Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger




Diana from Adirondack Girl @ Heart 



 Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger is a feature done each Saturday that introduces you to a blogger you may already know or a new blogger for you to get to know. This feature gives you a peak into the personal life of the blogger.  Getting to know the special person behind the beautiful blog.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland so enjoy getting to know these talented bloggers each Saturday.


This week I am excited to introduce you to a very talented blogger Diana from Adirondack Girl @ Heart.  Diana has a wonderful way with vintage finds.  You will love her posts on her weekly vintage finds and she also introduces us to wonderful vintage bloggers each week too.  Enjoy getting to know Diana a little better.





Hi everyone! What a special treat to be asked by Kris to tell you a little bit about myself and my blog, Adirondack Girl @ Heart. Shall I start at the beginning?


I'm the eldest of five children, and we grew up in the town of Peru, on the edge of the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. My grandmother and cousins lived in a tiny town called North Creek, at the center of the mountains, and I spent a lot of time there, hiking, bottle digging, skiing, picking wild flowers, and camping. The bottle digging is probably where my addiction to the "thrill of the hunt" first developed. The name of my blog is a tribute to my love for these mountains.

My last year of high school, a special teacher introduced me to a life of faith. She set me on a course that would guide and strengthen me through the years ahead. Knowing God and receiving his forgiveness have meant everything to me.


After college, I moved to Albany, New York to attend Law School, and then I worked for the Legislature on environmental issues for eight years. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to work on some important and innovative legislation, but my favorite was the Hudson River Valley Greenway. I "retired" in 1995 to marry my sweet husband, Bob, and shortly thereafter my son Dan (now 18) arrived, followed by my daughter Gracie (now 16). Interesting fact: we married on October 7th, Dan arrived March 7th, Grace on April 7th, and our house number is 7!


Shortly after we married, my girlfriend Robin encouraged me to get into the antiques business, as a way to make a few extra bucks. I'd grown up surrounded by antiques, so the love for old things was pretty deep in my bones. She took me under her wing, and before long I was selling at antique shows and in a nearby dealer shop. 




When we moved to England in 2009, I took a break from selling, but not from buying! In 2011, we came home and I had boxes and boxes of treasures in tow. During those two years, I shopped at antique shows, antique shops, auctions, open-air markets, and my very favorite, car-boot sales. The best thing about car boot sales, besides their incredibly low prices, is they are held in an open field or car park--it's one stop shopping. In fact, there's no such thing as a [private] garage or tag sale, only car boot sales. Above is the amazing c.1648 half-timbered home we lived in. We had a wonderfully blessed two years in England, making special life-long friends and travelling all over Europe.

A vintage market in the town of Chesterfield, England.
8th grade art class project--slave jugs
Upon arriving back in the States, we settled back home and I began teaching art one day a week at my daughter's middle-school and I slowed down on my antique/vintage buying.


A couple of years later, I was looking for an emotional and creative outlet. We were going through some difficult times in our family and I needed a healthy distraction. Believe it or not, that's what "drove" me to blogging, and I've not regretted it one day since. I wrote my first post in August 2013, and then opened my Etsy shop a few months later. I've met so many kind and encouraging people along the way, and have experienced tremendous personal growth in many areas of my life. I love blogging!

Adirondack Girl @ Heart has a distinctively vintage focus. My regular features include weekly "Vintage Finds" and a "Vintage Blog of the Week." Like many other bloggers, I also love crafting and decorating, but again, I try to put a vintage twist on my projects. Because I've a bit of a teacher inside me, I also love to write posts that provide good information about evaluating and caring for antiques. And sometimes I write "FaiTHoughts" about spiritual matters dear to my heart.


I just recently moved into a real "live" antique shop and so I write about my space every now again, too (photo above). I expect I'll be writing about my vintage adventures for a while to come. Thanks for listening to my story; I hope you'll pop over to Adirondack Girl @ Heart and introduce yourself  to me some time soon--


Thank you Diana for letting us get to know you a little better.  Love the 7's being so lucky for you.
Have a wonderful week end everyone.  Please hop over to Diana wonderful blog and say Hi.
Kris
:)

28 comments

  1. I'm going to have to go meet Diana, she sounds like a very traveled and fun person! Thanks for sharing a bit of her with us! Blessings, Cindy xoxo

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  2. What an adorable house in England. Thanks, Kris for introducing her.

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  3. Thanks for introducing us to Diana. Looking forward to popping over to her blog and learning more about her. Think this vintage loving lady and I will have lots in common! How amazing is that house in England!?

