A year to remember

As we close out not only the year but the decade, it seems apropos to reflect a bit on where we've come from and where we're going. It's hard to believe tomorrow will mark the first day of 2010. It doesn't seem like all that long ago that the world trembled at the prospect of Y2K, with the more intrepid worrywarts stockpiling canned goods and avoiding technology. (Don't worry, for those folks, they can now wait with bated breath for 2012 and the Mayan calendar's prognostications of doom and destruction.) A lot changes in a decade .... ten years ago, it would never have occurred to me that I'd end up working in advertising, or that I'd be an entrepreneur before I hit 30, or that I would come to love cooking, soccer (um .... Fernando Torres in specific), and the color pink. Who knew?

It's odd to think back even a year ago. Crazy Savvy was as yet nothing but a gleam in our eyes (ha ha) and a plan for the distant future. We would never have guessed that opportunity would come knocking so soon, or that we'd have the wherewithal and the gumption (and, let's face it, the luck) to get our business up and running so quickly and so smoothly. Yes, 2009 was a good year in a lot of ways, for both Erin and yours truly .... professionally and personally, we've embarked on plenty of adventures and turned over lots of new leaves.

Speaking of adventures, it's time to recap our 2009 Crazy Savvy Fan-Mail-Extravaganza. As promised, we will be crowning our postcard contest winners early next week (prizes to follow!) .... Erin and I will confer and pick the cream of the crop. In the meantime, though, let's take a trip around the world together as we revisit some of our favorite bits of fan mail.

Since we sent out our call for letters in early August, we've received postcards from 4 continents and 7 different countries. Our longest distance love letter arrived from Johannesburg, South Africa (8,979 miles) — although Kyoto, Japan was a close second at a distance of 8,682 miles. Our nearest bit o' fanmail came from Grand Marais on Minnesota's North Shore — a mere 289 miles from C/S headquarters. The postcard arriving from the place with the warmest average temperature would be my lovely missive from Negril, Jamaica (oh what I wouldn't give to be back there right .... about .... now), while a letter from Finland takes the cake for the coldest. Every time we check our mailbox and find that a new note awaits us, we're giddy with delight .... so keep 'em coming in 2010!

We wish all our fans, friends, and followers a very happy new year and best of luck in 2010. As for me, I'll be ringing in the new decade with Veuve Clicquot and plenty of exciting plans for 2010 and beyond!