Au Revoir Savvy Sassy She

It is time to say goodbye to this blog as its essence and core morphs into ariennegorlach.wordpress.com 

The themes will be the same, I'm just starting afresh as I've built clarity around where I want to take these messages. It is still all about life inspiration and building a community of empowered women creating lives they absolutely love.

These posts will be staying her for now - they have a place in this world.
A few of the posts that stood out here include:
Do you hate a part of yourself too?
From Darkness to Light
A Life Less Ordinary
Life is like a bus (and a box of chocolates)
Your true life vision takes courage

Why don't you join me over there now ariennegorlach.wordpress.com - it's bright and cozy :)

Make it as you wish Adventuress/Savvy Sassy She!
Arienne

Passions Ignited - My Life is Crafted World!

Many of you know I am going through a rebrand of the Savvy Sassy She to Arienne Gorlach - Luxe Life Adventuress at the moment. This site will be going through a revamp over Christmas time to bring it in line with inspiration and education around life design (yeehaa!). There will be more how-to posts and ways to become an Adventuress in the biggest journey of all...your life!

In the meantime, here's a video to share some of the passion that I have around implementing the gorgeous life you are creating.The reason behind my diary/planner line, Life is Crafted :) Enjoy!




 Make is as you wish Adventuress!
Arienne

Weeks in Review: 28 September - 11 October 2013 - Learning, Leaning & Designing

Me & Dr. Demartini

So my dears, it has been quite a productive fortnight! I guess that is what happens when you have tight deadlines and are away from your computer for a few days...

WEEK IN REVIEW

• Engagement party for friends and drop it at friend's birthday - we were spreading our cold germs everywhere - haha, no I don't actually think we were that contagious any more!
• Mass kindle book download fest - now to prioritise the readings!
• Lots of airport pick ups and drop offs - I think I could drive there and back in my sleep!
• Helped dad navigate the fun of German Embassy bureaucracy...
• Wrote Monthly Dreams post
• Wrote Goodbye Shiny Distractions post
• Post office visits and errands galore
• Booked park for wedding
• Had discussion with fabulous new website designer
• Did my month in review and month planning - i LOVE planning!
• Catch up with lovely friend to organise a collaboration
• New Zealand trip to do a Demartini course - Master Life Planning (i told you i LOVE planning!)
• Catch up with friend and LifeTyped business partner Kirsten (aka the KB in KBAG) at the Viaduct in Auckland)
• I love travelling with mum :) We got to sit in the Qantas Lounge and sip french champagne (well, I did, mum doesn't drink - I got dad's german drinking genes.)
• Wonderful catch up over Thai with Mrs T & Mr S and their little bump :)
• Bought new laptop! Now I just have to set it all up...
• Coaching sessions
• Catch up with coaching buddies
• Created timetable for Pilates friend :)
• Online shopping for my biz needs
• Printing discussions
• Lots of new planner product creation for Life is Crafted!

I love this hat and I've not worn it for ages - bit of a weird pic with my eyes, but hey...the focus is on the hat

WEEKEND WISHES

• BBQ catch up with friends
• Lots of proofing of planner products
• New website progress
• Lovely dinner with The Man if he's lucky ;)

How about you Adventuress? What was your highlight of the week and what are you looking forward to the next few days?

Arienne

xo

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

Self Care: Time for YOU!

Our lives can get really busy. We rush from appointment to appointment, squeezing our errands in between them and seeing when we can do our laundry and prepare something healthy to eat. Then we try to get to bed at a time where we will get enough sleep before we're up to get to work in the morning.

Stop this now girlfriend! Yes, we can do this for a little while but after some time we become exhausted. I know I start getting resentful of these obligations. I get irritated and almost all the enjoyment slips away.

It is better to do something before you explode. Prevention is better than cure.

Create some YOU time in amidst the busy times and you'll be able to do all the things you need to with more of a smile on your face and with a greater amount of energy.

What is on your self care list? Here are some of mine to get your ideas flowing:

• Journaling time in a cafe
• Giving myself an at-home pamper session - mani, pedi, face mask
• Getting a massage
• Indulging in a magazine together with a cup of coffee on the couch
• Doing something crafty - knitting, cross stitch or painting

What's on your list?

Make it as you wish!

Arienne xo

My May 2013 Dreams

This month is mostly about business dreams. I've already warned The Man and a few friends that I'll be pretty much in lockdown for the next 30 days. I've got a crap load of things to do for my diary/planner business.

