Friends, we did it. We made it past 2020, a year that was literally history in the making; it's a period of time in which decades from now, we will be reminiscing about Covid-mask fashion, who was part of our Covid Squad and what it felt like to vote in the most important election of our lifetime. With all the heartache and devastation of last year due to the unpredictable Covid 19 that hit the world with such unbelievable force, heartbreaking deaths of great icons and a country suffering (and hopefully, now healing) through political division ... there were many silver linings too. We've learned to bake pies, enjoyed experimenting with recipes at home and pushed our own levels of creativity in order to switch gears and make life work. Last year has taught me a great deal and my main take away is to embrace the big picture and appreciate the details (smell the roses, if you will).
I love January. It's a month of new beginnings, we can crack open a new planner and make resolutions with great intentions. It's starting a fresh tube of toothpaste after satisfyingly squeezing every last drop out of the old tube. I am so grateful and impressed by the healthcare workers, tireless teachers, passionate fighters of democracy (especially Stacey Abrams, I'll follow her to the ends of the earth) ... thank you all for your efforts to make this world a better and more "normal" place. Normal has never looked so good. As with most of the world, I allowed myself to slow down with no apology and during that time, reassess what is important, not to stress about the little things because sometimes we stress for the sake of stressing and that is silly and unnecessary. Plus, I don't need to increase my grey hair and wrinkle count. I took the time to just enjoy sweet moments with my kids, the perfect cup of coffee in the morning and sitting in front of our twinkling Christmas tree. I have better perspective. Embrace the big picture, appreciate the details ... this sounds like an oxymoron, but it makes sense to me. This is my 2021 resolution.
The New Year's Resolution is a guide for life in general and one that I am excited about and I haven't quite decided if I should use this model for work too and if so, how would that translate? Appreciate design projects that are coming up, enjoy doing them, allow myself to take steps to push levels of creativity. As for Notebooks & Honey, I feel like I am still taking baby steps but at least they are steps. Last year has taught me to just go with it and be thankful for the small successes that you have because life is a journey. I was able to take steps forward, even during a stressful period, and for that I'll pat myself on the back. I am thrilled that I was able to start this blog last year and add the Curated Collection early on, right around the time Covid hit (which made for interesting times). I was planning on starting the wholesale aspect of Notebooks & Honey, however, although I was working on it throughout the year, there were enough blips along the way that I took it as a sign after the summer that I should just let the process flow naturally. Thus, 2020 was not meant to be the year for my wholesale endeavor. That brings us to now, after finding a new manufacturer, going back and forth with materials and being okay with slower logistics, we are finally on track to bring wholesale to Notebooks & Honey this year. Fingers crossed; everything is out of my hands now. The bags should be getting to me in late spring and then it's a go. I'm not sure how to navigate this new terrain, but I'm excited to learn and to get going. It seems like I have a long time before the bags come, but I need that time to figure out storage, logistics, finding wholesalers (how the heck do you do that?) and marketing. I'm sure there are a bunch of steps that I'm missing. We shall see and hey, let's enjoy the ride along the way. By the way, if anyone has any good ideas on how to do this wholesale thing, feel free to reach out ( insert winky face).
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Great to see you on this side of sanity. Happy New Year.