Earlier this month my little family and I went out for a Christmas tree. The tree is - hands down - my favorite part of the holidays. I have no specific reason why, I just think they're fabulous and beautiful and fun.

Living in Ashe County, NC means that we have a ripe picking of choose and cut trees. Something like 80% of the eastern US gets their trees from within about 30 miles of us, or some made up stat like that. Whatever it is, there are Christmas tree farms everywhere. Every. Where.

So we picked one, took tons of photos of the journey, and brought the tree home.

We get it in and have to cut a good 8" off the bottom, as we were over-zealous with the size. The top is still bent against the ceiling, but it's perfect.

We decorated and stared. So pretty.

My favorite new addition: Alice. Lily's ornament this year is reminiscent of her Halloween costume. She about had a fit when she got to put it on.

It's a perfect tree.

And on to business planning #2 for the new year!

I love setting out revenue goals for myself. I like goals. And I like money (oh, please, who doesn't?!). So I especially like money goals.

This is another that I did last year, but have given a big overhaul this year. I added a YTD slot for each month so you can keep a cumulative count of money earned. Super fab.

Download yours below for free. And get to planning!

2012 Revenue Forecast (645 KB)

It's that time of year again!

Last year I created a Business Roadmap that I used constantly all year. Now that the end of the year is here, it's all doodled on with a year's worth of goals.

I like to do good in depth goal making with Paper n Stitch's Track This!, but I also like being able to glance quickly at my upcoming goals on this one-pager. Makes sticking to my goals much easier.

And now I've updated it for 2012, with a new date and some small improvements to give you more place to write.

Download yours here for FREE, and plan away!

2012 Business Roadmap (615 KB)

And another updated printable is coming tomorrow, ahem ahem.

What are some of your goals for the new year?

I've always had a very sincere love/hate relationship with my hair. It has a mind of it's own, which I hate, but sometimes it kinda knows what it's doing.

Two summers ago I decided to control it by getting a perm. Curly hair every day. And it was great (except for when I took it to Alabama's humidity) until it came to getting perm #2. I knew that was a maintenance path I did not want to go down. No thank you, fried hair.

So I got it straightened. I've always usually worn it straight anyhow, as it's never been super curly, just kinda wavy, and only when the conditions are ideal.

And that's where I've been for over a year. Straight. I figured the wave/curl was gone for good. Then it was rainy in the mountains about a week ago and I thought, "Hmmm... as I wonder..." (yes, just like Roger in 101 Dalmations, the animated one obviously). So, I dug out the diffuser, tossed my head over, and voilà! Return of the Curly Girl.

My hair options have re-expanded. And now my hair is long enough that I'm not going to be walking around like a poodle on crack.

Oh happy hair day.

This weekend I drove to Chattanooga and said goodbye to my Baby Bug for an entire freakin' week.

This is David's last week of school for the semester and my last week in the studio until the very end of January. We're very busy.

I've never sent Bug off to her grandparent's before for a reason other than David and I needed to travel, and never for this long, so I've been feeling a bit weird about it.

Until now. It's quiet. I can work for hours without interruption. I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I haven't heard the theme song to The Backyardigans in days.

Here are my plans for the week:

1. Work, work, work - I have 3 sites scheduled to launch in 3 days. Ouch.
2. Veganism - Being able to eat whatever I want without having to fix 2 lunches (Lily is mostly vegetarian by choice, but loves cheese much too much to go vegan) means I'm not touching animal products for at least the next week. Day one was a success.
3. Cleaning - Without the hassle of having someone 1/3 my height following me undoing everything I just did. How invigorating!
4. Wrapping presents without locking the door - I'm weirdly excited about this one.
5. Date night with David - Without the need to dish out twice the date cost on a babysitter.
6. Skiing - If David gets a paper done before Friday, we're rewarding ourselves by hitting the Appalachian slopes on Friday.

The test: getting out of bed in time to get all this done. Even though I'm still waking up at the usual 7am, I'm finding it very hard to get out of bed before 9:30.

I announced last week that when you purchase a subscription for Indie Shopography, $5 will go to help women in small businesses. That was giving #1. Now, on to giving #2.