You really have no idea what is involved until you venture into this area of production and distribution etc first-hand! But I'm truly excited. I've written a post over on Life is Crafted about how I'm kinda freaking out but at the same time knowing this is what I have to do...I love that The Man is going to be stepping up everything he already does around the house (which is heaps!) to look after me, little Zander-dog and the Charlie-Cat. Love you and thank you babe :)

I'm planning to be gentle on myself and not have too many expectations because I'll be head down bum up for most of May...

Celebrate my 32nd birthday - in a totally low key fashion this year!
Long overdue Archery session for friend's engagement present (no apples to be involved)
Get the car repaired (cracked windscreens and aircon that has a choice between off or full blast)
Make Christmas decisions
Attend real food picnic
New branding and logo for this site (maybe new website!)
Starting some facilitation training
Meet with accountant and discuss sexy biz stuff
Complete BSchool (life changing!). If you haven't already, check out Marie Forleo
Masterminding with new gal pal mistressminders
Prep for launch of new Life is Crafted range (seriously a gazillion things to do)
New LIC shopping cart
Introduce new products for LIC.
(I could go into numerous subcategories of this but I don't want to bore you...)
Start back at yoga...because it's been waaaaaaaaayyyy too infrequent...
Celebrate friend's engagement - Long overdue catch up!
Awesome Ms Y suggested a snail mail letter chain between 4 of us childhood friends that are spread out all over the place - US, Perth, Melbourne and me in Sydney - LOVE IT!

How are you adventuring into the Month ahead? Share one of your May dreams below and we can all cheer you on!

Make it as you wish Adventuress,
Arienne xo

Shoutout Sister Saturday: Zoe Lamont

Today's 'shoutout to a sister' is to my dear Zoe Lamont. Passionate about social change she's founded financial literacy organisation www.10thousandgirl.com for women around Australia to make finance more fun. Zoe has also co-founded www.futuremap.com.au bringing financial cornerstones and life planning into the workplace.

A raucous laugh and an unflinching belief in the goodness of people, Zoe sprinkles fun and positive change wherever she goes. I even quoted her in one of my Life is Crafted Planners 'Give first, love first and then watch the magic happen.'

I've done my first Audioboo (or as I now like to call it, AudioYAY) - which is just a small audio snippet if you like to hear instead of read. which you can hear below :)

listen to ‘Shoutout Sister Saturday: Zoe Lamont’ on Audioboo

Do you know a woman (personally or through their reputations!) with an amazing biz, product or story? Give them and their page a shoutout below in the Facebook post comments. I'll be doing this each week so we can all discover new and new-to-us people and ideas.

Go on over to the page now and add someone who deserves a shoutout!

Make it as you wish.
Arienne

10 Minute Trips: Gratitude

So much is coming together in my life lately. I know it is the result of the hard-ass work I've done in my inner world and the actions I have taken in the outer world but it is all still freaking AMAZING!

Amidst the cray-cray-craziness (and scariness) of some of the things I'm doing, I've had a FLOOD of wonderful things happen - from making connections with people I'll be working with in the future to money showing up out of nowhere; from people wanting to work with me to a whole bunch of peeps subscribing to my newsletter that I had no idea about; from scoring a role that will help high school student connect with entrepreneurship and make a positive impact in the world to positive reactions to my reaching out to others.

So, pack your bags Adventureess, in today's ten minute trip, I'd love for you to join in to the love-fest. Ignore for a moment some of the yukky stuff that is going on in your life and write down a list of things you are grateful for. Make that list as long as you can and just keep writing for 10 minutes!

Start with some of the obvious things you may have going on - great partner, loving mother, money in the bank.

Then look around you and see the little physical things in your life that you love - your hardworking laptop, your favourite pen, the gorgeous colour of your nailpolish.

Think about actions that have happened over the last few days - a smile you got from a stranger, one of your girlfriends calling up to say hi, your puppy waking you up with a lick to the face (and doggy breath).

Then think about the stuff we often over look - clean water, freedom to get educated, the feel on sunshine on your skin.

Just write.
You can't do this incorrectly.
Write from your heart.
Let these things put a smile on your face.
Love the crap out of all that is good.

Maybe you want to introduce this to your everyday. I love writing a few things down on my gratitude list each morning or evening. I often repeat things. Sometimes I cry from the gratitude I feel (those that know me well probably think it is more than sometimes...).

I have a lot of special things in my life. I bet you do too, maybe you just weren't as aware of all of them before....

