// Honeybean + Small Biz Saturday

Saturday morning we hitched Honeybean up to our Xterra and trekked over to East Nashville for  What The Truck!'s first mobile market. It was so great to be with 6 other mobile shops (and a food truck, and even a mobile car mechanic!) this time around... last time we tried doing this (Black Friday, last year) there were only 3 of us and it was a major fail. I wasn't holding out for much this year but I'm happy to say it was far more successful. We were set up from 11am until 4pm and during those 5 hours we had friends stop by, made new friends with the shop owners, and even met blog readers! It was actually a pretty nice day, too. The sun was shining so we were happy!

One of the main reasons we wanted to get out there and do this mini-event was because Porter Flea is this weekend. Woo! We love Porter Flea, but we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. We used WTT as our mock-setup so we can know what needs to get made/built/merchandized this week. It's funny because a solid 80% of Honeybean is jewelry, but that's by far our best seller so it works out. We've been trying to find good ways to merchandise it so we'll be busy this week! I debuted my donut prints in the 'bean this past weekend, too! I was so tickled that they did so well! I'll have to whip up plenty more before Porter Flea but I'm excited. 

Maya dropped by for a bit and brought her friend Ryan for us to meet. We carried on for a bit and had a fun time. Then Jesse stopped by after saying she follows me on Instagram and saw about the event there! (-above- Isn't she darling?!) She picked up a couple of awesome pieces from the 'bean, too. Then Amy (Hi Amy!) dropped in and said she recognized the 'bean when she was driving by! (She has a Kurt Halsey sleeve, too! Snap, we need a picture of them together next time, lady!) I finally had a chance to meet Kim (from one of Nashville's newest mobile shops) and she was an absolute gem! And the folks over at the K.McCarthy Fashion Truck were so friendly and awesome to chat with at the end of the day. -- Seriously y'all, I love that the mobile movement is finally progressing here in Nashville! It's such a breath of fresh air. I love it even more because so many of the owners/operators are so so kind. Loving the community feeling!

You can tell the 'bean was on a super slope-y parking lot! haha Even the jacks couldn't level it out perfectly.

After setting everything up for the first time since Summer, we were able to see just what needs to be taken care of come Winter. Honeybean is getting an interior makeover! It's a long time coming honestly. We've been wanting to renovate the inside (again) for about a year and a half or more, but since the 'bean was going on the backburner for 2013, we didn't want to get ourselves in too deep. We're hoping to put the 'bean on a more level playing field with Him + Honey for 2014, so in order to do that we need to make our renovations happen (fast!). The idea is to gut the entire interior and start fresh... and that terrifies me. We really just sort of got taken advantage of when it came to hiring someone to do it for us. We were too far away to keep up with the progress and then when we picked her up it was all rickety shelving. We're going to replace the walls, the floor, rip out the breakfast nook, etc. We're going to hopefully make it more boutique friendly. Right now the first 1/3 of the 'bean is almost unusable because it's such an awkward space. Luckily Mike and my stepdad are ultra handy! I'm dreaming up a moodboard of what I want everything to look like now so I'll share that soon! Gotta get through Porter Flea first! haha

They're calling for some ridiculous snow in Nashville this weekend (and by ridiculous I mean like an inch or two... which if you live here you would know that's basically Snowmageddon) but I'm hoping it'll hold off long enough to get the PF event out of the way. I don't really want to tow a trailer that far in yucky weather, and I don't want it to keep people from the event! Ahhh! Cross your fingers for me, yeah? 

If you're in Nashville or plan on stopping by Porter Flea, please say hello! I'd love to meet you. That's by far my favorite part of each event. So many new friends to make! Anyway, Happy Monday! I hope your holiday/weekend was so much fun!

PS; I get a lot of emails asking for advice/information/etc about mobile boutiques... if there's anything you'd like to know or ask or talk about, let me know! I've had people ask me to write posts about it but I don't really know what to include because I don't know what information you're looking for! Don't be shy!

