New Job Postings at Hampton!

During these hard economic times, finding a job can be tough and many places aren't hiring (or they can be so darn picky). We had two new positions released at Hampton (where I work) today and I thought I would throw it up here on Facebook just in case someone is looking for a job. I can personally say that Hampton is an awesome place to work at, and the benefits alone are worth working there alone. While you do have to work hard at Hampton 120% of the time (especially April through October...aka our busy season) all the rest of the months are pretty low key and enjoyable. Pretty much every year you get a raise AND a bonus. Plus you get medical and dental benefits plus 401K with matching.

What's even more special is if you apply for this job and get it, you will work with me in the sales/marketing department! How awesome is that!?!

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you feel might meet the requirements listed below and have them send their resume to: hr@hamptonproducts.com

Good luck!

The following position is currently available at Hampton Products:

Mid-West Sales Manager (National Accts. Manager)

Reporting to the SVP-Sales, The Mid-West Sales Manager manages sales activities of assigned accounts by performing the following duties:

· Develops and implements strategic sales plans for assigned customers and prospects to accommodate corporate goals.

· Assumes responsibility for overall profitability of assigned accounts to ensure they obtain targeted and acceptable level of profitability.

· Oversees the maintenance of customer SKU files and pricing schedules.

· Advises assigned accounts concerning sales and advertising opportunities. Responsible for developing and presenting annual promotional schedules to all assigned customers.

· Analyzes sales performance to assist customers in maximizing their sales and profitability. This includes eliminating unprofitable items from their product mix.

· Delivers sales presentations to assigned customers and prospects.

· Attempts to expand product categories with existing customers to increase Hampton’s sales and position with each customer.

· Meets with key clients to maintain relationships and negotiate programs.

· Coordinates liaison between sales department and other sales related units.

· Prepares annual sales forecasts for each assigned customer and provides information internally to assist in developing purchasing planning.

· Monitors and evaluates the activities and products of the competition.

· Attends customer trade shows as deemed necessary.

· Takes responsibility for coordinating trade shows for all assigned customers.

· Assists with finding solutions for excess and obsolete company inventory.

· Other duties as assigned.

· Position requires extensive travel in excess of 50%.

The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor's degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university; 10 years sales experience minimum and at least 3 years in sales management over direct and/or indirect sales people or equivalent combination of education and experience.

If you are interested please email your resume to Human Resources in MS Word format, or if you know someone who may be interested we are accepting external resumes through hr@hamptonproducts.com.


West Coast National Accounts Sales Manager

The West Coast National Accounts Sales Manager manages sales activities of assigned territory, manufacturer representatives and accounts by performing the following duties: Oversees, except where noted, the Retail, OEM, Commercial/Industrial and Governmental business channels. This position reports to the SVP-Sales and will be based in Foothill Ranch, CA.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree (B.A. /B.S.) in Business or related field from four-year college or university or 10 years sales experience minimum and at least 3 years in sales management over direct and/or indirect sales people.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

· Responsible for building and maintaining relationships with both retail and distribution based organizations. RSM oversees and directs the implementation of “Brand” strategies, maximize sales and meet customer demands in a cost effective and timely manner. Duties include providing product and procedure training to all levels of those organizations and negotiating terms that will be mutually profitable and efficient.

· Will manage and direct manufacturer representative sales forces without having direct control over their operations. In managing these forces the RSM is to also provide leadership and encouragement to achieve high quality performance and pride of representation.

· Attend national, regional and customer trade shows and exhibits as required and approved by VP-Sales, FSO. RSM will be responsible for coordinating trade shows for all assigned customers and events.

· In conjunction with HPI sales/marketing and independent sales reps, customers and customers’ sales force and marketing departments will develop, present and execute creative retail programs, ideas and tactics that will help over-deliver company growth targets and grow our customers’ confidence in the Hampton Products International Corporation.

· Develops and implements strategic sales plans for assigned customers and prospects to accommodate corporate goals.

