Why a Girls Holiday is Still Ok When You Become A Mum

On Friday night two weeks ago, I had my bags packed and ready to leave the airpot to head to Ibiza for my best friends Hen Do. Before deciding to commit to the Hen Do, I had a lot of worries and doubts and even considered backing out of my best friends important weekend, all because I had the mum guilt. Mum guilt is very real and I get it in waves about the smallest and simplest of things, so you can imagine what kind of guilt I was feeling about leaving my baby for a long weekend. After some long discussions with the other half, who insisted that I went, I secured my place with my deposit and off I went the other weekend on what I would class as one of the best long weekends away I've had in a long time. I know a lot of us mums get thrown in situations where we feel torn between choosing our children and our desire to do things for ourselves; More often or not our babies win every time (and rightly so), but every now and again it's ok to do something for yourself. So today I thought I'd sit down and tell you why it's ok to get out the house and let your hair down once in a while. Grab a drink and some cake if you have some lying around as this is probably going to be a long post as I have a lot to say about getting over the mum guilt fear.

My Top Tips for Taking The Perfect Photo of You & Your Toddler

Over the last couple of months, I've really tried to switch things up on Instagram and move away from the beauty flatlay's. You guys know that I love my beauty treats but I'm slowly moving away from all of that and focusing on becoming an established mummy/family blogger because that is my main focus on life right now. One thing that I love doing is taking photos of myself and Archie, I find these photos do really well on Instagram and they are great keep sakes for the family photo album. Whilst these kinds of photos are my favourite, they are by far the most difficult to take and I'll warn you now sometimes your photos shoots will be a complete fail. Trust me, I have an album on my laptop with hundreds of crazy blooper photos. Trying to take a photo of a toddler on their own is hard enough as it is but taking a nice photo of you and a three year old who isn't sleeping and refuses to sit still is a nightmare.

As most of the photos that you see of myself and Archie over on my Instagram are taken by myself, I thought today that I would share with you some top tips and things that have really helped me to take those photos. Plus a few of you have been asking how I take these pictures and if my three year old really sits still for the camera (he really doesn't).

Goals for 2019

It's the 9th January and the new year is already in full swing. Every year I like to reflect and set out a few goals that I would like to achieve throughout the year. But I fail miserably, every year without fail I never actually manage to tick anything off. That makes my years sound incredibly uneventful and that I don't actually do much, which is not the case at all. I find that I start well, then life just takes different turns and directions and I never actually achieve the things I originally set out to do. However this year is going to be different, I can already feel it and I'm ready to start making some big changes. Over the last few weeks, I've looked back at previous blog posts that are similar to this one and there is one common thing running between all of these posts and that is I don't set my targets or goals big enough, which may be a factor of not actually achieving the things I've set out. I've always been in the mindset that if I keep my dreams realistic then I take away any pressure and if I don't make them happen then no big deal. Well, this year it is a big deal as I'm a little bit fed up of starting a new year, reflecting on all that I've done in the past and feeling a little bit disappointed. Not anymore! The last few days I've been doing a lot of thinking about what it is exactly I want to achieve and I wan't to share my goals with you all. Some of you may read this and think I'm setting myself unrealistic goals or that I've got my head in the clouds and thats ok. But some of you may read this and feel the exact same as I do year on year out and like me are ready to actually do something about it and are ready to make a change.

What I Got For Christmas - 2018

Hello beauties! Happy New Year to you all and I hope all of you had the most amazing Christmas. I can't believe Christmas is already over and we are almost saying goodbye to the second day in Jan already; The last month has been a whirlwind and I'm sure I'm not the only parent out there who has just been non stop. Christmas is easily my favourite time of year, which is why I decided to have a bit of a break pretty much through the whole of December, I just wanted to spend all my time with my family and make special memories that will last a life time - So forgive me if this post is a little overdue or feels slightly irrelevant now. Don't worry I'll be appearing on your feed again in the next few days with a traditional new years resolutions post!

By Invitation Peony Noir - Michael Bublé Fragrances | The Perfect Christmas Present

I feel like perfume is on a lot of peoples shopping list, especially this time of year - Christmas is just around the corner and I know a lot of you are well under way with your Christmas shopping. I'm feeling very proud of myself this year as nearly all of my Christmas shopping is complete... yay. If you are struggling, a safe bet is picking up some fragrance for someone special. I know its the type of present I always appreciate unwrapping and who doesn't love displaying pretty perfume bottles on their dressing table? Recently I've been trying out the new fragrance from Michael Bublé - By Invitation Peony Noir* and I'm here to tell you it's definitely one that you want to be adding to your Christmas wish lists. 

Hello I'm Back | The Past, Present & Future

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I've sat at my laptop and felt motivated and inspired to write. I know I've been missing in action for a long time, not just on my blog but across all my social media and to be honest I've needed the break. Before I disappeared my blog posts where few and far between and I think I just felt the pressure of blogging - As you all know comparison is the devil, especially within the online community and I found myself really stuck in a rut. To top it all off my nana who I'm really close with passed away at the end of September which completely zapped all of my creative juices. It was a really hard time for me and my family loosing someone so close and I've never experienced a loss of someone close in my adult life so it was a lot for me to deal with. I've just spent my time over the last few weeks being with my family and focusing all my energy on whats really important to me - Archie. Archie is definitely the best medicine and his little cheeky smile has not only helped me get through my own personal struggles but he is always helping me grow and improve as a mother, he really gives me so much more than he'll ever know. In the back of my mind I've always had that little niggle telling me that I need to get back into the everyday swing of life, but the time has not felt right until now. The break was just what I needed and I feel ready to pick up my camera again and getting those creative juices flowing again. Sorry for the really rambly start to this blog post, I'm really out of practice, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm back, sorry for being gone for so long and that I've missed you all.