my blog

I started my new role at work a few months ago, and now that I'm all trained I'm starting to get into the good stuff. Would you believe that I spend my days creating newsletters regarding such topics as urine collection, and actually type in detail about "shy bladder?" Yes, ladies and gents, this is indeed the same girl who still hides toilet paper under the big cereal boxes in the grocery cart, and is the same woman who has internal conversations about quantities of TP purchased, such as, "Okay- so if I buy the 12-pack, it will look like I really need to use a lot of toilet paper, and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that stigma. Plus the jumbo triple-ply quilted Charmin doesn't hide as well under the Lucky Charms. But on the other hand, if I buy the 4 pack I face the reality that it will not last as long, and I'll have to go through the whole process of buying toilet paper much, much sooner." It could be worse- at least I'm not giving speeches at work about urine and bladders, right?

With that out of the way-- I will say that I've never really loved my biz name. "Moonwater Designs" frankly does not make my heart sing, and if I were to ever be known world-wide I think Moonwater would eventually make me cringe.
(okay- I'll take state-wide, city-wide, company-wide, and would even be thrilled with "6-block radius-wide" ... just between you and me)

Anyway, I've tried on a number of other names, wrote down all my favorite words, had lengthy discussions with friends and family members, and have tried finding something else- something that makes my heart sing- for quite a while now. While shopping for my mom's birthday the other day, I came across the cutest tiny 1" round pins that all included a word + image. I got one for my mom that said "Mother" on the top, and had a picture of a hen. The one I found that I loved included the word "Night" on the top, and had a picture of the cutest owl on the bottom. I bought the pin, I tried to pin it on my red pleather purse and after discovering that the purse and pin were not going to work out, I proudly hung it up on my cubicle wall at work. I felt like, "Night owl! Yes. Mmm-hmm. That's me."

When I was in kindergarten, I used to sneak out of my bedroom after my parents put me to bed. I'd crawl on all fours, as quiet as could be, and would make my way through the hallway, where I'd hide behind the brown pleather La-Z-Boy recliner and peek around the corner watching the Johnny Carson show. I was wide awake! I don't remember how long would pass before my dad would catch me, but I'm pretty sure there were many nights where he (a night owl, too), would say, "Shhhh...." and let me stay up a bit later than my mom would probably like.

When I was in college, I took a bunch of art classes, but never found a medium that really engaged me. When I discovered stained glass and started making jewelry, I was in love! I was working 2 jobs at the time, and would often get home after my evening job and create until midnight and 1 a.m. I will never forget being so fascinated with glass that things like sleep and food just didn't matter.

Anyway-- Night Owl just seems to fit. But it seems that there are a number of businesses in Colorado alone with the "Night Owl Designs"... or some very simlar version registered trade name. That was ideally my first choice. I'm not so hot on spelling the word night "nite," and not so crazy about Night Owl Studios/Creations/Inc, because I realize that when you search for any of those phrases online, you receive hundreds of pages! So... after 4 days of mulling this over, I was talking with Brandon, who always has such great ideas. We threw a few different versions of the sort of name I like, and here is what he came up with. And I think I kind of like it. Let me know what you think-- feedback is much appreciated, actually. My URL is expiring in the beginning of July, so if I'm going to make an official change I think this summer would be a better time than any.

So it's not my original idea,but has a similar sound to it. And is original in the state of Colorado. And nobody has the URL just yet. When you search for it in google, nothing similar comes up. And the owls eyes and wings and legs are created using the number 9. I'm definitely just experimenting right now, so fonts and owls are not set in stone, but thought I'd put it out there and see if releasing it into the universe (or to the 3 people who read my blog) will feel good or indifferent.