thank you for your incredibly thoughtful, kind, generous comments from yesterday's post. thank you for taking a few moments to read my yammering on, thank you for responding in such a nice way. i wish i could take you out to lunch on this gorgeous spring day!
instead, how about i share this funny little snippet from my afternoon yesterday? this is basically just us, being us. yep, this is how we do it folks, goofy is our middle name.
much love!!!
sorry about being so MIA for so many weeks the month of april. it turns out i've been caught up in a sort of technical disaster-land, and it's been pretty tough to get things sorted out. the last collection, for whatever reason, gave me lots of problems on the order/shipping end, that just had my head spinning. more than the usual amount of address changes, combined shipments, bounced back packages, double-sales, you name its. thanks also to paypal for not sending me a handful of order notifications. i've been, well, kind of screwed up and pulling my hair out for weeks because of it. it's really hard at times, to be a one-woman show. i try my best, to juggle a home business, a baby, and a second grader. and still find some energy to be a good friend, and loving partner to my husband. and sometimes it feels like i'm doing great, kickin' ass and takin' names, even! and other times, like lately, it feels like i just dropped a great big glass ball, and i'm standing in a pile of little broken pieces, trying to figure out what went wrong. and it just feels terrible.
matt and i were having a big conversation last night, one of those talks (that we seem to be having a lot of lately), and he was describing that overwhelmed feeling as being something like trying to stuff a big, wrangling octopus into a cardboard box, and as soon as you get 4 or 5 legs in, another couple pop out, and another one sticks onto your arm, and it's just absolutely exhausting you to get those 4 legs stuffed in. not to mention the whole 8. and the whole thing just seems damn near impossible.
life. is that just the way it is, sometimes?
so. i'm cautiously coming up for a bit of air here. right now, we are having some issues with the site, primarily some admin-related things... the contact form has been broken for weeks, and there is an issue with order notifications and paypal. if you have tried to contact me through the contact form, chances are, i did not receive your email-- i am painfully aware of how bad that looks, and i am beyond sorry if you've not been able to get through to me for whatever reason. if you are one of those folks, please write me at frecklebird at gmail dot com, and i will get back to you asap.
i am considering moving the shop over to etsy, or doing a big cartel thing. in the name of simplicity, and easy management, and in an attempt to not completely overwhelm myself so that i start dropping glass balls and want to throw in the towel all together. my poor husband just does not have the time to maintain my website anymore, between work and school, and life. it's just impossible. how do you guys feel about finding me over on etsy? or finding my shop over under some big cartel run thing? i must confess, i haven't looked into it all that much- i only know that things are so tough at times that it just becomes un-fun, and i feel like i'm just doing a terrible job of it all, and from what i can tell, either of these options would be more easily managed by little ol'me. and me plus easy management equals a happy you. which makes a happy me.
and with that, i will end my boo-hoo-ing. if you've made it this far, THANK YOU. i heart you.
:::
i promised the mamas some sneek peeks at some of the cute things i have in store for the little guys.
the next collection, called SMALL SIZES, will be available soon. i was shooting for may 1, i haven't completely ruled that out, but it might end up being somewhere around the 1st of may, instead of definitely may 1. i've got oral surgery coming up, which is completely throwing me into a panic. seems that i can birth babies ok, but the thought of oral surgery pretty much has me running for cover.
i hope spring has sprung for you. it's absolutely somethin' gorgeous here in virginia.
the scent of lilacs is breezing in and out of my bedroom window, the hummingbirds have officially returned, and the days are long. a few reminders that when everything else is crazy, there are the beautiful outdoors for escaping.
lots of love.
me
hi there friends, and a happy april fool's day to you! i hope that no one plays any wicked tricks on you.
so, i'm really excited to offer up this fantastic collection of vintage tea towels as part of the april showers collection- which makes it's debut shortly. i am finishing up with some images here and hope to make the shop live asap. i wanted to wait until at least noon est, so that the west coast crew could be up and started with their day as well. so sit tight! i will have about 20 items ready within the next hour and will continue to add things to the shop thru friday. lots of fun vintage totes, tea towels, jewelry, raincoats, a few dresses, vintage mugs, and even some handmade things.
also- i am going to open up international shipping for this collection, as i have had more than a few requests. i don't have international shipping rates figured into the shopping cart at this time, so it will mean that we will have to square up on the shipping difference after your order has been placed, but the good news is that we can determine the exact rate based on your location. so if you are cool with that, shop away :)
for now, it's back to work for me.
lots of love!
11 months this week.
-sleeping through the night, getting close to walking, has the biggest appetite and surprises me every day with it, loves her wooden puzzles something fierce, waves hello + goodbye, and generally just keeps us all smiling and laughing. such a happy little girl, she is. and a lucky family we are.
so the first birthday party planning begins! my goodness, how in the world can this be?
it was.
hope the week is off to a great start for you.
more soon,
j
pretty things from the upcoming april showers collection- in the shop this wednesday, april 1st, no foolin'!
the current lineup, minus the white pair on his feet when i took this photo.
always been a high top chucks kinda kid.
scored a 100 on his big oral presentation last week.
couldn't be more proud. if you know henry, you know that standing up in front of the class to deliver a 3-4 minute presentation was major.
this girl and her wooden puzzles. she is crazy into them right now.
and a little turkish doll from our friend jenny. love.
henry is sick, again. this winter has really been a doozy for the colds. poor guy had a case of walking pneumonia, and now here we are in the first days of spring out of school and at the doctor's office. ugga bugga.
i am still making my best effort to shoot pictures every day since i started a new photo project as of the first of the year. been a bit slow to upload them to flickr, but i've been good at taking them. so at least i'm sticking to it.
anyhow. i'm off to watch the presidential address.
have a lovely evening, see you back here tomorrow.
xo
an ever growing collection of mine.
the baby head. forget the roses, this is where it's at.
a big fat happy friday to you. i for one, and SUPER happy that it's (almost) the weekend.
here's hoping you have a great one, however you choose to spend it.
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the shop will close briefly at some point today, so that i can prepare for the upcoming collection, simply titled April Showers. it will make it's debut somewhere around the first of the month. vintage raincoats, umbrellas, dots, birds, flowers + gingham. i'm all about the gingham right now.
lots of love!
jenny
