It means that this year I am going to focus on helping you display your images in ways that make sense to you and will provide you with an amazing return on your investment. We are going to really talk during our pre-session conversations and find out what you are looking to do with your images and make sure at the end, you walk away with tangible products that decorate your home with your life.  Still not sure what I mean?  Check out my thought process for my own family sessions below. It doesn’t meant that you need to purchase huge wall displays if you live in a home with limited wall space, but it does mean you can think through your display options, which also include albums of all sizes, mini mounts and anything else you could imagine.

To kick off this new direction, I am going to offer a limited-time sale on canvases, frames and gallery mounts.  This sale will only be good for two weeks, until March 7th.  If your session occurs during the month of February or the first week of March, I will extend it to you as long as your initial gallery period is open.  If you are interested in any of the products I showcase below (canvases, frames & gallery mounts), please contact me so I can re-open your gallery.  Additional terms and conditions and FAQs will be emailed to you along with access to pricing.

Read on for a brief description of each product and click on thumbnails for images. Please email me with questions or for additional information and pricing.

Fine Art Gallery Wrapped Canvases are a wonderful way to elegantly display your images without needing to worry about framing or matting your images. Each image is carefully inspected and edited prior to printing and all images include appropriate re-sizing and or editing to ensure that the image wraps correctly (i.e. critical elements of your images will not be left out due to size/edge constraints and color borders will not be substituted in place of your image). Our canvases are printed on state-of-the-art canvas printers with non-fade, non-toxic inks that are guaranteed not to fade or warp for 120 years (provided they are hung in a moisture free environment out of direct sunlight). They are backed with clean white paper with a variety of hanging hardware and rubber backers to prevent slipping. There are a lot of inexpensive options for canvases these days. Trust me when I say I can spot them from across the room. If you would like to preserve your images as art within your home, it’s worth it have them professionally sized and printed.

Gallery Mounts are also a wonderful “ready to hang” solution for more casual areas as well as high traffic areas such as staircases (they are more flush to the wall and secured with a keyhole screw and thus less likely to be jostled or knocked around). A Gallery Mounted image is one that is printed on professional-grade paper, then heat sealed to a wood substrate product that has beautiful beveled and painted edges (white or black, 3/8″ or 3/4″ inch thickness) and they are finished with a finelinen texture. We can add a digital mat to any image, or we can group multiple images together on one mount for a storyboard effect.

Mini mounts are are the Gallery Mounts cute little sister. They are made for 5X7 prints — they come ready for display with a built in paper easel. They are also lovely when seated on a small plate stand. You can pop them anywhere from a counter top to a bookcase to a mantel. They are the perfect for a quick gift solution — they come to you wrapped and ready to go! [Mini mounts are NOT included in the 2 week sale.]

Frames. Kristina Young Photography now carries a full line of frames that range from light, airy, fun and whimsical for you brightest images to classic, traditional and elegant worthy of holding your most beautiful portraits. We even have a simple, black, non-glare glass frame if you just want a simple wall gallery display (with optional mats available). For framing ideas, it is best for us to do an on-site consultation either at your home, or via email with images of your home provided.  [Frames are included in the two week sale if they are purchased with a print, standalone frame purchases are available but not at a sale price.]

I do NOT run sales or discount my products at any other time during the year.  As you know, I am not a low-cost provider photographer nor do I generate business and attract clients because I run specials and promotions.  I do not want anyone feel that they need to wait to book a session until I lower my prices or that if they paid full price, they somehow lost out on a great deal. Additionally, my packages already take some of these discounts into account.  I think it’s important that you understand my philosophy because I constructed my business model to serve my client’s best interests in hopes of building long term relationships and deliver consistent value.

I wrote up a little perspective on both sessions and what I was thinking and hopefully give you insight on some things you can plan prior to your session.

For the session with Amanda Burse, I paid for it. Full price.  Why?  Especially when I knew I would have a swap session with Jennifer Shore?  Many reasons.  Primarily, I wanted to be a client.  I wanted to hire someone who had a style different from my own, whose work I admired, and I just wanted to think nothing of shooting, and just be there.   Very unintended, my session with Amanda allowed me to put myself in my client’s shoes.   I now really understand the anxious emails, the wait, the urge to right-click and most important, just how it feels to part with your money.

