Happy Easter!

Hope The Holidays Are Treating You Well

I haven't been working for a few days, can you believe it?

I am taking time off to enjoy the holidays with my children. I hope your holiday time has been safe, happy and warm. If you like wild New Year's celebrations, I wish you one more exciting than mine ;) I don't get nuts for New Year's Eve.

So! Enjoy your loved ones, and if you do have to work, make the best of it and enjoy the time you don't have to be there even more.

We'll see you back after the New Year!

Love and hugs,

Joanna

Kind Words And A Rub

A customer sent this to me a while back but I found it today while I was going through some files.

I also had a separate experience with Sugarfoot just the other day. I was waxing my own legs on Sunday (ouch!) and was left with a lot of sticky residue and was attaching to everything. Ew. I jumped in the shower and scrubbed my lower legs with Sugarfoot to get the sticky off. It felt SOOOOOO good. It wasn't too harsh on my freshly waxed skin, and felt so perfectly scrubbed. I rubbed it on and it turned white as I scrubbed it in, like it was turning into a scrub-like-lotion. I rinsed it off and when I got out, my legs felt perfectly smooth and soft. No oiliness.

And I smelled like a fresh grapefruit. :)

*

YUM.

Last Day

Goodbye my shop.

kiss kiss.

On to new things. Back to old things. Open the door because here I COME BABY!

Am I A Control Freak?

It's hard to be lying in bed all sweaty and achy while my husband mans the shop and puts together the orders I almost completed on Saturday. I know he's competent. I am just so used to me doing it all myself that when I am not there, I feel like I have no control. And I don't. So this whole idea of control is really a bigger issue.

Since I'm already in a lying down position, there's no need to sit down to think about control. I'm here, in the most relaxed and exposed position known to man. On my back. Like a turtle. So I'm thinking, "Am I into control? Do I need to have things go the way I want them to go? Do I need to maneuver situations in order to guide things to my desired outcome?"




My answer is no. I am just not one of those people. I mean, I'm not someone to be walked all over or just shrug my shoulders at any idea. I am not a slug with a lack of input. I just don't carry agendas that are inflexible.

So why is it that when I am not at work, and others are doing my job, do I feel a bit worried, like somehow it might not be done right? Again, super competent husband doing really easy packaging and labeling work.... I suppose if we had a bigger staff and we had individuals doing specific jobs, I could let go of the control.

Ok, I am achy now and my little moment of stress should have been a moment of Zen. My oatmeal and water must settle and now I need to nap.

I hate fever aches. :(

***

A Tale Of A Sleepover

A story told by my mother about my daughter....


My sweet Nina Rose was 12 years old last week. She wanted to have a pajama party with her friends, and I volunteered my house (because it has a nice big heated pool and lots of rooms). At last Saturday came and at about 5:30 the Schmidt family and some 7 friends, (5 boys and 2 girls) arrived at my overly prepared house. They ate, and ate, and ate, and drank, and swam. That many kids sure make a lot of noise.

Well Nina was magnanimous and told her brother he could stay. So now there were 6 boys. They swam, played all kinds of games, ran around the neighborhood terrifying my poor friends, then settled down to several horror movies on the floor of my family room. Jo and I watched, felt proud and enjoyed our evening with them. The girls went to their room at about 3 a.m. and the boys slept in the family room and library.

The next day, no one wanted to go home, but after swimming and eating, and eating, and eating, they decided they needed to shower and hopefully brush their teeth. Nina and Marin went into my bathroom to shower, the boys into another. All was fine. But later that night after the whole crew went home, I went into the bathroom to shower. Half of my Crush on You was used by the girls, and most of my moisturizer was gone. Nina is the best endorsement for her mother's products, but a message to the granddaughter: KEEP YOUR GRUBBY HANDS OFF MY PRODUCTS. Love, Mom



Guess Mom needs a new tub of Crush, STAT!

