Drum Roll Please...

I am so proud to announce that I will be launching my new product line, Domestic Goddess Ltd., in just two weeks! This blog started because I have an intense love of all things related to the domestic life. That includes baking, cooking, organizing, decorating, sending out holiday cards. In my eyes, these are all the things that make for a strong foundation for domesticity.

As a baker, I love the way my house smells when something sweet is in the oven. My son finds his way into the kitchen every time a cookie tray comes out hot, or a chocolate bundt cake is being flipped onto a plate. I make pumpkin bread in season, peanut butter balls (buckeyes) every Easter; cookies and muffins throughout the year. I love baking, but since I don't get to bake every day, my house doesn't always smell fantastic on it's own. Instead, I burn candles that smell like food. I love sweet scents, those that smell like vanilla or chocolate, or warm apple pie, depending on the season.

A domestic goddess loves entertaining, cooking, baking, and doing it all in high heels.

Instead of buying candles, some of which were very overpriced, others that had little odor, or burned dirty, I decided to just make mine. And so, Domestic Goddess candles was born. I began working with a very special perfumer to find fragrances that matched my ideas for scents, and once I did (he created them specifically for me) I began pouring them into the melted wax, and then transferring the wax into the glass candle jars that I'd wicked earlier in the day. It wasn't easy, and I had some help along the way, but in the end, I was making candles. I topped my Sugar Cookie candles with real sugar in the raw. My Caramel Mocchiato has a bottom layer of coffee beans. It's been so much fun.

At night, though, my brain kept racing. I was missing something. The Domestic Goddess brand is about more than just candles and blogging. It's about recipes, for sure, but I'm not in a position to start baking for a living. It's about shoes (high, high heels), but I'm no shoemaker. It's about life experiences, grocery shopping, and getting beautified. And, of course, letter writing.

I've always been a letter writer. I've blogged about it. My friend KT is my partner-in-crime on this one. We are both really into sending mail, and doing our Christmas cards. This year, she even beat me to the punch on holiday stamps. (I love my KT.) Letters are important. Receiving something handwritten, on beautiful paper, or a card with a beautiful image, is priceless. Thank you texts or emails just don't hold a candle to actual mail. Every day I grab my mail and sort through bills, magazines, and junk mail. When I see a letter or a postcard, my heart leaps. I read it, then proudly display it, either on the wall, the mantel, or my refrigerator. Every Christmas card I receive gets put into a book of past year's cards, once the holiday has ended. I even have my grandfather's old stationary desk, refinished by Andrea at Savannah Hope Vintage, filled with letters, cards, note packs, and cool stamps.

Ward Vogt, of Ward Vogt Designs, happens to be the man that I am sharing my life with. If you don't know, one of Ward's specialties is scenic note cards. I thought it would be great if he did a line for me, exclusively for Domestic Goddess by Ward Vogt Designs. He could shoot scenes that I liked if I gave him themes and ideas, and left the creative photography to him. Next, after choosing the photos, I would add "Thank You" and other niceties to the cards, to make them my own.

It's all happening fast, and when I am not working on one of my many projects, or doing things with the kids (which is one of our greatest treasures), I am making candles and working with Ward on our cards.

Come to my big launch! It will be at Girls' Night Out on Main Street in Boonton (but I am sure that men are welcome). It's being held on Friday, November 4th from 4 - 9 p.m. but I will be at Savannah Hope Vintage premiering my candles and cards from 6 - 9 p.m. Need to feed the kids first...

Join me at the launch of my candles at Savannah Hope Vintage for BMS's Girls' Night Out. Click here to see more about the event.

Can't make it? I will be listing shops that will be carrying the candles and cards, but will also have them all for sale online at www.etsy.com/shop/domesticgoddessline. Feel free to visit the website and shop. You won't be able to smell them firsthand, but I am sure that you will love the scents.