Working Naked

Working from home has lots of benefits. When you get hungry, you head to the kitchen. When you don't want to get dressed, you can wear your pajamas all day. You can go to the gym at off hours. Your dog never gets lonely. If you are so inclined, you can enjoy a glass of wine while working late into the evening. And the best part is: you don't have to pay office rent!

When I started Bon Lemon, a big part of my philosophy was keeping overhead low, so I could offer great prices to Bon Lemon's customers. Working from home was the perfect solution. After awhile, the permanent blanket of baubles, price tags, and invoices decorating my dining room table lost it's luster. (Eating standing up at the counter is really not that cool unless you are a 13 year old boy eating cereal.) The three computers, price scanners, label printers, fax machine, and other office machines that have made their home in my living room are no longer welcome. I love the flexibility of being my own boss, but am anxious for a little 200 square foot office/closet I can call my own. And then, occasionally, I will lock the door at my office and come home. And eat at my dining room table. Gasp.

Soon, Bon Lemon will have an office. (Where that will be is the question of the hour.) We hope people will continue to spread the Bon Lemon love so it makes sense for us to let the house be a home again. I have found some great tips about working from home at www.workingnaked.com. February 1 is National Working Naked day. (How awesome is that.) National Working Naked Day allows all of us "non-commuters" to celebrate the freedoms associated with working from home. And if you find yourself surfing Facebook too much or losing your will to participate in even the most basic personal hygiene routines, workingnaked.com has some great tips and suggestions.

Signing off, in the buff, from home. (After a fun filled day of data entry.) Dreaming of an office. Where I have to brush my teeth before 2:00 PM and wear clothing. Crazy talk.

Mobility

One of the main reasons I started Bon Lemon was because it had the benefit of being mobile. I could be in Washington, Montana, or New Orleans and I could feasibly be running my business. I could accept online orders, have trunk shows, and ship out wonderful packages of sparkly goodies.

What I didn't realize is how much packing is involved in mobility when you are running a retail business. Yikes! 6 Par Farmer and I are on our way to Scottsdale where he will spend his winter months. (One of the benefits of being a farmer that counteracts the stress of wondering whether it's going to rain the rest of the year.)

After some incredibly poor planning on my part, which was saved by Johnnyocrates,(This story deserves a whole blog for itself and will have one soon.) we hit the road from Olympia, Washington in two cars. We would drop mine off in Missoula, Montana so it would be ready for my upcoming trunk shows and we would take Tyler's Jeep the rest of the way to Scottsdale. I loaded up my car with all of my wares, and displays, and tissue paper, and bags, and invoices, and business cards, and blah blah blah. It is a full car! I then realized, I would need to take some materials with me, so I could fulfill the "Hump Day Half-Off Special" orders from the road. I made an executive decision that all other orders would just have to wait until Monday. So I packed up some mailers, stickers, business cards, tissue paper, ribbon, earrings, and boxes and loaded them into Tyler's Jeep.

I have never enjoyed packing. I enjoy the feeling of having roots, being settled, and taking trips that spice up your life, but don't make you feel discombobulated, unorganized and transient. My new lifestyle as a travelling salesman has many pluses. Excessive amounts of packing may be considered one of the negatives. I am always forgetting something. And I am ALWAYS doing laundry. This I do not love. But I do love getting out and spreading the Bon Lemon love, which I try and remember when I am aimlessly loading up my suitcase, yet again :) (I am lucky to have trunk shows planned all over that require me to travel.)

And on this trip, I have a partner in crime. Talking about funny street signs, having the opportunity to doze off while the other is driving, enjoying some good meals and some disgusting gas station fried delicacies with someone who can appreciate the irony, and just talking makes travelling oh-so-much more fun. 6 Par Farmer makes the long drive seem not so long.

Today, is our last day on the road. We have stayed in some roadside motels. Enjoyed a couple of mediocre books on tape. Talked about the meaning of life. And gotten stiff backs from uncomfy beds. (Yes, we are old.) And soon we will be hiking Camelback, riding the cruisers to happy hour, chilling out by the pool, and eating Tee Pee All while keeping Bon Lemon up and running.

They say it is the journey not the destination. I agree, and I am enjoying the journey, but today, I am excited for the destination.