If there is one word to sum up 2019 it would be the word “new”. New house. New pals. New kitchen. New services. New shop products. New appreciation for life.
FEBRUARY
This year was off to a slow start but ‘slow and steady wins the race’ right?! We spent what felt like months at open houses, private house viewings, second viewings, offer meetings, etc etc with our fav realtor Bryan Masse (@bryanmasse) who made the whole “buying your first home” fun and real easy for us. After a few declined offers (womp womp), we found out our latest offer had been accepted while making heart-shaped pizzas on Valentine’s Day (this is real life, you guys lol) – so we got the house we really wanted!
We also added Custom Person and Pet Portrait Illustrations to our permanent services offered which make perfect gifts for just about any occasion.
MARCH
If you have a hard time keeping your house clean just put it up for sale (seriously. hah). The house we were renting was up for sale at the same time we were buying a house, so we got to live in what felt like a show home for most of the month. Brendan and I checked off a good chunk of our date night ideas as one week had about 25 showings.
APRIL
I’m naturally a shy person so the thought of choosing to go to a networking event where you have to go out of your way to talk to strangers was pretty crazy. But I put my “adulting” pants on and went to The Ace Class’ Babes Who Brunch (@theaceclass_) event anyways - and you know what? It was super fun! While I was there I met a whole bunch of amazing women who are running their own small businesses. I was also super fortunate to be seated at the same table as the guest speaker, Charmaine Jennings of Strategic Charm Boutique (@strategiccharmboutique) and Hustle + Charm Community (@hustleandcharmcommunity) – talk about inspiring!
Wedding Wire Canada tweeted about our blog post “Postage Tips for Wedding Invitations” so that was pretty neat!
April 30 was a much anticipated day as we took possession of our first home and relished in the fact that we were now homeowners!
Left: Photo by Jorja Coral Photography via The Ace Class / Right: Excited us on house possession day!
MAY
Brendan surprised me for my birthday and took me to Third & Bird (@thirdandbird) for a little local shopping adventure (and a much needed break from painting our house).
Between birthday celebrations, we moved out of our rental house and into our new house and we have never cleaned and painted so much in our entire lives (but totally worth it)!
We began offering Semi-Custom Wedding Stationery and started with our Marjorie, Jessica, and Maria collections.
JUNE
I enjoyed hearing about the Hustle + Charm Community from Charmaine back in April so much that I decided to go to one of her events – a Boss Babe Pyjama Party. Going to a girls’ night event in my PJs (including some fun “conversation starter” donut socks – life hack for all you other naturally shy people out there), eating pizza, and chatting with a bunch of super awesome women who run their own businesses in Winnipeg was pretty darn sweet.
Our sad little roof was in need of repair, so after much anticipation the house and garage roof was replaced - you know you’re an adult when you get excited about new shingles!
JULY
After a super busy year filled with house things, Brendan and I took a week off and went camping in Riding Mountain National Park in an oTENTik. We spent the week at the beach, barbequing, hiking, went on a dinner cruise around the lake, and of course, checked out the roaming bison at the Lady Audy Bison Enclosure.
A business branding photo session has always been something I’ve wanted to do and was so glad to have the opportunity to work with Mandy Wright Photography (@mandywrightphotography) this summer who made me feel like a glam superstar for the day!
We launched a new Shop product, The Great White North - a new art print in our Canadian Collection all about Canada that comes as an 8x10, 11x14 or 16x20 – this print has been a customer fav since Day 1!
AUGUST
Our biggest (and longest) renovation of the year began over the August long weekend – our kitchen! As a designer and someone who spends a lot of time in their kitchen (cause snacks) I was SUPER pumped to use the IKEA kitchen designer program and get to select every single aspect of our new kitchen.
I decided I wanted to get more involved in the Hustle + Charm Community so I bought an annual membership – it has been so great connecting with other local small business owners!
Left: The IKEA design concept layout / Right: The kitchen BEFORE the renovation.
OCTOBER
October 1 marked the launch of our new City Mugs from our Canadian Collection. I had been dreaming of these mug designs for a couple years and was so excited when the time finally came to get these into our Shop!
Brendan and I celebrated living in Winnipeg for 5 years on October 1 – it’s so crazy how time flies cause most days I feel like we’ve just moved here. AND a few weeks later my favourite guy turned 30 years young!
I went to Banff and Kananaskis, Alberta for the very first time on a trip with my mom and sister. I flew in from Winnipeg and my mom flew in from Hamilton and we met up with my sister in Calgary before starting our little road trip. We stayed at the beautiful Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge and enjoyed lots of spa soaking, snack eating, photo taking (mostly of mountains lol) and girl time!
NOVEMBER
This month was a magical one as we launched a new Shop product, Back to Hogwarts, which is a 40+ illustrated icon art print that is based off of the Harry Potter book/movie series and includes magical objects from Hermione’s time turner to the Marauders Map and so much more. This new print was launched at the end of November and within DAYS it became one of our bestsellers helping to make our Shop sales the highest they’ve ever been!
After 3 months of eating and making our meals in our basement, our kitchen renovation was completed and we couldn’t have been happier with the results!
DECEMBER
To say thanks to the awesome vendors/clients we worked with this year, we sent out a little gift to show our appreciation – a Canadian City mug (we chose Winnipeg for our local Winnipeg vendors of course!).
We are so grateful for every single person who chooses to shop and work with us - giving us the opportunity to keep building this creative business.
Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year!
We can’t wait to see what 2020 will hold for Lauren Baker Print & Design! Follow along on social media for more of our adventures and to see what kinds of things we’ll be up to next year!
INSTAGRAM – www.instagram.com/laurenbakerpd
FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com/laurenbakerpd
PINTEREST – www.pinterest.com/laurenbakerpd
NEWSLETTER - http://eepurl.com/dGAUkv
Here’s our 2019 Top Nine from Instagram just for fun!
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