What I shipped in 2010, Seth Godin style

I worked my tail off in 2010. Not that much different than any other year - I work hard all the time! It was an incredibly busy and phenomenal year for my business yet at the end of it looking back it's hard to remember what was accomplished beyond numbers and impressive stats. I was reading Seth Godin’s blog post challenging people to make a list and post what they ‘shipped’ in 2010. ‘Shipped’ according to Seth is accomplishing something or launching a project that scares you, whether it was a hit or not.

Seth says “it's actually difficult to publish a list like this... maybe that's another reason we hesitate to ship, because we don't want to tout too much. Your turn to post a list somewhere... You'll probably be surprised at how much you accomplished last year. Go ahead and share with your friends, colleagues or the web... don't be shy.”

Alright Seth – off the top of my head here’s some of what shipped in 2010.

• Launched our corporate website StealNetwork.com

• Hired and trained 26 additional employees on our staff

• Fired 3

• Two news appearances on KUTV (1) (2)

• BabySteals.com 2nd anniversary (we party so hard online at Steal Network for anniversaries; so they’re quite the project to pull off)

• Enough live video chats on our ustream channel to result in 12,750 viewers

• Helped my beautiful friend Dunia raise $2,600 for a fan Jess B. to buy a gravestone for her baby. The story in her words part 1 and part 2

• Moved our entire operation from a 5,000 sq foot warehouse to a 15,000 sq foot warehouse

• ScrapbookSteals 1st anniversary

• Traveled around Canada for a 4 day “Operation we send joy” tour, crashing a BabySteals.com “meetup” and surprising fans by hand delivering orders to their door

• Spoke at 2 Conferences

• Took BabySteals.com to two steals per day – 9am and 9pm

• #3 in StartupNation’s leading moms in business

• KidSteals 1st anniversary

• Completely changed backend systems for our websites to a custom interface (don't fool yourself- this was Rett & Marco)

• Attended 6 Industry tradeshows including CHA, OR (twice), Kidshow, Magic and ABC

• One of 10 finalists for “Best Entrepreneur - Service Business” Stevie Awards for Women in Business

• Launched KidCrawl.com Read about it here

• “Today’s Steal” iPhone app – available in the iTunes store

Seth says “I didn't do all this myself... far from it.” And neither did I. Thanks to a truly unbelievable business partner (Rett) and a great staff that help make these projects come to fruition.

Here's to a successful 2011 - luckily I've already started on many things that will 'ship' soon! And as Seth says...GO make something happen!

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

aren't they darling

Easton (16) Brandon (10) Jane (4)

Christmas 2010

Christmas, Disney style

Last Wednesday night I was lamenting about how great it would be to see Disneyland at Christmas. We never have. Three days later we were all on a flight to LA for a 3-day Disney weekend! Yeah, we were there for 5 days over Spring Break, but that's ok. I'll have to put up the photos later. But we had a blast! Oh and...we came home with annual passes :). Yes we live in Utah. Again, that's ok.

we're legit

let me just say it's surreal driving down the freeway at night, looking over and thinking, "hey that logo is pretty legit". then realizing, "holy crap- that's mine".

steal network. we send joy.

how we spent thanksgiving weekend

i met brandon flowers

HOLY CRAP! Did you HEAR ME? Yes, I said I met Brandon Flowers. omg. He's the lead singer of my favorite band of all time The Killers. I really typed that. It must have really happened. I stood in 2nd row with Rachel at his concert. I can't 'out' my connection but long story short, after the concert the next thing I knew we were backstage talking with Ronnie (drummer for The Killers who is so completely cool), rode an elevator with the band upstairs to the backstage meet & greet (including Brandon-I almost died). And...now I sound like a teenager. That's ok. Really I was very calm, composed, reserved and professional. Not sure where that came from.

But really.......he's my absolute favorite musician of all time. Because his lyrics are unbelievable and have this crazy symbolism that has more meaning and relevance to my life than I dare describe here. This video may have a few clues. I'm not going to get started because I could talk all day about every song, album, meaning of every lyric, videos, history of the band, etc. Pathetic, I know. I even flew to Las Vegas in August to see his first concert of his solo tour. I won't embarrass myself at how much I had to pay a scalper on craigslist to get tickets. That's ok.

