Emily

My House: old enough to have a wet bar, not old enough to be charming and vintage.

It’s time to go to the grocery store when we run out of: fruit

Thing on my to-do list that keeps getting procrastinated: this introduction and cleaning my bathroom (toilet scrubbing is a curse).

Favorite bedtime story: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

According to my husband, the thing that surprised him most about me: how lazy I am in the mornings - it’s true. I’m a hopeless night-owl.

In my head: I am a good dancer and know how to fiddle. In real life: I’m a terrible dancer. And only an average pianist.

In my next life I’d like to: go someplace exotic with my husband before we have children

If money were no object: I’d move my family to a fertile little parcel on the Oregon Coast; we’d have a garden and chickens. I’d take a dance class. And go someplace exotic with my husband. I’d also buy a dress from Boden, a 50 mm lens, bikes for the family, and a pretty cotton nightgown.

Greatest challenges of motherhood: having enough fully-present time with my children each day - not being distracted. Teaching them to work instead of just doing jobs for them (my way and on my schedule). And staying ahead of clutter.

I would describe my taste in music (and most things) as: pedestrian. Behind the trends, with an inclination toward simple, folk, mellow.

Bores my pants off: my time on the treadmill

Cheers me when I’m down: my children, pretty paper and fabric (though I’m a clumsy seamstress)

Favorite thing in the whole world: Lazy Saturday mornings (we don’t have many). Snuggling in bed with Nate and the children. Most pressing issue on our minds: what to make for breakfast.

Most important thing you could know about me: The three people I share my life with (husband - Nate, and children - Henry and Lily) -- they are my heart. My paradise will always be where they are.