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On Becoming a Mother When Your Own Mother Lives Far Away

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pregnancyWhile becoming a mother brings on a tsunami of new emotions, becoming a mother when your own mother lives in another country (or kingdom in my case, I live in London, my mother lives in Scotland), adds a tornado to the mix. I remember walking around The Baby Show while heavily pregnant, trying to bury down the melancholy because it seemed that every other woman was there with her mother.

My mother was there for the birth of my son. Not in the room, but she came down for the week. Unfortunately I was in labour for five of those days and she barely got to see her grandson before she had to head back up to Scotland. He was born in April and she didn’t get to see him again until January and is only seeing him again now, in October. It is slim pickings indeed. It hurts as she misses the milestones. It hurts that she doesn’t see him on a regular basis, get to cuddle him and breathe him in. We FaceTime and that makes a difference, but as the months go by it just isn’t enough.

It has been hard being without my family a lot in my life, but it is so much worse after you have a child. My brother has childcare whenever he needs it, day or night. My mother saw my nephew grow and become the 5-year-old he is today. I missed seeing my nephew grow up. When I saw him after a 6-months or 12-months gap I would not recognise him at first. Such was the incredulousness of this little boy being the baby that was my nephew. My mother even missed my son’t birthday weekend. We both felt that.

I only saw my mother once when I was pregnant and by that time I was six months gone. I had an awful pregnancy and missed having my family around me. I wish I could take my mother to the park with my son, have lunch with her, see him cuddle her and take her by the hand. It has been almost ten years since I moved to London. I always knew the move was permanent, but I was so young getting married and having children didn’t enter my head. Raising your own family so far away from your own can feel like a stake to the heart. I miss my family everyday, but more than that; I miss them seeing my son grow up. I guess the upside is that when we are with them we make the most of it. It is all the sweeter for being rare. It is a small consolation.

Handpicked Media Blogger Workshop No.1 – Fragrance | Events

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Very exciting news for beauty bloggers; Handpicked Media are doing a series of workshops to help you up your game. The first one is about fragrance and is well worth the money. Buy before the 5th of October and tickets are £10, after that they are only £15. What are you waiting for? Buy now. The event is held at Conde Nast College.

 

Improve your knowledge and language of fragrance with our brilliant line up of industry experts.

 

Gain confidence and skill when talking and writing about fragrance through the years of experience our experts have from all aspects of the fragrance industry. With speakers from a leading luxury brand, one of the UK’s most famous beauty journalists and one of the biggest fragrance PR’s in London.

 

Meet Camille Goutal & Isabelle Doyen and hear about their fascinating story that takes them from Paris to NYC. Take part in a workshop with Jo Fairley, co- founder of The Perfume Society that focuses on finding out more about scent and how you can express fragrance in an engaging way to your audience. Hear from Nicola de Burlet on how to build a good relationship with a PR.

 

All attendees will receive a year’s subscription to The Perfume Society (worth £25) and a fragrance to take home.

 

When: 6:30pm – 8:30pm Wednesday 21st October 2015

*Please arrive for 6pm

Where: Condé Nast College, Soho, London

Price: £15 per person

Early Bird discount: book before October 5th for £10 tickets

 

The Experts:

joalanstrutt

Jo Fairley, The Perfume Society

A former magazine editor (Honey, Look Now) and journalist for a wide range of publications, Jo has always had a particular passion for writing about fragrance, and is twice winner of a Jasmine Award, the ‘Oscars’ of the perfume-writing world.  Jo remains a Contributing Editor to the Mail on Sunday’s YOU magazine, The Telegraph online and writes extensively for other monthly and weekly magazines.

Jo is co-founder of The Perfume Society alongside Lorna McKay, and edits The Scented Letter, the beautiful Jasmine award winning subscriber magazine of The Perfume Society.

 

Camille Goutal & Isabelle Doyen

Camille Goutal & Isabelle Doyen

Pianist, then fashion model, Annick Goutal discovered she had a genuine gift for creating perfumes and in 1981, opened her first shop in Paris. In her workshop, she pursued her love for beautiful raw materials and soon made a name for herself thanks to the originality of her creations such as Eau d’Hadrien and Petite Cherie, which are still best sellers to this day.

Annick Goutal bequeathed her love of perfume to her daughter Camille and her lifelong colleague Isabelle Doyen, who since have become the House’s perfumers.

 

Nicola de Burlet, Kenneth Green Associates

Nicola is the head of press at KGA, with many years of experience working with perfume. Founded in 1990, by Kenneth Green, KGA is one of the largest distributors of cosmetics and luxury fragrances in the UK, representing over 25 brands and has won many fragrance industry awards.

 

 Krista Madden, Handpicked Media

Beauty industry expert and MD of Handpicked Media, Krista Madden has owned a successful hair and make-up agency, and is the founder of www.beautyandthedirt.com, one of the most successful independent women’s websites of the last 15 years.

