What do you do when a client cancels?

I had an unexpected unscheduled day today - a client had to cancel ... and instead of trying to fill in the day with other clients I decided to take a free day. I thought it was the first day of Spring (uh no, missed that - it was the day before) and thought I would get a jump start on Spring cleaning (ie. painting, planting new flowers in the courtyard, washing the windows...).

It was a perfect day. It started with this:

Don't let the crumbled box fool you ... because this is what was inside:

I have been dying to have one of Michelle Armas' paintings. I posted about them a while back and while I was putting up the post, the painting I wanted sold right out from under me. I contacted Michelle just in case the sale didn't go through (it did) and she assured me she would be painting more in the colorway I wanted (and in the size I could afford!).

So as she suggested I basically stocked her website (she said keep checking back). They sell out very fast. Did you know they are selling her paintings at Anthropologie now? Wow. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago there was the perfect painting for me!  It is called Truth. And even that appeals to me. Have you read the Hunger Game books? I just finished all three of them and one of the things that resonated with me was when Peeta SPOILER ALERT when Peeta had his memory taken away from him and he didn't know what was real or not real. I loved that he would question everything to see if it was true or not. Real or not real. I need to do that more. Sometimes I have things inside my head that feel like they are true but they really are not.

I love it! After I picked the package up from the post office, I ran by our local nursery to pick up some spring flowers ...

And went by the paint store. Remember my post on Monday, black or white? Well, black won.

My photos came out terrible (it was too late in the day) but I did get it all painted. It is dramatic and different. I had really struggled with painting over the quote my daughter had painted on the wall when she was in high school and the room was hers. (I posted about my dilemma with painting it a couple of years ago here). But then I realized today, she is turning 28 on Saturday - which means it has been up at least 12 years. And the lavender walls - they have probably been like that for 15 years or more. I decided it was time. Now I need to work on that bed!

 It was a very productive day (even managed to wash my car and clean the house and a few windows!). It is nice to take a day and do things around your own house - especially when you are always fixing up other people's!