Suddenly, It's Real!

The Daily Green!

Our Half Pint is being featured as a part of the Etsy side show on The Daily Green! Check it out! 

Mug Shots

Natalie will have 20+ portraits on display of some of the "regulars" @ the wonderful Firefly Coffeehouse just outside Madison, WI the entire month of February. The opening reception is Friday, February 5th from 7pm-9pm. Some snacks will be provided and a fantastic assortment of beverages will be available for purchase, including beer and wine. Natalie is a 99' graduate of Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and in 2008 she earned her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. This is her first show in the Madison area! Please stop by The Firefly, enjoy a warm beverage and enjoy the show!

 

Happy Holidays from Wisconsin!!!!!

 

we love wisconsin!!!

i love wisconsin!!!!, originally uploaded by natalie wright.

It has snowed 18 inches so far, and it's still snowing! Another 3-4 inches is expected and then the wind is going to pick up! I LOVE IT! The snow is so peaceful. Almost everything is shut down....so today is the day to bake christmas cookies and build a snow man! Unfortunately this will put a hamper into our shipping :( We have a few packages to get out that will be delayed until at least tomorrow.
xo-natalie

Reading Frenzy Portland, Oregon

We are super excited to be a part of this show at Reading Frenzy in Portland this year! If you are in the area we hope you'll be able to stop by! It sounds fantastic :) We wish we could be there! For more info please visit www.readingfrenzy.com

 

A new home, a Whale Cutting Board & Linen Tea Towels!

We are slowly getting settled into our new home in Madison. During the move Ben cracked a few ribs while unloading the truck (small avalanche which included the corner of a table hitting him smack in the ribs!) which has slowed him down quite a bit! Well...as much as Ben can slow down that is.....This is our cute little rental which is very close to the lakes and nice big parks :) We think it will suit us just fine :) 

 

We are happy to announce that Urban Outfitters will be selling Whale Bamboo Cutting Boards designed by us that are exactly like our chalkboards! They will be in select stores this November :)

 

 

Also the Tea Towels will SOON be available in our Etsy Shoppe! I'm shooting for the end of the week :) Here is a sneak peak at the finished product! Nancymom did an beautiful job sewing the linen, thank you nancy! 

 

She added the little cloth "tab" for easy hanging :) Perfect!

 

Thanks for stopping by to see what we're up to. I know it's been too long since we've posted anything here. It's just been a very hectic past few months! We have new exciting projects ahead of us, and this time we plan to stay put for a while :) Thanks again for stopping by....

-natalie

A few shop updates and another move!

I don't know if you are anything like me, but I tend to accumulate piles of paperwork. I can't keep up with the mail, the bills, the fan mail (hehe..just kidding), and all those recipes I print off the computer....so...piles....ben's always trying to tidy my piles and this has been his most successful attempt yet! These beautiful boxes made of reclaimed materials are the perfect size for computer paper (we have one by the printer), and for your most current magazines! We have also love having one on a little table by the front door (below the mustache key hook, of course) to collect our out-going and in-coming mail. Perfect! They are now available in limited quantities in our shoppe!

The Pig Chalkboard is now also now available online! We spent yesterday printing tea towels, so once those get sewn, we should have those ready for sale sometime near the end of October! 

We have also added a few new fun items to our vintage shop, Your Father's Mustache. 

On another note...we are MOVING AGAIN! Yes...we are leaving beautiful Door County, and have decided to settle in Madison, Wisconsin :) The official move will be at the end of October. I think we will be staying put for a while after this one! We've had a wonderful stay in Door County, but have some new wonderful opportunities pulling us back to Madison. Now...I must get back to packing!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo~natalie

we have new items for fall!

  We are so happy to introduce a few new items to Suddenly, It's Real! We just finished printing and sewing our tea towel prototypes, and we are very happy with how they turned out! We printed them with water based fabric ink on 100% linen, and Nancymom was the master seamstress! The final products will have a little tab for hanging....they measure around 19"x25.5". To see a few more shots up close, please click here.

  The pig chalkboard was inspired by our involvement with the folks at Harbor Landing restaurant. The detail and size of this chalkboard is right on. We will be adding these items to the shop this september & october! 

  It has been quite the hectic summer....so many new changes for us! We are looking forward to the crisp fall weather and the orchards bursting with apples :) Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned as we update our shop for fall!

Summertime in Door County, Wisconsin

Have you ever been to Door County? It is a beautiful place. We have yet to explore it all! We are working hard at the Harbor Landing restaurant, baking cherry pie and doing lots of canning to preserve the summer harvest! As I type this I'm in a rush to get there so Ben and I can open the restaurant for breakfast. It's just Ben and I. He is the cook and I'll be waiting your table :) So stop in and see us! We make a mean breakfast :) And Nick and Nate (owners/chefs) make an even meaner lunch and dinner! 

david lee (1945-2009)

I realized a few years ago, and just recently my husband Ben and I agreed, that our parents stay a certain age in our minds eye. Through the years I’ve watched my dad age, his dark “Newman” circles under his eyes get darker and his small frame getting more fragile, but when I think of him, he is still 40. He’s still sharp as a tack, with shining eyes, his dark curly hair neatly trimmed under his black leather Ivy cap, dressed in his 30/30 501 Levis, button up shirt, black leather vest with pocket watch, and polished black cowboy boots. “Well! Yer lookin’ good!” He would always say (even over the phone, thousands of miles away) “Well, your not lookin’ too shabby yourself”, I would say.

Many memories with my dad involve slow rides down every country road in Coles, Moultrie and Shelby County, him with a beer between his legs and me with a can of coke. I never said he was the perfect role model. He was by far not perfect, thank god. That would have been very boring.

My dad loved people and he had many many friends. He loved to “debate” (some say argue) and he was known to get a little philosophical. He was the type to give the shirt off his back, even when it’s the only shirt he had. He was never one to get too caught up in material things, and was always there to help Ben and I out in extremely generous ways. He always said to me “hey, slow down girl…life is beautiful.”

I must have been around 5 years old and I was spending the weekend with dad at his place in Springfield. I was having some sort of 5 year old tantrum and I wrote the note “I hate you!” on a piece of paper, threw it at him and ran to hide in his bedroom closet. He wrote “I love you!” on a note and slipped it under the closet door. This went on back and forth for who knows how long, but I do know…he won that argument!

A few years later, at home in Mattoon, dad was pouring me a glass of milk. He said “Say “When”” and when it looked good I said “okay!....STOP!....WHEN!!!!”…by the time I got to “When”, half a gallon of milk was on the floor and he had a smirk on his face I remember to this day.

His advise for a stressful situation was to stop and have some ice cream, or maybe a slice (or two) of pie and a cup of coffee. For many years our weekly phone conversations were as early as 5am. Ben and I got him hooked on "good" coffee, which involved grinding his own beans and using a "malita" to make one cup at a time. (For those of you that know my dad, this is no doubt a funny scene!) I would call up, "what are you doing?" "I'm building myself a cup of coffee! What are you doing?" I of course was also "building" myself a cup of coffee. Mornings were our favorite. Sometimes though, when the moon was full, he'd call me up and say "Hey! You see that moon tonight?!" 

Dad, Life is beautiful. Thanks for being such a big part of mine. 

***If you would like to view and sign the online guest book, please go here :)