Poppy and Ivy

I've mentioned Halloween before...right?

Okay. I can easily say for almost 2 weeks now, I have accomplished VERY little work.

I mean, I show up and SELL things...maybe even place orders, but my mind has been on the SF half marathon, the DRIVE to SF, Halloween costumes being JUST right, then preparing for them, then the adult party and now, today, the kids' party. Tomorrow night is Halloween and I think we are all just BEAT. Halloweened out....yes...even me!!!

 

 

The donut contest area--eat a donut off of a string...no hands...it never gets old.

 

CHAOS...

   

 

Behind these grey carriage doors lurks more terror and horrific sights than you could possibly imagine.

I know it's true...my job was to help connect terrified children and their moms. :)

 

 

Some of the horror figures prepping for a long night ahead. It's not light work making little kids cry and pee their pants. But they ALL come back for more....the kids that is. Not the dads monsters. We couldn't get rid of those guys if we TRIED! 

   

One blind mouse....the other two are close behind trying to escape that nutty farmer's wife. She is relentless I tell you.

 

This poor little dude...he NEVER saw it coming. Never get yourself a "seeing-eye mouse" from the want ads.

There were so many other great moments...but Typepad is worn out. Won't let me post another thing. You should hear the noises this thing is making.

Happy HalloEve!

I am a NUT for fall.....

I love the colors. I love the smell. I love the sound of leaves crunching under my feet on evening walks.

I don't even PANIC about that first rain in October (so far so good). I enjoy the smell, dress warm for bed and try to sleep with my bedroom window open (until my husband catches on and SHUTS the window!) He's kinda old and cranky. OKay...just cranky. But he BEHAVES in an "old" manner.

I don't hate the rains until January...when it's cold AND wet! Those are some of the more difficult walks/runs. I just grin and bear it. It COULD be worse. It could be Alaska!!!

Check this out.....it's my day off and I appointed my daughter to "Drive By Camera Duty" on our ride home from school.

Here are a few reasons I LOVE Portland in the fall!

 

 

 

The first three photos were mine...then my daughter took over. I thought she was mocking me...turns out she IS mine...we were not switched at birth!!!

 

 

 

So...we have all proved to you that we are FALL geeks and that it's a genetic thing.

And while I thought my daughter was "taking in the beauty of fall"...turn out she WAS......in her own way...

 

 

How much do I LOVE that she will never think to look at my blog and see her silliness before her very eyes?

Chances are a friend will mention it to her first!!!! Love that......I love it so much.

Happy almost Thursday!

I got mavericky with it....

We had our yearly Halloween party last night.

JOHN was Joe Six Pack and I was Sarah Palin. Oh yes I was. I even had my "accent" down pretty well. Fun was had my all!'

 

The darker picture was better....I had a better Sarah face. You betcha....

 

And you'd never believe this....but Hannah Montana got fried right in front of me last night.

 

You'll read it in People & Us Weekly next week...but you saw it here first folks.

And yes...we had an electric chair at this party. Are we good or WHAT????

On the store front, the game piece necklaces were a hit and 4 are gone so I guess I WILL be reordering from her on her next visit! I was remembering that she was wearing one that I had wished I had purchased. That was the day I was not doing well...there was much "thinking straight" happening!

 

I can't believe I only have 2 of these left now! My little display looks so sad now......

I should have more Lucky Loo Loo coming in this week. I understand the designer had a baby last week, so I couldn't really mark "send ASAP" on my order form!! But her jewelry lends itself to this time of year SO very well....I am excited about that coming. She had a number of new designs....great as always.

I am so on the fence about Christmas orders this year. I had mentioned before that I canceled a number of large orders and put my money more into jewelry, more estate pieces & books. It's hard to figure if people will go nuts like they have before. I can't decide if I provide "Christmas" gifts....or just general gifts. Last year I flew out of holiday themed decorative matches...this year I could imagine that not being AS popular. Business is going well, but what I am selling has definitely shifted. It's interesting to watch the shift, but difficult on my end for certain!

Off to ponder some more. I have been pouring over receipts trying to get an idea, but it's definitely all over the place. Hmmmmmm. I wish I had a crystal ball!

Happy Sunday to you.

Freaky Friday

Okay...I've used that title before and there was nothing Freaky about this Friday except that the shop was FILLED and Fridays are usually quiet!

So, I will call that some GOOD Freaky.

I think my Halloween table is bursting. And the sad part is that people ARE buying and there STILL seems to be a ton of stuff.  Hmmmmmm.......but it sure looks great!

 

I have BUSTED you know what to get ALL the clothes out. I added faux coats, dresses, kimonos, lace skirts.....I have been one busy gal. Amazing how productive one becomes after a migraine. It was like I had a new lease on life Thursday!

