Coincidence or...???



A few weeks ago I received a wonderful offer I just couldn't refuse (this deserves a whole blog post of its own, as soon as I am allowed to spill the beans) and if you follow me on Twitter you know that I was plagued with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. It is a great opportunity but it comes with a ton of work and time investment on my part. In order to "make it work" we had to make the biggest decision of our lives: Jon will leave his corporate job of 15 years and come join MODKID full time! I typed that above statement with trembling fingers because as you can imagine, the decision was not easy and it still makes us a bit nauseous. It is a huge monetary sacrifice -- and a psychological one too because this job has been part of his life for longer than we've been together -- but we feel it is the right time to catapult our business to the next level (hopefully!)

Last week we flew to Florida, mostly for Spring Break vacation but also to announce to our dear family that not only is Jon leaving his job and joining MODKID full time (still trembling) but we have decided to move back to FL to be closer to the family and grow our business there.

This has been such a crazy rollercoaster of emotions but I can honestly say that we would never be at this point if it wasn't for all of you out there. The support we've received from our dear distributors and the hundreds of retailers and the thousands of customers out there made this dream possible, not to mention my beloved blog readers and Twitter followers... what would I do without you?! Thank you, thank you, thank you! On the fabric front, I truly can't thank Kathy and Michael of Michael Miller Fabrics enough for taking a chance on me two years ago (can't believe it's been that long already!)

So, why the owl? Funny story actually. I am not a superstitious person by any stretch of the word but some of the events that happened last week in FL had me truly scratching my head.

Jon and I announced our big decision to the family, which of course was a cause for celebration. The next day we headed out to preview an empty office building that will eventually become my sister and brother-in-law's Chiropractic offices. Jon walked into one of the empty examination rooms and was greeted by this little fellow... he was just barely 5" tall and scared out of his mind. He had gotten in through an open skylight and who knows how long he'd been hanging out in there without his mommy, not to mention food or water.

My dad quickly came to the rescue. We released him just outside the door and the little fellow flew right to his nest at the top of a nearby tree.



The girls were thrilled to have come this close to such a sweet wild creature.



As fun as this experience was, the next one is not for the faint at heart. We went to lunch to a local restaurant. I had been sitting down at the table for about 10 minutes... had ordered my meal and was just chatting with the family when I felt something scratchy run down my back. You know how sometimes you can have a stray hair or a clothing tag or something scratch you and it sorta feels like a bug? Well, that's what I hoped it was, but nooooo. I swung my hand back there to feel around and was instantly horrified when I felt something BIG AND WIGGLY inside my dress!!! I had no idea what it was but I instantly grabbed on to it (through the fabric of my dress) jumped up and started yelling for someone to help. I had a firm hold of it through the fabric so it wasn't going anywhere. No one paid any attention to me except my mom (thanks, mom!!) Somehow in between screams and hyperventilation I managed to tell her I had a big something in my hand and she needed to reach inside my dress and grab it... right?! Bless her heart... she did just as I asked. She grabbed a paper napkin from the table, reached up and took the critter right out of my trembling hand. I was afraid to look when she pulled out her hand... it was a big brown grasshopper just like the one below!!! (not my photo)



Later that night, as the family slept soundly in their beds, I got a bad case of the heebie-jeebies (and the creepy-crawlies) so I turned to my Twitter friends for comfort. One of my tweeps told me about the symbolism behind owls and grasshoppers. I did a little research of my own, and check out what I found!!!

OWL
Active at dawn and dusk owls are sometimes referred to as the night eagle, a messenger from the darkness and a guide through all the mysteries that it contains. It teaches us how to embrace our personal darkness without fear. Owls are sometimes thought to come to those that are about to die. This does not mean a physical death as much as it means the letting go of some part of yourself that is not serving you. Owls with their spectral senses help guide us through the dark tunnels of fear, change and uncertainty to the brilliant light shining at the other end. If the owl appears in your life thank it for its willingness to guide you through its shadowy realm to the other side of promise and joy.

GRASSHOPPER/LOCUST
When the grasshopper-locust appears to us we are being asked to take a leap of faith and jump forward into a specific area of life without fear. Usually that specific area is one that we have avoided and is often connected to change on a larger scale. This can represent a change in location, relationships, career or just in the way we perceive ourselves.

Call it symbolism, coincidence or just plain irony but I just couldn't ignore the humor in all this... I mean... an owl and a grasshopper? What are the odds, considering our big changes ahead?!?

Soooo... good things come to those who wait, right? And we've waited a loooong time for this moment...

Would you all kindly join me in welcoming Jon to MODKID, where the dress code is always casual, loud music and impromptu dance parties are highly encouraged and every day is a "bring your kid to work" day!

(yes, that is a dress I made myself with one of my new knits... YUMMM... more on that next week... patience, patience!)

If you're into food, computers and movies (with the occasional fabric/pattern/quilting humor) follow Jon on Twitter.

To reach Jon directly via email: jjyoung@modkidboutique.com

Stay tuned for lots of cool stuff coming up in the next few days and weeks here on the blog... new fabric collection full reveal, new sewing pattern reveals and some cool giveaways!