Girlwonder and The Garage Boutique

MIA - The Resurrection of Girlwonder

2008-04-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

First off I would like to extend my apologies for my brief hiatus in the world of blogging. For those of you who don’t know, yes I am the best friend to the owner of Sift: a cupcakery, located in Cotati, CA . Please check out her blog at http://www.cupcakeaday.com/. So because of my extreme generosity and my love for free coffee and cupcakes, I have so kindly volunteered my time to take a couple shifts at her shop. Yes… I’m am a working fool… and now that she has her employees safely in place I am able to return to regular business.

Cupcake mania has swept over Sonoma County and I can honestly say that although I have indulged in perhaps one to many tasting of the cupcakes, I have probably lost five pounds just running my ass off at her shop. We barely had the door open, when cupcake lovers from all over where invading the shop like ants to honey. Who knew that our love for cupcakes extended to the masses.

Just cupcakes? You may be thinking to yourself… yup that’s right, 14 of the most unbelievable flavors inhabit the display case, and doily covered cake stands. It’s truly a dessert Mecca. Think about it… you don’t actually need a reason to purchase a cupcake. Its your own personal cake, and if you want another it doesn’t look as bad as reaching for another slice of cake. Cakes have to be planned, you need a reason, or perhaps a room full of PMS-ing girls to pick one up and take it home. The cupcake allows you the freedom to indulge in your own personal craving for cake.
And now back at my shop I’m attempting to kick my withdraw from those tasty delightful treats. Oh don’t get me wrong… I still go every morning for a little sample and of course my daily caffeine must, but it is nice to be back, and I look forward in continuing to share my adventures and antics with you all.

Sincerely, Girlwonder aka - cupcake junkie

Ebay Punks!

2008-03-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered who really is behind the “user name” on eBay. Yes… who are they really? For some of you this notion may have never even crossed your mind, for all of you who actually sell on eBay or own an eBay store, I’m confident that you can relate.

EBay Punks!… ever come across one? On the motorcycle side of my business I engage in selling excess parts, and inventory that has been sitting on the shelf for some time to generate some extra cash flow. This has been a great asset to my business, I like to call it my “rainy day” fund. It helps bring in money when my store is closed, or when we hit a bad patch of weather, and no one wants to leave their house.

Ebay is pretty straight forward, I post some parts, people generally check them out, ask some questions, and hopefully bid on the item. Although it may seem relatively easy, there is a lot of upkeep that needs to be done while your items are in auction. For some reason eBay customers are pretty needy, and impatient when it comes to responding to their questions, or waiting for the item they’ve won to arrive via the mail.

Needy might be too polite of a word to say the least. Reality check, these buyers turn into complete monsters. EBay must bring out the instinctual hunter/gatherer in potential buyers. All moralistic values fly right out the window, assuming that they even have any. Again… “who is really behind the “user name”?

Yes… I’ve been punked several times by these potential buyers, they’ve basically called me every name in the book. Why? You may ask, well maybe because I was unable to respond to their question they posted at 3:30am right away, or because their check didn’t arrive in the mail to me on time. Shipping delays of up to one day award me the name “stupid bitch” from some guy in Australia, which started an all-out eBay brawl via email. It was pretty intense… but I showed him who’s boss!

So I often ponder… Who are these people? And how do they have the energy and time to sit and write me all of this hate mail. I could understand it if I was ripping them off, not sending their items, or just ignoring their emails all together. And that’s not the case, they’re pissed because attention is not paid to them immediately.

Is this user a lonely house wife taking out her aggressions of being cooped up in her house all day. Or is the guy who is threatening to drive to Cali, to kick my ass really an 85 year old elderly man who has been trying to put his flathead together since 1945. Or wait my favorite, is the one who tells me that he will call the authorities if his parts don’t arrive that day, only to realize that he/she didn’t even win the auction.

Well it could be worse I guess. The person on the other side of the “user name” could be these guys… ha!

Mugshot to the left is Floyd Bebee. And, on the right, his son Justin.
If the guy on the left was your dad would you aspire to be like him?
In addition to the forehead tattoo, Justin apparently has the words "Fuck" and "You" tattooed on his eyelids. Too bad his eyes were open in the mugshot, cause we wanna see!
Both were arrested last year (on different dates) in central Florida.
Another of Bebee's eight kids, Floyd III, is locked up until 2016 on a variety of felony convictions.
Floyd III doesn't have a forehead tat, but he does have a swastika on his left leg, and the phrases "Time Served" and "White Pride" on his right leg.
This family is just plain scary!

courtesy of: Perez Hilton

3 Inches or 6 Inches

2008-03-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of kickboxing and I am determined to stick with it. According to Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands” Not that I have a husband yet, but I’m confident that I am doing my future “better half” a great service by producing plenty of endorphins now, to ensure our long life together…

Lesson of the day… introduction to escrema, loosely translated… fighting with weapons. In my attempt to keep the endorphins flowing and to save mankind, I encouraged a friend to join me in my quest.

So honestly what do you do when your instructor is standing in front of you holding a stick-like-weapon, and projects to the class, “sometimes I like 3 inches and sometimes I like 6 inches, whatever you prefer.” Well the obvious, you stare at your friend in the mirror behind you, and choke back the laughter and admit to yourself, “who would ever prefer 3 inches!”

Welcome To The Ride

2008-03-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the adventures of

Girlwonder and The Garage Boutique

aka: my life.

Although sometimes I feel that my life can be somewhat mundane, I’ve been made aware that the world of blogging is basically a reality television show transcript… so to speak. Why would anyone even be interested in what I have to say or the stories I have to share… well why the hell would anyone watch people live in a house together, travel around the world, cheat on their spouses… my brain hurts from trying to even fathom how many reality shows are even out there.

So how is my story different? You may be asking yourself… well for starters, I’m 30 years old, and the owner of a custom motorcycle shop (yes, you discovery channel watchers… custom choppers), with a hot-rod-like clothing boutique imbedded within my business. Oh, and did I mention that I’m a women.

Aha! Did that reel you in? Okay here is the story:

Graduated in a small suburb in the bay area, went to college to become a teacher. On the way, worked as a waitress, receptionist, daycare assistant, nanny, barista, and probably a few others before I landed in a local motorcycle shop. There I leaned the ropes of the motorcycle world, then graduated to become a 4th grade teacher… Yes… “hot for teacher” Got laid off… good ol’ Cali, and went back to motorcycles. Was given the opportunity to take over an existing shop… took it obviously, and last December I added the clothing boutique, to corner the hot-rod community. Weeewh! How’s that for a nut shell?

In my world wind of the last year, I have experienced so much, the life of a young entrupeure, love, adventures across the country, motorcycle rallys, Las Vegas fashion shows, new friends, old friends and so much more…

It was the influence of my best friends husband to get me to blog about my journeys in life. After a long inebriating night for us all, his drunk dial to say good night to his honey bunny started the blog notion. He was stoked to tell her about meeting a man who made money bogging. And since they were embarking on their own small business adventure, he was ecstatic to tell her about the world of blogging. Every other word was blog this, blog that, and without his knowledge of being on speaker phone, we were giggling like little girls at the number of times he mentioned the word blog.

So with much collaboration, and internet research my girlfriend and I entered the cyber world of blogging, in hopes to not only entertain, but to share our experiences and adventures in owning our own business. Thanks for joining me on the ride.