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Monday, June 14, 2010

the hits just keep on comin

saturday was the sctyle sample sale in santa monica. i'd had an exhausting friday, which i had off but spent running around like a madwoman:

  • started off right with a mani/pedi with the teen, before she had to head to her dad's for the week. gave a local salon a second shot, after a not-so-great visit months ago. thought they'd redeemed themselves as we enjoyed our services - but then the girl doing my manicure looked sideways at me and offered me an eyebrow wax. i declined, since i have an esthetician i like (and am admittedly overdue to see), and she glanced at my brows again and said "you need it." what. the. eff. rude!
  • after the teen was picked up, i headed to bed bath & beyond for tablecloths and instead walked out with a jewelry tree - a cute way to display necklaces and bangles and the like.
  • on to home goods, where i found some nice white bowls and trays (more display items) and a clear plastic jar i thought i'd fill with ring pops and use in my little girls' jewelry display.
  • down to smart & final, to pick up the pops. on the way, traded a zillion texts with the teen, who'd miraculously gotten her dad to okay her going to tennis camp next week. of course, friday was the last day to turn in fees and paperwork. oy.
  • realized i had zero checks to pay for camp, so i headed home to drop off the stuff i'd bought and pick up the checkbook.
  • over to the high school, where i managed to find the athletics office and get her signed up.
  • still needing tablecloths, i tried tj maxx, where i found a much cuter jewelry display AND a set of three glass jars for the same price as the one jar at home goods. oy vey.
  • burger king, for a quickie whopper to go in my growling belly.
  • home again, to grab the bags of crap i now needed to return.
  • back to home goods, where i returned the jar.
  • and then bed bath & beyond to exchange the jewelry tree for a couple of tablecloths i'd seen and nixed the first time around. gah!
i was able to relax and spend some time at the grandparents' house, where MIL and the bean had spent most of the day. we kicked it with them for a while, had dinner, and eventually made our way home. insane, yes?

and it wasn't even over yet. i had to get up early to gather all my shit for the show, then hop in the shower and get the hub up and ready (he'd volunteered to go with me, a move he was sure to regret later). vendors were allowed to start set-up at 8, and we managed to arrive around 8:45.



we made our way to the loading dock, and got some help unloading the car. i headed down immediately to start working, and the hub went off in search of parking for less than $16.



my wristband identified me as an event vendor.



and this is where we were.



after some scrambling, our table was ready.



and so was everyone else's, as the clock struck ten and folks were allowed to enter.



next to me was this table of USC gear by stadium chic. this was a popular stop, being an SC event and all. apparently, it was being run by jennie garth's assistant and her pals.



on my other side, a table laden down with bikinis and cover-ups.



there was lots of jewelry aside from mine.



 clothing galore.



i briefly considered buying the bean a present from here:



there were handbags, too:



i was amused at this rolleez-like stand, where i politely asked if i could take a picture and ended up taking it not only of the merchandise but the cheerful girls selling them:



this charitable organization was present and accepting donations of gently used business attire:



shoes made from recycled materials:



and other random items.



while the hub took off in search of food, i munched on this delicious little nugget:



he arrived with this bag in hand:


and pulled out some scrumptious boxes that filled the room with the aroma of their yummy contents.



the event was over at 3. we packed up, signed off on the donation form (i'd committed to donating 15% of my sales to the alumni club), and headed out into the gorgeous day.



lots of other folks took advantage, too - the pier was full of hustle and bustle.



okay, i'm going to admit it - as much as i love the stella & dot merchandise and like the way the company is run, i'm getting a bit discouraged. i'm not giving up by any means, but my lackluster sales time after time are starting to get me down. luckily, we've got our big annual conference next month (it's called "hoopla," heh) and hopefully i'll get pumped up all over again. i know lots of other stylists are kicking ass, and yet i can't seem to get my business off the freaking ground. ugh.

i need a cookie.

8 comments:

  1. Well you're definitely putting good effort out there!! I hope the meeting reinvigorates you and gives you some new ideas to get out there and make it happen!

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  2. It's so sad that after all those fun pics, all I can think about is the pics of the food. #teamfatass

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  3. Sending lots of "sales vibes" to you for your Stella & Dot stuff. Like CaliGirl said, you're definitely making quite the effort!

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  4. GL to you and hopefully the hoopla event will give you some great ideas. That event looked like fun nonetheless. What has been your most successful sales event so far? Maybe do more of those?

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  5. oh, fig. so glad you guys got to kind of eat there. mmm.

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  6. Ditto Nanners; def. lots of sales vibes to your business. Yummmm Fig. Deeelicious.

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  7. I both love and hate weekends that are that crazy busy. :)

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