A Little About Me…
Welcome to my page and my home! Thank you for spending a few minutes of your precious time getting to know me.
Southern Home and Hospitality is a creative outlet for my true love of all things “home”— decorating, party giving, cooking, bargain hunting, cleaning and organizing, and crafting. It’s a journal of the transformation of my Southern Traditional–style home in Texas and now my downsized villa. And it’s a place to share tips for simple, affordable ways to make a home warm, inviting, and full of character and charm.
How the Blog Was Born.
For over 30 years, I was cook, maid, chauffeur, coach, nurse, counselor, and tutor to two amazing kids. I volunteered countless unpaid hours at schools, sometimes worked real jobs, and mommed at 100 mph. The years screamed by—and I loved every minute of it.
But it came at a sacrifice. My interests took a backseat to my kids’ interests. And so did a fulfilling career, and building anything just for me.
After my youngest left for college, I started freaking out a little bit. My whole adult life had come with to-do lists, activities, and projects already built into every day. Suddenly, life felt empty. Like I was left behind. I could only organize the drawers so many times.
I still wanted to create. I still had something to offer.
When I finally put together my passion for decorating and entertaining with all my years of marketing and writing—and my obsession with decorating blogs, it was a lightbulb moment.
I realized I wouldn’t need to be a formally trained expert— just a fellow decorating and entertaining enthusiast with years of real-world experience to share.
So I took Southern Home and Hospitality live on July 15, 2021. What started as a small experiment became something more meaningful than I ever expected: a creative outlet, a small business, and, unexpectedly, a much-needed source of income in a chapter of life I couldn’t have predicted. Along the way, it also gave me back a sense of connection and community I didn’t realize how much I’d missed from my momming days, and a way to share this love of home with others who feel the same.
“Most of what I share here comes from years of real life, not a rulebook.”
A Few Random Things to Help You Get to Know Me.
- I’ve always had this obsession with making the space around me “better”— with making sure our home was a comforting refuge for me and my family to “do” life in. And a place to create memories with the special people in our lives. Even at a young age, while most kids were playing sports or messing up their bedrooms, I was the nerd rearranging, cleaning, and organizing rooms for fun and visualizing what decorating improvements could be made if I were in charge.
- My overall decorating style (as the blog’s name implies) is what I would call Southern Traditional with a touch of modern to keep it fresh. Modern Southern style is casual, classic, and curated, with a mix of family heirlooms and updated pieces. But I love and study all kinds of décor styles that we will also chat about here.
- It’s against my nature to get rid of everything as trends change. I love for my home to feel like it has a history and for it to reflect my personality. I repurpose and move around a lot of what I already have. You won’t find any start-from-scratch makeovers of my home on the blog, or any rooms with all-new furniture and decor.
- I’m a Louisiana native, have two kids, and have lived in Texas for 30+ years. I think growing up in Louisiana culture taught me to love a good party and to enjoy life. And getting married young trained me to use my money wisely— I still love to DIY today.
- Oh, and scoring a good bargain makes me giddy!
- I’m also dog mom to a four-pound Yorkie bundle of love named Bijoux.
Don’t Lose Touch.
Now that we know each other, make sure you subscribe so we can continue to sharing our love for making the most of our homes.
To show my appreciation to my subscribers, I fill a subscriber-only library with extra goodies not found on the blog. You won’t miss any posts about my ever-evolving home makeover, loads of decorating inspiration and tips, party themes, tablescape ideas, easy crafts, some simple recipes, and who knows, maybe we’ll even share a few laughs!
I hope that you’ll come back to visit often. And when you leave, you’ll feel like you’ve spent time with a kindred spirit and be inspired to create a home that is unique to you, restorative to be in, and rich in charm, memories, and experiences.
