2 months, 3 weeks, 2 days and 20 minutes- give or take.

so i was thinking: not blogging for a while. it kinda feels like that scene from so many movies- you know the one- where a person walks into a crowded party scene and suddenly the record scratches, silence falls on the room and everyone stops and stares. that's how this feels to me right now. silly, but true.

once i finally resolved to just do this already, it took me practically twenty minutes to remember how to change the dang banner on this blog. what the?! i never intended on being gone like that- not at all. but sometimes life throws you an octopus, and for a while, it gets the best of you. it got me.

anyhow, part of why it's taken me all this time to come back is because a) i didn't want to get into the whole boo-hoo, woe is me, life-is-kickin-my-ass session. and if i didn't write about that, i didn't really know what else i would write about. and b) i kinda feel like you must be pretty sick of listening to me whine about how hard things get every once in a while, how much i can never seem to find a balance, etc etc etc. but then something happened. the more time that went on, the farther i felt from all of this. and basically, i ended up losing my mojo. bigtime.

that's not to say that it's been totally bad. once summer officially arrived, things actually got pretty nice. we had family in town, we took loads of day trips, we celebrted 1st and 8th birthdays. we have had plenty of cookouts and late night camp fires with s'mores and ice cream and fireworks. we've spent time in the woods, watched henry enjoy the heck out of a farm camp, discovered new places, jumped in swimming holes and visited the zoo. we've eaten really, really good fresh summery foods. we've splashed in the pool, and gone to bed completely exhausted from full days. we've fully embraced the season.

and you know what? even though i was fretting all along about my absence, i finally let go of all that self imposed stress and just enjoyed life. it's been great to take a breather from the ol' internet- my pal and yours, but let's face it: sometimes the internet can feel sorta... eh at times, you know? pretty easy to get caught up in it all. all the tweeting, chatting, flickring, facebooking, stylehiving, myspacing, friendstering, tumblering, bloglining, etc. it's a lot, isn't it? sometimes so much that you forget to interact with the people right in front of your face. instead, you find yourself neeeeeding the updates. who's doing what. did so-and-so post new pics? has so-and-so returned from their vacation? what is so-and-so making for dinner? what's the latest celeb scandal? and what is so-and-so wearing today.

crazy, i know. but the time away provides an excellent reminder: you will be just fine if you didn't check in with all that stuff as much as you think you need to because your own life is pretty good. and that it feels a lot better to live through your own experiences than through someone elses. (this is not to say that i didn't miss you. or that i don't absolutely love to check in and see what's up. i promise you, I DO. it's just that whole balance thing, you know?)

so, that is that. i am not trying to get all preachy about our time on the internet here. just kinda wanted to let you know where i'm at with this whole Super Long Extended Yet Totally Unintended Break i just took.

i also wanted to briefly update you on where i'm at with the shop and all that (at the risk of making this post too wordy and boring, and i promise good stuff like pictures and news on the next collection).
you might remember that i was really struggling with the last collection being a sort of bust, technically speaking. lots of errors and double sales and email problems and all that. stuff that got me really discouraged and down, feeling like i was a giant failure. with no time to get stuff fixed, a hubby who works full time and was wrapping up freelance projects, i was contemplating etsy and other such things (quitting all together).

the good news is this: we've managed to get everything resolved on our end. we had to start fresh in a lot of ways (i lost tons of stuff- work, photos, emails, i had to recover emotionally from that) but we will keep on keepin' on right where we've been all these years. no big move to etsy or big cartel in any official kind of way, but i did add a handful of fabrics to my etsy shop, and will be adding some more throughout the month. i mentioned forever ago that i was going to offer up some most of this massive collection of fabric that i've been collecting (and hoarding) for the last 10 or so years. well, i have begun the process of making it available to you, my little fabric junkies. some will be on etsy, and a whole lot of it will end up in the next shop update. i've spent the last 3 nights cutting and bundling and preparing. will share photos of all that loot soon.

and now for a quick word on the next shop update. the small sizes thing... total bust! but the good news is that i still have all that stuff, and it's all going in this next collection which will be bascially the biggest and best shop update i've ever done. and i can say that, cause i'm looking at it. i figured i'd better come back with something really good after all this time of being away.

so that's that, folks.
let's get on with the eye candy.