· In conjunction with VP-Sales, FSO analyzes sales performance to assist customers in maximizing their sales and profitability. This includes eliminating unprofitable items from their product mix.

· In conjunction with VP-Sales, FSO advises assigned accounts concerning sales and advertising opportunities; develop and present annual and timely promotional schedules to all assigned customers.

· Functioning both independently and as part of a team, managing and coordinating sales throughout the region. Communicate and coordinate the needs of the customer base with the internal sales support, marketing, technical and financial departments in a clear and timely manner.

· Regionally forecasting and play both a dynamic and proactive role in the ability of HP to meet the product demands of the customer. Compile data on marketing trends, competitive products and pricing and reports to company.

· RSM position requires extensive travel in excess of 60%


If you are interested please email your resume to Human Resources in MS Word format, or if you know someone who may be interested we are accepting external resumes through hr@hamptonproducts.com .

::::::::::Stanford's 10th Annual 5K Race Against PH::::::::::

November is quickly approaching and most of us think of Thanksgiving, turkey dinners, family get togethers...but a small population of us are in full mode fundraising mode! November, for a small population of us, is Pulmonary Hypertension awareness month. This year I have decided to add on an additional task to the month, a 5K run!

I have never done a run before, but this year I think it is a excellent reason to get myself out of the office and up to Stanford, CA!

I will be doing this wonderful run with my PHriend Ornah Levy...who has done an excellent job training herself for our upcoming 5K. I am soooo proud of you Ornah!! I can't wait to see my other NorCal PH PHeeps there as well.

Here is some info about the race if anyone will be in town. I am hoping Ornah and I can get up there a little early and do some site seeing as well. Hope to see some of you guys there!

Info regarding Stanford's 10th Annual Race Against PH!

Official race info page!

::::::::::PHA's Patient and Cargiver Mentor Program::::::::::

I am super stoked that PHA has a new program being created and I was invited to be a part of it! The goal of this new program is to connect experienced patients and caregivers with community members who are looking for one-on-one, email-based support.

Supposedly I was selected to be a mentor based on my "rich knowledge of the PH community and your ongoing commitment to the support of PH patients and caregivers in need". I guess that is kinda true but I am just like any other PH patient...someone that has this terrible, irritating illness that is looking for a cure.

The Mentor program is scheduled to launch on PHA’s website in mid-September. Patient and caregiver mentors will be searchable in an online directory by gender, age or related condition. I think this particularly awesome because mentees will be able to find someone similar to their personality to talk to...I just can't wait to meet new PHriends and help people who have any PH questions.

My mandatory training for this program is in a few weeks. My info packet should be coming soon. I can't wait to promote this new mentoring program. I think lots of people can benefit from this awesome service from PHA. I know most of my PHriends are pretty outspoken but I know some feel shy, embarrassed or lonely and never have the courage to talk to other PHers. Hopefully this service will a source that those PHers can utilize.

I can't wait for September to roll around and get this service going. I feel really privileged to be a part of it. :)

:::::::::::::::PHA Conference 2010:::::::::::::::

Conference was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G....

This year conference was in Orange County which made it even better...no hotel rooms, no flying, no car rental...I finally saved lots of money on a PHA Conference! Whew! (Do they realize how expensive conference is for the typical PH patient (and most of the time their caregiver??)

