Monday, November 5, 2018

The best time of the year (and it’s different for everyone!)



Are you a lover of birthdays like I am?  For me they signal another wonderful year to come.  I love birthdays a lot (and not just for the presents - I’m not really into gifts so much).  It was my birthday last month, and as soon as the calendar flips over to October 1st, I’m in celebration mode.  Everything just feels fizzier.

It’s my husband’s birthday on the same day, which is fun.  I was 48 and he was 47.  Just a baby!  We decided to host a dinner for our neighbours to celebrate, and it was a blast.  Although, when we were tidying the house and garden and putting together food and drinks for ten we, well I, did wonder W H Y did we do this to ourselves on our birthday of all days?  But I knew once everyone was there it would be fun, and it was.

There must have been something in the air that night because everyone let loose and it turned into more of a raucous house party that you might encounter in your younger years.  Well, perhaps a sedately raucous house party, with the ages ranging from late forties to seventies :)  But certainly different to my usual Saturday night.

My Aunt said that it seems to be tradition in our family that you work harder on your birthday, because we all host our own parties, whether it’s dinner or afternoon tea.  And I did do afternoon tea for my female relatives the following weekend too.


But you will never hear me complain about getting older. I choose to believe each year gets better and better, and that I get younger as I get older. Why not, I say!  I got the ‘younger as I get older’ thing from my flatting days before I met my husband.  I’d spent my twenties being married to my first husband, and was domesticated and definitely not living the wild life.  Then, in my early thirties when I was divorced and flatting with my sister and two other girls, one of our male friends said ‘Gosh, Fiona’s getting younger as she gets older’ because I had a new lease on life.  I thought that was great and took it on as my personal motto :)

I don’t feel like a grown up and I think it’s because I love to dwell in happiness, silliness, feeling light-hearted and looking for things to feel joyful about.  If you want to change the way you are aging, I believe that you simply make a decision – you decide it is so and it will be.  I look forward to birthdays and love being the age I am.  When I wish someone a happy birthday and they say, ‘Urgh, don’t remind me’, I don’t understand that!

Have you ever noticed how some people, even though obviously their age, radiate youthfulness?  It’s their energy – something intangible that you are drawn to rather than just how they look.  It’s a back-to-front thing really: when someone is glowing with good energy and positivity they become more beautiful and youthful, just as a smile lights up your face.

The day after my birthday I spent mostly sitting outside with my journal, Kindle, music, husband and pets. It was beautiful weather and so, so relaxing.  The gorgeous birthday roses on the outdoor table were a gift from a neighbour’s garden.  They are my favourite colour too.  I love yellow and pink together, antique rose and rose gold – all those combos.  So delicious.  The roses on our dining table are from our garden; I am so grateful to have beautiful established rose bushes from the original owners of our house.

Who else is an October baby?  I feel so lucky to be born in what I consider to be the best month and star sign (although I could be biased).  Libra is associated with beauty, peace, harmony, the colour pink, and Venus the planet of love, of course.  We are an air sign, so yes, you could say I have my head in the clouds most of the time.  But it’s so pretty up there… why would I want to be anywhere else?

Wishing you a wonderful rose-tinted day, and please, let me know when your birthday is and if you associate with your star sign.  My Libran readers, are you as flossy as I am? 

Fiona 

PS. We are in the spring season here in New Zealand, but you lucky people in the northern hemisphere are experiencing autumn.  Yes, I love spring and the warmer summer months, but autumn will always be my first true love.

If you haven’t read my book How to be Chic in the Winter yet, why not check out a sample from Amazon?  In this book I share all my ideas on how to enjoy the winter season instead of just enduring it – even if you are a summer person!



I wrote this book for myself initially, because I found I kept doing the same unhelpful things over and over each year to cope with months of the cold weather - eating sweet and stodgy fattening foods, feeling lazy and unmotivated, being grumpy and a generally unfun person.  I started gathering all my thoughts on living an ideal chic winter and this book is a result of that.

Included are my favourite winter recipes because that was my biggest hurdle - coming up with meals that felt comforting and hearty, but which were also healthy.  They are all very simple to make, but also very importantly they don't take too long to put together.  I like to keep prep time to a minimum because I would rather go for a walk or read a book than spend too long fussing around in the kitchen.

I’m sure you will find ideas to transform the way you think about winter, and it all came from my own desire to ‘live slim, happy and stylish during the cold season.’  You can find it on Amazon Kindle here and in paperback too.


