It's My Birthday and You Get a Present! (JUNIEblake Giveaway)

This week I celebrated my birthday! We had a little family party to celebrate the Utah holiday of Pioneer Day and my nephews birthday, and Spencer took me to the zoo too. The coolest part was seeing a polar bear... and eating a churro.

Since I have been celebrating... I have a gift for you! ANOTHER GREAT  GIVEAWAY! You can enter to win 1 of 2  $30 gift cards to JUNIEblake. This is a new clothing company that sells trendy and modest clothes. You can see a few options in the photo below, but go to their site to see all the products.

JUNIEblake is really trying to get the word out about their company so there are a few things you need to do to help them in order to be eligible to win. Be sure to leave a SEPARATE comment for each thing you do. If you just leave one comment you will only get one entry.

1. Like JUNIEblake on Facebook
2. Share something about JUNIEblake with your Facebook friends (click SHARE on a JUNIEblake post so that it reposts to your wall.
3. Leave a comment on the JUNIEblake Facebook page (tell 'em YBB sent you)

The contest will close on THURSDAY, AUGUST 2 and the winners will be chosen by random.org on Friday. Even though you can enter multiple times, you cannot win both of the gift cards. Random numbers will be selected until 2 different people win.

Good Luck!

A Prank

I am not usually one for pranks. I think they are mean and cause a lot of inconvenience, hurt feelings, and even damage. Husband Spencer knows that he is FORBIDDEN from any sort of April Fool's joke. But when the prank is mutually agreed upon, and ESPECIALLY when it is creative, art really, I can understand.

Some of my neighbors often prank each other back and forth using the mannequin that you can see peeking out of the car. This was the most creative prank I have ever seen so I just had to share for the sake of art and creativity. :)

That's right. The car is entirely decked out in sticky notes. As far as I know, it took 5 people 3 hours to do. They even trimmed the stickies to form the shapes of the lights and other car features.

What are some creative pranks you have pulled or know about?

Watch that Scarf

I wore my scarf like this today. Not this outfit of course. I didn't get a photo of today's outfit so I used this old one of green grass and warmer days to show you... sigh... but anyway I wore my scarf like this today. I had to go to the eye doctor after work, but stopped at home to go to the bathroom because it was on the way. After my entire appointment was over I noticed that my scarf was stuck in the zipper of my pants. Yup. It was awesome.

Customer Service Counts... Especially for Handmade

Customer service is really important to a business. Take, for example, one of our favorite restaurants, Costa Vida. The first time we went there it was only because they were giving away free ice cream bars from a company owned by one of our neighbors. We both ordered a pork burrito, and after dishing mine, they were out of pork and told Spencer he would have to wait. By the time we reached the cash register, the pork was out and the burrito made so we waited a total of 1.5 seconds, not a big deal, but they gave us his meal FOR FREE. We were hooked. Customers for life and have returned so many times that they have definitely made their money back!! Plus, I tell that story to everyone I can and have given them a lot of free advertising. Another time I went there with a friend because I had a gift card. Their machine to read the gift cards was down but there wasn't a sign about it and I didn't find out until I reached the cash register. They gave me a free meal for that too! If there is a Costa Vida near you, go visit!

Contrast that with my recent shopping experience at Maurices. I don't really love going there because the sales people are pushy, annoying, and I really hate how they ask my name, write it on a little chalk board outside the dressing room door AND spell it wrong every time without asking for the correct spelling. I bought a pair of jeans right before Christmas and the employee forgot to take the security tag off. I didn't notice until I was home. The store is about 20 minutes and a lot of traffic away, but luckily there was another franchise only 5 minutes from my house so it wasn't a big deal. I took the pants to the close store and they couldn't remove the tag because they use a different security system. The girl did offer to exchange the pants for a pair in her store, but they didn't have the right size. She also offered to reorder the pants and have them shipped my house with no shipping charge. In hindsight I should have done that, but I wanted the pants for Christmas morning. For my trouble, she offered me a coupon for 10 percent off my next purchase. Really? Are you joking? For my trouble YOU are going to be rewarded by me purchasing another item and giving you another sale? Whatever. So I drove all the way up to the other store and the sales girl asks me for my receipt rather rudely, like she though I stole the pants. I ask her if she can apply the coupon I already got towards the pants because of their mistake. This was our conversation:

Me: can you return the pants then I can re purchase them with the coupon?

