Vacation…Vacation…Vacation!
I luv me some vacation!
I am taking a few days off,and partying with the girls!…Stopped into my funtique The Bling Thing
I picked up some fun Wine Coasters ,some Woozies ,and some fun vacation wine!
Momma needed a new pair of shoes,so I got me some cool Yellow Box flips flops!Don’t ya love them?
I also picked up the hottest new feather earrings,and a purse that was calling my name since i bought it!
It felt great-Why don’t you give it a shot?
For those who are into couponing,or are following the Extreme Coupon craze,i have to say i have found it to be really appealing to my compulsive shopping side.
I have been following some fun coupon pages on Facebook,and been thinking about trying the coupon thing myself.I need to tell you though that everytime i have ever tried to clip and use coupons,it has been a short lived endeavor.I either forget to take the coupons,or when i do they are expired,or i just don’t get a jones out of saving a dollar here or there..
Recently though,i have been looking for a hobby that would keep me from having to work all the time,and stocking up on stuff we use,and creating a stockpile appeals to my need to BUY,BUY,BUY!
So, after following a few coupon pages the last couple weeks,and clipping coupons for a couple hours, i felt ready this morning to do my first ‘deal’.
The coupon peeps tell you to focus on learning one store at a time,to get the hang of it.They also tell you to start small,and build your confidence.
This morning i got up my nerve,and off to CVS i went…
This is what i got-Right Guard deodorant
Right Guard Deodorant
Ivory 3 pk$1.99
Ivory 3pk$1.99
Ivory was on sale for .99cents for the 3 pk of soap.I had coupon for $1 off.Ivory soap was FREE.
Right Guard was on sale for buy one get one free,and i had $1.00 coupon.
Total was $3.47 and i got $2 in extra care bucks to use on my next purchase=$1.47 for 2 deodorants and 6 bars of Soaps.
I love this deal! I can get enough soap and deodorant for my family,and i can use the excess to help another family!
WINNER!
It was a year ago October 8th, that our physical store came into existence along with a matching website.
In many respects, i totally rebranded my company.I had been selling swimwear and travel accessories on Brooke Boutique and was looking to expand.
At least once a week, i second guess the decision to open a retail presence in the midst of the worst recession i have ever seen in my life. I allready know i am a entrepeneur.I allready know i have taken a lot of risk in my life in business. However, I am starting to second guess whether i may be touched in the head!
It hasn’t helped that i ended up having severe back pain a couple months into opening the boutique.It hasn’t helped that i ended up having major back surgery and am still recovering from that.It has been rough.
The website TheBlingThing.com is humming along.. It is the retail store that is struggling as expected.Maybe i was arrogant to think that people would want to buy the affordable jewelry and handbags i had been selling online for years.Maybe I am just not giving the people what they want.These are the things you think about when you spend hour after hour alone in a retail setting.
I am not sure where I will go from here.I have had to make major decisions to try to save my company.Decisions that aren’t pleasant.I have had to go from a 4 person company, to a 1 person company temporarily i hope.I will continue to pull out every trick I can think of,but will it be enough?
Retail takes a lot of time,money,and commitment. I don’t have money, I may not have much time left in the retail brick and mortar business,but I am committed.
Committed to doing the best i can to share the trends with you at affordable prices.Committed to stay true to my style,and brand.Committed to being honest with you,and fair for as long as i can keep the doors open.
If the time comes to close the doors, I hope i can do it with the grace and charm that the customers and residents of Saline have shown me and my company.
That’s All I have to say about that!
Where are the shopaholics when you need them? I know, I know! We are all shopping with caution,and spending within our means these days.. but i miss the old days!
The days when i felt like if i had checks in my checkbook,I had money.. the days when i could charge,charge,charge…
Everyone is going around trying to be good..not spending more than the cash in their pocket…
This is hard on retailers, i tell you! We count on the impulse buy, the over spend, the make your self feel better item!
Where are the shopping disordered hanging out these days??
It’s that time again… time to reflect on the past year and review my goals for this next year. I have always loved selling apparel, and will still sell the swimwear and tote bags that i have always sold on the http://www.brookeboutique.com site.
