Highly Commended

Ok - I've stopped bouncing now. I started last Thursday, I was just sitting there catching up on blogs as I was eating my lunch, and I did a double take as I read the My Deco blog - did it really say Ochre & Ocre had been Highly Commended in an award???

I reread it 3 times, ok they had miss spelt Ochre And Ocre, but it was definitely us.
Clicking through to the Awards site for The Online Retail Awards, I was even more flabbergasted to read who we were up against. The White Company were a runner up, after us! OMG - I have been following The White Company as they have grown over the years, and they were always my inspiration, mainly due to the simple concept and in that they started from their bedroom at home. (Ok - marrying Charles Tyrwhitt may have helped a little bit, possibly...).
I heard Charles speak at the Sheerluxe conference last year, and he was really interesting. He was one of those people who just takes risks, and 9 out of 10 times gets away with it.
Anyway, I'm straying from my topic - of self congratulation here. Go on, you've got to let us bask just a little bit in this one. Also in the category was Target(US company), and Amazon. So it wasn't as if we were up against small firms.
The feedback from the judges was, "that it was a user friendly and innovative site".
Needless to say I was straight on the phone to Phillippe, from Blue Earth Solutions, who we worked with to develop the site, my other half, and my mum in that order.
The first two were equally thrilled, although I think the enormity of the situation was somewhat lost on my Mum.
The winner in the Home and DIY category was My Deco -  a new interiors site from Brent Hoberman who co founded lastminute.com.
Anyone who is into interior design should have this site bookmarked, as it is really user friendly, you can build story boards, shop, get the latest trend news - a really useful site.
So we may have gone out that evening to celebrate, and ok, we may have had a glass of fizz, as the occasion deserved, and I may have failed to make it to the gym Friday morning - but it was worth it!

Lunch At Baileys

Today was one of those days where it felt great to be self employed, as I got to meet Nicky, from Wales at Home for lunch at Baileys. For those of you who don't know Baileys, I would thoroughly recommend a visit. They are based just outside Ross On Wye, and have the most wonderful eclectic collection of home and garden "things!". From beautiful kitchen pots and dishes, vintage lights, and some very lovely galvanised kitchen stools, that I love, but don't have anywhere to put, it is a real home emporium. I managed to get away with buying two candles and some pencils - but I could easily have spent more.
It was also lovely to catch up with Nicky, as we "chat" by email a lot, but seldom meet up. Nicky wears many hats, from interior stylist, to journalist, as well as being the owner of the very stylish Wales At Home website. She also guest blogs on a number of other sites including My Deco. The ironic thing is that although we are both self employed, we rarely get the chance to go out for lunch, so it felt like a real treat.