Behind the Scenes with Believe Notes

There are a lot of big things happening for Believe Notes, and I am super, super excited! Big things mean busy weekends and evenings, since that's really the only time I have to work on my stationery business. I work full-time in corporate America during the day, which means my entire brand needs to developed on my "off" time. It's busy, but it's so incredibly rewarding.

I get a lot of people asking me how I do it all. How do I manage my time? Well, the answer is, not very well! I spend almost all of my spare time working on designs, photographing recent projects, blogging, researching, and recently I'm focusing on trying to network more.

A typical weekend for me begins around 6:30 or 7:00am. Yes, it's early, but I have a lot to do. And no, I don't use an alarm.

Here's an idea of what a typical Saturday or Sunday looks like:

• 7:00am: Wide awake, stepping over the sleeping Miss Juliet to get to my Tassimo for some caffeine. 
• 7:15am: Check emails, facebook, twitter, instagram, blogger, pinterest, and etsy.
• 8:20am: My husband comes home from work, which wakes up Juliet momentarily. I tear myself away from my computer long enough to greet him and ask how his shift was. Sometimes, on Sundays, he brings me the newspaper, flowers and some bagels. This is why I love him.
• 8:45am: Back to my computer. At this point Juliet wants to cuddle and go back to sleep, so she usually waits for me in my office before eventually curling up by my feet. 
• 9:30am: The sun is perfect right about now for taking some pictures of recent projects. I wish I was more skilled with my camera....
• 10:15am: I want to make a bow as a photo prop. My bows look like poo, so I turn to Martha Stewart.
• 11:00am: All the pictures are uploaded, and it's time to edit them. I still haven't perfected taking pictures of my work, so I rely on the editing. But it's a timely process, and I need to reheat my second cup of coffee. 
• Noon: Juliet is starting to wake up. She piles a bunch of toys at my feet. Maybe I should take a break and play with her. 
• 1:00pm: Time for errands - I stop at the Post Office first, to drop off orders. Then it's off to Target, Walbaums and TJ Maxx, which are right up the street from me. TJ Maxx, although never on my actual errand list, tends to take up the majority of my shopping time (and budget). Whoops. 
• 2:30pm: Lunch & cleaning before returning to my computer to finish up whatever I was working on in the morning. My plants look thirsty. Maybe I'll give them some water. Maybe I'll see how long they'll survive without the water...
• 3:30pm: I try to draft a bunch of blog posts for the week and schedule them to auto-post during the week. Sorry if that spoils the excitement for everybody, but I am not magic, and I cannot be at two places at once. So, while I'm off in corporate America during the day, my blog is programmed all nice and nice. I decided to do this because I've noticed that I have a larger audience during the week - and since I put a lot of time into my blog posts, I want to make sure they reach as many people as possible.
• 5:30pm: Time to wake up the husband and attempt to make dinner.
• 7:00pm: Husband and I hit up the park with Juliet. All the neighborhood dogs meet at the park next to our development every night. It's like a big ol' doggy play date. 
• 9:00pm: I can barely keep my eyes open. My husband and I do some more chores around the house. I head back to my computer for a little while, but by 11:00pm I'll most likely be passed out on the sofa. 
• 11:15pm: Time for bed. 

The busier I've gotten, the messier my office has become (as you can see in the title picture). Although, my favorite accessory is Miss Juliet, who is always by my side when I'm in my office - I couldn't even take a picture of the space without her leaving her spot. I've also had to pull an upholstered chair from my dining room to replace my favorite orange captains chair (which is now shoved in the corner). My butt was literally starting to go numb from the lack of support, ouch! I'm also in desperate need of more storage space in my office, and I'm trying to save up some money to build out and entire wall unit for my desk. 

Le'Sigh. Now you know a little more about what my day looks like, and how I barely manage my time. How do all of you manage your time? I hope your days (and desks) are as cluttered as mine! 

Get to know Miss Juliet

I post tons of pictures of her, tweet about her, and take her just about everywhere with me. But I don't think I have ever formally introduced her. She's our dog, a two-year-old love-mutt that we rescued as a little pup from the North Shore Animal League.

When my husband and I bought our condo, we made sure it was pet-friendly. My husband wanted a big dog - a German Shepherd or Husky; while I love big dogs, with a 1,000 square foot apartment, I wanted something medium sized. When we went to the shelter to pick out a dog, most of the animals were barking, crying, bouncing, chewing, jumping - and then there was one, that was curled up in the back of the cage and only uncurled herself to lick your finger when you stuck it between the bars. I took her out of the cage, and she could barely walk - she had been found in a shoebox somewhere in the South, and never had room to move/walk, so her little legs were weak. She was the sweetest little animal ever, perfectly happy to just curl up in your arms. My husband and I were smitten, she looked like the shepherd he wanted, but would thankfully end up being much smaller. We took her home then and there, and it was the best decision we've ever made.

We named her Juliet - after Juliet Burke from the TV show Lost. Some day if we have a male dog, he'll be named Sawyer. Yes, we are huge fans of Lost.

Juliet turned out to be perfect - she is, we think, part Shepherd, Border Collie and Chow (she has a black tongue, the tell-tale sign of a Chow-Chow). She stopped growing and weighs in at about 42lbs, which is the perfect size for our apartment. She is the most gentle animal ever, she is a super fast learner (must be the collie in her), obedient, loyal, and not at all mischievous.

Turns out, she is a major chicken. She's afraid of just about everything - from the garbage truck, to the vacuum, to her own water bowl - she runs and hides behind the toilet if anything spooks her. She is also a super athlete - maybe it's the collie in her, but she has be active all the time, and she is one fast dog. Luckily we live next to a park (and have parents with big yards) so she gets lots of running in, but when we don't exercise her enough she ends up with doggy-anxiety that manifests as light chasing or not eating. I've never met a dog that doesn't want to eat, but she would 100% rather be playing with her toys than eat, and she only eats when she is actually hungry. I should take a lesson from her!

She follows my husband and I around everywhere. She's not at all a morning dog, which is comical because she sleeps in our bathroom (don't know why!) and I have to literally drag her out at 6am when I need to get ready for work - when left to her own devices she'll sleep until noon-ish. But, once she is awake, she runs, runs, runs and runs some more.

Aside from the occasional anxiety, she is the easiest dog in the world to take care of. You tell her to sit, and she sits; tell her to stay, she stays; tell her to back up, she backs up; and you get the picture. She genuinely wants to do whatever you tell her, so she was super easy to train, and she even trained herself to do a few things (like ring bells when she needs to be walked).

So, world, I formally introduce you to Miss Juliet, aka Julie, who brings constant love, joy and companionship to my husband and I. If you're ever in New York City and need a really, really good fur-hug, just give me a call and Julie will be happy to oblige.