Embroidering birthday dresses, Doing Custom Embroidery, selling Girl Scout cookies and being a mommy, life is good!

One of the birthday dresses I did today

Here it's me again to let you know I am still hanging around :)

Oh boy it has been crazy on Zee's little corner of the world. among Family, Embroidea Custom Embroidery , My First Birthday Dress, Pilot International, the Non Profit Organization I belong to and friends I  have been juggling  back and fourth. Sometimes I have no clue if I am going or coming LOL. No I am not complaining just thinking out loud :)

Zee has been embroidering a lot of  Birthday dresses lately and lots and  lots of Custom embroidery work. I think my Customers have decided to test me the  two last weeks. First the National Guard soldiers with some custom order for gift and yes it was to reproduce a flag so that they could  give as a gift to their fellows who are retiring. That was a challenge, I worked on the for a while but when I was finally done, I was so proud of myself...  at the end it is all worth of the hard work. Seeing the satisfaction on my Customer's face. Now, tonight I am working on a Golf bag. http://www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com/Silver-and-Pink-Polyester-Princess-Birthday-dress-p/d202.htm and this is how my life has been going LOL.

Trying to hoop the golf bag

When the Customer called me I told him it was impossible to embroider on a golf bag, I suggested patches but, he said no, he wanted me to go ahead and try it. Oh dear Lord, my hands and finger are so sore but it has coming along so well. What a challenge. I work for a while on the bag and then take a break to embroider a birthday dress

I guess that all this work is what keeps me going. Juliana took a picture of me on top of the table trying to hoop one of the flaps of the bag.. We struggle and laugh at the same time because  you cant imagine what Zee goes through to have all the beautiful embroidery work done :)

Also, other then all those work, I have been trying to get the word about My First Birthday Dress website out there. Oh boy... That is another challenge. I think I need a vacation LOL

My work  and the competirors

Did I tell you guys also that I have been helping my daughter Isabella who is a brownie to sell Girls Scout Cookies. We had a goal to sell 100 boxes and so far we have sold almost 300! Yep, I want to teach my kids that we have to always shoot to the moon, the worst that could happen is to lend among the stars as the old saying :)

Well, I better hurry and finish working on my golf bag and will  be back soon. BTW Would you like to buy some delicious Girl Scout cookies ? ;-) LOL

Enjoy life and smile no matter what.

Life is a beautiful thing.

 

God Bless

Zee

Oh Zee, you are such a darn lucky person! ;)

Isabella had to wear yellow "summerish" to school today

Hi there kids :)

I am on my 4th day on antibiotic to get rid of this Pneumonia. Although I am still coughing like there won't be tomorrow, I am so happy and thankful that I am ALIVE! :) I feel like singing with Sheryl Crow:

 

I'm gonna soak up the sun
I'm gonna tell everyone
To lighten up
I'm gonna tell 'em that
I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up

I'm gonna soak up the sun
While it's still free
I'm gonna soak up the sun
Before it goes out on me

Some days ago I told I'd choose Snow over storms because they scare the "angel" out of me but  do you know what?  Let the storms come cause I am so loving this sun!!!

 

I will tell you kids, and this time you cant say I am rubbing in, I don't look and feel really great but  LIFE IS SO AMAZING!!! No matter what we are going through, if we were lucky enough to wake up to this day, we MUST be thankful :))

I am not going to be stubborn and start working like I always do, but this day, I am going to do stuff that I enjoy doing like going for lunch with my husband  to Gateway to India, my favorite Indian Restaurant and have some of my "delicioussssssssssssssssssssssss sweet balls" yeah most of you call them Gulab Jamun  but I have my own name for them LOL

Ohhhhhhhhh another good reason to be happy! Last night I was told by a friend I haven't seen in over a decade that in August of 2015 I will have two of my friends from Brazil visiting with me!!! How cool is that???? Oh Zee, you are such a darn lucky person! ;)

 

Today I will also take some picture of the birthday dresses for My First Birthday Dress website. I really want my website looking cute :)) I want to have a lot of  summer dress uploaded soon, dresses like this http://www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com/Yellow-floral-1st-Birthday-Embroidered-Dress-p/d03.htm and many more :)

I want my little princesses first birthday babies to have the best outfit for their birthday party EVER!!! Yeah... I love my little dresses :)

I hope you all kids enjoy this BEAUTIFUL amazing day and SMILE no matter what because life is good!!!!

Blessings

Zee :)

Thank you Lord for bringing me to a country where everything is possible... Even a meal that taste like the one our own mom makes....

Today, I woke up missing my family in Brazil so bad..

You know when we are sick, yeah, pneumonia here. Our body aches, our nose is raw inside from so much blowing, our head feels like is going to explode, what comes to our mind? Yeah family... Our mom's soup, all that good stuff that a human being needs...

Unfortunately, I am far away from those good remedies, I have to be happy with what I have. You know what? We have to make the best of every situation... Nobody can have everything, right?

I was craving that warm soup, some health stuff to make me feel better. Everyone who knows me, knows that I am all against the big buck store. I am always trying to help the local business and keeping on my side of the fence. Protecting the small business in town.

