I realize many of you are new here and even those that aren’t might not know me very well, so I’m resurfacing this “all about me” post to reintroduce myself. 

I’m Janet Lorusso, founder of JRL Interiors and author of the NestFeathers lifestyle blog.

What most of you have figured out is that I love to cook and entertain and believe fervently in the power of design and atmosphere to create a better way to experience life.  What you may not know, is that I arrived at this point in my life in anything but a straight line! 

So…here are 25 facts about me you might not know:

• My faith, family, and friends are the most important things in my life.

• Although I am a New England girl through and through, I was born in the south, so I can fall into a southern drawl at the slightest provocation.

• I took lessons in organ, piano, guitar, swimming, and gymnastics growing up.  I was not particularly gifted at any of those things. I still have a lifelong love affair with music, and managed to give birth to two classical musicians.

• My parents instilled generosity, excellence, and an appreciation of “quality over quantity” in me. 

• My mom was an incredible seamstress and loved all the details - I inherited the love of details but not the patience with a sewing machine. And she is a fabulous gardener which I also did not inherit, as well as a puzzle devotee, which I DID inherit. We spent many afternoons doing the crossword in the local paper while working our way through a box of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! (I inherited the sweet tooth too…thanks mom)

• I have one sibling, a sister 5 years younger than I.  She likes to remind me of that LOL. We are alike in some ways and very different in others, but we make a good team!  She is the type A driven personality to my type Z laid-back calm, and pragmatist to my dreamer imagination.  And she owns waaaaay more kitchen gadgets than I do, but I may be winning on dishes…

• My daddy is my rock.  He taught me to bake, took me on dinner dates all through college, and delivered home made lemon meringue pie my first Valentines Day away from home. We show love with food in our family!  Daddy is beloved by many and we cannot go anywhere without running into someone he knows.

• My high school graduating class had 32 students. total.  Graduating at the top of my class was not really much of an achievement LOL.

• I was a cheerleader for 10 years.

• I have a degree in chemistry, followed by a {much more enjoyable} certificate in interior design. I am a lifelong learner and constantly curious and have collected an embarrassing number of books and magazines. Thank goodness for the advent of the digital age - it makes hoarding information and inspiration so much easier.

• I adore travel and have had the privilege of visiting a variety of places from Kenya to the Caribbean.

• I was lucky enough to spend a summer semester touring Europe where I first developed an unabashed admiration for classical architecture, an addiction to tea with milk, and an affection for quaint cafés and people watching.

• I worked in allergy research for 7 yrs designing and executing experiments and publishing and presenting on such scintillating topics as “The Content of Cat Allergen in Dust Mite Immunotherapy Extracts”.

• I was a child bride at barely 22 and my 23 year marriage ended in a contentious and interminable, but necessary divorce.  I did not plan to slide into middle age nearly destitute and a single mother of two children, but I am grateful for all that I have learned about life and myself, and the sustaining grace of God, and beyond grateful for my two incredible children and the sisters and brothers-in-law I got to keep.

• I have overcome depression, self-doubt, and hopelessness and have learned I am resilient and resourceful and have an incredible family that always has my back. And I finally understood I have a unique purpose. 

• I am passionate about ending the cycle of domestic abuse and support and serve with a local organization founded by a friend. 

• I am passionate about the power of good design to create a gracious and beautiful life - making that available and achievable for everyone is my mission. It is why I write.

• I believe generosity begets joy, and laughter is as essential as breathing.

• The ocean is my happy place although any body of water will do.  

• I believe toffee, caramel, and buttercream frosting deserve their own food group, and plastic forks should be banished from the planet.

• I have a passionate hatred for fluorescent light bulbs and a disdain for LED’s at the ‘interrogation lamp’ end of the spectrum.

• I am a reflexive drive-by architecture critic and I can’t help commenting on the design choices I see when out and about. My kids have come to anticipate this and I *may* have created a whole new generation of discerning design critics.

• I love animals (we do NOT count snakes here) and have had cats for much of my life.  I admire the complete nonchalance and “catitude”.  I don’t currently have any pets and I miss them, but am enjoying the relative freedom from fur covered…everything.

• I love gardens, but not gardening. In my fantasies, I am married to a landscape architect that looks and sounds like Pierce Brosnan.

• Gracious entertaining is my favorite hobby and also an excuse for my dishware addiction. 

An attitude of gratitude

I’m so grateful for all that I have and what I get to do. 

I’m grateful for my children who have grown into kind and gracious adults.

I’m grateful to be surrounded by the love of friends and family. 

I’m grateful for my clients that are willing to trust me with their homes.

And, if you have actually made it this far, I’m grateful for you for reading all these rambling words!