They picked the wrong person

So friends not the first blog post I wanted to do but necessary because I can't keep repeating myself and yet I want to warn people against me being a weirdo for what could be a few days to a few months. It is all unclear. 

Let me be upfront that I am currently dealing with trauma from an incident that happened to me Saturday night after work (8/7/21). I was assaulted and they attempted to mug me.

I'll answer a few common questions first:

No, I am not physically hurt

No I'm not okay, despite me saying I'm okay, really I'm not

Nothing was stolen

Yes I did fight back and save my left over impossible burger from the lunch bag that they thought was my purse.

Ok.....now that those questions are out of the way I'll tell my side.

    After work at Easton I needed gas so I went across the street to the BP. I chose that BP because it had better lighting, more customers and inner pumps that were open. I am very careful of where I choose to get gas because I recognize I am a petite woman typically well dressed that would seem a good target.  I also normally keep brass knuckles on my keys, lock my doors and hold my wallet in my had with my keys to avoid someone stealing my entire car. I also have a night stick under my drivers seat next to my gas tank release button. I am if nothing prepared for this kind of thing. 

    I only had my drivers side door open and I was standing in it checking my phone while the gas was pumping. I had my wallet, car keys and phone in my hand. my back was turned and I saw some kid dive behind in my back into my car and instantly shoved him or some sort of reaction, grabbed the handle of my lunch bag made a guttural yell in his face and continued to play tug o war with my bag while smacking or punch him and he was hitting me back. It went on for almost a minute it felt like so I got a clear look at his face and he was eye level with me so not a tall person at all. He let go of my bag and got in the car and not very quickly him and his buddies drove out. They were slow enough that I thought I had two choices, go run after the car and kick it or try to get a photo.  I tried to take my phone out to get a picture of the car but my credit card and phone dropped to the ground when I was fighting him so I didn't get it in time but I knew the car was a black Toyota Camry 4 door and I committed the symbol to memory.  Then I promptly locked my car completely gathered all my stuff and went inside the gas station, stood in line behind two people and then at my turn asked the manager on duty to call the police and that I needed their camera surveillance footage because I was just assaulted and they tried to rob me. Then as soon as I started to talk to the operator I was a sobbing mess but got out the details "Black suspect looked like a kid with kind of dreaded hair, short, wearing a black shirt and maybe some light colored shorts, no i don't need a medic I'm not hurt just sore"  

    I sat in a chair by the managers office and just cried and texted/called Andy and my brother immediately (for those that don't know my brother is with the Columbus Police Department). I texted my closest friends as I waited for the police.

    Two officers came. Took my account and were surprised with how much detail and information I recalled. Then they went to look at the camera footage and said I was impressive and did a very good job. I remember my yell in his face was not some cry for help or surprise, It was the kind of yell I would do during a Muay Thai fight or class when I am ready to fuck some shit up. After a bit and my brother talked to one of the officers on the phone and I had calmed down some I told them I wanted to move my car and see how I felt about driving. One of them came with me to my car and I got in and started it and just drove it off the pump and to a parking spot and I knew I wouldn't be able to drive home. Andy and Laura came to pick me up. One officer left as there were three more reports of the same kids hitting other people and one officer said he would stay with me till they came. 

The officers told me that they had cased me as soon as I got out of the car. They could see they had been hanging in the parking lot before I got there. While I was on the pump one of them had gotten out of the car and went to my passenger side to scope it out. Then they had gotten back into the car and pulled up and that's when the one kid dove into my car to get what they thought was my purse. Of course to them I looked like an easy rich target, I was dressed up and I drive a decent car with a full face of makeup and my hair was done up. They weren't expecting to get a fight back.

Everything I told them from my side of the story was clearly on camera.

Ending thoughts are:

I saved my leftover impossible burger.

Even though I was extremely cautious from previous experiences when I lived in Chicago it still happened.

Fuckers were lucky I didn't have my brass knuckle or time to reach my night stick. Seeing what my reaction was I would of beat them bloody.

How sad is it that this was teen kids? This behavior has zero future and grim results.

I am a FIGHT not Flight personality, period.

I will never get gas in that part of town again, even if that means I will be late for something.

Please friends this could happen to anyone, it happened to me. Like I said at the beginning I'm not doing so hot. I just wanted to get this out there so if someone asks me I don't need to keep reliving it telling it over and over. I'm giving myself another day before I decided to seek a counselor or not. It's just one day at a time. Currently the thought of driving, and even going near Easton makes me feel sick and tight in the chest. 

I promise next blog post will be on a better happier note, what I really wanted to talk about was turning 40 and my fights and my son turning 6. 

The Dumpster Fire that is 2020 - Asian View

I don't blog very much at all anymore because having a five year old has kept me pretty busy.

Quick life update for those that may not know me well or didn't realize.

