Riverfest is here!

It’s overwhelming to own a vacation home, and the past 3 weeks I’ve been more in Eastern Washington than on the West Side! My family (and my daughters friends) have been looking forward to the Riverfest celebration for months. Boating exhibitions, water skiing/wakeboarding competitions, vendors and lots of people celebrating the start of summer. My daughter has 5 friends joining her, my brother and sister-in-law are swinging by this afternoon on their way home from Idaho and more friends joining us on Saturday afternoon. So much fun and right in our element! We love lots of people around (glad we bought the extra beer!)

I reached Senior Fellow in my Sseko business last month and I’m happy to be a vendor on Saturday at the Riverfest event. What better way to introduce these beautiful sandals to people hanging out in the sunshine! I’ve spent the last 2 weeks bringing over my outdoor vendor supplies and I’m setting up tomorrow morning at 8am. Thankfully I have a awning and a small cooler for drinks. 

Now that all my graduations and parties are complete (with the exception of my older daughter’s 21st birthday on Tuesday) I can totally focus on my Sseko Story and start booking trunk shows. Are you ready for your friends to be introduced to these beautiful products? 

I will be gifting a Moon Clutch to anyone who books with me in July ... and for anyone who makes a purchase in July will be entered to win a $50 Sseko gift card! And because we have a little over a week left in June, I’ll raffle off a $25 Sseko gift card to use on whatever is on your wish list when you make a purchase.

I’m going to sign off for now and check back with you guys next week ... enjoying Crescent Bar life with my family and friends!!

Much love,

Gabby

Check bridal party shoes off your list ...

A bridesmaid gift that she doesn't have to "shorten" to wear again.

Photo cr: @cottonwoodstudios

What a new and fun way to match your bridesmaids, and one that they'll appreciate after a long night of dancing and standing around for pictures and ceremony. Ribbon sandals are the latest in wedding attire. Dress them up or down with a variety of available ribbons, or custom design them to match your theme. Short on time? Standard ribbon sandals come in sizes 6-12, child sizes, and even baby sizes and shipped immediately to your door within 3-4 days!

Check out styles and colors in my Boutique and contact me to place a bulk order OR HOST A TRUNK SHOW and receive your wedding shoes (and maybe even a beautiful leather travel bag) for FREE!

If you could choose your color - what would it be?

If you could choose your color, what would it be?

July 31st is the last day to order your sandals ... but could bags be next?

July 31st is the last day to order your Sseko Custom Sandals. With the onslaught of Fall/Winter on August 1st (yes I know, Fall comes early in Seattle, even though we barely made it to 8 weeks of summer) so our sandal production slows down for the year.

However, a new exciting change is on the horizon! Starting with our Fall/Winter 2018 catalog, you can move onto Custom bags! More details to come, but if you could design your perfect bag, what would it look like? What color would it be? What would you use it for? Who would you gift it to?

With the start of my daughter's first year as a Wildcat, I'd have to order up a red/black bag for all my trips to campus! Can't wait to see what's included ... but if you're interested in ordering those green gladiator sandals or purple and gold crossovers, better get on the ball!

Well hello again!

I’m back

And sending you love from my busy life ...

What a crazy few weeks! We've been working diligently on the deck and the back yard for our upcoming summer plans. It's a project been on hold for far too long, but the last few nights have been spent relaxing as a family in our new space which is just what we like to do when the weather is nice.

Dave and I also went to Vegas last week for his Teamster Unity Convention for 5 days right in the middle of our home improvements. He was one of just a couple of members who was invited by James Hoffa Jr. to present accomplishments from the main stage on Tuesday night and my heart burst open with pride.

Our diet saga continues, after a few days of fun eating in Vegas, we're back on and although getting a little bored with our food options, we can see the benefit of losing the weight and both of us are looking forward to a summer without the excess weight to carry around.

My baby is headed off to Senior Prom this weekend and then graduation a week later ... oh my goodness so many good things are happening in our family right now! The best of all is making the final Catholic high school tuition payment last week! (I know I know, we've got college around the corner, but honestly it's cheaper than private school!)

I'll let you in on the party plans, deck, SunDaze and diet in individual blog posts ... but today ... I just wanted to say "hello" and catch you up with my crazy life!

Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

10 WAYS IN 10 DAYS!!

Starting June 11th, style your Sseko in ten different ways! Only have 1 item? Great! This challenge was originally designed solely (pun intended) around our Ribbon Sandals which can be styled endless ways. This year, in addition to our flagship Ribbon Sandals, we’ve expanded the challenge to include everything from our super versatile apparel to our chic jewelry to our delicious leather bags. Have lots of Sseko? This is your chance to show it off!

HOW TO ENGAGE: All you’ve got to do is wear Sseko (whether that is one item or ten!) from June 11th-20 use #10ways10days to show off your versatile Sseko style! We’ll be highlighting our favorite looks on our social media AND selecting three lucky winners to get $200 Sseko gift cards at the end of the challenge.

