Ugly Christmas Sweaters have been around for a long time. It probably started as an accident when grandmas thought that they were doing their grandkids a favor by giving them a ‘stylish’ winter sweater. It wasn’t until the 80’s that sweaters were designed to be purposefully ugly. The popularity of these sweaters in mainstream media has made them popular and while ugly sweaters used to have to be DIY'd by creative people or bought in places like Goodwill stores, Salvation Army stores, thrift shops, or dug out of the back of Aunt's closet. The craze has become so popular that mainstream stores now sell these sweaters, as well, but regardless if you made your ugly Christmas sweater or bought it make sure you wear it proud today.

I love the holidays and I’m so excited that this week is Spirit Week at SlideBelts! I was always very involved in school, especially when it came time for spirit week in high school. Brings me back to the good ol’ cheerleading days “I’ve got spirit, yes I do, I’ve got spirit how ‘bout you?” (Wow, can’t believe I still remembered that cheer, I apologize haha 😆) Today is Winter Wonderland Day, so we’ll all be decked out in white. The rest of the week will be filled with ugly sweaters, winter wear, holiday hats and pjs! I really love how many people participate with these sort of events at SlideBelts. Just one of the many reasons I love working here. Looking forward to seeing all that holiday spirit this week! 

Hello SlideBelts! We are about halfway through December now, which means we all are working our butts off trying to keep up with demand. Times like these are rife with some of our sweetest victories and our most bitter mistakes. There is a video of Neil Gaiman, my absolute favorite author, who touches on these subjects. In the video, Neil is giving a speech to art graduates about mistakes and how best to handle them. I don’t want to give too much away, since it is an amazing speech and I think everyone should check it out, but the main idea he presents is to make those mistakes, learn from those failures. Take things and make them your own. He says “When you start out on a career you have no idea what you are doing. People who know what they are doing know the rules, and know what is possible and impossible. You do not. And you should not.” I love this. Sometimes things happen outside of our control and sometimes our failures are our own. How ever they come to us, it is best to take things in stride and never lose sight of “the mountain.”