Well, it was good while it lasted. You know what they always say: “All good things must come to an end.” I want to smack the person that coined that phrase.

I just returned back from an awesome trip to Chicago this past Sunday night, but felt a little weary when I woke up Monday morning. I’m not sure if it was jet lag or what, but I felt dizzy and nauseated. Ugh.

So I sent my boss an e-mail that I would be in a little late - I needed just another hour of sleep. Imagine my surprise to read his response that they had to lay people off last week - there’s no money in the till. Now I knew we lost our biggest account 3 weeks ago (sign of the crappy times), but I didn’t think it would amount to this. Not the news I’d hoped for when returning from vacation.

I’m back to pounding the pavement to find a temporary job (my boss tells me I should be able to come back in about 2 months as there will be projects lined up then), and it’s been super tough. I’ve never seen an economy such as the current one and it’s honestly, quite scary.

On the flipside, I’ll be able to get some things done around the house I’ve been putting off for 4 months now. I also started a personal blog the other day, My Daily Five, as it’s something I’ve been putting off as well. I love to write and love to stay on top of the news, so I think it will be therapeutic for me right now.

I have been tossing around the idea of closing up shop with Lil’ Diva for a few months now, and I think it has finally become time to start winding it down (as painful as that is for me). Business has gone way done as women would rather spend their hard-earned dollars on food for their families and gas for their cars instead of funky handbags. Go figure!

One of the first things that will go is the toll-free number. Honestly, e-mail has always been the best way to get in contact with me. Plus, since I’ve had the number for almost 5 years, I just get inundated with sales calls (and not the ones I want).

The next on my “hit list” will be to only offer PayPal as a payment method as it’s costing me quite a bit to keep the credit card merchant account going on a monthly basis.

For all of my loyal customers out there, I sincerely apologize that I’m delivering this sad news. This company has been a labor of love for me the last 5 years, but sometimes, you just have to let go of the things you love most to discover your new loves.

You were all collectively the reason that has kept me going forward all of these years and for that, I will always be thankful.

And who knows, when the economy bounces back, you may see Lil’ Diva come back as well. Stranger things than that have happened…

Are any of you business owners going through the same thing? I would love to hear about your experiences.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since April! Where has all the time gone?

Since starting my new marketing/PR job at InTroubleZone Productions , I feel like life has just been whizzing past me. I don’t get home until 6:30 every night, then take the doggies for a walk, have dinner with the hubby, work on Lil’ Diva stuff, take a a shower, and the next thing I know, it’s 10 pm! There are just not enough hours in the day….

I have, however, been enjoying my new job. Not a boring day goes by, that’s for sure. I’ve been maintaining a blog for them, The Estrogen Zone, and that’s been a lot of fun. You can check it out and see what I’ve been up to. I was also recently in a local Toyota commercial (you can view it on the blog) which ran during American Idol’s big night on Tuesday, so that was exciting! My friends were calling me up to say they saw me. It’s a goofy commercial, but it was tons of fun to do and I met at least one of my goals for this year - and that was to appear in at least one commercial. Baby steps ….

Anyway, I have just marked down all the bags on this site to give you a little more ‘bang for your buck’ during these tough economical times. Women should not have to sacrifice buying beautiful things for themselves because of this recent downturn, and I really think the next president should write that into law!

Enjoy your Memorial Weekend, divas! And don’t forget to say a little prayer for all of our men and women who are putting themselves in harm’s way in Iraq so that we may all have the freedom to enjoy this special weekend. Bless you all!

Thanks for listening….

I’m almost wrapping up my 2nd official work week with InTroubleZone Productions, and it’s been going well so far. I’m also catching up on Lil’ Diva stuff at night so my life has been quite hectic, to say the least. Since I’m in charge of their marketing, I just designed and programmed a blog for their site called “In the Estrogen Zone”. Since I’m the only female in this group of 7, I wanted to chronicle my daily experiences with this crazy film crew. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s looking good, if I do say so myself.

At this time, I’d like to introduce our newest retailer, MyQuilterGirl.com. Their site will be up and running soon so please be patient. They’re a couple of friendly and great enterprising women (we need as many as we can get these days) and I know you’re just going to love their unique quilts since they use many of the fabrics that Lil’ Diva uses.

And again, just because I’m working a part-time job does not mean that Lil’ Diva’s customer service will be anything short of fabulous. I thank you for your business!