Apple Tart

Food for Thought

Received this from a friend recently!

You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus: 

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die. 
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? 

Think before you continue reading.

This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. 

You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back.

However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again. 

YOU WON'T BELIEVE  THIS...

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply  answered: 'I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.'

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to 'Think Outside of the Box.'

Food for thought really!

Tips from Canberra

For those of us who have watched the Black Saturday disaster from the sidelines wishing we could feel less hopeless and do something USEFUL, please find attached a great article printed in the Canberra Times on February 11th.
Liz Tilley, a survivor of Canberra's terrible fires in 2003, has written a piece including advice for us all, survivors and observers alike.  Full of intensely practical tips, on what little items survivors need and hwo to rebuild the relationships as much as the houses and their contents.  It's worth the few minutes it will take you to read.

Download Tips from a bushfire survivor is a Word version of the article.

The direct Canberra Times link is a little harder to read but just work around the links and ads that are inserted early in the story.

Don't forget you can also connect with me by following me on Twitter.  @Chris_pinkapple

Drinking WILL Help

For those of you who enjoy the odd tipple, I'm here to tell you that having a couple of drinks can help the Bushfire Appeal.

Prospect Wines at Williamstown are running a Bushfire Appeal fundraiser on certain wines ordered before the 23rd February.

I love win/win stuff, so why not get you wine order in and assist the appeal at the same time.

The order form is here BUT don't forget, you've gotta get your order in before Monday next week! Download Bush Fire Relief Fund 2009 Order Form _2_

Get to it drinkers!

YOU'RE INVITED to The Phoenix Lunch

 If you're  a Woman then Pink Apple, Creating Order from Chaos and Mentor Maestro have got a FANTASTIC event for YOU.

What's more, all of the funds raised from the many prizes, auctions and donation envelopes will go to support the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal 2009,

You see we're all Melbourne women, feeling powerless to change the devastation that last weekend's fire storms had on people living in Victoria. 

Many of those killed and left homeless are from the very outskirts of our city.  Most people know someone who has lost loved ones, friends, or property in these areas.

So rather than just feel powerless, we decided to take action and RAISE MONEY amongst our favourite people - other Women.

We're inviting ALL women (businesswomen and stay-at-home mums) to join us for The Phoenix Lunch.

About The Phoenix Lunch

NEXT THURSDAY 19th February 2009
from 12-2.30pm

AT Box Hill Golf Club,
202 Station St
Box Hill Victoria

Cost $35 to cover cost of 2-course meal and wine and tea/coffee (paid in advance)

RSVP TUESDAY 9am 17th February  (YES BOOK RIGHT NOW)

All enquiries can be sent to ThePhoenixLunch@gmail.com

Bookings

There are two registration options and three payment options.  You need to book AND pay.
To pay (ESSENTIAL so we have numbers for our venue)

1. Direct Debit $35 to
   BSB 013 – 247, Account No 4870 58027
   Whitespaces Management and Marketing Services P/L
   PLEASE mark payment as Phoenix and ADD YOUR NAME.
   (The $35 for meal etc. Fundraising is with donations, raffles, auction etc)
2. Credit Card
   (Complete your details on the attached Registration form and fax to 03 9877 2138 or scan and attach to email at ThePhoenixLunch@gmail.com)
3. Credit Card Phone Transaction
   Ring Janet Powell on 0411 091 419 to complete your transaction by phone.

To Register (ESSENTIAL so we can match you and your payment) 

1. Complete the Online Registration (I'm no geek, so it's not very pretty but it's functional)
2. Complete the PDF Registration Form and fax it back to 03 9877 2138  
   Download The Phoenix Lunch PDF

What's In It For You?

Well apart from lifting some of that sense of powerlessness and warming the cockles of the heart because you've made a difference ...

There is:

• Some Networking Development led by networking expert Brenda Thomson of Networking World.  We'll all learn how to use our BEST WOMANLY SKILL - networking.  That's to our advantage as both businesswomen with products and services out there in the marketplace, and as consumers seeking great products and services.
• Finding out about the amazing array of women's services from the inserts in your take-away goodies bag.
• Lots of Fun, Laughter, and the very important ESWB (Exchanging of Secret Women's Business, of course!!!)  It should be good for meeting new people, finding new ways to make our lives easier AND a bit of HOT gossip as well!