Thursday

Conference activities started this year on Thursday and unfortunately I had to work but the real activities didn't start until that night. I walked in a went straight to registration. I ran into "Little Saggar" while in line. We chatted for a while and he said to look for Rajan (my doc) on Sunday (he was on call until then). I saw Noel and she checked me in and Sally Maddox was right there when I was checking in. We both said howdy and I was on my way. I picked up my volunteer and speaker badges at the walk-in table and was on my way. I saw the SoCal welcome table in the lobby with Chris Morres running the show. I chatted for a while and continued on. I found the Generation Hope table right in the beginning of the "Hallway of Hope". I helped setup the booth with Emma Bononami from PHA (she pretty much had the whole thing setup by the time I got there). The booth looked fantastic and went to the bar with Chris Morres and Tina Powney to start our drink extravaganza...as soon as I turned around Ornah Levy and Jonathan were there! We went to the secret PHA staff room and went to Ornah's fashion show fitting. There I ran into Kimberlee Ford with her mama and Liz Brigam with her daughter. I met Rynna and her sister who always plan out the most wonderful PH runway shows. About 2 hours later Ornah and I were out and went down to the meet and greet party at the pool. I saw all of my wonderful PHriends there and chatted for hours. We pretty much shut the place down. Then I decided it was time to go home. I had been up since 5 am at work...I was beat...and I needed lots of rest the next day because it was going to be a long day with the Generation Hope (GH) party and my patient led session I was leading. Whew! Day one done!

Friday

Seriously...why are we starting these conferences so early in the morning? Don't they know us PHers need our beauty sleep? Got there early in the morning, I dropped my things off at the GH table and decided to stick around the table for a while. I met some wonderful people, a couple whose daughter has PH. They were from Israel, and unfortunately their daughter was so sick she couldn't attend. her parents expressed how their daughter felt so lonely and sad because she had no one her age to relate to. We swapped our digits and I am hoping to get in contact with their daughter to introduce her to the GH team! :)

Soon Colleen Brunetti and Sean Wyman joined me at the table and we were fielding questions left and right. Lets just say we were so busy, we ran out of candy by noon! AHHHH! The most famous question was, "Where's the restroom?"...luckily I knew where it was at! Time for the 2nd meet and greet rolled around but we were so busy at the GH table I could leave. So I fielded the questions alone and caught up on my emails from work on the down periods.

One point I must make is that it was kinda disappointing not having lunch on Friday afternoon...a lot of PHers were looking for food to take with their meds, or to boost their insulin, or just to stay anti-grouchy. I think this why we ran out of candy...we became the living vending machine! I was glad we had the candy. It was a lifesaver. Literally. So Ornah, Jonathan, my mom and I decided to grab some grub at the bar in lobby. Food was a 7 on a 10 point scale. Amy Samuelson and Christine Kramer rolled up and we chatted for a while. We finished up and went the opening ceremony to here Carl Hicks start the conference off with some words of wisdom (I came with tissue in hand). I ran into Evan White while waiting for everything to start. She looked fantastic and was her perky self.

Next was my patient led session! I was ready to get this over! I found the room and everyone showed up, ready to go, as planned. Emily Mitchell, Sean, and Carson Smith were ready to go...bad thing was that our room assistant/moderator/whatever want to call her...had over slept and missed her training. Ugh. WTH. So we pretty much told her what to do and we started. Everything went well and lots of people got to ask questions. One father said it was nice to hear that the panelists seemed to be living successful and "normal" lives and that it inspiring to see that his young daughter has life to look forward to. It gave me the warm and fuzzes. Mission accomplished!

After that I ran over to the Flolan and Remodulin support group ran by my buddies Doug Taylor and Liz Brigham. After a wonder support group session it was time to do a little buzz around the exposition booths. I stopped and talked to Robyn at Crono5 pump station...she asked me if I would be willing to write a blurb about my PH story and how I got the original C5 pump. Just add it to my to-do list! I grabbed my conference t-shirt and some goodies from Accredo, Caremark, and Actelion.

Now for dinner! Ugh...I must admit...dinner was terrible the first night. Dried up chicken, polenta paste, and some hard veggies...no bueno. I scarfed up the salad and ate the inside of the tart dessert and was out the door.

Finally the Generation Hope After Dark party started. I jumped into my comfy jeans, t-shirt and scarf and was ready to party. I order a Miami Vice and was on my way to mingling. Cute boys were there from the research lab (I should have gotten the number of one of them...whew...he was a cutie). Stu generously bought my second drink and after hours of mingling it was time to leave. I didn't even get home till 12:30 AM. Mucho sleepy!

