unexpected gift

I was cleaning out my nightstand drawer (it wouldn’t shut – something had to go!) and I stumbled upon the journal that I took to the Women of Faith conference last spring. LOVED being part of that magical weekend! What an unexpected gift to go through that journal and read the words that spoke to my heart that weekend. I thought I would share some of my favorites from my idol, Patsy Clairmont .

Prayer Matters
Love enables us to move forward.
Life has rhythms.
The greatest human need is connection.
Broken things, when put under God’s light, make a beautiful picture.
Do not label people with labels you don’t want given to you.
Re-label yourself on the inside – “Worthy enough.”
Quit trying to be enough – only in Him are we enough.
Our hearts are restless until they rest in the Lord.

daylight

If you missed it, October 19th was National Get Smart About Credit Day. I didn’t celebrate it, but I did restrain myself from my weekly indulgence at iTunes. Instead, I dug out a favorite tune that has been my signature Get Up and Go song through many gray days on the journey of life: Daylight by Remedy Drive.

Crank you speakers and get ready to wish you could belt it out like lead singer David Zach. He said about the song: “In Lord of the Rings, Gandalf said, ‘At dawn, look to the East’, and that’s the message we’re offering here: even in the most desperate times, each new day provides a glimmer of hope.”

SPOOKTACULAR!

Getting ready for our SPOOKTACULAR sale has kept me away from my blog this week… perhaps that is because the deals are SO amazing! Come visit us bright and early in the morning!

the janice

“The Janice”… similar to “The Donald” is a nickname given to me by my dear friends at Bagolitaville. How was it earned? Imagine that I am shopping at Hobby Lobby (this is a true story) and I am checking out. I have the cutest LE Bevin Bag you can imagine and the woman behind me says, “I like your bag!” I always answer, “Thanks, it’s a Bagolita!” She then proceeds to say, “Oh, those are made in Tiffin (another small town in Iowa near us). I said, “Actually, the company is out of North Liberty.” She said, “No, they are out of Tiffin.” At this point, what to say to her? So I said, “Actually I work there and our office is on Cherry Street in North Liberty.” She then looked at me and said, “Oh really – what do you do there?” …I said, “Well, it’s Bagolitas by Janice and I’m Janice.” Awkward moment, yes, and whenever I am in a conversation where we come to this point and I tell them who I am, the next thing said is usually, “You’re THE Janice?” Hence… “The Janice.”

Another classic story is when I was shopping in Von Maur. This is my favorite department store (although Dillards is a VERY close second). Two women were standing at the counter checking out as I was clearance rack shopping. (If this were an Olympic sport, I would win the gold medal) They told me they liked my bag and I said my standard, “Thanks, it’s a Bagolita” and kept shopping. They proceeded to have a conversation about me… Did you know she is a local woman? I think a bag that like that one costs $160 (try $80) she must be so rich… I wish I would have thought of that.

The attention is humbling and I am truly flattered. So beyond knowing that I am the Janice on the label of a Bagolita, what would I want a stranger to know about “The Janice?” I’m a normal, mother of two and wife to my fabulous husband, Brad. I used to wish for a great faith story in my life that I could share with others, because for me, God has always been part of my life. That is exactly what God has given me through Bagolitas and there are always lessons in faith to be learned. It has been an unbelievable, surreal experience and I hope I can live up to “The Janice.”

It’s my hope that when somebody reflects on Bagolitas, we will be known for great things, like redefining women, our charity efforts and the amazing story that has surrounded blessed company.

homeward bound

I’m heading home to MN for the weekend and I often find myself using the drive time to reflect on my childhood memories and the comfort and familiarity of everything “back home.” In all honesty, everyday I find myself looking back at who I once was and who I think I am now in order to know the woman that I want to become.

I have found that key to making that journey, is to allow myself to do it and to know I won’t be flawless… Easier said than done! There are so many mistakes along the way. (If only I had a dollar for every time I find myself thinking hindsight is 20/20!) But you can’t become who you want to be if you remain who you are. Or can you? One of the biggest blessings that I have discovered is a greater appreciation for what I already have and who I have already become. By seeing life as an ever-changing journey vs. a to-do (become the woman you want to be – check), I’m finding that the best that life has to offer has been right in front of me all the time!

move over Franklin Covey, here I come…

Master of organization and maximizer of time and tasks – I can’t get enough of it! Most frustrating to me has been the quest to find a daily organizer that meets my needs. Clearly, a womanpreneur like myself has not been the mastermind behind systems like the Franklin Covey planners.

Throughout the past 5 years of juggling all the hats I wear as a business owner, mother, wife, community member, friend, etc. I have had many trials and errors with other peoples organizational tools. No offense to their creators… but I have branched out on my own!