I had a business called Yarn it & Haberdashery, it is a yarn store. We sold it in October 2019 to some partners. I have since then been focusing on family, household, and getting back into creating art.  We lost my mother to cancer in November 2018 and my father hasn't been doing so hot either and they live in Las Vegas while I am here in Columbus. 

Now let's talk about being Asian in 2020. 

I've always dealt with a general amount of harmless racism being full Korean with american citizenship and no accent in the Midwest (specifically Columbus, Ohio area). I even got to put my word out there a little bit with a round table discussion on being Asian during Covid-19.

You can find that Columbus Alive Article here: 

Asian Americans contend with increased racism in the time of Corona Virus

It was a hard thing to think about and I am fortunate and grateful that I live where I do and have surrounded myself with like minded and intelligent people so I don't have to constantly defend myself or worry around even physically defending myself the way I heard some friends have had to do in Chicago and New York City.

Back in February I remember hearing about bad flu's going around and I was going to visit my dad for while because he was hospitalized for a series of non-corona related issues and this was also before Corona was public knowledge. I wore a mask through the airport and at the hospital and of course was getting crazy stares but I didn't mind back then and I would just brush it off. I had been trained to do this when I visited Korea many times. I already had fabric face masks from casual to funny animal faces. I use the masks when I clean cat litter and when my asthma is acting up from dust or if I had to go out with a cough from a cold to pick up something. I even use it in long car rides because I get car sick and put a few drops of essential oil on it. Wearing a mask is not irregular for me, it was just a part of regular life culture that I picked up from visiting Korea as part of my culture.

Fast forward to today we have gone through so many transitions over something that should just be basic health but instead because of our broken leadership what should just be common knowledge like washing hands, has become political. It is the most insane thing I think that I have witnessed in my life time. This entire "karen" thing of people shouting their freedoms etc etc. I've never felt especially connected to being an "american" but I've never been so embarrassed to admit where I live before. I've had friends and family around the world call and message me to make sure my family and I are ok because from outside media we just look pathetic. My South Korean friends seem to think of us just as sad a state as North Korea because we seem to be the only country that continues to spike up and down at alarming rates.

Closer to home when everything first blew up I was terrified to go outside. I would try to act normal and run an errand alone and sometimes sit in the car and just cry because of the looks I would get from not only wearing a mask but being asian and wearing a mask. I remember clearly the first time I went to Whole Foods to get some comfort guac (cause food is important to me) hardly anyone was wearing a mask; black, white, hispanic the only consistent people I saw wearing masks were asians. I also noticed there wasn't really any social distancing except when it came to asians wearing masks.  People were still reaching in front of each other to grab produce or squeezing by aisle ways instead of taking turns. But when I would turn down an aisle with my mask whomever saw me in that aisle immediately left. It was so bizarre, I felt both ostracized but also relieved that people were keeping their distance.

I tried very hard to keep a strong face telling myself even though I knew I wasn't sick at least wearing a mask kept people at a distance. The hard thing is they say you can't tell emotions very well because of mask wearing, but honestly in the eyes says everything and there was fear, hate, judgement and concern. That was in the beginning and even if though they might not of been wearing masks they still were with fake polite smiles or trying to keep a blank face. 

Now it's not so bad since it is a statewide mandate for us in Ohio to wear masks in public spaces and all the places I go to enforce it. I still feel the judgement I still don't feel comfortable especially when our president had basically put a target on asians calling it "Kung-Flu" across the media. 

In honesty I have gone through plans to even go to Korea for a month or two to get away from all of this mess. Not just for the threat of Corona but also just for the stress relief to be surrounded by "my people" so I won't feel the burden or anxiety or unfounded guilt from US media. I have seriously debated the annoyance of going through that two week enforced quarantine with my 5 year old son. I think if not for my husband and his work I would of just gone the entire summer and who knows, with distance learning I could of stayed longer.  It's still an escape plan.  I feel almost like I am planning for the zombie outbreak and how to survive. 

I feel that unfortunately because of the way leadership has handled this and stigmatized yet another minority that even when a vaccine is ready and working and this pandemic is under control there will be years upon years of repercussion on asians. It makes me so sad that my son will have to face this as part of his normal as he grows. All I can do is educate and prepare him and instill in him the golden rule, to treat others as he would want to be treated and continue to encourage his empathic personality. I knew he would already be growing up with the struggle of being Half asian and now it's just another thing to add into the mix.

Where was this when I was pregnant and planning? The Glory of online Invitations

Progress is amazing. The world of the interwebs is amazing. Due to me having a 3.5 year old toddler I have had my head in the sand of parenthood and small business like an ostrich.

I recently went to a baby shower and was amazed at how adorable and how easy it was to have everything personally themed.  They are huge Super Mario Bros fans and excepting a little girl. It was all Princess Peach.  Regrettably I didn't take photos like I should have but I overhead the friend who organized it talking to a relative about how easy it was with templates from all the same site. I didn't even realize that people now do Ready to Pop announcements in addition to Baby shower invitations!

