Busy Being Frivolous

Spring Adventures

2010-03-15T21:17:00.015-04:00

Happy Almost-Spring! I've been busy redoing the shop the past month and a half. So many lovely new things! I'm having more fun than ever doing displays.

Sweet velvet bunnies.

Flowery basket nests.

Sparkly chocolate-mold bunnies.

WHAT has she done NOW??

2010-01-27T22:25:00.006-05:00

I'm sorry for the long hiatus in blogging! I write great posts in my head, but never on the computer. But I thought it time I update and explain my latest shenanigans, because I am all about the shenanigans lately!

You may be reading this post because you came into the shop and I handed you a little card and told you to read all about it on the blog. Instead of telling the same story to every one who asks, why not just write it up here?

So, the major project I have been working on lately is moving out of the second store. You may have seen us hauling heavy furniture in the snow lately. It's a great workout! I wanted to explain what was up with that, because I know the gossip is goin' to be sizzling! Small towns, don't you know! For some people, what I do is akin to what Jennifer Aniston does, so I might as well dish before the paps start whipping out their telephoto lenses.

First, the background. My original shop, Frivolities, opened in 2002, in the Dexter Crossing Shopping Center. A rather unusual location for my romantic, flowery, frou-frou shop, but I liked it, and that's where I planted myself.

In early 2008, a Victorian house downtown became available, and it was very tempting. But even if I could've left the original store and the lease, I didn't want to. Good business, good parking, just all around great for my biz. I built out the store to my specifications, and I loved being there. But...that house was sooo tempting. I was reading my fave magazine, Romantic Country, and there was a feature on a store called Pom Pom Interiors that had two stores (I see they now have three!) that were the same type of store, but with different focuses, so I decided to do that! And the house was quite a bit cheaper to rent than the shopping center store.

On March 20, 2008, I opened Frivolities (Downtown)...

This pic is from August '08, after my mom put in the fabulous and very famous garden!

...and began life with two stores--which was NEVER anything I set out to do. I was like Scarlett O'Hara, torn between Ashley and Rhett. Only I got to try them both out, heh heh. But seriously, I wasn't setting out to take over the town with my shops, like a little Trump...I just ended up with two. Kinda like how I wanted one pug...but I ended up with two.

At this time, I was also pursuing a real estate career. Oh, the energy I had! Well, I was *only* 29 then. And that was BP. (Before Pugs.)

Frivolities (Downtown) was run by my mom, but I did all the merchandising, buying, etc. The sibling rivalry between stores started coming about. Which store got which stuff? Which store got Mom's time and attention?

Then you had the folks who asked if the stores were the same. And that is like the old joke of asking a guy if they have stopped beating their wife. He can't answer yes--because that means he DID beat her. And obviously if he says no, he's still a schmuck.

Are the stores the same? No. "Oh, but I like this kind of stuff", said as customer gestured at whatever store they were in.

Are the stores the same? Yes. Then people would only go to one. And even though the stores were NOT the same, we did have people who only ever went to one or the other, because they believed they had the same things.

It was the same TYPE of things. But never the exact same item.

So in May '08, I changed the name to Amber's, to make it clear they were different. Fine and well. Only I never changed the sign. Ha! I'm a funny girl like that.

At the end of '08, I had several big life-changing things happen. My mom was diagnosed with cancer. (Now cured.) My dad had a very bad brain injury from falling. I realized my heart was not in real estate.

In January '09, my dad died--actually a year ago yesterday, so I have made it through that first year, but that is obviously something that is a lingering pain for me. I quit real estate, and decided to change the second store to an antique store. I named it The Whatever Shop.

At this point, I was ready to be named The Most Commitmentphobic Woman in Dexter. But at least I changed the sign this time, woo hoo!

Mom outside of the shop in summer '09, with the summer garden.

I opened THAT version of the shop on...March 20, 2009. I'm all about the deja vu.

It was mostly antiques, but the cool kind, lots of functional pieces, furniture, fabulous china. I have antiques at Frivolities, but that let me get into it even more. I enjoyed the store, but was still having feelings of spreading myself too thin. I felt like neither store got the attention from me it deserved. I wanted to do too much. I was going home at 11pm a lot. Downtown Dexter is spooky at 11am, it's so quiet. I got a little more grounded when I got my two puggies, and could NOT work all the time, unless I wanted poo-covered unhappy puppies. They really helped change the workaholic in me. Being a 'mommy', even if your children have four legs, gets you outside of yourself for sure.

At the end of summer, I was so.tired. Too much to do, never enough hours. I was working on starting my home staging business, Stellar Interiors, and speculating that I needed a house for it. Another place to rent?! NO. In the space of about 20 seconds, I decided to change the second store into my home staging studio, and just have one store--the original Frivolities at Dexter Crossing. I am a spur of the moment kind of gal for sure. My mom did not mind, because she is a garden girl, not a shop girl. I was the shop girl.

(By the way, we have always referred to the Dexter Crossing store as Frivvies and the downtown store as Chez Friv, to keep them separate.)

With fourth quarter approaching, I was spending alllll of my time at Frivvies. I went to Chez Friv about twice a month in the fall. Usually just to pick up something for Frivvies. And it dawned on me that I was paying a lot of rent for a glorified storage space/place to take a nap. From my brief time in real estate, I had seen how prices were falling and there were some amazing deals out there.

In early November '09, I got bit by the buying bug--and I got bit HARD. I've looked at a few that weren't quite right, but once the buying bug bites...and you realize every four months worth of rent is a down payment on a house...well, that did it.

I loved my Chez Friv. I loved the garden my mom created most of all! I loved the history of the house, and my one-sided conversations with Mrs. Vaughn. But the lease was up January '10, and not up at Frivvies. And if I wanted to buy, I could not do that AND rent two properties AND be a stager AND do the online store AND have a semblance of a life. Something had to go, and it was Chez Friv.

And that is why I moved out, my lease went buh-bye on January 26th (one year after my father died, kind of weird), and I have one store--the original Frivolities, out there in the strip mall, with the haphazard hours and Lady Frivvie in the window!

I know people LOVE to speculate about businesses and why someone closes one or moves or whatever. And, of course, in these times, everyone loves to talk about 'the economy'. I gotta say...it's NOT the economy, stupid. At least not for me. Let it be said--I did not close the second store because of 'the economy'. I closed it because I cannot be in two places at once and do what I want to do and I really want to OWN a place. There is always an 'economy' for someone, and guess what, lots of people with lots of money are not the types who spend it, anyway! I did not close it because of parking, or traffic, or because 'it was only open two days a week'. I did not close it with green eggs and ham, and I will not close it with a fox. HA. If the other lease had been up, I would've closed that store.

Now you know what I have done, why I did it, and how I did it. Hopefully that will be enough to stamp out the next sour gossip to shrill, "I knew she wouldn't make it!" as the sour gossips so want to do. :) Don't be a sour gossip, it isn't cool.

(And no, I am not getting back together with Brad Pitt.)

Sale is a 4-letter word

2009-12-21T14:14:00.002-05:00

Merry Monday! Now time for a meaty post.