PPS; I'm offering 20% off any and all wooden sign orders! Today only! Snag a Cyber Monday deal by emailing me for the updated rate sheet!

Honest To Blog : Fortune Favors The Brave

This lovely image from Saturday's post really got me thinking about work, goals, and my quality of life.  Okay, so it can't all be attributed to the illustration since those topics are literally the only thing on my mind 99% of the time, but I really really think the sentiment was a strong one. (And I'm kicking myself for not buying the print, but maybe I'll do that as my "100% self employed" treat?) I've written about it sparingly here on the blog, but if you follow me on Twitter or Tumblr then you'll know one thing: I'm ready to quit my job. Like, beyond ready, drowning in misery, frustrated with everyone and everything, done with it all, quit. I feel like I'm giving my bartending job too much credit. It's not actually the black hole of karaoke and rude people that I make it out to be always, but time has wore on and after 6 years, I'm exhausted. It's not where I see myself long term, so why am I allowing it such a large portion of my life? While you may know just how badly I want to quit, something that I've been a little bit less vocal about is this: I'm terrified. Scared like you can't even imagine. I don't even know where to start when it comes to leaving behind a secure, yet insufferable, job that has paid my bills for more than a half decade. But I did a big thing Saturday... I told my manager that my "retirement" from bartending was imminent. And I told her with a smile on my face. (Then I maybe started crying just a wee little bit at one point but that's just an awkward add-in so disregard). 

It sounds so silly to say I've upset myself over a bartending job, doesn't it? It's not exactly a noble or worthwhile cause, but it is a lot of work. I've had many people over the years try to make me feel "less than" for my job title, even while accomplishing what I had in the meantime. I'm a firm believer that the job doesn't make the person, but so many were hellbent on making me feel that way. Bartending has taught me a lot about people. More than I sometimes wish to know. I'd like to say it's made me a more patient person, but it hasn't. If anything in that regard it's just made me more irritated. But at the same time I've had a few life lessons that I otherwise would've missed out on. I'll save you the "bar-piphany" spiel though. I didn't give her a timeline really, aside from saying at the latest I'd like to be done by the wedding. Aka the last weekend of September. I really don't want to stay that long, but if I choose to then it'll help knock out Honeybean's loan, and maybe set up our savings so I don't have a breakdown on my first weekend sans bar. It'll be like starting new... a married woman, with a new last name, and a new job title. 

I've loved building our little businesses from the ground-up. Growing as a business has been one of the best things to ever experience. I've always referred to myself as self-employed, but I've also always had that safety net. Only 10 hours a week but you'd be surprised at how lucrative it can be at times. Especially when you're 18 years old, living with 2 other roommates, sharing all of your expenses, etc. Living arrangements have changed a lot over the past 6 years and, my frustrations aside, that bar was the reason I was able to focus so much on college. It's easy to run your own business when you have something to constantly fall back on. Lulls in clients or sales just means that I work a little harder on the weekend, no big deal. But I'm ready to go at it alone. I think.

I try not to question myself, but I've never been more scared in my life. Maybe that's a good sign though. A really good one. For once I feel uncertain and 100% in control of my destiny. Cheesy much? It's true. I'm finally able (and required) to pursue things that spark my heart and excite me. I just wish I felt more at ease. I think with all great game plays come great risks. I never want to feel like my decisions put a strain on our family life, especially with a toddler. But I guess at the end of the day every single decision we make really does. It all comes full circle. 

If I told you how many hours a day I spend a day obsessing over our business' future, our shopfront, our next move, our life... you'd think I was crazy. I know in my heart of hearts that this is supposed to be scary. Even with a solid business plan, even with everything charted out, it's supposed to be scary. It's so hard to know exactly what you want out of life but be a little bit unsure on how to get there. I think the fear in me is slightly exciting. It's a rush of something, anything, that I have never felt with bartending. Tending bar never empowered me or made me feel in control. Now everything is on my shoulders to make happen. My profit and gain directly correlates with my work ethic and output. Starting today my to-do lists are three miles long... and I'm looking forward to it. 

