New Book out! 100 Ways to be That Girl :)

 

Hello chic friends,

I am excited to let you know about my newest book that has just been published!

100 Ways to be That Girl is all about standing out from the crowd and harnessing the power of how ‘she’ would be, to instantly:

- Become unforgettable
- Feel happier and more confident
- Stop worrying about what others think of you
- Power ahead in your own life
- Feel unshakeable

That girl is who everyone wants to be. She has it all going on! Others wonder how she does it so well. In this book I’ll share all her secrets.

That girl is our alter ego, the one who has more fun, makes more money, and is better looking. Just for fun, let’s cultivate our that girl persona and see how fabulous life can get.

Age or body size are no barrier to creating our dream life, with the help of our inner that girl. We are going to be that girl in our own life, the leading lady in our own movie!

It was so fun to write this book. I got to be a little over the top, but as usual with my writing, it is also grounded in reality. It always pays to have the best of both worlds I believe!

You can find it on Kindle and in paperback here at my affiliate Amazon link.

And for an Amazon alternative, the eBook is available in my eStore here.

I do hope you enjoy this book, and that it gives you a fun little boost for the weekend!

Happy reading!

xx Fiona

My Amazon links are affiliate, which means that I may receive a small commission on anything you purchase through my link. The price you pay isn't any different, so thank you if you choose to use my links :)

What I've been up to and chic ideas

 

Recently we had a two-night mini-break staying at the Martinborough Hotel and it was so nice to dress up and go out We found a beautiful new restaurant called Karahui. The food was delicious, wine list incredible and the staff so friendly. Would recommend!

 

 

Estee Lauder said, 'Packaging requires special thought. You can make a thing wonderful by its outward appearance.'

I feel that way about pretty touches around my home, how I dress and present myself, and my book covers too.

I get so excited when choosing a new image for a book cover (as I did last week, it's with my cover designer right now). There is something magical about creating a new, gorgeous real-life thing that started with a thought.

It's the same with handcrafts, a beautiful dinner or anything we make ourselves - out of thin air it seems!

What will you be creating today? And making it wonderful with it's outwards appearance?

I will be dressing well for the supermarket (hehe, my big outing), making dinner later on, and also doing a read-aloud read-through of my latest book.

It is a mini-mini-book which is so fun - I have loved the energy of writing it, and for you, my lovely reader, it will be a quick read to (hopefully!) inspire thoughtful action and a happy feeling.

 

:: Inspiration Basket ::

I used to carry a stack of material around with me, from my bedside table to my writing desk and the sofa too. Then I decided I needed a basket for ease!

This one I have had for decades and can't even remember where it came from (it's second hand though, so would have been a charity store).

In it I have my iPad and Kindle, current reading material ('The Party Crasher' by Sophie Kinsella which was just 'OK', I borrowed it from the library), my journal and pen, and a couple of style files (printed or torn out inspiration pages in a display book). My basket could look a little tidier 🤣 Everything is thrown into it today.

I always have a giant cup of 6am tea (sometimes green, sometimes normal tea with milk), and I will either go straight to my desk with it and start writing in my robe, or sit up in bed with a book or my journal.

It's SUCH a nice start to my day. By the time I have had my tea it's probably been around half an hour and I'm ready to get up.

Having my inspiration basket close to hand reminds me of being a young girl and carrying all my favourite things around with me 😊 - reading and being creative.

Perhaps you need an inspiration basket too? Filled with uplifting material to inspire and soothe? I'm sure you can find something around the house if you too carry things around from room to room :)

xx Fiona

PS. You can find all my books here at my affiliate link on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tAGUp2

Creating your own happiness

Now more than ever I truly realise that we are each responsible for our own happiness. There can be very sad times and hardship, and simply being a cheery person cannot avoid these circumstances, but how resilient we are very much depends on our state of mind.

