Apologies for the silence lately! It has been busy to say the least.

After a super fun, successful and semi-chaotic first season on LBI, I was left feeling absolutely grateful, exhausted and satisfied. Let's be honest, Jersey women really understand what we're trying to do here at ALU! I guess it's in my blood as a Jersey girl myself - we love to shop. Especially on vacation. Who doesn't? I set out to bring a little something different to Long Beach Island and I am so elated that it was well received. I feel a true connection to my home state and fall in love every day with running a business here.

The season in Beach Haven felt like a true blessing (i kind of hate that word now-a-days, don't you? #sickofit) because opening there was still somewhat a shot in the dark. I had been living and working in Brooklyn for a while and wasn't sure if what the store set out to do was going to even work on the island. Taking the leap and starting anything new is always a risk and comes accessorized with it's own set of scary (but worth it) anxieties. And to be honest? Moving the shop directly from the Brooklyn space right into the Beach Haven space left little time to really ponder any real what-ifs or overly negative thoughts. It was go time and I am so happy ALU has an LBI home. 

The busy season ended later than expected (atleast for me..I know a few other stores open longer into the off season) and even with the cancellation of the official last hurrah, Chowderfest, we still ended strong into October. I met so many fantastic faces, had fabulous help that made me feel confident that the store would run smoothly every single day even when I was endlessly driving up & down the GSP 3 times a week back to Brooklyn and living out of a suitcase. In some cases, we weren't even prepared for the mad rush of shoppers that basically left the store looking totally empty at the end of each day. If I could have told myself that that would have been impossible 2 years ago while sitting in my teensy tiny Brooklyn space with sometimes 1 customer a day and a gigantic overhead draining me $$$$ each month, I think I would have ..well, I would have listened. In fact, I did listen. Which is why the store moved. Even when everyone asked me 10948 questions about why i would ever do that, it just made sense to me and I knew it would just work out. Always trust ya gut.

Living part time and working on the island all summer felt magical. With my family just a few steps away and new faces that turned into familiar ones coming in each day made the drive, stresses and sometimes chaos of traveling back and forth a total no brainer. Once September hit, I wanted to take a big ol' nap and now I'm here counting down the months so I can do it all over again. And do it even better.

To anyone who stopped in this summer or lent your support - thank you, thank you, thank YOU! I can't wait to give you even more for our second season. We are back open in April!