I love to do themes and throw parties myself but I feel like we had covered the big milestones already. My only hope is that my little man would love a themed birthday and lucky enough he is ALL about Godzilla, King of Monsters.

I was invited to check out BasicInvite.com and got some amazing free samples.  Before saying yes I checked out their website and found the most adorable template for my friend Ashley.  Their family is into race cars and this seemed so perfect.

One of the things that really caught my eye was that almost all the templates had accompanying thank you cards!  I think that is truly genius because then you can have the thank you cards on hand as you open presents and use a post it not to instantly write down what they received and from whom, then a few days later sit down with the stack and get it done all at once.

Along with the idea of already having the thank you cards they also offer "Address Capturing Service" - Basic Invite offers an address capturing service that allows customers to simply share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media to request their friends and family’s addresses which will be stored in the customer’s account and can then be selected during the design process. Basic Invite offers recipient address printing at no cost on all Christmas card orders. That is definitely something I will be using in the future and OH GOD how much time could of been saved if this had been around when I planning my wedding, baby shower, 100 days, first birthday, etc etc.

After scoping it out I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their products and how efficient and quick it was to process. I not only did a sample for Colin's birthday months away but also some things for business.  I went a little rogue and used the wedding invitations options to get some logo printed stickers for the shop and also tried out their clear plastic cards for my own consultant/artist business.

I was also in love with the idea that they do custom samples. Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers the ability to order a printed sample of their actual invitation so they can see exactly how it will print as well as the paper quality before they ever have to place their final order.

Once again the templates that were available and that I ended up choosing were super easy to customize. It can be a little overwhelming since they have almost unlimited colors. Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the littlest detail. This is something that sets them apart from almost any other online stationery company and is the biggest draw.

There is also an option for 40 different colors of envelopes to choose from. So if you make major color changes in your template you make sure you have just the right envelope to match to make it a complete package and this is for ALL products not just wedding invites. I also like that they envelopes are all peel and stick so that is one less hassle in the entire process.

Here is the big reveal!  My order came and I was super happy with the results and the care of the packaging. It is great that they also offer a code to use on your order if you are satisfied with your samples which makes it even more appealing to use Basic Invite.

I ended up going with the Dragon and didn't change any of the colors because I loved the template just the way it was.

I did customize my back to make it a little more personal with a note and photo of Colin in his favorite dragon costume. Since the part is quite a few months from now and we do not know the current showtimes for the new Godzilla movie I left a little blank spot that I can fill in later if I decided to order them now.

It was so easy to add the photo and it connected to a variety of different photo programs that were also helpful.

I also ordered the accompanying thank you card because let's be honest, If I don't have the cards already I might never actually write them and then I would feel like a jerk.

Right now Basic Invite is offering 15% off with coupon code: 15FF51 
and there are having specials with ladybug baby shower invitations and baby shower invitations for boys. 

I will say that being able to check out these samples and explore this company has been a treat and I look forward to how else I can use them in the coming years as I have more parties and perhaps more family to plan for (it's not all about me and don't jump to any conclusions).

When did my craft get political?

Talk about taking the joy out of something........ I was sitting here in my yarn store eating my rice and homemade szechuan fried green beans and pork that my extremely not asian husband made for me and just started to laugh.

Over the last week I suppose there has been this huge influx of political/racial justification posts throwing out acronyms that I've been exhausted filtering and looking up what they stand for.

So I'm told it all starts with this blog post from the woman who owns Fringe Supply Company (I'm not going to link it because I believe if you are reading this you are smart enough to find it yourself and I'm not here to perpetuate). A friend posted it in our chat group and I started to read it but it was very long and I have very little time for these things having to run my own business, house and toddler amidst finding the little precious times for joy in my life. So of course I don't spend a lot of time reading something that I know stirred the pot. Call me ignorant or whatever but I just didn't finish that article. But from that post came a combatant post from a designer I once admired and now have lost their sparkle in my eye.

The short of it was that a midwestern well off white woman who is very self aware wrote a bit of a personal and open note about her own ignorance and how she was making an effort to travel the world and change her perceptions. I think the only wrong she might of had was openly discussing her ignorance and past prejudices, (yes I have at this point read said article).  Anyways she was completely jumped on top of and now it has spurred this entire big movement in the fiber community to be more aware and inclusive and silly things are happening and I just can't even deal with the social media burst of it all.

I got an email at the store from what she referred to herself as a "blind white woman" and used POC in the context and I was flabbergasted that she wanted me to make some sort of social media stance on this whole matter and if I would make a list for her of POC (which at the time I didn't know what it meant and when I found out I was kind of appalled) of makers, designers, owned companies etc so she can do her part to support them.  In a nutshell I politely told her it is easy to do the research on her own, I was not current with what this whole movement is and it does not affect with whom we do business with because we believe in good products and good designs.  I also pointed out because I personally know several people that keep their personal totally hidden so that they can make a living judged only on the merit of their work.

