Happy Friday folks! I’m up late writing this post after a long day of work. We had an amazing estate liquidation in Palo Alto today and when the house was empty (at 4pm) I headed over to this weekend’s estate sale house to price and put on final touches. I came home to dinner on the table (thanks Chris) and about 4 hours of work to catch up on. Most people would just go to bed and put it off but I know that with the pace we are working I don’t have that option.
I still can’t believe we are on our 4th estate this week! My first year in California I only did 2 estate projects the entire year, man things have changed! The next 8 weeks will be extra busy with clients that want to tackle organizing projects and estate projects before the year-end. I always anticipate this so I took a much-needed week off last week to travel to Michigan and North Carolina for some milestone events in my family. My dad celebrated a birthday, my granny turned 90, my nephew turned 2, and my newest niece was baptized.
Being the organizer that I am I coordinated making it to all of the events and I am so glad. We started the trip in North Carolina and spent a few days with my brother Nick and his family and my brother Christopher. My sister also flew in for the weekend making it the first time in 2 years that my siblings were all together. My parents were so glad to get to spend time with us as a group and we had a lot of fun. We cruised around Lake Norman on a pontoon boat, had drinks, shopped, and celebrated.
My niece Claire Marie is such a good baby, she didn’t make a peep at the baptism. Here she is wearing the same Christening gown that I wore, it has been passed down from my great-grandfather…
After the baptism we celebrated my nephew Jack’s 2nd. Birthday. All he wanted was trains and tools, he is a hoot. My brother was a really wild child so I’m glad his son is giving him a run for his money. Jack really liked my husband which was sweet, he asked for “Uncle Chris” everyday.
My husband’s parents live about 20 minutes from my parents so we divided our time between the two houses once we got to Michigan. We took a fun day trip to Ann Arbor to see some hot spots, shop, and visit my friend Brooke who just had a new baby. As always, I wished we had more time in that area to visit with friends but the days just went by too fast.
We went to dinner with my husband’s parents and Chris asked for a wine list and this is what the waitress brought to the table. I almost died, it literally is a list! Gotta love rural Michigan! We all shared a bottle of the Carnivor Cab, it was delicious!
My twin nieces Audrey and Lilly were SO exited to spend time with us. Chris and I visited their classroom and playground at school, they thought that was great. Another day I picked them up from school and took them out for hot chocolate at the new coffee shop in town. It was a hoot, they are really growing up into little ladies. They ordered and then picked out our seats so we could have “coffee talk.” Ah, to be 6 years old!
I love this picture from my dad’s birthday. He loved having us home to help him open presents. We had a pot roast with homemade rolls and cake and ice cream, the perfect fall dinner!
Along with my dad’s birthday we had a 90th celebration for my Grandma Orr. She is in the middle with the gray and black sweater. Sitting next to her is her older sister, my Aunt Ellen. Ellen is 97 years old. Based on the stats it looks like I’m going to live forever! We had lunch and cake at the independent living facility where my granny and my Aunt live. My grandma is very forgetful which is hard, she and I are very close and I always hate to say goodbye.
Michigan in the fall is such a beautiful place and I’m so thankful that I could get back for a few days. There is nothing better than enjoying fall colors, stocking up on favorite camo/college gear, and enjoying my favorite Michigan treats. We are heading back for Christmas which will be here in a flash so I’m looking forward to that. I’m always sad to get on the plane to come back to California (usually the weirdo crying while going through security) but it’s much easier now that I have my California family/community. I’m so lucky to have so many great people in my life here.
I know I say this all of the time but I am so thankful for my team. I typically feel bad taking time off but this time I was able to just let go because I knew the gang would have things under control. While I was away I still answered calls and checked emailed but I left the day-to-day management up to Taylor. I’m so lucky to have her as my mini-me while I’m gone. She tackled organizing sessions, attended consultations, and even represented Kuzak’s Closet at our regional organizing conference in San Francisco. She also worked closely with the family from today’s estate. While she was doing all of that Hope and Sarah were organizing today’s estate sale and Al and the boys were fully emerged in organizing next week’s tool sale in Campbell. It was nice to come back to see tons of progress!
Someone told me that you don’t have a business until it can make money when you are on vacation and it’s safe to say that Kuzak’s Closet is definitely a business and I am thankful that my hard work is paying off. My first day back I was welcomed by this little guy, lucky me! There really never is a dull moment in my life!
Thanks for letting me ramble, I’ll see you all today at our Palo Alto estate sale! If you can’t make it I hope you have a great weekend! TGIF!
Sutzi says
So great to hear about your family. Sounds like a wonderful trip and re-energizing for you. I love “Uncle Chris” too. xoxoxxo