Monday, November 25, 2013

Creating Jaylalas

Treat yo' self.

Such an awesome concept. And to all my Parks and Rec fans, it's even better. Now everyone else go watch Parks and Recreation- it's hilarious.

Tonight I consciously tried to treat myself. As in, I made plate of good food for dinner and HEATED it up! Yay for going the extra mile. I have a tendency to not take care of myself the best I could (who does, am I right?). This is why Jaylalas is so important.

This new project is something I get to work towards and prove to myself. It's time that I take to cultivate a talent and and try to solve that ever present question for all of us: what do I really want to do with my life? Here's a little context for you:

So it's college graduation time and most people are gearing up (and stressing out) to go off into the "real world." Meanwhile, I did ROTC, knew what my next step was, and could graduate relatively stress free (other than ya know, going into the Army). It's funny because four years later, I'm just now experiencing that uncertainty new graduates go through. I'm like the last kid to go through puberty.

My Army career all starts and ends in a far off land in Oklahoma. I was an Officer in Air Defense Artillery and recently finished and moved to California. The Army was my first major learning milestone. It broadened my view of the world and most certainty myself. It changed me for life, in a way that I'll be forever grateful.

Okay, back to present day. Like all new college grads, or veterans, I asked myself what do I want to do? My answer evolved into what is now Jaylalas.

I'm a big lover of a personal challenge and this shop has proved to be a great learning experience for me. It's opened a whole new area of possibility that is so diverse from the Army. The military determines most everything for you: where you live, what work you do, how you should act. Now everything that happens (or doesn't) is on me. So after quietly freaking out a good amount, the idea for Jaylalas developed.

No matter what happens, at least in the end I will know what can or could have been. I'm giving myself the power to find out what I can do, not have regret and to not settle. I'm treating myself to one hell of a challenge.


Departing the Army...and still getting bunny ears 



Thursday, November 7, 2013

Reach for the Moon

I've got to admit that I've been super excited about Jaylalas the past few days because of the online attention from my posts. The last time I looked at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest all in a day was um, never. Although I will admit to spending way too many hours on Pinterest.

Thanks to everyone who retweeted/shared/liked or whatever else!

So all day I have been craving some Jaylalas time. I finally just squeezed in an hour and it felt really good. I have been brainstorming ideas for a more "manly" item (think it's going to be along the line of sports teams!) and how to logistically ship orders. It's crazy how the more work I seem to do for the shop, the more things I discover still need to be done. The final stages of the Jaylalas debut have been a mixture of nerves, anticipation and extreme excitement. Mostly excitement!



If any Cuse AD majors are reading, do you guys remember this? Thanks to Donna Greene for the graduation gift many years ago! I've probably looked at it every day since.

This sits on my desk as a little nudge. I have a tendency to doubt myself big time,  but quotes like this remind me to keep fighting that fight.

So next time you're also worried that no one will like your work or store name or want to read your blog (ha no, not me... okay, yes me), just remember-

"Reach for the moon, if you miss it you will land among the stars. "

Monday, November 4, 2013

The First One

Booya! 

I'm just celebrating the excitement I felt all day since announcing the launch date of Jaylalas. Seeing all the Facebook likes made me so happy! 


So I came skipping home from work with inspiration in the pants! And thought today would be a good day to kick start this blog. 


Jaylalas is an Etsy shop of hand painted and hand made items, like painted wine glasses and notebooks. It is everything I love painting, on things that people will really use. The line is ocean inspired, mainly by the beautiful creatures that live in the water. Boy do I really love a good sea turtle!


The shop is also a really big step for me as a person. A step in the direction of my dreams! (Cue corny music). But really, these past few months have been a whole new life for me and putting Jaylalas in motion has been a huge part of that. 


More on all that later! In the meantime, I'm busy duplicating the stemless sea turtle wine glasses since there was hype for them earlier. Hype! 



Hand painted stemless wine glasses! Available on Etsy Dec 1, 2013