The story of summer...

The last 2 months of my life and that of Firefly have been nothing less than extraordinary. I received the charming news of having a pending grade for my mini thesis. Which meant I do it again. My topic was irrelevant. I was upset, stressed, an utterly utterly shattered. Because I had put a lot into it.

I had to travel. As I am a resident abroad. That was a concern. I escaped for two weeks, mentally I was focused on all that needed to be done. A topic needed to be decided, prep work had to be conducted. It was madness! I had two internships to deal with. One which is still lingering. And then... there's Firefly.

For those who know the story of Firefly, they know it's from the pages of my journal... the real Firefly. I haven't written in it since March of last year, around the same time I started the whimsical forecast. It means heart and soul, and this summer has increased my passion for it.

It roots from emotions, which are no longer just mine, but those I share with friends and now the world. It's core is based on our sentiments and our life's experiences. I get asked so often, how do you find time. Trust me. The half an hour I work on Firefly is my break. It relaxes me to craft something. It sets me at ease to work with inspiration to doodle or create something whimsical and bright.

This summer has tested these emotions to an extent where I've tried pulling myself together stronger. One after another, external factors such as, electricity, violent conditions in the city, and random glitches during printing and color control have added to a splurge of orders that have a) been delayed, b) been mixed up, c) been uncollected.

There are several that turn to the page and write beautiful wordings and excited emails. And I keep having to say I shall respond soon. It's not because I haven't the interest. But it's because one after another, I'm STILL trying to resolve orders. Things have been super duper tough this summer because of the factors above.

I used to be able to deliver urgent orders within a day. Now they can't make it in 3. Normal processing time would be 3 days. Now it's 10 to 15 days... Because one job itself takes forever, and if there are any errors like last week's lot.. it goes for reprocessing.

So for every person who is slightly apprehensive or trying figure out what Firefly is upto, please know that it's very much aglow :) It is still trying to resolve matters and surface with all issues rectified inshaALLAH.

Firefly runs on prayers. And Alhamdulillah, I have several of them. I had the craziest week this week. I hadn't been sleeping. I would be in uni til midnight printing. I had a jury on Thursday. Midst all the craziness and stress, I've developed a sort of leg pain. And man, having it ten minutes before jury did not help! I smelled like deep heat spray. I would sit and smell that iodex smell while waiting :/ not to mention, the heat the medication creates. Felt like something was on fire!

Anyhow. You all would be pleased to know that with your sweet messages filled with prayers and good luck, I did well :) Alhamdulillah! I realized my own potential. The entire project was unsupervised. It felt great receiving constructive criticism on design. And it made me realize that my creative energy is mashaALLAH very much alive and kicking. :) I am so so lucky to have my parents and relatives stand by me and support me so thoroughly. They've been so patient of my tantrums and chaotic-stress-induced moods. Alhamdulillah! And Mr Awesome, goodness. He had been the most stressed along with me. But MashaALLAH, Zaiq we've sailed through this too :) All set for mission graduation and mission 2012 ;)

So hang tight everybody, all orders are still processing and reprocessing TIL all glitches are fixed and you receive exactly what you with for. And a request, if you place an order, and by sheer luck, it gets ready in time, please don't disappear on it. That's one reason why I am not taking new orders til old ones are sorted and collected.

In the recent weeks I've had so many Firefly fans disappear on things they've ordered. All I need is an email out of courtesy mentioning please save my order, I shall collect it soon. I am discarding several of them this week. I also implemented the new payment policy because of this.

Once again, apologies to those who've had the bad luck of having their orders delayed or reprocessed more than once. And a big thank you,seriously, my sincere gratitude to every one who has been super super supportive and patient. At the end of the day, nothing makes me smile more than having to know, Firefly brought a smile to someone's face.

Firefly is going to keep glowing inshaALLAH, and will not be curbing into any of the negativity. :) Remember, the forecast is whimsical with a chance of rainbows!

Much love to everyone. Smile Sunshine!
Stay tuned. Lots of magic in store for the coming month inshaAllah!