After your first 10 minutes in retail, you start to realize there is something up with this SALE word. I call it a 4 letter word for a good reason, and I'm going to get up on my pink soap box and tell you why.

We live in a culture that is incredibly sale-obsessed and sale-saturated. In general, I am opposed to sales. "Oh, of course you would be, you're a retailer, you want money!" you might be thinking. Nope. Although, we all want and need a bit of money, no? Why I hate sales is because they are contributing to the bastardization of American retail. Sure, everyone loves a deal. But there are deals, and then there are SALES.

Sales are becoming more and more tricks to get you to buy. You are "saving". What are you saving? A so-called discount off of an imaginary inflated price. You think the big box stores are out to help you? You think THEY are taking a hit so you can get a deal? No, they are making you THINK you are getting a deal.

There are three ways that stores can price merchandise.

Set a price that is in line with current market value of an item, assuring a profit for the store to maintain operation, payment of the vendor for the item they manufactured, and payment for the shipment of the item to the location. This price is fair to the consumer AND fair to the retailer. Because of this, to have a 'sale', and reduce the price means the retailer is the one taking a hit--and it is best to avoid doing that unless the item is damaged or outdated in some way.
Set a price the exact same way--but give in to pressure to 'have sales', and thus cut margins down to bare bones level, jeopardizing the health of the retailer.
Set a price that far, far exceeds the fair market value of an item, take a large percentage 'off' of that price, make the consumer think they have 'saved' all of that money, and the final price is closer to what the true market value of the item is.

Method #1 is the one most favored by the independent mom-and-pop single location stores. Method #3 is the one most favored by big box mass market retailers--you know who they are. Look at your Sunday circulars for a clue.

Remember that retailers set the prices for their items. When I first opened, a local shop that was around for just a few months let me know how I should do things. I should mark everything way up and then have sales. I thought that was stupid, and I still do. Why play this game with customers?

When you're running a store for a while, you start to see that some customers expect you to play the big box sale game. They don't get it that it's a brainwashing to make you think you are saving money. Instead, if you 'dont' have sales', you are a greedy expensive store, selfish and anal. Poppycock! What happened to being FAIR about pricing? They expect you to give it all away, yet they still expect to see you there so they can come in for their fix. And who pays the rent when the inventory is given away, huh?

It's not something you think about unless you own a store, or unless someone who owns a store writes a big ranting blog post on it for you to read. I was definitely bitten by that SALE bug many times in my past. I once went to a store where it was a week before Christmas, and all their Christmas was 50% off. Oh, was I excited!!! WOW! And now when I look back on it, it occurs to me that $25 was a rather high price for a Christmas tree ornament I was happy to get for $12.50. It should've been $12.50 to start with--but the allure of getting away with getting a $25 item for 50% off was too much.

And so retailers continue to mark up to mark down. Every week someone asks me about sales. What's better--an item marked $20 on sale for 75% off or the same item marked $5? I know most people don't want to think about math when they shop, but you really need to.

I was reading our online local newspaper this weekend, AnnArbor.com and read an article about upscale retailer Von Maur. I love Von Maur, it's a lovely shopping experience, and they have great stuff, and no, you don't have to be rich to shop there. The article, which you can read in full here http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/ann-arbor/, says...

They’re also known for carrying high-end merchandise that doesn’t go on sale. Instead, items go through a series of permanent markdowns.
“It’s always been our strategy to price fairly and not play the (sale) rollercoaster,” said Amy Davis, marketing manager for the Iowa-based chain.

That means days like Black Friday don’t play out differently in the store, which opened at its normal time and featured fresh markdowns for customers - but none of the coupon- or sale-induced shopping frenzy that co-anchors Sears, Macy’s and JCPenney generated.

“Being non-promotional and staying true to what we do has been successful for us,” Davis said. “… There’s no need to change that strategy. We think customers appreciate that. It sounds like a simple approach, but it works for us.”

Yes! Yes! Finally a major retailer comes out and says this, and talks about the 'sale rollercoaster'. This craziness has to stop. So no, I don't have 'sales', because I don't play the game. I price fairly and if something is past it's prime, it's marked down. I am not going to take a $75 lamp, mark it at $250, and then have it ON SALE for 50% off. As we said in the early '90s, "Homey don't play dat".

www.shopfrivolities.com

2009-12-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

At long last, after 7 years of futzing around, I have the website o'my dreams for the shop! Please visit: www.shopfrivolities.com It has been so hard for me to come up with a style and design that I liked, and figure out the whole e-commerce shebang, but I did it. I got down to business on Dec. 3rd and decided it.must.be.done or I would be very bitter with myself. So I toiled and toiled--and completely forgot to post here, sorry, so much for my "write every day!" plans! I am so grateful for my past life in web design, it all came back to me, and I really like how it turned out!

In spite of being a frivolous girl with a frivolous shop, I like 'clean' websites, that don't have a ton of superfluous graphics (probably because of living with dial-up at home for nearly 12 years at 24kbps!) Black and white is my favorite color combination, so I decided that with some touches of frivolous pink was the way to go.

I will continually add new things to the shop, and I am happy to offer free shipping at a $75 order ALL THE TIME, to shoppers in the lower 48 states! There is still time to ship before Christmas, the cut-off date is Friday the 18th!

I am so excited, and of course, smacking myself for not doing this sooner! My computer files are filled with half-finished designs over the years. I guess it just has to be the right time for something to happen.

Just so everyone knows, the 'real' shop will be closed December 25-January 19. No, I'm not going on an exotic vacation! This is my time to organize life, organize the shop, and catch up on sleep, family, and life. I have been open after Christmas the past two years, and I'll be honest: I hate it. It's depressing. People who rail against Christmas being commercialized must have been out shopping on the 26th. It isn't about the holiday spirit anymore. Yes, you make money, but happiness in business isn't ALL about money. After a difficult time this year losing my dad (one month after Christmas in '08), I just need some time to regroup and spend with my family and appreciate MY Christmas, not the retail Christmas life!

Of course, the online shop will be open alllll the time, and we will ship on a regular schedule, so if you need something, fear not!

No time to post?

2009-12-03T23:40:00.005-05:00

It's almost midnight, running out of time for my daily post.

What to do??

How about a CUTE PUG PHOTO! Yeah!

Here is the lovely Miss Penelope in her festive winter turtleneck sweater! No animals were harmed during the dressing process, however, one human met up with a pug claw in a painful way. But you have to suffer to have beautiful pugs!

The turtleneck has to be rolled down or else Penny chews it. Hopefully she will outgrow that bad habit soon (as well as her other dozen or so bad habits!) so I can buy her lots and lots of sweaters, because she is the most adorable stuffed sausage in them! Nokie doesn't seem to have much of an interest in clothing, but he IS a boy.

I can't wait for Christmas, my little monkeys are going to be spoiled!

Favorites around the Shop

2009-12-02T21:42:00.003-05:00

There are always some things around the shop that I get especially smitten with. I'll be featuring a few of them over the month!

