Find out why August is so special to me…

Do you ever have momentous occasions that you forget to celebrate? We all (usually) remember to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and holidays…but what about the other big dates in our lives?

For me, two of those dates happen next month. Somehow, I always seem to miss the entire month of August. I’m not sure if it’s because summer is ending or if I’m always too busy prepping for fourth quarter, but it happens every year.

My first big August date falls right on August 1st. On 8/1/11, I officially became the owner of Green Roost (which was then Green Nest). Check out baby Kelsey, 25 years old without a care in the world.

For those of you who are newer to our circle, I’ll give you the cliff’s notes version: I didn’t actually start this store. My Aunt Sharon, aka Sharon of Pepperberries, started it wayyyy back in 2009. She had a tiny (200 sqft) office space that she converted into her second shop. At the time, I was living in Annapolis and trying to get back to Virginia, so she lured me to Culpeper with a job offer.

In all honesty, I came with the intention of leaving a year later, but she spun the tables on me. When she made me the pitch to become the owner of the shop, it was too good to be true. I like to call it her Don Corleone offer. So, I said I’d stay another year and try it out. Meanwhile, I genuinely thought that by 2012 I’d be back in the city for good.

Which brings me to my second big date…8/23/11.

If you’re from Central Virginia, you’ll probably remember that day as the day we were all surprised by an earthquake. I was as shocked as anybody when the ground started shaking and my front windows busted out. 23 days into business ownership and I was already dealing with my first disaster.

However, that disaster turned out to be a life changing day for me.

The building inspector quarantined our entire street, which resulted in me taking the “squeaky wheel” approach to get permission to come back. I lined up some guys to be on call with the supplies to board up the shop and just…waited. I couldn’t imagine my brand new business being exposed and destroyed.

Later that night, I was told I come return to the building under one condition: I had a police escort. Well, that escort turned out to by Chris…who you now know as my husband.

Fast forward 12 years and as they say, “the rest is history”. 12 years of business ownership under my belt and 12 years of having Chris in my life and no signs of every leaving Culpeper. My how things change.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hustle, so when I remember to stop and celebrate, I truly appreciate those moments.