Her: sorry, can't be applied to a past purchase.

Me: but it wasn't my fault the tag wasn't taken off.

Her: well, we already gave you a twenty percent off discount.

Me: uh, that is because they were on sale. That is why I bought the pants.

Her: Well, sorry.

Me: so what can you do to make it better for me? (I explained the whole situation to her)

Her: sorry.

Me: well, if you aren't going to do anything about it I will think twice before shopping here again.

And I walked out. And I meant it. Unless I get desperate and can't find long enough jeans I am not shopping there again.

It is even more important to have good customer service if you are running a small handmade shop. I had a poor experience with an Etsy shop lately (I won't name the shop. It seems different to call out a fellow Etsy seller like I did the large corporation Maurices.)

This Etsy seller was featured on a blog I read and I was really interested in her product, but took a couple of weeks to decide exactly what to buy. By the time I made the decision she has closed her shop for the holidays. I sent her a message asking if she would be willing and able to open to sell to me, and if I could get it by New Year's Eve. She promptly replied and opened. Unfortunately, the price of the items had gone up from $10 to $12.50. I explained how I had been waiting for so long and asked if she would be willing to sell me the item for the $10 price. She responded with "do you want more than one?" I said no, and then I never heard from her again. Her shop was closed again and she never responded to me.

What poor customer service. A good response from her would have been:
"Thanks so much for your interest in my shop. I have determined that in order for me to stay in business and make a profit I need to sell my items at the $12.50 price. I hope that you will still order from me. I will be sure to get it to you by New Year's Eve."

A better response would have been:
"Thanks so much for your interest in my shop. I have determined that in order for me to stay in business and make a profit I need to sell my items at the $12.50 price; however, since you followed me here from the giveaway and are so interested in my shop I would be willing to sell the item to you for $11. I hope that you will still order from me. I will be sure to get it to you by New Year's Eve."

And of course the best response would have been:
"Thanks so much for your interest in my shop. Since you followed me here from the giveaway and are so interested in my shop I would be willing to sell the item to you for $10. I will be sure to get it to you by New Year's Eve."

I definetely would have purchased with the best or better responses, and would have considered purchasing if I would have got the good response. I also would have posted about my purchase on Facebook, and linked to or mentioned her shop on my What I Wore posts everytime I wore the item. That advertising alone would have been worth the $2.50. But instead she made $0.

What do you think? Do you base your return to a store on their customer service? Do you have any good stories to share? Any businesses or shops to promote due to their great customer service? Leave a comment below!

Our Adventurous Weekend

On Saturday I referred to the adventurous weekend we were having. It was fall break, which meant that husband and I had Thursday and Friday off. We took our car in to be looked at. It has been having problems and we have been trying to sell it too. We found out that it was going to be over $2000 to fix. My poor little '03 Alero just wasn't worth it. Instead we decided to buy a new car. You have to know, we don't take a lot of time to make big choices. I picked the first wedding dress I tried on, Spencer looked at one engagement ring, and we only walked through 4 houses before we bought. We didn't want to spend a lot of time on this car shopping thing. Besides, we had a weekend getaway Friday/Saturday and didn't want to miss it!

We looked online, found two cars we liked, test drove them both, and bought one. We got this cute little '08 Mazda Tribute. The dealership was only going to offer us $500 for trade in credit on the old car. What a joke! We just replaced the tires and that was around $400 alone! We took it to a company called Low Book Sales and they gave us way more. I was sad. You shouldn't personify a car like that. My poor baby is somewhere all alone! I abandoned her! (It was my first car. I bought it when I was 17!)

