The winds are changing (who’s surprised?!)

I’m turning to another chapter (shocker, I know).  A couple years ago I would’ve been panicky about announcing more change – but I’ve now totally embraced it (like the my love of Birkenstocks).  I feel its good for my soul.  As Lock It and Leaving Moving and Storage grows, I’ve decided to leave Matilda Jane after June and focus my “work life” at Lock It.  The growth is exciting and I’m thrilled to be a more integral part again.  Bill really needs my creative genius working right along side him (he totally said that, I swear),

BUT – my creative itch must be scratched!  If I will not be surrounded by Matilda Jane I must compensate! 😉 I will be producing Expressing Motherhood in Sioux Falls THIS October!  Wow – what a full circle.  Lindsay, the creator, and I have been friends since 7th grade.  Check the last blog post for a really fantastic picture of the two of us.  She has created the most amazing concept and I’m SO pumped to have it in Sioux Falls.  And by the way – I need YOUR story – so click on over to learn about submitting your OWN piece  BY JUNE 1st – and being a part of this groundbreaking experience.

I’ve got more ideas a-brewin’, like pop up sewing classes for kids and adults (hence the new blog title – HANDMADE A LA CARTE) – in Sioux Falls this Fall – HOLLA!!  I’m wild, I can’t stop myself. And I’m pretty sure everyone misses Home Ec so I  need to fill that void.  Follow this blog and stay in touch – I can’t wait to share.

These girls are BRINGING IT

Don’t be jealous of the long johns – they were ALL THE RAGE in 1992.

I’m partnering up with long time friend, Lindsay Kavet, to bring her phenomenal production – Expressing Motherhood – to Sioux Falls.  Jump on over to her site and find out all about it.  AND THEN get ready to submit your very own piece for Sioux Falls’ Expressing Motherhood on June 1st!  Submissions accepted June 1st, performances will be October 14-16, this Fall.

When you snap out of it!

Change.  I thought I was really good at it managing it.  Then a TON of things changed at once and I kind of froze – for about a year.   New jobs, new life stages with the girls, new puppy, etc. …

My “word of the year” – Surrender

I follow a lot of blogs. A recurring theme at the beginning of the year is a “word of the year” that you keep in mind throughout the upcoming calendar year. My friend, Micara, pointed out a new way to find my “word” this year. She said to be still, take a deep breath and listen to your heart. I’m usually an over thinker so I was not so sure I would “hear” what my heart had to say. I took a lot of time clearing my head – “Don’t worry about the laundry, don’t worry about the new business, don’t worry about the kids’ schedule’s, the needed groceries, the crafts you never have time for anymore, did I mention not to think about the laundry?!” You get the idea. So I cleared all buzz out, took a few deep breaths and actually heard something!! – SURRENDER.

This was not what I was expecting. I was thinking, “joy, love, hope, perseverance, happiness, etc. etc. ” – not surrender. But as I “sit” with this word more and more I realize it is EXACTLY what I need this year. What a surprise, my heart was right. (insert irony, I should know my heart is always right). Though it’s only the 22nd of January, I feel like being more conscious of this word, surrender, has already lightened my load. We have a new puppy – I surrender to the fact that he will pee on the floor and I will still love him. I’m still new with Matilda Jane – I surrender to the fact that my business will not go exactly as I planned but will probably take turns for the better. I surrender to the fact that there will be days where I can. not. pick. up. another. flipping. sock. off. the. floor. And there will be days where I reorganize the cabinet next to the coffee machine like nobody’s business. I surrender to the fact that my hubby and I will not agree on what Christmas paper plates are necessary to keep next year and what ones we should throw. (FYI – my opinion is you NEVER throw away Christmas paper goods).

I don’t know if it’s my age, where I’m at in my journey, how old my kids are now or the excitement of new work – but I like this “word of the year” business. Especially through this week, and then I might change my mind 😉

“Good” pictures

I am so dependent on my phone for pictures.  I’m starting to gather pictures to do the annual Shutterfly calendar, pretty much the only gift I need to give the grandparents and they’d be happy ;), and I’m realizing two …

I love people

It’s true – everyday I’m amazed at what I learn about someone in my life.  I love it.  I’m almost always surprised about what I learn, and almost always warmed in some way.   My 6-year-old was a little crabby yesterday and I asked her if anything was going on.  Her answer was, “Well God must not be talking to me right now because he’s not telling me what to do!”  What an interesting perspective.  I learn something everyday.

Balance is Hard – this is BIG news

Brand new concept here people!  Doing it all is really hard!  But rewarding, and fun, and entertaining (due to things forgotten), and empowering, and exhausting, and exhilarating, and on and on and on.  I wouldn’t change it for anything but there are some questionable actions that have come from it.  Example: I got into my pajamas IMMEDIATELY after getting home from the pool with the girls at 5:30.  I had already made a rockin’ breakfast (which only Bill and I actually ate), watered window boxes at the new house (SEE KATY I’M NOT GOING TO KILL THE FLOWERS!), unpacked and tagged all the new Matilda Jane pieces for 2nd collection (holy guacamole there is a TON), met a friend for lunch, dropped off 3 Matilda Jane orders, picked up girls from school and took them to the pool.  SO – this lead me to putting on my pajamas to make dinner.  Except I didn’t stay inside like I really should have since I was in my pajamas.  I picked up in the driveway and I jumped in the care to drive thru Dairy Queen to pick up vanilla ice cream.  Driving home from DQ I thought, “This may be a new low or a new high depending on how you look at it.  I have gotten to the point where I REALLY do not care where I wear my pajamas. Again, depending on how you look at it – a new low or a new high.

Starting again…with experience

I would have never predicted my entrepreneurial journey.  I liked the idea of having something “my own”, but I also REALLY liked the idea of vacation meaning no contact with your job – at all.  So marrying Bill and diving into his journey of being an entrepreneur was a trip!  He opened his own commodity brokerage in Fall of 2001.  For our wedding the next year it was impressive for him to take 3 days off the week of the wedding.  During our trip over New Years in 2002 he would trade commodities and check in with clients in the morning and then hit the beach with us in the afternoon.  It was his normal and my “new normal”.  WHOA!

(Bill was trying to be overly enthusiastic here, I just thought he was really excited about the photo op 😉 )

That was the beginning of my entrepreneurial training and when the “itch” started.  And now, as I look at the next step in my career – a Matilda Jane trunk keeper – I’m actually giddy to  bring ALL the knowledge that I’ve built through the last 11 years.  The cliché that the mistakes make you better, that you can’t get to the good stuff without going through some bad, that experience brings knowledge – all those sayings are true.  I will be able to sell clothes BETTER because I can explain them since learning how to design and sew with my mom through bridget&lucy (the biz, not the kids 😉 ).  I will be able to set up my rack with quirky, stylish decorations because mom and I went to quilt market as vendors and had to stand out from the crowd.  I will be able to organize my orders and take care of my customers because I’ve gathered that information for bridget&lucy (the biz) and for Lock It and Leave It Storage.  I will be kind to every person I encounter at my shows because doing that alongside Bill for Lock It and Leave It Storage has TRULY taught me that’s what people want most, even in a business transaction.

I will HAVE FUN and enjoy every minute.  Another thing time does for you is make you keenly aware that our time is always limited.  It’s worth packing it full of experiences and adventures because you never really know how many you get.  For me, entrepreneurship changed my “job” into my life and there are no distinct lines anymore.  I didn’t think I wanted that when I first entered the work world but now I believe that’s how you truly are able to love what you do.  You enjoy every moment, every interaction, every challenge, every hard spot and  most importantly, every victory.  Here we go again!!!

Compassion + Business

I just got back from my first Matilda Jane conference – whoa.

There are so many amazing things I would like to list about this company, and I’m sure my blog posts will bend that way for a while, but there is one thing in particular I want to focus on today.

The founder, Denise, and her husband, David, recently launched a new foundation – The Mighty Acorn Foundation. They started by building an orphanage in Kitale,Kenya and are now working on securing sponsors for the many, many girls whose lives will change when they get to live at the new orphanage instead of returning to the slums of Kitale after school everyday.  The piece that was so awesome to me is that we are a group of women selling children’s clothes – BUT when you talk about changing children’s lives we are much, much more.  We are a group of mother’s with a pit in our stomach imagining ANY of those beautiful faces being our child, we are privileged Americans that can barely fathom the depths of poverty these children experience on a daily basis, we are savvy business women that can affect others’ lives by the way we do business, but mostly we are human.  We are people trying to figure out how to make a positive influence on a life that can, for many, be so so hard we will never understand their reality.

So today I am beyond thankful for the company I am newly a part of.  I am thankful for the opportunity to not only change children’s lives, but to be able to share how others can do the same.  The coolest part of the website to me is the ability to see what children have already been sponsored.  As of Friday, when we saw the presentation, there were 18 girls sponsored.  Take a look now! 😉

 

Pure Joy

Summer has FINALLY hit in SD.  We took the boat out to make sure it works before we head up north for a week.  These pictures say it ALL!