Saturday

I decided to skip the breakfast and sleep in. I met Ornah and Jonathan later that morning and we started going to our scientific sessions. We went to some fantastic sessions this year as well as some oldie but goodies (like Women, Sex, and PH). Lets just say...I am majorly fearing menopause now...lol...

The journey's luncheon is always interesting because you get hear not only the patient's view of their PH Journey, you also get to hear the story from their doctor's point of view. My fabulous friend Amy Samuelson whom I had met at the 2008 PH conference was one of the selected speakers and I was so proud to see her up there on the stage owning it, and I was proud to see how far she had come from her timid and shy 2008 personality to a happy, blossoming woman and mother. I was very proud to say the least. :)

I made my way to day two of the flolan/Remo support group and then went to dinner. Dinner tonight was steak and fish...much better than the previous night but my steak was still mooing while it was sitting in front of me. My pudding dessert wasn't set as well and literally poured out of the cup. I found a second one and scarfed it up. Ornah was participating in the fashion show during dinner...she looked fantastic all dolled up with her hair and makeup done. She worked that runway like a Pro! And I was proud to have my Five Cent Designed bag up on the stage. The runway show was a huge success and Jonathan and I got lots of photos for our Top Model!

Like usual...I had conference burnout and went home a little early. I needed that extra sleep if I was going to make it one more day!

Sunday

I skipped the breakfast again (the food was highly disappointing this year) and slept in for a little bit. I wanted to go to the liver session even though I don't have any problems with my liver but my doc was leading the panel and I wanted to support him as well as see him! I chatted with him before the session started and Jonathan was gracious enough to take a photo of us together before he left to go home. I took some final pictures with my PHriends and said my goodbyes to a lot of them. It's sooooo sad that I won't see most of them for another 2 years. Ugh.

I was soooo tired I went home and crashed. I needed to rest and not think for at least a few hours. I went home and napped my way to sweet dreams.

Monday

The next day I picked up Amy and Ornah and we went out for lunch. We did our usual girl chatting and eating by the beach. The weather was perfect for eating outside and the food was yummy. We hopped in the car and drove down PCH. We went through Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach...showing Amy special spots along the way. We stopped in Laguna Beach by Las Brisas and took Amy down to the shore. We collected shells for Amy's girls and watched the cute surfers do their thing. Time flew by so fast and I didn't even realize it! We took Amy up the steepest hill and down to Laguna Niguel and I took them to a fantastic lookout spot that I used to go to in high school. The view of northern OC was amazing and definitely worth the stop. We decided to go to my house because Ornah had yet to see my new house and we wanted to get some yummy Mexican food at Avila's El Ranchito by my house. :)

I gave them the 5 cent tour and everyone got to do a pee break. We munched our way through dinner...Chips and salsa, soup, tacos, nom nom nom....it was yummy. Jonathan came to take them home so I didn't have to make the huge trek back to northern OC for like the 8th time in 4 days. My poor little Lexus had a very long weekend. Whew.

Now conference has passed, pictures are popping up like crazy on Facebook and Flickr...we are planning for the next conference which is 2 years away which sounds like a long time but it will roll around sooner than later. I can't wait to go to Orlando. The hotel is a Marriott so I will be cashing in some of my Marriott points from work for my room which will hopefully save me some dough. Ornah and I are dead set on trying to go to another destination after conference...maybe the Bahamas...or Aruba...we will see. I know the Olympics will be going on in London...maybe I will continue on my journey after conference and Aruba. We will see. Good thing is that I have another 2 years to save up and plan!

Next stop....PH Forum in San Francisco in June...and the Stanford 5K PH Run/Walk with Ornah!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Designing::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Designing, or home decorating, when your are not a "Designer" is a daunting task.

