Goodbye San Francisco

It was hard to say goodbye to the Bay area, but my soul was feeling the positivity of new lands... in Las Vegas.
Traveling around Europe for a month alone has me embracing this "I can do anything" feeling. I rented a 10' U-Haul with an auto transport (which is like a flat bed for my truck) and took on the challenge of loading up my own truck and driving the U-Haul myself. Tips for future U-Haul drivers: watch your speed and 18 wheeler trucks merging into your lane. The guys at the U-Haul didn't think I could unload my own truck and I was proud to say "Who do you think put it up there?!" I am woman, hear me ROAR!

Funtastic Voyage!!

It's finally happening after months of researching, debating, comparing and brainstorming, my boyfriend and I bought our tickets and we're doing some travels around the world! We have only 2 legs of the trip planned, after that we're one-way flying to anywhere we want. No kids, no mortgage, no time limit and away we go!

We depart October 1st to Okinawa, Japan for 2 weeks where my dad, stepmom and brother live. The 39th Annual Naha Great Tug of War Festival takes place and we can't miss the 656 foot, 44-ton rope being pulled by the East and West sides (22,000 people.)

Next we're off to Denpasar, Bali for at least a month's stay, looking forward to even more relaxation and soaking up new culture. After that we have lightly planned to head south to Australlia or venture north to the rest of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam.) Then it's possibly India, Egypt, Africa and definitely Europe. 

As destiny would have it, Tim's cousin is on her own search of adventure, opportunity and enlightenment. Spontaniously, she is now joining us on our journey to Bali! It's so exciting to find another person with the same freedom and eagerness to explore the world.  We are so fortunate to have another companion on our trip and I wonder how many other friends and family would be open and available for such a trip?

We set our budget and plan to travel frugally to allow us to get to more destinations. We don't have a time limit and if a place suits us, we may stay awhile.

I've had 7 immunization shots, been on the phone for days, tying up loose ends, stored my belongings in the Taj-ma-Shed we recently built, researched this and that... lots of work to do before we go and it has been an awakening experience.

Tim and I hope to be able to update our blog as often as internet cafes are available. Please check back periodically to see updates to our trip.

More Fashion Photography of My Purses

Yay! I just got pictures from Erin Wilson of our Fashion photo shoot with our model Sheila Burns! Another beautiful day in the city, where we chose to shoot near the Exploratorium and in the Marina. It was one of the hottest 1st day of the summer and Sheila was a champ making dress changes in impromptu locations and continuing to look fresh the whole day through. I think Erin did a fab job with photography. I'm going to post the new shots on ETSY now, but here's a sneak peak of a few of the shots taken! Enjoy!

 

Golden Gate Park Photoshoot

I'm so excited about the new product shots that were taken by Erin Wilson at the Golden Gate Park yesterday! The sun was out and the flowers were in full bloom, a perfect backdrop to my colorful Oribello bags. The bags were a hit with women who passed by, I didn't know a photo shoot can bring such good promotion! I spent all night working with my friend Jordan Joves on a business card design so next Sunday when we do the fashion shots, we'll be prepared! I'll be updating my ETSY shop with the new pics right away, these are a few of my favorites!

I've gotten some feedback from potential buyers that they would love to see overnight bags, leather or high end materials, bigger zippers, more pockets and zipper pulls. I'm definitely taking note and plan to incorporate all of these things into my next round of bags! Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming!

Inspiration From The Cherry Blossom Festival

My puppy Rüka and I took a field trip to The San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown via public transportation. I love this event, the food, taiko drums, folk dancing, shopping and of course the cherry blossoms keep me coming back every year. During the Folk Art dancing we spotted two little Chihuahuas wearing Kimonos and they were so adorable and stole the show! They had a circle of people taking their pictures! After a long day of wandering around, we started our journey back home. I got back to my work space and was intent on sewing Rüka a kimono! I finished the next day and I think it turned out really cute, but I'm still working on the arm holes, tricky things!!

Walking the Beach to Find My Supplies

I took Daisy for a walk out on Ocean Beach in SF the other day and picked up a few Sand Dollars. They were perfect, hardly discolored and the one's I picked up were not broken. I brought them home and turned the prettiest one into the center piece of my next Origami Star Mobile.

Since my company is laying off and closing the SF offices, they were kind enough to provide us with Lee Hecht Harrison, a company who provides assistance to the newly unemployed with counselors, resources and classes to help you in areas such as resumes, interviewing and negotiating. Today I took the Entrepreneurship course. I wore to the class (like I wear everyday) my own Oribello Origami bag and was able to give an example of what I plan to turn into a business. It was great to hear advice from others who also sell their handmade goods. I realized that over the past 10 or so years I've been dreaming of oribello coming to fruition. I think having a mentor would be extremely helpful in structuring, organizing and executing my game plans. I've gotten some experience from school conceptualizing business ideas and creating presentation boards and since school, now have experience in the buying and planning offices of a department store, I now have to apply what I learned to my Oribello company.

New Origami Star Necklaces

I started making these necklaces last year during a 4-day Tahoe trip with Tim's family. When we weren't snowboarding, playing card games or eating, I would write on the backs of the origami strips all of my wishes. They are now folded into the stars that make up the necklaces and litereally have my goals and dreams put into them! I think the origami necklaces are fun novelty pieces, definitely not too serious and would be great conversation starters!

ETSY Here I Come!

I spent half of yesterday and after a few drinks with my girls, stayed up till 1:30am adding my oribello merchandise to www.oribello.etsy.com and I've decided that when I make it big (gotta think positive!) my first employee will have the exciting task of product submitting.

I'm totally addicted to logging onto my site and checking how many views I have and it's such a nice feeling to see how many people 'Heart' my site!! I have 5 so far!! Whoo Hoo!!!! There's people out there who really like my stuff??? [I'm gonna cry!]

And to be honest, I'm a little nervous. This is my brand new little business and now that I've posted my merch, I have to be more manager-like; checking my messages daily, continuing to make more product, if anything sells - get ready for packaging and shipping quickly. I really did get myself a new job! I'm so excited about this though, I'm absolutely sure all of this will come naturally with just a little more practice. So buyers, give me some work to do!

..oribello begins..

On February 2, 2009, I was called into a staff meeting and an announcement was made. Macy's is going through a restructure and all of our jobs are going to be eliminated. Everyone, including myself was shocked to hear the news. We were told we have to work till the end of April, which oddly enough is the end of my 3 month lease for my SF place I just moved into a week earlier! Although I wasn't filled with excitement at the news, I knew this was a blessing in disguise and even though one door is closing, it seems clear which other door to open... my crafty designs are now coming to life and they are going to be my new career focus!

And if that wasn't enough to start with, I'm also going to be sewing my heart out while traveling across the U.S. for 4 months with my boyfriend Tim and our little terrier mix puppy Ruka! We're currently still looking for our mode of transportation and mapping out our destinations. We hopefully will be ready to bon voyage mid May.

I'm super excited about this big change in my life. I'll have more time to focus on what I love to do, which is to get CRAFTY. I love to sew and create things, but beyond that, my lifelong goal is to open my own business and conceptualize to actualize every element of it.

I hope you all enjoy my creations!