The big change...

Change is scary but it's not something I'm scared of, I'm not scared to ask for help, I used to feel ashamed when I had to ask for help, when I didn't understand why something was happening or when something was wrong but I couldn't fix it myself.  I have learned that shame is a very personal thing, we own it, it's ours, we actually do not need to respond to it, just acknowledge that it is there.  

Just lately at Philomena's Boutique, things have not been going so well, I actually thought I was just going to close the boutique because despite all of our efforts we didn't reach our next funding target,  we're still 10% away but we did get a lot of sales during a clearance that meant we could start planning for our future. I refuse to give up just yet and though the boutique has been valued at a decent sum of money, I wanted to get it to 2 years before I even consider selling it.  The boutique was set up in such unique circumstances that maybe it isn't a forever business, maybe it was my saviour when I couldn't work as a photographer and that's okay, everything that comes into our lives is for a reason or a season.

There are a couple of things happening, big decisions I've taken, full of love and positivity for the future -

Philomena's Christmas Boutique 

The boutique is becoming Philomena's Christmas Boutique and we'll be selling everything for the festive home plus gorgeous gifts you might just want to keep for yourself, in fact, I've already placed an order with the jewellery company we used before and we have some fantastic things on the way.  No one knows and loves Christmas like I do, Christmas has been at the very centre of my calendar for many years and it's well known that I try to out Christmas myself every single year.  I throw a grand party for all of my closest friends and because we couldn't hold one last year, this year's promises to be better and bigger than ever.

My love of colour is eternal and working on my Colour My World project actively over the next 2 years  I'll be promoting the Colour my World collection through the Colour My World page but they'll still be sold on the boutique site because I can't bear to make another website, I have way too many as it is.

When we do get our new stock at Philomena's Boutique we'll be a lot like TK Maxx or Homesense, we may only get 1, 3, 6 of each product and once they're gone we can't promise to get them back against if you see something you love, you'll need to grab it immediately as we won't be holding loads of stock. We haven't yet worked out how often we'll do a restock as it depends on a few things but we'll hopefully get new things at least once a month.

Photography is back!!!

I am working more as a photographer than I was previously, I have a real love for wedding photography and I'm really good at what I do. It's amazing to be working properly again so it's all a bit of a juggle but Looby will be running the boutique mostly and I am even getting Abigail involved where possible as a way of supporting them both through further education. I'll continue to do all of the social media and the admin but with any luck, it's all going to work well.  Looby was already doing all of the orders herself anyway as her way of paying for the stabling for Sil, her horse so she's totally capable and way better at wrapping orders than I ever am!

It's probable that we may close the boutique in January for a little snooze once the usual end of season sale is done and when we come back is the big question. To me being happy is everything and so I'll just keep working towards freedom and happiness which go hand in hand.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you. I will be giving away a £100 gift certificate to celebrate when we do reach our funding target which hopefully won't be too much longer, especially with all of the things on the way like vegan chocolate, beautiful eco-friendly jewellery, gorgeous Christmas decorations and things to make your home smell yummy and seasonal.  The future is much brighter than I imagined it would be this time last month so I hope you'll stick with us as we continue to rebuild what covid took away.

Ways to support my writing

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Oh and of course, you could just treat yourself to something lovely from Philomena's Boutique, my gift boutique

which is diverse, sustainable and totally lush!

Easter Homestyling

In just 1 week my girls will finally break up from school for the Easter holidays, I love these holidays so much, it's nice enough weather to do things and life feels good again thanks to the increased daylight and more importantly, the sunshine!

I love Christmas and styling my house but over the last few years I've started to style parts of my house through all of the seasons, my fireplace, for example, gets a restyle every month to reflect the time of year and it makes me happy.

I'm also very lucky that I get to work with my favourite stores TK Maxx and Homesense, even when we do collaborate I end up spending way more of my own money on things I see.

So this month for them was all about styling for Easter and they couldn't have picked a happier person because I had that fireplace to fill and as always my first stop was to visit TK Maxx/Homesense in the Metrocentre.

Wanna see what I bought?

Now I must state with absolute honesty that on this particular trip with a £50 budget I ended up buying a desk also so I spent way, way over the budget but that's testament to it being my favourite store, I literally jump up and down every time they want to collaborate because I can't believe how lucky I am that my career has lead to this, I will never stop being thankful!

So before I show you my desk lets look at the above, the solid marble spring sign was £12.99 and now I have signs for Christmas, Valentines and Spring, they had Easter ones too but I figured I could keep this out until summer!!

The cute bunny was £7.99 and she's watching over us and luckily too sturdy for a certain beagle to eat although a certain beagle has been seen wandering off with those there plastic eggs which cost £9.99 and fill my fireplace beautifully.  The chick plate at the back was an absolute steal for £3.99 and finally, I even got the girls their Easter eggs and today, 1 week after I took that photo they are still sitting there and haven't been pinched, I couldn't be more impressed, they have though, chosen who gets which!

So my desk was £129.99 and I think an absolute steal, it's so sturdy, I didn't have to assemble it and it was pretty easy to get home!  It's solid wood and a thing of beauty!  I love sitting at it every day, it's the perfect size for my bedroom/home office, oh and if you look, there's a wooden star at the back, also which came from Homesense in the Metrocentre when I was working on the Christmas campaign!

So that's me, I feel more ready for Easter than ever before, this time last year of course we spent in hospital when Looby was poorly and only got released on the evening of Good Friday so this Easter I have so much to be thankful for and I'm hosting a big friends for dinner on Easter Sunday for anyone who wants to come, it's open house and consider this your invite if you are spending the time alone and unwillingly, we may not have enough chairs or table but there'll always be wine, dinner and really good company.

