EVEN BEAUTIFUL CHERRIES HAVE PITS

While Jennifer and I were downloading this image, without thinking, we ate the still life. Before we realized it we had nothing left but a stack of not-so-pretty pits. No do-over. No trying a different angle. So what started as just a pretty picture depicting Life Is A Bowl of Cherries, turned into a thought provoking blog post.

Yesterday was way more than June 1 around here. It's the day we closed the wholesale portion of our children's and home decor line of accessories. In January we were side swiped with CPSIA's initial regulations smack dab in the middle of Market in Atlanta and LA! The state of the economy already seemed enough of a downer for small businesses, or so I thought. We spent a solid week making phone calls and researching the web; trying to get some understanding for our store owners, sales reps, showrooms and our own confused selves. Every person we talked to had hugely different answers.

Since too many decisions have to be made months in advance, I made a painful call to end it. Sounds so simple, yet it was quite difficult. We have poured 6 years, 7 days and nights a week of our lives into this baby. It was a huge loss and I confess I melted. The most difficult part for me was letting others down and letting people go.

You might remember my rapid departure back in January? Tim had an instant, yet very timely business trip to here, here, here, here and here and announced he was sweeping me away to join him. I walked on the beach, prayed and sorted the madness. I returned to a Stay by the CPSIA, but my decision had been made. Months later, I am embracing the possibility of creating and designing again. And while I have several fun things in the works, you can be assured I will be guarding my time from here on out! In the meantime, while we have postponed the wholesale orders it doesn't change our retail sites, Look for upcoming sales!