Craziness right?! It's just yarn, knitting and I am not going to go out of my way to make a list for someone else because if they really care they would do the work themselves. Yes I found it slightly offensive that she would reach out to me knowing I am asian that I would just automatically be the go to make her amends. My friend Toni said it best in her live feed when she said "not knowing what you are apologizing for isn't a real apology".  I personally find reverse racism more insulting because that is someone educated enough to know what is wrong and over compensating for their own peace of mind and validation. 

Another friend in the industry who just happens to be white has had harassing messages asking for her opinion and to make it public and even went so far as to call her deaf to what is going on around.  A total no-win for her and I was just so angry for her because like that email it felt like they were trying to guilt or bully us into speaking an opinion about it. It's one thing to just ask off to the side privately "hey what do you think?" but to call us out as businesses to take a stand seems entirely inappropriate.

I feel bad for companies that getting the ripple effect reach back of people going back to accuse them of not being inclusive or sensitive with their content, titles or inclusion. I'm sorry but if a magazine is from the UK specifically catering to Nordic inspirations and Nordic traditions in a region that their indigenous people are fair skinned how is that wrong? I mean it was our choice to support and import. Just like it is each individuals choice to join or not join this conversation like ANY conversation. Just be polite, mind your manners and if you need to feel better about yourself and validation there might be something more deep set wrong going on. Also why isn't anyone attacking the popular Japanese magazine for only using asian models? I mean might as well be fair right?!

Anyways back to the point this whole thing has just become so overblown and ridiculous and in the end I'm just like hey guys, let's just knit. Let's just appreciate that we have the means and are comfortable in our lives to afford this past time. It's considered a gentle art, why make it war?  Also part of a charm of knitting is being able to enjoy something alone and as comfort. I know quite a few designers that a proud that no one can recognize them when they are out at shows or conventions and have even opened my store early for one because they want the merit of their work to speak for them not what they look like. Those people are my real heros.

That is my 2-cents on this whole thing.

Fleas & Things on the street market shopping!

This was another wayward post. Several years ago started but the bones of it still hold truth when you are going to a flea and doing street market shopping in any country.

A while ago I went to the Short North Reduction Sale. It was packed!  Never had I gone to a reduction sale where there were so many people before.  I usually go later and get some good pickings but this year I wanted to be early to make sure I had first dibs.  Oh, so not the case this year.  It was heavily advertised in ways that it wasn't in the past and I felt the space was much smaller.

After going through that and then to my Friends Flea Swap at the Gangway it got me thinking about some not so common sense tips when going to these sorts of events.
1. Do not expect there to be a dressing room
2. Don't bring a super bulky bag (if you even bring a full purse at all)
3. Be prepared to be elbowed and disregard this as rudeness (it is a battlefield of discounts essentially)
4. Bring lot's of Cash most vendors even though they have credit card machines in their stores they rarely bring them out to these events or the wifi will be spotty.
5. Be prepared to wait in a line
6. Come early at least an hour before the actual opening if you want the best picks.
7. Dress Prepared!

This last part is what I want to cover mostly.  When I say dress prepared I mean dress as if you need to try things on and won't have a fitting room available because most likely you won't.

 My staples for dressing for a flea or sale like this are

1. Leggings, bike shorts or boy shorts
2. Tank top (or sports bra)
3. Baggy sweatshirt to go over (can also be used to put on the ground if you don't want your feet on the direct floor)
4. Skirt (if I feel I need to have something besides the leggings/tights)
5. Flats to wear but heels in the purse (to try on things for height).

 Another trick to use if there isn't a fitting room and you don't want to try something on there at least for pants and skirts is the neck trick.  The neck trick is where you take the garment and wrap the waist band around your neck.  If the two side seams don't touch them it is too small or if it goes way past each other when they meet then it will be too big.  You do not want to make it choking tight or else you are just cheating yourself.  Keep it as loose around your neck as you would like to be on your real waist.  I know that seems like witch craft but it is a tried and true method. Just remember this is to match your waist so of course if they are high rise or vice versa and hip hugger pants think about that accordingly.

When I go to the street markets in Korea often times there are never dressing rooms and they would hand you a big elasticized skirt that you could either put on top and hang on your neck or just over my waist to try clothes on with out being indecent. Sometimes they would let you behind their booth to change but most times they would take you just to the end of the aisle with the "to-go" dressing room. It's not for everyone but for some people the discomfort is worth the discounts or they just like a little adventure and non-uniformity.

Best of luck to you if you take the dive to hit up a flea or street market and remember it's not personal if you get shoved a little (especially in Korea from older women, that's pretty normal).