My Festive Home at Christmas

Anyone who knows me well, and actually, pretty much anyone who even knows me just a little will probably be aware that I am the official Queen of Christmas, it's my favourite time of year! Christmas is all about magic and love and goodwill and as I tell my children if you have Christmas in your heart there will always be magic.  I tell this to other people's children too often to receive a bemused look in return, some of them nod and definitely get it, though.  

We started our festooning and decorating festively last weekend, this year has been brilliant but it's also been tough at times and I for one was more than happy to let the sparkle in a little earlier this year, there's also the fact that I am for the very first time holding a Christmas party tonight, it's a dream come true when you consider that there was a seven-year period when I felt I couldn't even let people into my home.

My home is far from perfect but it comes into its own for approximately one month a year with the low glowing lights and cosy surroundings, I love making cosy and feeling enveloped by warmth, if I can add my friends and my children into the mix then it's the makings of a perfect time spent in the company of one another.  We don't have a lot of people coming, that's something I'll be saving for next year, this year is just about cocktails, good friends and a little festive merrymaking, we might even break out the new Karaoke Machine

So, I went around the house with my camera last night and this morning to capture some perfectly picturesque portraits of my home in the hope of spreading some festive joy to you all.

In the bedroom, all of the festive touches came courtesy of TK Maxx in the Metrocentre, I love their Homestyle store and always come away with bags of stuff so it was even better that they sent me a gift card to pick up some home styling things which I've used to accent my very cosy bedroom and if you don't live near a story, you needn't worry as they have tons of festive treats online!  I adore their candle selection and there's nothing like an amazing selection of cinnamon scented ones when Christmas is upon us.  You may have even spotted Holly modelling a pet scarf from TK Maxx, perfect for the pampered pet or Christmas canine in your life!

In our kitchen I've added a whole lot of snowflakes, I'll be honest and say that every year I watch one of Jamie Oliver's Christmas special and he has a myriad of snowflakes hanging in the room he cooks in and I've always wanted to do this same, so this year I raided my local Wilkinsons and bought more than a few, I added some I found in the drawer and to make sure they didn't fall down, I finally stuck them up with pins, sticky fixers may work for everyone else but in my house they just fall down and then I have meltdowns over snowflakes and Christmas lights (just ask Looby) so I try to keep the decorating as stress free as possible.

So that's a little tour around my home and I hope you love it, also the rug in the last photo has now been replaced with a festive shaggy piled Christmas red coloured rug because this is Christmas in Newcastle not Christmas in Madagascar!

I hope that everyone who comes into my home this Christmas will feel cosy and warm, I hope they will quaff on mulled wine and cocktails, I hope they will sing their hearts out and most of all I hope they'll feel the love from my family to theirs because that's what Christmas is really about, it's not about the presents, it's about the quality time spent with the people you love and I'll never stop appreciating that.

So I hope you're all ready to have yourself a merry little Christmas and if not, why not go and deck the halls...

Disclaimer, I received a gift card to spend at TK Maxx in exchange for including the things I bought in my article and what a lovely festive selection of things they are too!

Thrifty Summer Style From TK Maxx

It's summer don't you know, yes it may not be wall to wall sunshine but it's July tomorrow!  TK Maxx very kindly sent me a £75 gift card, the brief was summer style and so I decided to be thrifty as possible and get as much as I could for my money, well it's not every day someone offers to pay for your shopping!

I love TK Maxx, it's no secret that after charity shops it's my favourite place to go searching for bargains, I once got Looby a Ralph Lauren skirt for £4.90 in the clearance section and I bought my very first Ralph Lauren, a jumper costing £35 instead of £130, sadly someone put it in the washer at a temperature that was just a little too high!

Wanna see what I got for my £75?

These sunglasses were without a doubt my biggest bargains, the white Anna Sui sunglasses were in the clearance section, RRP £130, I paid £13 and the purple Marc Jacobs sunglasses were £11 with an RRP of £110, yes that's £240 of designer sunglasses for £24 and I've worn them every day since I got them at the weekend, I perpetually wear sunglasses because I have light sensitive eyes (you can blame a career as a professional photographer for that) so even in winter I'll be out there walking Holly with my bobble hat and sunglasses!

Next I bought this amazing picnic rucksack, you know how I love a summer picnic  so this is going to be amazing in the summer holidays when Looby and I are on our travels, there's tons of room in it so I should be able to fit my camera and phone in as well and because it's padded everything is going to be safe and cosy!  This was £24.99 instead of the RRP of £49.99 and I'd been looking for one for ages,  I have the traditional basket but when you don't drive this is so much handier, especially if you are travelling on the train, no more overpriced under tasty buffet car for us!

I was perusing the shoe department when I saw these lovely toe post flat sandals by Guess, these were my most expensive purchase at £34.99, I suspect they'd be much pricier if I got them from Guess and do excuse my pearly white toes, these are the first sandals I've bought for years, me thinks a pedicure might happen before my holidays!  I love toe post sandals because flip flops never feel secure enough so having that strap at the back makes my feet feel safe whilst still being airy and look at them, they're summer casual style perfect for summer evenings with a floaty dress or exploring castles and towns with a pair of cropped trousers or leggings.

So that just left a fiver but I wasn't going to be satisfied until I had spent it all so I got myself this cute Caroline Gardiner salad bowl, perfect summer picnic style and only a fiver instead of it's RRP of £10

So there you go, 5 stylish summery items for my £75 and I think that's quite thrifty, ok so the sandals were an indulgence but the bargain designer sunglasses more than make up for my slight splurge, in a future blog post I'll share my secrets of how I have a wardrobe of designer clothes and 95% of them come from charity shops!

TK Maxx kindly sent me a £75 gift card in exchange for me going shopping and writing this post, some jobs are easier than others people, I never refuse shopping or shoes!