Why we love our vegetables

Debra is an avid golfer.  I am an avid vegetable gardener.  So much so that I designed custom-made raised beds.  I love to start from seeds, nurture them and then plant them in the spring.  Then I just watch them grow!   I have a tendency to overplant and as a result my garden becomes a jungle.  To be honest, I have difficulty finding all the vegetables hidden under the tangled growth of leaves and vines.  Last year as I was slashing through the garden with a machete I discovered a massive cucumber.  I mean HUGE.  Guinness Book of Records HUGE.

That weekend I attended a cookout that my friend, MB, was having to celebrate her Mom’s visit from Illinois.  Her Mom’s a wonderful lady, has been married forever, and is a bit naïve.  Well, as the party progressed and the wine flowed, I proceeded to tell my friends about the massive cucumber and without thinking blurted out that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to eat it or date it.  MB’s mom howled with LAFFter.

This year, I again had a marvel of a cucumber, however it was shaped incredibly strange.  Something like a giant dumbbell.   I had to let MB’s mom know about it. Fortunately, the timing was great.  MB had gone back to Illinois for a big family gathering:  aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews, the whole gang.  I picked that cucumber, went straight to Fed Ex, carefully wrapped it, and shipped it overnight from Atlanta to Illinois.  It was a huge hit at the gathering.  And MB’s Mom has the produce boy wondering why every time she passes the cucumbers she starts LAFFing.

LAFF, in spite of everything!
Karen

Our First Business Meeting

Mixing Business and Pleasure while LAFFing

Hi all!  Debra (the formerly silent partner) here.  You may already know this, but I'm an avid golfer.  I LOVE to play golf and I love to play in tournaments.  This week, I got to play in the Georgia State Women's Match Play Championship at Sunset Hills Country Club in Carrollton, Georgia.  This tournament draws some of the best golfers in the state.  We play an 18-hole stroke play qualifying round, then they form the bracket for the match play based on how well you play in the qualifier.  The player with the lowest score in the bracket plays the player with the highest score.  The player with the second lowest score plays the player with the second highest score, etc. etc.  I had the third highest score in the championship bracket.

So!  My first match was against Laura Coble, who had the third lowest score.  For those of you who follow women's amateur golf in Georgia, you'll recognize the name.  Laura has won the state match play championship at least eight times, she has been the Georgia Women's Amateur player of the year about a hundred times, and she has qualified for so many USGA tournaments, I've lost track.  Suffice it to say, she's a really, really, really good golfer!  

Debra and Laura Coble, sporting her Pink LAFF Hat!

What you may not know is that Laura is also the top sales representative for Bottom Line Products (www.bottomlineproducts.com) and her company is providing us with all of our products for www.lifesaflipflop.com!  So, I'm playing golf with the best golfer in the state who also happens to be our business partner!

Okay, let's talk about the real bottom line.  Did I mention Laura is a REALLY good golfer?  She birdied the first hole of our match and never looked back.  I actually played pretty good (if you think 39 on the front is pretty good), but I couldn't match her three birdies, no bogeys, six pars and score of 32 on the front.  I was seven down when we made the turn.

It only took two more holes for the match to end with Laura the overwhelming winner, at 9&7.  It was tough loss for me, but, you know what?  I was LAFFing in spite of losing to Laura.  Laura is a gracious competitor and the integrity she shows on the golf course is exactly the same integrity she shows as a business partner.  We feel so lucky to have Laura Coble and the team at Bottom Line Products as our business partner because we know we are getting quality products that are delivered on time, every time.  And it makes us confident that we can deliver the same high quality products to our customers.  Thanks to them we can bring great products to you!

Update!  Laura won her next three matches and is playing in the Match Play Finals today....good luck, Laura!

If you're looking for me, you'll find me on the practice range, LAFFing in spite of everything!

Debra

Confessions of an Entrepreneur

OMG! It's been 3 whole days since we went live with www.lifesaflipflop.com.

Will you love our products?  

Are we unique?  

Are we priced right?  

Is our only customer going to be my Mother?

Is the message clear? 

Will Ellen Degeneres have us on her show?  

What will I wear?

Do you think our product descriptions are witty? 

Do I have enough Vodka?

LAFFing with the Logic of the DMV

Ok, friends, please help me understand this one.  I had a birthday in April and, in Georgia, there are certain things that you just have to do in your birthday month.  One is take your car for an emissions inspection to make sure your car is not polluting our already overcrowded roads.  It’s the law that your car passes the emissions inspection before you can renew your license tag.  Renewing my tag has become an important lesson to me, given that I have inadvertently received an expired tag ticket in the past that was more expensive than the car.  Okay, the truth is I wasn’t paying attention and I missed the deadline.  So, I’m trying to do better this year.

Anyway, I go to the emissions testing center and my car fails the test.   I take this quite personally in that my car is a very nice car with low mileage and I do my best to keep it well maintained.  The reason they cite for the failure…the computer settings indicate I haven’t driven enough to reset logic.  Huh?  What?  I haven’t driven enough?  Okay, fine.  So, I drive my nice car 502 miles on a business trip.  That should do it!  I bring the car back in and get it retested. IT FAILS AGAIN!!!!

Now what do I do?  The “You Failed Your Test” report indicates that I still haven’t driven enough under the right conditions to reset the computer.  I need to stop, start, go fast, go slow.

 

The bottom line?  I have to drive MORE and emit MORE pollutants in the air and pay for MORE gasoline to pass an emissions test!!! 

 Warning …if you see a crazed women with a LAFF bumper sticker driving fast, slow, stopping, and starting, it is only in an effort to be legal.

LAFF, in spite of everything!

Karen

Our Favorite Work of Art!

We're not sure what this is...

Is it a giant alien fallen from the sky?

Or a giant kia pet gone wrong?

It's colorful...

It looks harmless...

Ha!  It's a a giant monkey made of  flips flops!

 Apparently, it was made by a group of students in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2010 for an art show!

  View some photos of how they made it on Flickr.

The Perfect Gift

I recently had a birthday and Debra was at a loss as to what to get me.  Not that I have high expectations and required anything special, but it was a milestone birthday and I had repeatedly hinted that my gift had better be good!

So poor Debra worried and debated and shopped for the perfect gift.  Granted the worrying and debating only lasted 30 minutes and the shopping was an online search….key words “perfect gift.” The only “perfect gift” that came back were flowers.  She didn’t want to spend eighty bucks to give me flowers that would die within a week.

And then it came to her.  “I’ll make her something”.  An idea was born!

Unbeknownst to me she scoured the county in search of weathered wood.  Actually, she found an old falling down barn just down the street but she would have scoured if need be. 

Then she began designing “The Perfect Gift.”.  Part of the perfect gift required a photo that captured a LAFF moment.    Needless to say, we have plenty of those but the perfect photo for this occasion was one taken from the DOG BITE INCIDENT.  I know you are thinking what is the dog bit incident.  Stay tuned, that is a whole 'nother story and I promise it will be in the next blog. 

So the Big Day came and it was time to present The Gift.  With trembling hands I gingerly opened the package…ok I tore through the bag and then there it was…and it was perfect.  Debra had made a one of a kind totally unique picture frame that had our logo.  And on it was the very special picture of us with our bandaged hands smiling ear to ear.

That gift meant to everything to me.  It showed thoughtfulness, caring, a desire to share something special, and most of all, I was the only one on the entire planet that had one like it.

From this gesture came the idea that we should share this gift.  We wanted to create an opportunity for others to create their own perfect gift.  The idea of custom frames became part of our LAFF gift line.   I hope your friends and family will enjoy the Perfect Gift as much as I do.  

LAFF, in spite of everything!
Karen