Putting Dreams into Actions

Ok, so last weekend I blogged about starting a camp store, and while that may not come to fruition for quite some time (because if I do that I will want retail space and that's just impossible right now with n0 money), I've decided I'll start small. Painting trunks for campers and maybe even sorority gifts (thanks for the idea Tracy!).

I like to consider myself a crafty person - I absolutely LOVED big-little week in the Christian sorority I joined because I got to make/decorate 90% of the gifts.

My Spring '08 littles' gifts

My fall '08 little's gifts

Seriously, I loved it. Being crafty is one of my hobbies. Now I just need to think of a cute name and paint a sample trunk to show off. Hey, Sarah, do you want your trunk repainted? That's what seesters are for, yes?

And back to the cute name thing: if you've got an idea, let me know. I kind of want to use my name (last name pref.) somehow, but I know that may not be totally possible, but I'd love to hear any ideas you guys have! Maybe i'll make a little something for you if I use it.

New Dreams in Life

Last week I joked on Twitter about wanting to become the gatekeeper at Mystic, the camp I've loved and attended for 13 (technically 14) years. A newer camp friend of mine tweeted back that I'd have to get in line behind her for the job and I replied that we could rebuild the gatehouse for a couple of us to live in (because if you've seen it, let's be real: it's tiny).

Today though, I was thinking seriously about what I could do with my life since obviously nothing in the job department seems to be working out these days. Then it dawned on me: where's the camp store in Tyler? For the past few summers at Mystic, girls of all ages, including counselors have been sporting the cutest t-shirts from a little camp store in San Antonio (about an hour drive from Mystic). This store doesn't just do camp stuff (because then they'd only have business for about 4 months of the year), they do hometown/neighborhood school shirts and shorts and other cute stuff to cheer on the home team.

Why couldn't I do that? In Tyler? It's funny because one of the ladies who owns this little store is actually from Longview, about 45 minutes away from Tyler. She was super nice and if I needed help or had a question, I'm almost positive she could answer it (especially since we wouldn't necessarily be competing from 5-6 hours away from each other.

But seriously. There are 2 major camps here in East Texas that tons of kids go to. There's Mystic, Waldemar, and Longhorn, where I know for a fact tons of Tyler kids go. There's two public high schools and a good number of private schools. I could make some cute shirts for the drill teams and cheerleaders. And then on top of selling school stuff year round, I could make some cute camp clothes and sell other cute camp accessories. And since I'll always be tied to Mystic somehow (Sarah will be an aide this year aka her last year as a camper for those of you non-campers. I have a little second cousin there too who's still got 8 years as a camper left), I'll always have an "in" with the big camp trends.

It's just a matter of if I can really do this and the fact that I have ZERO money to do this. But seriously, I could totally do this. Plus I have a degree in Ad/PR so marketing would be a cinch, right? We'll see. This is totally a dream right now, but who know in a few years. This would be an excellent "mom" job (aka something to do when I'm a mom and hopefully my kids are going to camp). But I'd love to do it now too... I guess we'll just have to see.