women who inspire: jackie hutt

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in Detroit and moved to Phoenix in 8th grade. All 5 kids and a dog drove out west and my dad commuted for the next two years on many a red eye flight. I played tennis at Xavier, where we were the state champs and went on to play all 4 years at the University of Arizona. I moved to San Francisco and married my first husband where we enjoyed the fun city life as a young married couple. Several years later, my husband was diagnosed with Hodgkins. We moved back to Phoenix to be close to family and had our son Jack in 1995. My husband passed away just three years later in 1998. It was the most devastating moment in my life while simultaneously being the greatest gift. It allowed me to look at life differently. You learn to really cherish life and appreciate how fragile it is. Losing my husband made me really love life, love kids, love people. I truly found peace within myself. I remarried and have a beautiful daughter with my second husband and just recently founded Game Plan Scholarships with my BFF, Allyson. It is a company to help high school kids take the right steps toward getting athletic scholarships for college. Kids don't realize that it really is a full-time job and a lot of pressure. We act as the go-between and mentor to these kids and guide them, so that they are aware of all the possibilities before them. I love working with people and that is what makes me so passionate about Game Plan.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I read a lot, I am inspired by people who follow their dreams and those who have overcome challenges in their lives.

Who inspires you?

my mom, she is truly an inspiration to everyone who meets her. she is a mother of five, grandmother of 12. One really amazing thing about my mom is that she became a certified bikram yoga instructor at the age of 69!.

How did you get your start?

I started playing tennis at the age of 10 and then continued on through high school and college. Playing competitive tennis gave me the foundation to start GamePlan. Having “been there done that” I understand what it takes to compete in college sports having managed both athletics and academics. This experience helps me mentor high school athletes in their pursuit of college scholarships.

Did you take any classes, etc. for your business?

Do thousands of tennis lessons count? A lot of what I learned about life/business I learned on the tennis court. Playing competitive sports taught me a lot of things like how to win, how to lose, how to be a team player, goal setting, hard work and dedication. Most importantly, I learned that if something is easy everyone would be doing it.

What can you not go a single day without?

Waking up to my husband, kids and dogs and listening to Dennis Prager on the radio.

What is your tip for success?

Do something you love and give it 110%. Oh yea, and surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.

Where is your favorite place in the world? Your dream place?

Napa Valley would be at the top of my list. My dream place would be Italy (even though I have never been).

Why do you love Phoenix?

The summers, just kidding. I love the fact that Phoenix is the 5^th largest city in the country but yet it still maintains a sense of community.

What is your favorite thing about Phoenix?

Being close to family and so many of my friends from high school.

What do you wear to work?

Work is a laptop at my kitchen table, so you probably don't want to know...

Where do you like to shop?

I am not a big shopper. I let my sister do all the shopping and then I head to her house to borrow what is cute, new and in style. Whenever people ask me where I got that outfit I tell them “My sister’s closet…..literally!

Do you have a favorite quote to share?

“A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water”- Eleanor Roosevelt

What advice would you give to other women?

It takes a village…..

Thank you so much, Jackie for sharing with us! We absolutely love your outlook on life! You exude true happiness and it is always lovely to be around you.

Check out Jackie's website to learn more about Game Plan... its pretty amazing.

Plumbago auriculata

Plumbago auriculataSeptember 30, 2010
Plumbago auriculata is a very popular garden plant in Zone 9B where our vacation home is.  This is an evergreen bush with showy blue flowers that remind me of phlox.  I think it is quite pretty so will be planting a few bushes at our vacation home.  Propagation is by semiripe tip cuttings in the spring or by seed.  However, the nurseries in the area sell

Beauty to Behold !

I am glad you came as it is a lovely day to take a stroll through the garden to see all the late blooming beauties!

The roses are still giving us some late season blooms.

The fall anemones are putting on a good show

This Jackmani clematis was later blooming then the others so it still has a few blooms on the terrace.

There are still a few blooms of shasta daisies around.

This is a tall fall aster- I enjoy having these late bloomers in the garden to extend the season.

I also love these late blooming monkshood as they add good color and are very hardy.

Another tall aster -different color.

You can see the frost has browned the limelight hydrangeas. Our garden is low lying with a brook going through the woods making it more of a frost pocket then some gardens on the Island.

This Elmshorn rose has lots of late blooms.

This is a short aster and the bees are loving them.

Pretty foliage colors add to the fall beauty.

Cimicifuga Bugbane is another plant I like to have for the fall-it does look good in bouquets also.

An aster that was a gift from a friend.

I picked this beautiful dahlia bloom that was almost lost in the garden-I will have to dig the dahlias soon but so far they have only been touched by frost. One night soon we will probably get a killing frost turning all the leaves black.

I love the delicate beauty of it- next year the plant should be bigger and better then ever.

This Julia Child rose is a hybrid tea rose and I don't normally grow them but I did fall in love with this rose when I saw it at Fanningbank so I ordered it from Pickering Nursery in Ont. I will cover it well for our cold winters and hopefully it will make it through if not it still didn't cost as much as a bouquet of roses and I have enjoyed it.

This is a more washed out shot but I wanted to show you how pretty it looks with the Autumn Joy sedum behind it.

Can you tell it is my pride and joy in the garden this week at least!

Thank you for coming around the garden with me again today-I've been thinking wouldn't it look beautiful to have a fall bed with all these plants blooming together along with some grasses. Surely,we have room for one more bed somewhere!

Enjoy your day!

Carolyn

my love of linens

I know I have mentioned before my complete obsession with linens, but my love affair continues. And my trip to New York only made things worse. Store after store filled with amazing linens and then there was the one. The one that stood out above the rest (the one that also could break the bank). Society makes some of the dreamiest linens I have ever seen. They reminded me so much of our no. 1, Matteo (Matteo is still the dreamiest, let's be honest). I think what I was most taken with about this line was their photography project with German photographer Cora Buttenbender. She literally put my love of linens into photographic form. Words are not really needed. Just look at these photos and you feel the soft loveliness of the linens and how they create beauty in the everyday.

The inside reads: "Can you mail an emotion?" They sent the photographer this box (shown above) with a simple note that read, "You decide." And these are the images she captured...

What do you think I would have to do to get someone to send me a box filled with nothing but amazing linens to live in, photograph and enjoy? Perhaps if I were a world famous photographer... hmmm, I will have to figure something else out...

So, while we won't be carrying Society any time soon (few of us could afford a hand towel from this Milan based company), it reminded me of how much beautiful linens give that lovely, clean, amazing feel to any home.

*Matteo

*Bella

*Libeco

And, so as this holiday season approaches, if you are having company come to stay or have that difficult-to-buy-for person in your life, come on in to the Willows and let us help you begin a love affair with amazing linens. We have so many to share from that perfect table cloth from Libeco or bedding from Matteo and Bella Notte for your guests, to towels and Bella robes to show someone how much you care.

The simplicity and beauty of linens cannot be beat.

Tea Cart Library

I have had a vintage tea cart for a couple of years now.  I originally purchased it to mosaic, but decided it was to valuable to change it. 

So what to do with a tea cart.  Well, I could have set a tea service on it.  But I didn't want to do that.

One day Sherri, of  Sherri's Jubilee did a post on storing and displaying books and one of the pictures she had found while doing an Internet search was this one below.

I loved the whole look of it!  So I decided I would create my version of that picture with my tea cart.

But for some reason, mine seems a little blah....

Maybe because it is small.

 Maybe it is the accessories.

So I will keep working at it, until I like it.  Any suggestions?

Welcome Home,

Penny