hi, i'm Ali
Photographer, boy mom, dog mom, chocolate-lover, reader, and wife to a busy maker. I'm the voice you hear and read at Life Outside the Shop. From new project how-to's and DIY home updates to the ins-and-outs of building a family & multiple businesses, Life Outside the Shop shares what is really looks like to figure it out as you go.
January 27, 2021
I totally get it… using Instagram to grow your business can feel overwhelming. You feel like you’re screaming into the void and getting little-to-no engagement. But, it doesn’t have to feel like this! Here are some Instagram hacks to decrease the dread. Pre-blogging and working to grow Sam Macy Designs, I loved Instagram. It was […]
January 19, 2021
Ask and you shall receive, everyone;) After sharing more about the bookcase Sam built me for my birthday, I got a lot of questions about what books were takin’ up the shelves, my all-time favs, and my 2021 TBR list Maybe I’ll start doing a book review post once every 3 months? A little “here’s […]
January 13, 2021
Building a business is hard and we’re not trying to pretend it isn’t. We’re figuring it out as we go over here but we’ve definitely learned a few things in the process;) Here are our Top 5 Beginner Business Building Tips from 2020! We don’t have it all figured out… …and we’re not pretending that […]
January 8, 2021
Follow along with our DIY bookcase project and learn how to turn an old closet, awkward corner, or empty space into a gorgeous place to store your fav reads. If you haven’t read Part One of this project yet, you can catch up HERE! A Little DIY Bookcase Backstory I was a hide-under-the-covers-with-my-booklight-so-my-mom-couldn’t-catch-me-up-late kinda girl […]
December 27, 2020
I’m feeling extra grateful for a handy hubby so we can get after some DIY bookcase building for my 28th birthday! It has been a week (plus!) of back-and-forth with some blog and website peeps trying (and failing… mostly on my part?) to relocate the blog to a new domain name – lifeoutsidetheshop.com. So, that […]
December 10, 2020
One of our favorite Christmas traditions is Christmas Tree shopping the weekend of (or the weekend after, this year) Thanksgiving. Then, we come home, put on a Christmas movie while we wait for the branches to fall… and put on movie #2 or a bangin’ Michael Blubé Christmas playlist while decorating. Our movies of choice? […]
December 3, 2020
I have a snoring pup on my lap who had the BEST time at camp this holiday weekend. Sam’s parents like to say “we’re all aired out” and that is exactly how we all feel on this sleepy, Sunday afternoon. Sam’s family shares a camp in middle-of-nowhere northern Vermont and it was the perfect place […]
December 1, 2020
We are SUPER excited about these DIY wedding signs because they are near and dear to our hearts. Today, we’re sharing the behind the scenes making of our wedding signage but this will work for any occassion. Birthday? Home Decore? Shower? You name it, you can build a sign for that. Check out the video […]
November 23, 2020
Thanksgiving is around the corner and even mid-pandemic, this time of year can be tough if you’re focused on your nutrition. Having a “healthy Thanksgiving” feels and sounds like an oxymoron, don’t you think? So, I’m republishing (read: copy and pasting from my own blog – so it’s allowed, people!) an article I wrote for […]
November 13, 2020
I would say “sorry it has been a few weeks” but I’m not really that sorry;) We’ve been spending every second with our brand new pup, Blue (or, Blue Boy), since bringing him home just about a week ago. It has been quite the transition back into puppy-parenting (the last time we did this was […]
