Pursuit eighty five: Hiatus

Hello blogger pals,

I have decided to take a two week hiatus from The Pursuits of Price to enjoy life, think up some new creative pursuits to discuss, and much more!

Stay tuned :)

P.S. Here is one of my favorite first photos of my booger Smith when I adopted him. If you are a dog lover drool over this until The Pursuits of Price comes back.

Following my pursuits,

Price

Pursuit eighty four: HAPPY FRIDAY

Following my pursuits,

Price

Pursuit eighty three: Learning From the Pursuit of Another ~ Thomas Robinson

First of all I want to say thanks to Price for inviting me to share my insights/words/pursuits with her and her readers. Second, I want to apologize in advance for my crazy style of writing/photography/video posting. I just can't help it.


It feels like a big responsibility to share your pursuits with others, especially an audience that you might not be familiar with. But as I thought about this task, I realized that life is about sharing your pursuits with those around you, both known and unknown. This sharing happens all the time.


When I think about the word pursuit, it makes me think of a combination of what I'm doing, where I'm going, and what I'm trying to become. I guess the best pursuits are those that all work in concert, so that what you do and where you go are all part of what you are becoming. So, here’s what mine are all about.


The Pursuit of Happiness

Cudi says he’ll be fine once he gets it, but it is all about the journey.

For me, the best pursuits are those that benefit more than just me. I find that I get great joy by being a part of a team and by helping others. So, I guess where I try to go and what I try to become are the same and that is being a better person that makes things around him better.

The good legit life

Fortunately I have made a couple of choices that have allowed me a lot of opportunity to work on these pursuits every day. Every day I leave a house and a family (1 lady friend, 2 dogs) that I want to come home to everyday. Having a crew like that makes me want to be a better person, both for them and for those around us. For me it is key to have solid people around me (friends and family) that serve as reminders about why we are here. It helps to also have some people that can put up with my mild insanity and insistence on using words like “legit” and “jibberjabber” all the time.



The Pursuit of a Better Memphis



When I go to work at MIFA* in downtown Memphis, every day I get to work for the betterment of the community by serving people that face true need in their lives, something that I have never really faced. I get to be a part of a team that is dedicated to pushing each other to be better, both at what we do and in who we are. It is a pretty awesome experience to look around the table in a meeting and know that everyone may have different specific reasons for being there, but that they are all there to give back in some way.



The Pursuit of Better Food



One of my great hobbies is the blog that I write in my spare time. Eat Local Memphis is my little spot on the internet that allows me to put my mouth where my money is and talk up the people and places that make Memphis a food community that I love. I started this little blog after my lady friend, Kat, started her fantastic business, Muddy's Bake Shop. I watched/listened/experienced (and maybe helped a little) as Muddy's went from a wild idea to a wild reality. In the process of seeing all the work and effort that goes into making a place that values their product, values their employees, values their customers, values their community, I began to realize that most of us normal folks don't value restaurants and their people the way we should. Creating meals and experiences takes the same kind of dedication to excellence that it takes to succeed at anything.


-Thomas




*Just wanted to point out that Price spent a good part of her summer a couple years ago volunteering as an intern in my department at MIFA. That she would give of herself like that shows someone that really cares about giving back.

Pursuit eighty two: HAPPY FRIDAY

Following my pursuits,

Price

Pursuit eighty one: Bringing some RED into my life: Bedside table style

As of late I have been on a major design kick. Whether it is because I have an excess amount of free time on my hands, or the anticipation of a future new apartment I am not really sure... However, I love decorating places and spaces. This past weekend, my mom and I went to the fabric store to purchase fabric to make my headboard. Much to our dismay (haha-totally kidding with the use of dismay), the fabric we are using, Crazy Ol Bird-Midnight was sold out! The lady at the store told us that it would be back in stock in about a week, so she would give us a ring when it comes in. Although I was hoping to get a start on the headboard this past weekend, I was all right with waiting because I know that this is the fabric meant for the headboard (haha). 

There is only so much time in a day to entertain dogs, job hunt, exercise, do my "Internet thing" (A.K.A. surf the net for copious amounts of time), mingle with friends, and watch HGTV.... so while perusing the blog, Little Green Notebook, I came upon a post entitled, I heart Oil Based Paints. After reading this post, and knowing that I wanted to revamp or purchase a new side table for my bedroom, the light bulb went off in my head. I wanted to paint my white side table RED!... and not just any red, fire engine red with an oil based finish.

While my parents were on the hunt for some plants for our backyard this past weekend, I tagged along and purchased Rust-Oleum's Safety Red Gloss paint with an oil-based finish (Thanks to Jenny Komenda's post about oil-based paints on Little Green Notebook). Going from a white side table with a shabby chic style room to a bold red color is a drastic change, but a change that I am looking forward to experiencing. 

White side table from the Pottery Barn Outlet

Going for a bold new look with Rust-Oleum's Oil-Based Safety Red.

O la la

It ended up taking three days and three coats of paint to fully get rid of the white paint.

Ta-da, the finished product!! Pretty awesome I must say :) The red ties in perfectly with one of the colors from the Crazy Ol Bird fabric that I am using for my headboard. P.S. Did you recognize that lamp? It is the lamp that I made a couple of months back and wrote a post about the experience entitled,  Pursuit sixty nine: Making a Lamp.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with the outcome of this side table. Onward to the next design project... Will it be making a silhouette photo of my Chocolate lab's head (Silly but totally serious about this one), or waiting for the fabric to make my headboard to come in?? Only time will tell...

Following my pursuits,

Price

Special thanks to:

Little Green Notebook: http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/

Rust-Oleum Oil Based Paint: http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=130

Pursuit eighty: Inspirt

Today's Inspirit post features one of the many amazing sounds of nature... the sound of rain falling. Yesterday, Memphis had the pleasure of receiving rain all day long. Now I am definitely one who enjoys sunny skies and warm weather. However, I like when it rains because it seems to change the pace of the day. Rain seems to slow things down a bit. 


Yesterday's rain allowed me to rest, reflect on current situations, think about future goals, come up with new decorating ideas (I want to paint my side table RED), attempt to entertain the dogs inside, go running in the rain with my mom, watch a ton of HGTV, and enjoy life in my pj's for the majority of the day.

I often notice that I do not know what to do when the pace slows down a bit in my schedule. I am so used to being busy with work and daily tasks. What I have realized is that it is all right to be bored with nothing to do sometimes. This unscheduled time can allow you to rest, relax, do an activity you would have otherwise not done if you were busy, and make plans for the future.

So enjoy this delightful YouTube video that has the peaceful sounds of rain falling. Sitting back and listening to rain fall is pretty awesome if I must say.

What do you do on a rainy day?

Following my pursuits,

Price