 

 

Enter The Prestigious Blogger Awards

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blog, awards, enter, now, Exciting news: The UK’s most prestigious blogger awards are back to celebrate the very best talented industry professionals and individual bloggers from the lifestyle industry. What are you waiting for? Enter from Monday 1 September 2014.

Entries for the National UK Blog Awards will open on Monday 1 September 2014 and provide a unique opportunity for bloggers from the lifestyle industry to be recognised nationwide.

 

The first ever National UK Blog Awards took place in April and achieved huge success with over 900 bloggers entering the awards and 16,000 members of the public voting to determine which blogs deserved a finalist spot

 

Alongside the category for the lifestyle industry, bloggers will have the chance to enter into 13 other categories including automotive, education, health and events, whilst members of the public can also nominate their favourite individual or company blogger.

 

Gemma Pears, director of the National UK Blog Awards, said: “The UK Blog Awards provide a unique opportunity to be acknowledged and recognised as a true knowledge provider within your industry.

 

“Blogging is growing increasingly important in the UK; it’s a great way to position yourself as an expert in your field to build your credibility, as well as being able to showcase your knowledge whether you’re blogging as an industry professional or simply because you love to write.

 

“Awards are a hugely powerful marketing tool. They give you and your business immediate credibility and set you apart from the industry norm.

 

“Whether your blog is your business, a hobby or it’s part of your daily working tasks, a good blog can really help develop your client’s trust and helps close the gap between the ‘you’ and ‘ them’.”

 

You can enter your own blog or nominate a blog at www.blogawards.co.uk from Monday 1 September 2014, with entries closing on Friday 31 October.

 

The UK Blog Awards are on the look-out for expert judges from the lifestyle industry to help decide which bloggers will be announced as finalists prior to the awards evening in April 2015.

 

 

Calling Aspiring Bloggers! Win a year’s contract with Mira Ink, the home of teen fiction

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Do you have a passion for writing?  Are you looking for an opportunity to showcase your talent and get paid for it? Look no further.  Mira Ink, the home of popular teen fiction books and ebooks has launched blogINK, a search for the next British blogger extraordinaire.

 

Write about the latest from The Glass Trilogy or follow Kayleigh Kavanagh in the Soul Screamers Series. Tell the world about Iron Fey or Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares. This once in a lifetime contract starting in January as MIRA Ink’s blogger, will not only see you writing about the most exciting teen stories but also creating your blogs on a top of the range laptop, courtesy of MIRA Ink.

 

If you have blogging ambition, then start right now. Enter a 500 word blog of your choice via the blogINK App by midnight on 25th November.  Then ten finalists will be shortlisted by MIRA Ink’s judging panel on 29th November and then asked to create a 60 second YouTube video and use social media sites to show how enterprising they are at generating buzz around their video.  Finally, the winner will be announced on 14th December.

Claudia Symons, MIRA Ink Brand Manager says:  “This is an exciting campaign for us; we’ve never done anything like this before.  We know there’s a wealth of teen talent out there waiting to be unlocked.   We are looking for someone who would love the chance to write about the wonderful world of teen fiction and who’s not too shy to shout about it.”

 

Stages & Deadlines:

  • Stage One:  9th – 25th November – Participants to enter a 500 word blog of their choice via the blogink App.
  • Stage Two:  29th November – Ten competitors will be shortlisted by Harlequin’s judging panel and asked to create a 60 second YouTube video and use social media sites to show how enterprising they are at generating likes.
  • Stage Three:  14th December – The winner will be announced and win a yearlong paid contract at Mira Ink and a top of the range laptop.

Follow the action on twitter using hashtag #blogINK

Twitter.com/MiraInk

Facebook.com/MiraInk

Miraink.tumblr.com


New Look Launch New Range at London Fashion Week

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There are three words that always get me excited: “London Fashion Week”. In fact, the only thing that makes me more excited is Handpicked media’s London Fashion Week opening party. I went along to see New Look’s new range at the One Aldwych Hotel. After getting lost and being flustered when I arrived, the amazing Debbie from Handpicked (and blogger of the excellent Life Edit) handed me a glass of wine and I had a great chat with her. I also was happy to bump into the lovely Jessica from Look What I Got and Handpicked Head Honcho Krista.

New Look has always done fun and fabulous fashion, but in recent years New Look has really upped its game. The quality of the clothing is good and so are the designs. They are also collaborating with lots of cool people like Giles Deacon, and have even teamed up with Kelly Brook to design a great range of underwear. The bra Kelly was wearing a few days before was part of the range that we saw. For those dying to know Kelly is a 32E.

The new collection is just really fab. They also have amazing jewelery and shoes. I will definitely be popping into New Look again soon. I really liked the creepers below.

New Looks jewelery range was a big hit. We were all fawning over it. Some of it is quite bling but not tacky. We were told to help ourselves to some New Look knickers which lead to a lot of amusement when we were walking about with underwear in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. On the tube on the way home I got a drink from my bag and the knickers fell out and landed on the floor of a crowded tube. Which was a little embarrassing.

I had my nails done, drank wine, met amazing people and ate canapes. Ah, that’s the life. If only every day was a fashion week day.