2019 Updates on Life - it's just words

I had been away from my blog for a long time. There was a point where as much as I loved this and writing I had gotten too busy taking care of my little Colin, training, being a wife and small business owner.

My mother passed away just days before Thanksgiving due to pancreatic cancer. It was terrible she was diagnosed only three months prior. I was the one who took her to the ER where they began testing and found the tumor. It was my first time going out to visit my brother in Las Vegas and seeing my parents after they had moved out there. I had Colin with me. We enjoyed most of the time there then Sunday after my brother Birthday Brunch mom told me she was in pain and wanted to go to the ER. I knew she was in pain the whole weekend, but no one else noticed and I kept an eye on her. I took her temperature and she had a fever over 100, I made a quick call to my friend's mom who is a nurse and she confirmed I should take her to ER. That was the day before I was supposed to leave. It was heartbreaking to leave her then knowing she would be in the hospital for days doing testing. From there it was fast and progressively worse and I am thankful we got her into Hospice for her last days to be comfortable. It's obviously still a fresh wound which is why I am coming back to writing/blogging.

As a friend told me I am a private person, yet not at all. I just don't like to talk about feelings much, I don't like to be exposed but I do like people to know there are things going on. I use social media a lot as a quick way to update friends abroad or that I don't get to see very often so they know I am living life and doing ok. Some days are better than others but I'm still here.

I think another thing that spurred my want to write again is going through this aftermath of death and how there are so many things I had to figure out for my father and myself with how to deal with death, not emotionally but fiscally and what a death means in terms of a process not a person. Unless you have been through it is not an easy thing to grasp while you are mourning and no one prepares for this because it is a dark thing that leads to dark thoughts. So I wanted to write the process in a practical guide and maybe it will be published maybe not but at least it will be out in the world in some form or another and maybe when it's my time my son will find it and get some comfort in his mom's overly practical mind.

I was also approached by someone I didn't know very well at my gym and was touched. It was my first time working with this person and after class was over he said to me that he found one of my blog posts about testing and it inspired him to come to my gym (Short North Muay Thai). I didn't know my blog, my posts had an impact and were still circulating.  He's been at the gym over a year now and I'm happy to say that he is now on his own path and will be testing in March.

It's a funny thing how something so abstract as the internet has now connected so many people for the good or bad it is a big influence on our lives. I am just one person, small insignificant but I see I have made an impression in the world no matter how small and that is a comfort. It maybe just a little but it isn't nothing and that is a victory to put something positive and helpful out there.

This is a new beginning for this blog so Cheers! let's be logical, depressed, helpful, cheering and celebrating all together because those are all parts of life.

This is Me, or how I perceived myself in 2018

This is yet another old post that I thought I needed to clean up, finish up and put out there as part of my 2019 de-clutter. I started this sometime in 2018, I don't remember when but it was before I decided to take part in fights.

 I'm a proud small business owner of a specialty Yarn Store and Knitter extraordinaire! 

 Someone who loves to dress up as a bad-ass with a love for cheesy Kungfu

 I also like to dress up and play at being a model for friends

 I'm an avid Muay Thai fan (Top is Lerdsila at the Ronin 2018 Seminar and bottom is Saenchai from 2017)

 I like to leap up and take chances at being a badass in the most humbling environment surrounded by supportive friends in a muay thai gym unlike any other. (Short North Muay Thai)

I even went so far in 2018 to check off another bucket list item and went to my first fight! I had two fights, first a win and then a lose by decision (it was really close I think I was nicked points due to headgear is what I overheard) but they were good and amazing and I'll talk about that more in another post.

 I'm the mother to an adorable mixed child, Colin Eldon Hall and am prepared to stand up for him and with him when it comes time to talk about his multi-facted ethnic culture.

 I have been and will return to being an independent Fashion Designer

 I am a positive force with colorful hair no matter what other people may think. Both traditional and radical but always respectful and full of empathy.

 I'm a wife and partner to someone who likes to smile and laugh with me.

 Had the pleasure of being on national TV with one of my best friends aiming high for a dream that has not come true.

Being almost famous by association (that is a young Daniel Henney and I was his dresser for my school fashion show at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

We still have three cats that are complete idiots that love us unconditionally and they just add to the disaster that Andy and I try to call our home.  It's hard with an anxiety ridden orange girl, broken trash cat who thinks every meal is his last then pukes and a high strung princess cat that thinks she is the center of everyone's world. But we love them.

I still try to make time for video games and I'll never stop my love of plushies or Final Fantasy.

The Blank Agency and a little 2019 fashion update.

I had the pleasure of having work with The Blank Agency that was made public and it is an amazing piece of work.
Using my fashion designs to shoot this cinematic presentation. Which you can view here!

The pieces used were from a white and gold collection I did to embody different royal characters from Alice in Wonderland.

