Afternoon tea, and this month's book sale!

 

We had ladies afternoon tea recently! It was held in honour of my aunt's 82nd birthday. We had such a fun time, and I don't know how it happened, but we now also have bubbles before we start on the coffee and tea. Oops!

Everyone brings a plate. I made the soft white bread sandwiches (cucumber, and chicken, mayo and parsley), and I bought some coconut macaroon cookies. I don't usually keep them in the house because the first time I tried them I ate the whole packet of seven cookies all at once. They were THAT good.

I played 'PLÜM Radio' on Spotify and had a relaxing flyover YouTube video of the Greek Islands on the tv in the other room. And of course candles and my essential oil diffuser were going.

I love to create an ambience! (selfishly as much for me as for my guests).

The birthday girl unwrapped her lovely presents - the afternoon tea ladies swap small, nice gifts. I gave her a facial cleansing lotion and two face flannels in her favourite autumn-tone pumpkin shade. When she unwrapped it she said, 'ooh this colour is nice'.

And then at the end, everyone went home with the divvied up leftover goodies on paper plates.

I love ladies afternoon tea! And next time it will be mine, with my birthday soon!

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This is my mum's dog Milly - she was sweet 16 a few months back! My doggies love it when Milly comes to visit. They run around so happy to see their cousin 🥰 Or maybe she is their aunty?

 

 

No matter the title, they love to greet her when she arrives. Although it is a bit overwhelming for Milly with three younger dogs (‘younger’ = 7, 9, and 12) bustling around her in a frenzy of excitement. She is probably pleased when it's time to go home!

Milly is a busy little dog, even in her retirement. She is sitting by the fire in the first photo, but for most of her visit she likes to potter outside checking every centimetre of the garden :)

Then she comes back in the cat door and rejoins the group. She is such a good little self-contained doggie!

Mum always told us as children that 'bored people are boring' and obviously Milly got that memo too because she knows how to occupy herself! Although at her age what this looks like is mostly sleeping :)

I think if Milly was one of my book titles, it would be the one called ‘Loving Your Epic Small Life’, haha!

(Here is my affiliate link to this book on Amazon :)

 

 

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A few months out is the perfect time to start thinking about how you'd love to spend your Christmas this year, don’t you think?

You may already have your actual plans set, but what about your mindset? Are you excited for Christmas but also a little apprehensive?

It's such an emotional and sometimes highly charged time of the year. Is it any wonder we overeat all the goodies or end up in a disagree with someone we love?

I invite you to make this year the Christmas of your dreams by using all the tips in this book to really have it turn out the way you've always imagined - like a movie Christmas!

And of course I'd love to help out by having this month's special be 'A Chic and Simple Christmas' - it's only $2.99 on Amazon US and the paperback is reduced as well - it's down to $7.50.

You can find both at my affiliate Amazon link here.

And if you'd like to download the eBook from my eStore for an Amazon alternative, you'll find it here.
 

Reduce your stress levels by keeping a few ideas up your sleeve. It doesn't take much to turn things around!

If you haven't already read 'A Chic and Simple Christmas' I hope you enjoy it and get lots of new ideas from it. And if you have already read it, please let me know your favourite takeaway!

xx Fiona

 

 

 

Dining at home - what to wear?

 

Hello chic friends!

 

I call this photo :: Dîner pour deux à la maison ::

And "the lady of the house wore black satin pyjamas"

 

I love having nice home loungewear, and treated myself to these PJs from Victoria's Secret when we were in Hawaii a few months back. I also bought a set in hot pink.

 

Does wearing my nicest and newest loungewear for dinner at home on a Saturday night count as dressing up? I'm asking for a friend :)

 

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I hope you are having a lovely week so far.

 

I really enjoyed reading all the 'how did you meet' stories on my last post. It was so cool to see the variety of ways. And if you missed out sharing, please share today!

 

 

Thank you for ordering my newest book and keeping it in the 'Skincare' bestseller list. I hope it is a relaxing and peaceful read for you.

In the final chapter at the end, '21 ways to make your home a calm haven', number 17 is this:

"Think ‘wellbeing’ when you are looking around your home, and ask yourself how you can infuse a sense of wellbeing into each room. Can you make a cozy corner for yourself somewhere? Is your kitchen stocked with healthy foods? Is your bedroom tidy and ready for a restful sleep?"

I love to use this tip to make my home calm and welcoming. It feels so good! Not only for guests, but me too. I know my husband Paul appreciates it, and I'm sure my pets pick up on the energy as well.