We wrote the check and then zipped off to Park City for the weekend.

We planned to get there at lunch time, but with the car issue we didn't get up there until 4:00. We went to the Olympic Park and walked through the museums. I have a serious fetish for Olympic pins so it was neat to see their collection.

We went to dinner to a pizza place called Maxwell's. The pizza only came in one size- 20". It was HUGE. I wish I had taken a photo. And we ate the whole thing!

(Does anyone else have that problem? Sometimes I feel a little funny whipping out the SLR.)

We went back to the hotel and relaxed and watched cable for a couple of hours (I also finished the Pioneer Woman's book). The next morning we went to breakfast at a cute little place on Main Street called the Eating Establishment.

We were STARVING! We usually eat breakfast at 6:00 am so to have it at 10:00 was hard!

We had this delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. It was the best juice I have ever had, but it was $2 just for this little glass so we didn't have much.

We then went to this big white barn called the Big White Barn. : ) We walked through the beautiful fall foliage in the perfect weather to look at scarecrows.

Before we went home, husband let me stop at the outlets. I bought a couple of shirts. You can see one of them if you come back tomorrow...

That night we had a Halloween party with a few friends but I can't post photos because I can't reveal my Halloween costume yet.


On another note... YBB is getting a new look! The makeover will be revealed pretty soon. It is being designed by the Creative B, who is a sponsor of this blog. Did you see the button over there ---->? Did you click on it yet?? She is having a sale right now so go take advantage!

My Birthday Weekend

As I told you yesterday, it was my birthday this weekend. I always have to party it up for days! I should have taken more photos but I am having memory card issues. Luckily, husband gave me a new one for my birthday.

Friday: Dinner with husband at Texas Roadhouse

Saturday: Harry Potter with husband

Sunday: Dinner at my parents (my mom made me a delicious Chinese dinner)

Cake and ice cream at my sister-in-laws for my nephew's (and my) birthday. My MIL got this cute cake for me.

Monday: Bike ride to a beautiful waterfall with husband.

That night husband took me on a surprise date. We went to an art exhibit that I had really been wanting to see.

Then we had dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant.

We played mini croquet and ski ball which was a lot of fun.

Then we got ice cream (my favorite treat!) Isn't he the best?

Tuesday: Lunch with Grandma, Mom, Aunt, Mother-in-Law

I got a few gifts that relate to the blog... I got a photography book from a good friend, and a Light Scoop for my camera (as referred by Grosgrain Fabulous). I also got a remote for my camera to help with outfit photos but found out that my camera cannot use a wireless remote. :( I also got Jessica Quirk's What I Wore book which I am loving!

It was an amazing birthday! Thanks everyone, especially my amazing husband!

Happy Birthday...

to me!

The End of the Year

The end of the school year has been really hard for me this year. I have had the privilege and blessing of working with some really amazing kids this year both in my student council, and the other kids in the school. Many of the kids that I really love are leaving to go onto high school next year and I have been with them for three years. It's really hard to let them go.

We had our first ever 9th grade dinner dance a few weeks ago. It was amazing. The kids put on a fabulous party. It was so cool to see that every single student was participating. No one was on the sidelines or crying in the bathroom. They all dressed modestly without having to be reminded. They didn't dance too close to each other. There were no discipline issues. I broke down and had to go out in the hall and just bawl my eyes out. Then, when some of the 8th graders who were there to be workers got emotional about their 9th grade friends leaving, I cried again. At the very end, the student body president told everyone thanks for coming and recognized all of the hard work that I had put into the dance. It was really touching and I bawled again.

