Happy Halloween!

Why is it that I feel guilty every time I put a store-bought costume on my kids? My childhood costumes were handmade, usually sewn, with attention to every detail--it was a shock not to win best costume. My mother is obviously more talented, more creative, more ambitious and more frugal than I am...why can't I just accept it?

Pumpkin Patch

The temperature was 40 degrees that day and we had to drive almost two hours each way and I dreaded going. But, as you can see by this photo, it was all worth it. I would have posted one of my older daughter, but she was crying hysterically because she thought that the nice man carrying her pumpkin to the wagon for us was stealing it.

The breaking point...address labels

You wouldn't think that it was possible that someone could spend most of one day entering 200 addresses into a database and then save a blank page over it during the so-called "merge" step. But I did. The better part of six hours of computer slumping, child interrupting data entry--all in vain. I have this kind of luck with labels and copy machines--always have. I can't line them up on the page, my printer (or copier) jams, or I loose the data. Many of my college jobs were office assistant type positions where there were a lot of labels and copies to be made. I would manage to get paper jammed into parts of the copy machine that didn't even have a little door to open--and anyone who has used a large copy machine circa 1994 knows there were a lot of doors! Today, I started my list over and got to the Gs before my computer seized up and had to be shut down. My computer is seven or eight years old and just cannot handle everything that I have going on right now. Have I mentioned that everything in my computer life is on my desktop and has not been backed up in any way so I'm just asking for a complete computer crash. I'm barely computer literate which makes every task seem insurmountable. Oh, yeah, crashing...I lost the label database AGAIN. Anyone of even below average intelligence would have saved after the Bs at this point, but not me. Tomorrow I will save after every letter under two different file names, and pray that my computer doesn't give up before I do.

Earth Friendly and Luxurious

Finally, something organic and luxurious, elegant and earth friendly, beautiful and sustainable. Better for your baby, better for our world.

The newest celebrity must have--Robbie Adrian organic blankets! Bruce Willis bought Halle Berry two!

The Robbie Adrian organic cotton velour blanket is made from 100% certified USA organic cotton fleece on both sides and is trimmed with a natural silk charmeuse ruffle. Their cotton is grown in West Texas, spun into yarn and knitted on the east coast. The organic cotton used in their blankets is certified back to the bale of cotton, by the United States Department of Agriculture.

And, the best part of all, the brains behind this economy friendly and earth friendly company are two WAHMs!

Cross Promotion

I just added bella sophia to the list "Support Women Entrepreneurs" at the blog Our Creative Life.

We're LIVE!

bella sophia has launched! You can now visit us at

www.bellasophiagifts.com

Now, if only I knew how to get people there...
I guess my children are in for some more neglect while I work on that for the rest of my life.

Summer's over...

Well, I'm back from summer vacation! And, yes, fall is almost over too, but who's keeping track? Being wait listed until September for Web design allowed me to procrastinate on all fronts for a few months. This last month, however, I have been hard at work, just not blogging--oops. My logo has been chosen (thank you Laura!), my Web site designed (thank you Leila and Cicily!), most of my initial products ordered and uploaded, and many other ducks put in a row. I should be online in the next day or so. Unfortunately, other than a loosely defined plan in my head and partial ideas scribbled on notes spread throughout my house, there hasn't been any marketing or search engine optimization done yet. So, I have a site, but little chance of any traffic. Heads up to all my friends (and anyone else whose address can be found in my junk drawer): You will be receiving "junk mail" from me very soon...please read it before discarding it with all the other advertisements. It will stand out because it will not look nearly as professional as the others. Cut me some slack, I'm on a shoe string budget and I spent all my money on the eco-friendly postcards.