My swap with Jennifer was a wonderful gift and I hope she and I can continue this bartering deal we have!

Still, why would I need a session – or even two?  Don’t I have enough images of my own?  Why would I showcase someone else’s work, on my blog, on Facebook and in my house?  There was a time when I thought paying someone was crazy.  I was quite sure I was “photographer enough” to never have to do that.  But I’ve been doing this for long enough to know that sometimes it’s just really nice to see your family from the outside.  I really wanted to be “in” some of the photographs — not just where I have set up the shot and handed my camera to someone else.  I wanted to be in them as in “present” — with my family, enjoying it, not worrying that the settings would change or the image would be out of focus.  It’s not to say people around me can’t photograph us, it’s just been a long time since I’ve seen a multiple images that were wall sized worthy.  So that is why, even as a professional photographer, I still need to hire someone for my own family session.

Next came the questions “What to Wear?” and “Where to Shoot?”  Before I could answer those questions, I really thought about what I wanted to do with these images. This is a critical step in planning your session.  To shoot blindly, without advance planning, means that you might end up with a lot of “what the heck do I do with these?” images.

I knew that I wanted large images for our family room, specifically to hang over our fireplace and possibly on one of the other walls.  Our family room, like most of our downstairs, is really warm, browns, exposed brick, army greens and dark yellows… outside the windows are trees, greens and a lot of pine needles!  Our downstairs has a lot of texture to it, so in my head I thought canvas.  We are a beach family, but that’s not what our house looks like, so for each session I wanted to bring the outside in and really sync with the same overall feel.

I also wanted some images of our family for over our bed.  Although I love our wedding images, all four of us start every single morning together in bed talking, and so it feels right that all four of us be on our walls [we still have some wedding images that will stay framed on other walls].  Our bedroom is lighter and airier than downstairs and we are in the process of updating all our pieces to honey wood, or antiqued distressed white so I had a clean framed look in my mind.

I also knew that I’d give some gift prints or mini-mounts to our parents, and that it would be nice to have some framed 5X7s and 8X10s in other parts of the house.  I definitely didn’t want to over do it, but if you see how little I have on my walls now, you’d understand.

Knowing my goals prior to the session really helped me think through “What to Wear?” and “Where to Shoot?”

I wanted to make the most of both sessions and do an outfit change.  There’s always a chance that when you see yourself, you might think “What on EARTH made me wear that?”   Two outfits provide insurance against that, it also gives you variety.  For both sessions, I started with me.  I knew if I didn’t like what I was wearing, I’d hate the entire session.  From there I planned for the rest of the kids.  For our session with Amanda, I went with two sets of clothing, all generally coordinating colors to our environment and to each other.  For our session with Jennifer, I knew we were in a more stark setting (on purpose) and so I chose very basic colors, all different solids.

For locations, I wanted one session to be on River Road, because that is where I shoot all time and I love the old abandoned mansion.  For the other, I found a location that I’d never shot at, but it was exactly what I was looking for and I drive by it almost daily — barren, flat light, a ton of texture.  I really wanted it to look seasonally opposite to our summer session because fall and winter is {to me} as lovely as summer, and that’s sort of what my downstairs feels like.  As a side note, my “Jennifer session” was also my 40th birthday, so I will always be happy with that as a gift.

So again, even though we are a big beach family and so much of our life is about surf, sun and fun, that’s not the vibe that works with my display goals [although I have BIG plans for our imaginary beach house in Quogue].  I really kept that in mind when I chose our location, our outfits and the seasonal timing of our session.