When I bought the new house in October, I had the opprotunity to a) create my own bathroom, b) design my own room even though I redesign it every few years, c) design my own craft room. When we bought this house, we had 3 extra rooms we didn't really need. My Dad took the downstairs bedroom and made it our home office. Mom took her room and made it a guest room. I got the third spare room and made it my craft/sewing room. I was stoked that I finally didn't have to store all my crafting supplies in my own room. :)

Months later, we have finally moved in and my Etsy business is now rolling and have actually sold 15 items (and even more offline to co-workers, friends and family). I am in desperate need of having my craft room finished, if anything, I need to start on it. I have been searching for the right basics for the room: a large table with some storage, a cabinet/shelf to store my fabrics on, a chest to store my finished products that haven't sold quite yet and a thread/bobbin storage solution.

So far this is what I have come acrossed that has perked my interest:

I am going to need two of these to hold my sewing books and all my fabric. Not in stores as of 3/26/10 @ Ikea.

Love, love , love this table @ Ikea. It is huge and heavy. 65" x 37" in size! Retail price: $399.99 Lindsay's Price: $59.00....yes, I got 85% off!!! On sale as @ Ikea starting 3/26/2010. Sold!


I hate bar stools that have backs to them when I am crafting. At a bar they are excellent, crafting...no. I bought myself this little Sune bar stool for $19.99 at Ikea. It fits perfectly under the open side of my craft table. :)

I would like to get two of these dress forms. One black and one white for photographing my product for Etsy. Found these online here for $99 each.



My new favorite love!! Japanese Washi Paper Tape!! I bought these two items from Happy Tape online. They have excellent prices for this kinda of tape (it can be very expensive). These items should be arriving next week. My goal is to use the teal and lime family on canvas for art pieces for my walls in my craft room. Love these!!

::::::::::::New Patterns::::::::::::

I have to admit, it's been kind of fun bringing out my sewing machine again and creating new items to a) sell or b) keep them for myself (which is what usually happens because I can't part from my lovely creations).

My recent sales on Etsy (and offline through friends and random people on the street) have given me some extra money to buy additional fabric and a little extra motivation to try some new patterns. I decided to bust out my Jandotter, "Sewing Simple" book and try out a new pattern. I thought I would try out the bib pattern in the book because I had just received some wonderful Michael Miller laminated fabric in the mail that I ordered online. My first bib turned out ok...not my best, but not my worst by far. I have very little experience working with bias tape so I found this to be the most daunting part of making the bib. I read that the trick to getting bias tape to "bend" around curves is to iron it and steam it to the shape of your item. Oy vey!

It was daunting but I think it came out worthy of selling on Etsy.

I have also tried making a few yoga totes. Now, I haven't taken a yoga class in my life (I won't be keeping these items...ha ha)....so I was a little nervous about making a tote for something I would never use or neverless seen one in my entire life. I found out that they were pretty simple to sew (using Jandotter's explainations of course) and the most daunting task was how to attach the carrying handle at the end so that it looked pleasing to the eye (and didn't look plain downright ugly). I grabbed some extra thick canvas from Michael Miller and a yoga tote that I picked up at Borders Books (who knew they would have yoga mats on clearance there??) and I got down to business. I thought long and hard about how to make the handle look snazzy (Jansdotter's explaination was a little vague and confusing...probably my lack of sewing was the real problem). Here is how the little guys turned out:

...Michael Miller Home Decor Weight Fabric...

...A little pocket for your keys and cellphone...

::::Valentine's Day, New House and All Things Snow:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

OK OK....I know...I am days behind on this post...

This poor entry has been stuck in "draft" mode all week! Eek!

This past weekend was a fun (but long) weekend! There has been so much going on it's hard to keep up with PH and all. Going to work seems to be my "rest period" and my time to recoup from the weekend activities!

Friday night (Feb. 12th) was the most fun I have had in a long time. After work I went to the new house and paid the workers for this week's work. Then I locked up the house and jetted over to Mack's for his Winter Olympics Party that he was co-hosting with his brother. I just about died when I saw that we were supposed to arrive in our "Olympic" gear (noted on the bottom of the invite weeks ago. Being the slacker that I am, I busted out my 2010 Winter Olympics jacket that I picked up when I was in Vancouver this past summer. I wore my beanie and my snowboarding goggles and was ready to go. I cracked up all night when a new person came in through the door. My favorite outfit was Tim's by far. He came decked out in Spandex and a helmet ready for his bobsledding event. It was a blast to watch the opening ceremonies with close friends and especially Mack. :)

At the top of Whistler Mountain in front of the Olympic Statue (close to where the downhill/alpine skiing area is)...

