RagsReborn's first at home shopping party

My pillow display...I love my antique trunk!

       Today is the last day of February and March is upon us. Oh how time flies!! I didn't participate in any craft shows this month. Instead, I tried to dabble in something new...two something news, actually. I co-hosted an Arbonne party and joined an auction to benefit the Mustang Animal Shelter (will blog about the auction next week). Both were very different experiences from the craft shows that I am used to. I enjoy trying new things and had a good time at both but I am excited to get back into the familiarity of craft shows. Bring on March and April...two shows each month and I am pumped!

I just noticed how blurry the top picture is... sorry!

I co-hosted my very first at home shopping party a few weeks ago. Before I start, I wanted to extend a sincere thanks to Mrs. Sue Ellis for opening up her home to myself, my products and my friends. She let her daughter and I use her beautiful home as the venue for our party. And, photo credit for this blog goes to Kristin Ellis. It turned out well over all but I will never do it again. It was SO.MUCH.WORK and I honestly don't think it was worth it.

       Wait, wait, wait... what is an introvert like myself doing hosting an at home shopping party??!? I seriously pondered this myself before I agreed to co-host and I concluded that, well, sometimes it's good to step outside of your comfort zone. You can't accomplish your goals if you don't take risks. And guess what...I sold 6 pillows that night!

       I met Kristin at a young professionals event many years ago. Although I stopped going to the mixers, we kept in touch through Facebook. Last year, she contacted me to do a joint party. She is an independent consultant for Arbonne and suggested that we do a fun girls shopping night. I was hesitant at first but then thought, "How hard can it be? Display some pillows, invite some friends and that's that." Ummm...lesson learned... it can be hard... very, very hard >.>

       After we planned the party and set a date, I promoted like crazy. I knew beforehand that people are wary of shopping parties due to the pressure to buy (I honestly never attended them myself for that very reason). I told everyone that there will be no pressure or obligation to buy from me. I couldn't speak for Arbonne but I wasn't going to pester my guests to purchase a pillow. I also told everyone that I'd be baking (that's always a good selling point!) I passed out all ten of my invitations and marketed all over social media. For about two weeks, I told literally everyone I knew about this party. I went as far as to get in trouble at my book club because I was trying to invite some of the ladies (they misinterpreted my sincere invitation as solicitation, which is against the rules.) At the week of the party, I had secured seven attendees!

       I spent the entire morning baking cupcakes and cookies in preparation for the night. I was uber excited for this party! But then that all suddenly stopped and stress crept in... when the night of the party finally came, four of the ladies couldn't make it after all. Oh no! That's over half of my guest list!! I was completely understanding of things coming up but I was also worried. So, I texted my co-host. Surely, she would have invited some of her friends & family, right? Sadly, no, she had not. She had zero guests coming. I was too overly optimistic about this little event and now I was completely let down. I did everything I could to make this party happen but she had only invited a scant number of acquaintances and barely even promoted the event. I felt cheated! How could I have worked so hard just to find out that my co-host did nothing? Weren't we supposed to be in this together?

         As it turns out, I was overreacting a little. Kristin and I had very different mindsets about the guest list: I wanted everyone to come & join us for a fun time but she only wanted the "proper clientele" to be there. This is definitely something we should have discussed as we were planning the party but I guess we just assumed we were on the same page. After I realized that, I finally let go of my anger & frustration at the guest list debacle and enjoyed myself. The evening turned out fine. I had a lovely time with my guests (thanks again Garrett, Lacey & Patti for coming) and Kristin's mother is a wonderful woman who kept our conversation going. We talked about travel, men and our jobs, sold some Arbonne & pillows and everyone loved my cupcakes & cookies. 

Lemon cupcakes with vanilla frosting and white chocolate water lilies. Pecan cookies with chocolate caramel center.

This is what I ordered at the party: lotion and deodorant.

Sometimes, Erica just wants to chat.

Can you believe it's February??  My coworker states every day that she can't believe it's already *insert date of the month.* I always laugh and sarcastically reply, "Yeah, it's already the 20th because yesterday was the 19th." But, really...February 2016 already. I can barely believe it!
       I've been mega-super-busy preparing RagsReborn for its spring craft show season. (Show details will be posted on another week's blog. I still have to confirm dates and try to get into one more show.) I haven't had much time for crafting or cooking, so tonight, we will just chat. There are tons of bloggers who just reminisce about their day & what they had for lunch and get great responses so let's just try it out. (Although, I'm pretty sure what I had for lunch isn't as exciting as what the celebrity bloggers had for lunch. Woe is me!)
       Disclaimer: I'm also exhausted from a very busy Open Enrollment season at work. Please forgive me if this blog just goes all over the place with no proper beginning or ending.

