Hey lovebugs, Happy New Year (albeit 11 days late)!
So... I've got a question for you.
Rather than bothering with new years resolutions, (because lets be honest, who actually keeps those past the 25th Jan)! I'll ask you this instead - if you had to conjure a word, or a feeling that you'd like to live by or manifest for 2023, what would it be?
I've decided my word is 'contentment,' which I've chosen because I want to find more moments of daily gratitude. I find the idea of happiness intangible, like shifting sands whereas contentment is about finding the small everyday joys in life. I hope to conjure in 2023 more opportunities for writing, for lazy beach days with my family, I hope to cultivate a vegetable garden and however small - make more opportunities for reading. 2023 is not about pushing, striving or conquering, it's going to be about restfulness, gratitude and everyday art. I aim to become a successful, published writer but I'll do so organically, gently and will let the stories unfurl rather than cajole and shove them into existence. There's only one time I'll ever be a debut writer so I want to enjoy pulling out of my head, the first book that will define who I am as an author.
Anyway that's enough nasal gazing for one intro! Onto the weekly round up.
I kicked off 2023 in style with an all female, family excursion to London (Stratford) to see ABBA Voyage, the mind bending ABBA experience which blurs the lines between the physical and digital, through the use of ABBA avatars. Accompanied by a 10 piece live band and commencing in a purpose built ABBA concert venue it was quite literally out of this world. If you're here for hipster cool then you've come to the wrong place, I am all about the cheese and I don't think it gets more cheddar than ABBA!
Honestly, I don't know what to think about seeing musical avatars. On the one hand I don't think you can beat the raw energy of seeing a human being perform. The imperfections, the occasional bum notes or crack in the voice are what makes live music so visceral. That being said, the majority of my music loves are either dead or in retirement, so being able to see ABBA avatars, which are so realistic my mom spent the entire show convinced they were doppelgangers, well - it was really bloody fun! The audience were cracking, you've never seen so many flares and being as we had dance floor tickets we spent the entire 90 minutes singing and boogieing our hearts out!
As it was the first time I'd be leaving the baby for more than an hour, I spent the day before ABBA, preparing like it was an impending apocalypse, I pumped like a demon and literally had the girls washed, dressed and fed before I had to leave. I left Tupperware containers with every conceivable meal done and felt somewhat more reassured that hubby would get some support from my lovely in laws who came to help. My hubby is a fantastic Dad and I have no qualms about his abilities, I just know a breast fed baby gets used to being on the boob and sees anything other than my mammary glands' as a downgrade!
As I wasn't needing to breast feed I got to wear my high necked Sue Ryder charity shopped vintage 90's dress and wore it with my Vinted boho hat. I was that knob in the concert wearing a hat and got asked to take it off midway through. I'd been so excited about being 'out, out' that I totally forgot about how annoying it would be and was suitably mortified when a really nice lady explained that she couldn't see and would I mind taking the offending hat off. I was puce to say the least.
At this point I realised I was child free, able to have a drink and about to dance. Excited is an understatement.
They don't allow you to take footagae of the actual show which was actually brilliant as it made you so present. I 100% recommend going.
I love my little sister Laura's candid photo of me, my mom and Emily ordering pasta!
Knob in a hat.
My lovely Momma who always manages to look chic!
As for the rest of this week, well hasn't it been dreary! I'm trying my best to see the positive in all this wintery weather but with side wards rain, a dog I have to walk and kids that need fresh air but hate the cold, it can be really challenging getting out.
I've been absolutely living in this second hand jumpsuit I got off Vinted a few years back. With tights underneath and a cardigan on top I'm warm, comfortable and it enables me to run after the little ones whilst still feeling my hippie self. I've been loving throwing on a bandana seventies style with the rain being so ferocious, it stops me faffing about with my hair or worrying about frizz! Being neither straight haired or truly curly, I have these waves that have a mind of their own. Sometimes they have volume and a curl pattern other times it's flat and I have limp, straight strands.
I've recently discovered my new phone has these cool studio options, (my toddler knew how to put these on before I did), so I had a play around and like how 'arty' the shots came out. Congested, acned scarred, 34 year old, surfer skin always appreciates black and white photography!
I've been meaning for a long time on the blog to do a little segment about interior design, we bought an 150 year old cottage (that used to be a pub and had an actual dancing bear in the cellar :( ) ,last year that we're slowly renovating. It was decorated poorly in the 70s and alongside 40 years of having had smokers live there, its damp, has deathly wooden stairs and sometimes makes me wonder if we were crazy to buy it. Obviously being able to own your own house in this market is such a massive privilege, so I had a word with myself and decided that rather than let my impatience win, I'd enjoy the process of decorating. Having had to deal with the 'boring' serous problems, like mouldy carpet and walls we spent most of our budget last year getting the walls and floors done. Slowly, we're adding design and furniture as the bigger jobs of a complete reconfiguration, extension and replacing the old radiators is such a monumental cost we've no chance of accomplishing it anytime soon, unless we win the lottery that is.
Being as we're living in a time when Instagram and Pinterest has every perfect conceivable design at your finger tips I've been really reluctant to show my imperfect house on the blog, but bollocks to that! I'm sick of social media making it seem like rooms just get finished overnight.
I'm currently working on the dining room as a space for me to let my inner boho out, as its where I work from home and write mostly. Hubby who has vastly different tastes to me, has consented to me putting my stamp on it, which is pretty stellar of him being as we disagree on each other's style choices! I've been scouring Facebook market place for months trying to find a second hand side board within my budget and as luck would have it found this beauty for a mere £30, 40 minutes drive from me. Being as I have a generic mom car (Ford Zetec) I was able to bring it home and have stashed in in the garage ready to upcyle.
That was until I realised the key to open the bottom cupboard, which the previous owners had helpfully put in the drawers, had dropped inside the locked cabinet during transit! Needless to say there was some swearing, some tears of despair when I thought I'd have to break the cupboard and a dose of hopelessness when I absolutely could not reach it. Luckily for me, I thought to ask the internet and my local town community page replied with the suggestion that I ask one of the local antique shops, if they had any spare keys. Castle Antiques Wallingford came to the rescue, not only did Dave the owner personally walk round to my house to try his spare keys, he managed to open the lock and retrieve the key for free!! I honestly can't thank him and his wife June enough, such lovely kind people! I've never regretted moving to this small riverside town!
In the next few days I plan to paint the cupboard a French duck egg green. Once I'm done I'll show you the progress and how I'll style it in my 70's, boho inspired dining room!
Until next time
Love Soph x
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