Although I could never pick my favorite Killer's song or album (that's like asking me to pick my favorite kid) you're missing the musical boat if you haven't paid attention to The Killers. If you don't think you know who they are, start here and you'll quickly remember. But it's not just me - the whole family loves The Killers. It's a requirement of living in this house. Even Jane loves them.

This sign may or may not be hanging in my office.

Anyway - the moral of the story is - I met Brandon Flowers. Check.

my newest kid

http://www.kidcrawl.com

I am so proud.

it already:

-'crawls' the lowest price online for any baby or kid product you're looking for (hardgoods)

-allows moms to add and share reviews of any product, and combines reviews for all sites online for that product

-shows the price history for that product online

-will email you if the price drops

-prices out the price per diaper for disposables

-allows moms to ask product related questions (and get answers) and the question always stays with that product

-provides a mommy forum so moms can share deals, tips, reviews, product q&a, and general mom advice.
-shows you what moms have in their 'crib'. Here's mine.

....I could go on forever about the amazing bells and whistles this site has. Just go use it and you'll see for yourself!

St Thomas USVI

The locale chosen for the annual October Caribbean adult trip with our friends was the US Virgin Island of St. Thomas. (Last year was Aruba) We went for a week with 4 of our faaaaaaavorite people on earth - Rachel & Aaron and Rett & Christine (Rett is my business partner). We stayed at the Marriott Frenchman's Cove resort. Can I just say A-MAZING? We hammered every angle of this island:

Unbelievable food (Havana Blue is a must), sunshine, private beaches, white sand and warm turquoise water, amazing resorts and weather. St. Thomas, we will be back.

happy halloween from vader & cupcake princess

...and from Wilma and Fred!

...and skywalker.

oh canada, you send me joy

this post could go on forever. long story short, rett and i went to canada to hand deliver orders to customers in our top 3 cities. i have to add more of my story to another post later. it's too good. here is what babysteals said: and here is a little of the video:

and press release.

What's blooming in my garden!

Took a photo of each iris and flower in my garden yesterday and put together this iMovie!

This is best watched on YouTube by clicking the logo in the video.

What did you do this holiday weekend?

Knock, knock...is this thing on? Yeah, it's been fo-ev since I've posted, mainly because - well, I always put work before my real life (that must change, don't you think?) and second? I also blog here and here!
Tonight a friend asked me, "What did you do this weekend?" My first thought was to respond with how I was feeling, which was that I really didn't quite accomplish all I was set out to do and quite frankly, felt a bit like a failure. UNTIL I decided to answer her question literally, by just sticking to the facts. Here they are:
Friday night: worked (to get ready for a KidSteals.com 3 day sale!), and finally took the kids to Fro-gurt at 10 at night. Worked again when I got home- fell asleep in front of a spreadsheet at my computer at 1:30am.
Saturday: Worked. Eric brought me and the kids Einstein's (my Saturday morning fav!)
Took Brandon to a garage sale and to get an Iris garden tour by a 90-year old Iris collecter. I'll be writing a post about this, as it was pretty darn special.
Planted all of my container pots in the garden.
Dug up mint plants in my tropical garden that are completely taking over!
Deadheaded the garden.
Planted several packs of annuals.
Cut Easton's hair into a faux hawk (yes, I am THAT kind of mom. It looks awesome BTW. Cut me a break it's his last week of school!)
Right after cleaning up the crazy mess (and showering) after cutting Easton's hair, I got a call from Rett (my business partner, the other owner of Steal Network). He asked what I was up to and I said just working around the house. So he said "I'll be there in 30 minutes, can Easton watch your kids?" Uhhhhhh.....SURE. I had to bribe Easton, but I knew Rett must have had something super cool up his sleeve. Well, BOY did he ever! The doorbell rings and I hear Eric yelling, "NO WAY"! I couldn't possibly imagine what was going on. To my surprise, there was Rett, his wife Christine, and Emily (known to BS fans as Emily K) and her husband Ted in an Excursion LIMO! Off we went for a surprise night on the town! Tuscany for dinner (SO amazing- and uhhh, the menu lights up. I was totally impressed by that, HA!) and downtown dancing (ahem......booty shakin)! What a FUN surprise night!
The rest of the weekend in a nutshell:

