products to ponder

tuesday night saw me driving out to arcadia for a junior league general membership meeting. i was digging the shortened drive - it was about halfway between home and our headquarters in pasadena. too bad it's not always here, heh.

i'd looked at a map of the hospital campus online, but still managed to get utterly confused once i got parked and followed the signs towards the main entrance. luckily, they had an information desk right inside the door, where i was handed a map and given directions to the meeting location.

as i strolled down the cavernous hallways, really hoping i was headed in the right direction, i slowed down to glance at the mini-museum of nursing that adorned the walls. there were old uniforms, vintage photos of nursing classes from way-back-when, and other interesting paraphernalia.

and then i saw this, which was a relief. looks like i was headed in the right direction after all.

of course, it's me. i still managed to make a wrong turn and sashayed down another mazelike corridor before realizing it was deserted and obviously not right. i made a quick u-turn, walked a little bit further, out the door, and finally found myself in the right place.

after signing in and plastering my name tag on my jacket, i went inside to check out the jewelry trunk sale. i'd read that there was going to be a fundraiser that night, with profits from pieces from the stella & dot line being donated to the league. i was a little apprehensive, since i'm low on funds (it's right before payday, what can i say?), but always manage to find myself suckered into something.

i think i've mentioned it before, but i'll say it again: i really suck at accessorizing. i'm lucky to get out the door with an outfit that doesn't clash horribly, let alone adding some pizazz to my look. i typically have on the same old pair of silver hoops or diamond studs, a silver necklace with some sort of heart charm on it, and my rings. ho-hum. but that by no means indicates a lack of interest. oh, no. it just means i'm, well, lazy.

i was drawn to a lot of the pieces on display, and was surprised at how affordable most of them were. of course, i had to exercise some major restraint, and for the most part, i think i was pretty successful.

but i'm so predictable. i took one look at the redlined prices on this sample sale tray and snatched up the first necklace on the left. i liked the simplicity of it, and think it'll go well with a good handful of items in my wardrobe.

and then i let myself get suckered into this big ass ring. it's totally not me, but it'll be fun to wear now and then. i'm also thinking the teen will like it, and since i'm constantly raiding her closet it'll be nice to have something in mine that she'll want to borrow for once.

i took a "look book" that had photos of everything currently available in the stella & dot line along with pricing, and perused it as i munched on a light dinner.

the room was all set up for league business, with the projector all hooked up and an array of pamphlets and informational sheets placed on each chair.

our agenda looked pretty jam-packed, and it was. since we hadn't had a GMM since october, there was a lot to go over and plenty of dates to mark on the calendar for upcoming events.

the speaker for the evening was really great - she's heavily involved with support groups for those who are suffering from postpartum depression. she shared her own personal story, which included a teenage pregnancy that resulted in giving up the baby for adoption and her own slow recovery. it was really eye-opening and left me with all sorts of thoughts running through my head that i'll be sharing in an upcoming post.

and something else i took from that meeting was an interest in possibly joining the stella & dot's roster of "stylists." i've done stuff like that in the past though, like avon and arbonne and amway, and you can see how successful i've been with those. psh. maybe it was because they all started with "a." ha!

i'm also not in love with the idea of subjecting my friends and family to those "trunk shows," because i'm not all about shoving shit down their throats and making them feel obligated to buy shit. that's likely why i've never really made anything of myself with anything MLM-based. but i've traded e-mails and tweets with other current s&d stylists and they've all assured me that success doesn't depend on people i already know.

hmmmm. it does have a low start-up cost, marketing materials are free, and i do already dig the merchandise. as a stylist, i'd get a pretty sweet discount on my purchases, whether they're for myself, to give as gifts, or to use as display items. there's no quotas to meet, and what if i end up really loving it?

what do you think? go for it, or pass?