Saturday seemed to fly by so fast, I can barely remember what I did...must be that PH memory loss working...hmmm...I did sleep in because I didn't get home until 2am (ugh...I am just not that good with late nights anymore...lol). Mom and I went to JC Penny's (one of my least favorite stores) to pick up some dishes she saw on sale. Mom is a major dishes addict. I think she has about 40 different sets of dishes. It's ridiculous. So we went and picked them up...12 person place setting for 60 bucks was a pretty good deal I thought so I didn't throw much of a fuss. Then we went to Home Depot to pick up our handles for our kitchen cabinets and we also picked up the outlet covers and light switch covers for the entire house. We went to the new house next where Carlos was painting away still and Kenny and his future son-in-law were installing the billion kitchen cabinets and all the bathroom cabinets through out the house. They looked fantastic I must say. It was so exciting, we were one step closer to the big move. Then dad took us to Outback for dinner and then we raced home to watch the Olympics.

Sunday was a blur too now that I think about it. More house stuff (additional cabinet install, more painting, etc. ). Mack came over and helped dad install sinks, ceiling fans, and a bunch of other little things.

Is it almost over? I keep asking myself that and the true madness hasn't even started.

This week at work has been pretty slow overall. Some of the sales guys are in so I have been creating lots of spreadsheets, attending lots of meetings, and other mindless things that are pretty much routine. Working on Home Depot's online catalog has been the most challenging thing to complete this week. Only because I really don't want to have to do it. I keep pushing it off but I am going to have to address it at some point.

Etsy sales have been kind of slow this week but profitable. Wedding girl from previous blog has decided to take the fabric and run. Which, is in the end, is probably the best thing (who has the time to sew 20 table runners and 2 tablecloths?...surely not me). So I tripled the price of the fabric that she is in desperate need of and made a sweet little profit of $200.00. Woohoo. And I didn't have to sew a darn thing...just a quick drive to IKEA and the deal was done! That was the easiest sale ever. I kinda wanted to sew them...just so I could get the extra business if someone asked where she got them, but....I just don't think I have the time to do it with work, PH conference stuff coming up, and the big move.

I did have some extra time though to crunch out a few new items for my Etsy shop...most came out pretty gosh-darn cute and are up for sale. Here a few pics for your enjoyment (and because I believe no blog should ever be posted without a picture!).

One of the cutest baby blankets I have ever made! (I kinda wanna give it to Ayden!)

Easy Wipe Away Bib in Michael Miller Fabric!

Yoga tote in Michael Miller fabric!

House updates coming this weekend!

:::::::Let Wedding Season Begin:::::::

Yesterday I got a request via Etsy to create 20-25 table runners and 3-5 tablecloths for a young lady who is getting married in June.

This young lady has been searching for the fabric to do it herself but she lived near 1 store where they sell this fabric and I live by 6. She wanted to know if I had enough fabric to make 25 runners plus tablecloths for her buffet table, etc. I had made 2 table runners already with this fabric for my store and I knew this fabric was on clearance and was one of the most popular fabrics at this store. (See 20 yards of this fabric in the picture in this entry.)

I had to act fast.

I started calling around like a mad woman and the only place that had it was a store in Carson. I drove up there (during rush hour BTW) and bought 20 yards of fabric. This was the last bolt of it in the state of CA. Yes, I called each store in Cali.

Now I have to come up with a price and hopefully I will land the deal. I can't wait to make them. Just think...if I can get just a few of her friends to visit my store afterwards, that will be a lot more clients. I really...REALLY want to land this deal. This would be a great way to get some exposure (over 200 people will be coming to her wedding). Now I just need to get some custom satin labels with my store name and Etsy addy on it to put on each item. Anyone got any good resources for this (I am hoping my PHriends/Etsy peeps know a connection)?

