Better Homes and Gardens I Did It Feature

A look back and peek behind the scenes of my Better Homes and Gardens photo shoot! 

Many of you are aware that back in December of 2017 I made the difficult decision to leave my full-time job to focus on my blog and family.   If giving up a large chunk of our families income wasn't scary enough, the fear of failure was even scarier.  I've never been shy about my struggles with anxiety and let me tell you, it was a rough couple of months leading up to my last day of work.  Would I fail?  Was I making the right decision?  Is this best for our family?  How are we going to survive without my income?  So many questions and so many doubts flooded my mind.  

Then....

Just 2 days after I quit my job I got an e-mail from Kit, the senior project editor at BHG asking if they could come shoot my DIY Crate Lockers!  Being featured in a large magazine has always been a major blogging goal and getting that e-mail was the confirmation I needed.  It confirmed that I made the right decision and everything was going to be okay.

                                      

Kit and I shared many e-mails over the next couple months confirming everything from project details to dates and clothing choices for the shoot.  They had VERY specific guidelines as to what they wanted me to wear and putting together two outfits was no easy task.  Sleeveless, bold prints, white, long sleeve, rolled sleeves, sweaters, ripped jeans, holey jeans, sandals, open toe shoes and boots were all OFF limits.   Basically, they wanted me to wear something seasonless since they weren't sure which month my project would be featured. 

I actually ran out the night before the shoot and bought a pair of lighter colored booties that worked out much better than my dark gray ones.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh?

     

The day before the shoot, Mike Grady (stylist) and Helen Norman (photographer) stopped over to drop off props, scope out the lighting and see what items I had on hand for styling.  I was so nervous and thought for sure I'd have to wear pads in my armpits, but they instantly calmed my nerves.   

The next day, they arrived bright and early with tons of equipment and even more props.  I wish I could have taken pictures of everything, but I was very limited on what photos I was allowed to take.  

It was such a neat experience to see the enormous amount of work that's involved in taking a single picture.  There was so much staging, tweaking, photo taking, conference calls, waiting, more tweaking and more photos.   The hardest part of the entire process was getting Ellie, our one-year-old Golden Retriever to sit and lay exactly how they wanted.   She was exhausted by the end of the day, but definitely well rewarded. 

A lot of the photo props were geared around Ellie and came from Target and Harry Barker.  Just look how cute this black and white buffalo check dog bed is.  It ended up being a little too busy for the shoot, but Ellie sure enjoyed relaxing on it between photos.

The photo shoot was back in March, but I didn't know until recently that my project would be featured in the August issue.  It was definitely a surprise to see the final layout since I wasn't able to preview the article beforehand. 

I can not express enough how grateful I am for this amazing opportunity.   It was truly an eye-opening experience and a dream come true.  It just goes to show that you should never give up on your dreams.  Every minute of hard work and every ounce of determination is one step closer to achieving your goals.  

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