Yay! Front Page Again

Last week I was lucky enough to have another treasury I made (second time) make it to the front page of Etsy. It's such an honor and great exposure. Congrats to all that have their items on the front page!

Calling All Designers and Creative Types!

We Want You To Design The Next Midcoast Magnet Logo!
Calling All Designers and Creative Minds!

Mid-Mag Logo Redesign Contest

It's time for Midcoast Magnet to develop a new logo and fresh look. We want you to design it and profit from it!

The Prize:

The winner will receive $750 in cash, donated by Christina Sidoti of Paolina's Way, a great new Organic Italian Restaurant featuring wood fired pizza in Camden, Maine. The winner will also be featured in a news article and will receive credit on our website.

Here's what we are looking for:

1) We need a fresh logo that embodies the key elements of our mission: 'Midcoast Magnet brings people together to develop innovative projects that support creativity, livability and economic sustainability. We are dedicated to vibrant culture, entrepreneurship, and social and professional networking.'
2) We want a look and feel that ties the design image more closely to our statewide program, the Juice Conference (www.juiceconference.org), but still allows Midcoast Magnet to be an individual entity. Juice is a program of the Midcoast Magnet.

3) We want the logo to feel new, fresh, innovative, snappy, trendy, welcoming and symbolic of the times.

You design it, we'll flaunt it. Show us what you've got!
Contest Rules:

1) Submissions must be received by November 10, 2008
2) Email a jpeg no larger than 1 MB to info [!at] midcoastmagnet.com
3) Submissions will be presented in a pollto the 1,300 Midcoast Magnet subscribers to determine the top four contributions. The Midcoast Magnet Board of Directors will determine the ultimate winner.
4) Participants must be 18 or older.
5) All submissions become the property of Midcoast Magnet.
6) Participants must agree to two rounds of editing to finalize designs, as well as making sure the design is compatible for 2 color, 4 color and b+w, as well as identify the CMYK and RGB colors.
7) Contest is not limited to Maine residents, just those that love Maine.

www.midcoastmagnet.com

Our Trip To Mass

Kelsey and I had a nice trip to Massachusetts last week. I unfortunately and predictably I didn't take any pictures until the last leg. We left on Friday the 26th and headed down to Katie's to spend Friday night and Saturday with Katie and Emily in Marblehead. Friday afternoon we ventured out in the rain and went to Whole Foods. They have the best salad bar ever and it made for a great dinner!

Saturday morning I caught up with an old friend from high school, Steph Doiron and we had breakfast. Then I headed to Reece's baby shower and got to see some of my favorite ladies from the WV.

Sunday Kelsey and I packed up and headed down to JP to stay with my beloved friend Ashley and her daughter Temple and fiance Finn. We had a nice time. It was so nice to be back in JP and I lovede walking around the pond. Ash made a really yummy dinner too. I was so impressed with Miss Kelsey as well.. she fell asleep listening to ash and I chit chatting.. I think because she couldn't see me.

Monday we drove into Boston and met up with Shelagh. We had a great day in Boston. Walking through the Common, shopping in Down Town Crossing. And we discovered the coolest restaurant. We knew we'd both heard of it.. But I just got in the mood to venture to China Town and have Dim Sum for the first time. China Pearl is a restraunt in the heart of China Town on the 2nd floor. We definitely had some challenges with the language barrier, but we made it through ok. You sit at your table and waitstaff push carts through the restaurant and stop at each table asking them if they want anything off their cart. It was a little bit challenging figuring out exactly what they had and most of the dishes had these tiny little shrimp, which kelsey shouldn't eat yet. It was really good! and SO cheap. We had 6 different plates of food and there's a lot of food on each one and the whole bill was $20. What a find!

We then all drove up to Chelmsford and stayed at Shea's house. It was a fun sleepover and Kelsey slept awesome.

It was a great trip and I LOVE the fact that I got to see 5 of my girlfriends!!!! How great is that~!

another day for whimsidoodle

Today was a good day... and a productive day. Kelsey is definitely teeething and two of her 1 year molars are coming in on the same side, so she took a LONG nap (happens when she's up a lot at night.) I managed to vacuum, do the dishes, do laundry, put clothes away, take pictures of 3 items, get them uploaded, get a gift ready to go, pack... whew.. and more.

Some of my latest items listed on whimsidoodle

Jess made a huge batch of onesie cards which is awesome! oh.. I left Josh's birdhouse out of the collage. I am so excited to have all of these new items by such talented people in my shop! One thing I love about etsy is the trading aspect! It's a fabulous way to get things you're hoping to have if the other person has interest in trading with you. I am currently doing trades with my cousin, Mary Morra and the Lemon Drop Studio.

