Happily, Becki

11.17.2010

A Conversation: About Hawaii

Timmy: We’re just in a different season of life this year than we were last year, babe…
Me: Yes. Literally. Since last year at this time we were in Hawaii…

and it’s summer there.

It's true. I'm not sure why "Visiting Hawaii in November" didn't become
a yearly tradition.
(Oh. Well, I suppose that might have something to do with a little thing called Apple Wellness.)
Buuut. I am daily daydreaming of sandy Hawaiian beaches
and sunshiny skies painted the most brilliant shade of blue.
Flowers, sand, fresh tropical fruit, perfect weather, breathtaking scenery...
Oh, Hawaii...

But as I gaze at photos of our Hawaiian second honeymoon,
the most delightful memories are not the gorgeous flowers,
the fabulous beaches, or the mouth watering fruit.
My favorite part of Hawaii was something I brought with me,
and I get that part for keeps.

In truth, I should be saying that Hawaii is enchanting,
when your best friend is holding your hand
and you are drinking in the flowery air and smiling into ocean sunsets,
together.

You can lose the Hawaii and still have Paradise,
but lose the husband … and you have nothing too special.

In conclusion… it's the

handsome husband that makes Hawaii magical.

( So… who needs Hawaii anyway??)

11.16.2010

Apple Wellness - Officially

For the past few months we have been criss-crossing between two names,

trying to tie down all the many elusive loose ends,

in an effort to fully finalize the identity of our business.

We tried to quietly slip into the "Wellness"

and slowly pull back the "Nutrition"

attempting to render the change nearly invisible and perfectly seamless.

It was a delicate dance, moving forward with a new name,

while an old name still heralded across the surface of our storefront.

This was the biggest obstacle,

which prevented us from embracing our new name with great enthusiasm,

and forced us to continue to overlap the two names...

coming out something like, "Apple Wellness... and Nutrition"

Well, the days of confusion are officially over,

as today "Wellness" replaced the "Nutrition" in our neon signs,

brightly proclaiming our store to be "Apple Wellness".

And so far, nobody has even noticed, which is exactly what we wanted.

Because, you see, we really were Apple Wellness all along.

It just took us a couple months to get the name right.

Now. Any suggestions as to what we can do

with the leftover "Nutrition" letters?

11.15.2010

When it comes to taking photos,

Laura Zastrow is our favorite.

On November 7th,

almost exactly one year since we had our last photo shoot with Laura,

(see it here),

we met her for an anniversary photo shoot.

This may become a yearly tradition.

I've mentioned Laura many times on my blog,

and it's no secret that I greatly admire her photography talent.

She takes amazing photos.

I love that she encourages me to tell her my thoughts of what I want,

and she gets excited about my creative ideas.

Like "Mr." and "Mrs." pink balloon poses,

gold framed smiles,

and wedding picture props.

Laura is so sweet and up for anything…

even tramping through a field - nine months pregnant -

to get a perfect "tall grass at sunset" shot.

She makes me smile.

And, in turn, she gets us excited about the texture

in huge piles of discarded bricks, old doors, and buildings.

Laura sees things in such a unique way -

it is impossible to be with her and not feel inspired.

And, just look at the magic she made for us with our shoot.

You see?

There is a reason why I recommend her services to everyone I know!

She's fabulous. Check out her website here: www.laurazastrow.com

And let me just say, one year later,

I'm still married to

the handsomest man.

11.13.2010

Happy 23 Months 'Engaged'.

(photo by Laura Zastrow, www.laurazastrow.com)

11.12.2010

Tweeter.

I have no idea how Twitter works. Neither does Tim.

He calls “Tweeter”. (Unintentionally.)

But, he met a guy who told him that social media

has now outranked “word of mouth” for the best way to grow business.

And so, Apple Wellness has officially joined the world of “tweets”.

Our first tweets went out yesterday, and we already have 26 followers.

This sounds impressive, but it may not be. I don't know.

The only thing I knew about Twitter, before this week,

was that it had a very well designed logo.

And great name recognition.

The word "tweet" has pretty much been redefined.

Everyone has at least heard of Twitter and tweeting,

even if they don’t use it themselves. Twitter is genius.

I love any business that has great design and great marketing.

Apple Wellness is pretty good to go with the design part

(if I do say so myself),

and I'm pretty sure that Tim thinks that

Twitter is going to change our lives

(or at least our marketing strategies).

And so, "New Goals for Apple Wellness":

Take over the United States with Twitter and creative marketing.

Make Apple Wellness a household name.

Create a verb of our very own.

Start a store in Hawaii.

Move to Hawaii.

Retire young.

11.11.2010

The Deal Is On…

Friends, we woke up this morning to this:

Yes, that is my business that is featured in Groupon

in my inbox.

The deal is on! Come check us out!

(I feel like a celebrity.)

http://www.groupon.com/deals/apple-wellness?utm_campaign=apple-wellness&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&c=btn&addx=RB.OBRIEN7@GMAIL.COM

11.10.2010

Bright Lights

It's not too often that a girl…

driving down the beltline in Madison

(right next to the Park Street exit)

sees a billboard lit up by bright lights

and can calmly say

Umm wow... I designed that.

Tonight was one of those nights.

(Truthfully, there was nothing calm about my reaction.

I most certainly squealed and giggled

and made Timmy circle the beltline, over and over,

until I finally caught the perfect shot.

And I definitely sang a

"my graphic design is on a billboard" song

all the way home…)

11.09.2010

In My Experience...

Violet flavored French mints

…despite their lovely packaging

and oh, so romantic name…

taste like soap.

But someone must like them –

they've been around for quite a while!

11.08.2010

A Conversation: About 29 Months

Tim: You're the cutest girlfriend in the world.
Me: Girlfriend???
Tim: Well, you're a girl, and you're my friend. Right? I may start introducing you that way...
Me: Please don't.
Tim: Ok, fine. How about... you're my cute little human being?

I've been Timmy's "human being" for 29 months.

I was his girlfriend for 6 of those months,

his fiance for another 6,

and have been his wife for almost 17.

While I prefer to be called "wife",

I'm the luckiest, happiest "human being" in existence.

Because 29 months ago today,

Tim O'Brien asked me to be his girl.

I'm pretty glad he chose me.

(We had our pictures taken by our favorite photographer Laura Zastrow, yesterday. She gave us this little sneak peek, and we can't wait to see more! Laura is fabulous. She recently photographed Jamie and her husband, and those photos turned out SO dreamy... check them out here. And Laura's website here.)