However, as i posted in some past blogs, i decided to pull the gift and other stuff off of Brooke Boutique,and do a new website http://www.theblingthing.com ,and hey while i am at it, why not open a retail store?lol
So that is what i did! I opened TBT(The Bling Thing) in downtown Saline, in October of this year. I love it! I have been planning this store since i was 8 years old. The website by the same name is now ready,and we are loading it as fast as we can.
I have always had an accessory store on my wish list, but did i think i would open a retail store in 2009? NO WAY! All i can say is that i was open to a new adventure, i knew i would have to continue to make my own job(no jobs in Michigan),and i have never seen a store even close to what i have at TBT.
So, when you are reviewing your resolutions for the year, you don’t have to make them specific. Open your heart, your ears,and your eyes. You never know… you may be living your own Bling Thing!
I am so excited to announce that a dream of mine since i was a teenager is about to come true! No, i am not going to kiss Shaun Cassidy! We are in development for a new retail accessories store, The Bling Thing. We will be located in Saline, Michigan right downtown.
We plan to pull most of the gift items, off of our brookeboutique.com website and turn it into strictly resort and swimwear.The gift items, jewelry,and bling apparel will go onto TheBlingThing.com which is currently in development.
When i was a young woman, there was this woman who owned an accessory store downtown Ann Arbor. She had so much talent, everytime i went into her place, i would fall in love all over again. She died many years ago of HIV,and i hope in some small way that this site is memorable and would be a good tribute to her.
We should be open for biz soon, will keep the blog updated!
I think every single parent can remember the time when you realized that you are truly on your own. Even if you felt alone in your marriage for years, this is the moment when you realize you have noone to turn to..noone to lean on… noone who has your back.
For me this moment occured about a month after i had moved into my new place. I was laying on the couch at 10pm at night just staring at the ceiling. Suddenly i heard this noise.
Beep,Beep,Beep
Ignore. Pretend it doesn’t exist…
Beep,Beep,Beep
I get up, go into the hallway by the garage door and sure enough it is the smoke alarm.
I look around, no fire. No smell of smoke. For crying out loud, the battery must be dead.
I stared at it for a few minutes, just willing it to go away.
No such luck.
I get a chair. I get a screw driver. It’s not the right kind of screwdriver. I get another screwdriver.This one looks right.
I open the lid of the smoke detector,take out the battery.Ah…relief.
I come back into the living room, I can do this…
Beep,Beep,Beep
WTF?
Back i go into the hallway.Again, i stare at it.
Can i sleep with this thing beeping all night? No.i wasn’t sleeping anyway,so it shouldn’t have been a big deal.
Can baby diva sleep thru this?Yes.
I stare.
I learned later that the smoke detectors are hardwired,and that i could have simply disconnected some wires or something and the beeping would have stopped. Oh, the benefits of hindsight…
But, at that moment i didn’t know this…
So, i did what any technologically challenged person would do… I got out a hammer, and i banged that sucker til it stopped beeping…
We recently sold our house of 9 yrs,and moved to a new house. We brought with us our 15 year old shih-tzu Cupid,and our 2 yr old rescue cat Lucy. Cupid had been moving slower and slower this last year, but really started to go downhill after the move.
She had been steadily losing weight,and we were appalled to realize she had shrunk from a buddah size rolly polly 18 pounds, down to 9 pounds in just a few short months.
The master shipper had bought her for me as a wedding gift 15.5 years ago,and you can just imagine what i was feeling to watch her decline.As a pet owner,you know the day will come eventually but how do you prepare for it?
Anyhow, after 2 months of gladly getting up with her 4-5x a night to take her outside, it became apparent that she wasn’t enjoying her life anymore. I made the painful decision the first week of november 2008, to let her go.
I miss her every single day.
As a small business owner it is always hard to figure out where the business ends, and where the personal begins.Every time i started to post a blog this last year, i had to really decide how much i wanted to disclose about me personally, my family,and my friends.
As i sit here writing my goals for this year, i realize that i cannot separate the me from the business,anymore than i can separate the me from the we.
So, i am going to just be me. Hopefully i won’t run off potential customers to www.brookeboutique.com with my musings here, but i have to take the chance.
As this business grows, so shall I.
Join Me!
