14,820 Sheep Later

It's 5:45 a.m. and I haven't been to sleep yet.  It's not that I haven't tried, I've been in bed for nearly four hours.  This just seems to be the pattern I've fallen into... again.  It's hard to try to live by the sun and moon when my work schedule keeps me until at least 3:00 a.m. half the week.  It's one I've chosen, if by default, so it's not that I'm complaining, exactly, but it's frustrating when I want to go to sleep early and my body won't allow it.  Five years ago, I would just roll on through if I found myself awake at this early hour.  It was like being in a dream where I was functioning on a whole other level of consciousness than everyone surrounding me.  It was sort of fun and I'd go to bed early, shocking my system into a different pattern.  Of course, I was not alone in this, which probably helped because I can't seem to follow through on it anymore.  I am not sure if it's because I'm older or because there is less incentive to do it alone.  So at this very moment, I could probably fall asleep with no guarantee that I'd hear my alarm in four hours or I could just stay up.  Though it is my day off, I still have a lot of things to get done and neither sleeping eight hours, nor rolling on through are going to aid in my productivity.  I wonder what time Arden's Garden opens.  An early shot of wheatgrass used to do the trick five years ago, I'll let you know .

Etsy Front Page.

You know when some guy from some crappy, generic, hit-factory band leaves the band and starts another crappy, generic, hit-factory band, which sounds like the original band and their first tour is a stadium tour based on their previous band's fame, even if they only last long enough to do one tour?  Well, that's kind of what it's like to have one of my soaps in a treasury that made it to the front page of etsy.  Not because my soap or etsy is generic or crappy, but more so because you take what one person's talent (my etsy shop)  and plug it into the big exposure machine (webpage that gets hundreds of thousands of hits per day) and instantly, I get over 300 clicks on my Healing Waters Spa Bar soap and 20 more people adding my shop to their favorites.  Thanks Etsy!  While I'm at it, thanks to Joanna at the Soap Bar (you will drool at the stuff she posts) and Namrita O'Dea for the links that send several people my way each day.

A Lovin' Spoonful.

Seriously, how can you pick just one Spoon song?  I saw them play a few months ago for the second time and it was Bad Ass.  I will never hear My Mathematical Mind the same way again.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Calling All Fans.

If you're on Facebook, you can now become a fan of Sudstress.  Also, today I purchased the domain "www.sudstress.com", which should be up and running within the next couple of weeks.  I am about half way through redesigning my website so if you want to take a gander at the old one, it won't be long before it's gone.

Also, the metromix contest is neck and neck, so if you could vote again or for the first time, I would greatly appreciate your help.  To vote for me, choose Kat from Neighbor's Pub.  I would really like to win, not so much for its ego inflating quality, but more so because the winner has a profile written on them.  If I were to win, that's a pool of people who give the site upwards of 25,000 hits every day.  Half of my bartending "career" put me through school, I figure the other half may as well play a part in launching my version of the American Dream.  What is that you ask?  Earning a living doing something you love.

I'm extremely tired and lack the power to focus my brain, so that's going to have to be all for now.  Here's a picture to make this post more fun.  It's a big ol' bug that I found in my bedroom that looked like a leaf with legs and a face.  Unfortunately for him, I think my kitty Neko might have taken an interest in him because I found him dead on the floor next to my bed the next day.  Eeew.

Aural Pleasure. Courtesy of Andre 3000.

I know it's September, but this song has had me dancing around my apartment in my undies lately, like a modern day, female Tom Cruise from Risky Business only with better taste in music and sweet dance moves.  Sorry for the run on sentence, but I'm short on time.

I Can Has Vote?

Atlanta's Metro Mix website has a contest going on for ten bartenders, including me, in the Atlanta area.  I am not ashamed to pander for your vote on my blog, so please go to the website and vote for Kat from Neighbor's.  You don't have to vote for me, but if you link there from here, you're sort of obligated, right?  Right.  It sure would be an ego boost if I came in a close second to the girl that's way hotter than me.  I was told that I had the second highest hits of everyone, so I hopes, I hopes...

Look how good I can tend:

Aural Pleasure.

Soapy Sales.

I just got an email from Jen at Youngblood Gallery & Boutique.  They're almost out of Black Raspberry and Autumn Spice, so they need more.  Also, they're adding Sugared Lemon and Healing Waters to the lineup.  I went a couple of weeks ago, without my camera, to check out how they'd chosen to display my soaps and to look at all the cool stuff.  It's pretty awesome, actually.  It's just how I would've done it if given the choice.  They're on a table almost immediately upon entering and they're displayed in a vintage suitcase.  It's pretty cool.  If you're in Atlanta, you need to check this place out.  It's on North Highland Avenue at the corner of North Avenue, next to North Highland Inn and across from North High Ridge Apartments.

Another Year, Another Dollar.

Year two as a vendor in the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival has taken place and was another success. I had some repeat business from previous festivals, got great feedback on my new packaging, heard "it smells so good over here" about a million times, met some really cool people, had wonderful neighboring artists and sold a load of soap.  I felt like the people traffic was slower and I don't know if it was because I was on the opposite (and hotter) side of the park as last year or (more likely) because it was Labor Day weekend and there were several other festivals going on and I'm sure it was difficult for people to decide which one to go to.  I was disappointed that another year has gone by where I missed the Dragon-Con parade.  Talk about good people watching...  I'd rather be selling soap, so it's not too much of a shame, but it's on my to do list before leaving Atlanta.  My sales weren't any lower than last year though, so I'm happy knowing that it just seemed slower.   

A visual snack from the festival:

Part of my display:

Lavender & Green Tea facial scrub and masque.  Doesn't look pretty, sure feels pretty:

New packaging:

More of my display:

Lots of great food vendors.

I opted for the frozen banana over the hot nuts:

Oops.. when I looked in my rearview mirror, I noticed some chocolate on my face:

Then I went home and passed out at 10:30.

The end.