People are nice

Gotta say it again. People are nice. Thanks for all the supportive emails, orders and comments and all that over the past few months. It’s made ALL the difference in our lives, you have no idea. What can I say…it’s been a pleasure to meet such great people via this blog and if you haven’t done so before, please consider dropping a comment so I can know who you are (only if you want – I checked my stats for real over the weekend during our hosting fiasco to see what we were dealing with over on this end of things. Um, there are so many more of you than I thought).

I’ve received a few gifts over the last few months and want to share.

1. Stella, one of our favorite customers from 80%20 handed these cheerful, stripey bow flats over to Mark one day at the Flea to bring home to me. They are just happy shoes, aren’t they?

2. The mug is from my friend Rei Jin of Baily Doesn’t Bark. It’s one from her old series before she relaunched her line, so it’s “vintage” BDB. The girls freak out whenever they see the ants on the cup, hehe.

3. Lecia sent me this beautiful calendar of her photographs. It’s hanging in our office.

4. Jennifer gave me this lovely lovely necklace that I’m wearing right now. She is a blog reader living in Booklyn with a Hawaii connection who reached out to us and subsequently did some research for me and even babysat the girls. She taught them to properly do the hula and brought back grass skirts from her last trip home to Hawaii.

5. I’ve already mentioned the hats that were sent to us by Wiebke of Line and Liv in Germany. You can buy your own here.

6. Products from Amala! My friend Nichole sent me a generous care package in exchange for using a photograph of mine on their blog and now I’m in heaven. I was just thinking that day that I should maybe consider buying some eye cream because my beauty regimen had basically been reduced to nothing or whatever they have stocked at Costco (which isn’t bad – Cetaphil and Elizabeth Arden Night Cream). I was never a makeup and product junkie, but like any person really enjoyed splurging on a nice lipstick or some face cream when I had more disposable income. When we made the move to really cut things from our budget when we first had Mia, beauty products and facials went out. I started using drug store brands or nothing at all and I was fine with it. It was a far cry from the days when I worked in the beauty industry and basically had a steady supply of free products from every brand imaginable (I was using La Mer for awhile for God’s sakes). But the other day I really missed that special, nice smelling bottle of lotion. Then the package came. I piled a bit of everything on from every bottle and tube all at once. I was making up for lost time. Doesn’t take much to make me happy.

Oh, and I can’t forget Claudia from Brazil who sent the girls Havianas which I took a photo of back in August. Claudine clutched hers around for a week wherever she went like they were dolls. And Gregg from the Backdrop, one of our seasonal retailers. What other wholesale account sends YOU a thank you note when they receive your order (and ice cream over the summer, just because)? Good lord, you’re killing me with kindness.

Thank you.