In Which The Spaz Becomes A LuLaRoe Consultant

LuLaWhat? Huh? Is that the LEGGINGS? Y'all - read on.

So much has happened since I last wrote here! I finished up that sweet, sweet Marketing degree in the beginning of May and that was seriously an awesome feeling accomplishment. It's kind of surreal to know I'm actually a graduate after so many years of having completely given up on that dream. Even after I had completed all of my classes and before the University actually mailed me that really super expensive piece of paper, I kept checking the online system to make sure it was real.

So with that fancy degee, I guess a lot of doors are cracked open to me that weren't before. But me? I decided to go with a different door. I decided to become a LuLaRoe consultant. I don't need a fancy Marketing degree to be one - but I'm sure it will help me (cause, duh, marketing).

I submitted my paperwork to become a consultant on April 25th. At the time they were saying that the wait was 12 weeks before I'd get my call to become official. So I prepared myself, started saving money, and nestled in for a long three month wait. But then LuLaRoe started speeding up and I got my call on June 27th and I was OFFICIAL.

Coincidentally, June 27th was also the day that The Man took me to see The Cure in concert and managed to score us FRONT ROW & CENTER seats. Seriously, it was the BEST DAY EVER. (Legit! I was this close!! Look at that picture!!)

Since that day it's been a whirlwind, y'all. I live and breathe LuLaRoe and it's a lot of work. But I am in love with it. Every morning I wake up excited to see what's going on, if I sold anything, if customers posted pictures of themselves wearing their LuLaGoodies. The Man is 100% supportive and even though we're only 2 weeks in from the first day I actually started selling, I've made almost half of that initial investment back. It's a hustle, but I love that hustle.

LuLaRoe is different than other clothing companies. We, as consultants, order our inventory wholesale from the company. We can choose our styles and the sizes we want to carry - but the patterns and colors (and there are OH SO MANY patterns and colors) are given to us at random. We never know what we're going to get! (LuLaRoe is like a box of chocolates....)

So when we get that awesome inventory it's like Christmas. Let me tell you - on the days that my packages are coming, I am stalking the UPS man. I cannot WAIT to open those boxes and see what I got. This is maybe one of my favorite parts of being a consultant.

Once I have my gorgeous inventory, I take pictures of all of it and I sell it one of two ways. The first way is at in-home pop up parties. I pack up all my inventory, some collapsible clothing racks, and my trusty full length mirror, and I bring it to my hostess's home. I set it all up and her friends come over and shop and drink wine and eat snacks and we all have fun. I seriously have a blast with this and sell lots of stuff at the party. My hostess gets a credit of 10% of the total party sales to use with me so she can have some fun LuLa, too!

So why did I take those pictures? That's the other way I sell LuLaRoe - in my private VIP Facebook shopping group! This way I can reach ALL the customers. I upload those pictures into the photo albums in my group. They're organized by style. Customers browse through those pictures and when they see something they have to have, they comment SOLD and the item is theirs! Since I can't pick the patterns and colors I get from LuLaRoe and every pattern and color is limited, customers need to snatch up the things they love because they might not be able to get it again! I invoice them with their email address and they can pay with a credit card.

I'd love if y'all would follow my LuLaRoe journey! The Man and I are working on a website that will link to all of my social media stuff (in the mean time it links to my shopping group on Facebook, but that will be changing soon) and I'm learning to be more active with social media (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube). This has thus far been one of the most exciting things to happen to me. I've gotten a part of myself back that I lost a long time ago and I feel happier than I have in years. :)

The Spaz deals with teenagers

School has been kicking my ass, y'all. I'm just about 1 month away from my final final and I've barely had time to breathe, much less keep up with my blog or my life or the laundry. It has literally been a day to day process of making sure I'm not screwing up something since classes started back in August.

But today I will take a few minutes to catch up here because it's been forever and this blog is like an old friend who always loves me, no matter how long I neglect it.

Back when I started this blog in 2007, I had these three amazing little kids. Goober was 4, Munchkin was 6, and Bug was almost 8. They were sweet and loving and writing about them was easy. Here we are almost 9 years later and things have changed. We're in teenager land right now and sometimes I feel like they're killing me.

I can't say no one ever told me. I can firmly remember when I had three in diapers and people would say things like "You think it's tough now! Just wait til they're all teenagers." Side note - to anyone thinking of saying some stupid crap like this to a struggling mom, just shut your damn mouth. You're not helping her.

But even with all the warnings, I don't think I was ever really prepared for teenagers. Bug was seriously the sweetest boy - and that sweet boy is still there, I get glimpses of him all the time - but my sweet boy is all buried in crazy stupid hormones and angst. Munchkin, at 14 years old, has been giving me hell, too (teenage girl attitude is some serious business, y'all), but it's Bug that has me really concerned.

Between the failing grades, the sleeping at every chance he gets (except for during normal sleeping hours, of course), the laziness, the defiance, the obsession with girls, and the attachment to his computer - The Man and I are grasping at straws as to how to handle him.

It's to the point where we are seriously considering sending him to military school next year. We've found a "reasonably priced" one in South Carolina - where reasonable is still more than many full time employed Americans make in a year - and it's on the table for discussion at this point. And I am a ball of mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I think it is the best thing we could ever do for Bug. He's so intelligent and has so much potential to be the greatest man. He needs structure and discipline in a way that I just can't provide. I know he would thrive with some successes and I really believe this school would provide him with those successes. On the other hand, he's my baby and I am not prepared to send him 600 miles away yet. I thought I had a couple more years before I'd be sending one of my little chickens to school.

We went to an open house that the school was having here locally last week and it was all I could do not to break into tears while sitting there listening to a very nice gentleman tell us about the day to day rituals of the school. I know that as much as I want Bug to be responsible and as much as I think he needs the discipline that a school like this can provide - I know that if we choose to send Bug to this school next year he will return to us having lost a lot of that sweet boyish nature he has right now.

I'm totally not ready.