October 2013 Dreams/September Review

Ooooh La La! Hello to the 10th month of 2014! Do you know there are only 92 days left of the year?!

One massive lesson from the last 30 days is the value of FOCUS. I've written a little bit more about this recent lesson here.

Because of this focus, I'm going to be careful what I commit to and schedule in, so 'Who I want to be this month' is:

The person who does what they say they will - for both myself and others

My focus areas for this month are twofold: Health & Career.

I've been neglecting my physical health recently. It seems that in each moment that presents itself with the option to do some work or to get out and stretch my body, the former wins. Hands down. Each time.

Consciously, I know from drastic personal experience, that when my physical health is great, everything else in my life is easier. So, this month I'm making a big effort to start moving my body again!

I know I can marry these two focuses. They are both important and they positively feed each other. When I'm out getting my heart pumping I'm de-stressing and opening up my heart and mind to solutions and ways to make life and business even better. Expect to find a few posts on health and the journey I'm diving into over the next few weeks!

OCTOBER DREAMS

• 2014 Life is Crafted collection finalised and new designs done
• The new Life is Crafted website launched
• Attend Demartini course in New Zealand (so excited!)
• Craft quarterly goals and a clear action plan for the next 90 days
• Get really clear on my vision, mission and values and have them all in one place
• Read my WHY everyday
• Write my Morning Pages everyday 
• Jump into my health kick - yoga, heart-pumping puppy walks, 
• Confirm my editorial calendar
• Design our wedding invitations
• Guest List finalised
• Attend Wedding meal tasting

SEPTEMBER REVIEW

New Logo and Branding - some of you might now I'm in the midst of a rebrand of SSS to become Arienne Gorlach - Luxe Life Adventuress - same sentiment just updated! Can't wait to share :) - I've signed off on the logo and some finishing touches need to be done - very exciting!

Life is Crafted 2014 Collection - I've been working on the Dotty range and have them almost completed. Now just to do the other 2 designs, layouts and all the additional pages. I had such great feedback from my customers in regards to tweaks and new additions.

New Life is Crafted Website started -  I have a list of people to contact so it has been progressed but there is still a lot to do

Releasing sadness - doing some emotional work - Postponed :)

Fabulous Family time in Perth - 1st time in years we are all together in one place :) - OMG, it was really wonderful - we made some great memories and enjoyed such a lovely time together. I love my family!

Celebrate 4 year anniversary with The Man - Celebrated! It was lovely and our last anniversary before we get married :)

Design Intro Evening - I'm holding an evening event in the Sydney CBD in late October - super exciting!

Book park for the Wedding - I filled out the form, we just need to fax it off :) Also booked out menu tasting in - it is such a nice feeling to check them off the list.

Friend reconnection - catch up with some Uni buddies after almost 10 years! Such gorgeous girls! It was soooooooo lovely to catch up after such a long time - everyone looked pretty much the same and there was so much to catch up on

Work out renovation dates - postponed as we are waiting on some other dates for other maintenance works from the body corporate.

Stick to new routine (this is an often recurring monthly dream!) -  Hmmmm, I did so-so on this!

Design weekend retreat - possible event with some like-minded awesome girlfriends! We decided to postpone to March 2014 as October didn't work for a lot of the people who were interested. It will be a great time at the end of the first quarter of 2014 to see how you're going with your goals and to kickstart wellness and life inspiration for the rest of the year

Other's calendars - I'm working with some great gals on joint calendars - Had a few more discussions and once the Life is Crafted range is out of the way I'll have more time

Wedding invitations designed and sent - I'm supposedly doing them myself! Oooooooh -  Okay, so not done! Everyone is saying that the invites only need to go out around 3 months before the wedding date so I have a little more time :) Most of the people who need to travel already know informally anyways...

New Editorial Calendar - so I can be here and share more! -  Done most of the prep work, just trying to see what is feasible so I don't set myself up for failure...

Goodbye Shiny Distractions, Hello Focus & Making Things Happen!

Found on  a lovely blog about Shiny Object Syndrome!

