Leaving on a jet plane...

We are leaving VERY early tomorrow morning for our trip. We are almost all packed, just a few last minute details to deal with. I should be back with normal postings on Monday, September 8th with lots of pics to post! Have a great holiday weekend everyone!


Flickr photo: Rob Millenaar

I did it...

I bought the iPhone! I wasn't even planning on getting it. My phone died on me last night and when I took it to the AT&T store to fix it they said I would have to get a new phone so I figured why not buy the iPhone. I love it...I don't know how to use everything yet but I'm learning!

3 days and counting...

There is so much anticipation of our trip on Friday but Mike and I still managed to have an amazing weekend. I planned a special day for him on Saturday to celebrate his birthday since we will be on a remote island with no tv, internet, phones, stores, restaurants, or other such luxuries on his actual birthday!

Sunday was spent running around doing last minute errands before our trip. We managed to get almost everything packed. Of course the apartment is a mess, the laundry needs to be done, the fridge needs to be cleaned out, recycling taken downstairs but ahh, the moment I set foot on the plane and the captain turns on the fasten seat belt signs, there will be no more worrying, stress, or tension. No blackberry to check, no tv's, no crowded streets or subways...3 days and counting!


Flickr photo: drurydrama

PeeWee Update

I took Peewee for his final vet visit today, he received a clean bill of health! They can't believe how well he has healed! He is still confined to limited activity for the next two months. Basically, he feels fine but the injury is still healing. I'm just glad to have Peewee back to normal again, he is already tyring to jump off the couch and do all the things he did prior to the surgery. It's been a challenge to try and keep him from doing acrobatics all over the apartment! But it's good to see him back to his normal routines, he's hittin' the bottle again on a regular basis!



Sorry for the light posts, my head is already in the vacation clouds...I promise to resume a more normal posting routine after my vacation!

Is it wrong...

that I am leaving for Alaska in 9 days and I am already thinking about where I want to go next?! I have a tendency to do that. I was doing some research for our trip to Alaska and stumbled upon this blog, Where2Next, about this couple who traveled around Asia. Cambodia looks so beautiful...




Flickr photos: taraksharvari

I want to be here...

10 more days!!!


Flickr Photo RichardDumoulin

Almost there...

I have almost reached 100 sales on Etsy! This may seem like small potatoes when there are so many Etsy sellers out there who have thousands of sales but for me this is a big milestone!

I started selling on Etsy just under 1 year ago. I remember how excited I was when I got my first sale! I still get excited when I see that e-mail pop into my inbox from Etsy notifying me that someone has purchased something from my little shop. I can't believe how I have done since I started out a year ago, how far I have come since that night in August last year when I listed my first soaps.

Of course, I was naive and thought I would sell something instantly! I checked the site constantly, hoping someone had stumbled upon my soaps and thought they were so beautiful that they just couldn't live without them! Then reality set in and I realized that after you list something, you quickly get lost in the shuffle and your item goes farther and farther down the list! I stumbled upon the forums and quickly realized that I was going to have to put in a little work if I wanted to be noticed! I began promoting and participating in forum chats as often as I could. Finally, my work paid off and a couple of weeks after listing my first soap, I got a sale!

Now I am approaching 100 sales and I look back in reflection on what I have learned...what works and what doesn't work. Since I have started, I have changed my packaging, changed my soap recipes, thrown away many botched batches of soap! I have found what fragrances people love, and what fragrances people hate (berry wine...who would have thought?!), I have learned how to set my shipping prices, how to do a craft show, how to handle the Christmas rush! I am so thankful for this experience, it has been so much fun...stressful at times, but always fun!

I want to thank everyone who reads this blog, I know a lot of you who read this have purchased my soaps and I appreciate the support! I have met so many wonderful people through this experience! I always appreciate the kind words and encouraging comments people leave here! I hope to continue sharing Etsy milestones as my shop grows and I continue adding new and exciting things. Thank you!

