It's Not Goodbye

Maybe it's been obvious. Maybe it hasn't. I don't love blogging anymore. I can't explain what exactly has changed, but I can say that I feel frustrated and sad when I think about blogging. I feel uninspired. Maybe it's this space. Maybe it's where I am in my life right now. I can't pinpoint it, but I do know after having this blog for almost 5 years, I don't feel all that connected to it right now. Don't get me wrong, I feel incredibly connected to the people who come to this space and the friends who I have met through being a blogger. I love the idea of blogging, but I almost feel like I need to start fresh. Not now, but I can't imagine saying goodbye to blogging forever. I just need to take a break. 

I am working on our business website and plan on connecting a different kind of blog to that space, so maybe that will feel different. But for now, I'm not saying goodbye, but I am going to say farewell to this space for an indefinite amount of time. 

Please keep in touch. you can always email me. tumbleweeds.shop@gmail

say hi on twitter @tumbleweedshc

and of course I'm on IG and Vine - @tumbleweedshc / Beca and Doug (vine)

I love you all so very much. I hope that this break is short and reflective. I hope to stay in touch with the people who I have come to know through blogging, and I hope that I get to know more of you. 

Thank you for being a part of my life for all this time.

Love,
Beca

ps you can follow my #52pies project on instagram, since I hope to keep up with that too. 

pps I haven't had a moment to talk with Maggie Pate about her plans yet.

Pink

Doug got me these pretty carnations a few nights ago. 

I made raspberry macarons.

Valentines day is coming. I got this card from My Zoetrope.

Packing up orders from our shop and our sample sale and putting candy hearts and lollipops in every order. 

I had a sample made of wallpaper from a painting I did and Maggie edited. It looks pretty, I'm ready to get a roll using a high res image. 

Life is okay today. 

xxo,

Beca

Travels & Trip-ups: Turkey

Hagia Sophia, Photo credit: Margaret Pate 

Pattern in cobblestone path, Photo credit: Margaret Pate 

Dome Madness, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Ever since I worked in the fashion industry, I've traveled alone. It is pretty much a prerequisite that if you are going to model you have to be well adjusted enough to coordinate your life even in countries where the language is so foreign you confuse a word for a sneeze or cough. So I've been to my fair share of places: Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. In Asia, I was constantly stared at, which is rather unnerving. I would second guess every move I made for fear that I might offend someone. More often than not, I would spend months completely alone. No human contact except for occasional emails to home and orders from my agent to go there and do this. When I was living in Milan, my mom came to visit me during a rather rough patch. We took time together riding on trains, eating pasta, visiting quaint villages along the coast of Italy. Cultures are best absorbed with people you love, I've come to experience. While working in Singapore, my dad came to visit me. I remember greeting him for the first time. That hug was the first time I had been hugged in over 4 months. I am not a touchy feelie person but that moment remains one of only good experiences I had in Singapore.

Turkish Cottage, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate 

Heading down to dip my toes in the Aegean

Aegean Sea, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate  

Fish netting at the seaside, Photo credit: Margaret Pate 

Against friends and family members' wishes, I headed out for an adventure in Turkey this past October.  I've always been a history nerd. Seeing the landscape and ruins that had been echoing in my head since school was breathtaking. I hadn't expected to feel so welcome there. The food, the architecture, the art, the COFFEE...it was a great time...on the ground. Naturally, I loathe flying. Spending more than 8 hours in an airport or one airplane for that matter is just short of a prison sentence. The only negative point of this trip happened to be my flight back where I contracted food poisoning or something similar thus condemning me to the bathroom or forcing a barf bag to be attached to my face. Here are a few more pictures from my most recent trip that reflect the good times that were had rather than the latter on the flight back.

Lunch under apple trees, Photo credit: Margaret Pate

Spice Market in Istanbul, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Library ruins in Ephesus, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate 

Arch in Istanbul, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Hanging lamps galore in Bazaar of Istanbul, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Lunch in a cave, Photo Credit: Margaret Pate

Sunset in Istanbul, Photo credit: Margaret Pate

Hoping to share more of my travels with you if I can ever find the photos from them.

