Angelie’s 3rd Birthday

Transcript from audio, auto captured:Welcome to Monday Musings with KISissa, where I share what the heck happened last week, what I have planned for this week, and a story time, not in that particular order. This is the audio companion to my substack newsletter that I send out every Thursday, so if you’re not already subscribed, there’s a button somewhere here where you can do so. And content as of this recording is currently free. All right, y’, let’s get into last week. So last weekend was Jelly’s birthday party. My daughter, she turned three on Saturday and it was pouring here in Los Angeles. So last week was basically just planning, making sure that everything had arrived, that I had ordered, and a lot of it was actually making last minute accommodations because of said rain. But more on that later, on the business side, the Amazon store is doing great. Our biggest concern is just making sure we have enough inventory. So we’ve been focusing on sending more units, which is a good problem to have, but it is definitely stressful because we’re wanting to make sure that everything arrives on time and we’re trying to avoid going out of stock and all the things. But otherwise, we are so happy and blessed that things are going in an upward direction. So very happy about that. Now, this week, on the business side, we’re going to progress to step two of our winter fancy Fair application. So if you don’t know about Winter Fancy Fair, the Specialty Food Association, who is based in New York, throws two events and they’re basically trade shows for the CPG space, which is consumer package goods. And so this trade show they’ve been doing, they have one in the winter and one in the summer. And this winter, in January, they’re going to be having it in San Diego, and we feel like we are ready for this next step. So we are in the application process to participate in Winter Fancy Fair. And the goal this week is to send out a sample to get approved to be able to participate in the show. So prayers up, fingers crossed, all the things so that we can move to step three, which will be planning and, you know, getting our booth all set up and registered for winter fancy fear. That is a huge goal of ours. It’s something that has been on our bucket list as far as the business goes for quite some time now, I think since 2022. So to be able to do this in 2026 would be a huge milestone for the business and it’s something that we’re hoping is the right timing. But if it doesn’t happen, it’s all right. We’ll focus on the next one. But I think this time, the timing is just right. Another thing that we’re working on is access to capital. I feel like that’s just something that we should always be doing as small businesses because those opportunities take a long time to come to fruition. There’s a long process. There’s always complications. And the timeline to get access to capital is always longer than you think. So that is something that’s always kind of in the back of our minds that we’re working toward, especially at this phase of the business and what’s required to be able to take big leaps like Winter Fancy Fare and moving to nationwide distribution and things like that. So that is something that I am working on this week as well. And then another thing is our online store. So our online store has not gotten a facift for a very long time. And if I’m being honest, we actually kind of neglected it because of how well we’ve been doing on Amazon and through our wholesale and all of that. And that is just something that I don’t want to just get put on the back burner. It’s something that I always think about and I’m like, this is the customer facing site. This is wholesalers come here for information. I want to make sure that it looks the way we want. where it’s presentable and we put our best foot forward. So I’m working on that slowly, but surely. And the goal for this week is to just update the product photos. We had a professional photographer take some amazing product photos for the website. And so we definitely want to update those because just the photos alone will definitely give that website the upgrade that it needs, or at least the first step. Then on the personal side, the road to self-confidence and self-discovery has been a huge theme for me this year. Part of it is this Monday Musings podcast and just putting out content again. More on that, probably in a different episode, because I can dive way, way deep into that topic, but that is something that I’ve been just kind of working on and trying to get better at a little bit every day. I’ve always just kind of struggled with my self-confidence and all of that, especially postpartum. But I think step one for me this week is just treating my body with respect and love. And that’s something that even just saying out loud to you guys is actually very difficult because I not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t feel like I’m doing it. And so that is the intention that I want to set up for this week is to just really treat my body with respect and love. And that starts with what I put into it. So I’m going to get serious with just the food choices that I make and what I’m putting into my body. And I think that’s enough. That’s a good first step for me. Another thing that I’m going to be working on is environment, because, man, I can’t tell you guys how I’ve I’ve just learned that my environment is such an important factor into my mental health improvement productivity. If things are messy, my brain feels foggy, I feel messy. My mind is always stimulated and working from home doesn’t make it any easier, right? So I’m going to make some small changes just so that I can feel like our environment is on the upward tick. I’m not expecting our home and our office and our entire environment to 