« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
"I'd learned from my mother and grandfather not to judge people's love by whether they gave me what I wanted, but by whether they gave what they were capable of giving."
--Michelle Cacho-Negrette, "Season Of My Grandfather," The Sun, April 2008
Have a lovely weekend everyone. I'm planning on making it a good one, full of love and acceptance and a couple good glasses of wine.
I've plugged my lamps before, even shamelessly, but never have I plugged a real lamp, usually it's a watercolor painting of one. And not only can I plug this lamp, you can too. (Get it lamp, cord, plug!) I'm so funny. Anyway, this little lamp is just awesome. It's made out of an old silver teapot. You might be wondering where you can find such an awesome lamp and I can tell you... Garage Sale of course (click on the words Garage Sale and you will magically be taken to the shop). Sorry, I just want to reach all of my customers, including the confused.
p.s. I have TONS of cool stuff to add this week. If you love silver I have a beautiful silver water pitcher that will be great for spring flowers, some linen tea towels, another tin tray and the sweetest little dresses for little girls.
I had a great blog entry all written in my head about how Charlie's first day of little league practice reminded me of my own first day. And how I was hoping that his would go a lot better than mine did (it even had some funny parts). But after the evening I had with Mr. Charles (after we got home from practice), I just don't have it in me. I have a friend (or two) who say parenting is not for sissies and boy are they right. It's not. But as Annie says, "The sun will come up tomorrow" and hopefully by then my neck and arms won't hurt so much from the stress. Of parenting. Hopefully.
p.s. Isn't this the most amazing plant? I took this on one of our walks this weekend. It gives me hope that spring will eventually spring here in Omaha.
Did I mention that on Friday I'm going to see this bridge? I'm so excited. Even though I have no twangs of wanting to move back, I have to admit I'm a little homesick for my city. I can't wait to just walk and look and window shop and listen and eat and see old friends and just be. It's really my favorite place in the world.
p.s. This was the view from the boys' bedroom in Berkeley.
This little tomato creamer symbolizes the week I'm having. I loved this little creamer. I wanted to keep it for myself, but I sold it instead. And it was the first item sold at garage sale. I mailed it to the customer's old address (which isn't entirely my fault). It may or may not be forwarded. Which means I'll be refunding some money. It's not a lot of money, but we're not exactly making a profit.
People aren't returning my emails and phone calls (customers, people I'm advertising with, stores that have my stuff on commission, etc.). It's so incredibly frustrating. It's one thing that my boys don't listen, which caused yet another early bedtime and more frustration for me, but when people I'm trying to do business with don't respond, I just don't deal with it well.
I don't know. Maybe I should just buy the junk I love and not try to sell it. Maybe I should just make art for me. And sew just for me. Maybe I should have just kept the creamer. For me.
The weather might not feel like it, but I feel like I'm springing forward. After a couple weeks of feeling creatively blah, I had a great creative weekend. David was out of town, which gave me lots of time to sew and work on the computer. Tonight I hope to finish both of the tote bags I've been working on. I think they're kind of cute and my expert sewing mama says I'm getting better. And believe me, she doesn't dole out the compliments on my sewing or work in general unless they are deserved. So when she says my work is looking better, I know she's not just trying to make me feel good, I know she means it. I love honesty. I really do, it makes you better no matter what the subject, when people keep it real.
The other project I've been working on also involves my sewin' mama. I mentioned a week ago or so that she was going to open an etsy shop. Well, we (or was it me alone?) decided we should open one together. So yesterday I did. You can check it out here: garage sale. Look for the cutest, most beautiful little girl dresses made by her hopefully by next weekend, plus more cool vintage finds all week (especially after I raid her basement!). Right, Mom? :)
As for mothball charlie, I'm kind of at a lull with my sales, so I decided it was time to do some advertising. I've taken out an ad at Indiepublic and on one blog. I'm going to do another blog next month. We'll see how much traffic it drives. I need to do more marketing, but it's the part of all of this that I strongly dislike.
And with that I'll leave you with a few of my favorite things right now...
**Cara Cara oranges. My kids are eating these like crazy!
**Jason Castro on American Idol. I've downloaded all three of his performances from Itunes.
**This etsy shop, and this one, and this one.
**The robin I saw in my mom's driveway Friday night. Spring IS coming!!!
**This fabric.
**The new recipes posted on the Baking with Sammy T. blog.
**My dog George. Last week David took him to the vet and the vet said George has an extra loppy thing on his two hind feet which are common in Great Pyrenees dogs, so he thinks George is part Great Pyrenees. I'd never heard of the breed before, so I googled them and this is what I found (and about fell out of my chair):
The third photo is George.
Me: Sam, what kind of cake would you like for your birthday?
Sam: A red one.
Me: Ok, but would you like chocolate, or maybe vanilla?
Sam: No, I want a red one.
So I made a red velvet cake and he was very happy.