I still have a few weeks/months to sort everything out and get a lay of the land, but I want to start preparing now for the major switch. I hope the wake makes its way to the blog, too, because I want to be 100% transparent about this shift in my life. I know so many of you are small biz gals or aspire to be, and there aren't a ton of resources out there for female-run business owners. It's definitely a time of protecting how you've accomplished everything you have in fear that someone else will use it and beat you at your own game. I don't want that. I want to share the successes, the failures, the broken times, and the triumphs. I tend to be the kind of person who likes stress (to a certain degree) so now I'm just asking for it. Crazy exciting things are buzzing around our little hive so stay tuned. I can't say it'll always be exciting, but it'll be real. Here's to preparing for my real switch! I may have only taken the (tiny) first step to freedom, but it's been one I've thought about for a long long time. I've gotta go through with it now, right?!

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Honest To Blog is a weekly free-writing feature where I share whatever is on my mind. No edits, no filters. Just unapologetic, sometimes offensive, always truthful thought. Click HERE to read all of the past posts in this feature.

Honest To Blog: Porter Flea + Our Small Business

Two weeks ago we set up Honeybean at the 2nd Summer Porter Flea market, smack dab in the middle of our crazy insane work and travel schedule. I had been dreading those few weeks for months... not because of Porter Flea, but because of everything else we had to do around it. During a 36 hour span of  Friday + Saturday, I had worked 33 of those hours (39 of 42 if you want to get really technical). 3 hours of sleep Friday night left me feeling a little bit lethargic and stressed when it came time to set up Honeybean. I won't even go into the whining and complaining about running the bar by myself that week (I'll save that for my "I quit my job!" post... you know, if that ever happens). 

This photo shows a decent variety of the indie designers we have in the shoppe!

 

We pulled Honeybean into Marathon Music Works a day early, on Friday the 15th, so we could get her partially set up. She's a bit of a beast in comparison to most people's table booths so I was glad we were able to take care of that. We spent several hours setting up before having to rush down to work, so this allowed us to show up about an hour and a half after most people the day of the event. The doors opened at 11am and I was amazed at how many people flooded in. This was my first time attending Porter Flea, let alone vending, so it was fun to see how it all worked. Within seconds Honeybean (who was directly across from the entrance hallway) was overrun with people who appreciate handmade and independent designers. I remember looking over at Mike and saying "This is what it's all about. These people just 'get it!'" I've loved setting up Honeybean each and every place we have. Even when the rain threatens to strip me of my sanity, I've loved meeting people who totally get our vision. But Porter Flea was just perfect. The demographic was exactly what we were shooting for, and we were over the moon.

@ngelpoon

The event was from 11am til 6pm, but I had to leave Mike at 3 so I could rush back down to the bar and open up. In the 4 hours that I was there, I met so many people! Blog readers, internet friends, Nashvillians who loved Honeybean and had seen her around town, and even potential designers to stock the shelves. When I eagerly exclaimed to Mike that "this was it", I also told him that my heart had never felt so full. Running your own business, especially a retail shop, can be truly testing of your patience with people (and yourself). We've had snide comments in the past like "That is too expensive" and "I could make that" (what handmade business doesn't get that?), but at PF we finally felt like we had found the demographic that our business spoke to, even if it wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Each and every time we make a sale, I'm reminded at just how much I love Honeybean, yet how badly I want to expand and grow with her. Owning my own brick and mortar storefront only became a "dream" of mine in high school, but it is as strong as it's ever been today. It's an exciting position to be in to be able to pick out beautifully made pieces in hopes of sending them home with a potential customer. Am I waxing too poetic for you? Sorry, I'm getting mushy!

