Its the End of Something Big and the Beginning of Something BIGGER

Today is the first official day I am without my family consignment store. I turned in the keys over the weekend and filled up my storage with all of the stuff I just couldn't live without. I feel like it is the ending of something that was really big for me.
I bought a children's consignment business last year because I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and a great new experience. I had no prior knowledge of retail and my only knowledge of consignment was from personal shopping experience. It was an absolute blast. I meet so many nice people and had so much fun going threw new items people brought in. I had fun doing the displays and deciding on sales. I worked six days a week and I worked really hard from the time I got there to the time I went home. The hard work never bothered me. I enjoy working hard at something. The entire year I didn't get paid. The store covered its own expenses until about October of 2008 and then it started to go down hill. Sales were really slow and I couldn't figure out a way to change that. After a couple of months of no sleeping and being completely stressed out my family and I decided it was time to close the store. I had gotten an evening job and was doing the store all week. When the decision was made I felt a huge weight lift off me. I always feel better when I have made a decision and can go forward in that direction. I just spent the last two months notify all my consignors, getting things in order and saying good bye to everyone. I believe I will miss all of the wonderful people I met more then anything. I have made many new friends and learned lots of new things. I feel sad and happy all at once to have closed that chapter in my book.
Now I plan to spend time with my kids and hubby, paint a whole bunch, plant a garden, fix things around my house and just enjoy being me. I am only going back to work part time and I feel everyone will benefit from me being around more. I have all these great ideas for things to do with my kids this summer and all these fun projects to start. I also plan on cooking a whole bunch and learning a new skill. I just haven't decided what. I hope that our company Gwynn's Gifts will get back on track and I can take it to the next level. I am just plain excited.

Old Desk to New Desk

I found a desk that looks just like this one at our local ReStore and I am so excited. I plan to repaint the entire metal bottom and do a collage on the top and then put a top layer of plexi-glass. I want to do one for each of my sons so they have a cool place to do their homework. I think it will only take me a few days. My biggest concern at this point is how to cut the plexi-glass so it fits just right. Any ideas on this would be wonderful.