A long, long time ago...when I actually had a job...

Cooper back in the day!

I have no job.  Blah blah blah being a mom is my job of course - but let's be honest.  I don't make any actual money doing it and I can watch my favorite shows pretty much whenever I want (for the record, they include Scandal, The Good Wife, The Biggest Loser and Suits to name a few).  I have no domestic help of any kind, so I do occasionally have to clean the house, but come on...I have nothing but time on my hands these days.  My kids (8 and 10) make their own breakfast and even their own lunch sometimes, and my husband does his own ironing, so if I didn't feel totally guilty I could probably send them off to school/work from the comfort of my own bed.  I might have to try that tomorrow.

But a long time ago, in a country far, far away, I really did work.  Really I did!  When I graduated from Wake Forest University, I was in the large group of graduates that had NO idea what they wanted to do with their lives.  So I did the smart thing (AKA the most stupid thing ever) and went to law school.  To say I hated it is a gross understatement.  Slaving away in a library researching the most excruciating details for hours just wasn't working for me - especially considering how the student loans were piling up. 

So I left there and did what another large group of college graduates do - asked Dad if he could get me into his company (he was in HR...lucky me!).  Being that everyone loves my dad (which means they automatically think I'm just like him...then they get to know me) it wasn't difficult.  I worked for a few years at the old school computer company, Unisys, in Marketing, met my husband, then quit when he broke up with me and moved to New York City.  After eight months working as Website Content Manager for NYU Medical Center/School of Medicine, the stars aligned (he came to his senses), we got back together and I came back to Pennsylvania to work in Operations for a Sprint PCS affiliate. 

This is going somewhere, I promise.

Once I had Sophia I quit my job (there is a much longer story to why but that needs to be told over a few glasses of wine).   When I was pregnant, I received two embellished burp cloths from my college roommate, Serena (who owns www.serenaandlily.com - she's some sort of mogul now).  They were adorable, but I remember thinking "I could do this, and maybe even better."  So my friend Dora gave me her sewing machine, I hit the local JoAnn Fabrics and just like that, Baby Sophia Gifts was born.

Business quickly grew, but not until Jennifer Garner entered this story did I become super busy.  See, a friend from college, Katie, is Jennifer's best friend.  I've met her several times over the years and she's just lovely.  So one day I get a call from Katie and she asks if I could fedex a couple of bib/burp cloth sets to Jennifer's baby shower (this was for Violet).  I almost told her I didn't have time - and if you believe that you are even more gullible than I am.  HELL YEAH KATIE!  I obsessed for hours over what to send but got them off in time.

Well wouldn't you know, when I started Baby Sophia Gifts, my friend Whitney started her business, a blog called Mommies With Style (this was early in the blog days!).  Long story short, she posted about the gift, someone else saw it, posted it on their blog and later that day I get a phone call.  From E! Television studios.  I will never forget.   I'm standing in my kitchen in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with a baby Cooper on my hip heating up his formula.   They asked me if my offices were in NYC or LA (uhhhh the answer would be "my basement").  I said Philadelphia.  Not a total lie, I was in a suburb!  They wanted me to get to the NYC studio for an on-air interview in two hours.  Another long story short, I couldn't go so I sent pictures and they got some quotes and my business was front and center on E! News Live that night.  That led to segments on two of their "Baby Boom" specials and a blurb in People Magazine.  Needless to say, business picked up.  I will always be forever grateful to Katie and Jennifer for changing my business for the better!

So when I moved to Singapore, I wasn't sure what to do.  I could have sold the business, but instead gave it to the best sewer I know - my mom!  She is going to retire in the next year, and was delighted to have a retirement income possibility!  It's been a seamless transition (pun intended) and she's probably better at it than I was.  I still help with the website work, but everything else is done by her.  When I get back, I have no idea if I'll work with her at all, or start a new business (or just binge watch TV shows).  Time will tell I guess.

So I just wanted to give my friends a little insight into "before Singapore Jennifer".  And maybe even "before kids Jennifer" - because that seems so long ago sometimes I forget who that person was. 

If you need a baby gift, please order from our business!  I guarantee you will love it! 

www.babysophiagifts.com