Make it as you wish Adventuress!
Arienne xo

Week In Review: 20-26 April 2013 - Events, Like-minds & Mummy

One of the photos from my Lauren Emily Photography Shoot

Everything in my life at the moment is ramping up as all the momentum I've been building has snowballed. It is really awesome, but I'm also realising I'm ignoring certain important parts of life...Honestly, I've not gotten my heart pumping in ages and I'm finding I'm just grabbing anything easy to eat and not thinking about the nourishment (or lack thereof!) it provides to my body. If anyone has any words of encouragement or advice, shout it out sister!

You may have noticed a few changes happening around the blog and online with Savvy Sassy She. I'm starting a bit of a transition...keep your eyes peeled as my new pics, brand and message unfolds.

My week. In review.

Heard some great pitches and met some very creative entrepreneurs at LeanStartUpMachine. Sadly couldn't stay for the weekend as a great opportunity came up to be involved at...

The Greatest Gift Event. Spent the day making friends, helping out, meeting like-minds and hearing wonderful messages. The fab Nancy Georges summed it up in her Storify Story.

Sunday kicked off with a LiveAspireBlog event which I summed up here.

Mummy dearest arrived for a few days.

Posted Magical Monday: Who Do You Need to Contact?

Finalised all the paperwork for The Man's visa stuff. Being together for almost 4 years and there are already so many memories. Tried to be concise in our recollections!

Getting the house into shape for guests that stayed a few days

Printing, packing and shipping of Life is Crafted planners!

Received the photos from the shoot the other week! I'm so damn pleased :) Thanks Lauren Emily Photography!

Doggie walks with VIP guest dog Maddy along for the ride with usual suspect Zander.

Still lots of decision making

Winter veggie soup making (and I broke the brand new slow cooker...)

Berry smoothie indulgences

Business planning...

Paperwork organising

Desk clearing

Routine tweaking

Read seriously amazing, fun and actionable book, Get Rich, Lucky Bitch!: Release Your Money Blocks and Live a First Class Life
Dinner at the local 'classy' pub with The Man and one of the Guests
Delish Malaysian meal with Mummy Dearest
Session with my UK based coach Ms J- goodness she helps me so much!
Accountability session with my two amazing social entrepreneur gal pals

What is one highlight of the last 7 days ladies? Share one (or more in the comments below!).

Make it as you wish Adventuress!

Arienne xo

Shoutout Sister Saturday: Lisa Fox

There are so many amazing things going on in the world and so many gorgeous women doing them. I'm always on the lookout for great juicy finds to add to my world so I thought I'd introduce SHOUTOUT SISTER SATURDAYs over on the Luxe Life Adventuress Facebook Page  

Do you know a woman (personally or through their reputations!) with an amazing biz, product or story? Give them and their page a shoutout below in the Facebook post comments. I'll be doing this each week so we can all discover new and new-to-us people and ideas.

Go on over to the page now and add someone who deserves a shoutout!

Make it as you wish Adventuresses!
Arienne xo

Room of Inspiration - Live Aspire Blog Event - Connie Chapman & Alison Morgan

Connie Chapman, Me!, Alison Morgan

Sunday morning saw me adventuring through the sunny sidewalks of Paddington and Darlinghurst to have a morning of inspiration and play.

Jessica Nazarali of Live Healthy Simply and Ursula Williams of The Aspirer have started putting on regular events called LiveAspireBlog. Walking into the room, I was met with a brightly dressed group of ladies (I added to the gorgeous rainbow with an orange and yellow combo) that had gathered to hear the two speakers of the day Connie Chapman of ConnieChapman.com and Alison Morgan of Relauncher.com. 

These spaces are so great to connect with other women. Yes, it can be a little daunting walking in by yourself, but there are others there flying solo too and we're oh so welcoming to each other. We're all attracted there for similar reasons - personal growth, business nurturing, creating whizbang microenterprises  with heart and positive impacts and tapping into the inspiration of others. It's not too hard to find like minded soul sistas there!

We had the opportunity to mingle with the speakers before and after the speeches and had some absolutely wonderful conversations with these magic-makers and met a great group of gals!

Learnings & TakeAways

Alison Morgan - Relauncher

• Customer service is super important. When building a relationship we can  ask customers and clients what they really want and see if we can provide an offering to meet their needs
• Be flexible in the direction of your business. It should be influenced by your customers and what is going on in the world. Sometimes you start out with one type of product and service and it evolves into something  different (small aside, did you know that YouTube started out as a dating site?!).
• The first year is extremely hard. It takes a lot of work and dedication. After a while, even though there is still a lot of work to do, things just start to happen more effortlessly.
• We are totally in charge of what we do. There is no Boss we have to listen to besides ourselves! There are no boundaries - it is limitless - so we can shape and mold what we want our businesses and lives to be.

