Twenty Second Hug

Motherhood has its moments and I am getting my fill lately. WOW! I had NO CLUE how challenging my days would be.

Darling Lily has been testing me to all ends this past week. My husband Art and I finally figured out that the erratic behavior stems from he and I implementing "hug time" for the two of us every morning and evening. Basically we agreed to greet each other first thing every morning and evening w/ a twenty second hug. It helps us reconnect and start and finish our days feeling special. It gives us a moment to decompress. We also like to have our hug in front of our children so that they are able to witness our affection and love for one another. I wouldn't say that we haven't been loving and affectionate up until now - but "hug time" is probably more pronounced for them.

Well, I love "hug time!" Lily, however is not liking it!! Oh my - she is letting me know how she really feels in a variety of ways throughout our day.

Let's see, where do I begin with this weeks events.....wetting her pants, pooping her pants, hitting, kicking, screaming and not eating. What happened to my little baby? I told Art last night that there was no way we are giving up "hug time." She is going to have to work through it. I am trying to help her. I have been giving her extra attention through out the day and more hugs than she can stand. Today I saw signs of improvement....ahhhhh.....but then sweet little Jack, bless his heart, made up for her moment of peace by reaching up onto the kitchen table and pouring Lily's milk over his head. Mind you this is right after his bath and thirty minutes before we were to leave for his eighteen month check up. YEAH. Back to the tub. Thanks Jacky!

When I talk about these episodes, I can definitely release some of the stress of it all. I think to myself "why does this stuff make me so tired? When I reflect on it - what is the big deal?" I guess when it is day after day and it is such a physical and mental job - it can make you think you are losing your mind. NOT KIDDING.

Which brings me full circle - back to "hug time." The twenty second hug means so much to me because it is my turn to be taken care of (for twenty seconds) and to feel understood, appreciated, loved. It reminds me that even though I spend my day alone with the kids that Art and I are parents together and we support each other. I love hug time because it is an opportunity for me to show Art how much I appreciate all he does for us and that he is a great husband and father. Twenty second hugs rock!

Weather Forecast: Massive Rain Followed By An Old Friend!

Like many parts of the country, we are getting hit with some 'extreme weather' today. In our case it is massive rain, high wind gusts (that would put my home town of Wichita, KS to shame) and even a tornado warning.

When the weather is this dramatic, and the type of drama is unpredictable, you aren't sure how your day is going to play out.

I am very happy to report that today was a really good day. Why? Well, I met a long, lost friend today for lunch at a new restaurant called "The Parlor." I hadn't seen her for about six years. How did we reconnect? Well, of course, on Facebook! :)

Catching up with her was just what the doctor ordered. She was the same lovely friend that I remembered. It was so nice to visit with someone that took as much of an interest in my experiences as I did hers. I genuinely enjoyed our conversation.

We were never really super close friends but we always liked each other and seemed to have a good time together - Light, easy, fun. Makes me wonder why and how we lost touch. We laughed about how different our lives were at that time - meaning; she having two tottlers and I a road warrior, traveling the country six months out of the year promoting my collection.

Now her girls have stabilized and are in school full time and I am the mom with the two tots! I told her today "I had NO CLUE what you were dealing with! You were amazing!" I joked about how she was wrestling her two darlings while I was contemplating designer shoes and lipstick colors! Gee, no wonder we lost touch!

Even though we planned our lunch date before we knew the weather forecast, I would like to think that all the rain brought in a renewed friendship for the both of us.


PS The Parlor was great! It was my first time to try it and I will definitely go back. Delicious and nice design.

Take A Nap!

Are you tired?
Are you blue?

Are you in a fog?
Don't know what to do?

TAKE A NAP!

Is your skin dry?
Do your joints ache?

Are you eating but not hungry?
For goodness sake...

TAKE A NAP!

Are you acting childish?
Perhaps a crank?

Are you making errors?
No gas in the tank?

TAKE A NAP!

Written By Sarah Jane Bourque (who is going to go take a nap)

Taking Time Out For Others

My friend Hester and I made a visit to the St. Mary's Food Bank last Thursday. We both had been there before - but it had been quite some time. In the midst of all the holiday cheer, we were both chatting at a Christmas party about how we felt a little empty inside. So much hustle and bustle and toys and kids and parties and traveling and so on. We were both getting a little bit too much of the good life and knew that it would be good for our souls to give of our time in much more meaningful way. During our conversation, Hester suggested we take an afternoon and head down to the food bank and help out. We were so excited. I hadn't done anything hands on to help those in need in too long of a time and I think she was itching to do some good as well.

