Overdrive.

Crazy times. This is going to be a short post. This is where I'm at, and thank GOD I have a lot of energy.

-PR PR PR PR and more PR. Praying for Parents Magazine and City Pages Best of the Cities. We may not get City Pages, but still praying for it. The online version comes out tonight, so I'll be checking. I've done several press releases to several national outlets, so we'll see where it goes. I can see on my Google Analytics who is clicking on my links, and I know some MAJOR peeps are, so I'm looking forward to seeing what comes.
-Sewing. And more sewing.
-Tutus. And more tutus. Good thing I love my friends. :) These are not for b&b, but I love doing them, so I'm going to keep taking orders. Glitter, tulle, gems, sparkles, rhinestones, butterflies, flowers.....so fun.
-Picking out fabrics for spring. Actually more like finalizing. Not typical spring colors, but I'm good with that because I never wanted to be a typical organic company. I'm leaning towards red, indigo, purple and black. I'm loving the fabrics.
-Budgeting. Nuff said, no fun, hate math. Thank god for Numbers (Mac version of Excel).
-Photography and Photoshop. Getting good at Photoshop and figuring out how to do way more stuff.
-Bloggers requesting samples. LOTS of bloggers. Love it.
-OllieOlio sale. Had to re-do inventory three times. Ick.
-Lots of calls coming in from customers. Very cool. Love talking about our products.
-Volunteer stuff. Don't want to get into deets, but always makes me feel good.
-Ads. New ads running.
-Trying to set up Earth Day giveaways. More complicated than it should be.
-Jaxie is running a 102 fever - the doc thought he might have strep, but came back negative. Just a nasty virus, but he isn't eating or sleeping well. No fun for baby, Mama, or the Dada that has been super-duper helpful while Mama works.

And this is just today. For reals. Good thing my brain is organized.
Quick update - back to work I go!

Wow.

Just wow is all I can say to describe the last week or so. Crazy busy.
Although I've been absurdly busy, my thoughts are organized, so I'm good on that front. Unfortunately, though, I do come to a point at the end of the day where I must lie my head on a pillow and sleep. I almost feel guilty going to bed at night - is that absolutely insane?
Between b&b - getting ready for market, working samples, nailing down fabrics, working on the website, taking photos, editing photos, learning photoshop (oye, not user-friendly), launching and promoting the spring pieces, securing production for after market because I KNOW we're going to be a huge success - and then working on tutu orders for my friends, life has been a little nutty. But this is good - it is all organized chaos. I work literally from 6am till 10pm.
And then there are the kids...
I took Logan's DS away. Like, completely. He only gets it on the weekends when he brings me home tests that he gets A's on during the week, and only gets 30 minutes of DS playtime per A. Needless to say there has been a few meltdowns since this has transpired.
Jax is getting another molar - I feel so blessed that they are coming in one...at...a...time. Four of them. One at a time. For real?
Oh - AND JAX'S CRIB IS NOW IN LOGAN'S ROOM. Yes, I have my bedroom back. After almost 16 months. I know you all are thinking I'm insane.

2011 Ultimate Baby Shower Gift Guide - Coolmompicks.com

So fabulous to see our Abby Collection stroller blanket featured in Coolmompicks.com's 2011 Ultimate Baby Shower Gift Guide - this is great recognition for our/my hard work! This is such a lovely blanket...a fetching sea blue, chocolate, olive green and ivory mod pattern (woven 100% organic cotton) top with an ultra-soft organic cotton fleece cuddly under-side. Coolmompicks.com is one of the few - maybe the only - Mom-based website that I trust for information regarding kids products. I've said before that I found out along my b&b journey that most of the Mom websites are actually mostly paid advertising, which was really disappointing. I love that Coolmompicks.com actually features products that they like and support, rather than products that pay them to advertise.

To be featured next to companies such as Skip Hop, Graco and serena+lily is pretty amazing.