 

 

 

 

if you need to contact me personally for any reason whatsoever, my email works again. and once the shop is up and running, so will that contact form that was busted for all this time :) chances are, if you wrote me at the jenny at frecklewonder email addy in the last handful of weeks, i did not get it. please try again, and please oh please, accept my most sincere apology for that.

i missed you all, it feels good to be back.

giant hugs,

jenny

Comments

[Laura.]

oh, good good words regarding real life vs. the internet. yay! i am so glad that you were away because life has been good and enjoyable (for the most part), and it is so good to see your name at the top of my blogroll again! welcome back!

[eryn]

oh man - it is so good that you gave yourself a break, lady - sounds like you had a wonderful time focusing on happy moments in your life.

the new collection looks amazing!!

[Cassandra]

Welcome back. Glad you enjoyed your real time ;)

Oh what eye candy! That green dress has me swooning...

[Virginia]

its good to see you back! but dont feel bad about being away for a while, its actually very sane if you ask me. enjoy summer, have fun with your family, live life! big kisses and hugs xoxo
Virginia

[Dawn]

I hear you loud and clear. Struggling as usual with my own balance issues. I LOVE that rabbit dress and those blocks...oh I hope I get them in your next update and fabric....geez I have to keep my eyeballs peeled for that...and an Etsy shop...must check it out.
I love your blog, I love your photos, your shop is amazing and I don't care how long you go away I will always check in. Life is very hard and I am learning that the choices you make are what make your life happy. So here's a big fat cheer for good choices (water glass is raised...it is only 10:03 in the am here)
Happy Summering and can't wait for that shop update :)

[nath]

well, it's so nice to see you back - i saw that you had added mew pics to Flickr so got all excited before i even saw this! summer is great time to get away from the screen anyway and it sounds perfectly heavenly and necessary.

now, you've got me wanting just about all of that good stuff up there - remind me, will you be shipping overseas? or is that an octopus move too far?

[trupeach]

hooray and welcome back and you're time away sounds simply magical and magically simple. you were missed and wow - double wow - what an update.

[trupeach]

hooray and welcome back and your time away sounds simply magical and magically simple. you were missed and wow - double wow - what an update.

[Hyena In Petticoats]

Jenny!

So good to see you back!

And please please please DO NOT FEEL BAD - not even for a second - we all have lives, we all know the feeling when things get in the way and it's all too much and we need to take a step back from it all......

MUCH love to you - and that shop update looks like a winner to me - those bathing suits! eep!

Take your time darlin' - we'll be here when you're ready.....

Leah xxxx

[Kirsty]

So well put Jenny. Breaks are good.

[Alison]

Oh *yay* so lovely to see you back!
love
Alison
x

[Zoe, Conversation Pieces]

Lovely to see you're back – and what lovely stuff too! I do so know what you mean about blog world vs real world... I've recently started getting a bit more casual about blogging too... but I had to force myself to do it... just to realise the sky does not fall in just because you haven't posted for a day! ;)

[Kate]

I hope it's not weird to say - I just really like you.

[alex*]

HURRRAY!!!!!! I swear I have been checking daily since April....and then these past few weeks have gotten away from me and did not realize you had started up again. YIPEEEEE! I'm so excited to get caught up!!
Welcome Back Girlie! We all missed ya something fierce!
xoxox

[alex*]

Sugar bun (hmm, have I ever called you that before?? haha) this was so great to read. I'm a big believer in the self-imposed TIME AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER. But i'm totally guilty of getting sucked in.

One thing I will say is that I actually love when you share your life with us, good OR "meh". It's a weird oxymoron but i think what makes you even more perfect, my friend is the fact that you share your imperfect moments with us! I mean I know no one wants day in day out whining and bitching and moaning BUT I also get frustrated with blogs that are ALL sunshine and roses, like "Weeeee! My life is PERFECT! And beautiful! And my farts smell like lovely roses! Lalalalala!" So never be afraid to break it down and git real with us.
Anyway, I'm about to spit I'm so excited to look at all the other entries (I squealed in excitement and quickly scrolled down to find the first entry and GIRL YOU ARE ON FIRE! There is so much good stuff!!!).
K, off to read. (OH, and I am soooo blushing and thrilled over THAT POST. You are so sweet and lovely girlie.xoxoxoxox)

[heather]

OMG zips!!!!!