Divinely Inspired

22 Weeks!

2010-03-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's week 22 and I just went to the bathroom for what feels like the 10th time today. Baby Boy has taken up permanent residence on top of my bladder. I could almost feel it when he moved there. He's been quite active and busy. Let's hope that means good things!

I was asked if I had a website for this pregnancy because I did one with Addy. This is it and I'm sad to say that I haven't done a very good job of posting. Let's see if I can change that now that spring is coming.

Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

2010-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

Baby Boy! We found out at 15 weeks we are having a baby boy. This was a little earlier than normal because I had an emergency ultrasound due to some bleeding I was experiencing. Turns out everything is fine. We're so excited to be having a boy. Addy is going to make such a great sister!

Store View

2010-01-04T13:48:00.001-08:00

This is hardly a picture that helps my photography skills, but I figure I better document one of my favorite views in the store, as soon it will be a distant memory.

365-ish Photo Project

2010-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

My New Year's Resolution was to take 1 photo per day for the next year. It's Jan 2 and I haven't taken a photo yet. Great way to start, huh? I have to defend myself - I spent the entire day yesterday bedridden with a headache, feeling like I was hit by a truck. I don't remember being this miserable when pregnant with Addy, but I'm not liking this pregnancy thus far.

So, I think, given the fact that I haven't gotten off to a great start, my project will be called the 365-ish Photo Project. I'm going to work towards as many daily pictures as I can. The point is to document the next year in our family, as it's going to be one with lots of change. And, on top of that, maybe I'll improve my photography skills while I'm at it.

Cheers to 365-ish Photos!

Clients from Hell

2009-11-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Haven't looked through this much yet, but I have a feeling it will make me laugh.

Clients From Hell is a collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers.

Breaking the News

2009-11-18T14:53:00.001-08:00

I decided to find a cute way to tell everyone our news. Dan's mom is coming tonight and Addy's going to wear this shirt I made:

I can't wait to see her reaction! We'll probably have Addy wear it again at Thanksgiving.

Addy's wish list

2009-11-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

I'm filling out a Christmas wish list for Addy on Elfster: http://www.elfster.com/apps/wishlist/WishlistItems.aspx?wid=2819663

I feel a little weird doing it, but I know family is going to ask what she wants/needs. I can just send them here. Toddler girls are really easy to shop for, so I know she'll love anything, but I'm making some guesses as to what she's been into lately.

Elfster's a really cool site. Not sure why someone didn't think of it sooner.

How quickly you forget....I mean, remember.

2009-11-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

They say that once you have that darling little baby in your arms, you forget all of the pain and trauma of being pregnant and going through labor. That was certainly true! Words can't describe that feeling when I had Addy bundled up next to me. I have a hard time remembering how much pain I was in.

However, you also remember VERY quickly how miserable pregnancy can be when you're 7 weeks into it with extreme exhaustion and nausea. I feel like a lump on a log - oh ya, this is what it was like before! I'm anxiously awaiting 2nd trimester to bounce back to myself again!

Procrastination

2009-11-12T10:52:00.001-08:00

I find myself doing a lot of "looking" for ideas and browsing the internet. I'm sure it's procrastination to avoid getting to the pile of things on my list. Why is that such a downfall of mine? I've always struggled with it.

Happy Birthday Dan!

2009-11-11T13:52:00.001-08:00

So, it's a year and a day later from my last post. Yikes! I'm terrible. I have a new reason to post again, so I'll give it one more grand 'ol try.

Dan's birthday was good - we went out for dinner last night with friends, Dave, Jonna, Maggie, and Lenna. Dan and Dave share a birthday, so of course we had to celebrate. However, our celebration goes a little beyond birthdays.

Enter our #2 Little Pea. According to yesterday's ultrasound, I'm 5 weeks, 6 days (or 6 weeks today). Due July 7th! We're excited and nervous. We can't wait to meet you, Little Pea :)

Happy Birthday times two!

2008-11-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Dan's birthday (must not forget Andy's as well). He turns 27 - yowzers! Not long until the big 3-0. We don't have a whole lot planned due to lack of funds and the fact that birthdays get difficult to come up with something new every year, not to mention that the months of November, December, and January are jam-packed with birthdays and holidays for us (Michael, Kelly, Katie, Karon, Joyce, Tyler, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Our Anniversary, etc.). By the time we get to Valentine's Day, we're holiday-ed out.

