, commenting, writing, and sharing what I'm talking about on decor8 with others. We have built something special here together - a place to enjoy beauty, warmth, support, encouragement, and a place of shelter from some of the more common behaviors we have to deal with around us that aren't always so upbeat and pretty. I have special blogs that I visit when I need a dose of inspiration and so likewise I hope decor8 is not only a beautiful place for you to learn about talented people, but one that energizes and inspires you as my favorite blogs do for me. I promise to give you even more goodness in the days ahead so I hope that you'll stick around as we enter the 4th year of decor8 together.

I promised myself and my family that I would take 2 full weeks off from blogging to enjoy the things I have that are not online, so I'll be back in action here on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. Until then, be safe, healthy and happy, I'll see you again soon to share a new year together... 2009 Here We Come!

xo, Holly

P.S. Something weird happened with my newsletter and RSS feed so if you could please resubscribe I'd be eternally grateful.

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(images shown in boxes above are snapshots of my flickr favorites. To see original photos and to link to the photographer who took the fabulous image, please click here and hover over the image of choice with your mouse and simply click on it.)

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La Marelle {Darling Things from France}