I have the address of the party purposely blocked out. If you're interested in attending this amazing event, please email me at ragsreborngifts@gmail.com 

Before we start, I wanted to invite you to my first at home party (although it's not at my home so you should probably RSVP to the Facebook page or email me before showing up). I'm teaming up with my friend, Kristin, to host an Arbonne/RagsReborn party! Hooray (\^_^/) Kristin is an Arbonne Independent Consultant and I will be her assistant. Along with all the wonderful Arbonne products, I will have a small display of pillows for sale. I'm excited for this new way of promoting and selling my pillows.

Enough of the craft show stuff, you'll get plenty of that in the upcoming weeks when I promote each of my upcoming spring shows. It's been over a year (much closer to two years, actually!) of Monday Craft Night blogging... I guess tonight we can get personal.
       It's a little blurry but that is a picture of my greatest craft endeavor before RagsReborn. I started cross stitching in middle school (yes, while the rest of my class was busy hooking up and partying, little Erica was learning a craft & planting the seeds for her sewing business to come many years later). This cross stitch took me literally two decades to complete. In a way, it was my therapy. When I was stressed out from school, work, boys or family or simply needed some quiet time to think, I would pull this baby out and work on it. This thing stayed by my side throughout college and even went with me to study abroad in Spain. And when I got my first "real job," I stuck it in my purse and brought it with me to work.
       I finished it a few months before my thirtieth birthday. I didn't plan it that way but about a month or so after I finished this little project, I finally worked up the nerve to open my shop on Etsy and then a few more months after that, I participated in my first craft show. I feel like finishing the cross stitch meant I could let go of all my childish worries and use all my energy to focus on something bigger and better.

This is what the inside of my closet wall looks like. When Wes moved in, we -as in mostly me- decided to decorate the apartment with our stuff. Nothing of mine and nothing of his but, rather, we wanted to display memories and artifacts from adventures that we will experience together. 

       I did a huge "cleaning" (more like, getting rid of junk) day and pretty much threw away or donated everything that I no longer felt like I needed. Everything in the decor department that survived ended up on this wall. I have my old passport & student visa (framed, of course, because I'm proud of my independent travels), a vinyl recording of John Denver and The Muppet's Christmas album, my very first crucifix from my baptism, an old family picture and an infertility support bracelet (it's like a Livestrong bracelet but it's for infertility). And some other framed items that I couldn't part with. 

       

Okay, okay, we might be getting too sentimental. Let's lighten up the mood. 

       My coworker convinced me to go on my very first diet. (A diet that allowed for Fudgsicles!) Tashara introduced me to Super Shred and to be a supportive friend, I decided I would do the four week regimen with her. I'm pretty much fine with my body image but who can't stand to lose a few pounds, right? Plus, I definitely need to start eating healthier. That was my main reason for wanting to participate.

       We started the diet on January 4th and we survived!! We followed the rules really well at work but I have to admit that I slipped on evenings and weekends (a big part of the diet was eating certain things at certain times and that was too difficult to do on weekends and it was especially hard when I went out to eat). I went into this wanting to train myself to want to eat healthier options. I wasn't necessarily wanting to lose 20lb in 4 weeks (because, frankly, that sounds a little scary...if you lost 20lb every 4 weeks, how sickly would you look after a year??!!?). After going through the diet, I did indeed change my eating habits at work-- success! : ) I used to always snack on junk food and candy. But now, I'm eating fruit, nuts and granola. 

       As I mentioned before, the diet outlined a list of allowed snacks and meals that you were to eat at certain times throughout the day. Since I couldn't eat whenever I wanted, I started to really appreciate food. We have the luxury of having food available 24/7. Many times, we eat when we aren't even hungry. We eat because we're bored or stressed out or emotional. But during the Super Shred, many of our meals were spaced out 5 or 6 hours apart and when it was time to eat, the meal was just either cup of soup or small salad...nothing exciting, but when you're hungry--like really hungry-- you really taste that soup and the greens in your salad are the freshest you've ever had. I don't think I've ever truly ate food that way before. (Half of the time, I just ate because I was bored and I didn't even know what I was eating... yes, first world problems.) I appreciate the accessibility to food so much more now. 

Lastly, I wanted to show you this. This is a picture of my mom and her boyfriend, Mike. I took this picture the very first Easter Triduum we spent together. They have been together for probably three to five years now and they are finally getting married this summer! I cannot be more excited for them!! They are getting married in June in the church where they met. It also happens to be the church that I grew up in. Wes and I are going to be their witnesses when they get the marriage certificate. What an honor! 

       Since I never planned my own wedding or did any wedding themed DIYs, I will definitely be doing some crafting for their wedding. (I think my mom actually put me in charge of decorating!) So that is what you get to look forward to, dear readers. Be prepared for RagsReborn craft show updates and Erica's mom is getting re-married wedding DIYs!

     

I saw this on Facebook and laughed pretty hard. Art history memes are the best!