Luckily, Owen understood the importance of this to me.  He might not have two years ago.  He might have rolled his eyes, knowing that he’d rather be at home or fishing or just somewhere else.  But he’s seen me deliver enough canvases to other families and wonder “Where are ours?”  He also knew that this would make me really happy, having us all there.  Too many times I come home from a session and think “those were awesome, but bummer Dad wasn’t there.”  Honestly, if you are making the investment, try to include the entire family.  One – two hours (give or take) might seem like a hassle, but they really are images that will last you a lifetime.  I will be totally frank when I tell you that I have had family members show up and NOT want to participate, for whatever the reason.  When they get their gallery either (1) they are so happy that they did because they realize what it means to have those captures or (2) they feel really bad that they didn’t (or they pouted or smirked) because they can’t get that time back to do it over.  Having a willing spouse, if even for only an hour, really ties it all together.

So again, why all this planning?  Primarily because Custom Photography is an investment, even for me.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Unless you can go shake a money tree that grows in your yard, you owe it to yourself and your wallet to put some thought into the execution.  You don’t want to come away thinking “Why did I wear that shirt?” or “I didn’t plan this well around my kid’s schedule” or “I have no idea what I want to do with these images.”

I realize that in a tight market, spending money on photography might be a luxury that doesn’t seem affordable.  Trust me.  I get it.  We were pressed to our limits last year, both of us starting at zero with new businesses in a bad economy.  But I knew there would never be a perfect time — there are always more pressing expenses — childcare, a new heating boiler, or a new car.  I tucked money away in my sock drawer for a while for my session with Amanda and was so grateful that Jennifer and I were able to swap.   I think it’s important that you know this because even for me in my own occupation, it’s a big investment.  And so any time you spend your hard earned dollars on this investment, not only am I extremely grateful, but I feel what it means to you.  Again, I encourage any professional photographer to go through the process of being a PAYING client so they can truly understand what it means to spend.

So the takeaways…

• I love my images from both sessions.

• I am glad I planned what to wear well in advance because I realized that to achieve the look I wanted was not happening in our closets nor could I have figured it out at the last minute.

• I wish I had lost that last 10-15 pounds but that will come someday and I can’t put myself on hold until I do.  I wanted to look better in some of the images, but I took some time, walked away from them, and came back and looked at that with the perspective of an outsider.  Were they beautiful photography? (yes) Did she capture what I asked for? (yes)  Would I look back in a few years and be eternally grateful I have the images? (yes) Did they depict my life as it is today? (yes) Did they tell the story of us? (yes)  Will I ever be happy with me? (probably not)  And so I decided that they were marvelously perfect imperfections and then I really fell in love with them.

• Neither session netted out with one “everyone smile and look at the camera” family portrait… and I am totally fine with that… my life is made up of all the wonderful loud, crazy, happy, trying and loving “in between” moments… and my kids are 2 & 4… and Owen and I are human.  So displaying a few images together helps us tell our story and shows way more love and emotion than “one perfect image” ever would.

• Both sessions really helped me understand the overall client experience and gave me some great takeaways for things I will implement in my own business.

I am eternally grateful to both Jennifer and Amanda for capturing what they did.  Here are some favs.  I’ll post pictures when all my images are finally displayed in my home!

Images from Amanda Burse – La Bella Vita Photography

Images from Jennifer Shore Photography.

Please let me know what you think!

This time of year gets crazy for everyone.  I really understand and appreciate that.  It’s a a time of year when I sit back and think about how lucky I am that I have this as my work, and that I can capture families as they are and preserve those moments in time, especially in the midst of holiday madness.  That said with Thanksgiving approaching, it’s also time to take a minute and remember that gifts and cards are gifts and cards… the shopping list will still be there on Monday.  The sales will still be in the stores.  Not all the merchandise will be gone.  No one really gives out prizes for the person that gets their holiday cards out first or their shopping lists finished because as we all know, you never really finish, it just sort of ends.  What people need most this time of year is down time, with friends and family, and to enjoy what doesn’t come in boxes or packages or envelopes with dollarless receipts attached inside. I am sure it sounds absurd to anyone who plans on heading out to shop at 2AM on Black Friday… but my Thanksgiving wish to you all is to enjoy the full four days you have off with your family (if you are lucky enough to have it off).  Stay in your pajamas just a little bit longer, let the dishes sit for another 15 minutes, maybe disconnect from your iPhone for 3-4 hours.  Everything will still be exactly as you left it, if you missed a bargain, another will show up within an hour.  Just enjoy your Thanksgiving, your family, and your downtime before the holiday’s begin.