Have a happy day!

xx Fiona

PS. You can find this book in paperback and on Kindle at my affiliate Amazon link here.

And the eBook in my eStore for an Amazon alternative.

 

 

 

A simple life tip + where I met my husband

 

Throwback to that fun night out at the place my husband and I met at 20 years ago.

When we told the barmaid we’d met there she told us she heard that all the time :) We are not so unique after all!

Apparently Lime Bar is quite the meeting place. When I went there it was Cosmopolitans all the way :)

And amazingly enough it’s still the same name after all these years.

I love a good ‘Where did you meet’ story so please share yours!

 

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:: How I keep my life simple ::

In our dining area, the apples and the orchid plant are both faux. I have decided that I prefer my plants to be in the garden where the rain waters them (I don't even have any outdoor pots anymore), and my fruit in the fridge for maximum crisp and freshness.

Life becomes easier and happier when you choose to 'be you' in little areas like this. I know loads of people love cut flowers and indoor potted plants, but they just stress me out!

I have to water the plants, keep them alive, feed them, upsize their pots when necessary, and put a plate under the pot for watering so I don't damage our furniture.

It's the same with cut flowers. I enjoy receiving them as a gift and have a few vases for just such a time, but otherwise I no longer buy them for myself. A bunch of flowers with my weekly shop is NOT a treat for me!

I'm not saying my way is right or wrong, it's just nice to know you have the choice, right? And you can always change your mind at any time too.

For where I am right now I want easy-care and simple. And it's not that my life is so hectic, I just prefer less to look after. Call me lazy, I don't mind :)

Tell me where you are lazy, haha, and what changes you have made to simplify your life lately.

 

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I've been chain-smoking again, yes! With writing though :) I started my next book on the high of releasing a book. I've been enjoying outlining my next book all week and will be starting my chapters soon.

Thank you for your lovely messages about my newest book's release - if you've ordered it I hope you are enjoying reading it! (pictured below)

I always take on the feeling of the book I am writing, understandably, so I am feeling very zen after writing and reading through '30 Chic Days at Home Vol. 2' :)

 

 

 

 

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And much like ‘a busman's holiday’, I love to read in my downtime, lol.

I've recently finished Jane Fallon's newest book 'Over Sharing'. I love her books and have read every one. They all seem to have a common theme of revenge, but they have heart too, and the endings are very satisfying.

This title was very enjoyable. I admire that her characters are fully fleshed out with quirks and lives of their own, but it doesn't come across as contrived or cliched.

Would recommend! (It's here at my affiliate Amazon link.)

Please let me know if you enjoy Jane’s books as well, and also, what have you read lately that you would like to share? I enjoy novels for my relaxing time, or before bed.

I hope you're having a lovely week, and see you soon!

xx Fiona

PS. You can find my newest book here at my affiliate Amazon link on Kindle and in paperback. It's been number one - yay! And thank you!

 

 

 

 

New book out today!

 

Today is a new book day! I'm thrilled to share my latest release with you. If you'll remember back to July, I did my 'Serene Spa July' series, and many lovely ladies wanted it to be made into a book, so here we are!

The July series only went up to less than 20 days before I ran out of month :) so I carried on writing, and polished everything up and now we have a new mini-book.

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If you wish you had the budget to indulge in pricey treatments at a high-end spa for a little time-out… with ‘30 Chic Days at Home Vol. 2’ you can bring the feeling of luxury and relaxation into your home life for free. Feel rejuvenated and peaceful as you build rituals and practices into your everyday life to bring about the ambience and romance of the spa lifestyle.

In this quick-to-read book, you will learn how to:

~ Enjoy your time at home more
~ Create a peaceful and calm haven for yourself and your family
~ Provide a luxuriously healthy environment for the people you love
~ Be creative in how you relax and unwind
~ Increase beauty and order in your home

You will find dozens of suggestions, tips and ideas to live well without spending a lot of extra time or money.

Feel soothed every day. Elevate your happiness. Attract others to you with your laid-back demeanour. Reduce stress and feel calmer. Sleep better!

All these things can be yours when you put into practice all the ideas from this book. Delight in your power to create a life that is exactly as you'd love it to be.

~~

I really hope you enjoy it!

You can download the Kindle version and order the paperback copy too, at my affiliate Amazon link here.