@crashwagon

@chelsgriffith

I also told Mike that I would run on 3 hours of sleep every single night if that meant I was able to live out the Honeybean dream on the daily. While it's always been our plan to really try and put plans into motion after the wedding, I was in full force "Let's get this ish done!" mode and it was on. Since the flea I've charted out pages and pages of decor, shop interiors/displays, potential wholesale designers, and even gone as far as to buy the first major piece of furniture for display. Whether it's 2 months from now or 2 years when we sign a contract to open Honeybean's (permanent) doors, it's something that I will not slow down in thinking about. 

I try not to let the little annoyances like local caravans painted the exact same, claims of being the first "fashion truck" in town or weather (insane heat/rain) get the best of me. At the end of the day I'm doing something I love to do, with someone I love to do it with. Mike has without a doubt been the very best partner I could ask for. It goes without saying that absolutely zero of my small biz ventures would pan out the way they do without him. He's invaluable. I know it's a bit crazy to live with someone, work with someone, and basically be 110% invested in something like we are, but it works for us. And I hope that's always the case. We just make sure to have separate lives/friends/activities to enjoy in order to keep us sane haha Everything else is just noise in the picture.

The lovely Elizabeth from Stockroom Vintage! She and her hubby helped string up the pretty lights you see attached to Honeybean. She also styled the event! (Thank you, E!)

My very own Matron of Honor, Elle, set up for her stationery biz Jam + Toast!
 Acorn + Archer
 Cordial Kitten 

NashPop

To the fab people at Porter Flea (Katie, Jessica, Brent + Friendly Arctic Printing and Design), thanks for letting Honeybean be part of the event last month. It was so much fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I'd do it every single month. We didn't get a chance to fill out the vendor survey afterward (I forgot to tell Mike about it!) but we'd do Porter Flea if it were a seven day event ;) We definitely hope to vend come the Holiday Flea, too! To everyone who came out to see the 'bean, stop by the booth, and/or say hello, thank you! Thank you for making it so incredibly obvious to me (even in times of doubt) that this is exactly what I want to do. A few shoutouts to some people who came by to see the 'bean for the first time (that I can recall!): Corinne, Lauren, Jenna, Allis, Zoe, and I'm sure there are more! If you were there, let me know in the comments. Introduce yourselves!

When it's all said and done, I just need to prioritize my life and make Honeybean/our businesses my main goal. I think I've let crappy dead-end, yet well paying, jobs (I'm looking at you, bar!) keep me in some kind of comfort zone. That job doesn't force me out of my element, to risk anything. But at the same time it doesn't spark any of my passion or creativity... Here's to finding the power within myself to say goodbye before too long! We don't set up every day, or even every weekend, but hopefully once I figure out my work situation and where I hope to take this little trailer, we'll have a steady set up. Until then, I'm just happy doing some fun events around town. 

PS; Sorry I don't have more pictures! Or any of the event/other vendors. Our booth was so packed the entire day that I only got to walk around for about 10 minutes, and even then it was just too much to try and snap photos! The Instagram photos are courtesy of the fine folks sourced underneath, and the rad digital photos are courtesy of PF photographer, Emily Spence! Peep the Facebook for more photos!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Honest To Blog is a weekly free-writing feature where I share whatever is on my mind. No edits, no filters. Just unapologetic, sometimes offensive, always truthful thought. Click HERE to read all of the past posts in this feature.

Current Happenings

Today starts the roughly-80-hour-stretch of life that I've soooorta been totally not at all looking forward to. Don't worry, I don't want pity or symptahy, I promise! I'm just trying to gear myself up for the last good run before melting into a pile of nothingness come Saturday night at 3am. (Well, as much of nothingness as I can be squished in the backseat of an Xterra with Mike + a carseat for 9 hours! :P) 

This morning we took Honeybean over to Marathon Music Works to load her in and get her ready for tomorrow's big show. It worked out kind of perfectly to get her in a day early because goodness knows it'd be chaos trying to load in with everyone else tomorrow with all the buzz going around. If you're in/around Nashville and you need something awesome to do tomorrow : Come out to the Porter Flea! It's 11am til 6pm and will be at the Marathon Music Works venue at the Marathon Motors get up! I'll be there from 11am til 3pm, then Mike will man the 'bean himself until 6. We've got all kinds of awesome new designers and we're practically overflowing with pretty stuff to snag. There will also be 70 other sweet vendors, plenty of food trucks, a video game competition, a photobooth, and all around good time. I know several of you are Nashville readers so come say hello and introduce yourselves! That way we can be Nashville friends! :P (BTW - Full list of Porter Flea vendors here!)

