Friday Fabulousness....It's Good To Be Back!!

Fabulous....classy, classic, beautiful....and gorgeous hair....what more can a girl ask?!

Sometimes the best advice is the simplest advice....

Friday Squeeze...because he's Jack Bauer....oh, and because I love him....I might have mentioned that once or twice before ;)


....because sometimes a little kiss is all you need....

The gorgeous Gemma Ward....such a fabulous blue....LOVE this dress....


Lily Cole looking stunning....


Fabulous dress....

Absolutely picture perfect....

Just beautiful....

Absolutely beautiful....

Jennifer Aniston has the most beautiful smile....

Gorgeous chandeliers....

I love this shot of Diane Kruger....

My Secret Husband....Dr McDreamy in Armani....

Autumn is definitely here in London....leaves on the pavements everywhere and the weather still mild....

Gorgeous....gorgeous....GORGEOUS!!!!

The perfect autumn table settings....

Snuggly socks....toast and jam....it's autumn for sure....

A few more blankets might be necessary this time of year but this would still be a beautiful spot to be.....

Finally I am back from a really fabulous trip to Italy....even better than in the summer....the autumn trees were more beautiful than I can ever describe and the scenery was breathtaking.....the food (and the coffee) was AMAZING....and the people kind, warm and just really special. There is something about the experience of being in another country that is so wonderfully enriching....more about my trip next week.

It's good to be back, I have missed my blog....and everyone else's too! I look forward to catching up and thank you to everyone who left me such lovely comments while I was away....HAPPY FRIDAY!!

The Pursuit Of Wellness....

If you'd have asked me about 'wellness' two years ago I would have thought it was to do with making sure I popped a vitamin every few days and avoided catching winter colds. So absolutely, wellness for me meant not ill. However much has changed over the past two years and now I see, as is often the way, that genuine wellness has more meaning. It is the absence of illness or disease of course, but it is so much more than that.

I have had this little life journey you see, where I have stood on the edge of the pool of wellness and saw that I could jump in and swim there, but some things were, and frankly still are, prohibiting me. For a long time I knew I was too busy, had too little time, was pushing myself too hard. Not so much with physical demands but mainly with mental demands. I was holding down a fairly senior corporate job in a large company, I had two young children (I still do, but they don't seem quite so young anymore!), a busy social life, my husband worked every hour God sent (still does; I guess I'm more used to it now). I went from being a pensive, flighty 25 year old girl, to being a 30 year old married, working mother of two with more responsibility than I knew what to do with. And it was from there that my wellness started to fall out of my reach.

What I mean is wellness in myself; being in a sound place mentally but also vitally. I was no longer vital. I was wired and over-worked. Tired and resentful (there, I said it; this is the biggest secret held by working mothers; the resentment that you have to do it all on your own). Wellness became like the elixir of life to me - I would seek it endlessly but was oblivious to the fact that I would never achieve it, living the way I did. I would read articles and devour life plans, diets, goals: top 5 tips to stay healthy. Top 5 tips to stay sane. Top 5 tips to get through your 'to do' list. I became faddish and slavish in my pursuit of wellness, although the thing itself alluded me. And the oddity is: I never knew how much until now.

What eventually gave me wellness? I had to stop. It was as simple as that. A raft of other things conspired in a way that begrudgingly but categorically told me, through my body and its complete lack of wellness, that I needed to stop. Halt. Cease. Pause.

And so I did.

And so what does wellness mean to me now?

It means waking up and not panicking about what I have on that day or which child is going where or whether I will be late. It means feeling comfortable in my skin in a way that can only come from slowing down. It means working through any anguish I have about life gradually and deliberately - rather than using stolen moments, when driving my car, to address life's biggest challenges. It means planning and thinking carefully about what I do with my time. It means taking a moment every day to just breathe. It means cooking from scratch and actually tasting the food. It means taking more care of my body, using and strengthening my muscles. But most of all it has meant that I have stopped taking tomorrow for granted. Tomorrow will arrive, but it might not look the way I thought it would. Being able to flex my whole attitude to life has given me wellness.

And whilst wellness, a bit like happiness, is unlikely to be a constant state; it no longer seems so out of my reach. I have a much better chance of swimming in that pool now, instead of just standing on the side wondering why I can't even get my toes wet!

Louise writes the blog Lou, Boos and Shoes....

Think Pink....

Sadly, there can't be many people who have not been affected in some way by breast cancer....October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and this post is dedicated to those who are fighting it today and to those who are survivors of this terrible disease.....it is also for my mother in law Luisa who lost her battle with it almost two years ago and to my aunt Rosemary who fought so hard but who lost her battle just one month ago.