 

(The paperback says ‘out of stock’ for me, but this will just be a temporary thing since the book is so new. Amazon prints on demand, so please hang tight if you see ‘out of stock’ too!)

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

Happy reading, and thank you if you pick up my new book!

xx Fiona

 

 

This month's book sale! And my spring style :)

 

Greetings from a sunny - and breezy! - Hawke's Bay.

To me, it's normal to live in a tiny country at the bottom of the world. But to many of you, it's quite the novelty.

I have travelled a little bit, and even considered living overseas at certain stages - only for a second though.

For my style - a self-confessed homebody who loves to go on holiday but LOVES to come home afterwards, I'd probably be so homesick anywhere else!

New Zealand is very pretty, and green. I feel fortunate to have grown up here. And, that we speak English. This a big one in this global world we live in now. Especially writing and publishing my books.

So anyway, just saying hi in my outfit of the day. I love my 'uniform' of a pretty boho style blouse, slim jeans and colourful shoes. There are endless combos in my wardrobe :)

 

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It's so nice and warm with our spring weather to sit down on the hill in our paddock when I walk the dogs, just for a few minutes.

A few times I've made my own 'slant board' and lain down, head downhill and feet up. It's good for your spine, and for your head to be below your heart too, according to my old yoga teacher.

I do worry if someone is working in the orchard or driving along the driveway at the bottom of our paddock though, and they saw someone lying in the paddock upside down they might worry I've had a terrible accident...

One day when I had a lie in the sun I opened my eyes and had no dogs, whereas I normally have three. They obviously lost me in the long grass and headed back to the paddock gate where they all were waiting. So cute! But also not very caring :) I think they were more worried about how they were going to get their dinner.

Can you see white Micky dog in the upper left of the picture? He's near the two piles of firewood from a tree that came down in the February cyclone. Unfortunately it fell on a fence and did a lot of damage. Why couldn't it have fallen in the other direction? That would have been far more convenient!

 

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I’ve been enjoying holding my little mini-sales and sharing the love each month lately. So for this month I thought it would be fun to include both of my seasonal books, since some of us are heading into summer and some into winter!

For the next week or so, these two titles are $2.99 on Kindle, and the paperbacks are reduced as well. If you haven’t read them, I warmly invite you to do so now. They are packed with tips and inspiration on how to navigate each season and focus on what you can do to make them even more wonderful, as well as ways in which you can deal with the less comfortable aspects of the season.

And, if you have read them, I’d love it if you’d share my sale with a like-minded friend. Or maybe you have neither and want to buy them while they’re on special. I get it, I’m a thrifty savvy girl too and I love a good sale!

I hope you have fun dreaming and planning of the upcoming season. I am so happy for spring and summer. The weather is warming up nicely and I’m getting to wear my colourful spring tops again, plus I bought a few new ones in the sales at the end of last summer. Yay!

Have a fab day, and I will too! I've just finished a book, so the editing and proofreading starts now. I can't wait for you to read it. And I have two others half completed as well. Finishing a book always gives me a boost so I will use this turbo-charge to finish my other two also. Yay!
 

And thanks so much if you get yourself a sale book!

 

 xx Fiona

PS.You can find both of my sale books at my Amazon affiliate link here.

And the eBooks are on special too in my eStore, for an Amazon alternative.

Happy reading!

My Dior job memories, and spring is here

 

Hello chic friends!

This week I thought I'd share a fun little throwback to the year 2000 and my fabulous job at Parfums Christian Dior in the head office for New Zealand. I was 30 here, and the office administrator. It was such a fun and glamorous five years!

We got to see all the new cosmetic samples direct from Paris, with labels handwritten in French, and the buyers from our stockists would come in twice a year to see the 'New Look' makeup collections.

We had a few big perfume launches too. I was there for the Dior Addict fragrance launch and we turned the whole office into a nightclub, blacking out the windows and working like that for a week, with disco lights going all day.

It was fascinating working behind the scenes for a luxury brand!

I remember we used to use whatever perfume was around to clean the glass-top conference table instead of glass spray. As a result our offices always smelt wonderful.

The decor was white and grey, and you can see a peek of the Louis chair in white with grey upholstery through the left side of the glass door.

A dream job and fun times!

 

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And in more recent days...

 

 

 

It's me and my cheese platter :) We went to a neighbour's leaving party on Sunday afternoon - they are going from their home to a retirement village. Even though the stars of the party were the only ones we knew, it was lovely to meet new people. And, the blossom on the trees in their driveway was so pretty to see. Oh hello Spring!