I Love My Job

Other than cold calling, which I hate and avoid without even realizing it, I love everything about my job.

I love...
creating
thinking about creating
trying my creations
trying new fragrances, butters, oils, clays, botanicals, extracts, etc......
hearing about others experience with my creations (+ or -)
being in a creative community who share my passion
talking with and emailing customers
being in our shop
you...


Of course, Product Body is not all puppies and cupcakes (is that right or am I miss malaprop?). We wish we had more walk-in sales, more wholesale accounts, and online orders, but the reality is that I am so happy to be here and I wake up every day excited to go to work and rush to get to the shop and create.

Yay that. There was a time that the dread of going to work was so painful, it hurt.

I'm Done Bitching. Now I'm Addicted To Caramel Macchiatos

...with whipped cream and caramel squirty designs on top. This picture is of a hot one and I've been getting mine iced because I live in Florida and it's like 65-70 here right now.

I usually have two cups of cappuccinos (I make them with an espresso machine). That's it. Strong, sure, but no other caffeine during the day. I'm not a big soda drinker. Well, now that I am "on" for longer in the day. Up at 6:00 am with kids and then to the shop, formulate, formulate, be a shop owner and do stuff, stay open until 7:30 pm (at least until Christmas Eve, I have been having a late afternoon caffeine hit due to my mid afternoon needs.)

My dear hubby brings me one due to my afternoon crash after my late lunch habit that has snuck into my life. I know, bad Joanna! I have even been skipping breakfast because hunger just isnt there until I am weak with exhaustion at 2pm. (me=dummy).

My new addiction isn't so bad. It's not like I'm on crack or pcp or some stupid drug that's going to hurt my children. There are many best parts about this addiction. :) I can admit to it openly. It is legal. I can do it in public AND it tastes SO GOOD, especially the whipped cream drizzled in caramel.

If you don't like coffee you are just not going to understand this, and that's okay, because I probably can't get a handle on flourless bread and meatless meatloaf made with sugarless sugar cookies.

he he. Sorry. That was rude. I like health food, just not bird food, or meatless hot dogs. I tried to feed those to my daughter when she was little and she wouldn't eat them. I know why. It was because I had the biggest craving for water dogs in NYC while I was pregnant with my first. Almost every day, I had to stop at a disgusting hot dog stand on the streets of New York and get a hot dog from the murky waters and have them build that water logged link with hot mustard and pile it with dripping saurkraut. I went to heaven EVERY time I took that first bite. Nina? She wiggled with excitement - so while I ate, my stomach did the Watusi.

If you want to know, my craving during my second pregnancy was much different.

Oreos.

Wahooo! And Can I Bitch For A Sec?

My eyes are blurring. I think I must be tired. He he. The sun is setting and I feel happy standing in my shop achy and exhausted. In fact, the exhaustion feels really good even though it's exhausting. I had two customers today. People I knew, but it was good, because I got to do the the minor details around the place that I hadn't gotten to yesterday when it didn't feel ready. Things just work out the way they need to sometimes and this is one of those times.

Sadly, my friends have all disappeared from my life and I am sort of feeling sorry for myself. This is one of the biggest things in my life (except in the past when it was my wedding day and when I had my babies .) This is my third child and for weeks, my friends have completely vanished. Maybe they were giving me space and didn't want to get in my way...? I even asked one of them to come on over because I missed her and I'd love her to see the shop (she lives a mile away and has a working car). No show. What gives? I will tell you: If my friend opened a shop, I would be the first customer and bring a box of doughnut holes for opening day or a cup of coffee or get fancy and get a bottle of champagne or El Patron and limes. I've got the sea salt covered. Work perks, y'know. ;)


It's not all bad.
ps: I have gotten more support from my husband, mother and my children than I ever could have expected and it brings tears to my eyes even thinking about it.

Blooming Orchid

When I photographed my candle a few days ago, I used two orchid flowers in the photo. Teresa of Homestead Notes couldn't believe that I had an actual live blooming orchid. I live in FLORIDA, T. Everything blooms here because we live in a tropical state where it rarely gets below 55 degrees and that is considered close to freezing (ha!). My other orchid is just a leafy thing, but will bloom when this one finishes.

That is certainly the part about Florida that is awesome. The flowers, the greenness of it all.... and the fact that I'll be taking a picnic to the beach this afternoon with no jacket or shoes.

My Mother Tells A story That Is True And Makes Me Want To Bang My Head Against A Wall

Last week my dear daughter, Joanna, was at my house with the kids. I was showing her these new tools I bought at the hair salon store. One was a file that you use on your heels to scrape away dead and cracking skin, and the other was a heel renewing lotion that the salesperson said you apply at night and go to sleep with a pair of socks on. Joanna gave me a look that could freeze the Nile. "Mother, what do you think I sell. I sell lotions for dry skin, especially for the feet, such as Mama Bomb, Crush on You and the Ski Bomb thing (whatever it is called). These do the same thing, but much better."

I am having such a hard time understanding all the uses for Joanna's products. I am going to take a tutorial with her because I still am in the dark. I do promise I will get it one day. My granddaughter has gotten it. She will tell me which product to use for which problem. But I said to Joanna, "Your product does not say it is a heel healer." She rolled her eyes, turned and walked away muttering under her breath. Oh well.

I'm A Bit Like A Roomba

With holiday gift sets and scents brewing at work, I can say that I have been a little busy. Not only am I trying to get orders out, I am trying to THINK, which is difficult when I am in go-go motion. It's kind of like when you lay out your children's lunch bags, and as you fill each lunch box with the same items...plop...plop...plop, blip, blip, blip, then someone comes up to you asks you to check a math question. Okay. Stop. Think. Finish checking (which actually takes me a little time because I am not quick with the math), then before I zip back into my assembly line of lunch goods, I have to readjust my brain to that mode and it does take a few seconds to return to normal. I feel like sometimes I'm like a Roomba. Ever had one of those? Well I had one once until I ran it into the ground and burned out the motor I loved it so much.

A Roomba is a self propelled, self taught, space ship-looking vacuum cleaner. It used to be that I could turn it on, leave the house and return home with the first floor pretty close to being dust free, or hairball free, whatever. Unfortunately, half the time, the thing would get caught under the same chair and beep for 30 minutes before shutting itself off. I think mine was mentally challenged because it didn't LEARN to not go under that dumb chair every day. So I guess I'm saying I sometimes feel like a Roomba, because I'm moving along doing a fine job, I hit a wall, stop, do a turn, adjust myself and move along, and I keep doing that until I get stuck under the stupid chair.

Ever get information-laden and feel sopped up and need a moment to let it absorb deeper?

Zucchini Muffins A La Nina

I was very constructive yesterday, which is a real feat for me on Saturdays in general, but yesterday, I made some creamy formulations for Product Body and also cooked in my kitchen with my daughter, Nina. I decided to make zucchini muffins, because A) I love zucchini bread and B) it gets actual vegetables into my family, fat and sugar and all.

I took a recipe from Smitten Kitchen to use as a base and created my own recipe from it.

They ended up r e a l l y good.

Smell The Roses 3

Life is crazy busy for everyone. I am trying to remind myself to continue noticing things. My weekly series (maybe closer to monthly) is called Smell The Roses. This will remind me to do just that.

Here is my third installation:

Word Verification

Not that I have loads of extra time on my hands, but I read my share of blogs every day. I like to leave comments if it makes sense because as a writer of two blogs, reading comments makes me feel that people are in fact reading, not just mistakenly landing here.

I just counted: 52 regular blogs I visit daily. (Impossible!) I spend about an hour reading and commenting and about 30-60 minutes constructing posts. I don't do this all at once. mind you, but my interest lies in many places and it's nice to feel connected with people.