This could be a huge profit and a great project for exposure.

Wish me luck that she gives me the A-Ok! :)

:::::Just One of Those Days:::::

Ugh.

It was just one of those days.

This morning I dropped off my car @ my 'regular' mechanic to get some new brakes. Lexus was claiming that I needed brakes AND roters. Yeah ok. Roters after my first set of brakes??? Come on. So my friend John took a look at them (now that my car is back from getting it's warranty fixes at the Lexus dealer). He looked at them and said they looked perfectly fine. What's up with that?? I think Lexus was trying to get some money out of me now that they spent over 6K on fixing my engine, fuel rails and dash. Nice try buddy!

As many of you know, my little car has been at the Lexus dealer since Thursday. I got a recall notice (by the government) in the mail saying that my Lexi needed a new fuel rails for the fuel injection. Lovely. So I thought this would be the perfect time to mention this strange noise that I keep hearing when my car starts when it's cold out. Kinda sounds like change falling through the engine. Something was definitely not right. I also mentioned the squeaky inside of the dash on the passenger side. Every time I hit this one bump on my drive into work each day, the dash sounds like it is coming off.

I was smart because I was expecting the Lexi mechanic to not her the noise because the car would be in the garage at the dealer. I told him to keep it overnight (it was supposed to be cold and rainy that night...a perfect time for it to make it's little noise. They replaced the fuel rails and the dash on day one and day two would be the true test. I researched the TSB (technical service bulletin) for what I thought was this noise. I thought it was either the starter or the cam gears (according to the TSB). I wrote the TSB number down just in case.

Of course my little Lexi made her noise that morning and they told me it was the cam gears weren't getting oil and thus the gears were bad. Ah ha...thank you TSB! So I told them to keep the car and fix the damn thing. So it took them all Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to fix it and replace everything that was broke regarding the bad cam gears. The replacement list was long and in the end, it would have cost over 6k in labor and parts. Yikes. Thank the lord for warranties!! :)

Now that my car is back, Lexi got her new brakes and is running awesome. My fuel mileage is up 4 miles per gallon and it feels good to give Tustin Lexus their IS250 back and enjoy my spacious GS350.

Then I had to go to Lowe's after work to pick up somethings for the art department. Of course, they only had 2 of 6 items they needed so I whipped out my Hampton Credit Card and charged it.

Then I got this email from a buyer on Etsy saying that she would like me to make her 20 or more table runners for her wedding. OH MY GOSH!! Yay but yikes! Only problem is that she wants it in fabric that is discontinued and I only have about 3 yards left in my stash. Now I am on a desperate search to find this fabric. Lots of calling I will be doing tomorrow!

Dad then called and told me to meet mom and him at the new house. The kitchen cabinets were delivered by Kenny today (he has been making the cabinets from scratch at his home). All I have to say is that they looked awesome! Now our garage is full of kitchen cabinets, crown molding, and the old home owner's new fridge that they left behind. Carlos and his sons are about halfway done with the painting. Carlos says my room looks awesome so far (just the ceiling is painted right now). That reminds me that I need to call Porcelanosa and see where my sink is at. All I know is that the sink is swimming across the Atlantic from Spain. :)

As for the Etsy store, sales are a little slow this week. Since I posted new items up today, visit numbers went up. I put up a few items on sale for valentine's Day so hopefully that will get some items moving. I need to sell some items in order to make room for my new baby items I have made. Store showcase is on the 19th so I need to get going on sewing those totes!

Tomorrow will be pretty quite at work. I packed up the product for the True Value Hardware show next month. No meetings are planned (yet). Big Boss is out of town on business still. This will give me some time to cut fabric at work hopefully.

