OOOH, so exited! Another daily, and this one's from my sweet, sweet friend Benita, who graced my e-zine last month with her TOTALLY awesome inspiration board. Here's how she spends her crazy busy day! Thanks, Benita!!!

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6.05 Woke up, had a shower, made breakfast. Ate while watching the news on TV. Made Wille (my 13 year old son) breakfast and woke him (Martin left at 5 am this morning poor soul). Did the dishes but didn’t have time to make the beds.

7.30 Went to catch the bus to go to work. Weird weather, freezing on Saturday, warm yesterday and cold again this morning. Dirty bus. Sat right behind the driver like an old pensioner.



8.20 Arrived at the office. Got my morning fix of absolutely disgusting coffee and went upstairs to check my e-mails, read my favourite blogs and make today's to do list.

The rest of the morning I spent choosing colors for new packaging for one of our brands, checking out new samples which arrived by UPS from China and communicating by e-mail with some of my suppliers in mainland China and Hong Kong. This needs to be done in the morning because of the big time difference.

I work as the visual merchandiser in the marketing department of the company and as we do a lot of business in China I need to be ahead of time [all the time] due to long lead times. At the moment I’m finishing this year's spring and fall campaigns and some other small campaigns in between. I’m also working on Christmas and have started on next year's Valentines Day- and Easter campaigns. At times it get a bit confusing. In my office it’s basically Christmas all year around together with hearts, bunnies, eggs and spring flowers…

11.30 Spent part of my lunch hour doing some errands in the nearby shopping center. Got cat food for Mini and Bonus. They’re pretty picky and only want the good stuff with lots of gravy J. Went back to the office, had a yogurt and tried to decide my etsy shop banner. I’m really excited to open my little shop! I’ll start off by selling some screen printed cushion covers with our signature cat designs and will add more later. Hopefully the shop will be up and running within a few days.



12.30 Back to work. Had a couple of meetings with colleagues regarding how to display some of their items and what types of give-away items I should get for them. I go to the trade fairs in Hong Kong and Canton in China once a year to source for wrapping, decorations and promotional items. After the fairs I get zillions of samples and then I suggest certain items for certain campaigns but sometimes the product managers have ideas of their own and I try my best to find the perfect thing for them.

14.00 Marketing meeting. We were told the results of the Valentines Day campaign and discussed coming events. By this time I’m on my third cup of the ghastly coffee…

15.55 Got a phone call from the assistant of a casting agent who’s considering our humble abode as location for a commercial shoot next week. He came over before the weekend and took some photos but apparently he didn’t take one of the bedroom they were considering using so he needed to get back in and shoot some more. I couldn’t get hold of Wille so I had to rush out of the office and go home to meet the guy. Missed the bus by one millisecond but managed to get home before he arrived so I could make the bed. I almost always make the bed before I leave in the morning but it figures that I didn’t today of all days…



16.20 He came, took his photos and went and I sat down at the computer and worked on my shop. Everything is basically ready, I just need to take a photo of my first item, add the description and hey presto! The photo will have to wait until tomorrow though because it’s getting dark.

I uploaded the photos I took on my way to and in the office and made the mosaics for Erin. I love the mosaic maker! It’s so much fun and photos which are boring on their own can look good together with others.

18.30 Put on my favourite fleece and slippers and spent some time with Wille and Martin, had dinner (ham and cheese tortellini with a glass of milk), watched a decorating show on TV and read a few pages in Amy Butlers Midwest Modern. Got Wille’s gear ready for tomorrow. His class is ice skating in the morning and bowling in the afternoon so there were a few things to get together.

Took some photos of Mini conveniently lying in front of her portrait cushion on our bed and cuddled with her and Bonus.

21.00 Back on the computer, making the last mosaic and checking in on my Flickr page. I’m amazed at Flickr… I uploaded my fist photo on December 12th and have had an unbelievable response. It’s pure joy every day! I could never have imagined that our little home would be so interesting to others but ourselves. I mean, we love it, obviously, but that so many others would appreciate it and say such nice things is truly amazing. Besides all that I’ve made wonderful friends… like Erin.

22.35 I’m getting tired… sent my last mosaic off and did my little tour around the house, turning out lights, straightening out the couch, tucking in the cats and wiping the kitchen counter so it looks good in the morning.

23.20 Went to bed and did a few crosses in my cross word puzzle, put my orange ear plugs in and my pink eye mask on. Lovely sight I’m sure…Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz