My First Jewelry Party

It's funny--I was feeling a little bit depressed about sales lately and going to write about that today. That and the fact that I keep accidentally drinking sour milk--there was a bad shipment in my neighborhood recently that still lingers on in many area delis. I am so sick of drinking spoiled milk!!!

But anyway! Something exciting happened last night--I was invited to a customer's staff dinner to give my jewelry out as gifts (that he paid for, of course!) to his many female employees.

It was pretty last minute, which means I spent all day yesterday frantically making a nice selection of earrings to take with me to the restaurant. There were about 20 staff members, but I wanted to have enough variety that each person could pick from an assortment of styles and choose a pair that they really loved. So I made 35 pairs just to be safe. Which is a TON of earrings to try to make in one day! Well, I made a solid 30...a few were taken directly off my displays at the store. I worked right up until 8 o'clock too, at which point I got in a cab and headed to the dinner. I was a little bit worried about going--I was feeling anxious for all sorts of irrational reasons. I was worried that people wouldn't like the jewelry, that the selection wouldn't be good enough, that it would be awkward, etc., etc., blah blah blah.

In the end, of course, everything went really well, as I secretly suspected it would. All of the ladies seemed genuinely happy with their jewelry, which is what I wanted most of all. It was a nice evening, and I'm so glad that my customer and his wife invited me to be part of their celebration. It was a great initiation into the world of jewelry events...maybe I will feel less afraid to host a jewelry party sometime in the future. It's something I've been wanting to do for awhile, but the inherent awkwardness of a "buying" party makes me hesitant. I have always hated anything that feels like the equivalent of a Tupperware party--when you feel not only the pressure to attend, but the pressure to open your wallet. Awkward. But maybe I'll do it--a few friends keep offering to help me host a party, so maybe I should take them up on it. For now, I'll just stick to my store (and online)! What do you think of a jewelry party--yea or nay??