The White Queen is long silk and velvet dress
The Red Queen is the gold silk skirt and embroidered top
Queen Alice is the gold bow dress
Simply Alice is the white bell pants with the Silk coverup

This was part of my Senior Collection for The School of the Art Institute of Chicago back in 2003. It is crazy to see old work of my still being relevant and exciting for other people. It's an inspiration that I would like to visit again some day in the future to see how my style has changed since then.

From here on is an update on since I had stopped my blog but wanted to finish off some of my drafts that I had started. 

It has been a few years and I feel like my design aesthetic for fashion has moved even further into two directions. Full functionality in the form of the handmade slow fashion movement to wear clothes you made yourself and high art form where it may not even be a wearable piece as much as sculpture or a representation of organic form.  We will see what 2019 can unfold for my progress as a designer and artist.

Business is never usual

WOAH what a trip the past few months have been! Our first holiday season at the store and it was great! but then quickly came the checks and balances between paying off orders, new orders and still being mid season for fibers.

We found we have had lurch just the same as everyone else in February. Somedays no one comes in and other days during a snow storm a stream of people come in. Who knows what will happen in retail. Even as long as I have worked in retail clothing (over 10 years)  it's hard to judge what will happen day to day.

I have good vibes and strong faith in our little growing business.
I feel more and more encouraged by hearing great feedback from my vendors and new vendors. Lately there has been a good amount of compliments saying that we are their biggest and best stockist, or they came across our website and liked what we were doing and how selective we are and would like to be a part of that selection. I also appreciated that when we talked on the phone they said we were their first choice in the area of shops to be a part of and wanted to know if it was ok for them to contact the other stores or if we wanted to be their primary stockist for central Ohio.

PRETTY FRICKING FANTASTIC EH?!

This week also had a short email conversation with someone in England about us carrying their crewel wools to start embroidery classes and they complimented us heavily on our lovely looking website and being so modern with our design and selection of companies that we carry.

Even though sales are in the slums with everyone recovering from overspending on the holidays and guarding their pockets for tax season, these compliments and conversations are just what we needed to know we are doing good and it's in a much larger sense than just our local community.

I just had to post this little love rant diddy out there someplace and not clog up the social media spheres.

Cheers and Onwards friends!

Oh, Hallo blog!

It's been a while since I have blogged.  I'm not going to say this is a new year's resolution to start blogging because that would be a lie. I am going to say that I have a lot of things on my mind lately and stuff I want to share with the world for whomever still watches and follows my life adventures.

I would not suggest for you to not live vicariously through me and the events in my life. However I would strongly suggest you go out and make your own waves, jump into the deep end of the pool and make yourself a little or a lot happier in your daily going ons.

My life is swiftly making some bold changes and it is very scary but all for the best. Finances are heavy on my mind as I get older and see the bills from student loans or silly things that I could of not bought but did through store credit cards. I am trying to catch up and be as debt free as possible. It is also hard to budget when some of the new things in your life have a higher premium but you know their value. To help out on top of opening a new store and continuing my arts administration job, I clean part time to pay for my Muay Thai classes.  Did you not know I do Muay Thai? maybe you did and maybe you didn't.  I don't think that is something I normally have ever discussed on the blog but that will be changing. This is going to be more about my life as a whole and not focused on fashion or fiber. My one promise to you is I won't blog very much about food because I sort of detest food blogs, it's just a tease they make me hungry and I will never actually make those gorgeous desserts people post.

So in the upcoming year/s these are some of the things you'll expect to hear from me:
- Little life philosophies as I reach my mid 30's
- Things that have inspired me
- Muay thai and other physical attributes that have heavily affected my life
- Knitting, Crochet, tatting, Spinning
- Sewing
- My personal artwork
- Video games and general nerdiness
- I also maybe have less pictures and more writing because, writing is what I dig and pictures are fillers.

As always I invite you chime in and start a conversation through the comments. Without discussion how can anyones opinion change or point be made? I like facts, I like having things brought to my attention that maybe I'm not the most educated in.

Cheers!

At 33

Hello world!

Tomorrow I turn 33. It is sort of a milestone for me at such a random number.  Firstly it took me some time to realize how old I really am since I pretty much stopped counting after 30. It's not even the number that makes it a milestone but more just the amount of things have have happened in the past few years, let alone months.

 I was humbled and honored to test for my level 2 shorts at Muay Thai.  It was a hard decision and big challenge for me. I wanted to do it and train for it but I don't think I started to train for the right reasons.

I was coming off of a pretty big high from seeing friends fight and all the fight training our gym had been doing. In the end I did it for all the right reasons, my friends around the gym and fellow testers training kept me level headed and helped me to remember what was really important and the spirit of our gym. There was even a point when I thought I might of pulled out just because I didn't feel my mind and heart were in the right place for this honor.

