Iowa Flood Relief Auction

I don't even know where to begin. Everytime I try to write, I start crying. I can't stop looking at the photos. I don't know what to say except please help. Please help these poor animals who cannot comprehend what is happening to them. Who rely solely on the kindness of people to give them love, food and shelter.

So when Brooke contacted me about participating in the auction, I didn't think twice about it. I am so darn proud to be part of this all-heart initiative. So please. Please donate, bid or shop to support this wonderful effort. At the time of this entry, I still do not have a link to the actual auction. However, if you click here, a link to the auction will be posted at the top of the page.

There are so many wonderful companies who are participating in this auction. Please don't forget to check them out and bid, bid, bid on their amazing products and services. Also, 50% of Crater Lake Company's profits from sales made between June 25th and July 2nd will be donated to the Iowa Relief Fund/Cedar Rapids Animal Shelter.

This is our rescue dog Sally. She was adopted from a wonderful animal shelter in NYC - Animal Haven Shelter. She is a purebred mutt, although we have strong suspicions that she is the product of an ottoman and a coffee table mating. This particular picture was featured in the NY Rangers' Fan-atic DVD. Sally was what some would call a "difficult" or "hard to adopt" case. We had originally intended to adopt 2 Beagle/Basset Hound mix dogs, but when we laid eyes on her, we knew she was meant to be ours. There she was, in a corner, depressed and disinterested. She had been passed around from one person to another, eventually finding her way to Central Park and living with a homeless person. We knew that the 2 Beagle mixes would eventually find a home. They were young and cute, full of spunky personality. Sally on the other hand was old(er), not very cute, and definitely not gregarious. Now looking at the picture above, it's hard to believe that this is the same dog we adopted from the shelter that day. It's because of organizations like the Cedar Rapids Animal Shelter that makes it possible for people like me to find love and companionship in pets like Sally.

Please bid, shop or donate. Every penny helps :)

Thank you for reading.

Getting ready to re-open

Okay, back from holiday and chewin' at the bit raring to re-open. I'm looking to re-open on Saturday, June 14th. And yes, of course with a sale :) I have a few more scents to introduce for the summer and the collection should be available when we re-open. For those waiting for the Lvsh dupes, yes, they'll be in this release. Sorry it took me a while to introduce them, but I wanted to test them out in all the products we had.

Before I get back into the full swing of things at CLC, I wanted to write a bit about my wonderful, fabulous vacation to Peru. If you've thought about visiting this country - GO! If you ever get the chance to go, by all means do! It's a beautiful country blessed with the warmest and kindest people. The only funny quirk I found was that for some odd reason, no one addressed me in English. They insisted on speaking to me in Spanish, yet they would address my SO (Chris) in English. Granted he's uh - white and I'm Filipino, but I don't understand how they made the determination to address me in Spanish. The moment I touched down on Peruvian soil, it was sink or swim for me language-wise. Funny example - the doorman at our hotel would greet us like so - to Chris... "Good evening, sir!" and then to me right behind Chris... "Buenas noches senora!" I'd like to thank the following people who taught me the Spanish that I know today: Julie for the 15 years of friendship and impromptu Spanish lessons, the music of Marc Anthony and Shakira because now I can tell someone in flawless Spanish how oh they've broken my heart with their lies and deception, but I'm gonna be okay because I'm gonna to salsa the night away.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my trip. On Machu Pichu...no amount of research, guide books, looking at photos and talking to others who have visited before me prepared me for the soul-stirring beauty of this place. It brought me to tears the moment I laid eyes on this place. It is a humbling experience to be in the presence of such majestic beauty.

The classic Machu Pichu picture taken from the caretaker's hut. Chris climbed the mountain (Wayna Pichu) behind me.

Chris thinking he can move mountains.

Lake Titicaca (tee, hee) and the floating islands. We were blessed with beautiful weather the whole time we were in Peru. Crystal clear blue skies, the sun shining, a cool breeze - it couldn't have been more perfect.

We took over 1,000 pictures and 6 hours of video during our trip and I still feel like it wasn't enough to capture all the beauty we saw.

