The Dump

I think I should probably remove the BWO icon at the side of my blog because despite the fact that I've been a little M.I.A. lately I totally feel an obligation to blog.

I've been wanting to.

There's no shortage of stuff to talk about that's for sure.

It's always a time management issue.

Which, I'm constantly being reminded, is something that is about to get worse before it gets better.

Where to begin?

Where we left off perhaps?

Christmas flip week went well. It's always the same story.

Monday I feel like taking the entire week to turn things over seems like an excessive amount of time.

By Tuesday afternoon I think we have a good handle on things.

And by Thursday at 9pm we're exhausted and skipping lunch just to get everything done in time.

It was pretty bad in here.

I'm almost embarrassed to share...

This was my back room.

I don't really have storage at Blackbird.

The basement is pretty wet and I actually think it's a good thing I can't stuff to much in the back.

Gives me a better handle on inventory, but it was getting just a tad ridiculous back there.

We took every display apart, rearranged most of the furniture and created new departments for new product lines.

This may be my favourite new thing: Wordstock Photography.

You can build any word out of photographs taken by the talented Barb Rowlandson.

Apparently Barb sees the world a little differently than the rest of us.

I've seen this idea before, I will admit (I'm an Etsy troll you'll recall).

But I've never seen it done by someone I liked so much.

I met Barb at the gift show in August and you know how there are just some people you like instantly?

She's one of those.

I restocked the bath bombs with some more festive options.

Wild pillows and throws. All fair trade!

Great little stocking stuffers with handmade flare.

Sweet little ceramic bud vases.

We created the cutest window display by twisting red ribbon around our birch trees and then wrapping them in cellophane.

It's a veritable candy cane forest.

I need to take a night time shot so you can see the magic.

We had our Open House on Friday (Nov 12) and then it officially became Christmas here on Mill Street.

I love Christmas.

It's tiring, but I love it.

We have our two Kid's Nights coming up (Dec 9th and 16th after 5pm) and then Men's Night (Dec 17th we're open late) and then Christmas Eve is always a big day.

And then? Then I think I may just chill the heck out.

I had a small freak out last week when I realized that it's going to be a long time before I go anywhere by myself again.

I mean two babies?

That's a lot of baggage.

My mom was headed to Toronto for the weekend and I jumped in the car with her and went to hang out with some girlfriends for the weekend. I'm that spontaneous.

It was lovely.

We did nothing.

Just caught up and went shopping.

What else. What else.

Oh. These are finally in.

Colleen and I have LOADS of great new ideas on the burner as far as workshops go and expanding on our craft show model. Good thing I'm cloning myself again.

And I'm VERY close to posting photos of all the renos and changes we've been making on the home front. I mean weeks away!

Less than two months until this baby comes so we've really got to kick it into gear.

Catch you soon!

Em