09/19/2022
๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐...๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐!๐ It's been awhile, but great things are loading! Sometimes things happen in life right when you need them. Be sure to follow Sweet Pea Pop-Ups & Events!
A week ago, I had the honor of accepting a posthumous Lakewood NJ Highschool Athletic Hall of Fame inductee award on behalf of my father. He was the class of 1971. 52 years after graduating high school, he was nominated by a then Freshman who looked up to and still values his tenacity, sportsmanship, incredible athletic abilities and all around amazing character. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to meet the man who submitted the nomination, as well as sit in a room filled with people who spoke nothing but amazing words about my Dad. After all these years, as Maya Angelou once said "๐'๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น.โ Remarkably, they have not forgotten what he said, what he did, nor how he made them feel. He was an upstanding and memorable teammate, leader, person and friend, and I know he was looking down with a calm smile, cracking a joke, and toasting a whiskey on the rocks with me.
Though I played and he cheered me on for almost 15 years of many sports, I was never as good of an athlete as he, but I aspire to have a good heart, help others and leave a lasting good impression on this world in one way or another. Since his passing a week before my senior year of college, not a day passes without me wanting to ask his opinion, call him for a good laugh when I am overwhelmed, or just guidance on what my next move in life should be.
Coincidentally, just a few days after accepting his award, I had the honor of accepting (2) gold medals for Sweet Pea Children's Resale Boutique from the Myfm 101.3 Quest for the Best contest. This was truly my first major entrepreneurial endeavor, and between normal small business growing pains, and a global pandemic, the past 3 years have been nothing short of difficult, mentally overwhelming and physically exhausting. I have amazing customers, family and friends, both near and far, to thank for their continued support thus far, helping me get to where I am now. There were countless emotional roller coasters filled with everything imaginable, but after this past week, I know exactly what I need to do. My original mission was to "serve the local community by providing quality and affordable childrenโs clothing, educational toys, books, accessories and gifts at a reasonable price." However, with overhead costs climbing, I know that I can no longer provide the affordable shopping experience that I set out to create back in 2019. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐. ๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐บ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ.
This decision was not made lightly. It actually took me months of trying to "make things work" to realize that it's okay to have something be a building block to something much bigger. I desire to take what I've built and continue growing Pop-Up Events, where I can be a platform to help many other small businesses thrive and grow right alongside me.
I am not 100% sure how this will all develop, but I do know, I want to be just like my Dad. I want to leave a lasting impression, and like my girl Maya said too, "๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ, ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐. ๐ ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป'๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ."
I want to keep the smiles flowing, laugher rolling, and spirits high. I Hope to see everyone at Franklin's Harvest Festival on October 1st, as well as October Fest on October 30th and the 2nd Annual Holiday Pop-Up Shoppe on November 20th, both hosted by my newly formed Sweet Pea Pop-Ups & Events company. ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ช๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐! I will still be having children's clothing at these pop-ups, so be sure to stay posted! I also plan on amping up the website when time allows.
As they always say, when one door closes, another one opens, and I am so excited to see what the future has in store for me.
