That was a text from my recent ex-boyfriend, the morning after he kicked me out of our townhouse in Plantation, Florida. It wasn't a lie, all my stuff was in garbage bags on the front lawn, and while I loaded it into my tiny Jetta, I got to thinking, "this is a lesson in relationships. Always tell your boyfriend when you develop a crush on another man."
That was more or less what had happened. A long story made short, I had developed a crush on someone at my school, and in my ignorance, I withheld the information from a boyfriend I had fallen out of love with, and here I was, in 101 degree heat and humidity, loading my things out of garbage bags. Lesson learned.
Later that day, while I loaded my car bit by bit (all to the reward of a sunburn), I noticed that I, in fact, had a lot of clothes. Most of my backseat was piled with clothes, rolled up like a swiss roll, baking in the sun. It took me about two hours to load them all. I looked at the ones I really loved, some new pieces, and some vintage. When I got home, and I was unloading, I began to separate the ones that no longer fit me, or I no longer needed, and thought, "man, a lot of these are vintage."
Well, I had been a big fan of Etsy for a few years, and browsing through making treasury lists had quickly become one of my favorite past times as I sat alone in my house in Florida. I started thinking, "what if I were to list some of this stuff?"
Ashley is my best friend, and she was, of course, the first and last person to be there for me as I moved all the way from Plantation, Fl to Sacramento, Ca. As I drove across country with my mother, Ashley texted me daily, asking if I was doing well, where we were, and telling me funny stories. She has been my best friend for 9 years, and I don't know anyone, no one, I trust in the way I trust her. We've had our arguments, our different ideas, our different desires, but the truth is that, God made us a part of each other, and we have never let that go, and hopefully never will. When I got home from Sacramento, I asked Ashley if she'd ever thought about starting an Etsy. She told me, in the way we share a wavelength, that not only had she thought about, she was planning to do it.
And so was born Shop Glovebox, a joint account carrying a name the two of us made up our sophmore year in high school (when we dreamed of owning our own vintage clothing store, weren't we progessive...). Getting it up, making the banner, designing the store, that was the easy part. The hard part was, for me, modeling. Although, for our first shoot, we had margaritas and kitten to relax us, posing and smiling and trying to look sexy was just so awkward.
Now, I suffer from social anxiety, but also, social retardation.
One of the side-effects of this is that I, often times, feel like an asshole by just existing.
Now, try to exist, except, in front of a camera, looking sexy, selling clothes. I barely look in the mirror.
Yet, when we saw the results of the photographs, I have to admit, I was pleased. The truth is, our Etsy is a reflection of ourselves, and if I am awkward in person or in front of a camera, then maybe that's just part of my charm, and I should get that up on Etsy.
So far, in total, we've been pleased with the shop. The biggest trial has been marketing and modeling, but hopefully that sorts itself out. Please keep checking the blog for updates. Oh yea, and you can like our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shopglovebox/175492345848657 If you do, we will keep you posted with new Etsy listings but also, new blog posts.
I love you all and can't wait to keep sharing our experiences in life and business with you.