Work- caught up on a ton of emails but still somehow, seemingly have thousands to go.
Eric and Easton helped my sister and her BF Brock move into their first home! Congrats Brock and Sara!
Thinned my peach tree (you pick off about half the fruit on the tree, spacing them out as evenly as possible for bigger, more healthy fruit!) This took what seemed like forever!
Planted even more plants, cut Brandon's hair (not like his brother's, don't worry)
Downloaded 800 photos on to 2 different computers
Made lots and lots of fresh guacamole.- and ate it ALL.
Got a facial at Gardner Village
Powerwashed almost everything known to man including the garage, driveway, steps, porch, lawn furniture, pots, kids outside toys, deck, deck furniture, you name it - I powerwashed it- and my arm is feeling it!
Gave Jane a mani/pedi
Restored (more like cleaned) a new (old) bistro table for our basement.
Eric fixed our outdoor lighting and re-did the timers.
He also totally reorganized the garage and hung the skateboards and longboards high on the wall. No more tripping on them or the danger of Jane trying it for herself.
Visited my Grandpa's grave for Memorial day.
Did my 'round-up' trick on weeds (ahem- morning glory) in the backyard (I'll post about this- it's totally worth sharing!)

And in between all of that, lots of work in small segments here and there.
Took the kids to Cheesecake factory for dinner (YUM!) Yes, Brandon completed 75% of this burrito. That can't be healthy. That thing was half the size of him!
And tonight- work! Until now, as I write this post past 1:20am. One of these days I'll catch up. On life AND on blogging. Meanwhile, after writing it all down, the next time someone asks "What did you do this weekend?" I'll focus on what I DID do, vs. what I didn't do.

Sweet Baby Jane turned 4!

jane loves the killers

my 3-year old daughter jane, singing songs from my favorite band, the killers:

A Fan Poem!!

I log on to our BabySteals Facebook page to find this amazing poem written by our customer and fan Emily Brown Weaver. Thank you Emily I am so humbled!

Ode To Baby Steals

I'll fully admit,
that often it's true,
my dishes are dirty,
I've laundry to do,
There might be spaghetti stains splattered on walls,
and chocolate (I hope) is smeared on the walls.

It's nothing I'm proud of,
I know it's a shame,
I'm not always quite at the top of my game.
My husband, thank goodness,
is quite understanding,
and frankly is happy the house is still standing.

But one thing I know,
and I safely can say,
Is that I'm topnotch at 10 sharp every day.
I mean, with three kids, and a mortgage to boot,
You've got to be savvy when buying their loot.

I've searched round the country, and even the globe,
with my sensitive sense and my laser mom probe.
The deals aren't in england, in russia or guam,
but rather are found on babysteals.com

If you've got a munckin in diapers I'm sure,
You'll instantly see why it's such an allure.
From shoes to pajamas, from blankies to toys,
In colors that suit all your girls and your boys.
You'll quickly forget all that dreary housecleaning,
and find that it's much more enjoyable stealing!

You'll want to tell all of the moms that you know,
rave about babysteals places you go,
but careful, I'll warn you, cause they'll steal it too,
and sometimes they might do it faster than you!

So at that sweet magical hour every day,
You'd best pay attention log on straight away,
Or else I'm afraid you will pucker and pout,
when you find that the steal is all gone, and sold out!

Funny things 3-year olds say

"OH MY CWAP - are you kidding me?"

So Jane this Christmas was so scrumptiously cute I couldn't handle it. It was the first year she really "understood" what was going on. It was so much fun watching her open her presents. I had to share this hilarious video. You can tell by her language she's raised next to two boys....her phrase in this video quickly became a "new and frequently used word" to babySTEALS.com fans in forums and chats. Too funny!

A hint for the super loyal BabySteals fans...

...I would start a frenzy if I posted this on the BabySteals facebook page, so I hope this does the trick!