 

 

Springs vibes in my home office too 🌼🌼🌼

 

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week, and, I'll see you next week!

 

xx Fiona

 

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PS. You can find my book '100 Ways to Enjoy Self-Care for Gentle Wellbeing and a Healthy Body Image' here at my affiliate link on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. 'Affiliate' means that I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but it doesn't change the price for you. I appreciate it if you choose to use my link!

And if you prefer an Amazon alternative, the eBook is also in my eStore here.

I got to meet one of my heroes!

 

 

I had THE best spontaneous weekend last weekend, AND I got to meet one of my favourite decluttering authors and motivators Peter Walsh. Yes, THE Peter Walsh of Oprah show and Rachael Ray fame! Not to mention all his wonderful books and tv programmes. I have been a fan for a long time and really benefited from his work.

Only about a week before I saw he was doing a talk on decluttering and downsizing in Auckland. Where I live is about a 5-6 hour drive or a one hour flight from Auckland, so I wondered if it was going to be recorded. And also dreamed about how cool it would be to see him live.

And then I thought, Why not go, Fiona? Why not? When am I ever going to have the chance to see him live again, and because the event was sponsored by a retirement community company, it was completely free.

So I went! And met Peter! He was hilarious on stage, with a very dry Aussie humour. I sat in the front row like a complete teacher's pet because I didn't want to miss a thing :) And happily he signed my book afterwards and let me take a photo with him too.

 

 

 

I love that he reiterates 'it's not about the stuff'. First you have to decide the vision you have for the life you want to lead, and also what you want 'from' each room in your home. So, in your bedroom, what are the feelings you want from it: peace, relaxation etc. And then you remove everything that does not promote those feelings.

It was a fabulous event, and he was on for 90 minutes, which went by in a flash!

 

 

Thanks so much Peter for a great talk! And to Ryman for paying for it (I even got a free coffee too, and there were a few others my age, which I was a bit worried about! I thought they might not let me in since I'm not retirement age...)

It was so worth the whirlwind 24 hour trip to Auckland!

 

Sometimes you just gotta do the crazy things in life right? Although it's not very 'rock and roll lifestyle' crazy to drop everything for a... decluttering seminar :) But you know what I mean. It's my version of rock and roll. Maybe yours too!

 

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This little book has proven so popular, and I really appreciate your lovely reviews, emails, and messages.

To me 'That Girl' is someone who's got it all going on. She lives her life with style, gets it just right, and enjoys herself too. She's not pushing herself or creating exhaustion for herself.

No matter the circumstances life has dealt her, she looks as if that's what she wanted all along. She rises to the occasion and always does it 'her way'.

She walks with an insouciant stride and plays it cool. She marches to the beat of her own drum and makes everyone want what she has rather than the other way around.

 

In sharing one of the tips from this book with you it was hard to choose, because I like them all, but I decided on number 33:

"Make betterment your hobby.

Instead of having a to-do list or habit tracker where your self-improvement efforts become just another thing you need to tick off before the end of the day, incorporate your desired goals into your normal routine. That way, you do things automatically and enjoyably, and they become a hobby not a chore.

What this looks like for me is that I start each day lighting a scented candle or filling up my essential oil diffuser, putting on soft background music, and switching on lamps.

I also play audiobooks or podcasts while I do household tasks such as laundry or cleaning up the kitchen. I wear my nicer clothes and put on makeup even for a day at home. I declutter and tidy most days to keep my home looking nice. And I consider my writing time relaxing time. It’s my ‘work’ but I also can’t wait to get back to it.

Find the spots in your day that feel like a bit of a slog and breathe new life into them."

I hope you find something in this excerpt to work with today. I already have my music playing and a candle going. And I've downloaded a few audiobooks to my phone to play while I'm doing my chores or driving.

 

(And you can find '100 Ways to be That Girl' here on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle.)

 

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And finally, happy southern hemisphere spring from our paddock :)

Work started on our replacement fencing this week, which was damaged in the floods six months ago.

The doggies took full advantage of being free-range by doing their paddock walk on the neighbours driveway (there is normally a fence between the drive and the paddock.

 

 

Yesterday was one of the first properly warm days we’ve had in a long, long time (including last summer) and it feels so good!

Roll on spring and summer weather. I’m here for it! 

 

Have a fab week,

xx Fiona

(PS. the Amazon link to my book is affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission but the price does not change for you. Thank you if you choose to use my link!)