So tomorrow Kelsey and I head out to Massachusetts for a crazy busy, but really fun and exciting four days! Tomorrow we'll be in Marbleshead (one of my favorite places!) with KT and Emily. Then Saturday we head to Danvers for Reece's baby shower. Then back to KT's and hopefully a trip to the Peabody Essex Musuem. Then Sunday I head down to Boston.. JP to stay with Ash.. so excited to see her and meet Temple! Then Monday Shea took the day off and we're heading to Downtown Crossing.. YAY H&M and hopefully Kendall Square to the Garment District.. can't believe I have never been there!

It may be a whirlwind few days, but I am looking forward to it!

i just love a good GTG

And what a great one it was! We had an awesome turn out. GTG.. or Get Together in Nest speak (www.thenest.com, a truly fabulous site, which I don't look at enough and am guilty of only chatting with my Maine friends) is when a bunch of ladies who have become friends through the local positing sites, in our case Maine, gather together for a shindig. and wow.. I think I can actually name everyone in the picture without having even looked at the post about it on the board! From left to right: Katie and Ben, Jess, Denise, Nicole, Carly, Shannon, Sara, Kristen, Jill, Darcie, Megan, Me, Erika, oh grrr HikinandClimbing, Jess, Kristen, Summer and Jake.

We had an awesome lunch at Buck's Naked BBQ in Freeport. Mmmm I got the catfish sandwich, with collared greens and corn bread as my sides oh and a pumpkin head beer. Good stuff.

Oh and did I mention I was kidless? Yup.. first girl outing out since I had the kiddo... Jeff had both girls and I ate lunch and shopped sans baby. It was really fun. Bless her heart I love her with all of mine, but it was nice!

I love getting together.. it just makes my day!

my beloved brother

It's taken me a little time to be ready to blog about my brother, but I need to do it. He's been in many dreams and I miss him so much already. My brother, James Christopher Molloy, was the greatest guy. He always had a huge smile on his face and was such a pleasure to be around. Our relationship was always a bit complicated when I was growing up and I never really knew what to make of him. I was 6 when I first realized I had any siblings. I always knew of them, but thought they were just teenagers who came around to play with me. When I was 6 my sister moved in with us and my brothers soon followed. I think that in reality how it started is that Jim never really knew what to make of me. I was 12 years younger than him and I lived in a home with a mom and a dad that was functional and stable and I also had lots of quality time with my dad. Jim had come off of many years of not knowing what to think of my dad, because of a messy divorce and living with him mom. As early as 7 he gave me a hard time... he'd hide my stuffed animals (eh hem.. Fluffy) and really I think he kind of steered clear of me for a while. And then it was forced upon him. My parents worked long hours and traveled a lot. When I was 10 or so I spent a week or two with him, but I don't really remember interacting with him much beyond having him drop me off at summer camp. Then when I was in 7th grade, my parents basically were living split lives. They had to get a condo further south ,closer to Mass, so they could have a place to stay for all of the business meetings. I lived with Jim for several months M-F and then for the whole week when they were traveling. My parents had a wonderful empty condo stocked with food and lots of heat, but for some reason he always wanted to stay in his (COLD) condo, which meant that I had to stay there too (away from my wonderful 12 year old bedroom). Every 3 weeks or so we stayed at my house for a night I think, but it was rough. We never talked, he'd ask me once a day if I'd eaten dinner and I was usually afraid to tell him no, because I knew he'd then get flustered trying to figure out what I could eat. He was only 24 and taking care of a kid wasn't something he'd done all that much. For a couple of months I slept on the couch, but I guess I got in the way (he had roommates).. I'm sure it was hard for them to have to be quiet all of the time.. so I got moved up to the attic. This is a place I will NEVER forget. I literally had mice crawling through my covers and the light switch was connected to the outlet, so I had to sleep with the light on, so my alarm clock could stay plugged in and I could wake up for school. I told this story once and someone laughed and said... "uhm hello.. Jim was an electrician he could have rewired it", but it just never even dawned on me to tell him. One very fond memory from that time (and a cold memory) was one night when there was no heat. I can't remember why.. maybe it was the first night I ever stayed with him and he wasn't sure where to put me yet. But I remember sleeping in his bed with him and it was FREEZING. Jim always loved a cold room though regardless. I remember falling asleep to REM.. Automatic for the People I think.