When we look for the negative things in life, nitpick, find fault in, and judge others, it is harder to be happy. I know this from experience. But when we drop the judgement, look for the good in life, are grateful for everything we have and look forward to each day as a chance for a new start, miracles seem to occur. We feel happy for no reason. Life is brighter. People are friendlier. The trees are greener! And it all starts with us.

We had recent family sadness: my father-in-law Peter passed away in April. He was one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met. His smile was 1,000 watts and he was always positive. His funeral was so packed there were people standing at the back.

Peter moved here from the UK as a young man and forged a life for himself in a new country, was successful in his chosen career as an engineer (just like my dad, who was an engineer too) and built a beautiful life for himself and his family. If he hadn’t wanted to see the world as a merchant navy man my husband Paul wouldn’t exist, and I am so grateful that he does!

I knew Peter for eighteen years, and cannot remember a time when he was grumpy. He truly was a lesson in how to live life well, and with gusto. This wasn’t supposed to be a eulogy, but more a little reminder to live life, be happy, and appreciate every moment you are given. I know I do, every single day.

Yes, sometimes I’m not my best self and can be thoughtless or a Little Miss, but the more I practice looking on the bright side of life, the more I can appreciate. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

Sending you a big smile and wishing you a lovely weekend!

xx Fiona

PS. my books are now available as paperbacks in Australia through Amazon Australia - actually printed in Australia! This means a huge saving on shipping - yay! 

 

 

The End of Year Project

Over the past couple of months my family and I have made what feels like a super human effort to tidy up my dad’s property for sale.  He was an engineer who hand-crafted his own motorcycles to race (right down to the engine), built two beautiful cottages on his land and therefore had a large shed(s) full of… a lot of useful stuff if you do those kinds of things.

It’s been a process of finding the people who want the types of machines my dad had, and just working out where stuff needs to go in general.  None of us can abide waste and we wanted to see that items would be used for their purpose rather than just binned.  It all took massive amounts of time and a lot of physical labour.  And then there is the mental toll sometimes when you remember why you’re doing all this.  Someone is not there anymore.

However… next Friday the new owners take over and we are 99% complete in our clear-out.  Yesterday and the day before involved one of the last tasks on our list: getting the scrap metal guy to come around.  My dad had almost 8 tonnes of steel on his property.  Yes!  FYI, you don’t get much for scrap metal but at least it’s gone from the paddock and will no doubt live another life being useful to someone else.

After next Friday I will get my life back and *only* have paperwork, banking and tax things (thankfully with the help of dad’s accountant) to take care of, and that should be wrapped up within the next six months too.

I am so grateful to my dad for being the amazing guy he was, and I am excited to be moving on to the next non-executor stage of my life.  I have big plans!  At any time I am a huge fan of tidying, organizing and decluttering, but especially so now.  Part of it is the momentum I got from helping sort dad’s stuff, but another huge part is that my own place feels messy now.  Not messy-messy, but there are lots of things that got put aside so I could focus on my estate executor task.

My exciting plan is to dive in and have a fun three month project where I tidy, sort, organize, get up-to-date with, streamline, simplify, declutter, refine, curate and get my home, office, wardrobe, financial paperwork and my head in tip-top shape.  Everything.  It’s always been my dream to live a show-home life – one where anyone could open any cupboard at any time and it look beautiful inside.  One where my receipts are reconciled and filed. (I used to do that near-daily but it’s one of the things I stopped doing and now I have a basket full of receipts…)

My mum has a neighbour who is one of my organizing chic mentors.  Just being in her home makes you feel good because it’s stylish and welcoming at the same time as being so organized and decluttered.  She told me last week that she even has a completely empty wardrobe because she finds things she wants to declutter all the time.  An empty wardrobe!  How awesome would that feel?

So, I hope you’ll join me for The End of Year Project.  Will you do the same?  Or perhaps focus on one aspect only?  Please share and we can do great things together.  See you soon :)

xx Fiona

~~

PS. We are in the spring season here in New Zealand (isn't my dad's place gorgeous in the image at the top of this post?), 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 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.

~~

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