a new direction

First of all, I do realize that I told you I had a surprise that would come after the last post once I'd given you enough time to watch the video. Well, I hope you watched the video - you've definitely had plenty of time - but my surprise didn't work out the way I'd hoped. I wanted to take a picture to show you, but it doesn't quite come out in the picture: I got a tattoo. A white one. It's on my left inner forearm, and it says "i am enough."

I've had many a conversation about tattoos with people. I've always been intrigued but there's never, ever been any single thing that has been important enough to me to put it permanently on my body... until I saw Brene Brown's Ted Talk. The moment I finished watching the video, I knew I wanted to tattoo "i am enough" on my left inner forearm, and the next day, I did! I chose white because it wouldn't stand out - I think some tattoos look super unnatural - but instead it blends into the skin like a scar. More like a part of me. It hurt less than I thought it would, and more than I thought it would. Corbin held my hand the entire time. And though I wish I had spent a little more time planning what I wanted to look like, I'm really happy that I got it!

p.s... I've already got an idea for my next tattoo.

Alright, now for another new direction! I've begun an adventure that may or may not pan out for me, but I am particularly psyched out of my mind about it (Elf anyone?).... I've started a business. On Etsy. Well, it's not on Etsy yet... it's still in start-up mode... but I've mailed in my Articles of Organization to establish Grace Acoustic, LLC under which I will do business as Acoustic Handmade on Etsy. I will be making and selling lip balm.

So, here's how this started. All of my life I've had issues with my lips peeling (ew gross, I know), so for years and years and years I tried chapstick after lip balm after lip gloss, never really finding that perfect product for my lips. I even got a lip balm-making kit from Martha Stewart and had an awesome time making it. The peeling problem has improved incredibly over the years, but I'm still very picky about what I apply to my smackers. So last week, when I spent a few days on Etsy and became obsessed and decided I had to be a part of it, I realized that the creativity I could contribute is in lip balm. I have the chance to make it awesome and then make some money on it!

So research mode started. Do I need to do something legal about this? What kind of taxes do I pay? How do I do this? I figured out that if this thing does blow up and I make enough money to have to pay taxes on it, then my life will be a billion times easier if I've already taken care of tax and business stuff. So I decided to establish a business and get a tax ID. I also knew that I would have to be super organized, keeping track of absolutely everything, so I bought the supplies I needed to do so (a filing box, folders, etc), made an excel spreadsheet to keep track of expenses, and opened a checking account exclusively for business.

Research on the lip balm itself commenced. I searched for recipes. I searched for supplies. I read blogs. I scoured Etsy for other people who sell lip balm and asked them questions (the people on Etsy are so ridiculously helpful, even to somebody who may be their competition!). I found a remarkable website where I was able to find nearly everything I needed - Majestic Mountain Sage (thesage.com). I purchased my first round of supplies - containers, ingredients - and broke down the prices of all the ingredients to figure out how much it would cost me in supplies to make the lip balm.

Now I'm just waiting for the supplies to arrive so I can start COOKIN'!! I'm so ridiculously excited to experiment with ingredients and flavors and scents. And then test them on people. I'm also in the midst of designing a label, which will be awesome and professional-looking.

New and exciting things!

Oh by the way. I got to talking with a client that I was shampooing today (I work in a salon, remember?) and, through our conversation, we realized that I am all over the map. I went to JMU wanting to be a theater major. Then I was a business major. Then a religion major, film studies minor, music minor. Then I decided I wanted to be a music supervisor. Then I decided I wanted to go to culinary school. Then I decided not to go to culinary school, but I still wanted to work in a kitchen. Then I decided I didn't want the fast-paced nature of cooking for money, so I looked for an administrative position because I like organization and tasks. And now that I'm in that position (which I love, by the way!), I'm starting a business selling lip balm on the side.

Who am I!? I'm crazy. But I love it.