Some say that visiting Peru is a once in a lifetime type of experience. Hopefully and God willing, I have some ways to go because I intend to keep going back.

Thanks for indulging me and letting me share my wonderful experience.

Greetings from Peru!!!!

Hi! Internet access is quite sporadic here in Peru so sorry for not getting back to your emails quickly. (Even the keyboard is different here so sorry for the typos). Will try to post more a little later. Having the most amazing time of my life! I´ll be back stateside on Monday.

Accidentally deleting entire inbox and other shenanigans at CLC

Tim (my web designer) - if you're reading this...I DID IT AGAIN. I deleted my entire inbox again. This is probably the 3rd time I've done it folks. It happens early in the morning, usually before I've had my morning coffee - alright, fine - morning coffees. This time however, since I've been so jacked up on meds and my head has been foggy to begin with, I deleted my inbox in the middle of the day. Folks, do not get into the habit of hitting Shift + Del when in Outlook. Once you get used to this, you then get yourself accustomed to just clicking on the yes button when the computer confirms...Now do you really want to permanently delete this e-mail because if you hit yes, I am wiping it out of my system and no amount of begging will get this e-mail back. Since my fingers tend to fly faster than I can think and this process has become rote to me, I just hit yes, thereby effectively deleting the entire contents of the sharonn@ inbox. So if you e-mailed me sometime this past week and you never got a response, it's probably because you're e-mail was part of the Flying Fingers of Fury casualty.

This whole week, I have been busy writing people back asking them to please kindly and without judgment, resend their e-mail. This is a blanket appeal to all those who sent me an e-mail and never received a response, Will you please resend your e-mail?

In other news, I went through a battery of blood tests this week trying to figure out what exactly ails me. See, this Super Bug has been with me for 2 weeks plus now and it's over-extended its welcome. My blood test results finally came back and folks...I tested positive for two major conditions. Enlarged Butticles and Enlarged Gutticles. For all you skinny beeyatches out there, I'm talking about having a big butt and gut! In all seriousness, my blood tests came back fine and all my organs are functioning (save for my demented brain which is beyond help at this point). Doc said this may really just be a very bad upper respiratory bug. But back to my butticles and gutticles. This bug has literally wiped out every ounce of energy in my body. At its worst, I could only stand to be up and about for half an hour, after which I would collapse on the couch for 3 hours to rest. Do this for 4 straight days and you'll find that there's more carbs in the Couch Potato Regimen (CPR) than an entire loaf of processed white bread. Symptoms of CPR include an expanding butt and stomach, whiny voice, sickly palor (in my case I have turned a nice shade of pastel yellow) and a sudden affinity to daytime talkshows.

As of today, I am at about 70% of my normal health and given where I was just a week ago, I consider this a remarkable improvement. I suffered a relapse this past Saturday, but I am now on my 2nd round of antibiotics and it seems to be working (fingers crossed). Thank you for your patience as I slowly get back up to speed. A number of orders did go out this week and it looks like with this weekend's shipment, I'll be pretty much caught up. Thanks again for your patience and well wishes.

Last shenanigan to report is that I I've finalized my hair detangler/body mist. It's been in testing with friends and local customers for the last week and feedback is AMAZING. This is the third modification of the formula and I think I've got it to the point where I'd like to send it out to a few Smarties to test. I have 3 Smarties already signed up (from a while back) to test this formula. I'll send out an e-mail to the rest of the names in the database sometime this weekend. While we're closed, I'd like to gather feedback for this formula and if all goes well, I'm hoping I can offer it when we reopen in June.

I think I've reported all the shenanigans that have happened this past week. Don't forget...last day to place orders is Monday, April 28th. I'm quite looking forward to this break because frankly, I'm exhausted ladies! I'm still essentially a one-woman show and I think it's time for a little break. I need the time to finish up some projects, hook up and play around with my new kick-a$$ laptop, test out some ideas that have been rattling around in my head and most importantly, take a little break for myself. Thanks for rocking the last 3 months of my life! This has been so much fun hasn't it?! I really hate to tear myself away from CLC productions and I miss you all already, but the more logical, less crazy side of me is telling me that it's good to take a break every now and then.

