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This Week In Business: Slogging Through

I might not have gotten much done but I sure finished a bike ride I didn't know I could do!

There are times in your life where you are forced to say something to the effect of “Dear Diary, Nothing happened to me. I ate a piece of key lime pie and it was good. Goodnight.” (I had a daily diary in second grade, and a lot of it read sort of like that.)

This week in business was rather unproductive. I took a long weekend to go to my ten year high school reunion and do a 50 mile fundraising bike ride. The reunion was more fun than expected and our team raised over $500 for a really good cause. And while I did collapse in utter exhaustion on Sunday night at 8 pm, it is nice to know I can still do it all.

So this week, I’ll be catching up on my ongoing projects, including video editing, my business plan, and the work I actually get paid to do.

I guess I can’t be on top of it every week!

Too Cute Tuesday: Recycled Pet Food Bags

When it’s hot outside, it’s hard to want to do much, even on Too Cute Tuesday.

In Maine, temperatures hit 95ish degrees. I know this isn’t hot for you people in warm climates but let’s just say that we chose to live half way between the Equator and North Pole because we like cooler temperatures. Also, some of us don’t have things like air conditioners. All in all, the heat is making people lazy and a little cranky.

Sue acted not so confident with the sewing machine but then she rocked it, you know, because she's Sue.

Since many of us are pet owners, Dorrie found a fun craft where we could recycle our old pet food bags and make ourselves something useful. And, with four steps involved, we were sold on an easy craft that wouldn’t have us sweating too much. Plus Dorrie is the Birthday Girl and as the rule goes, you really ought to listen to the Birthday Girl.

Good And Cheap Wedding Series: Sean and Stacy

I’ve always wanted to do a series about inexpensive but great weddings and since it’s a busy end of the week, I thought you’d appreciate getting to know a few more cool people. The following three days will feature three couples and how they had the day of their dreams without sticker shock.

The Happy Couple: Sean and Stacy
Location of Wedding: Popham Beach (Phippsburg, ME)
Date: October 11, 2003
Total Cost of Wedding: $9000 (eek!)
$150 ceremony
$2000 Maine Maritime Museum (reception)
$2000 plated meal
$1000 open bar
$500 band
$200 flowers
$75 car
$3000 honeymoon

Tell us about your wedding day. (How many people were there, what was the ceremony like, overall impressions, etc.)
The ceremony was at Popham Beach on a beautiful, unusually warm fall day in the late afternoon. It was a pretty informal setting – our friend officiating, the ceremony area was delineated from the rest of the beach with stones and seaweed, and we had to shout our vows to be heard over the ocean.

The ceremony itself was non-demonational and we drew from Native American readings and wedding blessings. Within minutes of the ceremony being over, a huge fog bank swept over the beach! So we have some pictures pre-fog and some in the fog.

Good and Cheap Wedding Series: Paul and Tobyn

I’ve always wanted to do a series about inexpensive but great weddings and since it’s a busy end of the week, I thought you’d appreciate getting to know a few more cool people. The following three days will feature three couples and how they had the day of their dreams without sticker shock.

A special thank you to my friend Ally for putting me in touch with this couple. They seem like fantastic people who know how to throw a wedding!

Name of Happy Couple: Paul and Tobyn
Location of Wedding: Ceremony-Old, out of use UU church in Westbrook Maine, Reception-The backyard of our apartment in Westbrook Maine
Date: July 9th, 2009
Total Cost of Wedding: Including rings our total cost was around $5,000, without the rings it was around $3,300

What are some of the ways you saved money?
We saved money in almost every thing we did just by planning the type of wedding that we did. With this said, I have gone through our wedding step by step below. I have found the easiest way to portray what we did is by breaking it up into its various components to give a small taste of what the wedding itself was like as well as the planning.

Good And Cheap Wedding Series: Cherie and Michael

.I’ve always wanted to do a series about inexpensive but great weddings and since it’s a busy end of the week, I thought you’d appreciate getting to know a few more cool people. The following three days will feature three couples and how they had the day of their dreams without sticker shock.

The Happy Couple: Cherie and Michael
Location of Wedding: Jordan Pond, reception at Hulls Cove Schoolhouse (on Mount Desert Island, Maine)
Date: October 4, 2003
Total Cost of Wedding: around $3000

Tell us about your wedding day. (How many people were there, what was the ceremony like, overall impressions, etc.) We got married outside on the lawn at the Jordan Pond House, with about 80 people watching. The wedding was officiated by the Deputy Town Clerk using our own twist on a traditional secular ceremony. We chose October with the hopes that we would have good foliage (we were actually a little early for it that year, but it was still pretty). We didn’t have a wedding party, so we picked our witnesses by drawing random numbers (we had numbered everyone’s programs). We purposefully kept the ceremony short and personal. I wore a simple blue silk dress; Michael actually agreed to wear a suit–which we had to buy because he didn’t own one. That was actually the second most expensive part of the wedding.

This Week In Business: Market Research Intensified

This week felt for some reason like it was going in a million different directions. It could be that a lot of projects are taking off and in addition, I am trying to keep working on my two big projects for my business itself (the video and the business plan).

Here’s what happened:

I got two new clients to sign on the dotted line, and three I’m waiting on.
I think every business gets to the point where you are growing (finally!) but need to adjust to the growth (darn it!) I am happy to be finally tackling this issue.

I was counseled by SCORE and realized a fun way to get my marketing research done accurately.
As I’ve been writing my business plan, the market research portion has somewhat eluded me. Sure, I know about how many businesses are in the Downeast Area thanks to directories and can get some demographics from the US Census but what is actually useful to me? Anyone can throw a bunch of numbers into a report and look smart.

Thing is I’m not filling space on a ten page college paper here; I am going to use this document to make decisions, both now and down the road.

Too Cute Tuesday: Etched Beer Mugs

Christy made a mug tribute to her kitten Doodle. We doubt he's old enough to appreciate it... perhaps when he's older he will be flattered.

The owners at the inn were cleaning out their kitchen when they found 6 beer mugs they never use, and offered them to me.

Yeah, one more piece of glassware in my three cabinet kitchen, right? That’s what I also thought… initially.

But then immediately after, I realized oh what fun we could have at Too Cute Tuesday with our own personalized mugs!

A quick internet search proved that etching is actually relatively easy, you know, if you do it the lazy way!

No Cash For This Clunker

Why I’m Keeping My Old Car

In the middle of this winter, on a sad day, I looked down at my odometer which was at roughly 95,000 miles. I vowed to myself I would be in a really interesting place when it turned 100,000. That event should be happening sometime in the next month.

I have the quintessential Maine car: a 2002 Subaru Forrester. It has taken me up mountains and through snow storms. It is an unassuming silver color, a great hider of dirt. And when you open the door, it smells slightly like a mixture of slightly stale coffee and my dog. It is not beautiful but certainly functional.

My Subaru, even when covered in snow, remains unconcerned about the weather.)€”Sarah Amend photo

I would like to say I am not particularly attached to this car. I bought it after the car I actually loved plowed into a moose about four years ago. I still haven’t forgotten what it’s like to plow into 700 pounds of massive animal going 60 miles per hour. My car was of course totalled.

I was moving the week after the accident though and if I wasn’t going to buy a car before I moved, it would take me awhile to get one after. The nearest car dealerships were over an hour from my new island home and as anyone who visits Maine knows, there is almost no mass transit here. In short, to be independent outside of Portlant, you need a car.

I’ve considered Cash for Clunkers (CARS as the acronym for the Car Allowance Refund Program). I’ve ultimately decided against it. Here’s a few reasons why:

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