100% be improved overnight. I know that it’s a process, especially with a home that we have. It’s, you know, it’s going to take steps and it’s going to be projects that affect other people and has a timeline and things like that. So I know it’s going to be a process, but I’m going to work toward it and work with what I currently have. I want to love my environment the way it is. And so if there’s things that I can do, like tidying things up or donating things that no longer serve us to free up that space, that is, I think, what my focus this week is going to be. And then the last thing is prepping for the holidays. You guys, the holiday season is just my most favorite time of year. I don’t like the summer. I love the cold, so it works and falls right in with the holidays. And then on top of that, there’s just this magical spirit that I just that enters into my heart and I want to, you know, just spread more joy and cheer that I do throughout the year during the holiday season. So we’re going to be working on putting up some Christmas decorations this weekend. and then my kids have fall break next week and they’re going to have winter break. So a couple things that I want to do is just research some like holiday crafts that they can do during winter break because they love to do art. They love to paint. They love to draw, they love to color. They love to use like other mixed like materials. But because I’m always so busy and I’m like running around, I never have time to like find activities to do with them. So I want to, you know, just go on good old Pinterest, research some things, and then plan some activities, especially during the fall and winter break that we’re going to be spending together. All right, guys, let’s get into our story time. Can I dish the tea about Jelly’s birthday party? Oh, man, guys, it was pouring. Like I said, I think they call it an atmospheric river. Is that what they call it? And it was passing through LA the weekend of Jelly’sburg.’s birthday party. And we kept going back and forth about whether or not we wanted to reschedule or if we were going to, you know, move forward with it. And the big factor was there was one day I was playing with her in her bedroom and it was just me and her. And I said, hey girlie, do you want to reschedule your birthday party? Because it’s going to rain. And she said, it’s going to rain on my birthday. And I said, yeah. And she said, yay. And I said, that sounds fun to you. She’s like, yeah. And I said, do you want to reschedule your birthday on a day that it doesn’t rain like next week? And she goes, no, mommy, I want to have my birthday party. And that was it. That’s all I needed. So we decided to move forward with it. And despite the rain, despite the torrential rain, we decided to still move forward with it. So we made a few changes. We had to rent a tent with walls to try and keep the water out. We originally rented a big pink bounce house for her birthday and we had to get something smaller. And luckily, our rental guy, who is amazing. He had a smaller jumper that would fit in the canopy that we rented. So we did that instead. And the morning of the party, we were, Charlie and I were just, you know, getting everything set up. And as the rain kept pouring down harder and hot harder on us while we were trying to set everything up, Charlie and I just got more and more sad because there was people that said that they were canceling and couldn’t make it understandably because especially those people that were driving from far away, I would not want them to be driving in that kind of weather. It was just, it was really coming down. And for LA, it was like beyond what we’re used to around here. So I understood, but it just really made us sad for her that all of her family and friends couldn’t come and and celebrate. And we were just reminding ourselves, this is for jelly. This is what she wanted. She didn’t want to reschedule. And I know she’s a three-year-old. I know. But it really meant a lot to her. And so we wanted to make it the best that we could. So I had a bunch of decorations already purchased, but we just kept repeating that mantra of this is for her as long as she’s happy. That’s all that matters. And, guys, can I tell you what a perspective shift our little three-year-old did for her mom and dad? Every time we had a new piece of decoration go up and she would see it, she would say, oh, my gosh, look, it’s my party. Yay, this is amazing. And she would just be so excited. And she would get more and more pumped every time she saw another piece of decoration go up And when we turned down the bounce house for her to jump in before all the guests came, she was just living her best life. And Charlie and I finally looked at her and just we paused for a moment and was just like, this is what’s important. It’s her special day. And if she’s happy, that’s all that really matters. And that joy filled our heart again because we could see that our little girl was happy despite the rain, despite people not being able to make it. It was just such a happy day for her. And that’s all that matters. We’re just so grateful for the people that did come and celebrate and the people that couldn’t come that still sent their well wishes and love to her. We were just surrounded by people that love on us all the time. And it’s such a blessing to be able to have people in our circle that love on us and are there for us like everyone, all our friends and family are. Well, thank you guys for listening. If you enjoyed this audio edition, please share it with a friend. For the full Monday music experience, subscribe to my substag at justa.substack.com. Until next time, remember, you are a blessing and I’m so grateful you’re here. Bye, friends. Get full access to Kissa - the Notion Mama at justkissa.substack.com/subscribe