So easily pleased, it doesn't take much!

After quite a few days of feeling very unexcited about work due to all the recent stuff that's happened, something happened today to turn that all around and get me feeling pretty excited again!

Alberto and Yvonne got back from Marrakech last night and I had an impromptu meeting with them this morning. I can't remember if I've previously mentioned the various projects they have on the go but at present, they have their villas in Ibiza as well as the interiors shop, the riad in Marrakech, a boutique hotel opening in Bali, a plot of land on some island off Bali where they're going to build a beach-front hotel and a small hotel opening in the north of Ibiza. They also have a house on the hill here that they will be doing up and their own house which will also be done up in the next year or so.

After the last couple of weeks, it really felt like they were spreading themselves too thin and some things were not being done properly. Or they'd leave people to take care of things once they'd moved on to the next project and things would flounder. I was getting increasingly concerned about the fact that I'm supposed to now be Alberto's right hand girl but I wasn't sure if the message was getting through that they need to do more than create amazing interiors, they have to make sure all the operations are in place for everything to function really well.

Anyway, I trotted off to the meeting with them this morning, unaware what it was going to be about. They presented me with a document prepared by the management company that has been enlisted to help with the Bali project. The document was about five pages long and went into minute detail on every aspect that needs to be considered for the opening of the project, including staff recruitment and training. It made my heart sing to see this! They asked me to prepare a similar document for the hotel in Ibiza. I literally left that meeting skipping (or maybe that was the two cafe con leches I had) - all the things I was trying to emphasise the significance of were in the document. I've spent the best part of the day making our own version of the document for the Ibiza project, it was time-consuming but what a joy! We've now got a framework to follow, to see what needs to be done and what is still outstanding. I'm not sure what my role (if any) will be with this project - Alberto asked me if I wanted to manage the hotel but I declined, saying that it was something I could have done fifteen years ago. But I'm more than happy to get involved with getting it all set up and making it all work!

We're also going to use the document for any future projects (and use it as a point of reference for things already established). At last, the challenge seems a little less daunting.....