Connie Chapman - Connie Chapman 

• Always write from a place of love, passion and authenticity as it will resonate much more with yourself and your readers. Write from the heart not the head.
• Transitioning from a full time job to your business, come from a place of real intention, not financial need as it will come through to your readers. Get a part time job to satisfy your financial requirements as you transition if you feel it will help you.
• Look at creating other income streams to supplement your main focus. Programs, products and E-books are great ways to create income and give your clients what they need even when you can't coach them one-on-one.
• Ask your audience what they want.
• Don't listen to the nay-sayers. Connie says, "I'll only take advice from people that have what I want.". Love it!

It is so nice to hear about the journeys of others and be able to relate to what they've been through and get inspired by their stories and advice. Working solo means you're in your own little world for most of the day so the ability to reach out and make real world connections and hear how others have created their businesses is priceless!

If you've not already checked the ladies out, what are you waiting for?! You'll be happy you've welcomed them into your lives :) Thank you Jess and Ursula for putting on such a great morning.

Make it what you wish Adventuress!
Arienne

10 Minute Trips: The Wheel of Life - Where you at Girlfriend?

Ahoy Adventuresses! Let's go on a Ten Minute Trip into your Life!

The image above shows The Wheel of Life, a really powerful exercise. It will provide you with a birdseye snapshot of where you are in the big areas, at this moment in time.

I often use this with my clients as it provides a clear starting point of where they are at and starts to provide them with insights of where they want to go, where there is balance (or lack of balance!), where they are happy and where their priorities lay.

We don't need to get into that much detail in 10 minutes, so we'll be using this tool to see where you're at now girlfriend!

Ready to take off?! Take some action!

1. Grab a blank piece of paper and draw a circle with a dot in the middle and 11 spokes coming out.
2. Label each of the spokes as per the image above with the different sections:

• Love - Your romantic relationship. Your lovelife. How happy you are in your relationship, looking for a relationship or flying as a solo superwoman.
• Family - How your relationship is with your family? Your immediate members - siblings, parents, children.
• Social/Friendships - How are you feeling around your social activities and friendships?
• Health/Fitness - Where are you at with your health and fitness in your physical body?
• Self Image/Love - Self confidence, self esteem, self talk. How are you feeling towards yourself?
• Spiritual - Your connection to The Universe/God/Higher Power/Something Bigger
• Giving Back - Your contribution back to society - volunteering, donations, charity
• Finance - Money levels, financial understanding, savings, budget, investing
• Career/Business - your studies, job or role, your career path
• Fun/Hobbies/Interests - Do you have and spend time on things that are fun and add to your life?
• Personal Development/Growth - your growth as a whole person - emotionally, intellectually, physically spiritually
• ? - I left a question mark in case you wanted to add an area of your own that is important - ie creativity, surroundings (the physical environment you're in). 

3. Now, rate each section from 1-10. 

'1' being 'holy-moly, it's crap, a schmozzle I tells ya.' 

'10' being 'blissly divine, so freaking amazing, I'm rocking this area!'

The one is in the center of the wheel and the ten is the outer rim.

Don't over think it! Just start at one spoke and go around the sections putting an 'X' where you feel you are now. Be honest, you can't lose anything and you won't get a gold star for all 10s,  you'll get more out of the exercise with your truthfulness

4. If you want you can connect the dots and it looks like a web and you can clearly see the peaks and troughs.

It is such a simple but eye opening activity! Step one is done!

If you want to take it to the next level, start jotting down or thinking why you gave the score that you did to a particular area.

I'll go into more details next week for our next 10 Minute Trip.

Make it as you wish Adventuresses!
Arienne

Week in Review: 13-19 April 2013 - Stepping Up

My gorgeous sister Liane ;) Happy birthday!!!!

This week has been full of magic. Internal magic. I've had ahas, breakthroughs and am finally ready to be truly me and step up into my essence and spread my message. I know, I know, it sounds very deep!

Well it is and I'm not being apologetic about it. I've been on this self discovery journey for about 6 years now, but it has only been in the last week that I am really owning it. I've been to hell and back and it's been a blessing. I've put in the hard yards to shake up my life from the inside out and I'm ready to truly flourish and do what it takes to sprinkle my version of life-fabulousness on the world. I don't know all the exact 'hows' yet but I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm clear on my Why and my Path so I'm just going to delve into it and do what it takes. I'm truly not afraid to show the real me now.

