Christmas shopping!

Because of the move mentioned below, I haven't had alot of cash to spend on Etsy sprees lately, but I finally made some purchases that I'm so excited about!

For my mom:


Three goodies from Lollibomb: Body Butter in Warm Vanilla Bean and Almond Biscotti, and a Vanilla Sugar Scrub. I know she'll love these, since she went nuts for a sample size body butter that I recently got. Plus, they don't have palm oil, which is my mom's new thing (since harvesting for palm oil has decimated so much wildlife habitat), and finding things without it can be tough!


This gorgeous copper necklace with pressed maple seeds from tigerlillyshop.



And since she LOVES stilettoheights' work, I got her this box called She Was a Whisper of a Thing.

For Nessa the Chihuahua:


This adorable little Chihuahua pillow from bubbledog. Nessa's a bit of a princess, so she can always use another pillow. :o)

For my friend the Recently Converted Vegan:


This nifty vegan recipe zine from Kate Black. I need to get her something else, but I thought this would be a good start.

I still have lots more shopping to do--yay! :o)

Moving Woes

I hate moving! My mom and I are planning to get out of this NJ condo that she's had for nearly ten years and move to (most likely) Cape Cod. I think it will be wonderful and great and all, but my god, moving is a bitch.

On the agenda today: touch-up painting and patching all through the house, caulking the two bathrooms, and dealing with my mom's bedroom, which currently looks like London after the Blitz, since we tore down her wallpaper and exposed...walls that should not have been exposed.

Sigh.

Just a little whining as I wait for my brother to arrive to help me out....

Harold Pinter Makes Me Stupid

So last night Tori and I went to see The Homecoming on Broadway. I was super-excited about this, since it's been literally months since I've seen a show, and this looked to be a doozy--classic play by Pinter (to whom I've had zero exposure), dream cast (Ian McShane, Raul Esparza, my Imaginary British Boyfriend James Frain), fabulous director (Daniel Sullivan). I thought I'd be in heaven.

I was very wrong.

I'm not dumb, Tori's not dumb. We're both pretty well-read, we've seen far more theatre than the average person, and yet...we had no idea what the hell was going on. What starts out as a fairly naturalistic, if boring, family drama takes an absurd, surreal turn into something we just didn't get. When the show was over and I was still trying to determine if I'd actually just seen what I thought I'd seen, the women next to me started shouting "Brava" (seriously!). I have never felt like such a dolt in all my life. What on Earth were they so excited about?

I came home and Googled all night, reading essay after essay on why this play is such a grand masterpiece, and yet...I still couldn't really tell you what it was about. I'm stumped. I need to go see Legally Blonde so that I can start feeling like a smarty-pants again.

The moral of this story? If you see The Homecoming and immediately understand it, I don't want to hear about it.

Thank You For Some Thrilling Milestones

We had something thrilling happen recently--our 200th Etsy sale. It was only late June that we decided to really put a full-time, daily push on Etsy success. At that time, we were looking forward eagerly to our 20th sale. I just can't believe the rate at which we've grown, and I can't express to everyone who has bought something from us how grateful we are.

Another goal that I had in June was to get into at least three brick and mortars--and we're now in more than 20 (I need to update our list at left). Again, this is all because of the wonderful customers and friends that we've gained since the summer, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!!

Another Post About My Treasury Addiction

In an obvious attempt to enable my problem, EtsyLabs has begun posting challenges to design front-page treasuries around a theme. Since they aren't making the front page (sob), I thought I'd share a couple of my entries here:

Housewarming Gifts:

Gifts for Girls, 8-11:

Friday Fandango - Bag Lust

Here are some of my recent favorite Etsy bags--there seems to be a nature theme running, but that was not intentional...

Hollyhawk's leather Birdwatching pouch

Glossy Cactus Clutch by bonspielcreation

Wool Felt Cat Applique Wallet by bubbledog

The Snotty Bird Bag by littleoddforest

Butterfingers laptop wallet by workingclassheroes

And, just because I love her stuff so much, one more from Hollyhawk --leather Squid pouch

MOO Sale! Yay!

We are completely addicted to our Moo cards--the little mini-business cards made from your own Flickr images. We use them as necklace tages, as well as regular old business cards. We've already run through two sets, so I was thrilled to see that they are having a birthday sale--25% Off all Mini Cards, using code BIRTHDAYMOO. I just ordered two more sets!

I then decided to use my savings to buy one of splatgirl's adorable Moo Pockets, so I can tote them around in style.