I'm losing control of my daughter...

You know, I completely understand that babies grow, get older, and develop their own personalities. I just assumed that I would be able to have a bit more 'control' over 'molding' that personality. Guess that's just one of the many lessons I'm learning about motherhood.

I will say that I love how Claire is becoming her own 'person'. She definitely has certain toys she likes to tote around, certain books she likes to read over and over and certain shoes she prefers over others. And fortunately she hasn't balked at my clothing selections for her, but recently she has made me realize that there are certain things that I don't have control over any more, and I'm going to have to be okay with it.

What I'm talking about is her Halloween costume. Last year I had visions of over-sized felt french fries surrounding her little frame, but due to my procrastination lack of time, she had to wear her previous years costume - a spider. This year I was going to plan ahead. I had chosen the perfect costume weeks  months in advance and I was going to give her the BEST COSTUME EVER. It was going to be custom made, but then I found it online for less, so I figured I'd just save everyone some time and buy it. When I went to finally purchase it, I noticed that there were a few reviews - all of which said it was poor quality. Freaking out in my head that my perfect costume choice for her was slowly slipping through my fingers, I turned to Claire and just asked her what she wanted to be. Without skipping a beat she replied. And the past 10 times I've asked her she has said the same thing. And then she even told my Mom last weekend what she was going to be and she was really excited about it.

So now I've had to face the truth that I have lost this battle. I can't MAKE her be what I want her to be. She has an opinion, and I would be a SUPER MEAN MOMMY if I didn't let her be what she wanted purely because I thought my idea was better (which it still is).

Anyway, here's what Claire wants to be:

And here's what I want her to be:

Call me crazy - but I think DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba is WAY MORE COOL than some dumb pink butterfly.

Introducing.... Dora the Explorer

Sadly, this is not her costume. Remind me the next time I get Claire's hair cut to either go shorter or keep it longer. This just isn't working for me.

Band-Aids DO make everything better!

 So Claire was running around the island in the kitchen which she does a lot. But this time she fell. I was actually in the other room watching TV (Bob was in the kitchen, so it wasn't like I was just letting her be totally unsupervised) when I heard the fall... followed shortly by the cry. I went in there and listened while Bob recounted the event, and Claire continued to cry. She had a little bruise on her chin and after inspection I found there wasn't any blood (THANK GOODNESS! Otherwise I probably would have fainted) so with the hope of making the crying stop, I offered her a band-aid. Which she quickly said yes to, and requested a 'dog'.

Funny how those things work like magic!

Back from Napa

So this weekend I went to a wedding in Napa for a girlfriend of mine.

Needless to say, she looked absolutely gorgeous.

 

Honestly... we couldn't stop staring. And if I'm being honest - I was

totally jealous of how completely fabulous she looked!

It was a super fun time and I hope they're enjoying every minute

of their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

 

- Congrats Jessica & Mike -

Here's to your Happily Ever After!

Note to self... check exposure...

So I was trying to get some photos of Claire in her 1st 'Halloween Outfit' yesterday. It wasn't until after I uploaded the photos that I noticed the exposure was off. I was shooting lighter colors time before, and like a dummy I forgot to change it back afterwards. Awe fooey.

She was having such a good time trying to 'cross her legs'

Then a really loud car drove by and scared her

But the sweet girl bounced back pretty quickly

I hate liars

Really. I do. I decided that today.

Like... I hate when people say:

• 82% of our vendors return every year
• I found you through a friend (but can't quite remember) and love your work
• Anything under $50 just flies through the door
• There might be 3-4 hair accessory booths but they'll be so spread out you'll never run into each other

When in reality it's really like:

• Just about everyone was a 1st time vendor
• Pretty sure my name was taken from a list of vendors from a different show I did. Because I find it strangely coincidental that so many of us attended the same show back in April, and here we all are as first time vendors at this show... being quoted the same statistics
• Anything under $5 WALKED through the door... not necessarily 'flew'
• Awesome. 3 of us selling basically the same thing. And we're all pretty much right next to each other. Fantastic

While some of the lies might not be completely detrimental, the fact is, a lie is lie. And I ask specific questions before doing a show because more than likely, if I had gotten TRUTHFUL answers to my questions, I wouldn't have done it.

So what's a girl to do? Well, I already sent off an email explaining my 'frustrations' and they can expect to receive a phone call in the morning as well. I'm just not 'down' with their 'business tactics'.


But I guess good news for everyone else is that I have a TON of stock to get rid of. So a sale on my etsy site will be up pretty darn soon.

New photo of some felt hair goodies I have

THE TRUTH:
While I LOVE the 'artistic' approach to this photo, it was completely unintentional and happened purely by luck.

Sneak peek of what's to come!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I feel like my life today is easily summed up in 3 parts...

The Good
I'm FINALLY done setting up

The Bad
I'm waiting for my bags to be brought up...
could be a while...

The Ugly
My Face.
I literally look tore back right now

My super great helper Gina and I arrive at Bally's and head over to our booth ready and excited to get started. It's actually pretty fun to see a blank space and know that in a couple of hours (or more like 8) you'll have a fun little space to sell your wares.

As we're setting things up, we start to notice the other booths around us. ALL of them have these REALLY nice, professional displays... with professional signage... and I start to freak out. I feel completely out of my element and realize that in the hopes of saving money by NOT shipping out 'freight' (and instead fit all my supplies into 2 large suitcases - and a couple of 'flat rate' mailing boxes) I have actually done myself a dis-service as now my booth looks like a 2nd grade craft project (and to any 2nd graders reading this - I'm not 'hating' on you, but when you're 33 you have different goals) and I kind of feel like crying a little bit - or fainting since I hadn't eaten anything.

The Good
I take a break and get something to eat
(and start brain storming a 'Plan B')

The Bad
My idea requires finding a Joann's,
buying new supplies & sewing new 'decorations'

The Ugly
Nothing like spending $150 on items you already have at home
Oh - and tack on $80 for the cab ride. Awesome.

If there's one good thing about today - it's that God allowed me to find 2 print fabrics that coordinate with the Blooms that I had already made. So it was able to be pulled together without looking like I did everything last minute (at least I think I'm pulling this off) We spend another 5 hours sewing, ironing, cutting, breaking, hanging, taping, sticking, folding, clipping, arranging and it turns out like this:

You may not notice a huge difference, but the difference is huge to me. I will say that I knew going into this that it would be a 'learning opportunity' as I have never done a show like this before. One main thing - is that I didn't bring enough product, or ways to display it. But hey - what are you going to do. Lesson learned.

So now I'm headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep. I'm hoping that my some-what salvaged booth will not be a total turn off to potential clients, and they'll still come and talk to me anyway.

Oh yeah, one more thing... if you happen to notice that the pictures are slightly crooked, or un-even, or something looks out of place - please don't tell me. I've totally come to an almost 'good place' about what we were able to get done and I really can't take any bad news... I don't have the energy - and sadly, I'm not kidding either.