On Wednesday night we had the 9th grade graduation. I did really well until the end when all the teachers came up on stage to shake hands with the kids as they received their certificates. I lost it when A. gave me a big hug, because I hadn't taught her since 8th grade and didn't know she still cared that much for me. Then when M. came through I was not okay. She is this really amazing girl in the student body presidency. I want to be like her when I grow up.

Today was the last day of school. I think my tears were all dried up because I didn't cry at school- and neither did too many other people. It was sad, but I have come to terms with the fact that I have to let them go- even S. who skipped 8th grade and robbed me of a year of teaching her.

But when I got home and read what the kids wrote in my yearbook I was brought to tears again. Students that I didn't even know liked me that much wrote that I was their favorite teacher or "I (heart) U" and all sorts of nice things. Here are a few of my favorites:

"This year has been so amazing. I am excited for next year. You really are like family."

"Mrs. Larsen my all time favorite! Thanx for being the best of the best!!! Your my fav. Thanx again!!! I love you!" (I didn't really know that this girl liked me that much. I am so humbled that I get to work with her in student council next year.)

"Your so cool. I've never met a teacher who loved her students so much. You've changed the way we learn. You did everything right. I promise I will see you everyday next year. I love ya tons." (This is the one that made me cry first. This girl will be at the school next year, but not in my class.)

"Thank you for being a great teacher and putting up with me for 3 years! Your classes are inspiring. Thanks again." (This was touching because we had had some conflict this year.)

"Mrs L- Always remember that boy who changed your life for the better!!" (And he really did.)


Those are just a few of my favorites. Aren't they sweet? Although we really need to work on the difference between "your" and "you're"...

Well, I am going to pick myself up out of this sadness, take a relaxing bath, and head out on a fun night with my friend who is a teacher at the same school!

I'll leave you with these two messages from my yearbook:

"...Your such a great teacher, and lets not forget how pretty you are..."

AND

"Mrs. Larsen I want your wardrobe so bad!"

How to Pretend You're on Vacation

1. Chop 3 medium potatoes

2. Boil unattended for at least 20 min or until they burn

3. Open all the windows in the house even though it's cold outside

The resulting smell will match exactly that of a hotel room.

Now, go to bed and pretend you are going to Disneyland the next day.

No? You'll just have to take my word for it...

Saturday

One hour workout- check!
Showered and dressed- check!
Running errands- check!
Organizing the food storage- check!
Playing darts after finally hanging up the dart board- check!
Attending baby shower- check!
Updating Yellow Blackbird business info- check!

I guess the only things left to do are make dinner, play racquetball, and eat ice cream!

Be sure to check back next week for my Spring Break sale!! Happy weekend, everyone!

Blog identity theft

I want my blog to have beautiful pictures of me and my great outfits like Sydney. I want to inspire creativity like Alisa. I want to have an all-around great craft blog like Linda. I want to be a great writer and blog about my deep thoughts like Amber. I want to inspire people to do good like Cheri. I want to have a cute blog and good taste like Ashley. I want to have a blog with gorgeous photos that starts big blog movements like Kendi. I want to have a cool niche like Michelle. I want to have my shop branded and blogged like Lindsey. I want to have my own style like (another) Ashley. I want to have amazing projects like Disney.

But I don't have the schedule or husband who wants to take photos like Sydney. I am not an artist like Alicia. I am not focused enough on crafts to be Linda. I am not as smart as Amber. I don't reach people like Cheri does. I don't have a unique writing style like Ashley. I don't have the means right now to be like Kendi. I don't have an idea or the talent of Michelle. I don't focus my products enough like Lindsey. I don't have the charm that Ashley does. No one is like Disney.

So what do I have?
My own style that I am happy with
Photography that is improving all the time
Some great ideas for refashion, knock-off, and original projects
Some unique ideas that haven't been explored on the blog
My own story to tell

This is me. It's my blog and it doesn't have to be like anyone else.

I have a knock-your-socks-off knock-off project coming up. Look for it tomorrow... hopefully!