October 29, 2005. . . The first day of owning my own business was surreal.  Excitement and fear played tag between my thoughts as I reached this lifelong goal.  The first customer came through the door, and I held my breath.  Will she like the store and its contents?  Will she buy or will she come back?  She smiled, took her time, checked things out, and purchased a pair of earrings.  I offered a quiet smile as she left, but inside I did a back flip.  Her singular purchase won’t pay the rent, but it did pay off a much older debt.

 This dream of business ownership was first introduced to me by my father when I was three.  Somehow he saw an entrepreneurial spirit in me even then.  Whatever he and my mother saw, they nurtured this spirit throughout my life.  I’ve hand painted tee shirts, appliquéd jean and jackets, cut hair, designed flyers and posters, catered and made gift items and vended them for twenty years.  All these moneymaking ventures were done around conventional jobs I hated.  The yearning to operate my own business became my obsession.  Despite my desires I allowed self-doubt to

keep my dream at bay.  I worked as a switchboard operator for a local insurance company for twelve years.  I sat in career purgatory thinking that this “stable” job was more sensible than opening a store.  Every day I’d head home on the train, sitting quietly but silently screaming, “I hate my job!”  From the looks of the other riders I wasn’t alone.  My unhappiness gave birth to finding alternative ways to express my creative ideas.  I started selling beaded jewelry at the job, and that evolved into throwing gift shows at my desk at lunch hour.  As time went on, the jewelry became a legitimate source of income, and quietly my confidence grew.

For my fortieth birthday I quit my job to become a full-time artist.  I was doing well, but the store idea pushed to the front of my other thoughts. When the decision to open the store was made, my passionate focus inspired my sister Cassandra to leave her hated job in New York to join me in this venture.  It’s great to share a grand adventure with a traveling companion you love and trust.  Neither one of us knows how this journey ends, but the most thrilling part was the step we took today.  The destination can’t be half as exciting as the first step we took today. 

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;  Come with us!