It's here ... Takeover Day!

Well, today is the big day. I'll be leaving for work in around 1/2 an hour. There are lots of formalities to go through today. I have to pay for the business (ugh) and the stock, pay my lawyers, contact the landlady, merchandise all my new stock .... and hopefully serve lots and lots of customers!!!

I'm really nervous. Have felt physically sick now for the last three days. Not sure of my abilities but I want to be the best in the business! I always reach for the stars, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist which is only adding to my anxiousness. I'm want to do the whole online shopping thing but I am UBER nervous about that, as I have never even created a basic webpage before and now I want to do a massive website ... oy. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.

Anyway, I hope to take some pictures today, although I am still waiting for lots of stock. The shop looks a little empty at the moment and I want to show it off looking good of course, but I might take some teaser pics just to keep the peeps (particularly @mediamum) happy!

Tell you all about my first day later :)

Nearly mine ....

So it's Friday morning and at work I am halfway through the stocktake required for the takeover of the shop. It's damn tedious work and leaves you feeling exhausted by the end of the day. But it is also imperative that it happens as I have to pay for all the stock in the shop!

I have started to receive some of my deliveries of stock that I have ordered which is very exciting as well! Opening the boxes is a lot like Christmas! :D

I have also had my first supplier mini war which looks to end today. Basically a company that have been stocked for the previous 4 1/2 years have decided to go ahead and sell to the toy shop around the corner from me. His shop is a tacky Toy Kingdom type affair and not deserving of gorgeous products. However when I asked for exclusivity and placed a 2 and a half grand order with them, they told me that they would not be exclusive to me. I immediately cancelled about 2 grand worth of the order, then spent last night searching for a product to replace the other part of the order. I have found it, and will call that company today to request that I stock their brand. If the answer is yes, then I will completely drop the other company as I am totally pissed off with them and quite frankly won't put up with non loyalty! I'm pretty sure they tried to call my bluff, but it has backfired badly for them!

Monday is rapidly approaching and I am nervous as anything. My mood switches from being very confident in myself to wondering if I can actually pull this whole business woman thing off. It's killing me emotionally and I really wish I had more confidence in myself sometimes.

I got my Moo minicards in the mail yesterday and they are soooooo gorgeous! Can't wait to start handing them out! :D

I also can't wait to be able to post some pics once I have the shop looking awesome! Keep your eyes out for them.

Time to get ready for work now ... will be another big day of mind numbing counting for me. And on Monday it will all be mine!!!! :D

I typed in my name and ... Oh My ....

What's Sexy About Your Name

You are sexy because you are very physically attractive. You're the type of person many people find sexy. And you make sure that you always look your best. You love turning heads. You have major sexual chemistry with a lot of people. You provoke strong emotions. Some people strongly dislike you, but it's only because they want you so badly. And you're not above turning enemies into lovers. You're a true rule breaker when it comes to sex. No one is going to fence you in. If it feels good, you're into it. Physical gratification is the most important thing to you.

What's Sexy About Your Name?

Getting closer ...

So I actually wanted to vlog this, but I have a couple of ferals who keep yelling out in the same room as me, so it's not going to happen right now! Maybe later.

I have ordered a lot of stock for the shop and I am starting to get nervous about it all being my responsibility in just over a week! I went in and worked at the shop the other day, very easy job, but then again I didn't exactly do a lot! I just sold stuff to peeps :D In a weeks time however, I will have to reorganise the whole shop. The layout it not how I want it and it needs a good clean. I also need things like a vacuum cleaner, a mini fridge, kettle, yadda yadda ... I have so much to do!

This morning I placed an order for a beautiful environmentally aware baby product. Gorgeous onesies made from bamboo. They're divine. The fabric is so soft and beautiful to the touch. They also have gorgeous vintage fabric accents to make them oh so unique. Very excited.

One thing I have noticed is the sheer amount of products out there. There are so many companies on the market and it can be very overwhelming. I can see that I am going to learn a lot along the way. Having always been in fresh food retail the good thing about this is that my products won't have an immenent expiration date! Other than seasonal changes of course.

I did learn the other day that in the area I live, which is a relatively small town, has 160 births every year. This is great for me as they can all buy their newbie gifts from me!! :D

My next step is to get online. Quite scared about that. I am quite a noob technically so I hope I get someone willing to explain things to me in noob language and guide me through everything! I hope that eventually the majority of my sales come from my online business that way I can offer things that I simply could not offer in a small country town. There is some money here, but also a lot of people tight with their money! It's going to be interesting to see how some of the labels I have secured go. Hopefully good.

I will be going in to the shop later today and could quite possibly be alone for some of it. Not really happy about that, as it's still not mine, but the other option was having the shop shut for part of the day, and that actually will hurt 'my' business. So, I'm heading in!

Then of course, it is the buying fair in Sydney this weekend. Such a hardship!!! I love Sydney and can't wait to go back there again. Also staying at The Rocks which is my fave part of Sydney. Should be GREAT :) Methinks cocktails on the harbour might be in order!!

My first fashion fair :D

So yesterday I went to my first Trade Fair for the fashion industry. I have to say I had an awesome time and I am so excited to be a part of this. I feel like I have found my niche.

I am so very excited about one particular label I managed to secure. They are based out of West Hollywood and have stockists all over the US but have only just brought their brand to Australia. I will be one of the first to stock them. They are funky and eclectic, fresh and fun. Not to mention absoulutely gorgeous. I had to buy pieces for my own kids while I was ordering for the shop! I have big plans for this label, I hope that it does as well as I am expecting.

