OK as usual I am determined to send a note that is a little different than the barrage of emails we get from brand Founders…the fluffy ‘summer is over’, welcome fall, I love Pumpkin Spice, and nesting blahhhh blah blah. Lol, I do love all those things but I have been on the front lines of being a MOM and thought the stories from the past couple of weeks would make you laugh. And in the end, I will of course bring it back to jewelry 😘
The three most depressing words in the English language? BACK. TO. SCHOOL.
I have been dreading the end of summer because that meant that our kids are off to school.
For background, I loved school until I went to boarding school in 8th grade. I loved my elementary and middle school in Georgia and felt smart. I loved my teachers and my friends. When I went to boarding school, it was completely different. People made fun of my accent (it’s now gone!), I had a much harder time with the school work. I felt like it was this cold lonely place and in general just dreaded it…I hated Fall so much I was actually physically scared. You know that feeling before you go to bed, the dread, the Sunday scaries but bigger? Clearly this is not a good thing to hold on to so I have ‘gotten over’ a lot of the FALL-HATING mentality but….
This year fall means college for my girls and an empty nest. I was such a wreck (as you know from my daily Instagram stories), I was raw emotion by the time I dropped Tiki off at Clemson. BUT YOU WOULD BE SO PROUD, I did not cry. I went and spent all the money at Target and bought the headboard at dormify…I did it with an enthusiastic smile. And then I said goodbye, I was positive, big hug, hopped in the car and made it to the airport in one piece. It’s at the airport that things came….undone. I don’t drink on planes – I’m just not an airport drinker. Well, this day was different. I thought, I will just sit at the bar and have a beer and snack (I was alone, no Mr. Jane Win or Tiki’s Dad). One beer turned into 3 glasses of wine. A pizza. I started crying. I had to put on my sunglasses as tears were streaming down my face in this weird piano bar in a dark corner of the ATL airport. I was a messsss. This continued onto the plane where I cried the entire flight, drunk, sunglasses on. I am SCARRED by my own behavior.
Days later Sabrina came home from England and we flew down to move her into her apartment and something oddly similar happened, although it was more about an exhausting Ikea store haul, some rose and the wrong set of screws. That desk will never be the same.
Lots of emotional drama – or trauma? When I got home and all the drop offs were over…I started to get excited. I was kind of wallowing in the sadness but literally the optimism broke through and I could not help but be happy about the future. I started trying to walk 15k steps a day. I got on a fun cooking kick, finding new recipes to try out for Mr. Jane Win. I am very very excited for the empty nest. I am not lying! And the final step…I am AGAINST the world obsession with negativity. I just am not buying in. I think we have all become addicted to bad news. I’m out. I’m good news only, glass half full, an energy that reminds me of when I first started Jane Win. The attitude is – bring it on. Let’s travel and enjoy every day. Let’s build a killer business, our way. Let’s create beautiful jewelry and connect with the loveliest customers. Let’s leave it all on the field 😊 of happiness, enjoying life and not taking it for granted.
One thing that I really love to do is make Instagram stories. I feel as though I am talking directly to you. I guess I should try it on tik tok or reels? I don’t know – I am so open to feedback – but the point is I like the daily check ins. I talk jewelry, what’s going on in the office – it’s fun. AND YOU have been so kind and always ask about my dresses. So I am trying to link more. Here is a little pre-fall ‘drop’ of dresses and jewelry for you to peruse over the long weekend. We have so much new coming but right now I am loving my Rising Sun and tons of HEARTS (anyone surprised?) including the new Rose Quartz Carved Heart. You all know I am a tusk person and we recently launched this very bold Guardian Tusk that pairs beautifully with a coin. ENJOY!
Sending tons of love, xx Janie