BUT, this year, Dan's birthday is extra special for one very cute and adorable reason. Adelyn turns 6 months today! So, every year, Addy and Daddy (Dan pointed out this cute rhyme) will share a special day on November 10. One year is a long time to wait for most kids until their next birthday, so half-birthdays are always points of interest for them. As Addy grows up, we can explain to her that each time Dad has a birthday, it will be her half-birthday and that it will be extra special for us to make sure Dad's day is extra special (if that made any sense...)

Maybe we'll put 27 and a half candles on the cake tonight.

Sticker wearer

2008-11-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

Got yours? Sorry for the fuzzy self-portrait.

Try again?

2008-11-04T09:22:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I have such a hard time deciding how to organize my internet life. Between Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, the Ekcetera blog, the Ekcetera website, and this blog, I seem to have too many venues for cataloging life. So here's one noble shot at it...Now that Addy's here, I think we'll try to include family times and events here. Wish me luck....

My current regret: more design for me

2008-03-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

Life is so crazy at the moment and the one thing I wish I could do more of is design for fun and creativity's sake. For the most part, it comes down to me making the time for it and actually doing it, but something more important always takes over.

If I could design for no reason at all, I would design a bunch of greeting cards, some photo cards, some t-shirt designs, and anything else that inspired me from these projects. Maybe sometime soon I can post with some new designs, but until then...I just have to tuck away my desire in the back of my creative file cabinet and hope they're there when I want them to come out. That is usually the problem. When I DO have the time to be creative and design for me, I can't come up with ideas.

Such is life and a creative mind.

How many blogs is a person to have?

2008-02-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

I have a dilemma and it's been haunting me since the invention of the blog. How many blogs should a person have? I guess the answer depends on how many hats you wear, and in my case, my hats are all different colors and sizes, so I can't quite make up my mind as to how many blogs that should amount to and how to go about organizing them.

Being that everything in my mind has to have its exact and perfect place, I'm truly perplexed with this one. I currently have the following blogs:

The Ekcetera Blog - meant for customer and fans of the company. A look behind the scenes from my employees and I.
The Kelly Garrett/Creative Dreams blog - this is me as a career woman. This isn't too personal of a site - just in case anyone wants to peek at bit deeper at the person who created Ekcetera. You'll also get a small feel for my personal life as well.
The Pregnancy Blog - So I spilled the beans, a baby girl is coming in May. This is where I record my thought and memoirs for my daughter-to-be. This is the most personal of my blogs and I generally don't link it to anything else.

So, my thoughts are that once the baby comes, I need a family/baby blog to keep friends and family updated on our household lives. This can be done in the form of a family blog. But here's the issue...once the family blog arrives, does the Kelly Garrett blog disappear? I want store customers to have a tiny peek into what's going on in my life, but not too much, you know? I'd love to get my husband involved and we could both post in the family blog, but he hasn't joined the blog world yet. Good for that - then we'd have an entirely new dilemma!! One Dan, One Kelly, and a family blog? Now that's a bit much.

The issue ends up being, do I let the world see my family blog when the baby comes and drop the Creative Dreams one, or do I need to keep the distance and have all three?

What a problem!!!

My new haircut.

2007-11-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest things about owning your own photo studio is that photos are easy to take in a pinch. I got a haircut and think I like it. It's one of those things that always takes a few weeks to decide. I wanted something simple and easy to take care of. Keep in mind that this is the day-after look, so it doesn't always sit quite the way you want it to.

Don't anger me! (And don't apply for a Citi Card!)

2007-09-24T11:06:00.001-07:00

I just spent the most grueling hour on the phone in my entire life! About a month ago, I applied for a Citi "Professional" card for Ekcetera. This card is apparently a consumer credit card taken out in my name to use for business expenses. That's fine...I don't really care who's name it's under - my credit's fine and I'm not going to default on it. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I got a letter asking for address verification. It asked for my PERSONAL information. Ok, so I verify my Boatman Lane address, but I had put my Blaine Ave. address on the application. So, I get a message on my home answering machine today asking for more verification. I call the number and they say, "your application has been declined because you couldn't verify your address?" What the ?!?!

So, while on this conversation, I find out that I am speaking to the consumer department. I explain to them that I'm not applying for a consumer card (at this time I didn't know it was both). They transfer me to the business department who can't find my application. They want me to fill out a new application. NO THANK YOU! I do NOT want to fill out another application because you already have my credit information and you do not need to pull my credit again - you can use the same info you got for my "personal" application. The man on the phone proceeds to tell me that he's worked there for 17 years and there's no possible way that he could be wrong and how could I possibly be asking him something the he can't possibly do. He raises his voice at me, yells a little, and hangs up on me.

