It's Been Absolutely Freezing!!!

I am so over winter, it has been sooo cold. Yesterday was a lovely sunny clear day and we were flat out all day. Today it's been absolutely freezing with a chilling wild wind, so it's been really quiet. If I didn't need to be out of the house there is no way I'd be leaving it.
Not a lots been happening but it's all starting to change. Turned 44 which is becoming rather scary! But I must say as far as being sure of myself, not worrying about what people think, and sticking with friends that are truly friends not just conditional friends I have never felt better!

I went to the Gift and Homewares Fair a couple of weeks ago, it's great fun but absolutely exhausting but worth it.
I went to 3 different fairs. One that I usually go to is the Life in Style which is a bit of a boutique fair, I have a couple of lovely suppliers their but I must say there is some serious attitude there! Some look you up and down to assess I guess if they think you may be up to their standard.
Others speak to you in an extremely patronising way. Most suppliers do have to have a minimum spend which is fair enough as it's stops your home shoppers just buying bits and pieces, most will have anywhere between 300-500 as their minimum.
Then you come accross some gear you really love and you ask the minimum and they look you up and down and say (with a plum in their mouth) $2000! Funny thing is, there is never anyone at the stand.
Do they not realise that if you could spend 500 and get a feel for the product you will probably keep ordering regularly. It's just greed. Often you will not see them again or at the next fair suddenly the minimums are down. Anyway I have come back all inspired with some great new ideas and new stock starting to roll in now. In spring it all turns the corner and then we're flat out til Christmas.
We have actually had 2 movie clubs since last I wrote. First was Mother and Child with Annette Bening and Naomi Watts, about a woman reconnecting with her daughter that she adopted out when she was a teenager. At first I didn't think I would enjoy it as they were such horrible people but it seemed to change a bit and in the end we really enjoyed it.

The one we saw only last week was The Waiting City with Joel Edgerton. It was actually quite a good film but not a great ending, but I do like a happy ending always.

GXXXX

Movie Club

Well last Wednesday was Movie Club again and we all went to see Animal Kingdom. It has received great reviews, but we weren't overly impressed. The acting was great, Joel Edgerton, Jackie Weaver and Ben Mendelson were amazing. But the movie was so damn slow!
It was quite graphic in some scenes, which I guess we knew but just didn't leave feeling like we'd seen a really great movie.
I am still glad we saw it though, it really does get you out of your comfort zone being in a movie club.

A highlight of the night though would have to be the hot chocolate! We went to the Como and the cafe that is in the cinema is so cosy and inviting. The first time we went there I ordered a hot chocolate with marshmallows and got a rather abrupt "we don't put marshmallows in our hot chocolates!". We didn't argue, but when we got our drinks we suddenly realised why they didn't put marshmallows in and that was because they were absolutely divine!!

Marshmallows would only spoil it. So now if anyone chooses the Como as our Venue I start thinking about the hot chocolates from the morning. I think it's my turn to choose next so might aim for something quite upbeat and fun, we need a good laugh after that one.

I havn't written for a while, I have had a bit of time off with by best friend who was visiting from NZ. We have such a great time. We don't actually do much other than, watch movies, go to lunch, watch movies, go to lunch etc. We only really see each other once a year so it's really just talk, talk, talk. A highlight for her was the MAC store in our local shopping centre - she is obsessed with her Mac and what it can do, I think the staff she chatted with in the store wished she would work there as she new so much and was so excited by what she had been able to achieve.

We went to see Sex and the City 2 and laughed so much. My husband informed us that it had such bad reviews when we said we were going to see it. We presume the reviews all come from men because there isn't really much of a story line, It's about girfriends being there for each other, I just don't think a lot of men would actually get that. We loved Samantha in it and some of her lines were classic. She says what we're all often thinking but too scared to say!
We also had a gorgeous high tea at the Windsor Hotel. My friend wanted to treat my girls and myself for a combined birthday for all of us. It was very decadent.

So back to the routine again. I must say though, I only need a few days away from the shop and I walk back in all inspired again.
It's been a little quiet at the moment - not unusual for this time of year. I have sold quite a few Glasshouse candles today as it's been so cold and people love to sit inside where it's all cosy and warm with a beautiful fragrant candle burning.

We have our movie club tonight and we will be seeing the Australian movie called Animal Kingdom. I'll let you know what we thought. xxG

Deep Balls and Lemonglass!

A takeaway shop nearby often has some odd things on the menu outside. Just not long ago they had Lemonglass noodles - ouch those would have a sharp taste. And just yesterday I noticed a nice young guy taking a pic of their chalkboard sign and having a laugh - a new item on the menu. Deep Balls! Not sure what you serve those with - rice, noodles? I'm sure their delicious though. Gxx

We had a gorgeous Nika and Mink Jewellery roll featured in the travel section of quite a few newspapers around Australia on Sunday. So our website has gone nuts with orders. It is a stunning jewellery roll though. This is the black one but the purple has been huge also. It's a great gift as people don't tend to purchase them for themselves - it's a bit indulgent!.

It seems so empty!

Yesterday and today have been so busy in the shop. People stocking up on all sorts of lovely things for their present box. Some have been buying for xmas. I don't know how people can be so organised. I know if I bought presents for xmas now, I would have definately forgot that I had them and gone and bought new things a few weeks before. The shop is feeling so empty to me. It's such a good feeling by the end of June when we've had the sale and counted everything, it's sort of like a spring clean. It makes me feel all sort of refreshed and ready to get stuck into buying lots of new exciting things. That also means I feel really inspired about rearranging things instore to make new displays for new stock.

Shoplifters

I am fairly lucky when it comes to shoplifters. Because I know most of my customers by name it does reduce the theft remarkably. But I do get a few that I really need to watch. Like the two girls in today. They do buy the odd thing but generally they find a little corner up the back where they think they can't be seen and try to pop the odd hand lotion in their bag. I literally stand next to them and watch them when they arrive and they don't seem to care. It must be so obvious to them that I know what they're up to. They just keep coming back . It is so time consuming for me, especially if I get other customers at the same time as I need to look after them. When I notice something has been stolen, I take it so personally, which I shouldn't, but really they should just come and take it straight out of my purse, it's no different! It's funny how most of them would never bail me up on the street and steal my wallet but they're happy to steal from my store. Maybe they justify it by telling themselves that it's all factored into the price (which it's not). There's one thing I have learnt though is that the picture I have always had of what a shoplifter looks like is not that at all! Sometimes they can be very well presented, you just learn the body language.