Counting Down

By the time you read this, it will be LAUNCH DAY!

We opened the shop this morning at 9am.

The Motivator created a gazillion 'The Happy Abode' signs and stapled them to every upright post in town. She created an A-Frame sign to position at our shop driveway and having done that, she created a trail of signs for people to follow.

It was like a humane rat trap! Haha!

Our customer numbers rose considerably for the day.

We also have the young lady who works at the bakery to thank, because she came for a quick visit after I handed her the invitation to our launch party and then returned to work and told every female customer to visit our lovely shop!

I locked the door at midday and The Motivator and I spent some time tidying up and rearranging displays in preparation for the launch.

At some point The Motivator unlocked the door to go outside for something and forgot to lock it when she returned. A couple of ladies made their way through the doors asking if we were open, and we told them that we weren't but they were welcome to come in for a look.

They spent a LOT of money while they were there and declared that they would be back before the end of their holiday.

I guess that now I am a business owner, I have to change my tune and declare my love for tourists instead of complaining about them. We will be relying on them to keep our business operating successfully throughout the year.

Anyway, I have much to do tomorrow in preparation for the launch party, as well as catching up on some housework and some washing. I have no idea what I'm going to wear! So that will take a good hour of the day!

Right now, it's 11.30pm and I need to get some sleep.

I'll see some of you today for champagne and nibbles!

Nite all.

Wonderful People

The world is full of wonderful people.

Each of those wonderful people has a story to tell.

I wish I could sit every one of them down and write or record their stories, because most of them are truly inspiring. Many of them have overcome real adversity. Many of them have really stepped up to the plate and created something wonderful from dire situations.

It's really interesting how different people deal with similar situations. Some educate themselves and become empowered enough to make strong decisions that bring positive change to their lives so that their futures look brighter.

Others feel defeated, stick with their limiting beliefs, give up,  and their lives become stagnant while they wait their situation out, and most of the time, nothing good comes from that.

It makes you wonder.

We have only been open for two weeks, but our shop has attracted many new people through the doors and some of those people share their stories. There have been some 'wow' moments.

Not only are we working in a lovely space, but we are meeting amazing new people every day!

I love it.

We still have much to do.

We hope to at least make a start on covering the training room chairs tomorrow. Even to cover one or two will be a start.

But then ... wouldn't it be great if we were so busy serving customers, that there is no time to cover chairs ha!

Our launch party is on Sunday afternoon between 4pm and 6pm. We have lots of champagne and plenty of nibbly food to keep everybody happy. There will be music (not live) and lots of happy, smiling faces. I'm looking forward to it.

I MUST remember to take my camera!

Anyway, it's approaching 11pm and I have to be up bright and early tomorrow morning. I have to meet someone at the markets at around 7am and then deliver some invitations, as well as post some signs around to attract the market goers to our shop.

So, until tomorrow ...

Nite all.

Brain Explosions

Why does everything take so long?

Every process has itself, a process that requires approval, which in turn requires time.

We applied for our business bank account on 25th August. It took more than a week for them to send us all the information/paperwork required to access our online account, even though they told us it would be ready by the following Monday.

Once we finally had that organised, we linked our card reader to our devices, so that we could have eftpos and credit card facilities for our customers, only to discover that it will take ANOTHER week for the bank account to be linked to the card reader!

Seriously, in this day and age! It's crazy!

Despite these frustrations, life is still happy at The Happy Abode :)

We had yet more happy visitors today, including the manic Little Mermaid.

Our brains hurt from trying to GSD and at the end of the day, we drove into The Bay to buy food and alcohol for our launch party on Sunday.

Now my brain is hurting from trying to organise a private event on Facebook where I can invite only special people to our launch party on Sunday .. it's just not working for me, so I'm going to take a break, get a good night's sleep and try again tomorrow.

Oh, Adoring Husband drove into The Bay today and picked up my photos from the framer who put matt boards on them all. They look fantastic and I have a couple of favourites that I was very surprised about, so I can't wait to hang them properly in the shop - that might take a few more days yet.

Anyway, I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Doing It

So, suddenly our launch party is only four sleeps away!

The last hour of the day at work was used to plan the launch, with an invitation list, a food and drink list, a shopping list, designing the invitation and more.

We do our best work under pressure.

There were not as many paying customers today, but the few who visited us were very happy and vibrant. We had a customer return for her third visit and we even had an elderly male pop in and buy a couple of gifts for family. That was a first!

It's after 11pm and I didn't get to sleep until late last night, so I'm feeling a touch weary right about now.

I spent about 90 minutes on the phone this afternoon, chatting for a while with Vegan Chickie and then Chicklet.

I was talking on the landline, and chicklet didn't understand that we can't do 'facetime' so she pressed all the right buttons and I had to go running to pic up my mobile so that I could accept her FaceTime request.