We organized our babysitters, aka 'Gammy's -R- Us,' and made our way there for the afternoon. Well, needless to say we had a very rewarding time and received a lot out of the day. I spent the afternoon preparing and handing out emergency bags of food for people who were in real need. Hester spent her time visiting with and registering those who needed food. By the time we had to go home we both agreed that it was something we'd like to continue doing. We agreed that we would visit the food bank once a month for an afternoon of volunteering.

I felt as though I was really needed and appreciated while I was there helping. I also felt so grateful to go home to a healthy, loving family in a nice warm home where the food is enriching and bountiful.

Part III: What is the History of Saint?

Saint was established July 31st, 1997. Everything did not just fall into place. We had no production, we had no "collection" per say and we had no stores. What we did have was a lot of excitement!

My first design samples were cute. The very first piece was the Casa Cross which is still a strong seller in the line today. It was inspired by my move to the desert. In addition to the Casa Cross, I created a cowgirl angel (Trella), a cowboy frog (Jeramiah) and a cowboy elephant (Peanut). These pieces really helped us get our feet wet. We actually still produce and sell all of these designs to this day.

In addition to working on our first designs, I did a lot of research. I looked at a lot of other designers work, shopped a lot of stores and museums ....looking at a ton of jewelry. I was trying to discover my own look and inspiration. What I walked away with was a need to create a collection that made the person wearing my jewelry feel happy and warm. I also wanted people who looked at one of my designs being worn on another person to feel happy when they looked at them. My idea was to create pieces that could create connections between the wearer and the actual piece of jewelry as well as those around them. It was very important that the pieces had a story behind them with some sort of meaning that the wearer could relate to. I also wanted the quality and design of the pieces to be so exceptional that they would stand the test of time and trends and could be passed down from generation to generation. I liked the idea of mothers and daughters passing their Saint pieces down to one another and the pieces would always have intrinsic value as well as a strong design aesthetic.

After I had figured out what the concept was for my collection, we all agreed we needed a name. I was never comfortable using my name for the collection. I preferred using a different name that had meaning and could work well with the product. My parents and I settled on "Saint." We liked that it was a strong word. When we hear the word "Saint" we think of someone who is very strong and has integrity and character. We also liked that it was graphically very strong and easy to remember. So there it was!

My first real collection was actually the blossom. I named the collection the Tuilleries Collection and it was a total of four pieces (ring, cuff, earring and pendant). My next grouping of about six styles was with the bee (Buzz) which is what Saint is most well known for today.

Meanwhile, my parents and I are dealing with the fact that we have no production capabilities and everything we are doing right now is in the basement of a very talented jewelers home in Kansas!

After having our samples made of the bee and blossoms designs we were determined to get into some stores. We made an appointment with Neiman Marcus jewelry buyers to show them our collection. We were thrilled that they loved the line but regretfully said "you only have a handful of styles here. You will need at least sixty to eighty pieces to fill one of our cases." They politely asked us to stay in touch and come back when we have our collection completed. WOW!

We all worked relentlessly the next four months and we came up with enough styles to merit a second meeting with the buyers. This time they were pleased with the collection but said it is brand new and never tested in the market and asked us to test it in their stores for the next six months by doing trunk shows at all their stores. So, for the next six months we traveled with the collection to all the stores and introduced Saint to the company. All said and done, after working out a lot of kinks and surrounding ourselves with people that had experience in the jewelry business we were able to launch Saint in eleven doors the following season.

Exceedingly pleased with opening our new account, we had to deal with the issue of being able to actually fulfill orders. While all of this was going on, I was trying to find someone in Phoenix to make my designs and having no luck. Everyone I worked with was either not up to the skill level that we needed, or were not able to handle the ammout of pieces we would be needing or they would start out with great quality work but it would slowly regress. I was extremely frustrating. In the meantime, my parents continued to work with the same jeweler in Kansas and he was producing excellent work. We finally decided to just do the manunfacturing ourselves in Kansas, and invested in our own equipment and jewelers. This enabled us to created quality, handmade designs in the United States at our own whim.

The business operates as such from there on out. The most significant changes are the addition of my sister Ashley and my brother-in-law Lance to the business. They both have played integral roles in keeping Saint running and thriving. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sara G. who heads up our production and accounts (she is quite a woman).

Now thirteen years later in our journey, we are proud to still be in business and we count our blessings everyday. We value every sale and every customer. Our relationship with our customers is extremely important to us. We want our customers to not only enjoy their Saint pieces but to enjoy their experience with Saint. It goes hand in hand with each piece we sell.

If you have any questions or want to learn more about Saint please feel free to write me!