A little stunned, I call back and am asked the same 50 questions over and over again. I begrudgingly tell them my answers and try to tell them what is happening. I am speaking to someone in Nigeria or somewhere, and they do not understand me. They continue with their script and anger me further. I'm transferred back to the business department for the 10th time.

Finally, I come upon a very helpful woman who asks me if perhaps this was a professional card application - in which case, the business dept. wouldn't have my app. but it was still a business card. Thank Heavans! She tried to transfer me back to the consumer division, but they are experiencing high call volume. She gives me the 800 number to call at my convenience. I tell her how helpful she has been and hang up.

I called right away, not wanting to put it off any longer. I call and Nigeria answers. Provide verification.......yadda yadda.....explain the situation.....some blubber from the woman's script. One moment, I'm on hold AGAIN to the business department. Thankfully, the helpful woman I just spoke to answered. Didn't I just speak to you? Why are they transferring you back here? She says, "one moment, I'll speak to them and they WILL help you." Tacky music plays for a few seconds....FINALLY, an American woman comes on and I begin explaining to her what is happening. She's two words into her sentence and I hear a "click." I WAS DISCONNECTED!

O-n-c-e-a-g-a-i-n, I call the number I've almost memorized and Nigeria picks up. I ask to be connected to the person I was last speaking to and she mumbled something from her script. Finally, I asked to be connected with a supervisor and she happily did so. THANK YOU! A woman comes on the phone, asks me to verify my info and says, "we can simply change your application to your home address. If you want to switch it when the card arrives, just call customer service to do so." I was on the phone with her for about two minutes and my application was approved and my card is on it's way to my door. I felt like I should have won a prize for the most number of times being transferred between two departments. All this and all I get is a lousy piece of plastic that does nothing but increase the amount of debt I have.

Wow - I hate Citi Bank.

Happy Birthday to You!

2007-09-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Do you ever do something totally stupid that when you realize what you've done you just want to crawl in a hole? I did. Yesterday, it was by best friend's birthday (Yes, YOU Awna!) and I neglected to call her or even send a stupid e-card. The stupid thing is that I thought about it about 5 times yesterday and every time I was thinking about it, it was a terrible time to call. So, I'm proclaiming my public apology to dear Awna for failing to send Birthday Wishes. Hope it was PHENOMENAL! You're another year older and now you're officially in your late 20s! Party on!

Taytum James

2007-09-05T15:03:00.001-07:00

This weekend my Mom, Brother, and his family were here visiting. We had a photo shoot with my new, adorable neice, Taytum. She is a sweetheart! I couldn't help but melt as I peeked at her through the camera lens. Here's one of our shots.

Organized!

2007-09-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

There isn't a more accomplished feeling than being clean and organized. My family was here over the weekend and Mom and I organized my office (well, actually Mom did more of it than I did - she's such a whiz at organizing!). Now, I can see the top of my desk again. The challenge is to make it last! At least I can begin the week with a fresh start

More Crafting

2007-08-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm really into crafting gifts right now. It's my niece's 8th birthday tomorrow and she asked for CDs. The funny thing is that she doesn't have a CD player. So, I got her a little desktop player to put in her room. But, now that she has a CD player, what will she listen to in it? Behold....the "Mix" CD. You've all heard the recommendation before...we're supposed to make a mix cd for our boyfriends when we want to make something personal on Valentine's Day. I decided to pull that tip out of my back pocket and put it to use. MaKenna's Mix was born. I'm thinking we should offer something like this in the store...

Crafting Time

2007-08-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

Since opening Ekcetera, I have had absolutely no time to do anything but work. So, I was so very excited last weekend when I was home for my neice's baptism and could take a few hours to create a gift for her. I have to say I am pretty pleased with the result of my masterpiece. I used the Tilano Fresco Coaster Making Kit and attached the coasters together with a ribbon to create a wall-hanging in celebration of Taytum's baptism. Since she's only a few months old, I didn't think she'd have any beverages to place on the coaster for a while yet, so a wall hanging they became. It was very easy to do and I think the gift was a hit!

A New Blog

2007-08-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

I am starting this blog after using Wordpress for about a year. Since this is where our Ekcetera blog is hosted, I figure it would be easiest to have my blog here too. So, if you have any interest in checking out what I've said before, you can look back at my wordpress blog here: http://kellygarrett.wordpress.com