Who knew how grueling & confusing filing for a business could be. I thought about taking the easy way out and going through an online service to do it all for me (or shall I say include all the necessary documents to fill out & file). Would it be worth almost double the cost? Obviously I didn’t think so, but as the weeks unfold we’ll see how it all pans out.
To save more money, I wasn’t going to pay a $300 fee to reserve a business name. I did a quick search on the Sec of State website and found nothing close to the name I was registering. I felt secure enough that no one would take my name in the next 2 weeks so then I filled out the Illinois LLC-5.5 form…an entire two sheets that also requires a hefty price tag…not a big surprise that the state of Illinois is one of the most expensive states to incorporate in. I decided to save the $100 for the expedited online service and went with mailing it in.It generally take 7-10 business days to hear back.
A few of my favorite quotes that inspire me in life, business & design. Sometimes you just need a little motivation:
Give thanks for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow.
-Fernanda Miramontes-Landeros
An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.
- Colin Powell
Take your pleasures seriously.
-Charles Eames
The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
- Robert Cushing
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
-Henry David Thoreau
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
-Patrick Henry
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
-Frank Loyd Wright
The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed in these two: common-sense and perseverance.
-Owen Feltham
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--which is: Try to please everybody.
-Herbert Bayard Swope
To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
-William Shakespeare
Every artist was first an amateur.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are still masters of our fate.
We are still captains of our souls.
-Winston Churchill
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
-John Quincy Adams
It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.
-Francois De La Rochefoucauld
I was never afraid of failure, for I would sooner fail than not be among the best.
-John Keats
Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
How much pain have cost us the evils that have never happened.
-Thomas Jefferson
Life gives you lots of chances to screw up which means you have just as many chances to get it right.
A question proposed to children besides what’s their favorite color. Adults always seem to find a sense of amusement and just want to be humbled by the question.
Did you ever just know when you were a child, what you were meant to become? Sometimes you just need something to refresh your memory. In my case I was shuffling through 20+ years of photos, letters to Santa, school papers, and drawings (my grandma doesn’t throw a thing away). I came across this little jewel. I was a bit surprised that not only was it a sketch of skirts but it had call-outs and a material swatch.
It jogged a few more memories of the other things I drew sitting at the kitchen table. I was a fashion designer. I had created a name for my line and a logo. Blue Waves Fashion with 3 blue squiggles. It was the 80’s, so the cheesiness seems appropriate.
Now I can’t recall when this drawing (or my fashion line) was done but I would say between ages 7-10.It wouldn’t be til 10 years later, in the first year of college, I’d realize what I wanted to become…a designer (and yet I clearly knew it as a child).
Did you ever just know what you were meant to become?
Generally when you think of pumpkin you think of Fall. However, these scones are way too good to only eat during a certain time of year. Enjoy the recipe!!
Scones Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2-teaspoon salt
1/2-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2-teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4-teaspoon ground cloves
1/4-teaspoon ground ginger
6 Tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 Tablespoons half-and-half (I use french vanilla creamer instead)
1 large egg
Sugar Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons whole milk (or creamer)
Spiced Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons whole milk (or creamer)
1/4-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves
Scones Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl.
4. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg.
6. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball. I usually refrigerate for an hour or overnight to make it easier to roll-out
7. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide).
8. Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice the dough into three equal portions. Cut diagonally to produce 6 triangular slices of dough.
9. Place on prepared baking sheet
10. Bake for 14–16 minutes until scones turn light brown.
11. Place on wire rack to cool.
Sugar Glaze Directions:
1. Mix the powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoon milk together until smooth.
2. Brush glaze over the top of each cooled scone.
Spiced Glaze Directions:
1.As sugar glazefirms, combine the spicedicingingredients.
2. Use whisk to drizzle over each scone and allow to dry before serving.
Makes 6 pumpkin scones. (I can usually get 2 dozen depending on size/thickness)