I have about 9 blog entries to make.  So I’ll just attach one image here for now with a quote that made me so happy to read: “this picture describes my feeling of joy for the beautiful life I live…thank you for capturing it.”

Details:

On-location sessions (i.e. at your home) are available in towns that touch Topsfield, MA (Topsfield, Boxford, Middleton, Danvers, Hamilton, Wenham, and Ipswich).

If you live outside this immediate area, you are welcome to schedule a session here in town at one of our beautiful outdoor locations such as River Road or Wheatlands Hill. If you have two friends that are interested in sessions, I will travel to other locations, but I require a $75 deposit in advance from three families for back-to-back time slots to make traveling mini-sessions happen.

Sessions will be scheduled from October 4 – November 12, 2010. Many weekend time slots are already filled up, so if you need a Saturday or Sunday time, please contact me immediately.

Holiday card templates will be available in early October (with a really neat theme this year!). Text changes and greetings may be made at no additional charge.  Additional customizations may be made for $25/change. All digital proofs must be signed off on prior to print.  Balance must be paid in full at the time of ordering additional prints.

Holiday cards begin at a minimum order of 25 and cost $2.50-$3.50 per card depending on the design and envelope printing choices.

In lieu of ordering holiday cards with a $100 credit, you may receive one (1) digital JPEG file for use in your own holiday card template (i.e. Tiny Prints, Shutterfly, etc.).   Up to 3 additional files may be purchased at a discounted rate of $75 file. Digital files come in Color and BW with print rights to print to 11X14.

Additional prints, albums and cards available at a la carte or package pricing.

Mini-sessions must be paid in full at the time of the session.   Please, no exceptions. Your gallery will be available within 10-12 days of your session. You will have 7 days to finalize your print order (including additional prints). Prints will be delivered within 10 days of your order and cards will be delivered within an agreed upon time frame.

Due to the busy holiday season and the discount provided with this session, it is not possible for Kristina Young Photography to “unbundle” or swap out print options. If you would like a more flexible package, please reserve a full session.

So catching up…

Beach session availability: (and I assume “beach” is up until September 18th, unless you want “fall beach” which I actually love)

• Tuesday 8/31 evening (5PM)
• Tuesday 9/7 evening (5PM)
• Monday 9/13 – 9/17 late day (starting at 4:30ish)
• Saturday 9/18 all day

I am taking a Sunday – Thursday trip out of town starting either the 19th or the 26th, so I am not scheduling for either of those weeks until I know for sure.

Fall Sessions:

After Labor Day, I will post information about Mini-Sessions.  These are the perfect session if you are looking for quick holiday gift prints and/or a holiday card photograph.  I have a fun theme planned for this year that will require YOU to do some thinking!  You know that I love my cards, so I am working on fun concepts for 2010!  More to come!

I will NOT be scheduling ANY holiday card sessions after November 14th.* Please don’t ask.  I say that because you know I always say yes.  But saying yes that late in the season means that at BEST, you will get your images December 1 or later.  Then you will be panicked to get your card out and we’ll both be super stressed getting it designed, ordered, back to you and then you mailing it out in time for the holidays. * If you do not require a holiday card and need no guarantee of when you will get your images (i.e. might be the 2nd-3rd week in December), then you CAN ask and I will say yes!

The ONLY sessions that I will be shooting in the month of December are newborn sessions.

And how can I close without an image?  From an adorable session I had last week!  Love.

In the mean time, I am migrating my hosting company.  The thought of it makes me nauseous because I am terrified I will lose data.  This is happening starting tomorrow and will transition over the weekend.  If you can’t find me… you know there are problems!

Let’s hope for the best and stay tuned for awesome new changes!

UPDATE:  I think my blog and site is transferred onto my new host with no issues!  Yay!  Many props to the people at www.Hostgator.com for making that happen.  I was really please with the service I received from them.  I started the process 24 hours ago.  It’s complete.  Without a hitch.  And when I emailed them a question (because I am the village idiot when it comes to this stuff)… not only did they answer, but they PICKED UP THE PHONE AND CALLED ME to explain.  Really?  A hosting company does that?  Yes.  They rock.

