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

LIFE LATELY:

Well….I’m officially 35 weeks this week and I have NO clue how time has gone by so fast. My mom has been in Singapore and she finally got back the end of last month - she’s been in town for a little over a week so far helping us with things around the house. And we also had a baby shower this weekend, so it’s been a busy, busy week around here. We’ve had a bunch of family and friends stay with us too so it’s been a little more hectic at home than usual. My mom and step dad plus their two dogs were here for a week, then he left with the dogs before my friend and her husband plus two kiddos came to stay with us. And then Evan’s mom came into town for the shower. Talk about FULL HOUSE haha

Like I said earlier I’m feeling a little stressed (to be perfectly honest) about how I’m supposed to get “everything” done. Also nervous about how I’m supposed to step back/away (even temporarily) from the business. And to top if off throw in the fact I don’t feel ready to be responsible for another life. Everyone says you’re never ready and you’ll figure it out so here’s to hoping they’re right!

Anyway, the baby shower was hosted by one of my dearest friend who planned it all from Houston. I was very anti-baby shower the whole time but she promised it would be low key, no weird baby shower games, and I did not want to sit around and open presents (idk why but that makes me super uncomfortable - so we waited to do that until after we got back to my house with just a few friends/my mom and Evan’s mom around)

I’m sharing bunch of photos from Saturday morning - it was seriously such a cute and sweet way to celebrate with close friends!

A FEW MORE QUESTIONS Y’ALL MIGHT HAVE:

How long do you plan to be on maternity for?

I don’t really have a set time frame honestly. From the time the baby arrives I anticipate it being a huge (and difficult) transition personally so I’ve been working really hard to get as much as I can done for the business so I can truly step away. Again, feeling super blessed to have some amazing gals on our team who I know will keep things running smoothly in my absence! I’m guessing I won’t be able to stay away for long and will likely still be working whenever I can/remotely and occasionally popping in when I can too. But I think it goes back to the fact that I’m really proud that over the years, I’ve worked really hard for this business that I feel confident it’s time that it can work for me while I go through this new chapter in life!

What else do you need to get done before the baby gets here (personally)?

We just got the baby room kinda put together and started doing a bunch of laundry. Tiny clothes and things are really cute you guys! There are still a few things on my to-do list at home that we’ve been slowly knocking out - my mom has been in town helping out and that’s been really nice. I know we are going to try to make some freezer meals for quick meals and mostly just making sure that we have someone to help care for the dogs once I go into labor until we get home!

What else do you need to get done before the baby gets here (for the shop)?

SO MUCH! haha I’m already squaring away our Q1 workshops and events so all that can go live while I’m away. I’ve done all my holiday + rest of 2019 buying which is terrifying because all small businesses know cash flow is a very real and scary thing. I still have so much fomo of not being here for the holiday season.

How are you feeling?

It changes day to day. Some days I feel good physically and mentally, some days I feel terrible. My physical symptoms change day-to-day and range from really bad joint and hip pain to heart burn. I’ve also got some kinda allergy + cold combo going on and that’s no fun at all!

I’m trying to focus on taking one day at a time and giving myself a lot of bandwidth to do things a little slower than I normally do. It’s really a struggle to not move and do things at a more efficient pace as someone who is a doer and go getter. I guess a part of this whole thing is learning to slow down and be okay with doing the best I can, knowing that there will be things left undone - and it’ll all still be okay. At least that’s what I keep telling myself!

BABY CASO BABY SHOWER!