FINALLY!!! We've FINALLY dropped off all our fabric to the pattern maker. We spent Sunday cutting, gathering, and organizing everything we need for each piece of our collection and prepping it for our Monday drop off. Fabrics, fusibles, buttons, elastics, snaps, twills, EVERYTHING is finally off our hands!
Saturday morning, Mila woke up with Conjunctivitis, better known as pink eye, so I was super worried we wouldn't be able to get the fabric delivered on Monday. Her eye started looking a lot better on Sunday so I thought I would be able to safely make the "quick" drop off on Monday afternoon in San Francisco. You would think by now, I should know that nothing ever goes as planned, especially with a little one. The weather was terrible! Rain, wind, more rain, and even more wind! If you've ever driven in the city, you know it's NEVER a good time. Luckily, I had somewhat planned for fussiness and packed Mila's tablet to watch her besties, Daniel, Barney, Elmo, and now Frozen.
We got there a little early so I thought we could roam the mall. I parked in my usual parking garage, with the wind and rain hitting my face, I safely got everything I needed out of the car (which, every mom knows is about 30 pounds of gear), bundled Mila up and covered her up in the stroller. We walked over to Boudin, got a sandwich to share, and headed to the mall! We stopped inside Nordstrom because, well, they have the BEST mother's lounge out there. I used to always nurse in there, and now it's my go-to for diaper changes. Anyway, it was time for Mila's eye drops, which of course, was SO not easy! Doing it alone, in a public place, with people staring as she screamed was not the funnest part of my day. We did a little shoe shopping (Mila's favorite!) then headed back to the car.
Driving a mile in the city is basically like driving 10 miles on a regular road. So, naturally, it took me about 20 minutes to drive a little under 2 miles over to the pattern maker. Once I arrived, there was no street parking, which I expected. I parked in a little parking lot that was $25 for 24 hours, which is a great deal, but I was there for maybe 20 minutes. That's right, TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS for a short 20 minutes. But it was close and since it was raining, it felt like the right thing to do, haha! I really just wanted to get this fabric handed off. So I lugged out my baby equipment, got Mila back in the stroller and walked over.
She did SO great at the studio. Lucky for me, they have huge windows and Mila loves to people watch, so that kept her busy while we discussed business. It felt so good to hand off all the fabric. Each fabric and notion was hand picked, hand cut, and organized all by us. It was a lot of hard work that we passed over. Now we wait. I cannot wait for the phone call that says our first samples are ready to look at and be tested on Mila (of course, she's our fit model).
The drive home was really the icing on the cake. It completed my incredibly difficult and long day. It turned my "short and quick" trip into the longest day of my life. It usually takes me about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to get to and from SF but yesterday, no, it took me 3 1/2 hours to get home. The trip felt wayyyyyyyy longer. I was exhausted and felt sick all day and Mila, well, let's just say a 20 month old going from car seat to stroller to car seat to stroller and back to car seat again for the longest car ride ever wasn't a fun experience. I have to say, she was an amazing little girl all day yesterday. Fussiness was to be expected since she wasn't feeling well and didn't get much play time but she was such a little trooper. She's definitely the best little business partner a momma could ask for.