How Will That Help Bushfire Victims?

A Senior CFA Representative will give us some insights on what lies ahead for our state and where our donations will need to be funnelled.

We'll get you opening your purses/wallets for Donation Envelopes (receipts will follow), Auctions, Raffles, Door Prizes, Spot Prizes.  All these prizes are being generously donated!  (Can you Help?)

IF you feel the need to bring goods for the victims (Red Cross tell us money is best) then please limit the donations to new-only, female, health/personal products and cosmetics and bring them along on the day.  There’ll be a box for those donations.

So Are You Coming?

We want to fill our venue with 150 talking women.  Can you help us?  Can you MAKE TIME to join us at this important charity event?

Even if you live interstate, you could still join us.  ;-) Why not consider it?  The Cause is worth flying for and worth every flying dollar!

Can YOU Help Rebuild Communities in Ashes?

A Community in Ashes

For overseas readers of this blog, you'll know Victoria (Melbourne is where I live) has been beset by devastating bush fires in this last week. 

While the death toll is officially 181 the real toll will definitely be much higher!  1800 houses have been lost and 7000 have no home.

As I looked at the blood red sun going down last night and rising again this morning, I join other Victorians in fearing that the returning heat of this coming week might mean we have more bushfires to deal with. 

The fire front is still massive but better contained.

Like you, Pink Apple and my colleagues Angela Esnouf of Creating Order from Chaos, and Janet Powell of Mentor Maestro have been horrified by the impact of the bushfires.

Like all of you, we felt powerless.

Like all good small business people, we decided to take action.

How?

Well what else but get women together to talk to each other?  We've called it The Phoenix Lunch.  A Women's Networking Lunch in Support of the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal 2009.  

Our target is 150 bums on seats.  (That's how many the venue will hold.)

Can YOU help?

• Can you come along to enjoy a great lunch, donate some money, meet some marvellous women, win some stunning prizes, and help reach the 150 target? 
• How many of your contacts can you share this invitation with?
• When you think about all the people you know, can you ask any of your contacts for any of the things on our wish list?(see below)
• Can you or your business offer any goods or services to the prize pool? 
• Do you or your contacts know any entertainment or sporting celebrities (especially women) who could help raise the profile of The Phoenix Lunch?  (We desperately NEED a professional media person to MC the event!)
• Are you interested in promoting your business with marketing materials or offers to be included in the guest’s goodies bag?   If you can’t attend, but you'd like to market to these women, then you’ll need to donate $50 to the Bushfire Appeal.  (Attendees and donors of prizes with a value of more than $50 can provide promotional material for free.)
• all enquiries or offers can be sent to ThePhoenixLunch@gmail.com

Our Wish List

• A Weekend Getaway
• Wines
• Jewellery
• Women's Clothing
• Mobile Phones
• Electrical goods
• Leathergoods
• Books and CDs
• Office goods and equipment
• Business coaching and Marketing Consulting
• Dining Vouchers
• Pamper packs (including massages, day spa passes, facials, manicures and pedicures)
• Personal Services (personal training, personal concierge services etc, household cleaning, )
• ANYTHING that might be appealing to women or women in business!

For Details

...of The Phoenix Lunch and to book check out the details here.

Thriving not just Surviving

“If we had no winter,
the spring would not be so pleasant; 
if we did not sometimes taste of adversity,
prosperity would not be so welcome.”

                                                                                    - Anne Bradstreet

I've spent my morning reading Paul McCarthy's The Survival Trap: Why some Businesses Thrive and Others Struggle to Survive in Tough Economic Times.

No matter what your perspective and how much knowledge you have, doing some motivational or professional reading/development will always give you at least ONE insight that you hear differently and makes you take action.

That's happened this morning.

How come?

Well I was just doing what I thought was an obligation.  Doing some preliminary reading before I went to a meeting.

I was (and am) looking forward to hearing Paul McCarthy speak at the Manningham Business Network's monthly Open Meeting, the first for 2009.  As a member of MBN, I have heard some interesting speakers and was a strong advocate of getting Paul to speak. 

McCarthy is a terrific speaker - inspiring but on a really practical level!  (I need to hear some "hows" along with my inspiration, or it won't get me far.  And Paul delivers that in spades!)