Those of you who know me know I have a lot going on. Like always. And not always in a good way. I know I have somehow chosen all of this as there are so many wonderful opportunities, ideas and people that it is hard not to jump on board all of them (I don't actually physically jump on that many people - but you know what I mean right?!).

Buuuuuuuuuuut, there are consequences to this. Yes...
I sometimes drop the ball and then follow it with a beat up session.
I drop doing some of the stuff that is good for me and I enjoy (ahem...yoga...double ahem...blogging)
I don't do a lot of things to the depth or with the care they deserve
I don't connect with a lot of friends and loved ones
Time feels like it flies by without accomplishing big things
I don't have the down time to rejuvenate or connect with myself and my creativity.

Do you ever feel this way too? What do you do about it?

So, I'm learning to:

• stay away from Shiny Distracting Objects (eyes on the prize Girl!), 
• saying a compassionate 'No' or 'Can we have a look at that later?' when required,
• asking myself 'Will doing this move me towards my goals?' and then 'Is this the best thing I can do right now to move me quickly to my goals?' when new things present themselves,
• not adding anything new to my project list until some a complete and, 
• focussing on what is important in the now so I can really dive into the things that will make my dreams come to reality.

What are your recommendations to deal with have too many things to do?

Make it as you wish Adventuress,

Arienne xo

Week in Review 21-27 September: Catch Up, Check in & Design

Okay, so this week has been a sluggish one. The cold The Man had finally sunk through my usually strong  defenses, and in revenge I think I gave it back to him... (sorry honey!). It meant that there were lots of things left un-done but I also had time to just be and enjoy the moment without worrying too much about the things I couldn't do anyways.

Vietnamese beer to accompany delish Pho. I didn't think I looked that green...

• Confirmed wedding reception place and received a 5 million item wedding checklist - eeek!
• Dinner and sleepover at friends' place - i love sleepovers :)
• Birthday dinner for girlfriend, complete with incompetent (by me and The Man only) Salsa dancing
• Catch up with uni girlfriends - over 10 years since we saw each other!
• Checked in to hotel for romantic few days away with The Man to keep celebrating our 4 year anniversary! We were both sick, so it wasn't super romantic (especially not the man's night dash to 7-11 for cold remedies so we could sleep) ;) We ate our way around Sydney - Dim Sum, German, Vietnamese, went shopping for exciting things like sheets and shorts (actually very exciting - I almost wanted to go home early to put our fantastic new linens on the bed), and went into the spa - probably not great for the cold...
• Put the new sheets on bed when we got home - it has transformed the room and I so look forward to getting in to my 1000 thread count sheets each night (and occasional daytime nap). Bliss!
• Packaged and sent Life is Crafted orders
• Coaching sessions with lovely clients (and a few coughs thrown in)
• Confirmed last round of new branding with amazing designer (can't wait to share!)
• Designed and updated two of the 2014 diary templates 
• Family dog walk - just the one - The Man has been doing all the rest of them - which is the reason I'm telling myself Zander loves him more at the moment...
• Went to a bookstore (I LOVE THEM), didn't buy anything (yet) just took photos of the ones that interested me to see if I really, really want them...But then forgot to buy the one I intended to (that's why I shouldn't be lazy - I should have just carried it around instead of meaning to go back at the end...) Oh well, I'll have to get Julia Cameron's Vein of Gold next time then!

One of the books I am contemplating...

Weekend Wishes

Engagement party for friends

Should do something for the wedding (ie INVITATIONS!!)

More Life is Crafted goodness.

Life planning for a big course in New Zealand next week

Rest and read - heal body, heal! (especially because I have to get on a plane soon!)

How's your week been lovely Adventuress? Share one of your highlights - do you get as excited about things like sheets as me - or am I that kind of quirky?!

Make it as you wish

Arienne xo 

PS if you know anyone who can help with a wordpress shopping cart that needs to be set up in a relatively short time period please let me know. This is my biggest stressor at the moment and I will love you forever

Week in Review - 14-20 September 2013: Family Frenzy, Love Celebration & Braindumps

Family Time! Mum & Dad's Birthday Celebrations in Perth

I've missed my Week in Reviews! It really is such a nice habit to get into. It recaps all you've done during the last 7 days giving a sense of accomplishment and building momentum towards more. It also brings that added bit of awareness to things that have happened, in this world of rushing from one thing to the next.

