Monday, May 24, 2010

Great Must Read

I am so blessed to wake up daily and realize that I have found a great career. However, being raised/from Europe, I had a slightly different childhood than most of my friends. I played with different toys and I read different books. When I decided to open a baby boutique, I realized that my childhood can be a great help in my design vision, and can be somewhat different when it came to finding classic "american" gifts. SSP will be carrying a lot of great classic wooden toys and toys that focus on child development rather than its plastic functionality.

However, growing up I read books that looked more like this:







































Rather than like this ;)



Luckily I have great friends and parents who have made sure I am aware of the absolute must reads for the new babies. So what about you? What do you think are essential books that kids must read these days? Do you have a classic favorite that you still remember word by word?

Look forward to reading them all!

Monday, May 17, 2010

something extra special-must have!




When I first started to think about opening a store, I visited a show in Chicago. There, in passing, I met a young lady who caught my eye with something very unique and special. Her art wall design had a very clean and modern feel, however she understood how to capture something that can be timeless as well.

In my true stalking abilities, I decided that once I open Sugar Snap Pea, I absolutely have to have her work in my store. So, 7 months later, I reached out to the owner of Hoot Designs Co.

While Kristen specializes in other categories besides babies (cue to all my wedding and decor field friends), her special baby prints are just adorable.

The name of the game is simple. You can either purchase a pre-made print, OR you can order a special print with a special meaning for each letter. ( A is for Aunt Lori, etc) I already have a special place in my store for a print for Sugar Snap Pea, however, I still need to come up with some letters. As you can imagine, my store is going to be a very special part of my life, so I am dedicating this "baby print" to SSP.

So, those of you who want to take a stab at some letter recognition, sent me a note, and maybe your idea will end up on the final work!! I think letter Z is already taken :)

If you are expecting or thinking about a great gift, start thinking about your alphabet, because once SSP opens, we will be taking orders!!






Monday, May 10, 2010

how do you measure rejections?


Today I had a wonderful lunch with my cousin-in-law. I knew I had family in Charleston, but I didn't know how wonderful they were until recently.( I only met them this Easter). My cousin shared a wonderful quote she heard a child say in her Sunday school class "rejection is God's way of protecting us". How true! It is so often that I want something so badly, but after its all said and done, so grateful it was never given to me.

One of the reasons I've been so sporadic about posting my blogs, is because we are still in the midst of finding that "perfect space". (we, being my real estate agent and I...really has been confusing people for some reason...and I guess they assume I talk about myself in multiple persona's)

I originally had a space I was interested in, however, due to our delayed opening date, we weren't able to secure it. Sure, there was a moment of "ah shoot, we have to do it all over again" feeling, but later on, it gave me more options to look at other spaces, I wouldn't have considered in the first place.

Now that the scheduled opening date is approaching (stay tuned...may be as early as July), we may have more spaces in our favor. I'm still sticking with "mums the word" approach until we get a lease, but at least you know why I've been a slacker :)

To offset my ramble with some pretty stuff... Sugar Snap Pea is proud to support our local designers. I'll be highlighting each of them on this blog.

Our first highlight is Shawna. She is an owner and designer of may-bee clothing. I saw her little boy dressed up in the cutest pants one Sunday morning, to later find out, that we can have all the boys wear them!! Check out her website and if you have any special requests, we may be able to cook something up!! I'm so excited to have her join the Sugar Snap Pea family :)





Monday, May 3, 2010

you did that ALL day?

Starting your own business is wonderful. Your boss is great, flexible schedule and great pay..not so much. There are days when after its all said and done, I cant believe I spent 12 hours doing xyz. Today, that xyz was looking at gift wrap and bags. While I think I know what I want, there are so many different ideas that I think I could use. I wanted to share some fun pictures and inspirations that I found today. If any of you come across something you like, feel free to send it along to info@sspbaby.com. Makes me wonder what we all did before the world wide web....oh well, glad I didnt have to know those times.




would be really fun to make this seasonal gift wrapping.

love this one..dont be surprised if it appears at SSP sometime :)
before it all began, and Blueprint was still in press, I loved this baby shower ideas.
I see SSP having its own wrapping paper...just you wait!


images: google images, marthastewart.com, delightful blog.