The Story

As a little girl one of my favorite things to do was "play store".  I loved to role play the interaction between a customer and the "lady" behind the counter.  I loved the fun of filling out order forms and credit card slips with carbon paper.  I loved making up names, checking off boxes. I loved dipping into the various compartments of the cash box to make change.  I loved the snap the metal clip made as it clung to bills in the drawer.   And of course I loved shopping.  

My very first job at the age of 15 was as a salesgirl for The Gap.  I worked there for many years - helped pay for books while I was in college and made some very good friends and great memories.  There is a sense of belonging to a club when you work retail.  The endless folding and straightening, the piles of clothes in heaps on tables at the holidays, the neverending store playlist looping for hours on end.  At the time I found it monotonous, boring.  It's funny that all these years later, having spent the last 15+ years in a corporate atmosphere, I found myself longing for that simplicity.  The art of finding order in pretty shapes and admiring colorful fabrics and patterns and the sense of satisfaction that came with folding a picture perfect jean wall or making someone's day with the simple act of finding a size they needed but didn't see out on the floor.  I didn't see it then, but there were many little rewards.   

After I graduated college I had to decide what to be when I grew up and fell into the trap of taking a job "in the meantime" instead of finding a way to make a living doing something I enjoyed.  The "in the meantime" job lasted 14 years and saw me through the birth of 2 children.  When my second child, a daughter, was born I decided it was time to think about how to work at something I loved in a way that would allow me to enjoy life's little rewards and spend more time with my family.  Corporate life as it turned out, was not very rewarding and it was taking the life out of me, literally.  I wanted my children to see their Mom as someone who followed her heart, believed in herself and felt the fear, but did it anyway.

And so five very long years later, I finally found the courage with the support of my family, the encouragement of my husband and the very best girlfriends a girl could ask for, to leave my job and take a leap of faith in myself and try my hand at something I love.  Every item on the site is something I love.  As my parents would tell you, I would gladly have a wall of perfectly arranged bags just to admire. I don't need a reason to use every one - I just love their shapes and patterns, their pockets and compartments.  I love the thought of pulling together a group of pieces to package as a gift for someone special.  I love creating something beautiful.  The smiles these gifts bring are my little reward, and if there's anything my children have taught me it's that the little things matter.  Big time. 

So browse the site even if it's just to admire the forms and patterns like I do.  I hope you find something you love too.  If you do, that will be my little reward.

XO

Angela