I'll probably look a hot mess though. Immediately following setup today we have to rush down to work and work 4pm til 2am (basically 3pm til 3:30am) and then sleep for a couple of hours before heading over to unpack the bean at 8:30am. I'll be dead to the world but I want to meet you all anyway. Then I'll power down to work to get through the last 12 hour shift before saying sayonara and heading to Florida. Hopefully I can get some shut eye between Nashville and Panama City!

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Speaking of Panama City... Any of you live in/around the PCB area? We'll only be in town for like 4 or 5 days but we'd love to meet up with some people who want some portrait work done (for free, of course! Trying to fill a void). Anything from couples to families to just kids or senior portraits... whatever. We wanna snap some people! So if you're in the PCB area and are free at some point between Sunday night and maybe Wednesday night, email me! (kaelahbee at gmail dot com)

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If you're looking to advertise your blog, brand or small business for the month of July, I'm now accepting sponsors! You can read more about the sponsorship process HERE, including rates + traffic (though I haven't updated the stats since last month!) Email me + pay before the end of the 20th and you'll get the discounted rate, too. 

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It feels weird that it's already the 15th of the month as I feel like I haven't really "been here"... Granted only for the last week or more but still. June is flying by (as have all the other months though). I'm excited to share a lot of fun new things in July, too. Anyway, here's to having a lovely weekend! Please come out and see us tomorrow!

24th Year: Make Yourself Proud

I was feeling a more personal post today so I hope that's alright...
(edited to add: my birthday isn't actually until friday, but thank you for the sweet birthday wishes already :P)

When I think back on the past 12 months of being 23, I feel like I've grown by leaps and bounds in terms of maturity (well, sometimes) and finding myself. I've always felt like I kind of knew what I wanted to be/do, but the past year has really solidified some of my life dreams. 

Last March I turned 23. I wrote a 23 before 24 list, half of it was silly, the other half semi-serious. Little did I know that so very very much of what was in store for me the following year wouldn't even make it's way to that paper. I had these ideas for myself, and Mike, that I didn't think we'd even touch on until a year or two down the road. Honeybean is a shining example of that. After being inspired by so many wonderful ladies and friends in so many cities, we decided to take the plunge. 2 weeks after the thought we had a business license, and 3 weeks later we had a full renovated camper. That was already almost 8 months ago! Just 3-4 months into my new list and I was already tackling bigger and better things. It's an awesome feeling.

Not only that, but we signed the lease to the loft on my birthday. What a birthday present that was! We lived there for almost 11 months and absolutely loved it. Then we took a chance on the other side of the river... We've only been here 6 weeks but we think it's so great. We love our little house, and we're making it into more of a home daily. Then there was Toby... oh my stars! This obviously is the most recent (and biggest!) adventure we've embarked on, and it's without a doubt been the most rewarding. It was like our priorities all of a sudden shifted when came into our lives. 

I tend to keep the "big important secrets" under wraps for a while, just to make sure they don't fall through before speaking publicly about them. But because I've found so few women who are willing to share their journey, failures and successes, with a small business, I wanted to try and speak about mine. We've been looking at brick and mortar spaces the past little while. A few "oh we're interested in hearing more" phone calls made, and a much more serious one as of late. We found a space... nearby our home and a great size for starting out. The price and situation seem great, too. The only thing we're not sure of: the location is ~eh, even though it has 30,000 cars passing by daily (!!!), and the "Are we ready?!" freak out. I thought by having Honeybean it'd help satisfy the need for a storefront. It'd give us a few years to get things ready and to plan... but it's done the exact opposite. It's made me realize how much I loved owning my own business and it makes me eager to move on to bigger and better things (all the while keeping the 'bean of course!)

We've talked with some friends and showed them the space. We've gone over it in our heads, and aloud. We've weighed the pros and cons and when we still couldn't really make a decision, we decided to re-prioritize yet again. I honestly do feel so incredibly lucky to be in the situation I'm in. To have a partner who is as interested in making this a "family business" as I am, and to have all of you to share this journey with. While our initial thought process was to put our money toward opening up a brick and mortar, then think about buying a house, we're thinking we may flip that. Or at the very least take baby steps. We won't be signing anything for that space soon, but to know that we're at that point... the looking and planning... man, it's terrifying!

One of the things I find so alarming about the blog world is how "effortless" everything seems. The perfect life, the perfect babies, the perfect jobs and opportunities that fall into laps. Life isn't like that. No matter how much we try to sugarcoat it to make it seem like a fairytale, there are real struggles there. Daily ones. I know I mentioned a handful of posts ago that I find it so disheartening that there are so many women out there that refuse to speak openly (and honestly) about their journeys. Even privately! It seems as so many just want to keep their secret locked away so they're the only ones who are successful. Maybe it's a little naive of me to think of blogging as a community, because I'll gladly be the first to admit that not everyone is nice. But to be fair, building a business from the ground up isn't something that happens overnight and it's not something that everyone can get lucky on. It takes planning and budgeting and maybe even sobbing here and there. It's a little bit bigger than just starting a blog. The idea that you can "wish" your way into a successful business is kind of foolish. And maybe I'm just slightly bitter that there are women out there who operate under the 'guise of "helping you" and "teaching you what they know" because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize who is self-motivated and who isn't. Of course this isn't meant to point any fingers (and if you think it's about you then you should have talk with yourself), because it's about no one specific. Just the general air of blogging and owning a business. 

I've found so much support from so many ladies through blogging. Vanessa of Wanderlust, Punky from Haberdash, and even some rad ladies here in Nashville. The girls at Old Made Good here in Nashville made a great point: "Commerce breeds commerce." I feel like the stinky air of competition drowns out so many potential partnerships and friendships. That can be even said for just blogging! Stop competing so much and just make friends! 

Anyway, I've gone on a tangent! That wasn't my intention! I guess my whole point was to say that I have big plans for 24. For me, for our family, for our business. Whether they all come to fruition or not is something to discuss in 52 weeks, but it won't be for lack of trying. I have to constantly remind myself that it's okay to start small. You don't necessarily have to throw yourself overboard to be successful. Businesses take time to build. And I'm slowly but surely learning some patience. The motto for my 24th year starting Friday: "Make yourself proud." That's the plan! And we're moving in the right direction!

What have you done to make yourself proud?

( 1 // 2 // 3 )

Honeybean Wants You!

Hey honeybees! We're excited to announce that we are ready to start accepting consignment applications for the Spring term with the 'bean! We've planned a tentative Spring relaunch for early March on our new side of the river and we can't wait to share all of the handmade goodness with the rest of Nashville! We had an awesome time with our Fall 2011 consignment designers and we know it's just going to get better and better! We're a bit more seasoned and organized this go around so if you applied in the past but didn't hear back from us, please don't let that hinder you from trying again! We're looking for loads of "new" stuff to bring to the 'bean! If you're interested in selling your handmade or repurposed goodies, check out all the info below! (You can also stay up to date on Honeybean happenings by "Liking" us on Facebook and following the Honeybean blog!) 

A quick little FAQ about our consignment system:

We operate on the industry standard 40/60 consignment percentage. This means the designer gets 60% of the sale price while the Boutique gets 40%. If this is not acceptable for you, please refrain from applying.

We only accept a limited number of designers at one time. In order to keep our tiny trailer from becoming overwhelmed, we limit the number of designers to under 25. 