In the end I went through it and it was AMAZING. This time was somehow more impactful in my life then the first test. It was rough no doubt as I had only started into sparring maybe two months beforehand and even with all the extra gym time I put in there just wasn't anything to prepare for the endurance needed just for sparring. 

Overall this helped me to let go of my senseless competitiveness and goal driven accomplishments. It let me just relax, enjoy and appreciate the moments in life more. I also learned to let go some of my silly cultural habits of seniority which has always been this hanging stress in my life. 

Super proud of all my fellow testers and big shouts out to Doug, Malik and Lavaughn for being there with me through Level 2! It wasn't that long ago but I feel that in my short time of about a year and half I have learned so much and looking at the new beginner's classes I get excited for them and to be a part of their journey.

Then two weeks later........

I completed another wonderful runway show with the Alternative Fashion Mob.  I couldn't be more happy with the results and most importantly all the people I worked with. I have amazing friends all around me and they really lift me up and assist when I need it. My Muay Thai testing definitely help me be very "whoo saaaa" through this fashion show where I let all the problems other people were having slide off of me and didn't stress with what was wrong but just how to get through it and have fun.

I was so fortunate to also have the amazing models that I did for this show. To me the right energy and personality is more important when doing such a big production but I was also fortunate enough to have beautiful models.  You can see photos of my full collection on my Torn Angel Facebook Page. 

Amidst all of this has also been the store!

 Everything is coming together and I just got back from TNNA this weekend and made some very interesting orders that I was not prepared for. It was so hard to go there not knowing what exactly my customer base will be and figuring out who my client really is before I am open. It's a struggle to think about what I want my store to be and how I also want to service the community at the same time. I don't want anyone to feel alienated at the same time I want to stick to my creative guns with my yarn selections.

The POS is all set up and I didn't think that would be such an ordeal but it was and now it's all good. We have a rhythm for it all and I understand how it all works. I would show pictures of the whole store but it's still a slight mess right tools and things needing to be made. I'm also a bit spread out to work on the display for the windows and just general it's a mess.

Lastly I got my second tattoo and I can't say it will be my last but she might be. I'll just show you a picture because it means too much to me to just clump my feelings together with everything else and I am still relishing in the glow of it and all the feelings surmounted with this tattoo.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'll be spending the entire day traveling across time zones to be in Korea! now that so many things are over with I can finally start to get excited as I pack and get ready. I can say that I am nowhere near where I thought I would be today.  If I talked to younger self I would reassure myself and say:

"No, you won't be married with 3 kids as a housewife or working for a large fashion company, but it's ok. You will find a new fantastic path, be happier and be full of wonderful encounters, friendships and fulfillment in ways you didn't know exist. You will be an entire person on your own whole and without regret and you will love everything with all your heart and it will be ok even though it's not where you thought you would be. Enjoy the adventure because it is all yours alone"

Cheers!

Dreams to reality

Hello!
Long time no post. It's ok life happens and it's just happening very rapidly for me again. This past month has been yet another flurry of activities at work. We were given unexpected notice to vacate out donated gallery space. I won't get into details but Columbus Underground did a good post about it here.  It was inconvenient timing considering it was also during the peak of my grant writing season and strategic planning for the board of trustees. Amongst some other karfluffel that had to do with grant writing.  Not the best situation but overall for the best. It was just very draining and exhausting of course and mentally not very good for my positive vibes.

In other news we found a store front! A glorious store front! My dream of having a yarn store has finally come to fruition! Through all this mess at work and stress I can turn around and smile because I see the progress on my store and can't help but smile at the work ahead of me for my own business.  It probably won't be ready for at least a month. I need to still get my vendors in order and even then it will be a soft opening. I can't do a grand opening till after the next TNNA (The National Needleworks Association Convention) and when I get back from my trip to Korea. Oh did I not mention that the Hubby and I will be going to Korea?! (we'll get back to that in a moment).

Here are some pictures of the interior space as we are working on it.

So this is the view from the back of the store. Big open spaces. We are keeping this counter type thing, especially since it has outlets built into it. That area will be perfect for classes and setting up sewing machines. We'll be painting it all white and adding oak counters for the knitting machines to mount and for the ball winder and swift to be located.

Here is another view of what will be the class area. You can kind of get a feel for the dimensions by the huge cabinetry sitting in place that is waiting to be taken out to the dump.

By the front window there were these built in benches. Lovely but messed with the height for the window displays. We moved them out about two feet from the window to give me some room to work with. I will need to paint those benches and make cushions for them. Brilliant front windows with lot's of light and will be a joy to make visual displays in.  I will be channeling my days working at the 5th ave Anthropologie visuals in NYC.

Finally here is a view from the front door looking in. Tons and tons of space which is both scary and exciting to fill. Lot's of work ahead for me and the hubby.

