Livin’ The Dream in Lunenburg

 I live in a beautiful town with a beautiful family and I make hats all day in a life size doll house. Once again, I need to drone on about how lucky I am.

This past week I felt ridiculously lucky.  With the help of my new brochure people are finally finding me. I had two women from Toronto pick up my brochure in Peggy’s Cove and made a detour to Lunenburg to see me.  I had a travel writer pick up my brochure in Amherst and decide to head over my way.

These two gorgeous sisters found me via the Lunenburg Art Map and the next day while visiting Peggy’s Cove they were stopped by a woman from Ontario who inquired where they got their hats.  That woman then high tailed it to Lunenburg and showed up my door.

I’m pretty sure that I am sending these ladies home with unique memories.  When people are touristing, life is filled with restaurants, fun shops, museums, beaches and trails.  But my home-based shop offers something a bit different. A peek inside a home.

The first being to meet customers at the door is Lego.  Usually he brings his pillow.  Not so much to give, as to show.  Do you like my pillow?  Look, I have a pillow.
A quick glance around my studio makes it very clear that this is where the hats are made and a quick glance through the open door into my messy dining room makes it clear that this is also my house.

I try to always be generous with my time and travel advice, but the generosity goes both ways.  Every time a customer leaves my shop I find they have also shared a bit of their lives with me.

 

This coming week will be our ninth anniversary in Lunenburg.  I can so remember the insanity of that first year.  I was trying to be a mom to a four year old while simultaneously trying to keep 30 stores stocked with my hats.  I was a nervous wreck.

I moved to Lunenburg thinking that my business could thrive despite being in Nova Scotia, but it didn’t take me long to discover that my business was thriving because I live in Nova Scotia.  It’s just so fun for people to wander the streets of a historic town and then discover an artisan working from home with an open door.

These days my life is so much calmer.  Aside from that four year old now being a thirteen year old,  being able to welcome people into my shop has allowed me to give up a lot of the wholesale part of my business.
Between my little shop, the farmers market, online sales and a few great wholesale accounts, I get to live the dream and there is time in the day left over for swimming, walking, biking, and gardening.

 What a life!  I highly recommend it.