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  4. I love Diana, and we've followed each other since perhaps both our blog journeys began, and I'm happy she's featured this week.

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    1. We have a real mutual admiration society going on, Rita! You know how much I love you and your blog :)

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  5. Kris it was so fun getting to know Diana better. She is amazing with antiques. Jo

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    1. So sweet of you to say, Jo. You're pretty amazing with antiques yourself :)

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  6. Thanks so much, Kris, for including me and my blog in your Saturday Spotlight! It was so kind of you to include me in this wonderful feature; it has been a tremendous blessing. And thank you ladies for all of your lovely comments--from old and new friends :)

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    1. You are so welcome Diana. I love that this series brings so many like minded bloggers together. It was a fun feature. Thank you for saying yes to doing Spotlight.
      Kris

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  7. Hello Kris nice spotlight. I'm heading over to check out Diana's blog which is one I wasn't familiar with. She sounds like a fun loving woman.
    xoxo,
    Vera

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  8. What fun to get to know more about the wonderful Diana. Her blog is one of my favourites. She's so knowledgeable about vintage items, and very generous with sharing this knowledge with her readers. Great feature Kris!

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    1. You're making me blush Tuula. It blesses me to know that my vintage posts may be useful and helpful to others. Thank you for the very kind words :)

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  9. Diana is a sweetheart. I love her and her home and blog! I'm so glad you featured her today. Diana, you are an inspiration! Hugs, Nancy

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    1. Nancy your kind words bless me so much. I'm an inspiration? What a crazy wonderful thought! I'm not sure if it's true, but it was so nice of you to say--

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  10. What an interesting person Diana is Kris; thanks for sharing her with us! It is funny about the 7's. I guess that is her lucky number! : ) Beautiful home in England. That is a lifelong dream of mine - to visit England. I'd be happy with just a couple of weeks. I can't imagine being lucky enough to live there for two years.

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  11. It's so lovely to meet Diana and read all about her.
    She has lead an interesting life and I'm off to her blog to learn more about her.
    Thank you Kris for introducing us to interesting bloggers - this is such a great feature!
    Hugs
    Shane

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  12. So fun to learn more about, Diana! I always enjoy my visits to her blog and seeing what she's up to!

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  13. I love these features ~ thank you again, Kris! It's great to learn about Diana. Very interesting life and I love the 7's. I'll stop by her blog and learn more about her.

    xo
    Pat

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  14. She sounds like a very interesting lady! (And as a fellow upstater, I am going to check out the blog!)

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  15. Love her style! Off to check out her blog right now! Thanks so much for sharing, Kris!!

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  16. I love this feature not only to learn about a new blog, but to learn about the life of the blogger.

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  17. Hello, I hopped over from Diana's blog--so nice to learn more about this sweet lady! Thanks for sharing, Cecilia

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  18. such a charming home and family! thanks, kris!

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  19. I've been following Diana for awhile already and I learned some new things about her today. She is such a sweetie.

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  20. Ahhh Kris, I've been following Diana for awhile now. It was great learning a little more about her today...like that gorgeous house she owned in England or that she went to Law School. I didn't know these things until today. Thanks for sharing her with us!

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  21. I've been following Diana and after this post know a lot more about her! Great idea to feature other bloggers!

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  22. What an exciting time in England! Diana learned so much about antiquing, and found so many wonderful treasures.

    Thanks for a lovely post, Kris!

    Poppy

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  23. For some reason I am enchanted with English books, the country, would love to be able to visit England. Ever since I read The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher have been so interested. I am of English descent myself thru my Dad. My maiden name was Scofield. My brother did geneology search and found out had ancestor that was some big shot in England in 19th. century. I would so love to be able to visit Cornwall as The Shell Seekers talks about a great deal.
    The house you lived in is wonderful, looks so solid and comfy, welcoming. I love antiques, everywhere we've lived since San Diego has drawn me once I was exposed to them. Maybe cause I was born in 1940 I love so much of that era and before and after.
    How lucky you got to live in England. Few years before we left S.D. we discovered antiques down in south bay, bought a dining set and some tables from a dealer that brought so much over from England, Ireland and Wales. Once we discovered antiques was never happy even bothering to look at furniture store goods.
    Have wonderful holiday season,Will be subscribing to your blog. I too have found a wonderful place in blogland. No blog myself but love all the talent, projects and warm wonderful people have met thru them.

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