In fact his is one of the few monthly newsletter emails that have survived my recent RUTHLESS culling of newsletter subscriptions that FLOOD my Inbox!  (Come on you know what I mean.  Have you checked how many you're subscribed to?)

So because the meeting's coming up and I am a committed and interested member, I wanted to do Paul the courtesy of being ready.  At last this morning, I've got around to reading this new e-book The Survival Trap.

And of course, I've had my aha moment. 

Bizarrely enough it came when McCarthy started talking about failure.

When people ask me about how I have achieved the success I’ve enjoyed in my life, I know what they really want is a list of the steps they should take.  The truth is, I could boil down the essence of success into two words – Fail faster. I know you might think it sounds crazy, but this one step can have the greatest impact on the sort of results you produce in your life.

Now, unlike my eager little readers here, I confess I have the occasional moment of self-doubt!

I had one recently and I was throwing that word "failure" about a bit in conversation with my ever-helpful and endlessly-challenging coach Karen Wallace.  She jumped on it from a great height and gave my backside a bit of a kick.  A kick that I felt again when  I read those words this morning. 

I realized I just hadn't been failing fast enough to get me moving. 

Those words got me so motivated that I stopped reading and came here to write and share with you the opportunity to read the book and get your aha moment faster!

McCarthy is offering this book for fr*ee.  It's about 80-ish pages in big font and VERY easy reading.  You even get a chance to win some coaching from him.   So there's no loss in this.  It's taken me about 45 minutes to read - but yes I am a fast reader!  Even so, you'll hardly be taxed by reading it, and WILL get an aha moment no matter how extensive your experience of business or personal development is!

Go on! Go to it!

And if you need another quote to get you thinking, here it is:

“I believe that I was lucky to have suffered. Some people don’t realise that in suffering there is great potential, because if you are deprived for any reason, politically, socially, financially, or otherwise, and if you set your mind in the right direction, you will find that the only way to survive is for you to excel, by being better.”
                                                    - Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

See you at the Open Meeting on Tuesday?

If not, till next time ...

Chris

________________________________________________________________________________________
Chris Owen is Pink Apple.  At Pink Apple, Chris shares the Secrets of Successful Relationships.  She's a co-author of Save Our Christmas Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual; and a regular contributor to The Calm Space, Joyful Jubilant Learning, and You! the member's magazine for Real Mums.

Sex and Pregnancy

If you and your partner are pregnant (yes it's a couple thing not just a woman thing) then you'll be pleased to hear how important it is to continue to build intimacy through your sexual relationship during pregnancy. 

Of course, not all women get that amazing sexual drive in pregnancy, and for some the thought of sex is a bit ho-hum. But it's worth perseverance ladies, it's a critical time in BOTH your lives.

As your baby will impact on your relationship, filling up the emotional love tank while you're pregnant is a good idea.  There'll undoubtedly be a period where that will be difficult in the early stages of a new baby so it's super important to look after the relationship while you have some time.

Lovemaking is one way to do so.  Over at Momlogic, there is an excellent article full of advice from an obstetrician about some of the practical issues about sex and pregnancy.

Friends With Benefits.

Ahhhh!  That got you in didn't it? 

Well I hate to disappoint you but there's no plan to talk here about the noughties definition of "friends with benefits"!

One of the joys of being in business however is finding other business owners with whom you just click and friendships develop.  I have many business friends who's businesses I may never be able to refer to but who have become firm friends.

It's then even better when your businesses have some synchronicity and you can work together on projects, send clients to each other, or even just help each other with some brainstorming for your next project!  You both want the best for the other's business. 

The best moment is when that disgraceful little demon of self-doubt wriggles under the security fence and gives you a raspberry as well as eats away at your pile of confidence stores.

What's that got to do with good friends? 

That's the time they give you a good shake, (well not literally normally) and remind you of all you've done for them and others.  Then they whirl you round, and with a slap on the back they send you out to chase the demon off the premises, and then help you block up the gap under the fence!

One of my fellow business women and now good friends is Angela Esnouf from Creating Order From Chaos. 

Recently she ran a 7-day Clutter Challenge during National Organising Week.

Well not only did it get me off my backside and into my shoe shelves (see Comments), her simple baby-step ideas have had me nibbling away at other tasks around the house ever since. 