Summer Availability. My summer weekends are booking up.  I am shooting two weddings and so those two weekends are out (7/24 & 8/21).  I am also in Quogue (Hamtons, Long Island) for the Fourth and a good amount of time the first week/weekend in August and Labor Day.  So those weekends are out, unless you happen to be there, in which case:  wahoo!  book a session!  So my weekends are sort of filling up, and if you are thinking July/August beach sessions, let me know so we can get you on the books, otherwise we’ll need to look at week nights.

Weekday Schedule. Childcare is switching up for the summer, maybe fall… I can now do newborn sessions Tuesday – Friday, starting around 9AM rather than only Wednesdays & Fridays.

Fall Sessions. I will be back after Labor Day but will be out definitely one weekend in September, usually it’s the weekend immediately following Labor Day, but I will keep you posted.  The very last weekend you can book a session and still hope to get holiday cards and prints is November 20th.  All holiday orders will be due by December 5th or they will not be delivered by the Holidays.

The Entire Family. Last year I did so many amazing fall sessions for holiday cards and with every session, mom jumped in for a few… and everyone asked “where was the dad?”  It bums me out when I can’t see the whole family representing, especially if it’s just a stunning session.  So I don’t care if you are a single mom, two moms, two dads, grandparents, whatever the make up of your family, I really want to see you all.  Now of course if you are super dead set on just kids, just kids it will be… but really, when else can you get that fabulous family image with ALL OF YOU in it?  Summer snapshots aside, even I am having a family session where even I will step out from behind the camera.  So try to make it happen.  You will be happy you did.

Summer  or Fall, can’t decide? Do both.  Any client that schedules a full family session prior to September 1 will also receive a discounted Fall mini-session so can you have some current fall pictures if that’s what you want for your cards (and yes, of course the mini can be just the kids).  I love River Road, I love Wheatlands Hill, and I am looking for 1-2 more hidden locations in town that I will love just as much.  So if you are North Shore or relatively close, we’ll talk during your full session and figure it all out!

OK, now that we covered that… I wanted to show you some of the awesome frames that have come in.  These are ones that I ordered for my own home.  I have a nice triptych coming in for a favorite client, so as soon as that is installed, I’ll post it up.

These frames are amazing.  They are totally and fully customizable from the colors used, to the trim, to the width of the frame to the size of the image.  They are sophisticated, hip, adorable, preppy and shabby chic… it just depends on what you want to do with them!

Here’s one from Janey’s room.  It makes me incredibly happy every morning when I walk down the hall and see her face before I see her face!  This is a 6″ frame, pink and white, no trim… opening is 11X14, matted on masonite, fine linen texture spray, no glass.

And here is one, completely different vibe, in our downstairs bathroom. It’s brownish bronze 6″ frame with a gold bronze trim, custom sized to 14X20 width. I fit it with mirror. I have an obsession with backing frames.

I thought I’d provide some background on why we thought this product was important and why we like it so much.

It’s all the rage for photographers to develop workshops.  There are countless workshops out there that range from teaching Moms with a Camera (MWAC) how to shoot… how to edit… how to go into business… how to brand… and so on. But not everyone has the time or effort to develop a workshop, and not everyone should.  Just like good and bad photography, there are good and bad workshops.  I spent 13 years at IBM, nine of which were in Corporate Learning.  I lived, breathed, ate and slept training.  So when I decided to “write a workshop,” it was not on a whim.  It was no different than what I have done for most of my professional life.  It just happens to focus on photography versus technology.  I think it’s important that you know that while it’s a trend, and people say “jeez, isn’t everyone doing it these days?” I have been doing this for a long time.

So the next question is why on earth would we want to teach our clients how to take better pictures?  Won’t that cost us our jobs?  And won’t that encourage people to try to go into the market and further saturate it with MWAC who shouldn’t be there?  And what if people who know nothing about teaching tackle this and just pass on bad information?  Is this just an easy way to make a buck?