Are you ready to stop letting fear control you? What can you do to get closer to the true you?

Alright, now we've started with that amazingness, on to this week in review! I feel like I have done a lot because I've 'gotten over myself' and just jumped into doing things that I might have previously felt super, super, super duper uncomfortable about (so much so that I would probably put it off and self-sabotage, end up not doing it and then beat myself up about not doing it...exhausting!).

Instagramming away for #fflovephotoaday

Dinner catch up with wonderful friend Mrs T. We ate amazing Roti in the city (mouth watering!!!!)

Attended life-changing weekend event. Perfect You. Highly recommend it for pushing forward in life. I'm ready, I'm stepping up. This is my life.

Had birthday chat with my gorgeous sister Liane. I wish I could have been there in person, but my heart was celebrating with her!

Had much needed phone catch up with the Daddy-O. Switzerland feels so far away sometimes.

Lots of catch up responses and reach outs in front of the computer. Being away from emails for two days takes a bit of follow up work!

Wrote a couple of emails that really stretched my comfort zones. But have done it with heart and positive intention and am seeing that I am dealing with this discomfort and uncertainty in a whole new way!

Lots of action taking with progressing Life is Crafted planner printing - speaking with printers and dealing with quantities and questions

Working with providing the designers with what they need for the male version of the LIC planner...

Printing out a surge of Life is Crafted orders! Yay!

Progressing The Man's next stage of visa stuff - I think he's going to be formally Australian before I am (I've been an 'Aussie' with only permanent resident status for 25 years...)

Putting finishing touches on new calendar product

Beautiful catch up meeting with truly amazing women from course I'm doing in Manly. Goddess Inspiration Loops where we are reflecting inspiration off each other and giving each other fab ideas.

Great conversation with Miss C who is inspiring me to pay more attention to my health again.

New website brainstorming

Slight facebook revamp (if you've not 'liked' me yet, go on! www.facebook.com/savvysassyshes)

How about you? What have you done this week that made you feel uncomfortable but you knew it was actually important to the big picture so you did it anyway?

Make it as you wish! Become an Adventuress in your life,
Arienne

Self Love & Sisterhood

Tara Bliss, Melissa Ambrosini, Amanda Rootsey & Jessica Ainscough
Photo credit via Earth Events

Self Love = Soul Satisfaction ~ Tara Bliss

Walking into this packed room for the event Self Love & Sisterhood took my breath away. I could feel the uplifting energy and looking around at the sea of eager faces was awwwwwwwesome! And this was before the panel ladies even stepped out onto the stage!

This is the world I have been longing for since I woke up from my sleepwalking life. Over the years I've made some amazing one-on-one connections with like minds, but seeing a sea of sisters in one place was truly encouraging - this heart-centered, authentic-life, soul-sista, make-a-difference community is truly growing. I'm excited to see what Earth Events has in store for us in this vein.

So, who were these magic ladies?
Tara Bliss from Such Different Skies, Jessica Ainscough of the Wellness Warrior, Melissa Ambrosini from Path to Wellness and Amanda Rootsey from AmandaRootsey.com.au. Amanda was one of the early followers of this blog and I got such a buzz realising that!! (hi Amanda if you're reading this!).

Me & Amanda - gorgeous girl - gorgeous dress! Photo quality - average ;)

These women are truly living their authentic lives and inspiring others to gracefully (and messily!) dive through the muck and magic and be our well, real, divine, wonderful selves.

I came away from this event inspired. Not only to earnestly practice my version of self love but to gain more confidence in putting myself out there and growing in the direction my heart desires.

The panel format was engaging and provided spontaneous wisdom and heartfelt sharing.

You know me and my love of paper and pouring my heart out onto the page, so, in typical Arienne-fashion, I took copious notes that I had a hard time deciphering! I took down words and phrases that captured me and left me nodding with my heart. I may not have gotten every word right but it the gist that counts right girls?!