I have carried Crabtree & Evelyn ever since I opened, and their Noel scent is truly the smell of Christmas for me. This year they came out with a new scent, Windsor Forest, and I am in love! It is the perfect Christmas tree/evergreen/woodsy Christmas smell. I have a candle open on the shelf and have to pause and sniff if it everytime I walk by. The large jar candle in the snowflake-patterned mint green glass is $29 and the reed diffuser set is $36. It's great, because even if you have a 'fake' Christmas tree, your house will smell like you spent all day searching the tree farm for the perfect fresh Balsam!

31 Days of Christmas Blogging

2009-12-01T15:11:00.002-05:00

I know that November is the month that you are supposed to blog every day, but I missed that--so I am going to try it this month! That's right, I have chosen the busiest month of the year to embark on a new project that involves me doing something every single day. Ha! But I will give it the old college try.

One of my resolutions for '10 (or 0-10, as my mom and I jokingly call it) is to be more of a net junkie and blog, get my online shop going, and generally associate more in the online world. After being a certified Net Goddess and having, like, 10 domain names, in the late '90's, I let all that slack off when starting the shop. I also let other things slack off, like decorating my home, exercising, and boys. I told a customer yesterday I was married to my shop, and she said it was a great relationship. It is, we never fight and I get to hen-peck it all I want.

I'm going to throw up 10 Random Facts about Me to get things rolling and then get back to this really kickin' display I am going in my glass counter!

1. I have owned a Jacuzzi for over 2 years and used it only 3 times. It's scary. It's so big and bubbly.

2. I love deep meaningful conversations and despise small talk and having to come up with something trite to say.

3. I love coffee and aspirin at this time of year.

4. Balsam firs are my favorite Christmas trees.

5. I nickname people I really like and also ones I really dislike.

6. I like it when people think I am 16, but sometimes I'm rather insulted.

7. Life is too short not to be happy, and I get really mad when people aren't happy. Ha ha!

8. My favorite charity is Pug Rescue. Any pug rescue. Pugs are truly my soul mate dogs.

9. I refuse to sell wall sconces and anything that says "Welcome Friends".

10. I love January.

Shops I Have Loved

2009-11-30T13:12:00.002-05:00

I am pretty sure I was born to be a shopkeeper. From being related to a retail giant (Sears--and no, they don't give me a discount), to a childhood spent putting price tags on items in my bedroom, to teenage years not full of angst but full of trips to shops, decorating my bedroom--no, what I really did was merchandise it, to learning the joys of antiquing and painting furniture, I have always been destined to have a shop. I always will, one way or the other.

I was thinking of the early shops I loved that are no longer in existence. My love for vintage Christmas was discovered at age 15, in a cigarette smoke-filled basement, at a little shop called Fireside Antiques. I wonder if anyone else remembers it. It was in Chelsea, on M-52, in a ranch house that is now gone. It is just an empty lot now. You'd go down to the basement, and the walls down were lined with vintage pictures. It was owned by a lady who smoked like a stove and read novels down there. It was dark and gloomy, but for me it was filled with magic. My mom and I would spend hours there Christmas shopping, while the gal smoked and smoked. I bought antique postcards and Christmas ornaments there, and a wonderful little silver tree. And I don't think they smelled like smoke, either!

When I was 13 (c. 1991) my mom and I loved to visit Manchester, and the old Mill there. It was also filled with shops. Being 13, I loved the one that had candy, but the one that impacted me the most was called April Victoria. It was owned by a young lady named April, who put herself through college with the money she made from her shop. OH, to have a shop in the 1990's! She made lots of things with dried flowers (this was when dried eucalyptus was at the height of fashion), and soaps, and brownie mixes. She crafted fairy houses, and I remember one was $350, and it was something else! I would buy Victorian stickers and Flower Fairy books and potpourri made with dried lavender buds. I would so love to be able to transport myself back to that time, being 13, in my favorite Guess jeans, ha ha, strolling about that shop again. I had never seen anything like it.

People wonder how do I 'do' this shop. I get prosaic questions about how I dust (ya know I just love that one, eh?), how do I keep track of it, where do I find this stuff, HOW DO I DO IT?!?! said with looks of utter confusion.

Everyone was born to do something. Shopkeeping is my thing. It just is. It's what I am. I hate retail sometimes. I never hate shopkeeping. I hate bitchy customers, credit card processing fees, and inventory that arrives broken. I never hate shopkeeping.

All that old magic that I felt in my younger days, I feel in my shop. I try to make it magical. I hope that I am impacting some people the way those other shops impacted me. Maybe I will inspire another young girl, one who will grow up into a time when she can put herself through college off her shop--goodness knows you can't do that these days!

I like it when people feel the magic here. I don't really have much use for the ones who don't. My shop is definitely different, yes. It's not a retail conglomerate or a faceless corporation. My shop is for the Kindred Spirits who "get it". It's on a completely different level than merely being a 'store', much like those other two shops were for me.

That's what I am thinking about today while putting out some lovely vintage Christmas candy dishes. Photos to come...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T17:15:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday! Here, the turkey is roasting in the oven (we eat very late...usually 9pm-ish...once we ate at 11pm!) and I am enjoying a cozy relaxing day with my family before the madness of Black Friday descends on all retailers! I am excited that I got everything done that I wanted to get done early yesterday, so did not have to go in to the shop at the last minute today!

Speaking of tomorrow, we will be open at the crack of...10am! That's early enough for me, none of that 4am junk! We will have a special sale this weekend, so come on in to check that out!

I still need to take photos of most of my displays, but here are a few Christmas teasers!

Have a great weekend and shop 'til you drop!

Witches' Night Out!

2009-10-28T23:34:00.003-04:00

Thursday night the 29th (tomorrow!) we are holding a Witches Night Out at the shop from 4-9pm! Trick or treat for a sale, get the last of our Halloween goodies before they are gone, and wear your witch hat for an extra treat! Ample broom parking out front! Warlocks welcome, too, ha ha.

The Christmas mayhem starts on Friday the 30th...oy!

Fall and Halloween around the shop

2009-10-25T21:06:00.005-04:00

A few photos of the original displays for fall and Halloween!

I LOVE this kitty. Just sold him yesterday to a sweet customer!

Hard to believe that we start doing Christmas in ONE WEEK. Where does the year go??

Talk first, pictures next!

2009-10-22T15:48:00.008-04:00

Hi there, abandoned blog! Anyone still out there? Gosh, this always happens with me! I am the queen of unfinished projects! Of course I always have the best intentions of blogging, but I always get distracted.

So it's been almost two months since my last post, what I have been doing around the shop lately? Well, as I left you hanging with my 'big news', what I decided to do back in August is change shop #2, aka The Whatever Shop, into a home staging studio. I am moving all retail biz to Frivolities, and expanding there! Yes, I am going to open up a SECRET ROOM in November, possibly Black Friday, or earlier, if I can get it all done.