Tomorrow should be a good day. :)

:::::::Stitch by Stitch::::::::

As many of you know, last week was the first week my Etsy store (Five Cent Designs) was open. We had a fantastic opening week with 4 sales. I was able to sell two sets of placemats, a table runner and a purse that I was actually tempted to keep for myself. :)

I got my first review today. Danielle, the buyer of the black/brown/white honeycomb placemats received her placemats today and has already put them on her table. How do I know this, you must be asking? Because she left a photo of her placemats on her table and they looked wonderful! She left me an awesome review and was very pleased (and excited) about her purchase.

As most people probably are with their first sale...I was a little nervous. I knew I sent her a beautiful set of placemats but I kinda wondered if they were what they she was expecting and I also wondered if she felt they were worth what she paid (I only charge 15 bucks for a set of four). My confidence was a little low...because sewing things for the public for money and sewing things for your family and friends is a whole other animal.

By her positive response, her photo, and her obvious excitement she showed in her response, I think she thought they were worth what she spent and met her expectation levels.

...Here are Danielle's new placemats on her kitchen table...my confidence just went up a notch. :)

:::::::Life in a Nutshell::::::

It's almost embarrassing to say that my last post into this blog was in September! So much has happened since then and now so this particular entry might be long, but I will try to keep it short. :)

In October I got to visit the wonderful state of Georgia. I had to do some Home Depot training in Atlanta and then decided to take a few extra days off and venture over to Savannah and North Carolina. Both areas were beautiful. One of the few highlights of the trip was going to the Savannah-style Oktoberfest and have lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant. All I have to say is yum!!

Once I got home, the fam concentrated on finding a new house. We love the condo, but it's starting to get a little cramped. Going from 3200 sq. ft. to 1700 sq. ft. is a large adjustment. We made it work but we really wanted to be settled. So on our quest, we found a nice home. Kinda older (which is surprising because my parents never buy used homes) but it was the perfect size, the perfect layout, and very close to work. Overall it just needs some TLC. In other words, in the terms of the Nicol fam, it had to be gutted, and that's what we did!

...Before Demo...

...After Demo...

Now months later, the house is in it's final stages of being finished. The new cabinets are going in this weekend (and the first part of next week). Carlos (the painter) and his crew are prepping and priming. The staircase is finished and so is my bathroom (minus my cabinet which is still swimming over from Spain). The downstairs bath is looking good and the granite we picked out for the kitchen and the bathrooms in the house is gorgeous!! There is still a lot left to do, but we are get closer! In 3 weeks, we will be in our new house!

...New House from the Outside...

In the meantime, mom and I (well really I for now...she is slacking on her creations because of the packing...but I will give her a break...lol) opened our own Esty store called Five Cent Designs. The first 3 days I had 4 sales! I couldn't believe it. So once what was a somewhat full store of goodies...is down to 12 random items. Ugh! Time to sew!

...One of my latest projects...

So in a quest to sew bigger and better things, I picked up this most adorable sewing book by Lotta Jansdotter called "simple sewing". I am totally in love. Her patterns are modern and sleek and best of all, easy (for us novice sewing peeps). My favorites are the reversible apron, the all-day tote and the magazine holder....shoot everything in there is a love of mine! My goal is to do at least one of each item over the next few weeks to see what people seem to be interested in. I can't wait!

So in order to have items made you have to have supplies right? So I trekked down to Ikea (love the fabrics...wonderful prices) and picked up a few yards of different fabrics. I was lucky enough to hit up the 1.99 per yard rack and scored some great deals (cheaper the fabric, the more profit you make right?). And now I am fabric obsessed. I ordered some laminated fabric online in hopes of making some baby bibs and I also got some modern design cotton fabric to make some snugly baby blankets. I am swinging by Barnes and Noble this afternoon to pick up Lotta Jansdotter's "Simple Sewing for Baby" (can't you tell I just love her stuff).

All of this sewing frenzy is happening (right in the middle of our move of course) because our little Etsy store is going to be showcased on the 19th of Feb. So that means I only have 2 weeks to make a ton of stuff so people can buy, buy, buy! :)

So that's everything so far. Well, that's not everything but that is a large chunk of what's going on. Will post more soon (I promise)!!