Till the next shenanigan(s)...

Oh...I think I'll start signing off with a list of what products I used for the day so here goes...in case anyone's interested:

- Suave Clarifying Shampoo & Conditioner: I swear by this stuff. I've been using it for as long as I can remember and it's one of my HGs.

- Luscious Lather in Lemon Blueberry Frosting: Just trying to get through the bottle now since I've overdosed on this scent.

- Throughout the day: Comforting Creme for my hands scented in Sweet Cream and Lavender - gals, this scent has a very strong following and I couldn't be prouder. I'm not a fan of lavender, but I was determined to come up with a very approachable lavender. This is it. Soft, smooth and not snooty at all.

- The hair/body mist formula I'm testing scented in Shimmering Pink Sand. I think I overdid it because I'm getting a sore throat from stinking way too much! As a body spray it has great lasting power. Can't test for the scent longevity as a hair mist since I have chin-length hair and no amount of hair swinging will enable me to sniff my locks. If I shake my head furiously like Irene Cara in that "What a feeling" movie, I can get a whiff.

- Unscented Aloe Smoothie lotion.

- Obagi Vitamin C Serum.

- Oil of Olay Complete Defense SPF 30 moisturizer - the best facial moisturizer out there period. In my experience, it beats even high-end moisturizers that cost multiples of the price for this product.

- Later tonight: Flutter Butter in Sweet Cream and Lavender for my hands and feet before bed time.

Madras and Cream & Sugar Scrub

Okay, two developments regarding the scent - Madras, and the product - Cream & Sugar Scrub.

Madras
It turns out that my supplier has discontinued one of the main fragrances for this blend. I didn't know about it until I had to re-order. Imagine my dismay when I only had about 2 inches left of the FO and then no more! I begged and pleaded and promised my first-born son, but he would not budge - the heartless, capitalist robot that he is. I keeed people! He's actually a stand-up person who runs a small reputable fragrance and flavour business about an hour away from me in NJ. The reason he said, was that the oil wasn't selling well. In fact, it really wasn't selling at all!!! And you now what? I can understand why. Alone, the FO - which was the cranberry component of the blend - smells like the product of a flatulent donkey. Really, folks it was that bad. But as is my practice with all my first sniff disasters, I let it sit in an open amber bottle for a bit to see if the fragrance would morph to something better.

Sure enough it did and although I still wouldn't use it alone, the fragrance took on a mellow-sweet character, quite unlike a tart cranberry actually. Which is really what inspired me to create the sniff of the famous cocktail Madras. Using straight-up cranberry and orange juice in a fragrance blend would have created way too many sharp edges for anyone's liking. But this particular cranberry was smooth and sweet enough to make the citrus notes less sharp and biting.

Anyway, so until I can either find another supplier with this particular FO, I've resorted trying to make an accord to dupe the cranberry component. I'm not having much luck folks and it's been day 5 of my quest. Yesterday, I came up with an accord that I found came pretty close so this is what I'm using for now. Thankfully, the orders for Madras-scented goodies have dwindled, which will give me time to test out this blend and make a final determination as to whether to keep or toss the reformulated version of Madras. For now, orders from 1714 onwards will receive the reformulated Madras scent. I am sending this out to a few customers to test, but one in particular (KATHY!!!) who is THE Madras Queen! Like in gladiator days, we'll wait with baited breath as Kathy sniffs the reformulated version and then sticks her thumb either up or down. The reformulated version is not an exact dupe of the original blend. The cranberry note is a little sharper, and the blend is a little sweeter, but for those who know what the cocktail smells like, this may actually hearken closer to the real deal.

I'll let you know what Kathy says as soon as I hear from her. Till then, I'm keeping this reformulated version and again, keep in mind that if your order number is 1714 or higher, you will receive the new version of this blend.

Cream & Sugar Scrub
With the warmer weather fast approaching, I challenge tested this scrub to see how it would react to sitting in the hot sun for a few hours. Just as I had suspected, the cream base of the scrub gets soft and melty. Sometimes, it's even past the soft point and gets downright oily. Should this happen, simply pop the scrub int he refrigerator and allow it to cool and harden for about 15 minutes. Stir it once before you put it in the fridge, then one more time after you take it out and it should be fine.