Quality of the product really really matters. Please make sure the stitching and presentation of your item(s) is top-notch! We really want to help promote you, too, but we can't do that if you make us look bad! Not only that, but quality of the packaging is huge, too! A little bit goes a long way!

We accept all kinds of handmade and repurposed goodies! Stationery, posters, prints, cards, handmade jewelry, knit goodies, sewn crafts, hair accessories, etc. No matter what it is that you make, if you make it, we may be interested! We love having kooky "out there" inventory so don't let that stop you from applying!

We will be reviewing applications through February and the chosen designers will be notified on or around February 21st. We're looking to have inventory shipped to us around the 1st of March so please be aware of our time frame.

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Now for the application...

You can just click "Read More..." below and copy + paste the application into a new email. Please return the application to HoneybeanBoutique@gmail.com with the subject Spring 2012 Application. It may get lost in the shuffle if it is not properly titled!

Thank you so much for your interest in becoming part of the Honeybean team! We really are looking forward to a new batch of awesomeness for our shoppe! xo

Shop Honeybean Mobile Boutique Online!

We did it! Many many hours/days/weeks of work finally put to good use! We knew we wanted Honeybean to go live before Cyber Monday but man are we cutting it close! We only managed to get about 25% of inventory shot, edited and listed before we finally agreed to cut it there. We'll be adding more inventory (skirts, dresses, feather goods, consignment pieces) throughout the entire week (and continuing!), but feast your eyes on 149 products up for grabs!

We're offering today's (thru Monday at midnight!) customers a 15% off coupon with the code CYBER. Swing by and pick up a thing or two! They're priced very moderately, and there's tons of new Hive + Honey pieces up for grabs! I'll be working on more this week, too! It's a never ending adventure and I'm so tickled to have y'all be a part of it! xo

CLICK HERE TO SHOP! 

Psst... you can also get my ebook at 15% off for one day only! Drop by the shop to pick it up!

Honeybean Weekend Recap

Wow... this weekend! It was a bit of a crazy one. We went into the weekend with just hopes of making a few sales. We knew the Flea Market wasn't our demographic but we were hoping to stir some interest about Honeybean and maybe move some stock out to make room for the new Honeybean designers. Friday started with some awful, awful weather. It was well after noon (or maybe 1pm?) before we could set up. I took a small nap in the backseat of the car in the meantime. Friday wasn't too bad. Not a lot of people were there, with work and all, but we made a handful of sales and we felt decent about it. We locked up at 5 and off to work I went. Work was dead, dead, dead, and the drive home was awful but I woke to head over to the 'bean while Mike had been there since 7am. He was a trooper all weekend. Lord knows I couldn't have done it without him!

slow start on friday

honeybean colored gumballs!

finally some sun!

took a break to look at some other vendors (lovely phones!)

one heck of a team!

well deserved drinks

Saturday was a lot better. Slow to start but if there were 2 people at our booth then there were 15. I don't know how much you'd say a successful weekend would rake in but we are very happy with our outcome. It was the longest day of long days but work was calling again! The bar was almost as dead on Saturday as it was on Friday so I was a bit bitter. Woke up and tried the 'bean again on Sunday and the weather cooperated wonderfully. It was supposed to rain/storm but it missed us completely. Instead it was so very hot! It took us 4 hours to set up on Thursday night but only 1 hour to pack up (thank goodness!) We treated ourselves to some drinks at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then we came home and crashed out to an NCIS marathon.

If you stopped by the booth this weekend, I just want to say THANK YOU! A huge thank you. And thank you to everyone who sent sweet comments, tweets, emails and texts. It means so very much! We already have two booths for October, the big one (!!!) so please come out! We're going to spend the week looking around at some lots in Nashville for this month. If we don't find something we love then we'll arrange for the Grand Opening to be Saturday, October 22nd at the Flea Market! 

Kristi and Elle both stopped by on Saturday and they wrote really sweet blog posts about it all so please check those out if you're interested! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to (holy crazy!) but I promise to next time! Kristi's post is HERE (she has shots of the interior!) and Elle's is HERE! Yay! 