-Maggie

Obsession: Mociun

Way back in 2010, I worked my last gig as a tour manager for indie band Suckers from Brooklyn. The band, composed of good friends to acquaintances of mine, hooked me into tagging along with them as they drove across the United States and Canada. My dire need to leave the South, be with NYC buddies, and longing for change was just the right dose of ingredients to seduce me into signing up for the adventure. They all still live in NYC and the bassist, Pan, actually dates one of my best friends, Rachel. Since I introduced them, I have a vested interested in their relationship. Rachel was one of my bridesmaids, they gave Eric and I ceramics from Brooklyn store Mociun as wedding gifts. The Williamsburg based store is owned by Caitlin Mociun, who Pan is friends with. Along with stunning home goods, she creates jewelry. I am a nut for rings. That whole introduction was a long way of saying I am really digging this jewelry. Take a look....

All images from Mociun website 

Hugs,
Maggie Pate

3/52 Beca's 52 Pies Project

My 3rd pie in my 52 pies project is Lemon Meringue. I only made lemon meringue because my awesome rad friend Amy sent me a bottle of preserved lemon syrup from Morris Kitchen in Brooklyn, and I kid you not, I had the bottle opened and the filling for this pie on the stovetop in about 2 minutes flat. I like lemon meringue, but don't eat it often, the actual meringue hurts my teeth, and the textures throw me off sometimes. But, I love the flavor and had a pretty big slice of this as soon as it was cool. 

 This has been a fun project so far, and I am looking forward to seeing all the pies at the end of the year! I feel like there is always room to learn and grow and I look forward to the challenge. 

I used THIS recipe. It has been years since I made a lemon meringue, and I this one seemed the most similar to the recipes I have used in the past. I guess there isn't much you can do to change lemon meringue. 

Were getting ready for our flash sale (taking place on Tuesday now, we wanted to add some more stock before we did it) and I'm functioning on just a few hours of sleep. I think it's about that time. Today was rough, emotionally and business wise. But tomorrow will be better. 

xxo
Beca

Keep On Pushin'

Last year when Doug injured himself skating in Louisville, it turned into a 6 month long battle with an infection of his blood. Multiple hospital visits, thousands of dollars (which we're still paying off) and months of horrible pain and bed rest. It was hard and scary and I feel so lucky that he is doing so much better now. Doug loves skateboarding, he's been doing it for 25 years, and there is no way he is stopping anytime soon. Its one of the reasons why I love him, seeing him be so passionate about something. Being a part of a community and constantly learning and taking risks. It's incredible. 

skating from tumbleweedsoddshop on Vimeo.

Well, when Doug was a teenager, he met Ricki and they became friends, they skated together and have kept in touch all these years. Recently, Ricki was in a skateboard related accident and it caused a skull fracture and bleeding in his brain. Real scary shit. And not only that, it's expensive and it's going to take time for him to recover. For everything he's done for the skateboarding community, it's time to spread the word and help a friend out. The Sheckler Foundation is selling teeshirts with one of Ricki's graphics on it to raise money to help him get back on his feet. Maybe you're not into skating, but I bet someone you know is, and would love this teeshirt, and it's going to such a good cause, why the hell not! You can buy a teeshirt here. We spend $20 a week on coffee alone, so it feels good knowing it's going to a rad dude who could use the support right now. 

Get to it!

