Oops!...We Started A Blog
Hi, there! Welcome to The Travelling Heart - Adventures of Sadie & June.
I’m Kendall - one of the makers behind Sadie & June. My husband, Steve, and I run a hand-embroidery business out of our small apartment in Little Italy, Ottawa. I decided after a yearlong quarantine, maybe I should get some words out and start writing more than I have since that semester in 2005 that I went to college.
But before we jump head first into it - I think you should get to know who Sadie & June is and who I am, too.
“Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world, when you're in love with a Jersey girl” - Tom Waits
The first thing you should know about me: I’m from New Jersey. I grew up in a little town called Hammonton - where we boldly claim to be the ‘Blueberry Capital of the World” and we have the longest running Italian festival in the country. We have less than 15,000 people and probably about 1,000 pizza places. Hammonton is the type of town you cannot wait to leave when you grow up - and then you grow up and there’s a global pandemic and you would give anything to be able to go back.
I was born in November in the 80s and dreamed of growing up to be the first female president, married to Zac Hanson with 3 babies (a real thing I wrote in grade school). I grew up quick though, in middle school I dreamed of being an actress and married to Justin Timberlake with 3 babies (my god what did they pump into our little brains in the 90s?).
New Jersey folks are said to be loud, honest, and fiercely loyal and Scorpios are said to be loud, honest, and fiercely loyal (and ambitious AF) - what happens if you’re both? (asking for a friend)
How did a Jersey girl get a Canadian boy?
Steve and I met in Florida in 2011 at a Days Inn motel. Yes, you read that right 😂 We were both in Gainesville for a music festival (simply called “The Fest”) - and my friends and I had gotten in a day earlier than expected. We chose the Days Inn because it seemed the least scary option out of our 4 choices. Turns out we had a bunch of crazy Canadians as our neighbors, and we kept running into them the whole weekend.
We didn't fall in love that weekend but exactly a year later - at the same music festival - we did. The photo Steve's holding above is from the night of our first kiss on the last night of the festival - an after party we snuck Steve into because he was staying at a different hotel. The next day - Hurricane Sandy caused Steve's plane to get delayed, so I legit (like a movie) drove to the Orlando airport with my friend Chris (the best friend in the world truly) to see him before he left. We sat in an oversized chair with the security checkpoint in the distance, we made plans to visit each other in Philly and Ottawa, and then he was gone.
Less than 6 months later we were married and I had moved to Canada (!!!). It's crazy, I know - we're two wild and crazy kids. But 8 years later, we have our own little business based on our love/travel story.
Spreading Love One Heart Map at a Time
Sadie & June began as a crafty DIY side-hustle for extra income - named for two pets we adore (our queen Junebug the cat and Steve’s family dog who is the absolute sweetest, Sadie).
Our main product is the Hand-Embroidered Heart Map. We take vintage map prints and hand-embroider them with hearts - stitching your story into the piece you choose and reminding you of the places, people, and adventures you hold dear. We spend our days stitching away on our couch while we binge watch HGTV (Home Town, anyone?) and other TV series (we just finished Ted Lasso!). In normal times, you’ll often see us take a roadtrip and I’ll stitch while Steve drives.
At the core of Sadie & June are two words - spread love. During this pandemic, we realize it is more important than ever. We hope our business spreads love through our work - allowing people to stay connected through their beautiful memories.
I want this blog to be about our travels and stories - but I want it to be about your stories as well.
I’m new to blogging (can’t you tell?)- so I’d love to hear from you all! Comment below with what you’d like to read about - whether it be about us or our business.