We feel very strongly that our clients are smart, educated and have a good sense about them.  We are incredibly grateful for them, and we value their thoughts and opinions.  We know that our clients understand that it takes more than a nice camera and a 2-3 hour workshop to become a professional.  In fact, we spend time educating them about our journey, and our mistakes and lessons learned.  They walk out of our workshops knowing just how difficult it is to master the craft and build a profitable business.

We also think it is a GOOD THING if our clients know how to use their cameras.  Really.  We are secure with ourselves and our value add and our talent.  We don’t really feel like we need to hide what we know on an introductory level.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with a client wanting to understand the functionality of their cameras that they spent so much money on.  Additionally, if they are educated on composition, perspective, bad versus good post-processing, then they are much better able to understand how to select a qualified and competent photographer when it comes to that time.  Our workshop focuses on getting it right, IN THE CAMERA, as step one.  That is something that anyone with a DSLR should be able to do.  Does it mean they will stop hiring professional photographers?  Gosh, I hope not.  In fact, I make sure I let my clients and workshop participants know that I still pay a professional full price for MY family sessions because how on earth will I ever get GOOD photographs of ME with kids and husband?

We believe that workshop or not, there are some new photographers who might be attending our workshop with hopes to start their own business.  Depending on your market, this might be inevitable and it’s your choice if you want to teach to them or not. My opinion is that there are hundreds of resources available that sell branding, pricing, actions and business plans with just the requirement of a blog or website — there are considerably more of these amazing money making resources than there are workshops to actually TEACH people how to USE a camera.  We developed our workshop so that you could communicate first hand your journey, your time and effort and participants can understand that it is not an overnight process, but can take years.   We also believe that by attending your workshop, they will begin to develop an understanding of basic skills that perhaps they were lacking even though they had already purchased all the “in a box” marketing, business, pricing and brand elements.  In this case, our workshop can actually help set expectations and perhaps stem the flow of hasty market entrants.

Our workshops are also FUN.  It’s a morning or night out, without the kids, focusing on something that we love.  Our participants get a chance to hang out, chat, and learn.  The cost is reasonable.  They get an amazing 70 page workbook as a take-away.  Is it a lot of hard work to get a workshop up and running?  Yes, sort of, it gets easier, but it’s work.  Will we make a fortune teaching these?  Perhaps not a fortune, but definitely profit.  More so if you consider the incremental clients you may gain.   And sometimes we get so caught up in being the untouchable all-knowing photographer that we forget to connect and make it real on a different level with our clients.

We would love to be able to screen every professional photographer who has purchased our workshop and make sure they understand how to effectively deliver our content and to make sure that they are “good” photographers.  If you are in business with a studio name and website, you can purchase it.  We provide you with almost everything you need to run a workshop.  We’ve been really thoughtful about this and tried to provide you with common pitfalls and how to avoid them, things you can do to prepare, and a basis of talking points for every slide.  We believe in you, as we believe in our clients.  And if you invest in our product, we will do everything we can to help you be successful.

That said, we do reserve the right to decline your purchase and refund your money if we feel that your portfolio (as displayed in the website/blogsite you provide upon purchase) is not displaying basic fundamental issues that this workshops instructs upon.

We know we are not alone in our line of thinking.  There are other photographers that have built workshops for their clients — wonderful, reputable photographers that we respect and admire.  There are even other photographers who have built similar workshops to sell to other photographers.  We have immense respect for them and we are happy that they have a competitive product that will drive us each to be better.

With that, if you are a photographer interested in seeing what else we have to say, please visit www.snapshopworkshops.com, follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook.  If you are client looking for a workshop in your area, please contact us at snapshopworkshops@gmail.com and we will do our best to find you someone to connect with!

Thank you!

However, I also believe that you can get customers for life when you have made a mistake and you feel like you’ve lost them.  I think sometimes fixing something what was broken, and making everyone feel really good about it, can almost be more effective them being really awesome from the start.  It builds a camaraderie, and a sense of “we are in this together, we are invested, we are willing to work together for a great outcome.”

