Dream Living Room + My Favorite Nightly Ritual

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  

I have been in such a nesting mode ever since we moved into our house.  I feel like I am constantly thinking of new things to do, re-arranging our furniture, painting rooms, and dreaming up ways to make our house feel like our home.  I love reading my fav blogs, and have been way more into Pinterest lately.

I put together this little board for a living room that I would love to create in our home someday.  It is calm, pretty, and neutral.  Definitely a space where I could cozy up and do what has become my favorite nightly ritual:

1.  Have a glass of wine or hot tea

2.  Pin on Pinterest 

3.  Watch Real Housewives of NJ, OC, NY, or BevHills

Does anyone else look forward to this part of the day as much as I do??

Have a wonderful day!

The 411

Hooray for Friday!  We have a busy weekend planned...we are going out with our best friends tonight (more details on that on Monday!)...finishing up the LAST of the 9,720 rolls we are making for a mega order...then going to some dear family friends house Saturday night for dinner.  

Today, I wanted to give you a little backstory of how we started RoRo's Baking Company.  For anyone out there who may be thinking about jumping in and starting your own business, I hope this helps you in some small way.  I also want to document my journey so I can remember all the little details as I look back over the years.

Here is our story:

RoRo's Baking Company is a family owned and operated Dallas-based company, specializing in delicious handmade rolls. Our Grandmother, better known as "RoRo", began baking her rolls many years ago in her kitchen, and sold them around the community. People went crazy over her Cinn-A-Rolls and Dinn-A-Rolls! Like we mean...REALLY CRAZY! So, we figured, why not share the love with everyone!

In November 2010, Amy Collins & her husband Lauren started brainstorming how they would start a company selling RoRo's Cinnamon Rolls.  Growing up, we always had RoRo's Cinn-A-Rolls on Christmas morning.  It became a tradition in my family that I wanted to not only continue forever, but share with other families as well.

After discussing our idea with RoRo and our late grandfather, we decidded to launch the company.  We spent several months creating a business plan, tweaking her original recipe a bit to ensure that we use only natural ingredients, finding a commercial kitchen to bake in, designing a logo, and so on.

April 2011 was the offical launch of our business with our Cinn-A-Rolls on store shelves.  Since then it has been a whirlwind!  We have moved into bigger stores, renovated a warehouse into a commercial baking facility of our own, and launched several new products.

We handmake each roll and bake them to perfection in our Dallas facility.  All of our products are sold fully cooked and frozen...you simply have to heat them up to enjoy.  We strive to use only the best natural ingredients while preserving RoRo's delicious recipes, and we love that our products bring so much joy to our customers.

 They represent family, tradition, and love.

Our mission is to bring back those memories of Grandma's hot, yummy rolls to your busy life. Take a minute, enjoy the simple things in life, and bring a little bit of RoRo into your kitchen. Enjoy!

So, that is how it started.  To say it was easy would be a complete lie...starting a business is just plain hard sometimes.  But, it is also completely rewarding.  As you can tell with my love for family traditions, all things Fall, & Holiday...this business really is a good fit for me.  

RoRo's rolls are nostalgic and bring back special family memories to me that I will cherish forever.  

Don't get me wrong...working with your feisty Italian Grandmother can be challenging at times...but at the end of the day...I feel lucky to have such a special story that we are creating together.  

She is definitely one of the hardest working 75 year old's you'll ever meet!

Happy Weekend!!

Updates Around Our House + Other Randoms

Hey guys!  Hope everyone is having a great Thursday.... I am taking it slow today...we have spent the last two weeks working on a huge order for one of our retailers...it's top secret right now...but details will be out shortly about it!  If you have instagram, I would love for you to follow me!  I think it has become my favorite social media tool....I love posting what goes on in our house, life...and most importantly my fur babies...Finnley & Tucker.  Speaking of - Tucker is 1 now ya'll!  Can you believe we made it a full year with a WEIMARANER!?!

Yes, this is Tucker...she's high energy, super snuggly, very smart, and always one step behind me.  She has become a part of our family over the last year too.  It was a rocky start...did I tell you she was a Weimaraner?? :)  If you are new to the breed, you certainly will be worn out by some of their quirks!  But, she has settled down a bit and has made herself welcome in our little home...if you couldn't tell by the picture above :)

I'm sure you all have seen the Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze craze that has transformed amazing spaces over at Emily's house & Megan's kitchen.  Well it has made it's way into our home too!  I can't wait to do a final reveal as soon as I finish...but here is a sneak peak!  

It used to be a stenciled pattern that I loved for about a year - but it just got a little too trendy for me, and I wanted something a little more classic.  I'd also like to bring in more black and a little less blue to our dining/living area.  To refresh your memory, here is the before right after we moved in last year...

I've also added this amazing lamp from my late grandmother, GB.  She passed away last month and she has some amazing pieces that were passed down to me.  She used to shop at garage sals and estate sales every single weekend...and she honestly has some of the most amazing treasures!  Here are a few items from her:

To say that I'm obsessed with this gold and black pineapple lamp would be an understatement...

This watercolor painting hung in my grandmother's hallway for years.  It is truly beautiful and I love that I will always think of her when I see it.

I am in love with this little lady...Lauren think's she's kind of creepy - but it is such an amazing piece.  She's perched on the wall in our living room looking so nice!

I decided to paint the handles of our entertainment center gold...and it made such a big difference in my opinion.  It's the little changes that get me the most excited I think.

Here is our cozy home today.  