In addition to keeping an 8.5 x 11 yearly calendar with me at all times, I am quite smitten with the system that I have devised for my daily world. It incorporates some of my favorite things: prioritization of the frogs I need to eat, sharpies and my absolute favorite notebooks created by Jordi Labanda. See below and let me tell you more…

I am a visual person through and through and I see each day as a map. That map needs to be flexible enough to allow me to wear my other hats at times (like don’t forget to take the pork roast out of the freezer!) and systematic enough to organize and prioritize the following:

1. My top 6 WIGS: Wildly Important Goals of the day (The frogs I need to eat first)
2. My PIGS (Pretty Important Goals – things that I should try to get done)
3. My commitments of time (meetings and appointments)
4. Commitments I have made to myself (like tracking my WW points!)

By laying out my world in this format (it’s my ritual, every Sunday night…) it offers many benefits:

1. If my day is filled with appointments and meetings, CLEARLY, my WIGS need to reflect what I can honestly get done amidst all the time commitments of the day
2. If my WIGS are greater than the time I have available for the day, appointments need to be rescheduled – something has to give (for me that is usually sleep…)
3. It creates a snapshot of the day (my always needed visual aid)
4. It is a one-stop-shop of all the hats I juggle and it allows me to mentally prepare for the switch from CEO of the office to CEO of the household at the end of my work day
5. It creates a delineation between things that have to do with work, myself and home but does not force me to only be in one mode – because I never am!

I know what you are thinking – writing out the template for each day is for the birds, and somedays I would agree. But for me, it helps reinforce the work that needs to be done in order to celebrate a well lived day AND (drum roll please…) it allows me to feed my addiction to cute colored sharpies and super fun notebooks.

I buy sharpies individually at Staples (everyone got sick of taking my leftovers – check out my business partner’s blog post http://workinginawomansworld.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/sharpies) and I get to use the Jordi Labanda notebooks I can’t pass up at Target.

i’m lovin’ it!

A short and sassy haircut (Thank you, Chris!) and my Sebastian hair products! I have denied myself short hair off and on through my adult life, most likely stemming from my childhood years and how I would dream of being in control of my own hair decisions and it always involved wearing it long. BUT, the reality of my world is that I hate wasting precious time blow drying and I actually feel frump(ier!) with long hair because I find myself always pulling it back.

Now that I have officially said goodbye to my youth and am staring at the big 4-0 off in the distant future I am embracing that I am a short haired kind of girl… and I’m lovin’ it! But I must caution you! If you are considering taking the plunge, not all hair products are created equal and they are the difference between sassy and speechless (for all the wrong reasons!).

Not only does Sebastian use words like fierce and fearless to describe their products (which I am secretly internalizing those adjectives and words that describe me!) their packaging makes it look like it cost a fortune. http://www.sebastianprofessional.com

Shaper Plus fanatics like myself, take note: There is a new kid in town!

quoteables

Sunday night is the time I use to set up my hopes and dreams for the week of all that I want to accomplish. I devise a brilliant plan – ALWAYS! Create a beautiful schedule, tell myself this is the week I will commit to something I have been putting off (did someone say, exercise?!).

I find myself using every Monday as a time to start over and find myself saying so often, “This week I will ___________.” Funny (or not so funny) how my actions never seem to follow my intentions or the pretty schedule that I create.

Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out a magical way to break the cycle… but I do know that one of the other words (besides exercise) that I have a love/hate relationship with is discipline and I am pretty sure it plays a significant role in the above scenario. To throw salt on the wound, this was my quote of the day…

“Discipline is making the choice between what you want now and what you want most.”
Author Unknown

I think I am going to have to go and noodle on that one!

footprints

They say that God doesn’t give you more than you can handle… but sometimes don’t you wonder if he really knows what he’s doing? I mean seriously… At times along this journey of fringe, fabric and handbags I find myself wondering if he honestly thinks I can handle this load.

BUT, then I end my pity party because I am convinced that God DOES know our strength. It is our job to be open to seeing Him at work and having patience. Rays of light are breaking through all the time to help us find our keepin’ on – just take a look around! On my journey I marvel at how I see Him at work in the people that he puts in my path… at just the right time. Thank you, God!

This morning I was reflecting on the Footprints In The Sand poem and it reaffirmed the unbelievable freedom I feel when I stand firm in my faith, let go of control and trust in the Lord. So often I find myself trying to do it all on my own before I invite God into my struggles. What struck me though about this poem is that when I visualize the sand, I see the footprints of all the angels in my life, surrounding God’s as he carries me, helping me go confidently into the unknown.

from the desk of rylie baldes…