I’ll often hear people say, “wow, it’s so impressive that you opened a shop!” or “opening a store must have been soooo hard!”. To which I say, “Yes, yes it was”. But when you have a dream, and the universe starts opening doors and shoving you through them, you sorta just have to go with the flow (and then apply for loans and figure out marketing and learn inventory/buying and pay taxes and it’s far less passive than I’m making it sound). But here’s the truth - opening a shop was easy compared to this next part. I’ve decided to close simpatico’s doors, at least the dutch doors of the storefront. 

This was not a simple decision. If I could make it work, I’d 110% make it work, but I’ve been trying my damndest and something’s gotta give. The shop has felt half loved, my design business has felt half loved, and don’t even get me started on the mom guilt. 

Alas, here I am, crying in my kava and complaining about how incredibly lucky I am. I’d started a list of all the things that made this hustle worth it, but it all ended up sounding trite and self-absorbed and frankly, it all summed up to one bullet point - this magical space and experience let me meet you. Really, what’s the point of beautiful things and treasured stories, without people to share them with? So for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don’t even have words to describe the gratitude and joy that I felt every day in this space because of all of you and how sad it makes me to think of not having that in my life. 

The main reason for this tough decision is that as many of you know, I also do interior design. I worked in design almost two decades ago in Los Angeles, and while the designs (and budgets) were fun, it felt like I’d forgotten the reason I fell in love with this work in the first place. Aside from some small projects, design became more of a hobby while I put on my big girl pants and did the corporate thing. Fast forward some years and design has become a larger part of my life again and HOLY COW, I remember why I got obsessed in the first place - design is powerful and magical and a gift that should be cherished and shared. And when I considered this, alongside where I could make the most impact - both with my time and how I shared my skills - design full time became the best choice for me and my family. 

If you’re still reading this, first off, wow, THANK YOU. Second, here’s what’s next. 

• Holiday shopping - keep an eye out as we’ll be hosting local maker pop-ups from now til the end of the year
• Simpatico online - while the physical space for simpatico is closing, I’ve been investing a ton to get my website up and running and it’s launching just in time for the shop doors to close (also coincidental)
• Vintage drops - remember those??? Yes, they’ll be back and my office/photo studio/warehouse is less than half a mile from the shop on highway 9 so you’ll be able to do pickups just around the corner and of course we can ship
• Design - this will be going full force, virtual and IRL. If you're in need of help, big or small, don’t hesitate to reach out!
• Social media - nothing there changes (please keep following!), I’ll do my best to humiliate myself as often as possible, with a dose of design sprinkled in

Hours may remain wonky as I continue to juggle through this process but please, please, please do come in before we shut simpatico’s doors for the last time on December 23rd. And take a picture in front of the butterfly backdrop, tag simpatico, share a story, let's have a hug.

Oh, one last thing - the space has already been claimed for another tenant, and let me tell you, you will not be disappointed. 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the past few years and making my dream come true.