Anywho - I've been working on fairy wings over the last couple days. Those of you that know me well know that I can never do things the easy way - I always over-complicate. These have become quite the endeavor. Most people make fairy wings in what I would consider a pretty cheap and lame way (coathangers - really?), so of course I had to "upgrade" and find a better way of doing them. Finding the right type of wire has been the most complicated part - it took me four different types to find one that I liked. Aluminum was too soft, copper too expensive - and stainless was very difficult to find, but ended up working the best. Then figuring out the right gauge (thickness)...it ended up being a much bigger project than I anticipated. However, I'm loving them and can't wait to put them out there for my friends. A few minor adjustments and they'll be ready to go.

I've been at a crux with b&b over the last month or so. There are several roads we could take and I'm not sure which one is best. It's very difficult to run a business by yourself, mostly because I have no one to bounce ideas off of. I had a terrible experience with a business partner awhile back, and for that reason don't want to bring someone else in, but in a way DO, just for the purpose of having someone to brainstorm with.

Random, but there's a Blue Jay on my deck right now - spring is coming and I can't wait. :)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

Woodbury Magazine

I was super stoked to see the online-version of our Woodbury Magazine article released last night. Normally I'm pretty on top of these things, but actually one of my models parents saw it before I did and texted me that it was up (thanks, Julie). Yet again, I re-hashed my words and wished I had been a little more eloquent, but what can I do at this point...
The picture looks adorable, but there's kind of a funny story behind it. I chose to shoot our little models Elliot and Ayva for this article because they have contrasting hair and skin tones (as well as personalities) so I thought they would be super cute together. Elliot is normally my happy-go-lucky little boy - always very easy to shoot. Ayva has been a little more difficult in the past, but is just so darn cute I wanted to give it another shot. Now, the funny thing was that during this shoot, Elliot ended up being a little more difficult and Ayva ended up being pretty easy going. Point being, in the picture, it shows Natasha (modeling our great post-partum women's dress) with both kids, but really Elliot was edited into the picture because he wanted pretty much nothing to do with Ayva. He wouldn't get closer than five feet to her without starting to get fussy...I was kind of worried that one of the kids pics wouldn't go into print because we had such a hard time shooting them, but I was grateful they were able to edit them into one picture together.
I was happy to be able to mention Francesca's and Elodie in the article as well - unfortunately the only two clothing stores I really shop in Woodbury. I REALLY heart Francesca's - I always seem to find something there when I really need it. We just did some family pictures a couple weeks ago and I found a super cute dress there that looked amazing. I'll post pics of our family session when I get them. I shop Elodie often for accessories. They advertise and are known for their denim, but I can never seem to find my size when I go (which is a 27).
Callie V. Photography did our family pictures and I really enjoyed working with her - we were able to see a sneak peek of the pictures on her blog and they look ah-mazing. I can't wait to get the full disc.
We're gearing up for market for b&b which to be honest I'm not entirely looking forward to. If you're familiar with the fashion industry, market is absolutely CRAZY and a three days of super hard work. I've decided to do KIDShow which is in Vegas in August. I was talking to my husband about it the other day, and he gave me this jealous look when I told him it was in Vegas - right, like I'll get time to sit by the pool and spa it up. Nope. It's three days of hell. Three days of back-to-back appointments with retailers from 8am-6pm. That doesn't even get into the effort put into BOOKING those appointments which will start in July. Not so much fun and vaca, Chad, not so much.
The tutu thing has been fun - a welcome distraction while some of our b&b stuff is in production. I'm a little ADD sometimes, so it's nice to do something different for a little while and take a break from organics. I've been trying like mad to get my hands on some sort of eco-friendly tulle so we can make tutus for b&b. Here's some pics of the latest...

I'm in love with this dress - there are a few things I'm going to modify as this was my first sample, but it has eight whopping layers of tulle and is super super full. And Jessa is an absolute doll! She's actually coming over today to have a playdate with Jax because they are only a couple weeks apart in age...

I did this one for my cousin's little girl, Emily. Their entire family has attended A&M, and I love the team tutus I've been making!