I don't have pretty and fancy words to describe what I am feeling right now. Sure, I am a crazy Brazilian who speaks some broke English. It's a good thing that maybe a half dozen of people are reading this post right now. Otherwise I would be making a GREAT free commercial for Olive Garden LOL.

My husband has always been there for everything I need, last night the poor thing even tried to make me noodles soup. The noodles were hard and it didn't taste that great but I had it all because he did his best with what we had... I could feel that he put some loving into it. Even threw a lot of Parmesan cheese to give some taste.. (shhhhhh dont tell him that) :)

It feels weird because the last time I felt like having a bowl of soup this bad, it was when I got out of the hospital after having my open heart surgery. On our way back home from the hospital, for some reason, I was dreaming that I would get home and be surprised. I was hoping that my Mother-In-Law would have  her wonderful chicken noodles soup waiting for me... Too bad, I wasn't very lucky, maybe she wasn't feeling like it... oh well, the dreaming part was good though LOL. Although I had a big cut in my chest,  I had the energy to go straight to the kitchen and cook a big pot of chicken soup for all of us but, this time, only having pneumonia, it took all my energy away, I feel so weak and couldn't imagine myself cooking... 

SO...I had the best idea ever. I asked my husband if he could go to Olive Garden, and get us some soup and salad to go.

OMG... I cant even try to tell you how wonderful it was. Boy, with $21.14 (as you see on the picture) we had the best meal I could have ever asked for on a cold and gloomy day.

I wish I had had this same idea three years ago when I had my open heart surgery...

They put together a meal I will never forget. Their delicious zuppa toscana (my favorite from their menu) some marvelous bread sticks, enough Parmesan cheese, salad looking impeccable delicious, some chicken meatballs and of course I cant forget to mention my chocolate mints. :)

That was all that I needed today...

Today, my hat is off to you Olive Garden, I know, you guys don't need my commercial but I had to be thankful for the most delicious soup I could had have had.

If you were just visiting my website www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com and somehow landed to this page, you must be asking yourself, what the heck has Olive Garden Soup have to do with first birthday dresses????

Sorry if I have disappointed you, this is not all about business. This is about opening my heart and let my fingers type what comes to my mind. It;s all about being thankful. Maybe some day you might be feeling like a healthy and homemade taste meal and you might recall that it came in handy for me today.

Looking at this picture I would say; Mr. Olive Garden people :) thank you so much for making me feel like I was at home today! You guys ROCK!!!

Thank you Lord for bringing me to a country where everything is possible... Even a meal that taste like the one our own mom makes....

Blessings

Zee

www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com

Nope Zee is not just a cold...it's a bad case of pneumonia

Last night was horrible... I literally cried out loud.

I was feeling so helpless... I couldn't sleep because of the cough, fever and the pain in my chest from all the coughing. This morning, I couldn't wait for the Prompt care to open so that I could go see a doctor. I was feeling and looking terrible. My hair was a mess, but I put a hat on and drove to the Prompt Care. Thank Lord there were not so many people there and I didn't have to wait for so long.

I have been worried about my heart beat rate that has been high this week, so I mentioned to the doctor and she explained me that it has been like that because I have been running a fever. She prescribed me a strong dosage of antibiotic, some breathing treatment  and I am sure life will be back to normal soon.

Sometimes God uses different ways to show us how loved we are...

My daughter Isabella was in the bedroom with me earlier. She told me that she couldn't sleep last night either because she was worried about me downstairs  sick. I told her that she should not worry about me because I was going to be fine. She looked at me with the her beautiful little face and said: "but mommy, I have never seen you crying before"

I had no clue she could hear me from upstairs... I never thought my little piece of me was so caring....

How about Squeakers, our fur baby?! She wouldn't leave for nothing in this world... I love my babies so much...

I hope tonight won't be so bad... I don't want to scare the ones I love...

Thank you Lord. For allowing me to realize that I needed to go see a doctor...

Thank you for being in my life always...

Life is amazing....

Zee

www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com

Happy Valentines Day from the First Birthday Dress lady :)

It's Valentines Day. I have just finished embroidering a last minute Valentines gift.

Oh well, it made me happy to be able to help that lady to have her gift, as she said "just perfect"

How has been your Valentines Day? Mine has been really good. I was able to get some work done, even if I haven't been feeling that great.

 Isabella, our eight years old girl comes from school with a cold and three days later she is all good to go but mommy, oh boy it hangs with me for a while.

I am so glad it is just a cold though... It will run it's course and I will be feeling great again :)

Nothing special happening in my corner of the world, daddy took Isabella to the mall to help her Girl Scout Troop sell cookies and seems like they have been doing pretty well.

Tamy, our oldest daughter who is  twenty two, drove to Saint Louis for the weekend. Oh boy with all this snow on the ground it really worries me... I guess that is what we all mommies are for, to sit, worry and pray for our children.