I have taken down the sign at Whatever, which of course, is putting people a-buzz! No, no, it's not doomsday. As small towns are wont to do, the gossip is flowing. And that has me addressing it all here to clear it up. I simply did not need TWO stores, while trying to run my staging business out of a cramped little office in one of them. I never meant to have two stores, and I like it much better having things separate. The worst part for me with the two stores was deciding which 'child' got the new toys. Or having something in one store that I really needed in another. Or people just being so confused by which was which that it got tiring explaining over and over.

So...the Central Street house is still my business it's just not retail. Easy, right? Yeah!

Pretty soon there will be a sign up that says STELLAR INTERIORS. I am still deciding on the layout of it. I am going to stage the house and use that as the office for my staging. I am also setting up an art studio in the back for my wholesale biz, which is not really going to get going until January. I have had an office/art room in the SECRET ROOM at Frivolities and all that is getting moved over there to make room for MORE retail space at Frivs. Whoopee!

And that was my big news. I first had that idea in June 2008! But I got busy and just got lulled into the status quo of two stores. One day in August my brain exploded and I just had to change everything. That's how I roll.

Time for Gratuitous Pug Photo:

What an angel!

Do not be deceived...I bought her a shirt for Halloween that says "LITTLE TERROR", ha ha!

I have loads of fall and Halloween shop photos on my home computer, and I will tie a string around my pinky to remember to post those tonight!

October has gone by ridiculously fast! Less than two weeks until we break out the Christmas around here!

Thanks for reading, if you still are!

Something big...

2009-08-28T14:48:00.002-04:00

...is brewing.

Stay tuned!

(Something has been brewing for two months, I just changed what exactly that is! Confused? Just wait!)

New displays! And FAQ's.

2009-07-29T21:55:00.004-04:00

Getting ready for fall and the upcoming season always means a big shake-up of displays, which is one of my favorite things to do. Here are a few I have been working on at Frivolities the past few days. They are never really finished enough to my taste but after a while I just have to say STOP! and move on to a new one!

Love those chubby little birdies!

Damask-patterned candles and jeweled frames.

I am on a mirrored-perfume-tray kick lately. I have a bunch of fabulous vintage ones at The Whatever Shop, but this beaded one is at Frivolities.

I think this display is closest to my personal taste out of any I have ever done. I love crystals, pink and aqua, white furniture and roses galore. I could just eat this display, but it looks high in calories.

Classic black and white. I LOVE black and white color combinations in decor and fashion. It's completely timeless and adaptable to any trend and any style. Why yes, that is one of my old Vera Bradley cabinets being put to good use!

Even though I have been harping for what, the past month? about putting out fall...there is still no fall to be seen. And here it is almost August. I am still early, but this is a prime example of how long it takes after I first decide to do it! Unfortunately for me, I got some fabulous ideas this afternoon that involve moving my mammoth fireplace and mantel...ugh. I have never moved that thing--probably time to jazz it up a little. I don't even really see it anymore, and it's across from the counter.

I went on an antique-buying trip this afternoon and am zonked! Found lots of great things, most of which will be appearing at Whatever in the coming days. I find this posting lacking in my otherwise sarcastic wit and sardonic humor, and that is bothering me. So to spice things up, I thought I would post the answers to some of my FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. *applause*

I get asked the same questions over and over, sometimes daily I get them all at once, which is enough to make me want to run screaming towards the nearest Dairy Queen. I almost want to just print out the answers and tape them behind the counter.

In no particular order, I will take a stab at answering them, for the world to see!

1. How do you dust?

Oh yeah, you've probably heard me gripe about this before. Is that a real question? Does the questioner really want to know the blow-by-blow description of how I do it, 'cuz that's a pretty dull thing to talk about, isn't it? I answer differently depending on my mood and how the question is asked. Various answers I throw out:

--My poolboy does it for me. With his big feather duster. *innocent look*

--I attach a feather duster to my pug's tail and let her run around.

--Dust? I don't dust. *achoo*

I am starting to think that the folks who ask that assume I go around and dust each and every item in the store, every day. HA HA HA HA. Yeah, sure. No, seriously, this is how I dust:

When I change a display, I dust the table with a Swiffer. I go *swoosh* and it is done. I do not dust every item. It doesn't get dusty.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Not rocket science...just a Swiffer. I wash table cloths. I vaccuum as needed. I am definitely not a dust chaser. My great-aunt was a dustchaser. She also had a husband AND a boyfriend! Cool, huh? *snort* So you see, in my family, chasing dust was not something to be regarded highly. You dust when you see it, and you don't dust when you don't see it. Works for me.

2. How's bizzzzzzzzzzzness?

People ask this for two reasons. Either they really love you and hope you are doing okay and will stick around, or they are sniffing out gossip. You know, if you are standing in the store, the lights are on and I'm opening boxes...business is good enough, eh? Men love to ask this question, usually while jangling change in their pockets, and desperate to share their Male Business Wisdom with the allegedly hapless chick-shopgirl in pink Chucks. I have a few questions I could ask THEM, but that wouldn't be ladylike. *wink* It's funny the things that people use as barometers of how your business is. For example:

Not much in the store? You don't have money to buy inventory and are going out of business.
Lots in the store? Your inventory isn't selling and you are going out of business.
A blank space on the floor? OMG, you must be going out of business.
The floor is filled with inventory? OMG, you must be going out of business.
No customers in the store at that specific minute? Going out of business.
6 people in the store at once? Only 6 customers, you must be going out of business!
Closed early one day? Going out of business.
Open more hours? Desperate, clearly, because you are going out of business.
Have something on sale? Oh yeah, going out of business!
Not having any sales? You're going out of business.

I could go on and on. But I am busy snickering now at how I have just tripped up the search engines with "going out of business" and Frivolities. Woo hoo! That'll give 'em something to talk about!

One day last fall, I had a box delivered. It held some sort of garden arch and was heavy and I left it on the sidewalk at Frivolities to unpack rather than dragging it inside. So this gal comes along...looks at the box...and asks me if I AM GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!! *pounds head repeatedly on keyboard* Why why why.

One day in December '07, I was closing early to go to a friend's dinner party. So I put up a note "Closing at 5pm tonight!" A couple of weeks later, a gal comes in--oh, she thought I had GONE OUT OF BUSINESS because the note said I was CLOSING at 5pm.

Bizarre, bizarre obsession. I guess it's human nature, like the gawker delays on the expressway when a semi drives into a gasoline tanker and it explodes. Everyone wants a peek at the carnage. And, of course, the after-the-carnage SALE BONANZA that follows every retailers' demise. Everybody loves the feeding frenzy, the picking over the dead rotting carcass of 75% off.

Short answer: I am not going out of business. I have future 5-year plans for my business concept that are *slightly different* than what I have today, but what I am doing is *slightly different* than what I was doing 5 years ago. I have been a business-girl all my life, and that's not changing. I'm not one of those chicks who was all like, "Ooh a store! Fun! I can buy pretty things and be pretty all day with all the pretty pretty people and pretty pink sugary sweet prettiness! And it's all okay because I married a very rich man and this is just FUN for me and...what? I have to WORK?!"

Owning your own retail business is a wonderful hell. You don't do it for fun. It's not fun all the time. It is a serious business. Yeah, I'm selling something that is prettier than, say, pork bellies or spark plugs, but it is still a job. If you think it's fun, let's talk about that lovely little "S CORPORATION INCOME TAX FORM 1020" that pops up in the mail every year like a belated Christmas gift from your least favorite relative. Ugh. Or the cosmetic surgery you're gonna need because you thought it was a REALLY! GREAT! IDEA! to use your hips to shove a 350 pound cabinet across the floor and did you know that can leave permanent bruising? Yep.

But it is the WORK that you LOVE. Retail is completely, literally in my blood. Go back on some branch of my family tree, and there you will find Richard Sears, one of many Richard Sears', but the one, the SEARS, of Sears fame. So this dude was working at a train station, the family story goes, and he found this unclaimed shipment of watch parts, and decided he could sell them and turn a profit. Cha-ching. Sears was born. (With the help of that Roebuck guy.) And there started the family line of sales-hungry retailers (if they didn't become mad scientists.)

I will save more of the FAQ's for another night...there are some good ones in there!

Late Night

2009-07-23T02:08:00.003-04:00

I am incredibly geeked to be blogging from the comfort of my sunroom...the dark shadow of my new satellite against the even darker night sky. After almost 12 years of having only dial-up accessible out in the boonies, being able to work at home and accomplish things online without waiting 20 minutes for a page to load is incredible! I'm in the 21st century now! There's some proof that postcard marketing can work--I got a postcard from the satellite company about a week ago, and voila, they've now got me locked in 2 years of doing business with them! If only we could all operate that way, ha ha.

Both shops are closed tomorrow (er, today), July 23rd. It's my mom's 4-times-a-year cancer check and we always make a fun day of it to compensate. Lunch out and antiquing!

Shop things I am looking forward to:

Getting ready for fall--the first of the fall goodies will be making their appearance at Frivolities on August 1st! I am moving furniture and inventory frantically to make room. Every year I think I have bought the best stuff, but this year, I think it's really the best!
Getting Whatever ready for Dexter Daze. It is a crazy wild time. It was so much fun last year! The mobs and the party atmosphere, and of course the sales aren't too shabby, either! I am going to experiment with some new displays that are not my usual...the freedom of being called Whatever!
I am getting ready to finally unveil a new, completed website, after years of 'coming soon' pages and my fickle design-mind changing all the time. Online shopping will follow *very* soon, too!

Sending this out into the sky now...

Photos from The Whatever Shop, aka Shop 2 and a heartfelt confession

2009-07-16T20:21:00.009-04:00

The second baby never gets as many photographs taken. I made sure to go around tonight and snap some pics at The Whatever Shop, after plumping up some displays getting ready for the weekend.

Fear not, that is just the Christmas room. I don't really put out Christmas in the main part of the shop this early. The Christmas room is surprisingly popular, though. It helps that we're just 1.5 hours south of Bronner's, though, and many Michiganders are used to the idea of year-round Christmas!

Important notice: Frivolities shop hours are officially 'by chance' until the end of August. What does that mean? It means that I can't promise regular to-the-minute hours (*snort* when could I ever?!), so have put this up instead of an hours sign. Mind you, the hours are *generally* noon-6 Tuesday-Saturday. I am open more often than I am not. If you are coming from afar, I recommend calling the shop to check on hours that day. The number is (734) 424.4438. The Whatever Shop is open Thursday-Saturday noonish-6. Closed on July 23rd.

I am working on a huge, life-altering project right now. It's terrific, but it is taking a lot of time and I have to accomodate other people's schedules who are involved in it, so I can't promise set hours. Besides, it's summer. Not exactly hot-hot-hot shopping time. My hours have been kerflooey ever since my dad died--really, pretty much the past three years, ever since he got sick--and I have been dealing with that. I love my shops more than ever, the spirit is always willing, but sometimes the body is not cooperating. I have gotten to the point where I am publicly acknowledging that I am not going to make myself sick to be open on a day if I physically cannot do it. I'm not a big old chain or a massive personality-less outfit. It's a personal, homegrown, family-owned shop. (Both of them. I know there are two, but it is basically one shop in two places.) I often make the mistake of working too intensely one day (decorating until 3am...) and then paying for it the next. I have had a lot of days where the ole bod says STOP IT AND LET ME REST. I have learned to listen to it. I ignore it in December, but in the summer? I'm all ears.

I didn't mean to turn this into a personal explanation, but maybe that's good. I have been very affected by my dad's death...sometimes it just hits me in the face and knocks me down. It got to me so much I ended an entire CAREER I had been looking forward to starting. (real estate) I had a lifelong interest in real estate and was making it a reality last year, got my license, was working for a brokerage, was gung-ho, all set to be a "top producer" and looking forward to closing my first million in sales someday, all while running two chic boutiques. I have a stack of letters I was writing to FSBO's (for sale by owners) to try to get their listings back on September 30, 2008. My dad had his mortal injury on October 1st. Those letters were never mailed. I never got back into it. I completely lost that part of me.

Decorating is in my very soul, so I never lost it for the shops. If anything, I have felt more inspired, more creative, more into it than ever. But the emotional fatigue kicks me in the ass somedays and that is that. I have also realized my shop's importance in the world...you know, it's not that big a deal. And here I, the mother of that shop, am saying that. So it was closed one day. So what. It will be open again. No one needs anything I am selling. Of course it's fun to look in shops. Of course it's disappointing if a shop you want to browse in is closed when you happen to be out. But there is a reason why. My real, true customers understand and have been supportive. The others? Ah, I'm such a sweet old-fashioned girl, I won't write the things that pop into my head. *smile*

It reminds me of this one chick a couple of years ago who gave me a tongue-lashing for being closed one day. I think it was 15 minutes after that that the police officer I had called through 911 was opening up her bag to reveal over $200 of merchandise she'd been stuffing in there. LOL! I guess she had planned her heist earlier and I had "ruined" her plans by daring to be closed. Ooh.

Like dear Aunt Eliza says, "Empty vessels make the most noise!" Isn't that the truth!

Well, that was rather fun to write. And all I expected to do tonight was post some pics! I should write more of my deep, dark retail thoughts. I've got a few. Stay tuned. ;)

The thrill of technology

2009-07-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

Blogging from my phone lying in my sunroom...wonders never cease!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Testing e-mail posting!

2009-07-11T19:41:00.002-04:00

How cool, didn't know you could post by e-mail.

Nokie says hello!

Gone Fishin'

2009-07-09T19:07:00.001-04:00

I'm taking a little impromptu break the next few days and will be closed until July 14th. I literally hung a sign that says "Gone Fishin'" on both shop doors!

