Thirty-six years ago today, as I left my high school softball practice, I spotted my mom, sister, and brother in the car, their expressions unfamiliar yet immediately understandable to me.

My brother Tim, missing since before Christmas, was dead. Despite my 15-year-old brain never considering this outcome, I sensed its truth before my hand touched the car door handle of my mom's car.

"There are some of us who are desperately lonely, grieving a loss, struggling with physical or mental health, or fallen on financial hard times and this time of year makes all of that SO MUCH WORSE."

We’ve been a little quiet over the holidays, taking time to be with our families, but we are back with great excitement for the New Year. As we dive into 2023, we are trying to once again set intentions and focus on a few key things for both our business and our lives.

We are nearly three and growing like a weed!

2021 Co. will be three years old on Monday, November 22^nd and being a toddler in real life and in business life is both incredibly fun + frustrating.

Being in the awkward toddler stage, we are learning a new language and phrases like “supply chain,” “cost of goods sold,” and “cost per square foot” are starting to feel a little less foreign. Although we freely admit that having to discuss such topics can still inspire a good old-fashioned temper tantrum..

I’ll be honest, the summer is my favorite season. The days are long, bright and warm. Also, during the summer I still have fall to look forward to—which I also love, but a little less.

For me, fall feels like a Sunday night when I was in high school, trying to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend before the alarm goes off the next morning and remember the test you haven’t prepared for.

August 31st was overdose awareness day in America. In 2020 alone, there were 93,000 drug overdose deaths in the US. That is 254 lives per day lost. More than 10 each hour of each day, all year long. 

It's been about a week since our plane touched down in Providence, our return flight from our very first live—post covid, gift show. And not just any show, the Atlanta Market. Lucky for me ( the socially anxious type) I had no idea how big this show was, or what we had actually signed up for. It's hard to image if you've never experienced it before. But to give a little idea, three buildings filled to the gills with showroom after showroom with brands huge, to brands small.

Today I'm re-sharing a blog post I wrote exactly two years ago. Then, it was 15 years since my brother died, now it's 17. That's a LONG time. And in so many ways, the past is so far past, you'd think it would all be behind you. Not actually the case. I was driving home from work today, and this analogy of grief came to me: