Definitely in the deep end...

So, I once again dropped off the face of cyberspace for a while and got a bunch of messages from people demanding to know where I'd gone. Basically, I've been on eBay, buying craploads of stuff. And I know what you're thinking... You're thinking my house is impossibly small and where the hell would I put craploads of stuff!

And the answer to that question will soon be...

IN MY VERY OWN STORE!

Yes, I have picked out a great little shop downtown and am patiently awaiting the end of the renovations and the signing of the lease to make it mine. Maybe it's because I'm 30, maybe it's because I've been schlepping lasagna at the OG for four years now, maybe it's just because this year produced some kind of perfect storm of circumstances that led me here, but I suddenly realized that waiting around for my part-time hobby to make me enough money to allow me to quit my other job was a stupid plan.

Long story time:

A few months ago Kourtnie and I were at the mall doing a little shopping when I decided that I should get some information on leasing those little carts that sit in the middle of the pedestrian space. I had just decided to participate in three art and craft festivals this fall and was in that euphoria of knowing I was pushing my business forward and making progress. Well, if I was making progress I should probably have some sort of goals in mind for later, right? And it seemed to me that it might be a decent next step to sell my handbags at the mall during the holiday season. Those carts couldn't be more than, oh, $700 a month or so, right?

Make that a thousand. Yeah. For those little pre-fab weird pink Battlefield Mall carts. I think I managed not to flinch when she said it. And I took the booklet she gave me and told her I wasn't even close to ready at this point but that I'd let her know when I was. Meaning, you know, a year or two down the line.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn't so unrealistic. I estimated all my overhead costs and supply costs and how many hours I'd need somebody else to work as a cashier and came to the conclusion that a thousand a month wasn't so outrageous. The only things keeping me from doing it were a lack of sufficient inventory and a lack of startup funding.

And then I thought about the festivals. Well, if I could make enough money in September to put the deposit down on the cart, I'd be halfway there! And if I saved all my extra money from the OG until that point, I could probably have enough to buy all my equipment and inventory and such. I'd need a lot of inventory for the festivals anyway. I took a week to write up a business plan and verify my numbers.

Needless to say, I'd started to get excited about the whole thing. The prospect of being able to quit the OG at the end of August tipped the scales into euphoria. Freedom at last!!

And then, of course, came the big crash. I'd secured funding from several sources and had plans for the initial inventory and had made an appointment with the mall people to get the ball rolling. That's when she decided to drop the bomb she'd forgotten about at our first meeting.

During the holidays, the mall raises their cart rates to FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH.

One thousand was feasible. Five thousand is highway robbery. There would be no mall cart for me this year.

So I let myself wallow in disappointment for a few hours and then sat down to figure out a plan B. After getting myself all excited about quitting the OG after August, I couldn't bear the thought of staying at it any longer. I hit the internet looking for real estate listings and found a promising one downtown for even less than the mall charges for a cart. Turns out that particular ad was outdated, but the real estate guy had two more properties for lease just around the corner from it, each for a thousand a month. The one I've unofficially spoken for is just SO adorable! Little mezzanine office space, old jewler's safe in the back, comes with the neon sign out front and an awning and these AWESOME old display case windows by the door! I've gotten all my inventory supplies ordered and am now just waiting for the renovations to be completed and the lease to be drawn up. And the best news of all is that I've put in my notice and will be leaving the OG in a month or so. I'm just waiting for my four-year-anniversary vacation check, and then I'm gone. If you listen really close you can probably hear an angelic choir singing somewhere over Missouri right now.

Now I just have to sew and paint enough crap to fill an entire store in the next couple of months.

Honestly, though, that's the best part of this whole thing. No matter what jobs I've had, no matter what I've had going on in my life, I've always spent my spare time making things. Art and craft, no matter what. I think it must be what keeps me somewhat sane. And after all the crap I've gone through in the past few years I've realized that the only way I'll be really truly happy with my job is to find a way to do art and craft as a living. To know that when I take the money from the cash register and deposit it in the bank, I earned that money with my own hands.

That, and knowing that nobody can go over my head anymore. "Can I speak to your manager?" "Manager? Ha! I own the whole damn company!"