The great thing is, I'm doing it just for ME. No family tragedies to deal with. No disasters. Got a little envious seeing all the businesses closed this week, and wondered why I was sweating in there moving furniture and fretting about fall. It's JULY. It's summertime, and the living is easy, right? I know I am famous (infamous!) for my haphazard schedule for 2009. But it hasn't been relaxing time. Now I just want to relax a little bit. I realized that I am probably working a little too hard. I am a workaholic, but why am I having dinner at 10 or 11 every night? That sort of stuff should be saved for the 4th quarter, not now. The shops are running me, not the other way around, and that needs to change! So today I had a three hour nap, went out for Chinese, and ice cream, and am now puttering about the Whatever shop listening to the guitar across the street at Northpoint, and working in a RELAXING manner. Just enjoying the inventory and (calmly) getting ready for Dexter Daze (in a month). I know I probably shouldn't even be doing this much, it still qualifies as work, I should be sitting out in the sun reading a fluffy novel. Maybe tomorrow.

I am tired of living with a sunroom that has tiled floors but no grout! I am going to grout it! It's been two years since it was built, and I put down the tile, and it got too cold to do the grout out there, so I put it off. Time to fix that up. My sunroom is gorgeous, it just needs to be finished!

I am tired of this huge stockpile of ghetto furniture I have been saving up to paint! I am going to paint it! It's me and a can of primer this weekend, baby.

I am tired of living with my late 1990's decor in my boudoir. I haven't changed a thing on the walls since I started the shop. My tastes have changed, and I want to update that. But it's funny, in seeing how much some things have changed, I see how much they have really stayed the same. (How trite.) I was looking at this rose decoupaged vintagey plate I made with a flea market glass plate...back in 1994. That is totally the sort of thing I still love. But I'm a little less keen on taping photos to the wall, so that's gotta go.

It is so much easier to decorate a shop than it is to decorate your own home sometimes. At home, there are things that are Tacky with a capital T, but how can you get rid of them? They are part of your life and part of history. For example, I was soooo ahead of the curve, back in 1993, at the age of 15, I was scrounging around garage sales for junk to paint. Had I known 15 or 16 years later, that would be all the rage, I could've capitalized on that and dropped out of high school. Ha ha. But anyway. So I have this cool wooden shelf. But, it being 1993, I painted it COUNTRY BLUE with little sunflowers all over. Gag! I really want to paint over it, a nice creamy linen color, but I can't. It's history. I was really into that country thing in the early '90s. The country blue, the mauve, the ducks, the eucalyptus. Oh man. I went to a flea market this morning, and it was like stepping back into my teenage world. The scent of the dusty eucalyptus wreaths blew across the duck planters and the Welcome Friends painted wooden cut-outs. I thought that stuff was super cool back then. It's horrifying to me now. So when I'm 45, am I going to look back on the Frenchy-Parisian-rose-cottagey-vintage looks with the same horror? I can't imagine that, it certainly seems more classy and timeless than a big wooden pig holding a mauve-colored sign that says "Country Friends Gather Here". Please, Decor Gods, don't ever let the stuff I like now look dated. It can't possibly ever look like that.

Oh gee!

2009-07-07T15:24:00.004-04:00

How about some garden pics to start off my post? (Also since I can't seem to put the photos where I want them, argh.) The garden outside The Whatever Shop is quite famous in town, and it's all thanks to my mom's green thumb! Here she is outside the shop.)

This is a portable garden--it's not really in the ground. It's on a plastic cover over icky gravel! It turned out great!

The perennials are amazing this year! The sun here is incredible.

I am completely horrified to find a stack of comments that never posted. I'm so excited y'all are reading this, and my apologies for not posting them! I am still figuring out Blogger. They should all be visible now! Thank you!

I flaked out on posting pictures like I promised last time. I won't make any more promises--I promise! I am the most distracted person on earth. Ooh look, something shiny just went by...

See what I mean?

Here's what I have been up to lately.

1. SECRET PROJECT. Those of you who know about it, hush! ;-) All will be revealed soon.

2. The pugs. They are getting bigger and more well-behaved each day, which is quite shocking. I bought them this Iams food that promises "SMARTER, MORE TRAINABLE PUPPIES". Ha! They obviously have not crossed paths with Penelope the Terror.

3. Redecorating Frivolites top to bottom. I am starting the 'getting ready for fall' blitz. No actual fall is out yet, don't worry (although I saw some awesome Halloween things at Von Maur last week!), but it takes me about a month to reconfigure everything, move my light stuff to the back, white painted furniture and lamps, all get shoved into the dark corners of the store to lighten them up, while I bring out darker woods and heavier textures into the front to display the autumn goods on. My goal is to have ALL of my fall out by Dexter Daze (August 14 & 15), which is ironic, since I now close this store for Dexter Daze so I can be downtown. Where I am not putting out any fall this year. The irony kills me.

4. Getting ready to become an ASP. No, not the snake. An Accredited Staging Professional. I am going to run off to an exotic locale (like maybe Kentucky) sometime in the next 4 months to learn what I already know, but I will have the paper and the little letters by my name to prove it. I have dabbled with some lightweight home staging the past year, but I am ready to go at it gung-ho after I get the designation. I will always be happy I tried out a real estate career, because that's what led me to discover staging as a profession. I love it because I can do design looks that are not normally anything I do in the shops. (i.e. industrial loft). Which is something I will really have to emphasize in my staging marketing. I am not going to turn your house into a shabby pink paradise with cupcake trinket boxes all over. (Unless that's you're thing. And cupcakes do work well in urban lofts, I'm sure.)

5. Tying up all the loose ends of life. Or at least some of them. I have been on this nearly maniacal organizing spree the past few months. Oh yeah, you wouldn't be able to tell that, looking at my counter and all...but I am trying to sort through and condense everything. One of my happiest accomplishments this year is that I finally got my arse out of Space C. Space C, as you non-locals will not know, is the empty space next to Frivolities, in the shopping center. My landlord gave me the key back in 2002 to store things there 'for a little while'. That 'little while' stretched out to almost 7 years. If I got a 20 box order, it went in there. If it was broken, it went in there. I stored the shop Christmas trees in there, the things that were 'too complicated' to deal with at the moment (like this big-ass cherub fountain), and boxes to crush to recycle. It was a pit!

To distract everyone from the public mess I had made, I stuck a stuffed anteater in a glass conservatory in the window. Named him Stan, posted a sign warning everyone not to feed him. Stan: Dexter's Most Famous Anteater took on a life of his own, and attracted quite a following. Even more so when he moved out of the conservatory and onto my skateboard in the window. (I say 'my skateboard' like I'm a cool punk, but alas, I just bought it for a Lady Frivvie window scene.) I had a woman stop me and say that seeing Stan there all the time made her day. Stan got so popular that I had to order a bunch of them to sell and sold out. I move Stan and his skateboard over to my window, along with the same sun-faded sign warning against feeding him. (I don't like ants in the store.) And I happily got EVERYTHING out of Space C. That is a huge monkey (and anteater) off of my back. I had some good stuff over there that was never unpacked! All the crap is residing in my basement at the Whatever shop now, safe from my public view! And that big-ass cherub fountain? BROKEN. That will teach me to unpack things right away. The cherubs were okay, so they now reside in my backyard.

I'm back!

2009-06-17T15:27:00.010-04:00

What a bad blogger I am...it's been forever since I have posted anything! What can I say, it is extremely tiring and challenging being a new mom, but it's also super rewarding!

What?!

