AZ Blogger Meetup Recap!

I've said it once and I'll say it again, this month as totally flown by! All of a sudden one day I realized that the Arizona blogger meetup was right around the corner. I have been excited for this event for months it feels like! What a great event it was too. Chelsea, Danielle, and Kelsey did such a great job. Because this month has been so crazy for us I decided to give myself, and my family, a little break and I only attend some of the daytime activities. I couldn't have been happier!

I showed up late to the event meeting up with the group at the GROWop. Thankfully Chelsea was kind enough to text me and let me know where everyone was. It was a little akward at first, so I just kind of poked around checking out the GROWup and The Butter Toast Boutique (on a side note I can't wait to go back to Butter Toast and pick out some super cute vintage kids clothes!) I finally butted my way into a converstation and things felt a little more comfortable from there. I've always felt socially akward and since I've gotten older I've learned that running into walls or smashing a cake in my face isn't really an exceptable way of introducing myself. It's to bad though, I enjoy all of those things, leave it to an EX-theater major!

Everyone gathered at the GROWop
I heart this store! Can I live there?
Some of the ladies being creative.
Flowers? Yes please!
Coming from someone who works with faux flowers all the time, real flowers are totally different! I give all the florists in the world a ton of credit.

After the fun and festivites down on Roosevelt Row, everyone headed to Frances Boutique. I've never been that far into Phoenix before and I'm really glad I got the chance too. Even though it was just a short drive it really gave me an idea of how different Phoenix is from Pittsburgh. Everything is so spread out and still fairly new. I saw some beautiful articture as well as some more interesting sites. I just could believe how different it was from the crowded city I grow up by. I can't wait to go on more adventures!

Did someone say candy?! Smeeks Candy shop is so awesome!
I got so excited walking in, I can't wait to take Aurora there, she is going to go CRAZY! I've never seen a kid react to sugar quite like little Miss Aurora and this place is loaded!
YUM!
After a stop in the candy story everyone slowly made it over to Frances. This boutique is so beautiful. You walk in and it just smells welcoming. I was seriously inspired just by walking around this places, it gave me such an itch to open my own shop. It also made me realize how much work it takes to do that!
I can almost smell the fragrence again just looking at this picture. I could spend all day there, is that weird? ^.^
Of course I stopped at the adorable kids section!
Love Phoenix or Leave Phoenix. Seriously? Love this shirt.
Anything with words or phrases on it catches my eye! It's a wonder I didn't come out of there spending a ton of money. I was a good girl though!

We were so so lucky the Short Leash showed up and happily opened early to feed all the hungry bloggers. I was so excited to see them pulling up. I heard great things about them from Chelsea and I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to try them. It's amazing what happens when you leave the house. The owners and opporators, Brad and Kat (love the name ^_~) are amazing! They have increadible food too!

A hot dog to this pregnant lady is like gold!
I wasn't sure how to even begin eating this thing, but it didn't hang around long after I did. YUMMY!!!

After we had stuffed our faces, Kelsey and Chelsea presented us with around gift bags given to us by Frances!
How cute is that? It almost made me cry! Stupid hormones.
Inside was a gift box from Smeeks filled with Taffy (that is now gone!), an adorable pair of earrings, a container of the most luscious body butter, and a luxury bar of soap. Wow, seriously, how sweet?!

I'm so glad I made it out to atleast part of the event. I know that everyone had a great time at dinner! The great thing about blogger is that I still felt like I got to experiance atleast a piece of it from photos and stories I've read. I can't wait to see everyone elses posts and photos! I hope that this can happen again, if it does I would love to help in any way I can. It was such a boost and a really high point for me. I feel so lucky right now. I'm so glad we moved to Phoenix, it has been such a great experiance for me, I don't regret it at all. I came home from the event floating on cloud nine I think. Holy inspiration overload!

my little big dream.

