It kind of crept up on us, but it’s that time of year again!  Kathy and I have been working diligently to finish up projects before we take our holiday break starting tomorrow, December 23rd through Friday, January 1st. We’ll be back in the office on Monday, January 4th, ready to rock n’ roll in 2010.

We’ve been incredibly busy this year—not only with amazing clients, but Kathy gave birth to a beautiful baby boy last July, which has kept her pretty busy away from the office as well.  We worked with a lot of great clients this year and have more lined up for 2010.  We are booked through March, but we are accepting requests for Spring.  We’ve got quite a few on our list for meetings in January for Spring projects already, so if you’re interested, we recommend submitting your request for proposal at your earliest convenience. One of us will contact you as soon as we can in January to schedule a phone meeting to discuss your project in more detail so we can prepare your estimate.  But please do fill out the request as thoroughly as you can.

What else is on the docket for the Moxie Girls in 2010?  A brand new site for one!  After seven years together, we’ve had several incarnations of this site and next to the flight attendant Moxie Girls, this may be our favorite yet.  We’re very excited to expand our boutique business in 2010 to offer more services to provide our clients with an even more multifaceted Moxie experience. 

If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for the new blogger in your life, we heard there’s a book you can buy….   Pick up The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie by… well, us, of course! You can snag it at your local Borders, Barnes & Noble or on Amazon.  You can still get it in time for Christmas!

Kathy and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very safe and fabulous holiday season. We’ll catch you on the flipside!  Look out 2010!

Hello all! Just popping in to let anyone working with Joelle currently know that they will have to take a seat while we taxi the gate.  Poor Joelle has come down with some kind of nasty flu (we don’t want to say H1N1 because she has no clue if that’s it) but she’s riding the couch under Dr. Kathy’s orders until further notice.  She values your business and she hates being behind, but in this case her health is just not up to even sitting in an upright position.  So if you would be so kind as to exercise your patience and bear with her while she rests and gets well. She will undoubtedly be up and about in no time and will tend to your project or email as soon as she possibly can.

If you have an emergency you can contact me through the contact form and I will do what I can to help out.  Thanks everyone for your patience and understanding!  Send virtual chicken soup and wellness ju ju to Joelle…

It’s been a craaaazy busy summer around here.  Kathy’s been summering in Mama Town, USA, after welcoming wee Carter into the world on July 13th.  And I’ve been furiously launching project after project, with no time to actually update the portfolio!  There must be 10 projects plus that need to be added. We’ve done a lot of awesome sites so far this year and I’m very proud of the designs we’ve done, so keep your eyes peeled for those!  We’re also going to be rolling out a new design for our site with a lot of new features in the coming months, hoping for an official launch by our 7th anniversary (yes, seventh!) on Valentine’s Day ‘10.  It could be earlier, but it’s looking like it’ll be a very busy Fall and Kathy’s still successfully working on her second degree as a professional baby juggler.

Speaking of design…

Fabulous retro-inspired illustrator and the man behind our gorgeous Moxie Girls characters, Derek Yaniger, has some new serigraphs available that are the bees knees!  I’ve purchased his art before (I have number 3/100 of the sold-out Three Mad Cats hanging in my living room) and it’s even more beautiful in person than I expected.

Of his new releases are my two favorites: “Crazy” and “Daddy-o Goose’s Real Gone Rhyme”, which I’m thinking about buying as they are a “very limited edition” and you get 4 beautiful prints to hang together or mix it up by hanging them in different places.  If Derek keeps creating awesome art, I’m going to have it on every wall!

If you’re into coffee table books, Derek has his first book available now — “Wildsville: The Art of Derek Yaniger (Masters of Lowbrow)”, which contains over 150 original paintings and illustrations. Cover-to-cover coolsville, ya dig?

“Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.” — William Cullen Bryant

Well, our Fall season is almost here!  Our Summer season is coming to a close and we’re wrapping up the last of the projects through the end of September and are looking to start our new projects beginning in early October for completion by the 1st week of December. (We need to take some time off in December for administrative stuff and time with our friends and family for the holidays.)