Yep, I've got a kid now. Actually two. Brother and sister, born 3 weeks apart. Let me tell ya, that 3 week lag time in there is tough! Ha ha.

Okay, the kids are pugs. Yes, PUGS!!!! If you have known me for longer than 5 minutes anytime in the past 8 years, you have heard about my unabashed love for wrinkly little pug-mugs, with curly tails and sheddy fawn coats. For years, ever since I fell in love with a New York puggie named Boris, I have had the Pug Lust. Bad!

Here are my little monkeys!

First we have Miss Penelope Victoria von Pugsley, aka Penny Pugsley, the Classic Fawn Pug! She was born February 28th, and I adopted her on April 11th. She is my dream pug--albeit a very naughty one! She is full of energy and sass, and is enjoying life to the fullest! She is so much fun, there is never a dull moment when Miss Penny is on the loose! She is textbook pug, in looks, eating, and SNORTING! She is always making cute little snorty sounds and I call her Pig Girl.

As much as I adored my little Penny, I still had a hankering for a black pug. Everyone says you cannot have just one pug, and everyone is right. Well, I just happened to be reading the paper, and read about a black male puppy that was available. I thought about it, but it wasn't easy. I wanted him, but Penny and I had such a nice mother-daughter bond, I didn't know. My mom and I talked about it, and mused about what we would call him...if we got him, of course. I wanted something with a P, that was cute, and she came up with what is possibly the best, most ironic name for a pug ever: PINOCCHIO!

Well, that did it, we had to get him now! So on May 21st, we got little 8 week old Pinocchio Venicio von Pugsley. Have I ever said I have seriously weird taste in names? But I had always wanted a pug named Vinnie, so that would work as his nickname.

Now my babes are 15 weeks and 12 weeks, and I am ridiculously in love with them. Pinocchio, aka Nokey, is a sweet little doll, nothing like the wild child Penny. I actually call them Sugar and Spice.

Look at these little angels:

Can you stand the sweetness?! They like to sit on these chairs on the front porch at The Whatever Shop...this is the only place where they will sit still for a few minutes at a time! (Cookie bribes help, too.) They come to work with Grandma at The Whatever Shop every weekend. I haven't turned them loose on the shop yet--or on the public. They are still a wee bit too wild to be around all my inventory, but they will enventually be shop pugs! (Okay, Nokey would be totally fine, but that Penny is pure mischief!)

Having two puppies at once is definitely fun, but definitely tiring. If you've noticed my hours at the shop are even MORE haphazard than usual, you now know why! For a while I would get up at 4am every night to check on them, give them a potty break, and of course they needed to play and have a cookie, too. (I have learned I am a very indulgent mother.) It was wiping me out. But they have grown leaps and bounds and are not quite as needy as they were, so can wait a little longer for fun, especially Penny...she plays hard and sleeps equally hard, just like Momma!

So if you've known me longer than 5 minutes, you've heard about my pug-love. If you've known me longer than 10 minutes, you've heard about the city landfill I have in the back of Frivolities. That would be my office. For over 6 years, it has been dreadful. I tried and tried and I could not tame it. Broken stuff, inventory, papers, craft projects, half-assembled furniture, and odds and ends everywhere. I finally decided something had to be done, and I wanted to surprise my mom with it. So I worked faithfully every night--not doing displays or tinkering in the shop, but just hardcore cleaning and organizing. And I got it one, on her anniversary May 26th, which was very thrilling. Sorry, no pictures--I got it a little hairy again in that time span! Ha ha. But I will fix it all up and never let it get bad again. It's amazing the treasures I had back there.

My latest (and ongoing) project has been the transformation of The Whatever Shop, my second shop, which is morphing into an antiques-vintage-junk shop. I am having SO much fun with it! I literally cannot wait to close Frivolities at night and run over there and work on stuff. It's not your granny's antique shop, like I like to say. I will post some pictures tomorrow, I promise! It's open Thursdays-Saturdays, so I will snag some when I am over there. I love selling vintage stuff, so much history, and people have such cool uses for it. I don't really care what the pedigree of an item is, so long as it is pretty, functional, or interesting. I can't tell Sandwich glass from most Depression glass, so don't ask me! I just buy what I like! I love repurposing things.

So that's a quick recap about what I am up to, in addition to gardening in THREE locations, gadzooks. (Home, shop, my farm.) I am a tired shopgirl these days, for sure!

Retail Epiphanies

2009-04-02T18:54:00.004-04:00

I have been thinking lots about shopkeeping lately, more than usual. I read a lot of shopkeeper's blogs for inspiration, and because it's always great to see someone is dealing with the same thing you are, the same highs and lows. I am noticing a lot of the small retailers lately are also thinking. Not thinking about closing or anything like that, just...thinking. Trying to understand this business and all the aspects of it. Lots are going through renewal periods, reinventing themselves, and working hard. I am going through this same transformation right now, especially with The Whatever Shop. So tonight I was thinking over my twice-weekly Dairy Queen blitz (urrrgh)...

Shops 'like this' are primarily owned and operated by the same type of woman. Excuse me while I typecast us all, but I really see this. We are creative, independent, think big but also think small, have a good eye, pay attention to detail, and I daresay we view much of the world differently than the majority of the public. That is why none of us are getting rich at this, ha ha. We are getting rich in a way that is not monetary, though. We don't view stuff as 'stuff'. We have more of an artistic outlook.

I had a woman in tonight who said she didn't like to "dust knick-knacks". That sort of comment in my shop always makes me go "Eh, what?" and I enjoy employing my favorite dirty look in response. But seriously. That is such a bizarre way to view things. It's not like I'm selling a dusty stack of Hummels or something else that can be categorized as a "knick knack". I sell home decor and antiques. It's not granny's attic. Mirrors are knick knacks? Candlesticks, prints, vases? Uh, whatever. *eye roll*

So I see this fundamental gap between "us" and "them" coming into play here. My girls are the ones who get it. They GET IT. They walk into a shop and are flooded with design ideas. It doesn't mean they are HGTV stars or something, it's just that the creative juices cannot help but get stirred up, they are inspired, excited, and interested. Dust? That is the farthest thing from their minds. And while they usually can't help but buy a special something (or two or three or four), they don't have to be out shopping in order to GET it.

I don't know if it's as simple as a divide between being creative and not being creative, or where the difference kicks in. I can usually spot a Kindred Spirit and a spirit that is not so kindred right off. Comments about dust or 'a lot of stuff', yeeeahh, not getting it, hon. And that's okay...I'm not going to understand them any more than they are going to understand me. But I believe that as artistic shopkeepers too often we are taken aback, maybe start second guessing, or making mistakes in trying to attract *everyone* to our shops. Newsflash: hanging a sale banner out is not going to get these dusty souls to suddenly change. It's not the economy, stupid. It's that you can't sell brake pads to an Amish man.

During my short-lived real estate career, I saw a lot of houses that made me...well, gag. Hideous. Absolutely bland, not warm or cozy, the most aesthetically-upleasing arrangements you can come up with. (Let's just say one involved two litter boxes and a very large cat.) Decorating is not important to everyone. Just like I don't give a rat's arse about sports in general. So I am learning what is best for my business is to be ME ME ME and do what I love and sell what I love and not get wrapped up in "dust".