No for reals this is the last store related thing.  A mock up of what our outside will potentially look like if approved by the Landlord.

OK now that is out of my system let's talk Korea.
So hubby finally agreed that if we didn't go to Korea now when would we go? Certainly not when we have a little one or two. We also didn't know the store would happen so soon. We also booked the tickets before we knew all the work move/grant writing got crazy.  Anyways it's been another beacon of light in my life to look forward to.  I'm so nervous I haven't been back to Korea in 14 years and this is the hubby's first time ever! It will certainly be an adventure. We are staying in Seoul as I don't have very many relatives that we keep in contact with over there. We will mostly be on our own as my bestie over there will be busy with work. I've found a lot of friends that will be there at the same time which will be nice.  I could take a whole other post about just Korea. So I think I will.  OH and we are also going to Japan on the way back from Korea! This will be completely new for me as I have never been able to spend tourist time in Japan. All I have seen of Tokyo is the bullet train and the American Embassy to renew my passport between countries for my brother's wedding in 2000.

I will try my best to be more diligent about blogging.  I miss it dearly and really should make more time to do this and read up on the blogs I used to follow.  For now good night and CHEERS!

Moving along

Super exciting news in the world of small business action.

I think I finally have my logo. It still needs a bit of tweaking but here it is. My header logo followed by my more square type logo. It is amazing how long it took me to come to this point using photoshop. I think I still want my ampersand to be more bold so I need to work on thickening that to match my type. Otherwise I am pretty happy with what I have started.

Other exciting news is applying for another spot. Learning from our hesitation on space last time we made the move on a letter of intent pretty quickly. They aren't lying when they say that life is coming at you fast! I have my fingers crossed this will work out. It is a space that is entirely too large for where we wanted to start and over our original intended budget. On the plus side this is a space that we expect to grow into fully and the location is near perfect and accommodates everything I was looking for in a space:

• Bus line access
• Walking distance from home
• Street and dedicated parking
• Part of a neighborhood
• Other successful businesses in close proximity
• Handicap access
• Potential for a small kitchen/dye area
• Open floor plan

We have only just started the process so I don't want to jump the gun but it's a good start.

I did apply for my first vendor and was granted an account which is also exciting. They are one of my first picks for needle and crochet hook vendors. One down and more than a dozen more to go. But I am going to take it in stride till the brick and mortar is secure. I have been dabbling with the idea of just launching an e-commerce site to get the ball rolling and make some social media marketing and income to assist. I also need to order business cards that at least have the logo, email and website.

Going through this process has also forced me to work on putting my business plan all together and in writing in one place. I can talk it big but to have something physical to send in replacement of me being a spokesperson is entirely different. I actually get a bit of sick pleasure working on it the same way I do for my work at the Ohio Art League writing grants. It is very interesting how closely both grant writing and business plan writing are similar. You are basically trying to win someone over to your side with clear, precise writing, stating facts, projections and puffing your feathers a bit. 

Lord, I never thought I would want to own a business. All this administrative work is just not fun, or so I thought. There is also a sick pleasure with the idea of being incredibly successful because of your own endeavors. Even working on the projected expenses, income, and startup budget I find exciting. I know what I am good at and this store will use my personal potential to the fullest. 

I am an enabler so I make a fantastic sales rep.

I am a helper so I love to educate people and see that "A HA" moment hit them

I am a hard worker, so I will put all my energy and love into this business

I am a talented seamstress, so I know the addition of alterations will be a good profitable decision.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

This past weekend was Ohayocon and I had the pleasure of my friend Vinh taking some professional photos of me in my Lolita regalia!

I am completely in love with these pictures and wish I had more places and excuses to use them in things.  I am very tempted to change my Linkedin profile picture to the one below. 

Outfit Details:

Blouse - Fanplus Friend

Skirt - Enchantlic Enchantilly 

Socks - Enchantlic Enchantilly

Shoes- Uggs

Locket - Toronto Craft Vendor

Makeup foundation - Too faced Glitter Glue, Benefit Plush foundation, Shiseido powder

Blush - MAC Dainty mineralize and Lazy Sunday creme blush

Eyes - MAC white frost/parrot/shroomed/holographic glitter pigment, Limecrime Elf

Eyeliner - Urban Decay 24/7 black liquid liner

Lashes - some cheap fancy ones from a Korean cosmetic store

Brows - Faceshop

Lips - MAC pervette, MAC baby sparks lip glass

It is a very strange thing to look at your own face and be like WOW that is stunning! Not to be a total narcissist but the curls were just right, my hair color is spot on with my makeup and the blush was done well for once! Everything in this picture just worked right and I still can't believe that this is me. I think this is also one of the few pictures where I see the huge difference that my Muay Thai has made in my life and body.

Anyways that is all for now..... people really shouldn't be blogging at 3am in the morning anyways..

Cheers!