A yawn is a silent scream for coffee

I saw this quote on the blackboard at 623 in the City and thought it was so cool I had to blog it!

I was looking for a quote to put on my new chalkboard, and this is perfect! I was kindly gifted a chalkboard from Julia at Chalkd, a Nelson company that makes them. Check out her creations here. I chose a cloud shape because I quite often have my ‘head in the clouds’ and it also represents dreams.  Did you know that if you dream about fluffy white clouds it signifies inner peace, spiritual harmony and compassion?

So, now every time I yawn in the office, can I can make myself a cup of coffee?

Coffee is one of my vices, and I think 623 do the best. I love their dark roast beans.  I also love their loyalty card that gives me a free coffee once I’ve purchased 6.

I keep going back too because every $100 I spend at 623, I get a $10 voucher. The menu is varied and well priced and they have even cheaper cabinet food. Last time I was there for lunch, I ordered the chicken stack and Boyd devoured a BBQ chicken and bacon pizza. Both were delicious.

Good food. Good atmosphere. Friendly staff and two locations, 623 in the City and 623 on The Rocks at Tahuna. Join Club 623.

I’m trying to cut down on the amount of coffee I drink as I’m sure I drink way too much!  So today I bought a can of Nestle Drinking Chocolate. I’m going to replace my final coffee of the evening with a hot chocolate.  I’m hoping this will help me sleep better, without the stimulation of coffee at night time.

Chocolate is also one of my vices.  Is it ok to replace one vice with another? 🙂

 

Beginnings .. the theme

 

Beginnings always start best with a cup of coffee in hand

How exciting!  My very first blog that I am setting up for my SCM501 course.  That’s Social Media 501 at NMIT.  I’m doing it to gain a better understanding of Social Media (and to put a strategy and plan together for my business) but it also counts as 15 credits at Level 5 for either the BIT or BCom qual’s.

Lots of questions to ask.  What am I going to blog about?  Who is my audience?  What theme will best represent me?

There were 158 free WordPress themes to choose from!  I spent a LONG time looking.  The two most important things about a blog are the name (which can’t be changed) and the theme (which can be changed).   Choose wisely.

I previewed lots of themes and activated some.  They all looked pretty good in the examples, but weren’t just what I was looking for.  I had a search on the web for Coffee themes (yes, I’m a coffee nut!) and found a few, so I may upload one of these later on (if I can figure out how).

I wanted my online presence to match that of my ‘real life’ and therefore the theme needed to be simple and uncluttered (I don’t even have pot plants so I definitely wasn’t going to have them for my blog!).

The visibility of the name and tag line was important to me, as it introduced my blog.  I wanted it to be readable, not too small and I didn’t want the heading in capitals, I thought keeping it lower case made it look more friendly and interactive.  So I had what I thought was a good idea of what theme would suit, but it still took a while to find one!

There was one that I really liked the look of, but it was more suited to blogging about Travel.  Then there was the Choco theme, how cool would that be to have your theme named after chocolate?

I slept on it.  The next day I woke up and decided I was over thinking it.  And went back to basics.  I asked myself the same questions again.  What am I going to blog about?  Who is my audience?  And importantly, who am I?

Simple won out.  I chose the Chateaux theme.  How appropriate as Chateaux means Castle in French and this blog will be my online home this year.

I love the white background.  It has a very simple layout and I have set it up with easy access to posts, comments and categories.  It has a large image area, that allows me to set the tone for my blog.

The image is how I see life.  My husband Boyd says I look at everything through rose coloured glasses and that I flit through life (and problems) like a butterfly. I looked for an image that would reflect this.  Hence the colourful butterflies and flowers.  I don’t like to feel hemmed in, and this image is so light and open that every time I look at it I go to a completely different place.  It really reflects the way we live in New Zealand, that lovely freedom we have with open green spaces and plenty of nature.  I love the road stretching out into the distance as this indicates journeys I have not yet taken.

I am really looking forward to further work on my Blog and am sure it will progress naturally as I go through the course.  You never know, my theme may change as I evolve!

And finally, working the French Theme, a plus tard (see you later!)

PS.  I have since changed my blog theme, read about why here.

The Chateau Theme