Petit Amoir - My New Adventure!

I thought I better do a bit of a post about what I've been working on for the last 6 months. Finally on 8th September Petit Armoir was born! She has been a labor of love and I'm more than pleased with the result. 

Whilst there's still a long way to go in both renovations, website development and stock, she's looking so good and it's been flat out since opening. 

Here's what she looks like....

Street view

Front window

Signage (which I love!)

Inside

Front counter which is yet to have the logo added. Note awesome chandelier!

Kids play area complete with perspex barrier in front of TV so no breakages!

Linen from BABU & 'and the little dog laughed'

Babies

Boys & Girls sizes 2-14yrs

There's still lots to do like wallpaper the back wall, more stock to buy, advertising to organize etc. But so far so good. I'm so proud of what I've put together and I've had lots of great feedback. It makes all the long nights after working all day in the old shop worthwhile!

What do you think? 

Back to life

Life finally feels like it's getting back to normal around here. We're back to work, back to 6am starts with a toddler, back to the housework and back to paying bills. The mundane life I adored has returned.

Somehow it's a better kind of normal. There's more sharing of the load, there's more caring and there's more loving. I keep waiting for it to end but so far so good.

I feel like I can set some new goals now. The new shop is built and next on the list is the website. Do I dare start planning for our dream house? A family holiday? Another baby? Right now I think I'll start with planning the rest of the month. If we can make it through that in one peice I'll plan until Christmas and then reassess.

It's easy to get carried away in this blissful bubble. It's not totally perfect but it feels pretty damn close. And like I said, part of me is waiting for it all to end, the other part is lapping it up and enjoying all that I've missed out on in the last couple of years.

 

One day at a time......one day at a time.......

Finally! Answers!

I haven't been able to blog for the last week and a bit. It's been both due to time and just because I haven't been able to put the last week or two's events into words until now. 

Oh where to start.....

Petit Armoir is finally up and running. Not everything got done on time such as the website, wallpapering the back wall, some stock hasn't arrived yet and not everything was put into the computer by opening. But I still managed to pull off a huge grand opening and even though I was meant to close at 2pm, people were still trying to get in at 2:30pm and I didn't get out the door till well after 3pm. 

All of this was achieved despite massive personal challenges over the last 2 weeks. For anyone who's ever been married to or lived with someone suffering from anxiety and/or depression, you know what a roller coaster it can be. Every day you wonder what mood the person you love will be in. Will he be happy? Will he be sad? Will he be angry? It's been the most difficult two years of my life and over the last week it all came to a head. 

I won't go into too much detail but finally there is a sense of relief. Rock bottom was finally hit and although it's not how both he and I would like the diagnosis and realization that there was something wrong to have happened, we're both glad it did. I nearly lost him, but with some help from a wonderful medical team and friends and family, we now have a diagnosis, a treatment and a plan. There's more hope than there has ever been. 

It's no surprise that this week I feel completely flat. I've been running on pure adrenalin for so long now that it seems even though all the drama has stopped, my brain can't quite slow down. I'm craving silence. Even the tapping of the keyboard drives me crazy. It will pass. It's the waiting I hate. Time heals and all that. 

Emily is of course over the moon. She's settling more easily and happier to go to childcare knowing she has both Mummy and Daddy home. 

So a new beginning and a bright future is in store. I'm determined to quieten my mind this week and stay focused on what's important. My family.