hello Chinatown...hello crystals!

Along with the red ribbons as a quick getting-started place for my Feng Shui makeover/overhaul, Katie talked to me about a couple of places in the loft that could use some crystals...this worried me slightly...
I mean, as much as I want change, I DO NOT want my place to look like some crunchy granola person's macrame- ish looking, holistic-ish feeling, Chinatown decored lounge....am I being too superficial?...
So off I trecked to Chinatown! (about 2 blocks from where we live!)

Crystals, ok...ALRIGHT...crystals...whatever....
Katie told me I needed 2, OK...2 multi faceted crystals coming right up....She told me they needed some weight to them when I held them in my hand and needed to be hung on red ribbons/strings (again, in 9" increments and with intention!!!!). She told me I needed one on the heavy beam that runs right across the loft to cure the heavy beam and to disperse and balance energy...ok....I also needed a second crystal to hang up in the window that is directly down the hall and see-able from the front door into the loft, to keep the Chi within the space and not let it even be tempted to leave!
Katie told me that they wouldn't cost a fortune but to not expect them to be "like $5.00"...she was so right, I found them for $6.00 and frankly that was about all I could afford that day, $12 worth of crystals, done!
I took some time to look at all kinds of other cool stuff in Chinatown and was oh so thankful that Katie had not (yet) mentioned that I get one of those little flowing water statue- thingies!
oh please, NO NO NO! (plus the sound of flowing water inside makes me want to pee, like, pretty much all the time!)

I got home and hung up my crystals...here's what happened...

Within about 30 minutes of hanging them up, I had this urge to clean out what I didn't really need around anymore...(namely baby daddy's stuff)...Now let me say that I LOVE my baby daddy, however, right now, and with what he/we are going through, the old stuff does not need to be hanging out at my re-energized and newly fung shui-ed space...It was not hard, not sad, not even emotional, it was liberating and good, it was cleansing and happy, there was no anger, sadness or weirdness, it was just time to clean it up and move it, plus, alot of it was stuff he very likely needed, so in fact, it was good all around or win/win, if you prefer.

The ease with which this whole process took place was absolutely astounding.

then we moved onto ribbons...my career...upside down ladies

It was time for my Feng Shui phone consultation! YAY!
Katie had all the info she had requested and I was ready to go.
I put baby down for a nap, I put the air conditioner on "sans" the cold part (it makes white noise, essential for phone conversations in a loft with a napping baby) I sat myself in my entrance hallway (it's the furthest spot in the loft from La baby) and I called Katie.
About an hour later I got off the phone with goose bumps, what an amazing call that had been...I was so excited to get things going.
Here are a few of the first big things I learned.
My bathroom/kitchen sink area (all parts of the loft that DRAIN OUT) was smack dab in the center of my Career Area (yikes!)
My office was in my Love Area and my living room was in my Wealth Area...(hmmmm).

This is where we started...It was agreed that I would do the biggest rehaul remedy, I would move the office area of my loft to the living room side and vice versa...

There were a few obvious little things to get around, but being creative and liking a challenge, I was going to make this work! (I'll get back to this part later)
Then, how could I fix the fact that my career was stuck in the toilet/sink?
Well, Katie explained that we could make this work, (since I couldn't move the bathroom)...The good thing is that water is the main element for Career...considering that there is a bathroom in my Career, there is a lot of water (YAY #1)...also, mirrors symbolize water, and POW, there is a huge mirror in the bathroom (YAY #2)...ok, this was looking up.

First thing was to "intentionally" stop my money from draining out...Katie told me to take red ribbon in 9" increments (either 9, 18, 27...etc) and tie them around all the drains in the loft, as I tie the ribbons I fuel it with my intentions to hold my money IN, to not let it drain out, to keep it with me, safe and protected, NO leaking!
I had 3 places to do this (kitchen sink, bathroom sink and toilet). She also mentioned keeping drain stoppers in the tub/sinks to further keep finances from "leaking out".
Next was to really pump up this career area, which was still, well, my bathroom...How does one do that?...
I had this cool framed print of these 1940's ladies doing handstands on the beach hanging over the toilet, Katie asked if I would consider changing the artwork. She explained that what this image was actually doing was adding even more downward momentum to the downwardness of the already downward flushing toilet...YIKES!
I told her that it was interesting, because I previously had a vintage map of NYC in that same place, but one day got a little freaked out that perhaps NYC would go down the toilet for me and since it is an important place for my business, I had moved it...
Katie asked what has happened in business since I moved the NYC print out of the bathroom and I realized that now, this coming January, I won't even be exhibiting at the Gift Fair ...UH OH...Upside down ladies, OUT!

Katie and I had a long conversation about how I could get my career/what I do/where I want to go with it and where I want my future, business- wise, creatively into my bathroom area.
The main colors for the career area are black/blue/deep colors...She liked the idea of me printing some of my patterns/artwork and framing and hanging them in the bathroom, or even painting the bathroom, or even painting one of MY patterns right onto the walls like a sort of wallpaper...such cool ideas! (stay tuned)
Katie also asked me to write down my career/business goals and dreams and place them in a special box in the bathroom somewhere, of course, like with all the cures, with intention!...
I started with the simplest, the red ribbons, within 20 minutes of getting off the phone, the ribbons were tightly tied around all outgoing pipes, oh, and the upside down ladies were off the wall and the nail holes in the wall were patched up with filler...
Next up would be a little trip to Chinatown, packing up what no longer served me, and furniture moving...