Let me tell you a little story…

Once upon a time there was a young girl who had big dreams. She dreamed of being a singer and a song writer. Many people thought she was crazy and had delusions of grandeur. Although she was supported by many and laughed at by most, she pressed on. Eventually her dreams faded. Life takes its toll, and that was okay, dreams do change. The now young woman decided to discover a new dream. That is when she discovered Etsy. It was a whole new world of art and creativity that she had never seen before. It gave her wild ideas and let her imagination sore to new heights! Yet she was afraid to let her dreams go too far in fear of letting herself down once again. The young woman’s dreams grew even further into the atmosphere when she discover shops in her hometown like Wild Card, a shop that sells and support local and handmade artists. This was too much excitement for one person to bear! Thoughts and ideas of opening her own store came rushing into her mind like a tsunami wave. Then as her family moved across that country she discovered new inspirations like the fabulous Butter Toast Boutique and the up and coming GROWop. People actually do this AND make it work! That’s amazing! The young woman was truly inspired by all the lovely and talented women she was discovering every day.

Okay, so, if you didn’t guess it this story is about me, duh. I’ve had dreams of owning my own business for a while. Before it was a coffee shop while I was working at Starbucks but once I discovered Etsy, my whole world changed! So, why am I telling you this? The other day I discovered the cutest little corner shop in this beautiful strip mall near my house! I would just die to open up a handmade boutique there! I, mind you, am not in the least bit business savvy. I have worked in the retail industry all my life really. I understand the ups and downs off business and have been researching every detail for years now. Someday I really do hope I can open a shop to support the artists I truly love. I want to share with everything the wonderful things I have discovered as much as I possibly can. I feel like so many people are missing out because they don’t have their eyes open to find it. That’s why I want to open a store. I, myself, am not an avid online shopper. I like to see, touch, feel, and even smell what I’m going to buy before I spend my hard earned money on it. I think a lot of people feel that way even in today’s cyber world. Sometimes I feel like I sound crazy when I think about all this, but I know other people must feel similar to the way I do or there wouldn’t be any other handmade shops out there.

First, I think it would be very important for me to start my own Etsy shop to get a good feel of business. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but I think I’ve read to many horror stories about it and chickened out. I want to make sure I have everything in order before I start up shop. So, this is my call for help to all the Etsy shop owners out there: I would like to create a series called “Journey to Etsy.” I want to document the steps I take to opening an Etsy shop for anyone out there, like me, who might be a little intimidated to start. If there is just one, or a few things that you’ve learned from having an Etsy shop what is it? Any lessons you learned? Things you thought you needed but didn’t? Happy success stories? I know there are a million stories on the Etsy blog about success but I want to know from everyone else out there! So what do you say? Help me out! You’ll get full credit AND a feature post for any advice you give while I’m doing this blog series. You can leave a comment or contact me at withachanceof{at}gmail.com. I’m very excited about this whole process, was it exciting for you?

Thanks a million! Happy Thursday!

Spectacular Saturday!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to check in and tell you about the amazing Saturday I’ve been having. First off Aurora and I took an adventure to downtown Phoenix and FINALLY went into two awesome stores I’ve wanted to visit since we got here.

First off we stopped at the lovely vintage boutique Butter Toast. It’s very warm and inviting and the owners did a lovely job of decorating a designing a great layout in this little cozy home. Their prices are really great to for the choices they have. I also adore their selection of dresses! Any number of them would be great for a holiday party.

Then low and behold right next store is GROWop! I can’t help but love local handmade boutiques. It has a great collection of handmade and some vintage items from lovely local artists. I can’t wait to go back and see more. Both of these shops are a must see if you’re in the Phoenix area and love vintage and handmade!

After our trek downtown Aurora and I enjoyed an afternoon playing at the park finished with a stop for a yummy cookie and peppermint mocha… mmmm…

This wonderful day was topped off with the promised Hanson Christmas special! It was so cheesy and so wonderful. It made my season bright and my belly hurt from laughter!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Saturday! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Happy Trails!