No, we aren't doing anything special for Valentines Day. All I feel like doing is getting under a blanket and cuddling on the couch with our fur baby :)

Dear Lord, please bring our Springtime back, I need to see some green, I need to get out of the house a get some sun, plant my vegetables in my garden. I really need that dear Lord.

I am not the kind who asks too much, I am more like thanking for what I can get but, I am done with this cold weather now...

We have been changing everything here in the  Studio. Now, our living room became the office, our dinning room became the room where we keep the first birthday dresses to be embroidered and all the embroidered done and my embroidery room has more space now.

I have been trying hard to figure it out how to drive traffic to my website. I have been researching, reading, watching videos, etc. There are so many things to be learned and so little time.

I wish I could wake up one day with the answer to my questions... So many ideas but not quite sure to to make them work.

Meanwhile, I will keep on working..

I wish you all a Happy Valentines Day! Enjoy some time with the ones you love, today is all we have gotten, let make it count.

Take care kids...

Blessings

Zee

www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com

“At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.”

Steve Maraboli...I don't know too much about this author but, I sure appreciate his words of wisdom..

Once in a while, I have the pleasure of meeting some special people in my life through my work. I like talking to the elderly people because I am eager to learn and they always have something to teach me.

Today, this  new Customer who brought a sweatshirt over to be embroidered with a Crappie fish, came to pick up his embroidery. I will tell you, sometimes we look at people and  we see only the outside, that is one of our biggest mistake. I am one of those kind of business person who, if somebody wants something embroidered really bad but I assume they cant afford it, I always price it above what it is supposed to be. I think, oh well, it is only a sweatshirt and it is not a repeated work. It wont hurt me to put a smile on people's face :).

So, this Customer came to pick up his sweatshirt and he LOVED It. He was amazed how it turned out, so he gets his checkbook and asks me  how much do I owe you? He seemed to be a very humble man, I wanted him to keep on smiling, so I gave him a price that I wouldn't lose any money but, I wouldn't be making any extra for my work. Oh well, it was just a sweatshirt...

The elderly man looked at me and said: "ARE YOU SURE?" I smiled back and said, yes I am sure. He told  me: -"Oh no I will give you this much" What he paid me, was double of the price I gave him. That was the lesson I have learned for the day. It doesn't matter if a customer is rich, poor, if  I do the best I can, he/she will know how to appreciate my work and will pay me what it is worth . To me, that is the most important part of my payment, the Customer satisfaction. 

Every time a customer comes over to pick up their embroidery, it doesn't matter how long I have been doing the work to them, they always make me smile with kind words. That is my reward... 

I  guess that my husband might find it interesting when I leave the house and I know that a customer will come to pick up  embroidery. When I come back I always ask "Did the customer like it?" Even if he tells me yes the customer told me that he/she liked it a lot. No, I am not happy I have to ask "could you tell that he was really happy with the result?"  I keep on asking questions until I am satisfied. It's really different when somebody tell us that they like  something because they are kind  and when they tell us that they like it because they are satisfied. Body language, nobody can hide anything from Zee :)

I wont lie to you. It might have had a couple times when I asked the customer if they were happy, they said yes they were but, deep inside I could tell that they were not telling me the truth. After they left my place,  my day didn't turn out so good. I kept on questioning myself what could I have done different and it killed me inside. So, I have already told myself that if I notice that a customer doesn't seem very happy with my work. I will be straight forward. I will tell them I don't feel like they are satisfied. I hope this wont happen again but if it does, I will avoid some sleepiness night to myself :)

Yes Mr Steve Maraboli, “At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.” 

Have a precious evening you all! :)

Zee Giddings

www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com

Babe is Cold outside....

How is everyone today? Keeping warm?
Babe it's cold outside. I have been "finking" how Mike is doing lately... LOL
Although I have been fighting this horrible flu, cold, whatever it is called what I have, I feel so thankful that I am still in this world :)
Although I haven't slept well for a couple days now, I am so thankful for having Squeakers, our little fur baby to keep me company sitting on the recliner downstairs :) How can you not love this tiny Satellite Ears? :) I can tell by the way she looks at me that if she could talk, she would say "What the heck are the both of us doing here, while daddy is on that big bed all by himself?" LOL If she could say that We would laugh our butts off ! No, our little fur baby keeps on my lap and give me kisses in between her naps LOL.
You know how it is like when we have a cold, as soon as we lay down in bed, our nose clogs up, the cough gets worse and we feel terrible, instead, I'd rather spend the night on the recliner and "finking" LOL That is what I know how to do the best!!!
I know there might be a lot of you guys with this cold or whatever it is out there. Keep your cool :))) It's just a virus that has to run it's course. Soon we will be feeling wonderful again and sooner than we think it will be Spring!!!! Woooooooooooo Hoooooooooooo Life will be all colorful and amazing beautiful. Let's not forget that we go through the winter so that we can appreciate it better when Spring time comes :)
You all kids keep safe out there and as Elton John sings, don't let the sun go down on you!!! ;)))
Have a wonderful day!!! Let's keep our hearts warm :)))
Blessings
Zee
www.myfirstbirthdaydress.com