WHERE TO POST & WHO TO TAG:

Instagram (Tag @ssekodesigns and use #10ways10days)

Facebook (Tag @ssekodesigns and use #10ways10days)

BONUS: If you participate by posting EVERY day during the 10 days, we’ll treat you to an exclusive discount of 15% off your next purchase. To redeem, email info@ssekodesigns.com with a screenshot to show you posted each day.

Hollywood Nights and an end of an era

A new adventure awaits

It's an exciting time for our family. My baby is graduating her Catholic high school in 2 days! She's completed her last final today and now it's just a waiting period until commencement exercises on Friday night.

There have been a lot of endings ... last football and basketball games as a cheerleader, final assembly, senior prom ... but she and I are both ready for our next adventure! University!!

Last weekend was Senior Prom and the theme was Hollywood Nights. She was escorted by a childhood friend and they were accompanied by 5 other couples. It was a perfect night which started out with a pre-gathering at a friend's beautiful home. The parents and young adults all gathered for pictures and appetizers before loading up into a huge party bus. They dined and danced for hours before heading back to the house for swimming, snacks and making lots of memories until 3am. They all spent the night and continued the party into the following day! What a memorable night for them all!

My daughter was absolutely beautiful in her art deco gown and Chloe + Isabel jewels. Throughout the day we received blessings - free boutonniere, a quick nail fix for free and good wishes everywhere we went. 

Now, as we prepare for graduation, it all seems surreal. Family is coming in from out of town and we have 20 people attending the graduation ceremony.

I don't have to tell you how proud I am of both my daughters, but this week all praise goes to my baby who has completed her senior year with grace. She's completed everything she set out to do and will be taking all of these memories with her to her new University in the fall.

Congrats my Diana!

I'm a Sseko Fellow!

I’m officially signed up to be a Sseko Fellow!! 

I am so proud to be a part of this group of women supporting women in need. Sseko Designs is an ethical fashion brand that hires high potential women in Uganda to make sandals to enable them to earn money through dignified employment that will go directly towards their college educations and ensure they will continue pursuing their dreams. To date, we've enabled 87 women to continue on to university. We currently employ 50 women in Uganda from all walks of life. We believe that every woman has a dream. When she is given the opportunity to pursue those dreams, we are collectively walking towards a brighter and more just and beautiful world.

In addition to our work in Uganda, we design and source ethically made products from East Africa. We believe that good business can be an incredibly powerful force for positive social change. Sseko products are all made in Africa and create jobs, empower artisans and help end the cycle of poverty by building healthy communities and economies.

I hosted an online trunk show last Friday upon my return from Vegas to rave reviews! I am looking for a few more orders so you all can receive your orders and see why I'm so excited! I'm joining forces with my two great friends, Katie Johnson and Katie Hathaway, lovingly known as Gabby and The Katie's! LOL This relatively new company, with the headquarters in Portland, Oregon, is one helps our global community. At this stage in my life, I love the idea of helping the planet, being a better person and giving back.

My trunk show ends tonight. If you find something in the catalog you enjoy, please let me know or place your order online.

Did you miss me?

There's a lesson to be learned ...

Do you want insurance?

There’s a reason they ask.

Following a very successful Chloe + Isabel pop up at a ladies night event, I woke up early to start preparing thank you postcards and all of a sudden ... THIS!  So began my saga today on how to fix it.

Back in November, I started having problems with my 1st iPad Pro I’d gotten from T-Mobile. The Apple store replaced it because it was short of my 12-month warranty. The replacement one had only a 90-day warranty (even though it was new), so the screen error is now not covered. These are repairs that are not performed by the Apple store. They could sell me a new one for $379.  They recommended I go to T-Mobile to see if I had insurance or find a repair shop that would repair the screen. I headed to T-Mobile and discovered that I opted OUT of the insurance coverage. They could sell me a new one for $479 if I upgraded one of our phones. I also went to Best Buy to see if they repaired screens, and they could only send the device back to Apple and receive a REFURBISHED one for $450. Batteries + Bulbs will replace the screen for $350. 

Unfortunately, because Apple provides updates for their software, my iPad Pro was running the same as a new one. So it’s not like I’m upgrading to a nicer iPad - only the 9.7 I had is no longer sold in stores - just the Apple store. Oh boy ... 

So here’s my recommendation. Now that I know better, I’m definitely going to get an extended warranty or insurance on the next one. It’s my lifeline - since my laptop went belly up earlier this year, and I carry it with me everyday, plan my day around working anywhere I happen to be, and even purchase purses based on what will fit and hold my iPad safely.

To say today was a bad day is an understatement. 

If you would like to help out - I am raising money to help pay for the new one! I’m holding a massive clean out sale of my sample Chloe + Isabel pieces. I have some great deals up to 90% off on many items. If you would like to be added to my special sale group on Facebook, please let me know. Send me a text or message. 

Usually I can run the world from anywhere ... but this Wonder Woman lost her bracelets!