A LETTER TO YOU:

A new segment I’ve been wanting to introduce, a short + sweet story (anonymous of course) of a sweet guest interaction we’ve had in the shop. These small interactions and stories make small business ownership worth it.

We’ve had a sweet gal who has been coming into our shop ever since we were in our first location. She’s popped in regularly for many months picking up cards - and as we got to know her, we learned that she was writing a card to her fiancé and saving them for their wedding day. It made us so happy to hear she was literally writing him little love notes leading up to their big and special day.

The fact that we get to play a small role in y’alls lives truly is one of the biggest reason having a brick + mortar has been the best thing - as well as being able to continue to bring ya’ll the best stationery!

LIFE LATELY:

So I may have been a little unrealistic in thinking I was just going to work until the day the baby arrived. To be honest, a lot of this whole pregnancy has been a series of unexpected things happening! I’m now officially in week 37 and let me tell you, I have NO IDEA how some women are still smiling when they’re this far along. I have been so miserable, more than ever!

Sure I’ve been tired, my feet have hurt, back aches and other typical maladies that are to be expected - but in the past couple of weeks it just feels amplified. And it also seems like a cruel joke that you get no sleep once you have a new born but the weeks leading up to it you also get no sleep because finding a comfortable position to sleep at night is impossible! My newest symptom has been really bad carpal tunnel, mostly on my right hand which makes even typing difficult. I tried watering some of the plants in our green house with the garden hose and couldn’t grip the hose… the struggle is SO real.

After my doctor’s appointment last week where I got some not so fun news (nothing super serious but not something I feel like publicly sharing right now at least) it occurred to me that perhaps I needed to be more realistic on my expectations for myself in the next few weeks and into this new chapter. This meant swallowing my pride and asking for support + more help from the girls at the shop, even with Evan around the house. This also meant pulling out of this year’s EAST even though I’d been working on my art piece for several months. And the big change is that I am giving myself the deadline of now (like literally after I finish up this post) to officially not be working.

Taking the time to focus on myself, both mentally and physically needs to be a priority right now and as much as I don’t want to, I need to!

I am so grateful for the community that rallies around, supports and loves the P+CP! A lot of you have asked how you can support me/the P+CP and honestly the big thing is to continue loving on us as a small business through the next few months. Swing by even though I’m not there and say hi to the girls - they’re amazing and I would not be able to step back in the way I feel like I need to without each of them. Continue to tell your friends about our shop, visit us for Small Business Saturday, gift someone you love a workshop (or better yet yourself too!)

Don’t worry, I’ll still be “around” and will be popping in to update y’all on Instagram but I’ll likely see y’all sometime in the new year!

xoxo, Pei