Swimsuit season

I'm wrapping up the last month or so of my busy season.  Things have already slowed down a lot in the last couple of weeks.  It was interesting having a baby in the middle of it all.  I'm not going to lie, there were times in that first month of having Tate when tears were shed because I wished I hadn't tried to do it another year with a newborn.  Luckily, Cara Kopp did all of my home parties after I had Tate.  Sarah Dodson and Brittany Peterson also helped me (and a few babysitters!).  Business was quite a bit busier this year, but not as busy as I anticipated it to be.  I'm not sure how much of that had to do with me having a newborn and not being able to dedicate as much time to the business or if it had more to do with competition.   My online sales increased a lot this year because of some giveaways and online advertising I did.  I've also had a lot more shoppers come to the house this year.  My home parties weren't quite as busy.  

In some ways it was nice to be in busy season while I had a newborn.  It was good to still do something 'normal' and something other than changing diapers, feeding, and taking care of kids.  Since we were home most of the time anyways, it was convenient for customers to come to the house.  It was also nice to have the social interaction when ladies came over to try on suits.  It was easier when Tate was in the sleepy newborn stage and slept most of the time.  I would put on a movie for Kensie while the customers came and Tate would either nap or come in the Bjorn with me.  But other days weren't so easy.  Tate would need to eat or be put down for a nap while Kensie would go around pulling swim bottoms off of the racks.  Probably some customers thought I was a total nut-job mom.

When I'm really busy I get a lot of mom guilt.  I worry that my kids (especialy Tate) will grow too fast and I won't enjoy them enough while they are small.  I also hate turning on the tv or ipad for Kensie.  Yes, there are days when I tell Niel I'm not going to keep going with the business because it is too much work and stresses me out too much.  But for the most part I really enjoy having my swimsuit business.      

One of my favorite things is unpacking the first shipments of swimsuits at the beginning of the season!

I carried a lot more inventory this year and re-vamped the casita.  Niel installed more clothing racks and  I put an office in the casita so that all the business transactions/shipping could be handled there.

I'll be doing closeout sales in the coming weeks to make way for the 2014 collection.  MAGIC convention is coming up in a few weeks and I can't wait to get a peak of the 2014 swim trends!