It's official!

When I announced that I'll be closing my shop for a month to make improvements, some of you might have wondered why I would even need to close it. Why not just keep the store open and make improvements little by little, right?

Well, THIS is the main reason why I shut it down completely... I applied for my business license!! With all the things that happened in September and my bad habit of making mountains out of molehills, it took a little longer than expected. But it's here!

I'm officially a business owner!! Whoo Hoo!

For those of you in New York state like me, it's a 2-step process. You have to first file a form at the county clerks office to register your business name, and then you can apply for the Certificate of Authority to Collect Sales Tax (That's the official name) with the state. If you don't want to display your Social Security Number for all the world to see, you'll also want to apply for a EIN with the federal goverment, but you can do that along with the state application if you do it online.

Now, I just need to wait until November 2nd to reopen the store, since that's the date that I gave them. That's just one more week!

Fall Leaves

It's here! My favorite time of the year!! I love it when leaves start changing colors. I think it's because I get to use all the colors of the palette when painting fall scenes.

There's this one tree on my street that always graces us with the most beautiful red leaves. It's actually still quite small: The lowest branches are still around my son's shoulders. But that little tree is the most vibrant, gorgeous tree you'll see in the entire neighborhood!

Lately, I've been getting quite frustrated with the whole potty training and the constant "NOOOOOOoooo!!"s that emit from my son's mouth, but everytime we go out for a walk and see that tree, all that tension seem to drain away. It really is amazing how something so little can posess such power!

Trip Down to Philly

As I mentioned earlier, my parents came to visit in September, and we took a trip down to Philadelphia with them. I loved that the city seemed to take much pride in its history and culture. Buildings were covered in murals, and there were numerous hints of history interspersed among the new.

Although my son was still too young to comprehend the history of the city, he seemed at home hanging out with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. And if you have a young one, I highly recommend the Please Touch Museum! He literally ran around all day, until he (and everyone else!) was completely exhausted.

In fact, he played so much that we didn't even get to look around the museum shop, but he got the best souvenir of all at a highway rest area. The Truck Paper! He's mesmerized by all the different trucks, and asks me to "read" it to him every night. At this rate, I'll soon be an expert in spotting different Macks and Peterbuilts, but I can't complain since it's as good as a free baby sitter!

Quick Update

Oh my, how time flies by! I know that I promised to come back in October, but with all the things that happened last month, I am literally a month behind on my plans!

I’ve only made 2 (yes, only 2!) new items so far, and have only managed to do a few things off my To Do list. I’m waiting for an order of beads right now, so hopefully, once that arrives, I’ll be inspired to create again.

I mentioned that one of my major projects for the month was potty training my son. I’m happy to report that he took a big step in the right direction just a few days ago. Although I can’t say that he is potty trained yet, I’m hopeful that he’ll have it down before he turns 3.

We also took a quick trip down to Philadelphia in September with my parents, who were visiting from Japan. I’ll talk more about the trip in another post, but I can honestly say that my son thoroughly enjoyed having someone’s attention every second of the day, and my parents thoroughly enjoyed spoiling their grandson every second of the day!