Category: Vintage Sara’s Soaps ‘n Such

The Trouble With Tribbles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m an avid text messenger.  Sometimes, I’d really rather text than talk, because texting is just like short emails.  I can read my messages when I have a chance, reply when I can and the other person can reply when they have time.  In other words, texting cannot really disrupt my day like the poorly timed phone call can.  I bought a smart phone in April to replace my dunked flip phone (and a smart phone does allow me to do more business when I’m away from home), and the autocorrect on my phone comes up with some interesting alternatives.  Unfortunately, I am not able to take screen shots of my phone screen.  This is one of the great conversations that happened on Labor Day.

Me:  “I was just texting the word ‘trouble’ to someone, and my phone suggested ‘Tribble’ as an option.  Really?  It’s in my phone’s dictionary?  When would I reference that?”

Him:  “Tribble is a great word.”

Me:  “It is a good word, and Tribbles are cute (and a lot of trouble), but outside of this totally inane conversation, when would I use it?  Screen is blurring from the tears of laughter.”

Him:  “I got your tribble right here.”

Me:  “No, I got nothing in response to that.”

Him:  “LOL.”

Me:  “You want the Tribble?  You can’t handle the Tribble!”

Him:  “That’s too funny.”

Just a little snapshot of how silly things can get here, especially on holidays.  What are some of your best text message fails or conversations if you want to share them?

Cover via Amazon

It all came together in a rather serendipitous way.  I’m helping a dear friend change his money management habits, and he is already doing very well. My husband and I needed to reclaim our own efforts at achieving financial peace, and I as CEO and Soap Goddess of Sara’s Soaps ‘n Such needed to ramp up my efforts with putting out my newsletter, writing my blog posts and making sure I was using my time on Facebook to the best advantage for my business.  That’s a lot of change in a little bit of time!

Donna Maria, my friend and mentor, facilitated a conference call last week in which she outlines her “2x2x2” plan for communicating with customers.  At the same time, Dave Ramsey, who has written books, led seminars and has radio and TV shows about achieving financial peace, reminded me through my reading of The Total Money Makeover how financial peace can only happen through discipline, sacrifice, hard work and following his proven seven steps in order – and there’s a reason they’re called “baby steps.”  Since these two thoughts were foremost in my head, I decided to merge the two ideas into making Donna Maria’s guidance work for me.

First, a little background.  Dave wants everyone to become millionaires – or billionaires – and he says that if you want to be a millionaire, then you do what millionaires do.  These things are antithetical to what the majority of Americans do and these millionaires get to where they are in life by making sacrifices and doing smart things that most people would think are dumb.  (Those would be the broke people in this case.)  Baby steps… It’s all about baby steps.

If I want to be successful in business, then I need to do those things that successful business people do, and one of those successful people is Donna Maria.  However, I know I will not achieve dM‘s success in the first month of practicing her social media principles.  So, I decided to attack this, too, in baby steps.  For a business woman who only posts to her Facebook page when she remembers, struggles mightily for a weekly blog topic (and eventually just gave up) and has let two months pass without publishing a newsletter, I knew that I would fail quickly if I tried to put dM’s 2x2x2 plan into action the first week.

Last week, I attacked the Facebook challenge – two Facebook posts a day (except for weekends), one morning, one afternoon/evening.  That’s easy enough, and I was able to make that happen for me.  This week, I’m adding on the two blog posts for the week to the daily recommended FB posts (and am happy to say I’ve written both posts today).  Next week, I’ll add the newsletter back into my brand promotion.  This is going to help ensure I’m successful without getting frustrated.

Are you signed up to receive my newsletter?  The quick and easy form is here.  You can go over to FB and give me a like here.

Title sequence from show opening; containing from left to right, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash and Hawkgirl. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I get called many things – Mommy, sweetheart, CEO, Sexy Soap Goddess and a myriad of other names (most of them nice).  A lot of times, my friends call me “Wonder Woman.”  I guess it’d probably fit, but I don’t have the bullet-repelling bracelets or the great boots.  CEO, Mom, Teacher and Home Manager are some of my titles, which I guess does make me Wonder Woman.

I’ve learned something through these years of being something like Wonder Woman.  Wonder Woman flies solo for the most part, as do Superman, Flash Gordon, Green Lantern and Spiderman.  Truthfully, Batman is my favorite super hero, because he doesn’t have to rely on external powers, but he does have Alfred, Robin and Batgirl.  Eventually, all these super heroes banded together and became the Justice League, so suddenly, instead of a bunch of great super heroes with their own individual powers fighting to save the world (or “Truth, Justice and the American Way”), you have a very strong group of super heroes who each have their own strengths and weaknesses but who work together to be even more formidable to the forces of evil.

