I talk to my mom every day. I don’t know if I would call us “best friends.” I have more respect and love and admiration for her than anyone in the world, but our relationship is still really mother-daughter, I think. parent-child.

She is creative too. And she is entrepreneurial. And lucky for me, she is the logical and rational one between us. (WHY YES I’M READY TO PURCHASE A STOREFRONT TODAY! THANK YOU BIPOLAR!!! WHEEEEE) So when I get a Big Idea, she is really good at helping me see the realistics of it.

I think my mom is really into my toy store. She e-mailed me today and here were some of her ideas. I’m just in awe.

One of the things I wanted to do in the toy store is host craft workshops, where parents can drop the kids of for an hour and I can lead a project that they can take home. But another really cool idea I had was to create craft KITS that a parent could buy and take home, and save for a rainy day or work on it as a family. I can see why there would be a market for these craft and project kits–my mom would have loved having something like this for my hyper 5-year-old self.

My mom had the idea to create seasonal kits…gardening, holiday projects, etc. She really did this at home while I was growing up without realizing it, cutting out alphabet letters from cereal boxes and packaging, making blocks out of milk cartons, and keeping an eye out for good dress-up clothes.

Dress-ups. My mom said, “It doesn’t really occur to some people that kids can dress up in REAL clothes, not just crappy Disney princess stuff.” So true. Princess Lasertron is thinking about expanding from just flowers and children’s accessories to handmade dress-up clothes. Fanciful dresses, little cardigans with wings attatched, glittery shoes and wands and sunglasses. And why can’t there be kits for these things, too?

Princess Lasertron’s face paint kits. Apron kits. Easy embroidery kits.
And Professor Lasertron’s science experiments

I had thought about using the store to host birthday parties with dress-ups and projects, and my mom suggested making birthday party kits. How clever. Theme kits that busy parents could purchase. I could even deliver the things and perhaps host the party. Including cupcakes and treats from other local shops, drinks, crafts, games, etc.

And her vision for the aesthetics of the store. Isn’t this the fun part?

lots of mirrors. a big mirror on floor level.
old and new books.
tiny chairs.
an area for families to learn and play games together.\
easy ways for children to reach things.

sometimes my mind just feels overwhelmed. with ideas. and hopes. know what I mean?

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We have a few more photos from Becky Novacek, our photographer. One of these days soon I will get a big fatty cd full of pictures, and I can just post them all at once, but as I get them one at a time in my e-mail I am just too antsy to wait.

so here are three more

LOVE this. dancing.

I have no idea when she took that last one. I think that’s a sign of a great photographer. Just kind of blends into the background and observes all of the fun stuff happening without interrupting it or staging it.

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This month our roommate Sarah is moving into her new house. Because she is a real grownup. Our house (duplex) is just crazy now. She’s moving out, I’m moving in, and we also have a lot of wedding gifts piled in the living room now.

So in anticipation of living here alone together, I’ve been saving so many inspirational photos of rooms and designs.

These are from Real Simple. To free up some shelf space I’ve been going through my piles and piles of dear, beloved magazines, and tearing the important pages out. It’s killing me. But I do feel weighed down by all the magazines that I feel compelled to keep, so it’s best to just purge them.

I put a lot of the pages in clear accordian files, but the best ones get taped up on the wall. Just like junior high!

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it’s finally dance night again. although we had lots of dancing at our wedding, I really miss going out. And not being the center of attention. Although when you can shake it like I can, it ends up being pretty inevitable.

I talked to a person from SCORE on the phone today about writing a business plan for my toy store. I want one so bad, but the more I read about starting a small business, the more scared I get. I can’t believe all the regulations sometimes…all the tax forms…zoning…between all the paperwork and regulations I’m surprised anyone ever gets time to run a business at all.

I’m sure it’s less daunting than it seems. Once you get into it. Or else NO ONE would open small businesses.

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I like neon lately. I think it’s a trend now. I have been seeing a lot of it…on fingernails, at target, in vogue, on shoes.

Do you know about Polyvore? I love it. It lets you put outfits together–you can even save the pieces you already own in your file so you can play with outfits online instead of trying 8 things on (although I do that anyway)! and the search feature is great.

Here’s my outfit for dancing tomorrow night. Am I cool yet?

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