Traveling Kates

It’s true, I adore my curves and I’ve had them my entire adult life…after kids. I’m excited to launch my Curvy Kate by G clothing line this summer and everything will be centered around the swimsuit; whether at the pool or as part of resort wear on a cruise. I’ve always been curvy and love the idea of fun and bold colors and patterns and decided that it was time I created clothes for more than just my friends and family BUT, I also wanted to make sure I designed and created something for myself this time too (…you know how it goes, the Cobbler is the only one in town without shoes…) I’m a size 16 and 5’9”. No matter the weight; anywhere from 190 to 265, I’ve been able to wear the same size for the last twenty years; the way it looks on me may vary but the number never does. What matters is fit, how you feel in what you have on, and the confidence you get from wearing it. Think about the one outfit you have that just gives you that “I’ve got this” feeling, no matter what you’re ...

Social: [soh-sh uh l] Adjective: of, relating to, connected with, or suited to polite or fashionable society:                a social event. Noun: a social gathering or party, especially of or as given by an organized group:               a church social When the Traveling Kates host events, we’ve decided they must be called socials for the two very specific reasons listed above, as found in the dictionary. We think that having the Kates anywhere could be very fashionable and what could be more fashionable and fun, than a gathering of friends to shop and socialize with? As much as we would love to have the Kates ready to roll for Mother’s Day and graduation parties now, we know that waiting and doing everything right…is the better choice for us, as well as those looking to host socials straight away; we get to design her with just the right finishes and displays, get THE best products t...

Imagine a fabulous 8ft by 24ft walk in closet; sure they’re out there, but I know that…living in just 200sq ft, I don’t have one. In fact, I have a closet that is just 1ft wide by 4ft tall and hubby has one of his own. We did build a buffet that is great for folded items to fit; which is also awesome because I am one that absolutely loves ironing. No… that is not sarcasm; I REALLY do. I even iron sheets and pillowcases each week on laundry day. But…I digress. Imagine a great big, ROLLING, walk in closet; a closet that rolls right up to your front walk; plugs in, rolls out the proverbial red carpet…except ours is in a snow leopard print, and invites your friends to come in and play dress up. Yes… THAT! There are two Kates in our Traveling Kates collection of vintage traveling boutiques and Kate’s Closet is the larger of the two; she is 24ft where her sister Kate is just 10ft long. She’ll get a blog and renovations all her own later. ;) Kate’s Closet was a sad little thing whe...

You’re here…now what? First, let me start by introducing ourselves; you’ll notice that none of us are named Kate…let alone ALL of us…to be dubbed the Traveling Kates. We are three awesome friends that came together in friendship and collaboration; a blending of businesses and talents, personalities and interests, who thought “Wouldn’t it be nice if….” The rest, as they say, is history. If you’ve scrolled back to the beginning of where our blogging began, at the start of this year then you know where we began and how we got to this point. (If not yet…you may want to go back and see what we’ve been up to so far…go ahead, we’ll wait.) My name is Gidget and I have the perspective of Alice in Wonderland; I believe anything is possible, I never look at something (or someone) as being done and not having another chapter in them if given the chance, and I absolutely love bold colors, flamingos, plaid as my neutral and cheetah is considered a staple in my tiny house. Yes…I am one ...

We were loving this tiny life; I never thought I could because I also loved our big houses and decorating rooms we never used. I even made a room into a photo studio once because the lighting was so good and I had a great wall to cover in barn wood; I was not a photographer. OR, the time I turned a room into a gym; complete with a holder for fresh white hand towels and a recumbent bike…I didn’t work out; I’m a perpetual curvy girl that embraced that fact years ago. I even joined a gym last May because they were running a special and have only been twice…two days in a row in JuIy; guess that’s another blog entry all in itself…I promised you randomness, right? We lived in The Rolling Cottage just about six months when we decided that if we weren’t going to be traveling the country in our tiny casa, we could get something a bit bigger. One interesting tidbit about travel trailers is, that you have to pull them, and in order to do that…you had to have a vehicle big enough to do th...

Fast forward a couple years; the boutique is fabulous and constantly evolving to include new artisans, the tea party space is booked nearly every weekend, Holly Goes Lightly is more popular than any person on Main Street and then…hubby said he was ready to retire. What did that mean? Retire into our little life on Main Street or take on a whole new adventure? After talking about our options and love for living tiny, I made the craziest of suggestions…what if we sold it all, bought a travel trailer, and traveled the country? Mind you, I’ve never camped and thought moving into our 500sq ft was tiny but was now suggesting to go uber tiny and travel around despite not ever actually being in a travel trailer before. Again…I found myself letting my fingers do the walking over my laptop keys to Craigslist; searching for a new adventure…one that had never been uttered or even thought of before. Things happened quickly after that; I mentioned the idea to a few people and just like t...