With all that I have going on in my life and all the roles I have, this Wonder Woman needs her Justice League to back her up, and I want to give a shout out to them.  First, there’s Superman (my husband), able to work 40 hours a week and come home to demanding daughters and an exhausted wife, juggling them all with aplomb.  Then there’s my friend Bobby, who’s Batman, a great team player and who intuitively knows what I need when I need it, usually in the form of the question, “What can I do to help you take care of this now?”  He keeps me in the present, which alleviates some of the sense of “overwhelmed” I often feel.  Last but not least are my sister Amazons, a group of incredible ladies with whom I’ve bonded online – Denise, Ginger, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Babs, Renee, Tammy, Lucy, Merilee, Sindy, Marj and Petra, in addition to Melissa and my rockin’ business mentor Donna Maria.  These are the people I go to who understand all that goes into being Mompreneurs and how hard it is to balance the demands of work and family.  These are the people who have my back, who’ll come to the rescue when I’m tied up with super villain red tape and who’ll intercede when there’s the fear that I could release my super temper on some unsuspecting soul.

With which super hero do you most closely identify?  Who in your life makes up your Justice League?

Who doesn’t love to travel, to explore new places, meet new people and see new sights?  While I love my home and am something of a homebody, I really enjoy seeing new sights and meeting new people, even if I’m traveling to somewhere I’ve been before.

Although she’s only 10 years old, the damsel in the tub who represents Sara’s Soaps ‘n Such is getting ready for her first overseas adventures.  Destination?  Afghanistan.  She graced 68 bottles of lotion and 70 tubes of lip balm as she settled into dozens of shipping boxes to head to so many soldiers serving in the Middle East.

Our dinette table the night before the supply drive

This came about by the hard work and efforts of the Cary High School class of 1991 alumni, coordinated by Patti Clapper.  One of our own, Jonathan, is serving in Afghanistan currently and has alerted us to soldiers who don’t receive a lot of packages from back home.  Patti organized the Soldier Supply Drive, and quite a few of us came together to help.  Even Jonathan showed up, surprising his eight-year-old daughter, which one of the local news outlets covered.

Jonathan and me

Here are all the boxes lined up on the table, each one filled with goodies like hygiene items, food and other treats.

A whole lotta boxes!

If you wish to help us with future supply drives, please watch this space, my Facebook page and subscribe to my newsletter to find out when the next one is and how you can help.

This past Winter, I started playing around with a new face cream.  Now, I’m not really thinking of launching off into facial care specifically (creams, masques, makeup, facial scrubs, etc.); there are some very talented cosmetic manufacturers who are doing that already.  Thing is, I was running low on the pretty great face cream I’d gotten in my goodie bag at the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild Conference a couple of years ago and wanted to try to make something similar.  With the awesome help of Tina at Majestic Mountain Sage, I formulated a face cream that made my Winter-dry skin feel totally blissed.  In fact, it felt so great on my skin and made my face feel so incredible that I realized that there was no way I could keep this all to myself.

My first step, though, was having other women test it.  After all, I might think it’s the greatest cream ever, but that doesn’t mean other people will.  Here is some of the feedback I got:

“I like the cream. No breakouts, sort of bronzes my skin… Like I’m at the beach. I dig it.” (April)

“I love how light it is!  It feels so good under my makeup.” (Donna)

“I love this stuff. I barely touch my finger to it, and its enough to do my whole face. I am so impressed how soft and moisturized it made my skin. I am in my early 50’s and have face skin as soft as a babies butt now….  love the way it makes my face feel….. and my grandchildren telling me I am kissable soft.” (Patti)

“When will this be available for purchase?  I love it!” (Amy)

Now, after the months-long testing process, Tahiti Kiss is available for purchase.  It’s my pleasure to share this fabulous treat with you.  In the four months I’ve been using it, I’ve noticed my skin is less prone to breakouts, a few people have told me I look younger than I am (I’ve even been carded buying wine!) and  my face is slower to suffer the effects of sun exposure when I’m wearing it.  Be sure to pick up your jar of this amazing face cream today, while supplies last.

It is with much fanfare, great excitement and not just a little pride that I get to make this stupendous announcement….

Isn’t she so sophisticated and sexy!?

1. All purchases during the month of June get 10% off their total.
2. Enjoy free domestic shipping throughout June.
3. All customers who make purchases will be automatically qualified to win a Sara-dipity Gift Set with a bar of spa soap, a 4-ounce bottle of lotion, a jar of scrub and a lip balm (retail value – $25.50).
4. A special feature product each week that has its own special discount.  Keep your eyes peeled to Facebook or Twitter each Monday to find out what that week’s feature product will be.
5. A brand new business logo – she’s grown up and is looking hot!
6. A new, improved website, launching next week.

The Cary Senior High School class of 1991 is pretty amazing.  When I walked on 9 June 1991 and flipped my tassel over, I was honestly glad to be done with high school, done with my classmates and ready to move on to college and the next chapter of my life.  However, our 20th class reunion and that modern marvel known as Facebook brought a lot of us back together beginning last Summer.  And, with the passage of time which has affected all of us – even bringing most of us to a new maturity – we’ve been able to reconnect in pretty neat ways.

One of our fellow alumni is a soldier currently serving in Kuwait with personnel under him serving in Afghanistan.  He identified a need back in the Winter – some of his soldiers were feeling lonely and weren’t getting many packages from home.  So, our class stepped in, sending some necessary and just some plain enjoyable supplies.

