diff --git a/static/js/sb.js b/static/js/sb.js
index f9dadeb..5ab0da5 100644
--- a/static/js/sb.js
+++ b/static/js/sb.js
@@ -75,12 +75,24 @@ function sendData(data) {
             msg = "something went wrong sending the data: " + response.status;
             console.log(msg);
             M.toast({"html": msg});
+        }
+        cancelPhoto();
+        return response.json();
+    }).then(function(json) {
+        json = json || {};
+        console.log(json);
+        if (json && json.success) {
+            msg = "❤ ❤ ❤ photo sent successfully! ❤ ❤ ❤";
+            console.log(msg);
+            M.toast({"html": msg});
         } else {
-            msg = "photo was sent successfully!";
+            msg = "something wrong on the backend";
+            console.log(msg);
+            M.toast({"html": msg});
+            msg = "the server says: " + json.message;
             console.log(msg);
             M.toast({"html": msg});
         }
-        cancelPhoto();
     }).catch(function(err) {
         msg = "something went wrong connecting to server: " + err;
         console.log(msg);
diff --git a/toot-my-t-shirt b/toot-my-t-shirt
index fa210ac..5b8f430 100755
--- a/toot-my-t-shirt
+++ b/toot-my-t-shirt
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class BaseException(Exception):
     :type message: str
     :param status: numeric http status code
     :type status: int"""
-    def __init__(self, message, status=400):
+    def __init__(self, message, status=200):
         super(BaseException, self).__init__(message)
         self.message = message
         self.status = status
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class BaseHandler(tornado.web.RequestHandler):
         for key, value in kwargs.items():
             setattr(self, key, value)
 
-    def build_error(self, message='', status=400):
+    def build_error(self, message='', status=200):
         """Build and write an error message.
 
         :param message: textual message
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class BaseHandler(tornado.web.RequestHandler):
         :type status: int
         """
         self.set_status(status)
-        self.write({'error': True, 'message': message})
+        self.write({'success': False, 'message': message})
 
 
 class RootHandler(BaseHandler):