I had sort of a bad experience at the gym yesterday.  I typically don’t blog about bad experiences or post about them because I really don’t like to throw vendors under the bus.  I wouldn’t want someone to do it to me, even if I had really screwed up.  But since I am really happy right now, I’ll tell you a little bit about it.

There is a guy who works at the gym who was trying to enforce a policy.  He is a very nice guy and it is an important policy.  But by enforcing it, and not bending it for me, it royally screwed up my day.  On any other day, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.  But it was a big deal yesterday.  I have worked so hard to lose weight and force myself to run and exercise.  I was looking forward to going to the gym like Christofer looks forward to riding his new bike.  I had the timing planned precisely so that it would line up with getting home for naps, a client visit and a peaceful rest of the day.  I pretty much spent my morning screaming at my kids… any day that I do that is a bad day.  But I have about 4 galleries to get out, I am about to be late on one (sorry Newman family and Alexis and Lisa), and am launching our workshop product.  I kept saying “calm down, not their fault, just make it until 10 and you can get to the gym, run out this anxiety and everything will be SO GOOD!”  In past months I think I would have bailed on the gym totally and forced early naps.  So I am about to leave for the gym, kids are ready, and I realize I haven’t packed snacks.  I pack them up.  While doing that, Janey takes her shoes off.  I put them back on.  She poops.  I take them off, I change her diaper, I put them back on.  Christofer has to poop.  This takes 20 minutes.  Janey takes her shoes off.  Christofer finishes.  Janey’s shoes go back on.  We get in the car.  Janey unbuckles her car seat (yes, she can do that).  I pull over and buckle her back in.  We get to the gym at 11:10.  I drag them through the parking lot, and it IS dragging since Janey won’t hold my hand (and it’s kind of raining).  I get in, I pay for child care, I get them to childcare.  I am down to about 45 minutes to work out.

But I can’t work out because I don’t have my lisence to leave my kids in child care.  And this is the new policy.  Must have lisence.  [Go ahead, all you people that are wondering why on earth I'd be driving without my lisence... I HAVE a lisence now, it just wasn't on me].

Again, any other day I would have been very happy for the exercise to not work out.  In fact, in the parking lot I had briefly contemplated getting Starbucks and going to Monkey Joes.  But I really needed it and I.WAS.MAD I couldn’t work out.  I was probably short.  That said, on my Scale of Bitch, I was about a 4-5… not the 8 or 9 I would have been a few years ago.  But I was still ticked.  I had an unpleasant conversation with one of the staff who probably thought he was doing the right thing, but it came across 100 wrong to me, everything about it.  No way he could have known about my morning, but the lesson learned there is that if a mother is on the edge, don’t push her over.  Bend the rules.  Let it go.

So I left.  Angrily.  And complained.  And I stewed over it for about 3 hours.

Last night I received one of the most pleasant emails I have ever received from a company I complained to [although to be honest, I think I've only complained to about 2 companies over email].  It was dead on with apologies, but also still underlined the policy.  It didn’t make excuses, it didn’t disparage the employee… or me.  It was just right on.  And I received another apology today.

The net of it is that I caught someone on a day when they had probably been given direction and was fed up with people trying to bend the rules… and he caught me on a day when I needed a “no questions asked, just bend them” response.  But prior to that, I had been thinking I would cancel my membership.  I was pretty happy working out outside and was thinking that it would be easier just not to belong to a gym.   Yesterday afternoon Owen and I were trying to figure out where I’d go if I joined somewhere else.  But by last night, after reading the response, and again this morning, I can tell you now that I wouldn’t dream of canceling, I will probably be a customer for life.

So if this gets to that one guy, I am sorry there was such mis-communication between us.  If it gets to Dave, you are doing your company right in building a really great brand and customer loyalty.  And if it gets to Christian, thank you, I will take you up on that offer if for no other reason than it gives me NO EXCUSE to not get there 3X a week for the next month.

And if it gets to anyone on the North Shore looking for a gym, you are crazy not to join: http://www.latitudesportsclubs.com/