In response to 'What does self love mean to you?'
Accepting and having your own back no matter what. - Jessica Ainscough (JA)
Having gratitude for what you have now - Amanda Rootsey (AR)
Everything doesn't work without it - JA
[if you don't have self love you're] Building yourself up with sticks instead of bricks - Melissa Ambrosini (MA)
When you love yourself you want to drink green smoothies....- MA
Working the Self Love Muscle - MA
One first step is awareness...see how you speak to yourself - JA
[affirmations are important in self talk] I deeply and completely love and accept myself - JA
We wouldn't be here if we'd not been so messed up - Tara Bliss (TB)
I have a choice in this moment - TB
What does the mean girl say in your head? Write it down. Look at it. No one else would talk to you like that so why do you allow it? - MA
Doing things for someone else brings self love back
No amount of darkness can ever blow out that candle of awareness and choice 

How do you practice self love?
Remembering who I am in quiet time. - TB
Meditating and connecting - MA
What I put in my body are acts of self love.
What soundtrack I choose to play in my head each day?
Getting to know myself without all the external labels (ie party girl) - JA

 How do you support the Sisterhood

Compare no more. Support and encourage others. There is an abundance in the world

Acceptance and love of where you are now

How do we make self love fun?Be gentle and forgiving of yourself
Do things everyday that you love. I've designed my life to make everyday and every moment fun - JA

Self love is not selfishness to the detriment of others. It is realising the importance of taking the time and effort in loving yourself so you can truly love and support others from the right place and from the best reasons.

I went with one of my besties and healthy influencers Miss C and caught up with Ashley - Physio and Pilates girl extraordinaire! 

The beautiful and vibrant Jessica Ainscough of The Wellness Warrior

Some of the takeaways and reminders that I am taking action on now:

• Sitting in stillness or journaling to connect with myself more regularly
• Becoming more aware of what I put into my body
• Stepping up into my own brilliance so I can shine and reflect that to the women shining around me
• Reminding myself that I chose the way I am now living my life and to allow myself more fun and lightheartedness in this.

I love Tara's quote that I highlighted at the top - Self love is equal to soul satisfaction. That's what it is all about - doing the things that make your soul truly light up.

How do you practice self-love?
Make it as you wish,
Arienne

Week in Review: 6-12 April 2013 - Photoshoots, Product Development & Passions

Oooooh, this week has been mega Savvies! Meeting so many fab people who are helping me make my dreams comes true. Also just stumbling across peeps doing magic in their own worlds and seeing how I can help them work towards the lives they want. There truly are amazing things out there when you zip past all the crap and focus on the good.

Here's what I've been up to this week. I know it looks like a lot, but if you did the same, you might amaze yourself...

Meeting with two designers for new Life is Crafted product designs - amazing peeps!

Cleaned house - mopping magic!

Got ready for a night out only to discover it was on Friday, not Saturday - #lifeblooper

Extra early wake ups due to Daylight saving time changes

Celebrated Zander's 2nd birthday. He's such a puppy delight

Online meeting with amazing international mastermind group

Business name brainstorming session for friend

Wrote raw and real post over at LIC about freaking out. This was a hard one and it took heaps of energy out of me. 

Went to 'More Money for Shoes' event, met some amazing women in real life and heard Jodie Fox of ShoesOfPrey speak.

Won gorgeous Uberfine necklace

Brainstorming new product ideas

New connections with people who will be skipping the paths ahead with me

Website ideas being developed

New branding meeting with Designer

Wrote 3 Best Qualities Post and got some great emails about it - go powerhouse women!

Contacted printers, lots of printing associated thinking and decisions

Beauty stuff

Lots of instagramming! I'm playing around with a few photo Apps. Check out my profile on on Instagram!

Mum and stepdad arrived - only for one night though! 

Prepping for a natural light photoshoot (pics to come!) with Lauren Emily Photography. Choosing outfits is sooooooo hard!

Got may hair done and then made friends with the gorgeous gal who did my makeup! Ooooh loved the pampering

Lots of timeline and project planning

2 days away from the computer doing a lot of the above!

Spending time with Lisa Fox of Open Shed - she is AWESOMEness

What was the highlight of your week darlings?

Make it as you wish!
Arienne

10 Minute Trips: What Are Your 3 Best Qualities?

I know, I know, it is hard talk ourselves up but it is so important! I went to a Self Love and Sisterhood event last week and it was such a good reminder that we need to look after ourselves so that we can make life truly work for us. If we are constantly focussing on everyone else first, we get depleted and can deviate from the path that is right and wholesome and worth while and that makes life truly fun for ourselves. But that is a whole 'nother post Sister!

I'm doing a course at the moment where we are looking at building a business around ourselves. As part of that, getting to know who you are, what you want to be and what your strengths and values are is really important.

One of the exercises was to ask 25 people around you (family, friends, colleagues and/or clients) what your 3 best qualities are.

