if only my boot was this chic

Perhaps I wouldn't mind wearing the boot so much if it was as stylish and interesting as these pieces by Gwendolyn Huskens.

via sub-studio design blog

not happy

I went to the doctor this morning and I have to wear the boot for another 2 to 4 weeks. I'm so depressed that I can't even muster up the energy to write a decent post.

and the winner is...

Congratulations to Tere, the randomly chosen winner of my contest.

Tere, please email me at meauman(at)yahoo(dot)com with your address so I can send you your fun surprise!

they're back

Ornaments are back! Available on megan auman home.

aspirations

I will no longer feel guilty for my book buying addiction. Instead, I now have a goal to work towards.

Image via design*sponge.

this makes me want to cry

That does it, I'm officially postponing my birthday this year.

weekend in Ohio

We're back from a great weekend in Ohio - spending time with old friends (thanks Corey and Nathan!), taking a train ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and seeing the Artistic Luxury exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I'm so envious of people who live in an area with such a great mix of nature and culture. (Where we live is long on nature but very short on culture.)

I've got so much more to share from the weekend, but for now its back to catching up with home and work. Thanks to everyone for your nice comments on my last post! There's still a little time to enter my contest, so please do!

wish i was there + contest

I saw this photo on Creature Comforts this morning and definitely had a "wish i was there" moment. Let the countdown to April commence...

But Joe and I are headed to Ohio this weekend to visit some friends, which is still more fun than staying home.

Plus, in honor of my birthday next week, I'm holding a little contest. Leave me a comment sometime between now and Monday letting me know if you could go anywhere in the world this weekend, where would it be and why? I'll randomly choose one lucky person and send them a fun surprise (of the wearable, made by me variety).

Happy weekend!

great lighting

Two really great lamps from around the blogoshpere today. Wire lamps from poppytalk.


And this great packing peanut chandelier from design*sponge.

frosty fall

My frost covered yard on this chilly Monday morning.

custom bike baskets

I'm doing a little research for an upcoming project and came across these amazing custom bike baskets by David Hembrow. How much fun would Grizzly have riding around in one of these?

another crazy nightmare

Last night I dreamed that I showed up to set up for New York Gift (which isn't until January) completely unprepared. I didn't know what booth I was in, started setting up in the wrong space, and still had to start (and finish) samples of my new collection. Not only did I wake up completely panicked, but with a serious case of déjà vu. Haven't I had a dream like this once before?

Sure enough, after browsing my archives, I had a similar dream last September. What is it about the fall?

So today I'm working on a little gift fair prep, including an application to the Accent on Design section. Above is a prototype mini-catalog I'm working on. I've got to mail my application on Monday, wish me luck!

long day

This has been such a long, exhausting day that I can't even bring myself to watch the PR finale. (Don't tell me the winner - I'm DVRing it to watch tomorrow morning!)

This morning I went to a funeral for a man whose kids I went to high school with. This man was a community leader, well known and respected in our small town. He had eight children, the oldest of whom is in his 30s, the youngest of which is still in high school. To see the family at the funeral was absolutely heartbreaking - the man was killed in a car crash so the death was unexpected. Yet at the same time, to hear people talk about this man's impact on the community was inspiring. He founded t-ball and baseball leagues, taught Sunday school, and founded an Education Foundation to support the local school district. All the while supporting his eight children, both financially and emotionally. I think all we can hope for in life is that when we die, people regard our lives and our contributions as highly as this man's were. That we leave the world a little better than the way we found it.

The funeral was held in the church I attended as a child - a church I haven't been to in well over a decade. I have viewed organized religion with much skepticism during my adult life, but I have to admit there was something moving about the funeral today. Standing in a church full of people, singing "Amazing Grace", I really began to see that for many people the real value of a church lies in the sense of community it provides. And in times of crisis, that sense of community can be extremely important.

I'm calling it an early night and heading to bed, but I just want to remind everyone to cherish everyday you have with the people you care about, because they can be gone in an instant. And on that note, every time you get into your car (for those of us stuck driving because a stress fracture means we aren't allowed to bike) remind yourself that shaving a few seconds off your trip or trying to drive when you're tired or distracted isn't worth your life or someone else's.

the wordy shipmates

I finished listening to Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates on Friday, and just want to say, I highly recommend it. Even if you have no interest in 17th Century Puritan America, Sarah Vowell tells a great story and makes it relevant for today. And funny to boot. I would really recommend the audio book as well, there's nothing like listening to the author telling the story herself.

And for your enjoyment, here's a little clip of Sarah Vowell on the Daily Show. I was still laughing ten minutes later.



On a side note, when I searched Amazon.com for Sarah Vowell to find a link for the book, the first thing that came up was a book about Sarah Palin. I'm sure Sarah Vowell would love that.

something new to listen to!

I'm so excited because Sarah Vowell's new book, The Wordy Shipmates, comes out today! Some of my studio-mates in grad school turned me on to Sarah Vowell, and her previous books are some of my favorite studio listening. After fighting with my computer, I finally managed to download The Wordy Shipmates from iTunes. I've got to leave for a cross country meet shortly, but I can't wait to head back out to the studio when I get home so I can start listening!

vote!

If you live in Pennsylvania, today is the last day to register to vote in the November election. Wherever you live, make sure you are registered to vote in this super important election!

And this is what I'll be wearing on election day:


Obama necklace by Silvercocoon.

what I'm reading: good to great

Lately, it seems like I've been reading a lot of bicycling related books, so I decided to switch things up and read something business related. I'd been thinking about reading Good to Great by Jim Collins for a while, and since my business hasn't been going as well as I'd like, now seemed like the perfect time.

As I began reading, I had a hard time visualizing how a book about major corporations such as Gillette and Walgreens would apply to my little, one woman show. But it didn't take long for me to start applying the lessons in the book to my own business. In fact, I found this to be one of the most relevant books I've read in a long time. So I've decided to break the book down step by step and examine how it relates to me and my business. (I won't do this all in one post, it would overwhelm everyone!)

But first, a little introduction. The initial premise of the book is that "Good is the enemy of great." There are so many good companies around that very few invest the time and energy to become great companies. By studying eleven companies they identified as "great", Collins and his research team came up with a series of characteristics that set these companies apart. And these are the concepts that can be applied to companies, organizations, teams, and most any other group of people looking to make the leap from good to great. These concepts are:
-Level 5 Leadership
-First Who... Then What
-Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)
-The Hedgehog Concept
-A Culture of Discipline
-Technology Accelerators
-The Flywheel and the Doom Loop
I'll be using these concepts to examine myself and my business. Hopefully those of you running your own businesses will find some use in this exercise as well. (In fact, I recommend anyone running their own business run out and grab a copy of this book. You won't be disappointed.)

I'll be back tomorrow to take a look at Level 5 Leadership.

leaf hoop earrings

Now available in my Etsy shop!

updates

I finally updated my website to show all of my retailers. Check it out! And please be sure to support the stores in your area.

Oh, and look for a few new items to appear in my Etsy shop in the very near future.