Please Allow me to Introduce Myself

My name is Lori. I’ve been called a head banging Martha Stewart. It suits me. Basically, because it sums up my personality pretty well, all in one sentence. If you are a fellow Rolling Stones fan, you might have noticed that I took the title to this blog out of one of their songs. I’ll let you ponder which one. I am a lifelong fan of rock & roll, cooking, home decor and decorating.

Entrepreneur

I have been earning a living for the past decade or so decorating. My store, Chic Antiques, opened in Lake Orion in July of 2008. Very long story short, I closed my store, which was at that time in a cute, little, yellow house in Oxford Michigan, in March of 2014. Another very long story made short…I met Deb. Deb owned the mill in Almont, the current home of Chic Antiques Market. Deb has become a great friend as well as a huge support to the shop.

Wife

Aside from being a business owner and a friend to Deb, I am also Howard’s wife. Howard is pretty darn handy. He is known as Handy Howie and is the first one to help out friends and family with whatever they need to have done. Electrical, plumbing, you name it, Howard is there! Except when it comes to something that I need done. I have lamps that have been sitting around for years that need to be re-wired and such, but that’s yet another story.

Mother

Howard and I are parents to 4 grown children. Only one still lives at home, our youngest son, Kyle. Kyle is also affectionately known as Basement Kyle. This nickname was lovingly given to him by his father. Basement Kyle hates that name. As you may not be surprised to hear, Kyle has his own little suite in our basement.

Our eldest daughter, Kara, lives in Oxford, Michigan, just a few miles from us. Kara is married to a Kyle. We were all referring to each of the Kyles by their last name until Howard came up with our son’s new nickname. In addition to being a full-time nanny, Kara runs our Instagram account and helps me with a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff necessary for our markets.

We have one more son, Ian, who lives about a half-hour drive away from the rest of us. He is our firstborn. Ian used to be one of our main furniture painters and haulers when I first opened the store. He even ran the desk at times when I needed him to. Now that he is a grown man with his own life, he only paints furniture when he needs a few extra bucks. He is actually very awesome at it.

Last, but not least, is child number 3. Erin. Erin lives super close by, too, with her boyfriend, Carl. Erin & Carl are both students and work full time. They also have 2 cats and a very cute dog who is very badly behaved. They stay very busy, but Carl still finds time to paint furniture for the shop on occasion. He also does an amazing job as a painter.

That’s my life in a nutshell. It’s also what this blog will be about. My life as a wife, mother, friend, and entrepreneur. Homeowner, too. We live in a very outdated, 1980’s ranch that we are attempting to rehab. I am looking forward to sharing my journey in each of these endeavors with you!