Sure, it felt funny asking, but it was such an interesting and enlightening experience. The responses were varied but I could definitely see a theme. It was truly heartening to see what impressions people have of you that shine through!

So, are you interested in the findings?! I put the words through wordle.net to create a word cloud (that was fun playing around with the colours and word directions!)

Now I know what my strengths are so that I can put more of those qualities out into the world as I see what people appreciate and benefit from.

I really recommend doing it. It is powerful. Plus when I am feeling a bit bleh it is a beautiful reminder of part of who I truly am. What an uplift!

I challenge you to do it Savvies. Go on - what an adventure it will be! Take a few minutes and put together an email and send it out to the people in your life that you trust or admire.

It could be something along the lines of "I'm doing an exercise someone recommended to me to find out my personal strengths. Could you please let me know the 3 best qualities you see in me?".

Make it as you wish SSSs!
Arienne

Week In Review: 29th March - 5th April 2013 - Reunions, Self Love & Sisterhood

I've been missing my week in reviews and all the benefits it gives me! Here is a wrap of the past 7 days :)

Visited Corban and Blair - a beautiful Sydney-based stationery/lifestyle business. Small world as one of the co-founders is the mother of a student from the School of Nursing I used to work at. The other co-founder is the mother of a boy that The Man will start soccer coaching this week...We had good chats around products and business. Hello Universe and Synchronicity!

 Had good chats with a potential printer around paper and production

Me with Janice & Charlie in Bondi

Caught up with the Beautiful Janice, who was my roommate at Kimberly Wilson's Paris/Provence Yoga Retreat last year and her partner Charlie when they had a quick visit to Sydney from Arizona.

Been having lots of instagram-ing fun. I'm @ariennegorlach - join in the visual lovefest! Joining in with the #fflovephotoaday challenge. Love my Filofax!

Revamped my editorial calendar for Savvy Sassy She and Life Is Crafted

Family time at the park - such precious moments

Coaching session with wonderful insight-driving woman

Future creating for Life is Crafted

Reading fun, frivolous, fiction novels to rest the active mind

Product printing for Life is Crafted & LifeTyped

Post office visits

Zander walks

Bill paying

Goulash eating. Amazing food cooked by The Man

Not the best quality shot! Me and Amanda (love the dress!)

Went to an amazing event called Self Love and Sisterhood featuring some amazing bloggers discussing these two important topics. The panel had Tara Bliss from Such Different Skies, Jess Ainscough of The Wellness Warrior, Melissa Ambrosini from Path To Wellness and Amanda Rootsey of Shine From Within. I will definitely write more about this event - they were uplifting and inspiring!

How was your week?

Make is as you wish!

Arienne xo

From Darkness to Light. What you going to do today Girlfriend?

Found On

We all have those days that aren't so good. The ones where we feel low.

It is okay girl. Things will get better. You may not see the light right this minute but trust me - you will see the sunshine again. It may take time and it will take some effort on your behalf. But when you turn that corner, it will feel even better than before because you know what the darkness was like.

We may or may not know the reasons. If it is fleeting, the Why may not matter.

If it is not so fleeting, talk to someone. Reach out. I'll bet that at the core it has something to do with not being who you really are. Dig down darling, the answers are all there. Ask yourself questions. Work out what truly makes you happy. Your joy is no one else's responsibility but yours. You owe it to yourself to explore what makes you tick. It is a journey, a process, a never-ending one. But it is a path that is so rewarding. The start is the hardest. It does get easier but takes effort nonetheless. I'm travelling down that road and am so grateful to be on my way rather than how I was before I started. I am happier, healthier, more real, more in love, more appreciated...more me.

Don't forget to enjoy the journey along the way. Your life is made up of days. Make everyday something real. Something wonderful. Make a memory. Turn a corner. Laugh at yourself. Call that friend. Give yourself permission. Help that guy. Get to you know more about you. Take a photo. Wear that dress. Ask for that raise. Resign. Read that book. Send that email. Forgive yourself. Forgive your mum. Forgive him. Go to that yoga class. Love yourself. Say thank you. Go after that goal. Say yes. Say no. Listen to that song. Put on your red lipstick and dancing shoes. Live.

I sat down with the intention to write a completely different post. This is what came out instead. Did one of you need it? Maybe I did...

What are you going to do today girlfriend?

Make it as you wish,
Arienne

Feeding Inspiration Into My World

What a way to start the day!