My Week in Review:

• We were in Perth for some of the week with the family all in one place for the first time in years!
• Coffee date with new friend
• Planning session in park - it was great to get away from the normal surrounds and distractions and have a power 90 minutes of collecting all my scattered info and to dos and put them in one place. I could have spent longer but the parking inspector showed up and I was just about to run out of time on the meter...ahem..
• Catch up with my 'Specilista' chickie Mrs L and here hubby and growing family. Gotta love tacos :)
• Swan Valley wine tasting trip with The Man, Daddy-O and the Sissies. Such a great day and a wonderful lunch at The Riverbank - highly recommended!
• Mini Perth CBD Pub Crawl - it ended up only being two places because the weather was super shite and we didn't want to face the barrage of wind and rain between places. Great seeing a few more of our friend and hearing about Bali Wedding plans and visions of a 6 month South American jaunt
• Flew back from Perth to Sydney - so great that the little Puppy Monster can fly with us
• Courses, post office trips for Life is Crafted orders, coaching sessions
• New work routine planning and creating project folders (i love organising!)
• Thank you letter written for lovely diary customers
• 2014 Collection being planned and the first design is being finalised

Happy 4 year Anniversary!

At the Cellar Door of...hmmm can't remember!

Braindumping Planning Session in Perth Park

Weekend Wishes

Lots of catchups to look forward to this weekend - many of them long overdue!

Catch up with Miss C & Master M

Coffee date with Miss Z

Birthday outing for friend Miss L

Catch up with trio of Uni classmates - we haven't seen each other for about 10 years

Check in to lovely hotel to celebrate our 4 year Anniversary - hello sauna and spa

Your Week

If you do a week in review or something similar, leave a link to the post in the comments below!

Make is as you wish Adventuresses,
Arienne xo

September 2013 Dreams

Dearest Savvy Life Adventuresses,
Thank you to those of you who have checked in with me as I've been MIA on the blog for a while :) I'm trying to learn that consistency is key but I've allowed LIFE and LIVING to get in the way of WRITING. tsk tsk to me!

There has been good and ....not-so-good going on in my world over the last few months.

The biggest of which was the passing of our 21-year-old Kitty - Charlie-Bear. Here is the mini farewell we did for her if you'd like to read about her life.

I've also been doing lots of courses to upskill my coaching and to help me with the big vision I have. Life is Crafted had its mid-year diary range launch and I'm doing the 2014 collection now. Wedding plans have been progressing - we have a venue now! Really looking forward to the end of February 2014. We've booked our trip to spend Christmas with my Dad in Europe and to have big family time there. And of course a million and one little and amazing things have happened too.

September 2013 Dreams

1. New Logo and Branding - some of you might now I'm in the midst of a rebrand of SSS to become Arienne Gorlach - Luxe Life Adventuress - same sentiment just updated! Can't wait to share :)
2. Life is Crafted 2014 Collection
3. New Life is Crafted Website started
4. Releasing sadness - doing some emotional work
5. Fabulous Family time in Perth - 1st time in years we are all together in one place :)
6. Celebrate 4 year anniversary with The Man
7. Design Intro Evening - I'm holding an evening event in the Sydney CBD in late October - super exciting!
8. Book park for the Wedding
9. Friend reconnection - catch up with some Uni buddies after almost 10 years!
10. Work out renovation dates
11. Stick to new routine (this is an often recurring monthly dream!)
12. Design weekend retreat - possible event with some like-minded awesome girlfriends!
13. Other's calendars - I'm working with some great gals on joint calendars
14. Wedding invitations designed and sent - I'm supposedly doing them myself! Oooooooh
15. New Editorial Calendar - so I can be here and share more!

How about you my dears? What is on your radar for the rest of the month?

To the biggest adventure of all, your life,

Arienne xo