29 comments:

  1. October girl here too - hooray for Librans! Happy birthday, Fiona. I'm glad you had a good celebration. Aren't us Librans also supposed to be balanced? Hmm ... I'm not sure that applies to me, but I do work on it :)

    D.

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    1. Happy birthday D! I think 'always striving for balance' is more accurate for me :) Sounds like you too??

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  2. Belated birthday greetings, Fiona. My birthday is in September, but pretty close to October. Indeed, many in our family and our friends have birthdays in September, including elder son and his wife, and it is also their wedding anniversary in September - and for the flowers on the tables at the reception (two years ago) the colours were pink and yellow and looked lovely!
    Yes, we can't do anything about ageing, so we must embrace it. Mind you, it's not as much fun, Fiona, let me tell you, when things begin to become a bit more difficult - eyesight not as good as it was, hands not able to grip things as tightly so opening jars and so forth is difficult. Yes, there are gadgets for this, but most need a strong hand to hold the jar or whatever to be opened, which defeats the object. Then you find if difficult to see to put on eye makeup - I've had to give up on eyeliner because of this. Also, unless you are tall (which I am now), being short and grey haired, I've noticed that younger people can overlook you (literally as well as metaphorically). So your positive attitude to ageing might alter very slightly when you get, as I have, into your 70s. But hey, I'm still here, and enjoying life! And I enjoy birthdays, too!
    Margaret P

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    1. Dear Margaret,
      Read the Jenny Joseph poem, "When I Am Old." I think it's a good idea: wear purple with a red hat! But seriously, I think that some bold colors (especially hats and scarves, which tend to signal "chic") can garner you more attention, of the good kind!

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    2. I love Jenny Joseph's poem but I've not yet mastered the art of spitting! I wear red (my blog post before last shows me in my new red jumper: www.margaretpowling.com) Being stiff no matter how much exercise one does is also a pain in the derriere (literally as well as metaphorically)! Wrinkles are a nuisance too. When I define my eyebrows (which are now non-existent) there is a wrinkle at each end of the brow which disrupts the neat 'line' of the brow! It looks like I've made a mess of making-up! On top of all this, everything has dropped south! Gravity, my dears, gravity, all is gravity (not vanity, ha ha!) But you have to laugh at the foibles of old age. I thought I'd go on forever being fit and in my 40s. T'aint so, my dears.
      Margaret P

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    3. You must be Libran too, Margaret - happy birthday for September :)

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  3. I meant to say "unless you are tall (which I am not)" ! Sorry, a silly typo.
    Margaret P

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  4. I think birthdays are just an excuse for a celebration--an egalitarian one, because everybody has a birthday. As you say, what counts is getting together.
    In France, a relic of the Catholic hold on daily life, the saints' feast days are announced at the end of the evening TV news weather report, and people will wish each other "bonne fête" on their saint's day. Kind of an extra excuse for celebration.
    As for aging, it's OK until menopause, then you really feel it. I can still do cartwheels and splits and go running but my knees sometimes pop and ache as they never did before. Hair thins and goes gray, wrinkles multiply, pounds accumulate despite exercise. There's a freedom in aging, in knowing oneself and being at peace, but the physical effects are almost a counterweight to that freedom.
    That said, the alternative is dying young. I'll take aging!

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    1. Yes, totally, any excuse to celebrate and feel good! I am noticing hormonal changes, and it's helping me to remember to get healthier as I get older :)

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  5. My husband and I both are Pisces, born in March. Our personalities are very similar, which makes for less friction, more understanding of each others' foibles. I don't know whether that actually has anything to do with "star signs." Correlation is not causation. Whatever... it works for us.

    We don't make a big deal about birthdays. We take each other out to a fancier restaurant than usual for date night, but that's about it. Neither one of us is into giving/getting gifts or cares for parties, so it's fortunate that we're both on the same page about that.

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    1. I'm like you Mimi, the more similar the better. 'Opposites attract' does not for me!