There’s some talk going around our class’s Facebook page about getting together again to pack yet more boxes to send overseas.  I’m hoping I get to drive back “home” to help pack the boxes this Summer.  Either way, I have been stocking up on granola bars, popcorn and stuff like that to put in the boxes, and I decided to send some lip balms, too.  Check these out for our well-deserving, brave men and women serving in the Armed  Forces – you know, those folks who are fighting for those freedoms we all enjoy.

Balms Away! lip balms in patriotic colors Would you be interested in joining us in supporting our troops?  Comment below, and I’ll happily give you  some suggestions and ideas.

The shipped cha-cha dancing motion file assigned to the Baby model data (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You might remember watching the show Ally McBeal, and if you know the show at all, there was an episode in which Ally starts seeing a psychiatrist (played by Tracy Ullman) in an effort to get rid of her dancing baby hallucinations.  In the course of the first session, the psychiatrist asks her, “Theme song?”  Ally has no clue to what she’s referring and shows her confusion.  The psychiatrist explains that your personal theme song is a song that boosts your spirits, gives you that “oomph” to get through a situation.

Following that episode, I decided that I needed a theme song.  Mine’s “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison.

I have a car that I really like.  It’s a total Mom car, a PT Cruiser with tons of cargo space and a cool profile.  I fell in love with the Cruiser when it first came out, because I liked the gangster, “Al Capone would’ve driven this car” look.  It drives like a dream, and it’s cooler than the typical sport utility Mom-mobile.

I still have my other car, too.  My husband’s been driving it, because it gets really great gas mileage.  She is a great little car – zippy and cute with awesome handling.  She’s ocean blue, though her paint job is looking a bit ragged from age and dings.  Every now and then, I get to drive Little Blue, and tonight was one of those times.  The girls wanted to ride home with their Daddy, but there was no room in Little Blue for them, so he drove my car with the girls and I drove home in my little car.  Sitting at a light, I texted my husband, “I feel like I’m sitting six inches off the asphalt and reclining.”  No matter how hard I tried, I felt like I couldn’t get the seat back up as high as my seat in the Cruiser is.

Eventually, I settled back, got comfortable and cruised (yes, cruised!  Ironically, my Cruiser doesn’t have cruise control) on home at a smooth 80 mph.  I put Little Blue through her handling paces on our off-ramp, letting her hug those curves at 60 and decelerating.  Because that’s what she does.

We Mompreneurs sometimes find it so easy to get used to handling our businesses with the steady dependability of our Mom cars.  We’re sturdy, reliable and able to take on a lot of stuff.  This is good; it’s what we need to do.  However, we also need to remember the cars of our pre-Mom days – cars with good gas mileage and little cargo space, cars that were exciting and exhilarating to drive.  In remembering those cars and how it felt to drive them, we also need to transfer that same feeling to our businesses.  Setting aside momentarily those sturdy and reliable ways of running our businesses, how might we embrace the thrill and excitement of pushing our businesses – once more – to their limits, daring to test our businesses against the basic math of what “could” happen, but refusing to play it safe anyway?

I really enjoy a catchy commercial.  Whether it’s moving, funny, powerful or extremely creative (like the latest Cartier offering – Super Bowl quality in the middle of network prime time), a really good commercial will definitely make an impression, and sometimes, sometimes, it’ll make me consider buying whatever they’re offering.  My favorite commercial of last year was the Verizon “Susie’s Lemonade Stand” commercial.

This one caught me.  With my own little girl in business and me having periods of mobility where I’m away from my computer for long periods of time, I thought, Hmmm… Smart phone.  Then, Hmmmm… Verizon (we currently have T-Mobile).  With a few hours a day for a week while my older daughter was in Vacation Bible School, I took time to shop phones and plans.  It didn’t take me but two days to think, “I’d rather be car shopping.”  Oh my gosh!  It’s like comparing apples and tomatoes – they’re both fruits, they’re both red, but that’s about it.  They serve different functions, are used in different recipes and taste very different.  The same with phone and plan shopping.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but by the end of the week, I didn’t have a new mobile carrier, nor did I get a new phone.  I’d gotten caught up in the whole thing!  My ocean blue Sony-Ericsson flip phone is covered with paint chips (apparently this is a normal complaint with this phone), and it’s developed this really annoying habit of turning itself off at the least opportune times.  At the time, AT&T was looking to acquire T-Mobile, and I really didn’t want what AT&T would be bringing to the table.  However, since then, the FAA has squelched the merger and T-Mobile is improving its coverage areas.

So, with a flip phone (for a few more months) and my non-Verizon mobile service, what can I do to make my small business grow?  I can use that phone (yes, it’s really more than a camera, Tweeting device and mode of updating my Facebook statuses) to make phone calls.  I can arrange meetings and make cold calls. How cool is that?  I can even use my less-than-smart phone to run credit card sales.

Enjoy cool, cute, well-created commercials, but don’t get sucked in.  Good commercials are made to get you to buy stuff.  Take the time and make sure you’re buying something you really need, not just what you want.  I’ll be replacing my phone so I can take care of my emails when I’m traveling, but that’s after almost a year of shopping and comparing phones.

What great commercials have you seen recently?  How likely will you be to buy those products based on those commercials?