A drawer gets a quick declutter as I look for something.  The spice rack was half-checked for past-their-used-by spices while I cooked the dinner the other night!  I'll get to the rest next time I have to stand near the stove for a bit. 

Now only Angela's newsletter subscribers got the inside running on this great decluttering challenge.  LIke many of us Angela tries out her new ideas on her subscribers.  I know I've encouraged her to make this into some kind of saleable product and so have many others!

So if you want to feel like you're making progress against the clutter bug, I strongly recommend a visit and a sign up at Creating Order From Chaos.  She's got a finger on the pulse of making decluttering simple and easy!  It's like a breath of fresh air.  Just like it is when she walks in with her ever-smiling face and sits down for a cuppa and a chat!

Not only is she organised, but she's also diligent at keeping up her blog commitments.  (As opposed to some tarts we could name!)  So a short sharp couple of paragraphs appear on her blog most days!  (Even while she swanned around Europe a few months ago!)

She's definitely a good influence - and she lives around the corner!  What more could a tart ask for?

Chasing Feathers and Appreciating Other's Abilities

Sometimes you just gasp when you see someone's work that is truly exquisite.

While I have always loved a good book of my own, I'm famous for giving books as gifts to children.  My Three Sons (MTS), the nieces and nephews, and now the next generation of nieces and nephews (I REFUSE to describe myself as a GREAT-aunt!), all receive books for presents on a regular basis.

Ever since MTS were little I've relished the chance to go hunting in quality children's book stores which stock works that will enliven children's imaginations.  I can still list off a pile of stand-out books that I can recall reading to my kids at least 25 years ago.  Hairy MacLary from Donaldson's Dairy,  Where the Wild Things Are, and In the Night Kitchen were all frequently on the reading list at bedtime.  I could NEVER say no to any of those!  I LOVED them too!

Even now, I'm always on the lookout for quality children's literature.  And part of what makes great children's books is the ability of the illustrator.

When a friend showed me the recently-published children's author Jodi Blokkeerus' book, Chasing Feathers I gasped and the hairs on my arms stood up with sheer wonder at her amazing illustrative talents. 

Exquisite pen and ink drawings with wonderful hints of muted colours showed off an amazing litte unique creature called Yogi. In fact Blokkerus' book Chasing Feathers is a little reminiscent of Sendak's Wild Things both in the style of drawing as well as her amazing creatures.  As someone with little imagination in that direction, I SOOOOOO admire people who can create such visual delights.

Enough from me just go to Jodi's website and buy a copy of this book for your favourite child.  I'm going to.  At AUD$15.00 plus postage, This is a STEAL!  Go NOW!

You! For Deserving Mums

Another online magazine that women shouldn't miss, is You!  Published by Amanda Cox aka Mad Cow of the Real Mums Club, the magazine is aimed at Gen X and Y mums as they juggle all the many aspects of life including parenting, organising, relating and staying SANE!

Mad Cow has an amazing ability to get important and empowering messages of well-being across to her readers with a slightly warped and occasionally twisted humour.  I never fail to cackle as I read her!  But you also get her points and they get you thinking.

The Old AppleTart shares her wisdom in this two-monthly online magazine as well, as the resident Relationship Expert writing at Relationship You!

The Current edition of You! is also just published, so why not go and check out Real Mums?  The magazine is for Club members and membership at $45/year is a real benefit to those mums who need to see how important they are and how normal!

Amanda describes Member Benefits as :

Aside from Real Mother's Club being all about you, there are many benefits to being a Member of the Club.

Member Benefits inlcude:

• annual subscription to You!, delivered to your e-mail Inbox bi-monthly
• an exclusive Real Mother's Club gift on joining
• access to Members Only boards on the Retell Therapy Forums
• your very own yourname@realmums.com.au email address
• Real Mums and/or Club avatars for use on the Retell Therapy Forums
• access to Members Only events & discounts to Real Mums hosted events
• discounts on the Real Mums Retail Therapy online shop
• Members Only competitions
• exclusive Member Only special offers and giveaways
• exclusive Real Mother's Club merchandise
• the opportunity to ask questions of our experts
• the opportunity to tell your story
• access to our Members Only Real Mother's Gift Clubs (coming soon)

What are you waiting for ... Join the Club now!