Dad

2009-03-27T18:28:00.000-04:00

Thinking of my daddy today.

Spring Things

2009-03-26T21:06:00.007-04:00

I enjoyed decorating the shops for spring more than ever this year. Maybe it's because we had such a long drawn-out winter. Or it could be because of the fabulous things I ordered this year! I thought I would share some of my very favorites around the shop. (These are all at Frivolities, I am trying to keep most of the seasonal and holiday goods there, because I am NOT doing up two shops for fall and Christmas again, no way!!)

These chicks are the sweetest little things ever! The company comes out with new styles every year, and I swear they keep getting cuter! They are so lifelike. They are modeled after Victorian postcards; I actually have some of the real old postcards that have the same images. I usually get a little twitchy around cute figurines (having grown up in that Cherished Teddies era), but these are quite classy and decorative. You can see the sweet bunnies in the background, too. I love them, but the chicks especially thrill me.

Spelling out Easter--the cuteness!!

A box of chicky goodness. Fighting over forget me nots! Aaah! I could just squeal with the cuteness.

I love this velveteen rabbit. My favorite book growing up was "The Velveteen Rabbit". I'm not sure why, because it is so sad. I think I had a morbid fascination with it. I loved stuffed animals, I never cared for dolls, and here this little boy gets a lovely stuffed animal and it gets contaminated and has to be disposed of! It was like my worst nightmare. Why the heck did I love that book?? But this lovely velveteen rabbit is disease-free!

These look like they are made out of dark chocolate, and sometimes they send me straight to the box of Cadbury Eggs I keep stashed in the back! They are made out of unappetizing resin, but it's the looks that count!

And what is Easter without a lamb hauling a ginormous egg around on a cart?!

More tomorrow! Thanks for tuning in!

Finally!

2009-03-25T19:47:00.008-04:00

Is it possible? Have I actually got this Blogger thing finally figured out? I must give a shout out to my expert blogging friend, Robin, who helped me straighten out this mess. :) Thank you!!

This is my third or fourth version of a blog since 2001 (back when they were called weblogs!), but this is the first time I have used a program instead of making my own screwball version. That was a drag and I rarely posted much, but now I promise I will be babbling here all the time.

I like blogs that introduce the writer in the first post, so I will do that! I hate reading about someone and not knowing who they are. My name is Amber, but I like going by Miss Friv online. I am the owner of two shops, Frivolities and The Whatever Shop. They both have their own stories, which will be chronicled here in my posts. My shops are my life and my life is my shops, so while this is a blog about shopkeeping, it will also be interjected with drivel about my daily life and musings on the world. But most of what I see, I view from the shopkeeper's lens. Whoa. That was deep.

I'm 30 years old, have a bizarre sense of humor, and really cannot believe that I am a grown-up just yet. I have a love of romantic decorating, roses, antiques, all things French (and I am 25% French, which I will point out over and over again ad nauseum), "the vintage lifestyle", furniture, painting, gardening, all things pink, old china, chippy paint, anything beautiful. But just so you don't see me as being all sugary and precious, I like to jazz things up by being sarcastic, cynical and sardonic. I promise to keep this blog (and my shops) lively and...interesting and unexpected. I am not perfect and frequently am klutzy, air-headed, and messy. I think it's more fun to read what people like that have to say rather than. "I woke up in a perfect pink cloud of roses and went outside to see the perfect lovely world where everyone and everything was just delightful." Hogwash!

I don't yet have that really awesome husband who will fix all the broken things in my shop, so until then, that chandelier is just not going to work. Right now in my life I want a pug more than I want a baby. (I feel I have to write about that, because once you turn 30, people start yammering about that baby thing way too much.) All that stuff is "for later" and not on the radar for me right now. I have the world's most wonderful mother, who is my partner in crime and in the shops. I have cats and like doilies, so yes, I may be an old maid. I did not go to college, save for a 4-month stint to become a real estate agent, a career I quickly retired from.

I used to be very into science and politics and nerdy things, but in the past few years, I have turned into all-artist-all-the-time. But not like an ARTIST, you know what I mean. I just like pretty things, making homes pretty, and pretty shops. In addition to my shops, I am also starting a career as a home stager, which is what I love more than anything in the world, even retailin'.

But about those shops! My 'first born' is Frivolities, started in 2002. I literally decided I wanted a shop one day and started the ball rolling on it the next week. Of course, it didn't open for 10 freakin' months until after I decided I wanted a shop! The way it goes. Frivolities (that's Friv-oll-it-eez) is a home decor and gift boutique, filled with beautiful things. Yes, I should post photos, I will work on that. It's in an unromantic shopping center, but the shop is gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

I was chugging along on my retail road when the opportunity presented itself to rent a lovely Victorian home downtown. I didn't really want two shops, like I said, not Martha Stewart. I mean, it was never my intention to expand and be some monster chain or something. But I could not pass up that house. So in 2008, Frivolities (Downtown) was born. Now, it was supposed to be a different shop--it's still frivolous, but with DIFFERENT things. D-I-F-F-E-R-E-N-T. It's not a chain. But about half of the population either thought I had moved and closed the original store, that I had a carbon copy of the first store (how would that even work?!), or that someone else had started another Frivolities, and I thought, "WHATEVER." Ugh. So really, the only way to really get it across that it is a different shop is to just change the name. I mentally changed it about 4 times before I finally settled on "The Whatever Shop" (name idea from mom!) and decided to really indulge my love of antiques and secondhand stuff and make it (primarily) an antiquey kind of shop. Although there is also a Christmas room, a 'country' room, the Hot Pink Powder Room, and a Frivolities Outlet room for odds and ends. I opened The Whatever Shop on March 20, 2009, one year to the date I started Frivolities (Downtown).

So now I figure I have one shop that is mostly new with a bit of old (Frivolities) and one shop that is mostly old with a bit of new (Whatever). Following this? Yay! And let me make it even MORE confusing by telling you that I have no intention of keeping two shops for more than the next two years. Yes, ooooooh, I am going to close one. I have always planned to close one since the day I got the idea to have two. Don't worry, it's not "this economy", or anything dire, like I said, it was the original plan, I just have that tricky thing called "overlapping leases", so that's why I've got two shops. I'm just running at 100 mph and have always been a sleepy sort of girl, and right now, I am busting my bum having two stores. I love it, but it's not a lifestyle I want forever, and some day, I probably will want a few sprogs. You just can't do anything having two shops, seriously. Especially because I am stubborn and eschew employees. My mind is on the shops literally 98% of the time. Well, maybe 95%.

Let's pause for a token picture of my 4 year old parakeet, Miss Darcy. Miss Darcy hates most everything except a good millet spray. She especially hates me sticking a camera up her beak. She was named for Mr. Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice" when I thought she was a boy, but nope, she's all girl. She is a widow and I am thinking about getting her a couple of boy-toys to keep her occupied when I'm not around for her to scream at.

More later...