You can now give 2-fold with Indie Shopography! You can purchase a subscription for a friend or family member who needs a jump start in getting their fabulous business online, and you'll still be contributing $5 to another woman in need of small business help.

You give, times two.

Purchase a subscription to Indie Shopography, then shoot me an email at hello@indieshopography.com and let me know it's a gift. I'll send out a card to either you or the recipient (whichever you choose) and you'll have contributed to the betterment of two women's lives.

And that makes you double fabulous.

Come join me for a chat! Check out the details over on Piccola.

I love small businesses. Microbusinesses. One-man/woman-shows. Individuals who grab their passions by the horns and steer their own ways through life are strong and beautiful. Fabulous, lovely risk-takers. Wearers of hearts on their sleeves.

That's why I do what I do. Just about every moment that I'm awake (and an overwhelming amount of time while I'm asleep - I'm embarrassed to say I dream about my clients and their projects more often than not) I'm thinking about business. My own (lots of big changes coming in the next year). The businesses of my clients. The businesses of those I have not yet met. I want us all to succeed.

That's why I created Indie Shopography: to fill a hole in knowledge that hadn't been filled. To help small creative business get themselves online.

But, of course, I want to do more. I want to help those that can't take my course. This is why I've decided to do something a little extra. From now until as long as I.S. is running, I am giving more.

When you purchase a subscription to Indie Shopography, $5 will be given to Mercy Corps to help women's small businesses.

So, in case you needed more of a reason to help your business out by signing up for Indie Shopography, you'll now also be helping other women with their dreams too.

Giving is a beautiful thing.

'Tis the season of exciting launches. I've been working my tooshy off for some amazing clients recently. Each one has been such a pleasure to work with. Eager for good design. Open to ideas. Just fun.

One such client came to me a couple of months ago wanting to launch the web store to an impending brick and mortar store: French Toast. Kathleen and Julia - a mother/daughter team in Washington state - wanted to spring board their soon-to-be brick and mortar baby boutique with an online presence. The branding was already created, they just needed to setup shop.

Working with these ladies was a breeze. We worked on the layout and coded it up quickly and easily. Then it was their turn to add adorable products, like Monsieur le Squeak. Come on, he's adorable!

And there's something for you too! Get some holiday shopping done for the little squirts in your life at 15% off. Use code EMMARIE at checkout to receive your discount. Go check them out!

I used to think it was plain ol' silly when people would claim that they'd fallen in love with a thing or a place. Love is for people, dogs and cuddly kitties. Or so I thought.

Then I got back from Paris and was sick. I was depressed. I had just broken up with a city I was full-on in love with, and I'd just left. I went through a break-up. I thought about the city day and night. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. All because I was in love. With Paris.

I felt so silly. What nonsense!

And then it happened again. This time it was Savannah, GA. It wasn't as bad as Paris, but a sincere crush nonetheless.

David, Lily and I traveled to Savannah at the beginning of last week for SEDAAG, an academic geography conference. I've been to Savannah several times, and it's always held the "my favorite city in the US" title, but being there after having my heart crushed by leaving Paris intensified my love for Savannah. I was jumping into a rebound relationship! But those are always fun, right?

Savannah is unlike any city I've ever visited. I would totally live there, minus the summer mosquitoes. It's so green and quaint. Culture and character. Good food and interesting history. Everything I love in a city. Oh, and you can walk around with booze. Imagine how excited we were when we discovered that!

We spent 4 days strolling around the city, reconnecting with friends and eating lots of seafood. Lily and I spent lots of time strolling the city and shopping, both for ourselves and getting a head-start on Christmas. And we had a cupcake date.

The best part? The weather. Leaving 40°F weather in the mountains for 75°F weather in Savannah was a dream come true, and was admittedly hard to pack for. But we managed.

Overall, it was the best rebound relationship I've ever had. Savannah treated me well. Not as fabulously as Paris, but very well. I'll definitely be keeping in touch. I'd like to someday take that relationship to the next level someday. For sure.

Have you ever fallen crazy in love with a city? Where?