great week.  not so good weekend.

Move it Monday.  So...all week I ate small meals, five a day, exercised each morning, walked in the evening, went up the stairs with my squishy booty instead of asking my kids to for me, and it was working!  By Thursday I was down another 4 pounds!  yay, right?

Well, then Thursday night I found Noodles and Co. on the internet.  If you haven't eaten there find one and go now...just get a small!  Mike and I then and there knew where we were going for our Friday night date.  I was so excited.  We had put Noodles and Co. in our GPS a number of times hoping to find it only to discover that the closest one was about 90 miles away.  Bummer.  Now!  We are so happy to find out there is one just 20 miles away. 

So all day Friday i was looking forward to Noodles and Co. ...so much so that my day got all out of order and I didn't eat my 4 small meals through out the day (okay, maybe it wasn't just me dreaming out my dinner at Noodles and Co...maybe I just had a hectic day...) so by the time we arrive at Noodles and Co. you would think I haven't eaten in a week.  I order the regular Japanese Pan Noodles and some potstickers (both of these dishes are way too good).  For a little bit of exercise (I did say LITTLE) we went miniature golfing and the batting cages (very fun!).  Since we'd worked up quite the appetite from that we went to Krispy Kreme for 2 donuts.  Well...the weekend just went downhill from there.

And now, all of my discipline and hard won weight loss from all week has been brought down to 2 pounds of loss.  I know, I should be grateful I didn't put back on all of my weight with that food this weekend.  But really, I'm just bummed that it was so easy to fall back into old habits.  i'm really wanting to make some permanent and lasting changes here.

So...I've realized that I need to stop getting to the end of the week and thinking, Hey, I've done such a good job a little of this and a little of that is well deserved.  Because really, what I deserve is to feel great.  And I felt a lot better when I wasn't eating a bunch of crappy food.  Seriously, I drank some sprite, a hot dog, and a few chips on Saturday night (I am not a pop person but couldn't find any water around) and the next morning I woke up with completely swollen hands from all of the sodium in what I'd had the night before.  I could barely bend my fingers.  Crazy.

So really, when the weekend arrives I'll feel better if I just stick to what is making me feel good.  It also makes exercising on Monday a lot easier.  It was much harder to run today than it's been so far...I think it has to do with what I ate!  Eating junkn is not a gift or a well deserved whatever...it makes you feel miserable at some point...and it makes those two steps forward that you took during the week end up being one step back.  That's no fun.

So here's to a great week...and an even better weekend.

How did you do?

good. LIFE.

real. LIFE.

I've been a little hesitant to post my house because even though I LOVE IT!!! I haven't given it a home makeover treatment since moving in.  I have all kinds of things that I'd like to do but having 5 other people who need things that have to do with money and time my house is kind of on hold.  I've gotten to set up most rooms and I'm loving living here and the way it's looking even though I've not gotten to do any painting or official decorating...it's already feeling like home.

So...here is my not finished house that is starting to feel like home...

Above is a vintage postcard I found at an antique store (okay...I am soooo loving the amount of flea markets and antique stores here...those so were NOT in abundance back west...I'm in heaven.).  I think that this vintage postcard totally sums up the way I'm feeling about life, business, love, and what is important. It's funny and "there's a deeper meaning in that"---to quote 'Much Ado About Nothing'. 

I'm also showing you my very messy inspiration board that is already very full of fun stuff I've cut from magazines and gotten from catalogs.  It's stuff I love...and I want to see how it all comes together on my board.  I'm interested in what path a room may end up taking as it evolves with me adding and taking away from my deco/inspiration file.

A home really is a process for me not an event.  It will take a long time for me to add this piece, find that perfect lamp, discover the awesome sofa that marries retro, eclectic, and modern lines all into one, and the right color of hardwood flooring.  Life is all about the day to day, the details of the moments, and the fun relationships.  I want what I bring into my home to mean something wonderful that shows all of those things...so until then I'll just be doing a little here and a little there.  

Oh!  And we have a great penisula (it's much bigger than it looks in these pics) that the kids sit at every morning and eat breakfast on one side while I make their sack lunches on the other side.  I love it!  The stools we have right now though are really too big (the one Gracie is sitting in) and I would like some that don't have a back.  I'm thinking I would love these retro/vintage stools in ocean color! (click here)  What do you think?

Take a peek...

daily. LIFE.

to have or not to have.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to have a Business 101 workshop that will be one day when I come out to Utah.  My Business 101 workshop includes:

how to set up your studio in an way that workflow flows

all of your paperwork and client information is efficient and complete

how to keep up with dates and scheduling

financials

having a great staff (even if it's just one person)

balancing life and business

and so much more...

If you're interested please email the studio at davina@davinafear.com.  I need to know if you'd like to attend asap!

business. LIFE.

paint.

Yes.  This is my new studio space...in my house.  I'm sure many of you are saying, "But you said moving your studio out of your home was the best thing you've ever done."  Too true!  It was.  I've also said, "Put it out there, what you need in a studio, and it will come to you.  It may take a while but it will come to you."  The spaces I've seen here are $2000 a month.  That's way out of the range of what I feel would be a good ROI.  

So.  I'm going to set up shop in my home for now.  I'm actually pretty excited about it because it's being painted (I'll show you a sneak peek of the paint before the week is out BUT I won't be showing you my finished studio for a couple of weeks.)  It's going to end up looking really great!

Also, when I was in my home before I don't think I was taking my studio seriously enough.  I didn't get everything looking great or organized like a I was a for real business woman.  That's what made the biggest difference when I moved my studio out of our house and into a studio space. 

I'm taking myself and my studio and my business much more seriously now...we'll see how THAT looks in my home now.

new. STUDIO.

business and shooting.

Evelyn has been in business for just a little while as friends and family have asked her to do sessions for them...now she has people paying her and she is looking to grow her talent into a business.  She's also so young and has such a great future ahead of her.  I was so impressed that at such a young age she understands the value of learning what mistakes not to make right off the bat...before she even opens her business door.  She's going to be an amazing business woman!

She knew she needed some tools to get started.  So before I left Utah, she and I got together for a Day with Davina.  We talked at length about business licensing, financials, the best companies to partner with, how to set up an office (even if you are a team of one), how to prepare to have more than a team of one, and so much more. 

In the afternoon we looked through her portfolio and went over all of the ways she could improve her shooting, what she was doing well, how to get the most out of her camera, and adding emotion to her images.  When Misha and Braden arrived for the afternoon photo shoot the we had even more fun and packed in the tips for getting a great image.  I was so impressed with the way Evelyn picked up everything we discussed and applied so much of what we talked about.  Here are some of my faves from our session together.

To schedule your Day with Davina contact the studio at info@davinafear.com

new. LIFE.