Today I have a lot to catch up on! Hopefully I'll be able to pour through my email today, too! I have a couple of sponsor spots left so if you want one, email me! kaelahbee@gmail.com XO

Happy Honeybean Day!

Today is the day! We're opening up for our soft launch weekend! I know I've been non-stop talking about Honeybean the past few weeks but I'm sure you can imagine how full our hearts feel! Yesterday was a full day with getting tattooed and heading straight to the fairgrounds to set up. Turns out our booth was a whole lot smaller than we were anticipating (and told), but we decided to work with it and make it happen anyway! We'll know next time to reserve two booths instead! We don't know how successful the weekend will but we're happy to get the ball rolling! Brian and Christina were working serious overtime helping us set up. Thank god for amazing friends!

Last night Vanessa from Wanderlust stopped by for some chit chat and she's just the sweetest ever! If you're from Portland (or visit) then you should check out her little mobile venture! They just celebrated their first year and I hope we're in their spot next year! Yay!

We're opening bright and early at 8am and we'll be at the fairgrounds until 5! Saturday Mike is opening the shoppe at 7am and I'll trickle in between 9 and 10, same for Sunday! If you're in the area please come stop by! Lot 4 (parking lot), booth 98! Look for the silly little 'bean!

Here are a few photos of us setting up yesterday. We promise to take lots of pictures this weekend!

Mike building our sign!

Stocking the shoppe with handmade pretties!

Squeezing her in...

Handmade bird feeders!

And here's one of me getting my shin tattooed yesterday for good measure! I think I really psyched myself out for it and it was such a breeze. No pain whatsoever! But honestly it was all in Laura's machine! She was using her beau's instead and it is calibrated so beautifully! I hope the other leg (Friday!) is as easy to sit through! 

Happy Friday, friends!

What are your plans for the weekend?!

Say Hello to Honeybean!

Today is the day, friends! We're so excited to finally unveil what all of our hard work and our dreams! We took the 'bean out for a spin today. It was the first time loading her up and towing her around by our lonesome. We ended up at Percy Warner Park in Belle Meade where we shot a few photos of her. Below I'll share those photos along with the before and afters! We don't have any current interior shots with her all stocked up (except the iPhone 4 ones I'll include) but we ripped out the garment rack she came with and built our own with industrial pipe and flanges. It now holds about 15x the weight and she's as sturdy as ever! (Sadly today we were on the interstate and a tractor trailer blew a tire and it hit Honeybean. We didn't think it did but we got home to find a hefty dent. Luckily it's nothing we can't probably fix ourselves and it doesn't have any effect on the tow or the inside!) We love her so!

Meet our 1968 Yellowstone camper... Bernadette!

To familiarize yourself with the transformation, here is what she started off looking like! And peep some in-progress shots and the final bits! Isn't she marvelous?!

(we got a new air conditioner too!)

(everything in the above two photos was thrifted by Sherry, the lovely woman who did the restorations! She had it stocked for me when we picked it up! Isn't that sweet?! Restorations were done by Fine Designs Camper Sales in Kentucky!)

(I think we're going to recover the cushions to a slightly more neutral color. Not sure what yet!)

We love Bernadette so so very much! Our hearts have never felt so full! We've been hard at work stocking her inside and out and we can't wait to find the perfect location to have the Grand Opening party! Thank you all SO much for being part of our dream! We couldn't do it without you!

To celebrate, we're offering 35% OFF OUR ENTIRE HIVE + HONEY LINE! Just use the code HONEYBEAN and you'll be good to go! Feel free to visit Hive + Honey to stock up on pretty handmade things! H+H will be stocked in Honeybean along with tons of other awesome things!

If you're awaiting a response from me about being a Honeybean designer, please hold tight! Hoping to filter through several of the 125+ emails in my inbox! You are all SO talented! I wish we could stock all of you!

What do you think!? Do you love her as much as we do?!