Mama Named It Short-N-Sassy

Dear Friend,

I suppose if I’m finally going to tell y’all about Short-N-Sassy Mercantile, I ought to tell you where the name came from.

And like a lot of things in my life, this one starts with my Mama.

Years ago, Mama had an idea. She wanted to open a boutique for short women.

Now, if you’ve never stood in a dressing room with six inches of perfectly good blue jeans puddled around your ankles, maybe you don’t understand the need for such a place. 😂 But Mama and I do.

We are short women. There is no getting around it.

Apparently somewhere along the way, clothing companies decided women only come in one leg length and the rest of us should either learn to sew, pay somebody to hem everything we own, or just accept that we’re going to spend our lives walking on the bottoms of our britches.

Mama thought there ought to be a store for women like us. A place where being short wasn’t something you had to work around because the store already understood the assignment.

And she already knew what she wanted to call it.

Short-N-Sassy.

Now here’s the funny part. Most people probably wouldn’t describe my Mama as sassy. 😂

Mama is sweet. Mama is patient. Mama will put up with approximately 972 more things than I ever would before she finally gets mad. She’s one of those people who will let something slide, and let it slide, and let it slide some more...until one day she has finally had enough.

And when Mama has finally had enough, well, that’s between you and the Lord at that point. 😂

Me, on the other hand?

I came into this world with considerably less tolerance and apparently a much larger supply of sass. Mine doesn’t require nearly as much provocation to make an appearance. 😂

So looking back on it now, maybe Mama accidentally named the store after both of us.

She brought the short, and then she raised the short and sassy. 😂

But the boutique never happened.

Life has a funny way of doing that, doesn’t it?

We come up with ideas. We talk about them. We dream about what they could be. Then kids need something, jobs change, bills have to be paid, supper still has to get cooked, and before you know it years have passed and that little idea gets tucked away somewhere.

But some ideas apparently don’t know they’re supposed to stay tucked away.

Because all these years later, I found myself thinking about Short-N-Sassy again.

Only when I pictured it this time, I didn’t see Mama’s little clothing boutique anymore.

I saw a mercantile.

One of those places where you don’t really know what you’re going to find until you start wandering around.

Something sassy.

Something cozy.

Something for your kitchen.

Something for the book lover.

Something a little witchy.

Something country.

Something pretty.

Something that makes you laugh out loud.

Something you immediately send to your best friend and say, “THIS IS YOU.”

Basically, all the things I would stop and pick up if Mama and I were wandering around a little shop together.

And suddenly that old name fit all over again.

Short-N-Sassy Mercantile.

So I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit building it.

I’ve searched through what feels like a million products, found small makers and businesses I love, added things, removed things, moved things around, changed my mind, changed it back, and repeatedly had to remind myself that just because I want something does not necessarily mean I need to put it in the store.

I’m still working on that last part. 😂

But somewhere in the middle of all those late nights and open browser tabs, I realized something.

Mama’s little boutique idea didn’t disappear.

It just grew up.

It changed right along with us.

What started all those years ago as my Mama wanting a little store for short women somehow made its way back to me and became a whole collection of things for women with personality.

Women who can appreciate something pretty and something smart-mouthed in the same shopping trip.

Women who like their homes cozy, their gifts personal, their coffee strong, and their lives with a little character in them.

Women a whole lot like me.

And probably a whole lot like some of you sitting on this porch with me.

I think that’s my favorite part of the whole thing, though.

Because even though I’m the one sitting behind the computer building Short-N-Sassy now, a piece of it will always belong to my Mama.

She had the idea.

She gave her the name.

I just finally got to build her.

So, Mama...

I finally opened our store. ❤️

It looks a whole lot different than the one you imagined all those years ago, but I think you’re gonna like what I did with the place.

And Friend, I reckon it’s about time I invited you in too.

If you’ve been sitting on this porch reading my ramblings and thinking every now and then, “Yep. She’s my kind of people,” there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find something over at Short-N-Sassy that feels like your kind of people too.

Come wander around.

Look through the collections.

Find something that makes you laugh.

Find something you love.

Find something that makes you immediately say, “Oh Lord. I know exactly who needs this.” 😂

And if you don’t buy a single thing, that’s okay too.

Come see what I’ve been pouring so much of myself into lately.

I’m pretty dang proud of her.

Mama brought the short.

She raised the short and sassy.

And somehow, all these years later, we ended up with a Mercantile. ❤️

Welcome to Short-N-Sassy Mercantile.

Come on in, Friend. The door’s open.