As long as this scrub is kept in a cool and dry place, you shouldn't have to keep doing this prior to each use. Just please be careful opening the jars when you receive your package, especially if it's been sitting out in the sun for quite some time.

For those who live in warmer climes, please drop me a line and tell me how this scrub held up in transit if you've ordered it recently.

That's about it in terms of an update. I'm back to filling orders and working as fast as I can to catch up. I'm sad that I am not able to offer the Summer Box Sampler I had originally planned to sell around this time. Between the number of orders we have yet to fill and the setback in TAT as a result of my illness, it just wouldn't be in either one of our best interests to encourage another huge uptick in sale orders.

More to come in the next entry, but I think I've kept you out of trouble long enough with this post. Now go and wreak some fragrant havoc!

Update on orders from 1714 onwards...

Hi ladies! Just wanted to give a quick update on the status of orders starting from 1714.

I was moving at a decent clip filling and shipping orders within the lower range of the stated turnaround time (12 days) and then BOOM...I got sick. It started Sunday and got progressively worse. I have that illness that I liken to an urban legend. You start off by telling someone your symptoms "Sore throat, congestion, hair loss, crossed eyes, etc." and they get this sage-like look in their eyes. "Aye," they say, "My neighbour's friend's cousin's husband had something exactly like yours. He was home sick for 2 weeks! Darn near almost killed him." Everyone knows someone who knows someone else who's been hit with this bug that's been going around. Of course it's been going around people! How else would I have caught it!!! On any given day, I can be found in line at the post office, at the local Starbucks, the bank, browsing in Barnes & Noble and food shopping at the local supermarket. Funny really. I just got done telling my neighbour about my illness and it turns out his wife has the same thing. Now I think I'm being accused of coveting my neighbour's wife because how else could I have gotten this illness?!

Anyway, I'm confident that I'm on the road to feeling normal again. I've stayed away from making any orders, but I have been taking care of other adminsitrative tasks such as sending out completed notifications, printing out labels and getting packages ready for shipment. The good news is that it looks like I'm still within turning orders around at the stated TAT of 12 to 14 business days. The bad news is that it doesn't look like I'll be able to continue sticking to the lower end of the TAT range. Right now, it looks like I can get orders out within 14 business days. I'm sorry for the delay, but this bug has really kicked my beee-hind. Two days ago, someone would have had to surgically remove the couch from my butt in order to get me going. That's how bad it was. And the thing is, I'm one of those people who always says, "If you're well enough to go to the doctor, you're well enough to show up to work!" Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Before I sign off, I want to thank everyone for making our Spring Sale such a huge success. Soooo....y'all really took the tag line seriously huh? Stock Up and Save...and yes you sure did! Most of the orders we received were quite large. I'm seriously afraid that I won't hear from you for the next 2 years because you sure ordered enough to last you that long!

Alright, back to work for me. Just wanted to let you know how things were going here at CLC. It looks like we have a few more things brewing, but I'll save that for the newsletter. Speaking of newsletter, please make sure you sign-up to receive it! We're going to pick one lucky subscriber at the end of the month to win 200 points!

Sale Extended (for all ye procrastinators)!

Okay, so I thought I was actually running late for taking the sale down, but lo and behold!, a couple of hours after I did, I received a bunch of e-mails asking me if the sale was indeed over! One of the e-mails, from Lisa H. of Canada (hi Lis!) mentioned that she thought the sale was till the 16th. I had to go back and read my newsletter to double check when I said the sale was going to end, and sure enough, I wasn't drunk e-mailing (a blanket apology goes out to all my ex-boyfriends for being on the receiving end of my newfound literary prowess and expanded vocabulary of expletives whilst under the influence).

So anyway, we all have Lisa to thank for extending the sale till the 16th!

Happy shopping gals and remember, friends don't let friends text, dial or e-mail drunk ;) Oh, and the sale ends on Wednesday, April 16th at 12 p.m. EST.