It all started with a box!

As some of you know, things have been, well, eventful in my life lately...in a rather uneventful kind of way...
Personally, well, things could be better, baby daddy has had a rough go of life lately and has felt that working on his stuff without Tess and me would be better...ok then.
Business has been, as I like to put it challenging! And ya'll know that by challenging, I mean...it sucks!
Change has been coming painfully slowly...I have been getting some really fun and some REALLY THE OPPOSITE OF FUN free lance design jobs and that is good, but I still need alot more to be ok with this...
Raising this perfect baby is a blessing, and sometimes doing it all by myself feels like I might need to throw myself off a bridge for a second, (but I have to say, quite remarkably, those moments are few and far between).
My very favorite hobby in the world, Roller Derby, which at moments felt a lot more like a way of life than a hobby, has taken a back seat for a plethora of reasons; physical (a tear in my right shoulder), logistical (how to get to several, multi hour long practices with a baby?),  and just basically getting grumpy about stuff that I know I can't change...which makes me grumpier...did I ever mention that I don't really like or get Organizational thinking? (and by Organizational, i mean the thinking of Organizations)
...maybe not? well I just did.
Anyhoo, it was time for some cleaning, cleansing, changing, moving, energizing...
This story is pretty amazing and part of what's even more exciting is that that it is JUST starting...

About a year ago I received the coolest email from a woman named Katie in Los Angeles.
She wrote one of those emails that as a business owner, you just love love love to get.
She had purchased one of my Mini Ribbon Boxes from a super cool store in Venise, CA and she absolutely loved it...Furthermore, she was a Feng Shui specialist and wanted to talk to me about maybe doing something together...creating a product together, a Wish Box.
She too had a new baby girl and she just sounded like one of those people you know you like instantly, When I told my BFF Kirsten about her, I said, "you know?! she's like us!"

As exciting as this sounded, I was swamped with life, a new baby, not too sure that I ever wanted to manufacture anything ever again in my entire life and not convinced that I would ever be capable of selling anything ever again in my entire life (apparently I was feeling a little bit gloomy that day).

We bounced a few emails back and forth again and then lost touch for several months.
I then touched base and suggested some friends of mine who manufacture beautiful silk boxes, that I could make the introduction for her...but she wasn't convinced...we again lost touch.

Then a few weeks ago, Katie got in touch again.
She emailed and told me that she was back in Alabama, (where she's originally from) and that she wants to make the Wish Box with the BlueDogz Design Paris Red CC box and that she would buy them from me and would I give her a bulk price? She was 100% clear about what she wanted! She had thought this through.

She also gave a little mention in her email that she was giving feng shui consults over the phone...

Well, that got me thinking! We set up a phone date.

A few days later (well, it could have been more than a week realistically, as we are both on baby schedules) we spoke on the phone. I was so right, I knew I would like her and that she was "like us".

It came to me in an instant, "Hey Katie, I only have 28 of the boxes you want left in inventory, how about we make a deal?, I send you all the boxes and you give me a Feng Shui consult?"...She loved the idea and we were off and running!

I made her a horrible video walkthrough of the loft we live and I work in (and by horrible I mean that for some cacamamie  reason I thought that I should turn the camera horizontally or vertically at different times...WTF?) She later explained that it was fine, she watched it on her laptop and actually laughed out loud when she had to physically turn her laptop to stay with the program!

I also drew out a floorplan of our space and some still photos of our front doors (the loft door and the actual building entrance) and gave her some number info, street address and unit numbers.

Lastly, she asked me to focus on 3 objectives, areas that I wanted to change, boost, improve in my life.

I sent her everything via email and we set  up a consultation date for the following week.

how much info is too much info?

It's not always easy to know how much to share and how much sharing is just scaring...Do you ever think about your angry ex reading your blog? or a pissed off ex friend? Kind of creepy to think about...
So, Hey! If you are one of those people, I SEE YOU!!! and if you are so angry and pissed off, what are you doing here?...and if you are STILL here...then just face it, you miss me and you wish you hadn't been such a total ASS...or creep, or crappy ass friend...FACE it. We can probably get over it...Try me.

cute kids...armless?...and what's a TRF?

I was perusing the old navy site this morning, as I had received a 30% coupon for in store use and thought I would see what was new and exciting...which led me to The Gap, well, because it's just a click on a tab away from Old Navy... which led to a hop over to Zara...can't tell you exactly why, oh wait...I remember now, the adorable Mia, the other kid in our building has fabulous clothes! I was admiring her adorable moto boots the other day and her grandpa chirped "Zara"...I doubt Tess could actually walk in them, or that they make them tiny enough for wee one, but now you can rest easy, as you now know my clicking inspiration...how cute is this stuff?

this raincoat might the cutest thing I have ever seen...but look at those boots!!!!

here are some close- ups...

then there is this look...

who needs pants when you have such a cute top and vest and boots? right?

and then....this....

how sweet of always spot on trendy Zara to use an armless child for their fall campaign!

Lastly, I just love the way one of their baby categories is named "JOGGING"....
coats, dresses, skirts......etc.....JOGGING!

and now, really Lastly, as you can see I put a question mark beside TRF...They carry clothes for

WomAn, mAn, Kids and this special thing...TRF...

when I took a look at the clothes I noticed lots of puffy jackets and short skirts...any ideas?