lime pine cones

For the past few weeks, we have been working day in and day out on our upcoming retail shows. I have been ordering, organizing, buying, building, cutting trees, and spraying pine cones. Yep, spraying pine cones, lime in fact. We are excited for these shows and have been preparing a great deal for them. We have had to break out the saws, hammers, and spray paint cans to get these booths together. It will be worth it in the end, but wow can it tire you out.

In the middle of our preparations and all of our going ons, we get word that our parents will both be undergoing individual surgeries in the coming weeks (yes, we should have a frequent surgery family pass)... and then, to top it off my mom gets violently ill AND shares it with me! So, I have been down for the count the past four days (miserable) and found out today that my dad got it yesterday. I guess the family that shares stays together.

On Wednesday, my brother and I get to select hundreds of lamps for our shows in a hot warehouse. YAY! The fun never ends. Actually, we can't wait to get our hands dirty and select some awesome lamps. This quarter is going to fly by... one lime pine cone at a time!

The Wanderer

I have been floating from one project to another these days, since being freed from my gilded cage... I mean my job. I have been working on my new business venture with my brother (more to come about that in the coming weeks). If someone asks me to help with something, my mind wanders in another direction while completing their project. My mom asked me to design our Pinson Family Christmas invitation (still haven't done it yet), BUT I did update my mom's blog header. She's asleep right now and doesn't even know it yet. Hope she likes it, oh well back to invitation.

I also side-tracked again and helped my cousin-in-law with her start-up company. I got to help with naming it and the logo. When I finish, I will post the logo on here. Her company will be a consignment fine furniture and home decor store. I named it "Then & Again" and it stuck.

If you know my family at all, we can have one conversation and start a company. Whitney started hers last week. Colby and I formed ours a month ago. We come from a long line of entrepreneurs. One of my favorite family business ventures was my parents' disco club. Yes, you read correctly - a DISCO, a discotheque to be more accurate. It was called the "Nite Lite" and I can only imagine the decor it was rocking back then. My aunt and uncle also started a Pretzel store in the mall on a whim too. Since then, we have had lighting and furniture stores/companies, electronic and appliance stores, corrugated packaging company, mattress store, restaurants, jewelry stores, construction companies, real estate, etc. One thing can be said about my family, if there is a dollar to be made we don't waste time or ideas.

I can trace this back to my childhood. I had the rite of passage Lemonade stand. Who didn't? However, did you recycle your cups to increase your profits? Did you market your stand on two of the busiest corners of the neighborhood? Did you offer a free cookie to the consumer who spent $2 on a 8 oz cup of watered-down lemonade? I can honestly say I did all of these and took my money all the way to the piggy bank. I love business, in any format. During my childhood, I had a Friendship Bracelet business that home-delivered (that was the key!) Way before Slater, Jessie, and Kelly had Buddy Bands (see below if you lived under a rock in the 90's), I had franchised a Ramblewood neighborhood empire of selling various bracelet styles to all of the kids and indirectly to their parents. I deployed my siblings and their friends on bikes to deliver these precious gems. They had walkie-talkies to ensure prompt delivery and customer service. The key was to get kids to do all of the work. By all accounts they were ADHD, so in order to get them to help me with my deliveries one had to make it into a game. I called it the CHiPs Game. So, in essence, Colby was one of my Erik Estrada delivery boys. Everyone wins!

Well, I guess I will design the family invitation tomorrow or maybe...