To Do List:

1.  Finish painting dining room

2.  Finish painting entry way chest (it's halfway done...that's my style)

3.  Pick up drapes from cleaners and re-hang

4.  Purchase area rug (LOVE this one)

5.  Recover high back chairs in either a oatmeal linen or light gray linen fabric.

That's all for now!  Tomorrow, I will share some history on how and why I started my company & what I'm most looking forward to this FALL!  

Is it horrible that July isn't even over and all I keep thinking about is Pumpkins?!?

Hello - I am Officially Back!

Hello everyone!  I have missed blogging so much!  I have been super busy with life and our business.  To be honest - I felt like blogging all the time about things unrelated to our company was taking me away from some of the growth that needed to happen.  I have decided to continue blogging...however the focus of this blog will change a bit.  As I have grown over the last few years, I have seen how my interests in life have evolved over the last few years.  I find myself drawn to reading about other entrepreneurs like myself, my love for interiors, baking, and healthy living.  So, I have decided to link this blog through our company website and use it as a tool to not only share about my life, what I love, and things I am up to...but also a tool to grow our brand, and show you what really goes on behind the scenes of a small business.  I hope that this change will be embraced and encourage some of you out there who are thinking about taking a leap into a new path in life.  I know for me it was extremely scary, and I had a million questions.  So, yes, you will still get updates on home decor, food, and our life as well...but I want this space to be a fresh approach to owning a business in your 20's as well and help anyone out there that is thinking about going down this path.  Life is pretty exciting right now, and I would love for ya'll to follow along as I document it!  This will not be a "Business" blog by any means...but it will be a lifestyle blog that will cover my life and the journey we are on as family.

I think I will start doing a weekly "Small Business" roundup that will include some updates from our company as well my thoughts on the process as a whole...wherever we may be in the journey.  I will also definitely be posting updates on our home, things that inspire me, and my puppies! :)

Thanks for following along, and I would love for you to keep reading as I figure out the direction of this little blog that I have grown to love so much!

I'll leave you with this:

A great idea is worth exploring.  Talk to your friends and family and seek their opinions and advice.  Don't feel like you don't know enough or have what it takes to start a company if you truly are drawn to do that.  It can seem extremely daunting and overwhelming in the beginning, and you will work harder than you've ever worked in your entire life.  I can remember working the night shift as a nurse and going straight into a 7 hour baking day as soon as I got home simply because that was the only time we could do it...if you love it, it' worth it.  Don't get defeated, you will fail many times before you succeed. Trust me, I've been there, and if you stick with it, it does get better :)

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New Updates Around Our Home

Hello everyone!  I wanted to pop in and share some updates with ya'll around our house.  I have been in nesting mode lately...I think it has to do with the fact that it is SPRING!  Hope you enjoy a little peak  of some of my recent projects!

Here is our guest room so far...I worked on this neglected room a few weeks ago, and was really happy with the results...warm and cozy!

I have loved having a place to plant flowers this year!

 I transformed that pair of chairs (found them on the side of the road!) and moved them behind our couch...you can see the gallery wall that I started last night!

Finished product!  I was able to use random items from around our home to make this little wall come to life!  Almost everything on that wall was given to me from my grandmother...I love decorating our home with such meaningful pieces.

Thanks for stopping by!  I promise to be back soon!

New Dining Chairs ~ Sneak Peak

Hey ya'll!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I got up SUPER early today (5am!) to drive out to Ft. Worth to pick up some dining chairs I found on Craigslist!  As some of you know, I have been on the hunt for affordable chairs for our dining room.  I had a look that I was envisioning, which was not so cheap...haha.  So, it took a while to find the perfect chairs that matched my budget.  Yesterday we actually bought two amazing Craigslist chairs that I originally wanted for our living room.  They were $25 for the pair!  But, when we got home, I put them on the ends of the table, and I loved the way it looked.  Then, yesterday afternoon I found an amazing set of 6 chairs that had been completely re-done...and I just couldn't pass it up!  

Here are my $25 (for both!) chairs...

I'm thinking of recovering them in a stone/gray colored linen fabric, then putting some fluffy 20x20 square pillows in the seats to make the room feel warm and comfortable.  I want something that is classic versatile in case they get moved to another room at some point.  

Fabric Idea for the Chairs:

This way, I can switch out pillows to match our decor and/or when I change my mind :)

20x20 throw pillow ideas for the high back chairs...

Here are the 6 amazing new chairs!  All 6 only cost me $150!  Can you tell I'm excited?!?

Finnley & Tucker are checking them out :)

Can't wait until it is all finished!  I found a local guy to reupholster the chairs for a pretty reasonable price to...so hopefully those will get done in the next couple of months.  

If you haven't stopped by our Kickstarter page, please do!  Would love you to be a part of supporting our small business & also sending Cinnamon Rolls to our troops overseas!  It's such a neat opportunity! Stop by and read about it!  

A Valentine's Gift that Gives Back

Hey ya'll!  I just received some VERY exciting news!  As you all know, we have launched a Kickstarter Campaign for our business as a way to collectively fund our renovation project.  In return for backing our project, we are offering all kinds of DELICIOUS rewards for you guys that will be delivered right to your doorstep if we meet our goal!  The exciting part is, I just received confirmation that our Cinn-A-Rolls will be sent via DIRECT Military Aircraft to Afghanistan to our troops!  They will arrive fresh and delicious and bring a yummy taste of home!  We are offering this as a $10 reward level throughout our campaign.  If you would like to pledge $10, we will ensure that your gift is delivered straight to our troops ... how cool is that?!?  So, visit our page and see how you can "Show some V-Day Love" & give back, OR how you can give a Valentine's Gift in someone's honor!  Please spread the word!