The one thing I hate, though is word verification when I'm leaving a comment on somebody's blog. First of all, The swirly words aren't always easy for me to read. Makes me feel dizzy and like I should be wearing a helmet to figure out the code so in case I tip over. See the picture of the handicapped person? That's me. All challenged.

It just makes everything take LONGER. I have a job, people! I understand the word verification "system" eliminates auto commenters (why would anyone have that job? Point being to annoy??) So, I took my word verification off both my blogs months ago and I get one spammer a month which is easy to discard. So fellow bloggers: please help out an easily disoriented, have no extra time for extra energy spent gal living in Florida. The heat already is a challenge.

See? I can't even speak English anymore!

Obsessed With Starbucks

My son is a little egg sandwich crazy, you might say, which is a better thing to be than being a sugar junkie or worse.

A few months ago, Starbucks came out with egg sandwiches made on a nice English muffin...my son's favorite is the Egg, Cheese and Sausage sandwich. Every time we drive past a Starbucks, which seems like every other block on the planet, he asks for a much needed, ohmygodiamdyingofhunger egg sandwich.

Apparently, Starbucks has decided to discontinue the sandwiches, even though I think we are putting someone's kids through college at our local store. I think our local one is the last to phase them out, which is good, because my son needs to eat and he doesn't like much out there. The good news is, maybe I can afford other things, like milk.

;)

The Seventies - Step Back

On a tractor bed in Black Mountain, North Carolina (1976?).

Macon (oldest sister - top), Debbie (cuz - top right), Leslie (blonde cuz), me, the youngest (center) and Jenny (sister - lower right).

Those were the good ole days.

Be Back Soon

I just want to let you all know that their has been a death in my family. I will be back soon.

Promise.

Weenus Was The First Blow

Weenus Testing

Remember when I shared with you about the WEENUS TEST....my daughter's old-detection test? To update yourself on Tween nonsense go here and read about it. And test yourself... I dare you, and then, I wish you luck. I failed miserably so don't feel bad if it didn't snap back like the old days

Strike One.

The other day, my daughter and I were hanging out and gabbing while I drank my morning coffee and she suddenly looked at me with great admiration and said, " Mom, your crow's feet look so pretty."

Strike Two.

Later that day, I'm lying in bed and my son comes and snuggles with me. We are in a sweet embrace and he looks at me with great admiration and says, "Mom, that hair that's growing between your eyebrows.... is that called a uni brow?"

Strike Three.

I'm not sure anymore about the look of great admiration. I am now thoroughly convinced that it is evil child-ness. Or just the plain truth. Now I understand the curse that my parent's wished on me when I gave them hell (although I was a pure angel before I turned 15 - no joke).

First I'd like to say, to my daughter's credit, she said she thought my crow's feet were beautiful because it was proof that I was a happy person and smiled a lot in my life. My son? Well, he has no excuse. Yes, my mother's side of the family is from Transylvania (Eastern Europe where Dracula was from) and they are eyebrow wonders of the universe over there. I am very good about keeping myself uni brow-free. I pluck every week. Otherwise, I might look like Frida Kahlo. But then, she is from Mexico and I am clearly not.

So go ahead and have children, but if you are vain, be very very careful, because your inflated sense of self will be gasping for air on the floor while you are trying to understand how these beautiful little babies that were godsends before today, clearly just took your youth right out from under you. Watch your step. You might trip on a saggy piece of skin hanging off of your body.

Smell The Roses

I have not been feeling well for a good three weeks. Some days are better than others. I feel unbelievably exhausted, lifeless sometimes, my whole body aches and I have very little time because I am sleeping life away. I don't feel SICK SICK, like having the flu or a cold, more like someone used me as a speed bump on school grounds.

I decided that with life being crazy busy with business, blogging and family, that I should be more noticing of things. So, from now on, I will try to take notice of things and share some of these with you at least once a week. My weekly series will be called Smell The Roses. This will remind me to do just that.

Here is my first installation: