Mocktail ideas, and another author milestone

 

Hello friends,

For these warm spring days I’ve been experimenting with mocktails. This one was a ‘Mojito’ which I served with frozen lime quarters and fresh mint from the garden. It was good!

I think the alcohol-free mocktails have bitters in them which adds that alcoholic ‘bite’ without alcohol.

I always enjoy sitting down to relax before dinner, but (and perhaps I’ve trained myself), a glass of plain water, no frills, just doesn’t cut it.

So I’ve been trying different special drinks to have alcohol-free evenings. There is quite the selection these days, but none of them are cheap!

Sparkling water is still a good option, and it would be lovely served like I’ve served this Mojito.

Please tell me, do you have favourite alcohol-free drinks to relax with at the end of the day? I’ve love some new ones to put on my ‘menu’.

 

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 Another milestone to share 😍

There are now 120,000 of my books floating around in the world - either on Kindles or as paperbacks, on home bookshelves or in public libraries - hopefully providing lots of inspiration!

And this number doesn’t include my audiobooks, which are a ‘new’ thing for me in the past couple of years. (I love reading my books for you 🥰)

I’m just so grateful that I get to share what lights me up with you, my reader. I’ve always had a rich imagination, and the need to make everyday life a little more feminine and lovely.

I feel like so much of life can be drudgery if we let it, and equally the opposite can be so.

I know I’m lucky, I totally get it. I don’t have to go to a job anymore, and haven’t since 2016 when we sold our retail business.

But honestly, it’s all come from what I write about in my books - both the ‘creating a rose-tinted mindset’ aspect, as well being financially savvy.

It is possible to live a very good life without spending a lot of money. And the less you spend (by only buying things that have value for you), the less stress there is to earn more.

I love having my no-spend days, using what I have, aiming for a minimalist way of living in my own style, and appreciating how lucky I am every single day.

I know I am just a minnow in the author world where authors sell millions and even billions of copies of their books. But I am very happy to be so 😊 I’m just doing my own little thing over here, and whoever wants to join me can join me. We have the best fun!

So if you’ve ever bought one of my books or asked your library to order them in, THANK YOU. I appreciate you!

xx Fiona

PS. You can find my book ‘100 Ways to enjoy Self-Care for Gentle Wellbeing and a Healthy Body Image here on Amazon, or go to fionaferris.com for reading/listening alternatives, and of course all my other 25+ titles.

 

 

[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]

An adorable new puppy! Plus cafe breakfast vibes, and my radio interview replay

 

 Hello friends!

We visited our neighbour to meet his new puppy the other day. Luca is a labradoodle and his fur is so soft as you can see. Sooooo soft.

Paul and I walked up to visit, but Micky dog saw us and ran to catch up. We didn’t know if Luca would appreciate another dog so soon, but it was all fine. It was probably the other way around, that Luca overwhelmed Micky!

You can see in the photo below that they had a good run around, and Luca who is only 3-4 months old is the same size as 13-year-old Micky. Soon he will tower over him.

 

 

Micky is on the left and Luca is on the right. They are so similar haha

 

Luca has already grown a lot since I’d met him only a few weeks prior and I’m sure when I see him again soon he will be even bigger.

 

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Reader Karen from Jane Austen country - Bath in the UK - sent me this pretty photo of her cafe breakfast on her 55th birthday. (She said it was okay me for me to share it). Her birthday was one day before mine, and we were born in the same year. My English almost-twin!

I can almost taste that croissant it looks so good. I love the candle touch on the table, and Karen said there was cafe piano jazz playing in the background as well. Sounds like a lovely ambience for a birthday breakfast.

I loved seeing my newest book The Autumn Reset on her table too. This really is the biggest thrill for an author to see that someone else is reading their book, in their real life! I hope you enjoyed it Karen 😊 and happy October birthday.

  

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And excitingly, my most recent interview is now out on replay. I was a guest on ‘Happy Hour with Jonna & Keryl on K104.7 FM’ in the Hudson Valley, New York.

You can listen to my interview here.

I’m mentioned at the beginning, and my interview begins at 18:30 minutes. The two presenters Jonna and Keryl, along with their producer Frankenberry are such a fun team, and I had a great time with them.

You can see all their other shows here (scroll down to ‘Happy Hour’).

I recognised authors names I enjoy so have downloaded those episodes to listen to 😊

I hope you have fun listening to my interview, and that you have a great rest of the week!

xx Fiona

PS. You can find all my links including books, audiobooks, interviews, plus all my social media at fionaferris.com 

 

 

 [My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]

Happy doggies, and a delicious quiche for lunch (recipe included)

Chloe and Daphne are all buckled in and ready for their walk ❤️❤️

 

Hello chic friends! 

 

My doggies physical ‘beauty’ always makes me laugh 🤭 I mean, look at those faces... Sometimes when we’re out, people will look at them and say, ‘What are they?’ in an incredulous way.

I have a soft spot for non-fluffy plain dogs now, from having these two in my life.

They said they don’t care what anyone thinks, they’re just having fun, living the dream, and as long as food rolls up twice a day and they get to hang out with their mum, they’re happy as.

Micky dog was getting leashed up too, out of photo shot. I just thought it was so cute how Chloe and Daphne were waiting patiently at the front door for their walk.

Give your doggies a hug from me today! 

 

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Lunch in the sunshine 🌞

 

I was lunching like a queen here wasn’t I!

I enjoyed homemade quiche with mushrooms and asparagus from Chantal’s recipe under her baby shower video description here (I used gluten free pastry for moi):

 

 

 

This is her quiche recipe:

— ingredients

puff pastry

500 g mushrooms

100g bacon (optional)

sundried tomato (optional)

1 bunch basil

150g creme fraiche (or greek yogurt/ sour cream)

4 eggs

200ml milk

50g shredded parmesan

pinch of nutmeg

— steps

1. preheat oven to 390F

2. defrost the puff pastry and cover the bottom of a quiche dish with it

3. fry the mushrooms with bacon in a pan until all moisture is gone, then add the sundried tomato. salt and pepper to taste

4. add fried mushrooms on top of puff pastry in quiche diche

5. in a separate bowl, mix the creme fraiche, eggs, milk, shredded parmesan and nutmeg. add in shredded basil

6. pour on top of mushroom mix in quiche dish

7. bake at 200C (~390F) for ca. 40-45 mins (depending on your oven)

8. serve and enjoy! 

 

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Thanks Chantal for sharing!

I served mine with rocket (arugula), and a side salad too. And fruit, Greek yoghurt, and almonds and coconut for ‘pudding’.

I love my lunches and feel so good from all the freshness.

Gosh that quiche was nice, I’ll have to make another one 😊

And the book was good too, I’ve finished it now. It was ‘The Honeymoon Affair’ by Sheila O’Flanagan. I also read ‘Her Husband’s Mistake’ (below) by the same author and that was great as well. (Better than ‘The Honeymoon Affair’ which had a satisfying ending but could have been a touch better I feel, just expanded upon.)

 

 

 

In my personal star rating system I gave ‘The Honeymoon Affair’ 4.5 out of 5 and ‘Her Husband’s Mistake’ 5.5 out of 5! That only happens for really good books 🤣

You can see Sheila’s books here on Amazon.

Let me know what you’ve been reading lately, and your favourite ‘happy healthy’ lunches too 😊

Have a great week!

xx Fiona

 

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Latest book out now (here on Amazon):

[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]

Happy birthday to us, and to all my Libran readers too!

 

Paul and I share a birthday, and as our gift, my mum shouted us to lunch at our favourite winery restaurant.

It was so lovely, a real treat.

 

 

It’s not every day you get to be served a beautiful three-course meal with delectable wines and a petite birthday cake at the end.

We took the cake home because we knew we would appreciate it more later on, and we did!

 

 

I always like the idea of your birthday being your own personal new year, and that’s what it feels like for me.

 

 

 

Happy birthday to all my fellow Librans too 😊

 

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🌸🌞🌸

Pink blossom and a sunny spring sky on my morning walk

 

After immersing myself in autumn to finish up my newest book ‘The Autumn Reset’ it’s so nice to come back to our spring season here in Hawke’s Bay.

It’s such a nice time to be in just after a book release. That happy satisfaction of a project completed, and the knowledge that copies are being read all around the world. I really do not take it for granted how lucky I have to have THE nicest readers who enjoy the same things I do.

And now I get to dream up my next book! That is very exciting to me. I have other books already on the go so I shall go and visit each one for a browse; see what takes my fancy 😊

I wonder what will come next? It’s always a surprise for me too!

 

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And finally, in exciting news I was interviewed this morning for the radio show K104.7 FM in the Hudson Valley, New York and it was amazing.

The presenters Jonna and Keryl were lovely, and their producer Frankenberry was as well. Sounds like they have a lot of fun on their show!

You can listen to it 7am ET this Sunday morning October 26.

And the recording will be available as a podcast a few days later; you can find it here (scroll down to the ‘Happy Hour’ show):

We talked a little bit a about ‘The Autumn Reset’ and had a good general chitchat about living life well. I’m so excited to be ‘on the radio’! And thank you for a fabulous opportunity, Happy Hour team 😊

(Here’s a link to ‘The Autumn Reset’ on Amazon if you haven’t read it yet 🍂)

Happy listening, and happy reading :)

xx Fiona

[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]

New book out today - romanticize your autumn

 

 

Hello my lovely readers,

I am so happy to share my latest book with you, called The Autumn Reset.

Even though it’s not autumn here in New Zealand – we are waking up to spring and all her beauty, I could live in autumn year-round, it’s just such a wonderful time.

And our northern hemisphere friends are lucky enough to be entering fall and all the fun that the season brings.

In The Autumn Reset you will find:

🧡 Ways in which to make the most of your autumn season

🧡 How to still be involved with all the fun even you’re in spring like me (or maybe don’t even have autumn in the climate you live)

🧡 Ideas to curate your ideal fall wardrobe whether you’re on a budget or not

🧡 How to pamper yourself and luxuriate as you get ready every day

🧡 Cozy ways to subtly make your home whisper ‘autumn’ to you

🧡 How afternoon tea can be a beautiful tradition to include in your fall plans

🧡 A gentle framework to achieve one or more ‘soft goals’ this season

🧡 How to edit your life and ‘let go like the leaves’

🧡 How to live slower and feel more sensual

🧡 How to fall into your own secret season and romanticize the ordinary

🧡 How to plan for productivity in a light, stress-free way

🧡 A fun way to map out your autumn with intention

🧡 How to become iconic in your own way, and become ‘the autumn woman’

Overall, how to live beautifully this season, within your own sensibilities, and with the time and money you have. And, with the responsibilities you have too!

 

Pick it up here on Amazon (Kindle or paperback)

 

If you are in the swing of fall, I think you will find a lot of joy and inspiration in this book, and if you’re like me, heading into spring, perhaps you’ll make a few plans for your fall season. Or maybe even apply the chapters to spring!

As always, thank you SO much for supporting this Kiwi author by reading and reviewing my books. I appreciate it more than you could know.

And don’t forget, you can recommend this and any of my other books to your local library for purchase. Most are open to self-published authors, which hasn’t always been the case. Maybe there are too many of us to ignore now 😊 And we’re too good! Haha!

 

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My sister took these cute seasonal pics on her recent trip to NYC. I love all the fall goodness on display 🧡🧡🧡

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And finally, I have to share a moment from the other night. We were rewatching the 1983 movie Trading Places (It was soooo funny 😁), and I also had the discomfort of being stared at by Nina cat 😹

 

How cute is she peering from behind the stool-masquerading-as-a-side-table 😻 (sitting up on my footstool).

Our pizza and red wine movie dinner was delicious - we buy the bases (gluten-free for me) and make our own. I had salami, blue cheese and capsicum 🫑

I always have half and then the other half for lunch the next day. I cut it and put half in the fridge before I sit down otherwise I keep on nibbling and regret it 🤭

Pizza is such a nice treat dinner, and red wine always pairs well with it 🍷

I love pizza and movie night, and Nina says hi!

 

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I am celebrating the release of The Autumn Reset today with a little spritz on each wrist of Pumpkin Pecan Waffles (yum, from Bath and Body Works), even while I’m planning to plant my herb plants and spring vegetables later on today. I love being a global-season-citizen!

Happy reading to you and thanks again, I hope you enjoy my new book!

xx Fiona

 

PS. For links other than Amazon, check out fionaferris.com

 

[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]

 

10 years of books ~~ and, Christmas is coming!

 

I realised just the other day that it’s been ten years since I started writing and publishing my books. It was in 2015 that I took the plunge and published a little series of books based on my blog How to be Chic (which is still up, the archives going all the way back to 2010).

Then, I plucked the courage up from who knows where, and finished writing the book I’d been stop-starting on for years, and published that too. That book is called Thirty Chic Days. And it grew from there. Some years I only published one book, and others, I published 4-6 books.

But even in the times when my writing was slow, and I felt like hiding away instead of being visible, I still kept on going. And that’s the secret to any success I think. You just keep on going. And, fan the flames of excitement for yourself. If there is something you really, really want to do but have lost your enthusiasm for, get it back up again in whatever way you need to. (Often for me what helps is to revisit early inspiration).

That’s really the crux of all my books, making your life better and achieving the goals you’ve set whether they are tiny or huge, and making it fun and playful and easy. Life is too short to make anything a grueling challenge.

I was listening to something the other day which said ‘how you get there is how you will experience it’, which is so true.

With my writing, it’s interspersed with me living a lovely life. I’m not holed up in my office locked in until I’ve typed 5,000 words. That doesn’t work for me. I need to have it feel light and effortless for the words to flow.

Whatever project you want to undertake, whether it’s organising your closet or pantry, getting fit and healthy, or… writing a book, find out how to make it the most fun for you. Find the angle that sparks you off.

And yay to me for ten years of writing books! I can toot my horn for that!

 

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My sister arrived back from a trip to NYC last week, and bought this candle as a gift for our mum.

 

I was visiting when it arrived, so we had to give it a little test run 😊 Just to make sure it worked at Christmastime. Totally reasonable right?

It smells so pretty! ‘Fresh cut pine, cinnamon sugar and toasted marshmallow’ and it’s not too pine-y.

My sister was kind enough to indulge me with a few Click and Collect orders from Bath and Body Works so now I have lots of lovely new scents to enjoy.

I used to prefer the lotions and creams, but now I love the body mists, which I keep in my office on a shelf for an uplifting spritz throughout the day. They power my writing and creating!

My sister said Paul must have ‘nostrils of steel’ with all the scented candles and fragrance mists I have 😂 Luckily he likes them too 🥰

Are you a fan? I know the blow-your-socks off scents aren’t for everyone, but for me, when I discovered Bath and Body Works in 2013 on our first trip to Hawaii I was HOOKED. I thought I’d discovered nirvana 🤣

We can’t buy them here sadly and they don’t ship to New Zealand. The price to freight forward is cost-prohibitive so I make the most of any holidays overseas (rare) or family members travelling (lucky them haha).

Are you a fan? Do you too have nostrils of steel? 😂

Let me know your favourite scents if you are!

I love all the cakey gourmand flavours, the Everyday Luxuries range (Pink Obsessed is so good!) and basically having a variety to let me choose what I feel like wearing that day.

 

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If you are a cozy mystery fan like I am (among the many genres of books I enjoy) and would like a little taste of New Zealand, specifically the village of Havelock North in Hawke’s Bay where I grew up and still live near, I can heartily recommend the Bookshop Detective series.

 

 

The books are funny, light-hearted, and heartwarming too. I always like it when books (or movies or series) have ‘heart’, and this book does.

And the mysteries are good too!

I’ve just finished the second book pictured here, but I can only see the first book (with a red cover: ‘Dead Girl Gone’) on Amazon. But you will probably want to start with the first book anyway 😊

Here is the Amazon link to book 1.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries then I think you’ll really like this series. And it’s extra fun for me to sleuth out the businesses referenced and what their real names are.

I can help out with any uniquely New Zealand references that may baffle you, but it’s so well-written that there shouldn’t be too many of those.

Happy reading if you decide to try this series!

With all my best from a warm, rainy spring day in Hawke’s Bay,

xx Fiona

PS. I saw Christmas mugs and candles in the shops yesterday! I suppose it is October now and can be expected.

In case you want to do a little plotting and planning on how best to enjoy your Christmas, read (or re-read) my book A Chic and Simple Christmas and work out how you can best enjoy the holiday season this year and every year.

In this book you can read how I made my Christmas time more magical by minimising or changing the things that stressed me out, and doing more of the things that really bring out the best in Christmas for me. And you can do the same.

 

 

[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]

Living the glam life - and life as a dog mum too!

Beautiful spring freesias and hellebores/winter roses. Aren’t the colours divine? I always love pink and yellow together (or pink and gold in decor/colours in general)

💗💗💗

Hello friends!

Yesterday we saw Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, and it was so beautiful.

I adore the 1920s and 1930s era, and Downtown Abbey always comes across as modern, like I’m right there.

It was a wonderful quality production as usual, it was fab to catch up with the cast and where they are at in their lives, and the fashion was **dreamy**.

So lush and lovely.

The dinner dresses and daytime outfits were gorgeous.

I left feeling like I want to live an elegant and dignified life, haha. And with better posture than I went into the theatre with too!

I was thinking which of my books would encapsulate the kind of feeling I got from Downton Abbey, and I think it would be this one:

 

Maybe with a dash of:

 

I always find it incredible how moving pictures on a screen (and spoken words) can transport you somewhere else in your mind and make you feel different. The characters in the movie just carry themselves in such a regal manner while being (somewhat, haha) down-to-earth.

I loved seeing the splendor in which they lived, how they dressed for dinner, and their London home too, my gosh! It was all such a treat for the eyes, and even though I love my simple life, I love to drop into those glittering circles too, if only for entertainment.

Let me know if you’ve seen it yet and what you thought 😊

 

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And in case you need a giggle today, may I show you how similar our little dog Chloe is to the AI-looking seal on a recent television advertisement?

Perhaps this is the key to her long-lost ancestral path?

We have always suspected she isn’t actually a dog since she is so ‘interesting’ looking 🤣

At least she has paws not flippers I suppose...

Chloe said she hopes you enjoyed making fun of her today; she is always happy to help when someone needs a smile!

Wishing you a fab week. I am still getting those final few chapters written of my next book. I can’t wait to show you! I didn’t quite make a September release, but October, for sure 😊

xx Fiona

 

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[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase using these links. It’s no extra cost to you, so I really appreciate it if you choose to use my links for any Amazon purchases you might be making!]