 

And I added to my Etsy....only got two items on so far...what is that about? I need a clone. Really...that might be the plan.

 

You can find this cutie patootie .....

Or how about this little pack of fun? It's fully loaded...I even added more than it says I have in there...kid you not. That's just the way I roll.

 

Happy Friday!

 

What a day

I woke up with a headache that quickly spiraled into a migraine by the time that I walked into the shop. 

I actually got sick and when I came out of the back room, the most fun couple of ladies walked in and I was nervous how I would get through this...being nice, smiling, all that good stuff. Turns out one of them was there to show me some game piece jewelry she makes. FANTASTIC stuff and it actually got my mind off of the throbbing pain for a bit and shortly after she left...I got sick again.  I will label that under NOT GOOD. I called 2-3 people to come cover and they could not. In almost two years, I have never been so sick that I couldn't stick it out. Not so today!

But check out the cute jewelry....

 

 

 

 

I love that a moment of jewelry shopping was like a shot of morphine to me!

But then it all went downhill and I gave in and called Violet. I felt rotten. She had told me she was feeling like she was falling behind in her work and had asked for me to work her shift today...I tried everything to make it through. I mean.....I felt BAD. I was sure to frighten customers.

On my day off yesterday I tried yet again to get ALL the Halloween up at home. I have been trying for 3 weeks. What IS my problem? I think I have adult A.D.D...I do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Is it bad that I still have 2 boxes to unpack!

Happy late night Wednesday to you all.....

I did it

I am headed back to Portland tomorrow after a great trip to San Francisco.

I found a few seconds here and there to get some new shop ideas...and products ideas as well.

But mainly....we have just played....oh...and completed a half marathon. Yes! I FINISHED the marathon. I may never walk properly again....but I finished!

 

 

The wall of names outside NikeTown San Fran. 20,000 runners participated in this event. It was so well-run...so much fun...so exciting!

 

I found my name!

   

My name IS in there:)

Check out the views. If you are going to run 13 miles...this is the way to do it!

 

 

 

Ohhhhhh...the first hill.

 

 

A local church choir came down to cheer us on....I was going too fast to capture a clear shot!

 

Check out ALL the runners ahead of us.....the line goes forever ahead of us and even more runners are behind us!

 

And 9 miles later...we are almsot done! See the blob to the far left? Those are the tents at the finish line. I was going to my happy place and remembering that there was a Tiffany necklace waiting for me about 2.0 miles away!!!

 

 

Ahhhhh...look at that PILE of Tiffany boxes! The necklace was adorable and presented by local firemen in tuxedos! How is THAT for a grand finish?

So relieved to have this behind me in some ways....but I am already to sign up for next year! This was an amazing weekend.

Back to the shop tomorrow night. I have so many new ideas...what else was I going to think about but sassying up the shop for 13 miles?

Happy Sunday!

Spooky Dinner Club Night & other items of possible interest

I have only been "away" for 4 days and I forgot my password for typepad. Then I kind of bumbled about trying to find the "create post" link. What the heck?

First off....a little shout out to you AMAZING single parents out there. This week has been exhausting. Nothing like JOHN being out of town for a week to make me appreciate the Heck o' Bill out of him. It seems that I barely turn off the bedroom light that not 30 minutes later the alarm is going off to start all over again. He is halfway home as I type.....one plane left to Portland! YEAH!

Last night was Halloween dinner group night. So yah.....this post has nothing to do with being a small business owner or pictures of pretty things that you too can buy or even about an economy that has been up and down this week more than a 7 year old on a trampoline.

Nope. It's about being spooky, dressing up and eating good food with good friends. Because REALLY....that IS what it's all about these days. The 9:00-5:00 life is scary stuff these days folks...so let's all join together to make the night times better!

Welcome to my dinner group........come on in. Stay awhile.....mwaaaa-haaaaa-haaaaaa...

(Okay....You should be really scared now....that was my scary laugh to set the mood)....

 

 

 

  

   

 

 

 

 

So...I think it would suffice to say that maybe our dinner group host last night "does Halloween up real well". There was not a surface to be seen that didn't scream "BOO"!

And the hostess does herself up pretty well too!

 

That is our lovely hostess on the left...Rhonda Martini. That's seriously her name. Isn't that the best name EVER? And on the right is a dear friend Louisa. We figured out we've been friends for 18 years! We met when we first moved to Portland and we worked at a health club together and then lost contact for about 4 years and then BOOM! She's in my dinner group! It's a small world.