We are accepting requests for the Fall season at this time, so if you have not already submitted your Request for Proposal, please do so by midnight on September 1st, as we will begin reviewing requests on September 2nd. On September 1st, we will be emailing anyone who we were unable accommodate this Summer first and responding to all remaining inquires in the order in which they were received. From there, we will begin contacting you so we can set up phone meetings to discuss your project in more detail. 

NOTE: If you get your request in after September 1st, chances of us being able to get your project in for Fall are very slim. You would be put on the waiting list for our Winter season, which begins January ‘10 (project review starting December 2nd). Thank you!

While we did receive quite a few inquiries this Summer, not every request we receive will be a fit, so don’t be discouraged if our waiting list seems a lil’ longer than you’d like — there’s still an opportunity for us to work with you this Fall and we’d love to hear about your project.

Enjoy the rest of your Summer and we hope to work with you soon!

One of the many other projects I’ve been wrapping up around here is my pending second baby.  Just wanted to let anyone interested know that I am taking Official Maternity Leave starting today July 10th until October 2009. Yes, Official even!  I don’t know why it’s official it just sounded better.  I’ll be delivering on Monday via c-section and will probably be out of touch for a week or two while I heal and get a grip on our new family member.  I will be checking email periodically through my leave so if any emergencies* arise I will route them to the appropriate avenues.  Auntie Joelle, bless her heart is holding up the Moxie Fort while I tend to the new baby.  However, she has a very busy schedule so please, if you are a client of mine, email me first and I will make sure your problem gets handled appropriately.  I will be accepting new projects in the fall on a first come first serve so if you are an existing client or a new client, I will certainly take your projects once I am able.

Before I go, I want to say thank you to my wonderful business partner for being such a good friend, an amazing designer, and a supportive business woman.  Without her I could not rest easy on a maternity leave.  Thank you Joelle for being such a great friend.  Be kind to her while I’m gone, folks.  Thank you also to my clients… I appreciate your patience while I adjust to our new life.

*Emergencies include words like “gone, bleeding, death, dismemberment, expirations, deleted, crashed, missing, and !@#$!@” etc.  If you need a button made, it might take a bit so we appreciate your patience!

It’s almost here!  Our Summer schedule review is coming on June 2nd.  It’s a unique project review this time because Kathy, being due to have Baby 2.0 in July, will be unavailable for most of the Summer schedule (July-September). You’re stuck with me, kids!  And lo, I am but one woman so your patience is appreciated!

If you have not submitted your Request for Proposal yet for the Summer schedule, please do so before 11:59pm, June 1st in order to make the list for Summer. (Otherwise, your request goes on the Fall review list, which may not suit your timeline.) This does not guarantee we’ll be able to take on your project this season, but we will certainly try!  Kathy will be taking limited projects for July (small blogs, mostly), but everything else goes to me, so if you are waiting for Kathy, you might need to wait until the Fall review. If you don’t mind working with little ol’ me, I appreciate it very much and thank you in advance for your patience while I work through the inquiries for Summer.  Anyone who was on the Winter or Spring lists who asked to be “rolled over” will receive first dibs, of course.

Speaking of schedules, I will be moving the week of May 18-22, so I will be in and out of “the office”. I will be checking emails, but won’t be setting (and may need to adjust some) milestones during the timeframe.  The move was kind of spur-of-the-moment, so I apologize for any timeline adjustments that may need to be made. 

There’s a lot going on around here and we’re very excited to be working on so many great projects. We did a portfolio update recently, but will be doing another update soon with a big project for author Jennifer Crusie, a fabulous new redesign for the premier Gay Love Coach™, a pet photographer, a fashion-centric city guide, a small animal vet, a popular food blog, and a knitting mecca, among others.  We’re working hard to wrap our Winter (we know, we know!) and Spring clients so we can make a fresh start for Summer.

Kathy and I look forward to working with you soon and hope you’re enjoying your Spring.   Now go outside!