Holy guacamole. I've been involved since Julia dreamed up her brand, and I created the first little website with a few Paypal "Buy it Now" buttons. Now, she has a big warehouse filled to the brim with Ta-tas apparel, and a staff of seven or eight handling the operation. There are also dozens of shops and boutiques across the country carrying the Ta-tas line. Unlike most t-shirt operations, the Ta-tas shirts are not just your basic Hanes tee with a screen print. The shirts are actually created from an original Ta-tas pattern and custom made overseas with a Ta-tas label, then shipped to one of a select few southern California screen printers, who put the various Ta-tas imprints in place. Once delivered to the Ta-tas warehouse, the shirts are carefully inspected by Julia's staff, and each bit of lint and fluff is carefully removed. They are then each folded, labeled with a bar code SKU that allows them to be put into inventory, tagged with a Ta-tas®-brand tag that doubles as a "Save the Ta-tas" sticker, and readied for shipping.
Thursday went well, and I installed the website on the Ta-tas server and explained some of the basics. After work, Ta-tas treated me to a nice dinner at BJ's, and we went back to Craig and Julia's to watch a DVD in Craig's screening room (which looks like a normal, well-appointed but comfortable living room with a couple sofas and easy chairs - until Craig hits the magic button, and the lights dim as an enormous screen comes rolling out of the ceiling.) After one of Craig's famous "Margatinis," and some great behind-the-scenes movie talk about life in the movies, I said my goodbyes to Craig, as he had to be on a set in downtown LA at 6 the next morning to work on "Rush Hour 3."
Friday was a special day, as Ta-tas was having a photo shoot. Julia had hired a make-up artist and two models - an African American girl and a white girl (who had recently appeared in Cosmo), both of whom would model various new Ta-tas designs, as well as create some poses for the new "Ta-tas for Life" campaign. I spent the day going back and forth between helping teach website basics and watching the models work. It was fun. Here's a raw shot from the shoot:
Finally, the shuttle arrived to take me to LAX for the flight home. If you are acting conservatively, including the shuttle drive time, and leaving some leeway time at the airport (which is a smart thing to do in LA, since you can never accurately predict the traffic sitation on the freeways), it takes about five hours to get from the Ta-tas warehouse to my front door here in San Jose, which is maybe a half-hour short of what it would take to drive. I don't regret missing out on the crazy traffic on the 405, but there is something Zen-like for me in driving long distances. Maybe next time I'll take the car.
And here's another photo from Easter, with Cami in her Easter bonnet!
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