first name: Amy

age: 30

current city: Jackson, MS

living situation: Our family consists of my husband, my three-year-old girl, two labs, a tabby cat, and me.

occupation: I am a stay-at-home-mom and owner/sole seamstress of a small children’s clothing line called Brownie Goose.

how do you structure your time and space? This is something that I struggle with on a daily basis. I wish I had the right answer and a better way. I try, try, try to keep my “business time” away from my home time, but since my “office/sewing room” is at my home, and I am a stay-at-home mom, this becomes quite difficult. I try to only sew when my child sleeps. But this has become quite difficult as she is getting older and not wanting to nap as often or as long. Sometimes I will sneak to my sewing room when she is preoccupied with books or blocks or baby dolls, but then I am always questioning myself and  thinking that I would rather be playing with her.

I recently started a day that I do nothing but worry about household duties. Wednesdays are the days that “the maid comes.” Don’t get jealous; I am the maid, and I spend every hour of Wednesdays doing laundry, dusting, vacuuming, loading and unloading the dishwasher, and cleaning toilets and tubs. So far, this has worked well for me. Since I have the whole day set aside, I focus and usually do a good job of getting it all done.

With my business, certain times are busier than others. I try hard to take time out of the week to do something fun for my daughter and me so that it isn’t always work, work, work. But, unfortunately at the end of the day, just like every other business owner (and I use the term business lightly since I don’t have a store with employees and such) I lament that my work is not done. I will lie awake in bed making lists in my head of things that must be done the next day, emails that need to be returned, orders that must be shipped, et cetera.

My favorite time of the day is when my husband gets home from work and we take the dogs and my daughter on a walk. We do this every afternoon, barring torrential downpours, (although we have been stuck in a few of those, but I love the rain, so I never mind) and other cases of extreme weather. I think this keeps me sane.

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? I am right on target with this summer season. I am enjoying the extended daylight, more time with my family (dogs included), the lightning bugs, the chance to play in the water, popsicles, and later nights. This time always makes me smile because it reminds me of when I was young. My business is between two busy seasons, and so I have a lot of down time in which I am thoroughly enjoying the calm before the storm. 

-what season(s) preceded this one? I think I would have to say winter. I don’t care for cold weather, and I think of winter as being very dark and dreary. I spent a lot of my time hung up in my business instead of with my family, where I should have been. I never regret things. Instead, I just am thankful for the lessons learned. For now, I know how I don’t want my business to run my life. I spent countless hours in my sewing room into the wee hours of the night running myself ragged and spending more time worrying about things than I should have. Unfortunately, a miscarriage is what woke me up. In the dark, dark month that followed my miscarriage, I did a lot of soul-searching and trying to figure out where I wanted to be in life. Thankfully, I learned that at the end of the day, it is not my clothing line that defines me, but my family. So, with this newfound insight, I changed a few things with my business and will now be running it differently… I hope.

-what season(s) might your future hold? I hope that spring and fall are in my future. I love both of these seasons, mostly because of the beautiful weather that they bring. It is always rejuvenating and refreshing for me. I have a lot going on in the next few months to a year. I am excited about every last stinking thing too.

favorite family activity/activities: As I mentioned earlier, I really enjoy our afternoon walks with the dogs. I am a huge animal person, and this activity calms me like no other. At the end of our walks (since we live on a cul-de-sac) we always tell our daughter she can get out and walk, and it brings such incredible joy to me to watch her walk, run, or skip down the street, carefree, with her hair blowing in the wind. This sight, along with the dogs’ wagging tails, always makes me smile.

My husband and I also like to renovate, which is a blessing and curse sometimes. But it really is fun getting down and working and building and creating spaces that are ours. I am super-duper lucky that he is as handy as he is! Did I mention that my fabulous sewing room was done all by him? Yes, he is fabulous.

favorite solo activities: Oh, I love to read. I can sit with my nose in a book for hours. I also love to sew, obviously, and can sit in front of my sewing machine for hours at a time with music in the background and be just as happy as a bug in a rug. I also can sit on a beach from sun-up to sun-down with no problem. I grew up on the beach, and am now land-locked so this is something that I miss.

source(s) of inspiration: I’m inspired by thunderstorms and music. Makes me sound like a hippie, huh?

best MakeShift moment: When I am in crunch-time with my business, and orders must be completed by certain dates, I have to throw the whole “sew only while she sleeps” rule out the window. Instead, I bring her in my sewing room and let her have tea parties…with actual water. Usually I do not allow the water, but on certain occasions, I do. I put down towels and just let her play. Water keeps her occupied for very long periods of time. She will usually sing songs, and it is so sweet to hear her while I am sewing away.

find amy on the web:

• blog: http://amysnorris.blogspot.com
• business: http://www.browniegoose.com

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