Trying to De-Stress

So much new stuff is happening over here at Chez Badger, I thought I'd give my readers a little insight into the more personal life of the Bread.

A couple weeks ago, I was thrilled to find out that our newest products were featured on the amazing Modish blog for Eco-Friendly Finds! Later in the morning, I discovered that our newest pint glass design (the curly mustache!) made it onto the insanely popular design*sponge blog! I knew design*sponge was a very well-known home decor/interior design blog, but I didn't quite realize how many of their readers love all things mustachioed.

Orders for mustache pint glasses came flooding in, along with hints that other popular websites and blogs (USA Today's Pop Candy, notcot.org/liqurious) had picked up the craze and linked to my site as well. I went into a bit of a panic mode, trying to make nothing but mustache glasses while I was also trying to protect my business with trademarking, filing copyrights and becoming a Limited Liability Company. I even met with my first lawyer to help me figure things out!

Two and a half weeks later, and I'm still dealing with the aftermath. I'm still filing paperwork, I just got my new LLC bank account today, and I'm signing a lease on a studio space tomorrow! I'm trying to get new equipment to allow me to sandblast large orders, which would help me expand my operations from the extremely limiting 20-glass-a-day limit I seem to be capable of now. I'm having to learn a ton of stuff about legality, business expansion, and also about my craft, all in a very short period of time.

It's all extremely exciting, and also enormously stressful. I had a lot of fun activities planned for this time of year which I'm way behind on now--stuff like learning how to make fused glass that I could add to my website for the holidays. My parents are coming to visit Oregon for the first time (ever!) in a couple weeks, and I'm hoping to be able to relax a bit and show them around when they get here.

When I get my new routine under control, I'm also thinking about ways to share my experience with others. I'd like to offer a workshop on getting press for your small business, and maybe teach people about legalizing and protecting their businesses. Part of me can't wait until I have time for those things, and another part of me hopes I stay this busy so I could possibly afford a house and some health insurance. Wish me luck! I'm certainly rooting for everyone to get to this place in their lives too!

[The photos in this post are from the first scenic trip Sean and I have taken since moving to Oregon! We drove through the Columbia River Gorge last weekend, and had an amazing time de-stressing for a day by enjoying the breathtaking views.]