Tag Archives: running

I survived!

Sigh of relief! Sorry I have been MIA for the entire month of October. Things have been busy, busy, busy since I returned from my Disney trip. One thing at a time!

I survived my very first half marathon! It feels like it happened so long ago, it feels like it maybe didn’t even happen. That boost of adrenaline I was expecting to get whilst running through the Disney parks definitely did NOT happen. And I really could’ve used it haha.

It was a long, tiresome journey. We tried to take a nap that day since the race started at 10pm, but I was too anxious to fall asleep. When the race finally started, I was just amazed at how many PEOPLE there were everywhere. I’ve never run around that many people before, and it was tough navigating and winding and dodging everyone, especially since I was run-walking. I don’t think things cleared up for me until mile 5 or so. I plodded along at my slow and steady pace til about mile 11…at this point I felt like I wanted to die. Miles 11 to 13 seemed to take a lifetime and a half. By the time I reached the finish line (at exactly 3 hours flat) I had tears in my eyes! They weren’t really happy tears haha, I just seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion at finally finishing. And being slightly annoyed that I had made myself do something so painful.

As soon as I finished and stopped moving I suddenly could no longer move. I was meeting the rest of my party in Canada (the race finished outside Epcot), and I think it took me 45 minutes to hobble over there! Needless to say, we all passed out after that!

Since returning to Houston, I’ve been consumed by getting my shop ready for my very first craft fair. I feel like a little Christmas elf. I think I have just about TRIPLED my inventory in the past 2 weeks…not to mention creating all sorts of various displays and jewelry holders for all my items (with the help of my gracious husband of course).

I hope to have a full post about my preparation for the craft show soon, that should be exciting to share.

Just inputing all the new items in my inventory spreadsheet system has been overwhelming, so I am way behind on taking photos and listing new items…but I will show you a few new necklaces I’ve been able to add to my bunting necklaces line recently:

Cool tones bunting necklace

Maroon bunting necklace

Orange bunting necklace

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! In 9 hours I’m catching a flight to Orlando. Saturday night at 10pm I will be attempting to run/walk my very first HALF MARATHON! Wish me luck!

I also look forward to just having some vacation! Spending time catching up with old friends and meandering around the Disney parks, which seem like a second home to me. I also will get to do some snacking and sipping for the Food & Wine Festival (Canadian beer cheese soup, here I come!), and finally visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Thus, I will officially be away from my shop and blog until I return on 10/5. Wish me luck and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Holiday Bootcamp Kick Off

Waaaaaahhhhhhh! I’m sort of trying to swallow down a nervous breakdown right now. A week from yesterday, I leave for my happy place, Walt Disney World resort in Florida. A week from tomorrow, I am going to attempt the impossible — running (jogging? walking? limping? crawling?) 13.1 miles as part of Disney’s Food & Wine Half-Marathon.

I know I had made some promises a while back to keep you all posted on my training progress, and maybe you are wondering where all those promised updates are…well, I have barely been training! Ahhhhhhhh. The longest I’ve gone in preparation for this is 9 miles. And I’ve done that twice. And the last time was like 3 weeks ago. I have only run once this week (4 measly miles). I’m promising myself that I will do 9 miles again this weekend since it’s my last chance to squeeze in another long run…but….we’ll see.

Anyway, running-related freakage aside, I’ve been slowly building up some anxiety related to my Etsy shop and this holiday season. Two issues — I want my shop to be in tip-top shape for the upcoming holiday rush (assuming there is a rush for me), and I’ve signed up for two craft shows in Houston where I will attempt to sell my wares in person for the first time EVAR.

There are many, MANY things I need to do to prep for a for-reals craft fair. Hopefully preparing for the craft shows will help get my Etsy shop into gear as well. Yesterday, I received week 1’s issue of Etsy Success’ Holiday Bootcamp, and I really need to follow some of the advice the blog article suggests. So, in an attempt to get my butt in gear, I’m going to start listing some goals for myself. Maybe you can follow along too!

Etsy’s Holiday Bootcamp

Lazy Owl Boutique Holiday Goal Outline(very official name)

Increase inventory, with a goal to at least double inventory by October 29 (date of first craft show)
- Begin by focusing on inventory that will sell well at craft shows:
  - Make more wire-wrapped rings in variety of sizes
  - Make more bunting necklaces, particularly ones with school colors (focus on Texas schools and SEC schools for now)
  - Make more vintage glass jewel earrings

Order supplies as needed
- Inventory supplies — earwires, craft wire, crystals
- Craft show supplies? — another table, table coverings, risers, receipts, vendor apron, earring cards, merchandise bags, stickers, etc. etc..

Prepare/create displays for craft shows– ring boxes, earring frames, doorknob necklace holders, earring/necklace trees, price signs, shop name banner, etc. etc.

Update inventory catalog and pricing — I’ve gotten really lazy about entering my supplies and costs into my inventory spreadsheet, how will I know where to price my items if my supply costs are not accurate?

Photograph and list, list, list on Etsy all these new items I’m making!!

*Sigh*…I basically just need to set aside more time…more time to create items, but also to update my inventory/pricing spreadsheets, take photos, and list items. I feel like all that admin stuff takes more time than actually creating, but I guess that’s the way it is!

Do you have a plan to get ready for the upcoming holiday season? Feel free to share! Or give me advice, I love advice…

A new beginning….

Hello all! Welcome to my very first blog post for Lazy Owl Boutique.

shop lazy owl earrings here

I envision this blog to be about many things. Of course, I’ll be using it as a marketing tool for my new etsy shop, Lazy Owl Boutique, but I’d like to make it a little more personal than that. I’ll also talk about my newly rediscovered love of crafting and the challenges I face in that regard.

I’m going through many changes at the moment. I’m an accountant, so part of me is very, very left-brained. I’m a fan of order and routine…but I also feel like I’ve always had a creative spark that I enjoy pursuing. Unfortunately, after years of school and now two years of the real adult world, my creative spark has died down to a mere flicker.

In December, my husband and I bought our very first house. I began devouring decorating books for ideas and inspiration (this is what left-brained people do, we always read books first before taking action). Having a whole house as my new big creative outlet really got the ball rolling for me. I realized how much I missed using my right-brain, being creative, thinking outside the box, working with colors and objects and my hands, and taking chances!

I knew I needed a change, I just didn’t know how to make it. I worked in a very demanding and time-consuming position in public accounting. By the time I came home (usually late) and on the weekends (if I wasn’t working), I didn’t have the energy to devote to any new creative passions. So, after a lot of thinking, I decided I needed to 1) quit my job, and 2) come up with some new hobbies (other than sleeping or complaining).

One thing led to another, and viola! The creation of Lazy Owl Boutique. I have really enjoyed (after lots of book reading, of course) crafting handmade jewelry and launching my shop online. I have always loved Etsy, and now experiencing it from the other side has been an adventure.

My second hobby I came up with is slightly less enjoyable. In an effort to get in shape, I decided to sign up for Disney’s Food & Wine half-marathon on October 1. So, I guess you could say training for that has been my second new hobby.

I also quit my job, yay! I now work as an accountant (still left-braining it!) for one of Houston’s top hospitals. I just finished my first week on the job.

So…you can see I have a lot of new things going on right now. I hope to use this blog to journal all these new experiences and keep you all updated! I hope you enjoy being a part of my new journey!