My new love

I am a reality tv junkie...it's one of my vices. I'm not really into the American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, contest type shows...I like the documentary style shows like Flipping Out, Little People Big World, and my new favorite Ashley Paige, Bikini or Bust. Ashley Paige is an independent fashion designer who specializes in knit bikinis. She has a shop in LA and the show captures the crazy drama of running a business, having a non-profit dog rescue, and living with her mother who means well but often ends up making more of a mess of things!

The show is really inspiring though because it shows the struggles and realities of being an indie fashion designer. Ashley Paige is a household name in the fashion industry and has shown at numerous LA Fashion Weeks but she lacks the manufacturing abilities to produce her bikinis on a larger scale. She struggles to even make rent and often times has to sell her bikinis at wholesale to other LA boutiques even though she makes almost no money by doing so because of the low profit margins (I can totally relate to this!). The show is cute, funny, and inspiring...definitely worth adding to your DVR list!

Preparation

Wow! I never thought there would be so much to do to get ready for one trip! Our Alaska trip is two weeks from Friday and I am seriously bouncing off the walls with excitement!

We realized over the weekend that the single backpack we wanted to bring was not going to be enough to hold all our gear so I ordered a backpack yesterday. Mike already had one from his youthful days of backpacking through Europe! I found a great deal on this bag (Thank you Amazon!) We also ordered rain shoes and sleeping bags and Mike's parents are sending our tent up to us from Florida. I ordered a ton of books for the loooong plane ride (think 12 hours and 3 change of planes!)

Plus there is the gear we have to get while we are in Alaska, the fillet knife (sorry fishies!) and the wax boxes and vacuum sealer bags to ship our catch back to NY in. The flint I think we need but Mike says we don't! (But Mike, they come in all these pretty colors!!) If a flint is the only thing they drop Bear Grylls off in the wilderness with then I want one too!

All this preparation and I am sure we will forget something but if we do, who cares...we are going to Alaska! I can't wait!


Flickr photo: Whistling Train

Crafting

I made some cloth napkins for the house a few weeks ago...my stash of fabric is starting to take up greatly coveted space under my bed and I have a loooong list of things I want to sew and napkins were the first easy thing I could think of to make. I have been meaning to make them for a while now. I chose two different fabrics and made two of each so Mike and I have two sets and we will know who's is who's! The fabric is from Urban Outfitters, they were having a duvet sale a while back so I picked up a couple to use for craft projects.

After I sewed the napkins I was feeling very domestic so I made some zucchini bread. Then I wanted to get a picture of the whole thing so I dragged our old school desk to the window in our apartment that gets the best light!

In the works...

I hope to be adding some new soaps to the shop soon. We had friends in town a few weeks ago and they completely wiped out my inventory! They bought almost everything I had so I am now in the process of re-stocking. I also signed up to do Atlantic Antic with Beacon Bookmarks in October. It sounds like it will be a good turnout.

After doing the Brooklyn Flea in June I decided to hold off on doing shows until the summer was over. It takes a lot to prepare for a show; I generally only keep enough stock for my Etsy shop and I can only make 1 batch of soap a day so it becomes cumbersome to start preparing stock for a show in addition to keeping up with inventory in my shop. Not to mention the fact that the soap takes 4 weeks to cure!

I wanted to do a Christmas show but last year was stressful enough trying to keep up with orders so I think an October show is the perfect balance. I can begin preparing in September when we come back from our trip and once the show in October is over I can start getting ready for the Christmas rush. I can't even believe I am already thinking about the Christmas rush...where does the time go?!

I'm back....

It's been a tough couple of weeks. I'm exhausted! Mike and I leave for Alaska three weeks from Friday...frankly, I can't wait to get on that plane and leave everything behind for a few days. I am really looking forward to going back to the place I grew up and being immersed in nature. Even in the fog, Kodiak Island is still a beautiful place...