Branding ... Making the Difficult Decisions

So back onto my new little business, I'm still in the process of trying to get this off the ground. I have spoken to small business advisers, accountants, insurance agents .... every single one of the integral yet boring tasks and now I'm onto something much more exciting.

I get to start thinking about my branding.

The logo is obviously my first port of call and I'm torn .... I have two very distinct styles of logo I am interested in however I'm really not sure what will work best for my business.

So I thought I would put them all up here and see what you think? For anyone who is slightly out of the look I am starting up a small candy buffet / desert bar company.

So without further ado .... please tell me what you think?

The Joy's of Parenthood ... Pethood!

I am sure there is a book out there with that title and I have to say .... right now im just not feeling it.

Obviously for the past 4 years you have heard me wax poetically about how lovely our little girl Lacey is and what a pleasure it is to have a pet. Now you may have heard on and off about the newest addition to our family Tilly and for a while I have hesistated to tell you just what a terror she is.

You see we kind of thought - if you just ignore it, if you pretend it doesnt exist maybe just maybe it will go away. But after a good 3 months of torture I think its time to admit the truth.

MY DOG IS A TERROR.

Thats right, Tilly the sweet adorable little puppy above is actually the devil re-incarnate. Im sure she doesnt mean any of it, Im sure she tries very hard to please .... ok well even thats not true, she doesnt try and please, I may as well admit it. Now if that wasnt enough, she has actually influencing the formerly sweet Lacey into moving to the dark side. Who would of thought dogs could be induced to naughtyness through peer pressure.

I don't think its possible for me to go through EVERY single misdeed but let me give you a snapshot of the adventures of Tilly.

• We were kicked out of puppy pre-school for peeing on the scales and then rolling around in it. Ok we wern't kicked out but retreated in shame.
• She has eaten over $250 worth of apple cables so far with no real hope of stopping
• She has managed to break in or out of every single space in both our and our parents house
• We have retreated from 3 beaches in shame as she screams whenever she sees another dog so loud everyone would think I am pulling her legs off one at a time
• She has peed in both of Lacey's baskets on nearly a weekly basis.
• She has shredded a carrot into teeny tiny pieces on my lovely shag pile carpet - I am still finding spots of orange
• She leaps into the pool, the shower, the pond, her water bowl and the sprinklers and then continued to tear around the house leaving a pool of water in her wake
• She knows how to wind down the window while I'm driving causing me contort myself just so I can try and drag her back into the car by her tail (NOTE: I'm not stupid, we now use the window lock)
• She has nearly drowned herself trying to retrieve a bone she dropped into the water bowl
• She has pulled every single feather off my favourite pair of peacock feathered shoes
• She has but almost a wheelbarrow full of sand into our lounge room by digging to china right next to the doggy door
• She cries and barks at me when we drive to my mum and dads if she doesn't feel she is going fast enough
• and to top it all off .... she has tripped me both up and down the stairs 6 times now .... that's right, 6 times I have fallen up or down the stairs.

One day she will grow into a beautiful calm little dog but right now Mr V's terrible pet is fast becoming the bane of my existence. My one big question ... why on earth would I consider having a child if i cant control one itty bitty little dog!

Beautiful Things

Every so often I find myself drawn to beautiful finished images. Imagine buying a house full of these beautiful rooms .... absolutely perfect furniture and all and just moving in. How lovely would it be to just enjoy every single little thing about it?

Heavenly ... I think so!

Keep Your Head Up .....

I dont know if anyone has heard the song Keep your Head Up by artist "Ben Howard" but it seems oh so fitting today for me.

Life is good, life is wonderful and full of joy but sometimes I think just the overwhelming nature of our life seems to almost drown me. Obviously I have choosen to fill up my life with things and people and activities and 99% of the time I love it but days like today it would be so easy to let it all overwhelm you. As I write this teams actually come to my eyes which is just ridiculous I know but ehhh .... we cant always control our emotions ... all we can do is keep out heads up, keep our hearts strong and hope the feelings will pass.

Anyone who just happens to be going through the same thing as I am - put your headphones on, turn the volume up and take alook at his youtube video .... here .... maybe, just maybe it will give you that little bit of extra something to survive the day.

If you are feeling bright and perky today watch the video anyways, if I owned a property like this you can bet I would be doing this over and over and over! It just looks like so very much fun don't you think?

007 Bond Style Party - The Pictures

So I am very excited to finally be able to show you some pics from the party. The photographer was a teeny bit slow but I am really happy with how they turned out.

I don't think I need many words for this post so maybe just a photo overload....

The Promise of Paving ....

That's right, I am tantalisingly close to having a fully paved alfresco area.

Let me firstly say my amazingly husband is one talented individual taking on this project. Let me then say I may have picked a rather difficult product to work with. Firstly, its bloody heavy and I would know having personally moved 2 pallets of these things from the front of the house for darling hubby.

Secondly, as a natural stone it not the same repetitive size having slight differences in each and every paver.

My husband is cursing me over this particular choice and it has taken three times as long as normal run of the mill paving but I hope you can agree - this stuff kinda rocks ....

Its textured and natural and has such a lovely feel to it under my feet.

I promise to provide better pics soon but for now .... behold "THE PAVING"

The Easter Hype ...

A 4 day weekend has always given my heart a little bit of a flutter ... 4 days straight off. 4 days to relax and do nothing and just enjoy life.

Unfortunately life intervened this Easter and while totally fabulous it was so busy trying to fit everything in we did not stop all weekend.

We played cards and drank cocktails, went to the beach, out on the ski, celebrated a wedding, cleaned the garaged, finished paving, entertained friends and even went to an art gallery exhibit on New York Photography.

Oh yes, we did everything BUT rest. Insane I know but we were so busy enjoying the weekend we really didn't stop.

So now its Tuesday, first day back at work ... my arms feel like they are falling off from paving, my head is fuzzy from exhaustion I don't feel like I have had a 4 day weekend ... honestly, I feel like I need another weekend just to get over that one!

Next year I'm thinking a remote holiday home, somewhere we can do nothing but sit back and rest because this one was exhausting!