This morning, I kicked the day off with a dose of inspiration and connecting with like minds. Every month, Vibewire and the Powerhouse Museum put on FastBreak, a pre-work morning event and breakfast with 5 presenters speaking for 5 minutes on the month's topic.

Today was on the topic of Craft (close to my heart because of Life is Crafted!). It was five entrepreneurs discussing their take on Craft and Crafting. I always take something away from these sorts of events. Whether a re-determination to take action, a specific thing to do or inspiration to fuel my work and my being.

The pic above was of the first speaker, Rupal Ismin of Andable. Andable is a wonderful online marketplace with a difference - you can buy 'products directly from indie sellers in Australia and around the world. 
10% of every sale goes to fund a micro loan (or 'small business loan') to a person in need in a developing country.'

I've had my Andable account created for a while now, I just need to start stocking my shop there. This morning reminded me to get my Life is Crafted diaries and products organised so I can list them! Meeting Rupal after the presentation was also a treat. I am always interested in the people and personalities behind the scenes of businesses I'm drawn to.

Then I rounded it off with a coffee meeting with my weekly mastermind posse - two kickass women doing wonderful things in the world with their social enterprises. As one of them said - it was 40 minutes of Goosebump goodness going around. It is such an honour to have my path growing alongside theirs and to be along for the journey!

Sprinkling inspiration into your everyday is super important to keep you heading in the direction you want. The good news is that it is not hard to do. Here are 5 ideas:

1. Find and attend events in your area that have inspiring speakers and attendees.
2. Find a blog to read that inspires you to be or do more.
3. Make a regular date with people in your world that uplift you.
4. Take a walk and find the awe and wonder in the everyday things that surround you.
5. Connect to your dreams and goals. Have a daily reminder of the why behind what you are doing to push you forward.

How do you feed inspiration into your world?

Make is as you wish,
Arienne

Goals? Resolutions? Just Have Some!

Having a direction in life is very important to me. It gives purpose to my everyday. It gathers my thoughts, gives me a reason to get up each morning and puts a skip in my step!

Part of this overall picture is having goals. Little goals. Big goals. Goals that will help me make a difference. Goals that will help me live a better life for myself and those around me.

Writing them down is a big part of the steps towards achieving them. So go and write!

At the end of the day, it is about having a focus and steadily working towards, enjoying the process along the way, making my life 'bigger' and bringing me personal satisfaction!

This great infographic was sent to me via someone at OnlineEducation.net and I just had to share.

What do you think? Do you have goals? Are they helpful? What are you working towards?

Make it as you wish SSSs!
Arienne xo

February 2013 Dreams & Behinds The Scenes Update!

Dearest Savvies,
Well, I've turned a corner. I've found a really tangible avenue to channel my passion and energy into. You may have noticed I've not posted a lot here recently. The reason is I've started Life is Crafted. I believe diaries, organisers and planners (or whatever you'd like to call them!) is the basis of lifestyle design.

What you make time for and schedule into your days becomes your life. The pages I've created for Life is Crafted help with inspiration, creativity, productivity and lists for reflection and planning.

Savvy Sassy She is the bigger picture of making life what you want it to be while the products of Life is Crafted is an implementation of it. I've also co-launched LifeTyped which is a manifestation of celebrating your life's moments in gorgeous typographic art.

Anyways, I just wanted to explain what has been going on behind the scenes!

I've done a lot in the last few months, but to draw a line in the sand here are my February Dreams...

Personal

1. Plan trip to Perth - work and social
2. Celebrate little sister's 18th birthday! She's not my daughter but she makes me feel old!
3. Celebrate the wonderful other sister's return to Oz from a few years in the UK
4. Celebrate the Valentine's sentiment on a different day with The Man (we won't be together on the 14th!)
5. Start Healthy Habits Project - deets to come
6. Workout plan to reach health goal on the 1st March 2013
7. Discuss Family Food Blog with youngest sister
8. Look at Christmas Flights to have a snowy European Christmas

Professional

1. Plan personal and professional projects for 2013
2. Create personal branding document
3. Work on Business routines
4. Organise office workflows
5. Release FamilyTyped and RomanceTyped for LifeTyped
6. LifeTyped Etsy Listings
7. Life is Crafted Etsy Listings
8. Create and implement blog plans
9. Create business plan for Life is Crafted
10. List product sections for sale
11. Work on product and production development
12. Do full computer backup
13. Enjoy the business!

What are one or two of your February 2013 plans SSSs?

Make it as you wish!

Arienne