That is my "happy" for yesterday. I have promised to go bed each night and write down ONE happy thing for the day....so I think happy thoughts all night long instead of global doom & gloom thoughts.

I have more "happy" for today already and I am even thinking ahead to my "happies" for tomorrow! (That is what happens when you don't post for 4 days...a backlog of thoughts)!

I leave for the Half Marathon in San Fran tomorrow! Three crazy ladies hit the road tomorrow morning at 9:00 and we'll meet up with my girlfriend who moved recently to Toronto about 10 hours later! I am strongly wishing we'd just seriously tranquilized our Non Flying Friend...but it WILL be fun! Fingers crossed!

Happy Thursday!

Sunny & Happy

Those are not two of the seven dwarfs. It's my day in two words. (Three for "and" I suppose).

Today is blissfully sunny. Crisp cold air and warm sun. Yesterday was much of the same. LOVE it. When I look up from my counter, I look down a tree lined street. All I can see is a patchwork of golds, greens and reds. At this time of year, I cannot imagine living anywhere but the Pacific NW!

We had the OSU football game yesterday. Can't complain about a 66-13 score when YOUR team is the 66! Lots of  playing "corn hole" and visiting with friends.

 

 

We were tapped shortly after the band passed to have our photo taken for "Fan Pages". I am dying to see that...we were one BIG old group of orange! JOHN said to the gal "Why do you think we like the Beavers?" and she stopped in her tracks. I felt bad for her!

I also was asked by a gentlemen who was heavily intoxicated if I would marry him. I said I was okay, but thank you very much for asking. He then asked my DAUGHTER to marry him. All the other men in our group quickly took over from there and led the gentleman away. Never a dull moment!

I am back in the saddle today working away at the shop but I keep getting led astray to other blogs and then I forget to work! I want to go home and create something. Maybe even add some NEW items to my poor neglected Etsy. I need to make curtains for our basement before the 40 degree nights hit regularly. I have a LONG list of things to do!

Check these out:

Blissful Living (thank you Emily Ruth!)

Come Play Eugene (they are holding an event I am trying to go to on November 1st!)

Flea Market Studio (I am ALWAYS checking her out!)

Sweetpeas.... (I want to BE this store in Portland....but not with THIS economy! If only I won the lottery....)

Some more new items:

 

a full bolt of pretty darling fabric!

 

I might Etsy some of my salt and pepper shakers. Somewhere along the way I went really out of control on silver and S&P. And I just stare at them all day...knowing I have MORE in the back room to put out!

 

I have been tag crazy. I can make something, use all my scraps and embellishments without committing to a page, a project, etc.

 

I wish I could capture the gorgeous ruby red sparkle that these have to them!

 

 

   

I found another set of these this weekend. Another itemthat might fare better on Etsy.

I am off to prepare for a week of single motherhood. JOHN is going to NYC and that means it's me, 2 children, a big dog, theshop, soccer practice, softball practice, dinner club and laundry. I asked my mom for help, but she's getting her first new fridge & dishwasher delivered the day that I need the most help. Yes....in her 60's....her first new fridge. I will let her celebrate that event. I think I convinced her that it was okay to through out my corsage from my 1988 prom. I mean....I married the guy. I want her to have a clean start with the new fridge. Maybe I'll even have a new corsage delivered to her for the blessed event.

Happy Sunday to you!

Pumpkins, mud and I survived......

We have visited the same pumpkin patch in Portland for about 13 years. We couldn't believe it when we did the math because we are SO young (hahahahhaaaa) but it turns out we are NOT young and we have been to the pumpkin patch a million times. Maybe a bazillion times. We are THAT old.....

So, we hit the pumpkin patch, went straight to the corn maze (are they TRYING to kill me?) and about 15 steps and $8 dollars into the maze...I realized that between my plantar faciitis, rain boots and the suction cup grip mud .....we were NOT going to be friends. Oh yes....it was bad. My foot is on ice as I type. Ouchie Mama.

Being the brave soul I am...we then bypassed the slow moving hayride to the pumpkin field....and walked the 1/2 muddy mile there. I grabbed the lightest pumpkin I could find and started to head back. It was then that I realized as I was sweating, re-distributing pumpkin weight, stopping for a break, etc...that if this were the Oregon Trail...they'd have thrown my body to the far side of the road and taken off at a fast clip. I can admit it. I am not that outdoorsy. Thank God JOHN started whining about his pumpkin WAY before I whined about mine.

I win.

He doesn't even KNOW about the Oregon Trail, frozen body in petticoats, tossed to the side of the road nightmare I had running in my mind while I carried my pumpkin.

Shhhhhhh.........

 

We started with clean boots...

 

And here was our trail.

We slipped.

