Brittany Young of Certified Celebrator Photo by Julie Hall Photography

We are SOOO excited to partner with Brittany Young of Certified Celebrator!! She is such an amazing and inspirational lady. We started following her through a mutual friend and we knew she would be an absolute BLAST to work with, and we were not wrong! If you somehow have not stumbled upon her blog or Instagram page, you can check out all of her bright + festive ideas on her website, www.certifiedcelebrator.com! Her goal is to encourage women to intentionally celebrate the people in their lives and build joyfully celebrated homes! And boy her social media feeds and website DO.NOT.DISAPPOINT!! They are chock-full of beautiful and realistic ways to CELEBRATE your life. We absolutely loved our time with Brittany and quickly figured out we are all three from Owensboro, Kentucky…what a small world!!!

As the Certified Celebrator, Brittany has a large collection of holiday and party decor, plus a pretty amazing attic space! When partnering with her on this project, we knew we wanted to create a system for her and her team to be able to find the items they need quickly for any party, event, or blog post.

Brittany Young of Certified Celebrator Photo by Julie Hall Photography

To create an easy and maintainable system for the team, we divided all of the decor and party supplies into categories (Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc). We placed each of the categories into their own labeled bins. Most of the bins we used were clear for easy viewing of the items inside. We then brought in two large metro shelves to get the bins up off of the floor. Because we are pretty OCD, we placed the bins in order as they fall throughout the year (Valentine’s Day and Easter at the start, Christmas and New Year’s Eve at the end)!

Valentine’s Day though Summer celebrations bins Photo by Julie Hall Photography

Fall and Christmas decor in labeled bins Photo by Julie Hall Photography

Christmas bins and decor Photo by Julie Hall Photography

One of our favorite spots we created for the Certified Celebrator team, was an area for all of the craft supplies and giveaway items they receive! And it’s a pretty great wrapping station, we made a spot for all of the beautiful wrapping paper right next to the table. Who wouldn’t love a neat little spot in their walk in attic like this?!?

Craft supplies and giveaway items Photo by Julie Hall Photography

Craft supplies Photo by Julie Hall Photography

We are beyond thrilled to have met and worked with Brittany!! And really loved creating this neat and tidy attic space for her! Head to her blog, www.certifiedcelebrator.com, to learn our Top 10 Holiday Organizing Tips!!!

All Photos by www.juliehallphotography.net.

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Happy Friday guys!

This week we partnered with The Nashville Blanket Project to tidy and organize their home office! Marissa and Chris Barrett started The Nashville Blanket Project in 2017 and it is truly an AMAZING company! When a blanket is purchased, one is given to a neighbor in need…how amazing is that!?! You can find them at events all over the Nashville area or purchase a blanket on their website, www.thenashvilleblanketproject.com.

And you gotta love their tag line:

Keep Nashville cozy.

Because their business is growing so quickly, we wanted to create an office space that helps them continue to grow by making it super functional + efficient!

We started by cleaning out the closet within the office and decided to use the space as storage for their personal items such as mementos, keepsakes, craft supplies, etc.

You can shop the clear, lidded bins we used from Target here, www.thetidyhomenashville.com/shop.

Our next goal was to create an organized system, around the perimeter of the room, for their process of getting their blankets out the door! From unpacking them once received from the manufacturer, adding their cute tags to each blanket, placing each blanket in their adorable tote bags, to getting them out the door to the local festivals + markets or shipping them to customers!!

After

Before

After

Before

This space and couple were SOOO fun to work with! We will leave you with one of our favorite views from the room! Please take a moment to visit their website and check out all of the amazing things this business is doing for the city of Nashville!!!

Love the hooks we added to the wall for their tote bags!

Three years ago today, I had a heart attack at the age of 33. I had just turned 33, thirteen days prior. My heart attack was caused by a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD).

A quick overview of SCAD from the Mayo Clinc site:

“Spontaneous coronary artery dissection — sometimes referred to as SCAD — is an uncommon emergency condition that occurs when a tear forms in one of the blood vessels in the heart.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) can slow or block blood flow to the heart, causing a heart attack, abnormalities in heart rhythm or sudden death.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) most commonly affects women in their 40s and 50s, though it can occur at any age or in men. People who develop spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) are often healthy. Most don't have risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) can lead to sudden death if it isn't diagnosed and treated promptly. For this reason, seek emergency attention if you experience heart attack signs and symptoms — even if you think you aren't at risk for a heart attack.”

September 20, 2016 was just a normal Tuesday. My husband and I needed to run a few errands together so my in-laws came to watch the kids that morning. After Miles and I finished our errands, we parted ways so I could run to Target to do some last minute shopping for our upcoming beach trip and then go grocery shopping. I made it home a little before noon and loaded my groceries inside all while talking on the phone with Meg. While I was finishing up my conversation with her, a very strange and uncomfortable pain moved down my chest. It stopped me in my tracks so I quickly and casually got off the phone as to not alarm her.

I moved to sit down in my office chair in the next room as the pain escalated quickly. Thank God my in-laws were there with me and the children because I told my mother-in-law I was having chest pain and she asked me if I needed a Tums. Once I said no, her very next question was whether she should call 911 and I said yes. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, I moved to the floor trying to get some relief from the crushing pain but was unsuccessful. All the while, my mother-in- law was on the phone with the 911 operator and my father-in-law was trying to keep my four year old son from seeing me in such a scary situation and was also calling my husband to let him know what was going on. Thankfully my daughter, who was one and a half at the time, was down for a nap.

Once the EMT’s arrived, they were fairly certain I was just having a panic attack. I had no clue what was happening but I was pretty confident it was not a panic attack. Too make a very long and dramatic story short, they took their time getting me to the hospital. No lights, no sirens, driving the speed limit, stopping at all the lights.

Miles had rushed to the hospital from the other side of Nashville and thankfully his face was the first thing I saw when they opened the back of the ambulance up. Upon entering the ER, it was quickly confirmed that I was, in fact, having a heart attack. Thank God again, that the cardiologist on call had seen one other patient before with SCAD and immediately knew what was happening. He rushed me back to the cath lab where he placed a stent that saved my life but the stent wasn’t enough to sustain me long term so I was rushed by ambulance to a larger hospital for an emergency double bypass surgery. I was in the cardiac ICU for 7 days and the hospital for a total of 9 days.

Walking for the first time following open heart surgery.

Miles and I while I was in the hospital.

It was a loooonnngggg road to recovery. One that I am still on today. Because of the length of time that the EMT’s took in getting me to the hospital, my heart was severely damaged and every day I deal with having heart failure with a low ejection fraction. It’s something that I will always deal with, but I am thankful to be alive and to be here with my sweet babies and husband. I’m thankful to be surrounded by my family and friends who help us tremendously and tirelessly. We are all slowly figuring out this new normal.

Which brings me back to the point of why Meg and I decided to follow our dreams! Though this whole journey, our family has learned the hard way that you only live once and life can change in a blink of an eye so you better do what you want with the life you have. Meg and I always dreamed of owning a business and working together and The Tidy Home is that dream come to life!! We are forever grateful for everyone that has supported us so far for helping us make our dream a reality!

Thank you for reading and following along!! <3