MEGAN AUMAN

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gift fair stress dreams

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I haven’t been sleeping well this week – a combination of allergies and poorly timed allergy medicine.

This morning I was wide awake at 3:30 AM. It wasn’t entirely bad, as I found myself brainstorming display ideas for the summer gift fair. On my drive home last night, I had been thinking about product development for the show, so this was clearly my unconscious mind continuing to work through gift fair planning while I slept.
Eventually, I drifted off to sleep, and this is where my mind turned ugly. I had an awful dream where I got to the gift fair to set-up, only to find that the dimensions of my booth had changed. While my location and booth number remained the same, the dimensions of my booth had changed from 10 feet wide by 6 feet deep to 10 feet deep by 2 feet wide! I want you to really picture that – 10 feet deep by 2 feet wide!
How could anyone even walk into that?
Of course, I angrily approached the show organizers, whose solution was to bring me a chair (that wouldn’t fit) and some ugly black fabric for draping.
I’ve learned by now that the occasional ridiculous stress dream is all part of the fun of running your own business. (Or at least it is for me – when I was a waitress in college I used to have dreams about forgetting to wait on a table!)
Anyone else out there have business related stress dreams?

back on the bike

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With all the snow we had this winter, I found it difficult to work up the motivation to bike. But now that it’s getting warmer, and the days a getter longer, I’m trying to build up miles again. (It doesn’t hurt that I’ve got to get ready for the 42-mile 5 Boro Bike Tour.)
I snapped this pic today at the end of a very windy 16 miler.

a day in manhattan

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Last week I took the bus to New York with my mom, brother, and brother’s girlfriend to check out a few exhibits at MOMA and of course, pay a visit to Strand. (I managed to escape after only buying 2 books, but I’ve got a long list of books I want to download on the Kindle now.)
While my brother was inspired by the Tim Burton exhibit, I was geeking out over the design and architecture area. I recently ordered my first rapid prototyped pieces from Shapeways, so I was really drooling over these laser-sintered textiles.

sunshine, bare feet and paper models

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So, I know I’ve been neglecting this blog a little bit while focusing on Crafting an MBA, but I’m trying to get back on track. Not only do I love sharing these little bits of my life with my readers, I also like being able to look back and see how my life has evolved. So, I promise, more regular posting, even if it’s mainly pictures.
Today was gorgeous! It certainly feels like spring is around the corner – after my run I took off my shoes to enjoy the sunshine in my bare feet. The nice weather also gave me a chance to work in the studio without freezing. I’m experimenting with some new ideas. Here are the first paper models:

one snap or two?

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When I first designed the cozy/cuff SNAP, I added a pair of snaps at the top and bottom of the band. (Like the picture below.) After some feedback from friends, I decided to try one snap in the center (like the picture above.) I’ve been making both versions, and I took both versions to the gift fair, where the reaction was about fifty/fifty.
I thought about continuing to make both, but its making keeping inventory on hand difficult. Now I have to keep twice as many styles in stock!
So, I thought I’d ask my wonderful blog readers – which do you like better, one snap or two?

snow/slow

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Well, I’m back from the gift fair (you can read my full account over on Crafting an MBA) and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having a hard time getting back in the swing of things. It takes so much energy to prep for and exhibit at a major show. And when you combine that with the crazy snow we’ve had this week, I really just wanted to hibernate.

But since I always feel pressure to keep working, I didn’t really take any time off. Instead, I’ve sort of been half-assing my way through work this week – feeling guilty about not getting enough work done AND not taking enough time off.
This has been a really great week for some things. The guest post on Design*Sponge sent a ton of traffic to Crafting an MBA, and I’ve been overwhelmed by all the positive feedback and kind words I’ve been getting. It means a lot to me that I’m creating something of value to other people.
I guess I’ll end this rambling blog post by saying that hopefully I’m getting back into my regular habits. I just made myself a to-do list for tomorrow, which is a sure sign I’m feeling more motivated. And tops on that list is tracking down a copy of Cooking Light magazine – rumor has it my work is featured in the new issue!