Hope you're having a great weekend! I just signed up for Vine and holy shit it's fun making videos! If you're on there, find us Tumbleweedshc. 

xxo

Beca (& Doug)

A Hermit's Day

1. Paying bills and drinking coffee
2. Sanding sunglasses
3. A yawning kitten
4. My bouquet from Maggie Pate's wedding.
5. Local coffee
6. A semi clean living room
7. Subway (we're going on week 2 of not eating meat, it's been good so far!)
8. Watching Girls while I work
9. Wrapping up orders
10. Making tissue paper

I don't always leave the house, and I don't mind. This is what my day looked like a few days ago, and most days. Happy weekend.

xxo
beca

Maggie's 3/52 Forge

I grew up often resenting my Southern upbringing. Perhaps it was my neon naive heart that found its old time ways stagnant and regressive and suppressing.  I longed for big cities and foreign cultures thinking they were my salvation.  However living in NYC, I grew restless.  Every gallery opening, every boutique, every chic eatery, every experience seemed like déjà vu. Even the avant-garde emporiums and establishments that were cultivated to expose something new followed the same formula or equation as the next.

It wasn't until I moved back to Tennessee, just miles from the home I grew up in that life seemed engaging again. Perhaps I needed the quiet excitement of a small town to be more centered. Often times Chattanooga looks as though it has dozed off into a restful slumber, similar to the dog sprawled out below my feet right at this very moment. Being in a smaller town has given me more focus and less anxiety about the direction of my life, something that NYC never did. I was always fighting against the grain in New York. Constantly comparing, striving, failing, falling. Though moving back to Chattanooga was a struggle, I found that peace doesn't come until you are ready for it.

I've reconnected with what I want to do and make with my life, since being back in Tennessee with the help of my friend Beca. The result of which you all will get to see soon. My forge this week has been geared toward focusing on patterns and painting. Here is a peek into such activities and hopefully my future.   

Valentines Day Small Business Gift Guide for Him and Her

We love gift guides. It's like window shopping, but in your pj's. And we always discover new shops and new awesome items along the way. Since Valentines Day is just around the corner, here are a few of our favorites for him and her, and all of these gifts are from small and handmade businesses! Hooray! Have fun browsing and stay tuned for the events version of this gift guide! (aka the free/local/not material valentines day gifts...)

 HIM // Forage Handkerchief, Union Leatherworks Wallet, The Evil Goods jacket, Quill and Fox Card, The Caramel Jar caramels, Good hYOUman Teeshirt, Fondue Pot, Shady Side Farm Socks, Running Horses bracelet

HER // Gingiber Deer Print, Giant Dwarf Starlette Sparkler, Panther Dress, Rifle Paper Co. Card, Meropisart ring, Strathcona Socks, Andie's Specialty Sweets Candy Necklace, Macaron necklace, Sparkle phone case, whale cookies, Dinosaurtoes Original bullet neckalce, Floral Undies

xxo,

Beca

Buttercream - A How-To for You

Buttercream! Buttercream! My favorite 11 letter word. It's this magical thing that goes on cakes and cupcakes and cookie sandwiches and french macarons. It can make or break your dessert. Really, buttercream that is too sweet or not sweet enough can absolutely take over a good base dessert. 

Here is my recipe. It is a pretty standard recipe, you can find it just about anywhere, but I have a few tricks that I use that may be helpful.

2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted. 

1 cup european butter, unsalted and left at room temp for an hour prior to mixing

1 tbsp vanilla or other flavor

color

a tbsp ice cold water

Unless I am making a large batch of buttercream, I always mix by hand with a fork and spatula. I like to feel the consistency and need to add more water or more sugar. YOu can use a mixer, I suppose it doesn't make much of a difference. I also hate to dirty my mixer if I am making a tiny batch of buttercream for macarons. I start by breaking the butter down with flavor and water and color. Add the confectioners sugar slowly as you get the thickness you want. Bitter cream isn't a science, it's an art and you can add and subtract as you see fit. Pop your buttercream in the frigde once it's combined for a bit so that it can settle and then you're good to go. Easy peasy.

And, OH MY GOD. It's a video of me making a small batch buttercream. Cool. Enjoy.

I hope this little micro-tutorial wasn't too boring! It's nothing special, but I know making something new can be intimidating. Next time we'll champion swiss buttercream. Not, that's a feat. And SO worth learning.

xxo
Beca

PS That song is the Magnetic Fields Absolutely Cuckoo. You can buy it here.