Ta da!

This post is for Haley, who has been bugging (harassing, hounding, threatening, guilting, et. al.) me to blog. (And also to my Dad, who every few weeks will say "you should get something up on that damn blog").

What can I say? 11 months ago the number of children I had doubled. Granted, I only have two, and not 8 (ahem, Kate) or 14 (ahem, Octomom) or 19 and counting (Michele Duggar) but it did kind of force me to re-prioritize my time (much of which was monopolized by feeding Leo every 2 hours) and the blog fell in the rankings of what I do with my free time. It is also harder to blog as I spend less time at the store and don't personally purchase as much, excluding for the baby department (and I don't want this blog to be all baby all the time) and so I need to go search and discover all the new and interesting things I want to share with you, dear reader (don't you like when writers call you that?)

Even when I see beautiful new bracelets that are sooo adorable (and cheap!) that I want to blog about, I realize I forgot to grab a picture of them on my phone the last time I was in. (Darn). Or I mean to write that Blaine has made fresh, homemade pretzels in Gingersnaps, and then I forget, and then they are gone (however, there are probably currently some still left because he just made them today!)

And while I love personal blogs (and even have a few that have also gone to the land of the neglected) I don't want this blog to be TOO personal because it isn't really about me, it's about the store.

(But if I wanted to throw in some personal details, since I last posted, my brother got engaged, my sister (his twin) had her first baby (my first nephew, Cooper!) and Leo started walking!)


As I write this, it is bedtime for my kids, and Leo is at my feet as I desperately try to entertain him by popping up the 5 animals on the playschool popper thing for him to close, and (now) every few seconds I have (now) to re-open them all for him (now) to re-close.



BUT, we have lots of great things planned for 2012 at the store that you will have to hear about somewhere, so it might as well be here. I will do my best to keep up with the blog, and inform you of all the interesting goings-on with our life at the store.

Up next, inventory (everyone's favorite time! not really) but with that a reallllly awesome sale so wait for the details (probably announced on facebook ) and then Sarah and Mom are off to Toronto for the giftshow and to buy all the great new things for the store this year (including, yes, Christmas items already!)

And, I will try to entertain you when I can with interesting takes on life--sometimes life at the store, sometimes life in general.

For instance, I saw on Nightline last night that French schools (who serve wedges of Brie in the cafeteria at lunch! Can you imagine?!?! What a dream!) have banned ketchup in an attempt to aid in their childhood obesity crisis (I guess they have one too, and only French Women Don't Get Fat). Granted, some people are ketchup obsessed but can you imagine not having access for the ketchup necessary items? Eeek.

So there you have it. Haley, you can fill the hole you dug to bury my blog with a beautiful potted plant this spring. And then everytime it blooms you will think of me. Awww....

Till we meet again....