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  6. Fellow October baby here! I too turned 48 this year (on the 4th) and I love my birthday month. I grew up in Virginia, where the autumn leaves start to turn, and there is nowhere more beautiful. Now that I live in Texas, it's considerably warmer during my birthday month, but I love that too. I'll leave work a little early on a Friday and go sit by the pool with a glass of rose and relax with a book. Or enjoy the cooler mornings when I take my dogs out for a trail run in the woods. October allows me an entire month of celebrating, beginning with my birthday and ending with Halloween, which I also love. I'm not bothered by my age - I've earned every year of it, and thanks to good genes, and a relatively healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of fun, I don't look anywhere near my actual age. And the facial lines and body aches I do have ... I'll happily take them as my badges of honor for a life well lived.

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  7. Happy belated birthday!

    ‘Gosh, Fiona’s getting younger as she gets older’

    I think that's a pretty good life motto.

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  8. Happy birthday! Your dinner party sounds like so much fun. Nothing like a good house party :)

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    1. Thank you Stephanie! And I didn't even feel too bad the next day - I think I was too busy to drink *that* much.

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  9. How lovely to have had your birthdays in your dream home. Proof that dreams can indeed come true. I too am a Libra, sun and moon, so I am very Libran! My birthday lasted 3 weeks of celebrations! (it was a very big number of years so celebrating was called for. ps I always call October Rocktober, after the Radio Hauraki october theme of many years ago. Finally, here's to another wonderful year for you and your husband. Best wishes. xx

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  10. Hooray for 48! Enjoy your years and days, especially as you are getting younger as you age. Being happy is a serious "staying youthful" prescription. I can't say I enjoy my birthdays as I feel conspicuous having the attention, but my friends sometimes ask why I have less wrinkles, am more limber and active or don't talk about the things they do. "Oh, Karen's the young one" they say. Because I'm choosing to have fun and be fun and love what I do. (Not that I don't have the same obstacles to perfection that they do!) I love that you've created your ideal life. I've been re-reading your "How to Stay Chic in Winter" here in Vancouver and am embracing the concepts. (Now I'm tempted to buy another copy with the new cover, however I'm talking myself out of it although the new cover is spectacular!) Bless you, Fiona.

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    1. I would love to be described like that! 'Oh Karen's the young one'. How fabulous :)

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  11. Hi Fiona.
    I turned 50 on the 3rd of October.
    I feel like a young 50 and only I can make this happen.
    I love the word flossy that you use.
    Happy birthday girl!

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  12. Hi Fiona! Happy belated birthday. I too am a firm believer that you are only as old as you decide to be! I turned 58 on September 11, and I definitely don't look or feel it. I'm blessed with good genes, I guess, and have lived a relatively healthy life. I play with my 3-year-old grandson and he makes me feel young (or at least nearly as young as I was when his mama was 3).


    Since you have put out hardcover copies of your "Thirty Chic Days" and "How to Be Chic in the Winter," will there also be a new hardcover of "Thirty Slim Days"? I like all of your books, but that is my personal favorite...it has been so helpful and inspirational to me.

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    1. Happy belated birthday, Karen :) And yes, Thirty Slim Days is the next book to receive a new cover. It's such fun seeing them come to life, as I choose an illustration that reflects what I think the book's 'feeling' is and then see the font colours come from that etc. Such fun!

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  13. I had no idea you were a Libra as well, Fiona :) It does make sense because I find you to be such a kindred spirit from what I can tell through your blog and writing. I too love being a Libra and love being born in October, the autumn season is by far my favorite. Although I don't put much stock in horoscopes, I think the Libra sign fits me perfectly. I am pretty easy going, always striving for balance, and am definitely a magpie who loves beautiful things.

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    1. Happy belated birthday to you, Anna! I agree about the horoscope thing, but I definitely feel like the Libra description fits me well too.

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  14. This was a most excellent post! I have to tell you that your attitude about Growing Bolder (a real website) not older, is the best way to live long and strong. As I head toward thirty-thirty six in January, I embrace life, never, ever speak words I don't want to come to pass in my life ("I'm so old I'm creaking") and strive to be like my hero, Oleda Baker (oleda.com and oledalifestyles.com). She's a model from the 60-70's who is now 84, and still living life to the fullest and is a huge proponent of having fun. I listen to people and follow role models who speak positively, live positively and look amazing! I am also a firm believer in weight/resistance training which certainly helps take care of a lot of issues most people face. I was dealing with them, too, until I realized that I was letting myself down. I have a lot of living left to do - at least to 120 (which is biblical and what a lot of scientists say is going to be a new norm and is quite doable). I kick aging bootie!!

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Merci for your comment. Wishing you a chic day!

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