We slid.

I MIGHT have said naughty words. It was dirty, long and yucky. WHY didn't I learn from last year!

 

So many choices.....my son must have taken about an hour to pick the "perfect one"...and that one had warts, bruises and holes....but we took it anyway and said "Good job buddy" as we jumped the next hay train back to the main farm.

I have never been SO relieved to hit my shop.

Tonight was 2nd Friday. Kjell at Splurge hung strings of  lanterns from tree to tree and the completed look was pure eye candy....Kjell is so good to all of us on Lower Fremont. We are so lucky!

 

The night was slower than weeks past, but after the week the U.S. has had....we all understood and went home quietly and hoped that our next 2nd Friday (November 14th) holds some answers and some relief.

We had planned on stopping 2nd Fridays until April.....but it turns out we can possibly use Caffee Destino's space to "house" our street artists...and that would all be SO good! Coffee House Ralph might work with us....fingers crossed.

Off to bed and YOU have a fantastic Saturday full of fun finds and treasures!

   

Just another day.....

I woke up to broken heated rollers and left the house with what looked like a beaver pelt on my head. All good...all good. I had time to stop for a coffee which made it ALL okay. I can avoid a mirror like a pro.....

Got to the shop and found that my morning order had arrived. It was an earring and necklace line that I have been so excited about receiving. So I priced them and got them out on the new display piece. Earrings are SO difficult to properly display in quantities. It's easy to feature ONE pair...but several pairs are not easy.

 

 

 

 

Then...my neighbor Horace came RUNNING in and asked if my toilet was flooding. I said "Um....no. I don't believe so" and looked to my right JUST as water FLOWING from my wall...the direction of his barber shop. We both started grabbing stuff and getting it up high and the water would not stop. It was unbelievable. Then he pointed towards my bathroom door where water was coming from underneath door. I opened it (slowly) and there was my toilet...flowing like a Bellagio fountain show. It was pretty fantastic to watch and I might still be watching if Horace hadn't started running in and collecting things off the floor in bathroom.

Then (there is ALWAYS a "and then "in my life) one of my reps inncoently came in to help me place a couple of orders. She's also my PSYCHOTIC (in a sweet way...hahaha) Jazzercise teacher and she just started grabbing things and getting them high. (BLESS YOU Julie!!!! ) And more neighbors came in....and helped me out as well. They had toilet problems...not the actual flooding. That was saved for myself, the barber and Acadia restaurant. One of my neighbors was kind enough to cheerily point out "At least it doesn't smell like ca-ca!". I think I might remember her saying that for the rest of my days on Earth.....

 

 

My feet were soaking wet all day....the water was 2 inches deep in some areas. THANK goodness I have cement floors....no carpets or rugs. But it's an older building and it had settled in some places...so there are dips that were DEEP. And gladly, enough "higher" area to keep the other items dry. Whew....it COULD have been so bad! Sofia next door has carpet and just as I started clearing my floor I bolted out of the shop and told her to move her stuff off the floor! ASAP! She has carpet and clothing....organic fabrics, silks..and about 5,000 dollars worth of tights which is a WHOLE other story......

After 2 and a half (plus) wet-vac containers of water...I started straightening the floor again. It appears a number of factors contributed...fast rains, the neighbors had clogged drains, debris on our roof...etc. All good. Then came the UPS man...and Fed-Ex man half an hour later! When it rains...it pours.

Ba-dump-bump.

Thank god they came when they did! Any earlier and there would have been NO open space for them to leave a shipment!

I got my favorite "tacky" order.....corn dog air fresheners (top seller last Christmas), new flavors of bubblegum cigarettes (and some old flavors too), disguises for you kooky office employees who want to pull some Halloween tom-foolery on your cubicle mates...they'll NEVER know it's you!!

 

 

 

 

 

And Skin Art band-aids are BACK! They were formerly known as "Tattoo Band-Aids" but then were taken away for some copyright infringement ...or something  (blah, blah,blah)...and now they are back. Always loved these. Great sellers from a PacificNW company that is always a delight to work with!

So..I started out with classy & whimsical (new jewelry line), went to wet & soggy and finished with tacky & goofy. Isn't that like every day for every body out there?

Have a fantastic Friday! My Friday morning will be spent in a soggy wet pumpkin patch and a corn maze. Wish me luck...I wasn't too good at that maze last year. I flashed forward to the Alzheimer Years....I had no doubt what it would feel like...and I didn't care for it. I kept saying (loudly...I am not sure why) "I think we've been here already!" and "I recognize that sunflower....." and the kids favorite "Follow the road noise....".

Ahhhhh.....What a mother DOES for her children!!!