As the years passed we started to get a bit closer. That began just a year later when my parents got called away for a meeting at the last minute. I went out one night and had a 9:30 curfew and when I got home around 8:30 my parents were gone and Jim and my sister were there. I was all bent out of shape over a boy making me sad and Jim came in the bathroom with me to comfort me. He did most.. no all.. of the talking and I just remember him saying how we hadn't gotten to know each other that well and he was sorry that he hadn't made more of an effort and that he was going to try harder going forward. I most remember him calling it "a round about conversation". And he did keep his word. He did make more of an effort.. slowly, but he did in fact. That summer he took me to see Phish, which was my first show without my parents. When I'd go to visit after he got married and once I was driving we'd laugh together and talk about tv.. Food network, Six Feet Under.. he always loved to discuss the shows he was watching. When I was a senior in high school and literally forbidden to go back home, because I'd had parties and my parents sent me to stay with Jim, he was awesome and honestly I think he felt bad for me and thought it was a bit funny, because my 3 other siblings had had so many more parties than I had and never got busted... but they had 3 of them to clean up and 2 of them were guys, so what happened to my house would not have happened had they been there (12 years before :)

It really wasn't until Jim was going through his divorce that we started talking. I mean really talking and our 1.5 hour phone conversations didn't start to happen until my dad passed away. I once said to Jim "thank you for getting divorced" and I didn't mean it the way it sounded, but truly I felt like we were getting him back. Part of the reason I didn't talk to him much prior was because when he was married he spent very little time with us. He and his family would come up for dinner and then leave. He wouldn't venture out without them, so it felt very separate. So, when he got divorced he was with us for holidays, and he stayed over and we spent so much more time together and created so many more memories. After my dad passed away he would call me weekly and check in. I loved my conversations with Jim.. he was very rational and so diplomatic. I always felt like I could go to him and he'd help neutralize my emotion and help me get some perspective. I love his laugh. Just a week or so before he died I deleted a voice mail he had left me last fall... "Yeah, Yeah.. tell Jeff I know the JETS suck". They'd just lost a game and it was too funny. Jim was a die hard JETS fan. I am hoping to get his JETS license plate, but already have a hat and a shirt of his.

It was not his time to pass. It was extremely unexpected and my mom found him in his bed. It gives me some peace to know that he looked peaceful in his bed and he didn't suffer at all in his death. He was suffering greatly in life since the divorce and I wish that I could have done more to help him, but none of us could do more than talk to him often and we didn't realize how turmoiled he was. In the end we know his heart was enlarged and he was trying to create himself a happy life again.

With the Halloween season quickly approaching it forces me to continue to think of one of my best times with him. On Halloween of 2005, my brother called me and asked if I'd meet him in New Market, NH and see a show at the Old Stone Church. He had been getting into this new singer Grace Potter and wanted me to go with him. It was awesome. Grace Potter (who is now getting big!) was fantastic and mostly everyone was dressed up. Even though he was in so much emotional pain (it was just months after his separation) he was trying to so hard to move forward and evolve. We stayed in a hotel and had so much fun together. The next day he left super early and said he hadn't slept at all, but he still smiled when he left and went to work.

My brother Mike called me the other day and said he had been thinking of Jim and I together, because the CD Jim last had in his car had Grace Potter on it. It made him think of that concert we went to.

My brother Jim was and always will be one hell of a guy. He loved his kids and was such a good dad. He went to all of Lukey's games and practices for hockey and Jim loved hockey. It made his so proud that Lucas is so good at it and loves it. He was an awesome best friend and such a pleasure to be around. He was a hard worker and had such an amazing spirit. Everyone was in shock when he passed, but we all still managed to celebrate his life. Another memory that I will NEVER forget is the day before his burial. We had a day in between the wake and the burial, so all of the CT friends decided to take a cooler full of beer, grateful dead on a boom box and some food down to the the river beach near my parents house. We built a fire and just hung out for hours. Keith, Jim's best friend in the whole world and also a landscaper went around and got all of these little pine trees "Jimmy Trees" and housed them in cut beer cans, so we could take them home and plant them. As sad as this is, my tree is still living in his can. I don't know where to plant him and I've wondered where. I think Jeff and I did find a place and I will plant him this week.

I love you Jim and your memory will live on FOREVER.

Are You Up For a Fall Challenge?

I become more and more impressed by my fellow MaineTeam members. They are such marketers at heart! We received an email last month giving us a challenge and everyone has been having fun with it. Here's a treasury that Adroit Jewelers put together with some of the items including my orange and yellow origami lights.

Maine Team Fall Challenge--

Maine in the Fall-- what does it mean to you?

Our team challenge is to make at least 1 new Fall inspired item by October 15th! We will blog about it along the way and also post threads in the promo section here on Etsy. We can post pictures & links of the items and statements from each artist describing their product and how it's related to the project while promoting the entire team. We may even have a volunteer to interview each seller for our blog! Keep an eye in the live weekly forum thread to keep up with our developing ideas!

Let's start creating some items and post them as you finish them! Tag them with the usual "Maineteam" tag and also add "mainefall" so that we can find each other for treasuries and promos. Team challenges are very successful within Etsy for promoting items and shops and I can't wait to see how this boosts our sales!!