Feeling my age

{My body is currently screaming at me that I am no longer 20.}

{The fact that I not only thought, but wrote, that adds an additional 10 years to me, I think.}

I was a vendor at a local holiday market today. I had a great time, (and many, many thanks to my mom for driving up to help me and Chris for being awesome and taking all three kids to a birthday party so I could be gone all day!) and was able to sell quite a few things.

In order to prepare to be across town at 8 this morning I set my alarm clock for 6:30. That would be after getting into bed at 4:30 am. Ouch. The house is just so deliciously quiet at night and I am so very productive while not distracted by the little people, phone calls or facebook. :) I had a very long to-do list though, and knew it was bad news when I had to get a diet coke at 11:30 pm.

I made a million burp cloths, bibs, bows and a few other random things and carted down all of my embroidery stuff (including machine!) for on-site personalization. People seemed to be thrilled with the one stop shopping. Fun times!

My little table set-up.



Some of my new products. Cute, huh?







I came home around 4 and fell asleep sitting up on the couch. I awoke to Chris ordering pizza for dinner (good man!). We had a nice family evening just hanging out and playing.

So, without further adieu, goodnight.

Counting my blessings

So, I've been quite outspoken about how tired I am. Instead of whining, I will add a bit to the story and tell you a bit more about why I've been so tired (You're on the edge of your seat, aren't you?).

My business has kept me ultra busy lately. How great is that?? I am so thrilled to have the business, and the Lord keeps providing more people, for which I am so thankful! My latest business opportunity came randomly last week. I received an email from a friend--who received said email from a friend of a friend (did you get that? Basically, she does not know the originator of the email). Anyway, basically, there is a woman starting a business of boutique line burp cloths who lives about 2 miles away from me. She has been doing this since May, but has just gotten her site up and running--and sent an email to everyone she knew to announce it. My friend sent it to me as a "you've got competition" kinda email. I read it, and immediately noticed she did not have anyone doing her monogramming (not that I'm crazy astute, she plainly said, "I don't currently have monogramming capabilities, but am hoping to get some soon"). So, I dropped her an email and said I would love to do her embroidery for her if she was interested. She emailed me back hours later.

Long story short, she has 1,000 burp cloths that were designed and made specifically for her business that she is selling wholesale to boutiques, and through her business, Sophia Originals, to the public, and I will do all of her monogramming. Yay! She came over today and brought her samples for me to monogram so she can put them on her website. I'll take pics and post them when I'm done

(Feel free to sit all the way back in your chair, my exciting story is now over). :)

The latest project

Black and white gingham with PINK!! (as Anna-Kate says) trim and monogram



Reverses to same gingham with pumpkin applique that I did to match an outfit I bought for Ryan from Strasburg (got Ryan's for $6--not a bad total for matching outfits!).

Funny and life update

Ryan was reading a fabric Elmo book and Anna-Kate decided she wanted it and tried to take it from him.
Me: Anna-Kate, that's not nice, give it back to Ryan.
AK: But it's mine.
Me: No, actually, it's Ryan's.
AK: It's mine, actually, Mommy.

At this point I started laughing. She got a very upset look on her face and said, "why you laugh at me Mommy?". I told her she was funny. "I not funny, I Anna-Kate, no laugh at me Mommy."

I feel like all I've done recently is monogram and make bows. I'm not complaining, in fact, I'm quite thankful. There are a few people at church keeping me pretty busy in the monogramming business. As far as bows go, business is booming, however, it makes my fingers raw after a while and my back hurts from hunching over. Chris, being the wonderful husband that he is, told me to go get a pedicure on Saturday to celebrate dropping off half of my bow order to the boutique and to have a little me time. YAY! ThankyouverymuchandI'llseeyoulater.

The other big thing occupying my time recently is Christmas choir at church. We have a beautiful program this year and I am so excited to see how it all comes together. (for anyone in the ATL area that is interested...Christ Church PCA on December 14 at 5 and 7--love to see you there!).

I think that's it. We'll see. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving at my grandparents house in Atlanta, which will be nice. I'm definately looking forward to having Chris home and getting some much needed family time and CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS OUT.
***BRING ON THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!***

A major big deal!!!!!

So, yesterday I had a meeting with a local children's boutique owner. I had been a little nervous about it all week as I'm not a cold-call, walk-in-oozing-confidence- and-sell-a-product kind of girl...all that to say, my new best friend, Karen, at Polka Dot Kids, has agreed to buy my monogrammed bows!! Also, she is thinking about buying my burp cloths (that I've begun to applique--SOOO cute). YAY!!! (ya ya ya ya ya as Anna-Kate would say). Here is a picture of one of Anna-Kate's bows...just for your viewing pleasure:



I am so very thankful for this step in expanding my business. I feel truly blessed. I'm really enjoying it and I finally feel like I've found my niche as a stay at home mom who contributes a bit to the family. :) In case your itching with curiousity, there is a link to my business blog at the top right of this blog. :)

Making money and saving money

Well, the economy is bad. I think we can all agree. I'm doing my best to contribute as a stay at home mom. Here's what I've got. :)

I bought a plain long sleeved t-shirt at Target and appliqued and embroidered it for a friend. I had so much fun doing it, I'm thinking of adding applique to my business line. (for which there is now a link on the top right portion of my blog. Let me warn you, my site is free, so it's not the greatest website in the world, but it works. And it's free. :) How's that for an introduction?). Here's a picture of the finished shirt:



Isn't it PRECIOUS??? I love it!

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Now, for saving money...on my weekly trip to Walgreens I had some great deals.

5 (12 packs) Diet Dr. Pepper
3 (12 packs) Diet Coke
2 L'Oreal eye shadows
1 Almay mascara
1 Almay eye liner
2 (1 qt. each) bottles Pedialyte
1 super pack Huggies pullups.
2 (2 pack's) of Walgreens brand Nuby sippie cups

Grand Total: $80.88

After coupons, store credit and sales my out of pocket was: $5.39

Plus, I have $2 reward dollars for next week, and a $7.70 rebate coming to me.