On that note, the next thing I need to do is start building my website. Currently there is a dodgy site for my shop, but it needs MAJOR work and I also want to introduce online shopping. I have zero idea what I am doing here, so I have been researching companies based out of Melbourne that I can get to do all the work for me :D

I have a few other US brands that I am eager to stock and will start contacting them as soon as I take possesion of the shop.

Other exciting news to come out of the fair: Whilst I was talking to the girls about their brand they mentioned a big trade fair that is in New York and recommended that I try to make it there to see it. I mentioned this to hubby and he seemed to green light it! Will try to incorporate it in my trip to the US early next year.

So all in all, a successful first foray into this new career of mine. I am just so excited about it all.

Oh and in other news hubby bought himself a mini digger yesterday. No idea what for other than to say, boys and their toys!

In case there's no tomorrow, I love you.

I just had a terrible phone call with one of my best friends. She called to tell me that one of her friends had lost her husband in a car accident the night before last. He has left behind his wife and their two little boys aged four and three.

I cannot even begin to comprehend what she must be going through right now.

The accident happened only five minutes from home. She heard the sirens wailing at midnight then an hour later the police were knocking on her door with the tragic news.

My heart is broken into a thousand pieces for her right now.

My friend and I of course talked about all the things that are possibly happening right now. All the things that may have been left unsaid. Fights unresolved.

It has also got me to thinking about this online world that so many of us are so heavily involved in. I have made a lot of 'virtual' friends, friends that my husband, family and friends don't know. I wonder what would happen if I died ... how would you all find out? Who would care? Is a virtual friendship as important as a real life one? I know I have online friends that I would be truly devastated to discover if some tragedy had befallen them. But how would I ever know?

For me, I would probably announce an exit from this online world, so if that never happens yet you see no more blogs, no Tweets and no uploads to flickr, chances are that awful thing that I can barely bare to talk about has happened to me.

Currently there are people in my life who I have left things unsaid with. They range from family to friends. Some of them I don't have the courage to say the words I want, or need, to say to them. Others, I just haven't had the time, which is pathetic.

I've already kissed, hugged and told my husband and kids that I love them today. As I do every day. But I haven't told my best friend that she means the world to me. I haven't told my mum and dad. And I haven't told others some things I should have.

Sometimes life comes and kicks you in the guts and fucks it all up. Tell the people that are important to you what they mean to you. There may not be a tomorrow.

Sanctuary

So, I want to ask, what's or where is your sanctuary? For me it's the bathroom (and for clarification I mean where I shower, not the toilet). The bathroom is the only place in my house that I can ever be truly alone. It's where I do all my best thinking. It's where I relax. Where I contemplate my navel. Study my face for all its imperfections. Where I check out the baby belly in the mirror and (thankfully) watch it shrinking every day (long way to go yet though!). Sometimes I get so lost in thoughts in the shower that I don't realise exactly how long I've been in there and when I check my watch it can be 20 minutes later. The shower is also the place where I can cry, where no one can see me and no one knows. Where I can let it all out and emerge fresh as a daisy feelin' fine.

My one other sanctuary is my car. When I go for a drive on my own, in the R32. When I have the music loud, when it's completely my choice. Where I can have the sunroof open and the wind blowing around me. I could drive for hours and hours and hours. I love it. Any excuse to drive and I'm there. Bit of a passion of mine though, as I come from a teeny bit of a racing pedigree (don't laugh) ... my Dad was a rally driver way back when .. he actually raced against Brocky when he was just starting out (for the record Brocky whooped Dad's ass). Dad taught me to drive. I didn't have lessons from a driving school .. I had lessons with Dad. One of the first times he took me out he took me to a gravel road, told me to floor it to 100kph then lock the brakes up. He taught me how to really drive. How to feel the car. Probably why I love cars and driving as much as I do.

So, that's it, just wanted to share where my sanctuaries were :D

Awesome Women

I'm just home after spending the afternoon with my best friend from high school. We've been friends for nearly (omg) 20 years and now I have moved back home we pathetically had only managed to catch up once in 3 months! So today we got together for a coffee and freakily managed to BOTH be without kids for the afternoon! It was unbelievable.

We got to talking about my trip of course and we talked about how I got a little (okay a lot) emotional on seeing the Hollywood sign. See, we both studied Drama in high school together (it's how we got to become really close friends) and she told me about a bad experience she had with another of our teachers. Basically he had been dating her mum, and when it all went sour, he failed my friend, thus ending her chances of further success in the field of acting.

This got me thinking about how influential our teachers are, and how one little thing can change the course of a persons life. Both these drama teachers we had have a hell of a lot to answer for and I truly hope that they questioned their abilities and worth as teachers. Of course they probably didn't, but I can live in hope.

We are still both awesome women regardless of what they said to us. Both of us are mums and businesswomen and have successful lives. But we both talked of the 'what ifs' this afternoon ... what if we had both made it and gone to study at NIDA ... just where would we be today?

I had such a good time this afternoon, being with someone who knows my secrets exactly like I know all hers. A friendship that has survived heartbreak and distance. We both missed each others weddings as she was in WA when I married in Victoria, and I was in WA when she married in Victoria! But she is and has been my best friend through everything and I am so glad that now we can share our awesome lives together in the same town again!

(For you Nat .. thank you for the last however many years! PS I still can't get over those couple of weeks you stole Matt from me before we became really good mates!! I also cannot get over the fact that he gave you MY ring ... thanks for giving it back to me but!!)

Yay for me!

Well, the big news is on hand! Today I bought a business!!!! I still cannot believe that I will be returning to PAID work at the end of the month! I'm excited, scared, nervous but most of all optimistic that I will achieve all the goals that I have set myself. I am so so happy right now. As soon as things become a little more official I will update details ... :D