Halloween is finally here and yet it feels like is already happened.  The big reason why is the Downtown Trick-or-Treat which always takes place during Farmers Market, the Thursday before Halloween.

I handed out candy for two hours straight in front of the shop dressed as a pregnant witch:

While one of my other reigning sock fairies, Tamar, handled all of the costume accessory requests inside:

These pics were taken during the calm before the storm.  The sidewalks are completely packed with kids dressed up in costumes and their parents.  It is CRAZY out there!  I could not fall asleep until after midnight that night because I was so over stimulated from all the trick-or-treaters asking for candy non-stop.

Since then, we have been selling lots of tights and socks for people’s costumes.  It has been Halloween central here for several days now!

I have not had a chance to even carve pumpkins yet, which hopefully will happen this afternoon.  Plus I still have to pick up candy for the kids in our neighborhood.  Eek!

How is your Halloween shaping up?

I am so excited about my new vinyl wall stickers hanging up in the store!

I contacted my friend Elizabeth Howard, who owns Little Lola Red Design Group here in town.  I came to her with the idea of creating some branches to hang high on the wall against the back of the store.  Up until now there have been some birds flying, but I have been over them for awhile now.

Elizabeth designed these beautiful, delicate branches with the cutest little Love Birds (her touch!).  She personally came into my shop to install them herself.  They look amazing!  I keep smiling every time I look at them.

We had a wonderful chat as she balanced on a really high ladder and I got to stand back and watch the process.   I think we have more in common that we had ever realized!

Next time you are downtown, poke your head in and check out the new wall art!

Thank you again, Elizabeth!

Getting back into the swing of things (being sick is the pits!).

1. Kiddo Smartwool socks setting up train tracks

2. Striped knee-hi Smartwool socks waiting in the chiropractor office

3. Butterfly Sock it to Me knee-hi’s attempting some yard work

4. New Smartwool knee-hi’s paired with cowboy boots at The Sock Drawer

 

Which socks are you wearing today?

Over the weekend, the I Madonnari Street Painting Festival took place here in downtown San Luis Obispo.  The sidewalks in front of and alongside the mission were transformed into beautiful works of art.

Sawyer and I made a visit on Saturday to see our friend Holly who was working on a beautiful landscape picture of SLO.  Sawyer hijacked her chalk and started creating his own masterpiece.

{images courtesy of Telegram Tribune}

The plan was to check out the progress on Saturday and revisit them on  Sunday to see the final product.  Unfortunately, Sawyer came down with a gnarly cold that night (hello preschool!) and we were out of commission on Sunday.  Another bummer was that it actually rained Saturday night so the artists had some damage control to take care of Sunday morning.

By the looks of the pictures, they were able to pull it off just fine!

 

{images courtesy of the Telegram Tribune}

I came into work this morning and decided to change up the window display.  Back to school shopping is in full force so I created a display with a couple of school necessities sprinkled in.

The mustache and troll socks are so silly, yet so popular.  You can sneak a peek or our reigning champ, Bacon, tucked behind the sock monkeys.

Our little guy is going to start preschool later this month.  Eeeeek!

How is your back to school shopping coming along?

1. Striped socks dangling from a bench {by Smartwool}

2. Knee-hi Converse socks getting ready for work at The Sock Drawer {by K. Bell}

3. Bruce Lee in the kitchen {by Celeste Stein}

4. Snowboard socks on a summer day {by Smartwool}

Trains are pretty big deal when you are a 2-year old boy.  Luckily for Sawyer, we live right up the street from the train tracks.  In less than 5 minutes, we can walk to the train station.

We have had a lot of fun going down to the station and watching the conductors in action.  I will admit, the incoming trains with their screeching breaks can be intimidating for the little guy, but it quickly passes.

Now we just need to take Sawyer on his first train ride!

Sawyer and I both recently got over the longest cold known to man — although I think Sawyer may have officially taken the title with his lingering cough.  The weather was gorgeous and I just couldn’t stand being cooped up any longer.  I took one for the team and stuffed Sawyer in the backpack to hike us both up the hill near our house.

The spectacular views were totally worth the river of snot.

 

 

June 14th is a big day in my life.

It was on this day, four years ago, that I opened the doors to The Sock Drawer – my very own sock store. All the months of dreaming, planning, painting, ordering, merchandising, and stressing came together. It has been quite an adventure since then.

I think my favorite part about my shop is all of the amazing sock loving people I have met along the way. I have formed very special, lifelong relationships with people who entered as customers and left as friends. I am convinced sock lovers are pretty cool people.

This year on June 14th, the celebration continues with the launch date for the The Sock Drawer website. I am so delighted to be here to share this experience with you. It’s a new opportunity for me to reach out and meet more great sock lovers. I couldn’t be more excited!

Cheers to new journeys, friendships, & socks!!