Returned Back

When you follow your bliss, doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else. -Joseph Campbell

I just arrived back from Argentina yesterday. It was quite a trip -- not a vacation, but a very fruitful business trip. I got some great jewelry and accessories and I made some terrific contacts. I am feeling very strongly that this stuff is going to sell like gangbusters. I will post some pictures of it later.

Off to Argentina

It's 1 a.m. and I'm "packing" for my trip. I need to leave for the airport in 6 and a half hours and I hope to get some sleep. I'll have a long ride to prepare for.

I am very excited. I'm traveling in a very free-form style. I'm not sure where I'll be staying yet. I figure that I will just get there, call Molly, and see what happens. All is well. I have faith.

Katie helped interpret my dream for me: in my dream I go swimming for the triathlon and when I get out of the water my jewelry is disintegrating. She says that means that my triathlon training is taking precious energy away from my business. I've been sensing that and my subconscious has been trying to share that with me. I don't think this is the right time to train for a half-ironman or even an olympic distance. I could do the race, but I certainly don't have the energy to also fundraise. I think that's why I was so slow about writing my letters and possibly why I haven't been able to access my website.

Anyway, that will be a weight off my shoulders. I can always do it in the future and certainly train for the LA Tri at a later point in time. Anyway, I should finish packing and get some sleep. I have a big day ahead of me.

Hip Girlz Bags

Me in Mexico

Hip Girlz Jewelry

Post-Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was seeming bleary. I was terrified of "Single People's Awareness Day." I then decided that I don't have to use it as a holiday to either make me feel bad about being single or put crazy expectations on the person I'm dating. I can just celebrate all the love I've got in my life.

That being said, I did have a Valentine's Day date. I had a first date with a guy I'd met online. We'd started chatting shortly after Christmas. He seemed cool... we had great phone conversations. He's from Ireland and has a fantastic Irish brogue. Met the guy though and was not feeling it. One of the main problems was that he had his shirt unbottoned half-way down his chest. Why do men do that? Does anyone think that's actually sexy?! The whole time we were having dinner I had this almost uncontrollable urge to reach over and button up his shirt.

Then he had these strange mannerisms that remind me of my uncle. The mannerisms aren't bad in and of themselves, but my uncle is suffering from some slight mental problems right now. Bad association!

Lastly, I just wasn't that into his face. He spends a lot of time in the sun and was sort of wrinkly. That and the fact that he's just been traveling around the world for the past 2 years working odd jobs here and there. On the one hand, I'm incredibly jealous of that and think it would be great fun. On the other hand, I want to date someone with a little ambition and stability. I think the long and short of it is that I'm ready to settle down.

Anyway, that was D. He sent me a yahoo text message saying he had a great time and asking to do it again soon. I replied back saying thanks for taking me out, but the chemistry wasn't there for me. I think that's the appropriate way to handle that. Guys, if you disagree please let me know.

In Hip Girlz news... I ordered business cards and have hired my writing teacher to be a personal coach for the book. That's all very exciting. In other news, I got a reply back from one of the manufacturers that I contacted. I haven't written back because I've been wimpy about writing in Spanish. I am going to pull out the big Spanish-English dictionary later and set aside an hour later today to just do it. It's not acceptable to continue to be so wimpy. I'm excited about my trip. I've decided that my main order will be to have fun, hip girlz, mama gena experiences.

The Latest

Is this blog at all interesting? I can't tell. I haven't told anyone about this yet, so I've gotten no comments or feedback.

Anyway, yesterday I didn't take any real Hip Girlz steps. I did take some house buying steps. We put an offer out on two duplexes. One is in probate and looks like it's going to be more trouble than it's worth. We're waiting to hear back from the other place. Also, mom and dad authorized placing the money from the sale of their Maryland apartment into my account. I have money for a downpayment. Who knew? This is actually happening!

Today I went with Rick to check out two places. The first one was a re-done duplex in a pretty sketchy part of the town. The owners did a fairly good job of fixing it up, but the place did not have much charm and the neighborhood was a wee bit scary. Sean is away a lot of the time and I would not have felt comfortable living there alone.

After that we went to see a gorgeous place in Echo Park. It has beautiful views and is perfectly located. The place has tons of charm. I'd love to live there, but the owners are being a bit flakey. They're going through a bitter divorce. The husband wants to sell, the wife doesn't. They still haven't figured out what they want to do. I don't know if I want to make an offer under these conditions. I'm feeling a bit pressured by my real estate broker as well. I hate that.

Anyway, in Hip Girlz news. Today I had some exchanges back and forth with the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. They sent me a listing of jewelers that may be able to do export with me. There are a couple of names on there that I want to check out. I also sent a detailed e-mail to my potential web designer detailing what I want and answering some questions she had about my business. They were good questions to think about. So much planning required when opening a business. It's not this "fly by night" stuff I normally do.

Other news... people keep telling me they think I'm losing weight. I guess this means I must be. I like that. My body is feeling a little more rested. My legs were killing me from the running and cycling. I did an easy cycle yesterday and don't have a swim until tonight so I'm feeling better.

Anyway, Kelli has just called me right now and I need to go do my Team in Training swim right now. I'll write more later.

Muuuuuuaaaaah!

Another Day

Today I contacted the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. I sent an e-mail to my friend Camille (it's good to know people in high places... she's the U.S. Commerce Department's representative in the Embassy). I also sent an e-mail to a person I found online who's the Jewelry Sector Specialist at the Embassy. Hopefully I can get some guidance and feedback from the two of them.

In other news, I had an interview with an energy corporation this morning for a possible move to an in-house position. We'll see what happens with that. My fingers are crossed. It could be an interesting and exciting possibility.

Triathlon update: I had a nice 35 minute run this morning with Corrinne. This evening the plan is to catch a spin class. At some point I'll also do some of the work that I'm getting paid to do. Sigh.

In other more exciting news. I had a date with Mike last night. We went to the Daily Pint... interesting place. It's rather divey and full of soapy-toothed regulars. (I don't know what soapy-tooth means but it's a fitting discription... though some of the people looked like they hadn't been near soap in quite a while.) We had a fun, intellectual conversation (those can sometimes be lacking here in Los Angeles) and then a nice juicy good night kiss. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

The Creation of Hip Girlz -- Volume One

Welcome to the Hip Girlz blog. I'm writing this all down (a) to get in the habit of writing, (b) to log the creation of my business (and in so doing, force myself to take daily steps), and (c) hopefully inspire some people to do what I'm doing (or to avoid what I'm doing, depending on how it goes.

Today was not a particularly fruitful day for Hip Girlz. I am in the research phase of the program. I'm searching for web designers and also checking out my competition. I'm also trying to prepare my upcoming trip to Buenos Aires. I hope to meet with some great people and set up some special business contacts. My fingers are crossed.

Basically, I did a brief search today -- checking out online competitors. There are a lot of online jewelers of all sorts and stripes. I haven't found anyone importing argentine accessories yet. That's a good thing. I'll write more tomorrow.