She took me into the bedroom and showed me how to play one of her iPad games 'monster legends'.

She took me into the toilet while she peed. That was interesting.

She took me on a 'bit of a tour of the place'.

I took her in to say hello to Poppy Barry.

I took her to say hello to each of the dogs.

I took her outside to say hello to SEB the cockatiel.

We counted the eggs that came out of the chook pen.

After about an hour, it was time for me to cook dinner, so I asked her to take the phone to Mama so that I could say goodbye. She was a bit sad that I had to go ... but this was the photo that Vegan Chickie sent me immediately after I said goodbye ...

I loved that hour with Chicklet. To hear her voice say "It's Bozzy Wozzy!!" and to hear her giggling her cheeky little head off brought me such joy. I miss her. I miss them both. They are too far away.

Nite all.

That Happy Place

Today was amazing.

It was our best day yet as far as sales go.

But for me, today was all about the people.

The morning tea ladies all arrived in fine form and brought with them a happy and positive energy that lingered in the shop all day. After more than an hour of fun and frivolity and laughter, they wandered around the shop, some purchasing some of our wares and all leaving with a flourish!

The Tai Chi ladies arrived and were surprised and amazed at our wares. They spent a lot of time selecting just the right item to suit their personality, but some decided to come back later with friends.

The comment that still echoes in my mind is "This is just the sort of shop that the town needs!", which was uttered quite a few times today, but also ever since we opened the doors. It really tickles my fancy that the locals feel that way and I feel proud of us for being the ones to provide it.

More ladies came and went during the day, one even bringing with her, the outfit that she is wearing to a function this weekend, asking me to choose jewellery and a bag to suit. Oh my goodness! I'm now a stylist!!

There was much discussion about buying Christmas gifts for grandchildren and bringing family to the shop when they visit over the weekend. One lady plans to come in every week to buy a new button for her silver snap ring.

Another lady, who works nearby, dropped in during her lunch hour to buy a new handbag. One of her work mates asked me to hold a turquoise ring so that she can buy it for her daughter. Yet another lady put aside a bag that she wants to buy as a birthday gift for her daughter.

Everybody promised to spread the word and bring their visitors and return whenever they wanted or needed something new.

There was such a lot of positivity all day long and everybody wished us luck as they walked out the door.

I believe that tomorrow will also be a fabulous day.

We have IKEA flat packs to assemble, lights to install and signs to design and order, as well as chairs to begin re-covering - and that's just the beginning.

We are also hoping for a launch party this Sunday. Let's hope it all goes to plan. 

I'm off for an early night.

Nite all.

 

Beautiful Day

Thankfully, I was well enough to go to work this morning.

My nose is no longer running, but dripping occasionally, and is bearable. My sneezing has reduced considerably and I feel less hazy in my head.

I think it's a sign that this bug/virus is a strong one - I calculated that it was September 2011 the last time I caught a virus, so it's 6 yrs, not the 5yrs that I first thought. I'm happy with that record and I think it shows that my immune system is pretty strong.

Catching this virus should strengthen my immunity for the next few seasons.

It was a great day in the shop. There were a number of new customers and a visit by some friends, which is always lovely. It was quite an improvement on our opening day last Monday when we made $4 for the day!

I was even able to do the less enjoyable tasks of vacuuming and dusting, which surprisingly, I did actually enjoy!

Adoring Husband dropped in at lunch time, providing a delicious cold meat and salad. He even washed the dishes afterwards. What a man.

He arrived at the same time as The Little Mermaid, whose head was in a better place today, but it was still good to see her leave lol.

I found some more products that I'd like to put in the shop and registered with the companies to get their catalogues.

I found a fabulous place online to get my calendars printed.

Adoring Husband had a SES meeting tonight, so I didn't have to worry about cooking dinner. He left at 5.30pm and I caught up on some TV shows that I'd recorded.

I can't believe it's already 11pm.

I'm outta here.

Nite all.

Misery Guts

So ...

I have spent the day in bed.

I've used almost an entire box of tissues, sneezed my brains out, consumed litres of water, eaten lots of fruit loaded with VitC, had home made chicken soup, taken probiotics and kefir, had three doses of raw honey and gulped down some magnesium mix.

My nose feels like it might have dried up and cleared somewhat.

This evening, I changed the bedding and had a shower to wash the germs away. I almost feel human again!

I was a little bit productive in my sick bed by finishing the Facebook page for The Happy Abode and creating an Instagram account. I did some online training on 'product launches' which was interesting and researched places that print calendars.

I wasted a good deal of time creating a calendar, only to discover that the price was in US$ which was far more expensive than I expected! Stoopid sick brain!

Anyway, that's all for tonight. I need to sleep the germs away so that I can go to work tomorrow.

Nite all.