Time marches on

So, over half way through the year and no blogging from me, despite all my promises to the contrary at the beginning of the year.  We moved (house and office) and, well, you know what that's like - the days turn into weeks, turn into months.  Plus we did building work, decorated lots of rooms and put a lovely new kitchen in.  Excuses, excuses.

I've been keeping a list of things that I wanted to blog about, beautiful things I've seen elsewhere, plus beautiful things here in the shop.  So, slowly but surely I'll work my way through and hopefully you'll believe that this blog is back.

We've got loads of new home accessories just added, which are going really well.  Having just moved, I know how important it is to have things in your home that make you smile, things that you truly love.  But (sadly!) I also know what it's like working to a budget, so I've been trying to find some fun and quirky things that won't break the bank ... do check out our Home Accessories section and let me know what you think.

To give you a taster, here are a couple of my faves:

Happy New Year!

Oops.  I seem to have totally neglected this blog since McBaby arrived - I'm so sorry and one of my (many) new year's resolutions is to bring you lots of beautiful things to see, do, read, cook, eat and buy in 2010.

The new year has got off to a slow start for most of us in the UK, with all the snow causing huge disruption for most of the country.  I like to use the new year positively: new year, new start and all that, but this year I really haven't managed it ... yet!  I wonder how many of you are also feeling like me - the snow cheated us out of an energetic start to the year and instead we're languishing towards the end of January feeling like we haven't achieved much.

Well, I'm determined not to let it scupper me too much.  The sun is shining in Beaconsfield today, my children have almost completed their first full week at school without ANY weather disruption, I've been sourcing some beautiful new things for the website and I've got lots of lovely ideas, tips and things to make your life more beautiful this year.

So, here's to 2010 - and lots more activity on this blog!

Pretty Feet

Now, although summer seems to have disappeared, I've been taking extra care of myself over the last few weeks - exfoliating in the shower, using the divine Kiehls Body Lotion and getting my feet flip-flop ready (again) using the gorgeous Pedicure Collection Gift Set from butter LONDON.  When summer returns (even if it's just for brief glimpses) I want to be able to wear dresses and flip-flops with pride and butter LONDON really know how to help.

This gorgeous trio of products have sorted out my cracked heels and dry skin and I'm itching to get my legs out again!  butter LONDON really know their stuff and were determined to make feet sexy with their pedicure products.  The Stiletto Stick contains high levels of Urea and Macadamia Nut Oil, which deeply moisturises. Brilliant.  And we are really loving the Silk Stockings Finishing Gel - it firms and moisturises and my legs are looking great (just need to sort out my veins - Big Mac has given me a few new ones to worry about!).

Thank you butter LONDON - I thoroughly recommend these products to make your legs and feet beautiful - summer or no summer!

The Crazy Bear - part two

Following on from my previous thread about the decadent and fabulous Crazy Bear, on Saturday we went to their Thai restaurant for dinner.  There were eight of us and we were lucky enough to be given the Snug - our own private dining room.  This was brilliant as it meant we were able to talk as a table, rather than only being able to hear the person sat next to us.

The service was friendly and efficent and what I remember of the food (!) was really delicious. However, it is definitely true to say that far too much alcohol was consumed for me to be able to provide a detailed report (thank goodness I'm not a restaurant critic!).

We stumbled into the fantastical bar after our meal and a thoroughly good evening was had by all.  I totally recommend this place if you're in Beaconsfield, and if not, do try and get to either of their other restaurants in London and Stadhampton (near Oxford).  Most definitely a beautiful thing!

Continuing the Cocktail theme ...

One of my favourite restaurants in London is The Crazy Bear on Whitfield Street - gorgeous food and always a good atmosphere, combined with very cool design.  So, you can imagine my excitement when we found out Crazy Bear were opening in Beaconsfield (it made moving to Beaconsfield MUCH more attractive I can tell you!).

We enjoyed some drinks in their garden in Beaconsfield a few days ago - what a treat.  Even more of a treat thanks to a lovely friend of mine who picked up the tab - thanks Steve!  It felt like being in the South of France - I'm such a sucker for swanky hotels and bars.  Comfy over-sized furniture with huge canopys and a stylish vibe, although I'm not totally convinced by the empty Krug bottles on each table ...  So, for a big blast of Mediterrean cool in Beaconsfield I thoroughly recommend The Crazy Bear.

We're going to their Thai restaurant for my husband's 40th v. soon so I will report back on the food then!

Margarita Challenge

If you live in or near London and enjoy cocktails then you are going to love this post ... FREE MARGARITAS in some of London's most beautiful bars.  Yes, you did read that correctly - see, now you're glad you kept with this blog aren't you?!?

The Platino Margarita Challenge is being run by Square Meal with 10 London bars each concocting their own Margarita recipe (including a secret ingredient), which will then be judged by all those lucky people (i.e. you and me) who have registered.  After registering you'll be sent a booklet and then from July 15th off you go to sample your free cocktail. 

I'm feeling very sad that with a new baby and having just moved out of London I am not going to be able to put my booklet to quite as much use as I would've done this time last year.  So, reader, please go and have a margarita for me!

Excuses, excuses

I don't suppose I have any readers left ... but just in case you were wondering where I got to, I do have an excuse.  And I think it's a pretty good one.  On 10th May I had a little baby boy, hereafter known as Big Mac.  And yes, there is a reason for that - on our dash to the hospital we got stuck in traffic and baby made a rather dramatic entrance into the world in the McDonald's car park, on the North Circular, next to Ikea.  So, if you happened to be there a few Sundays ago, hello.  You won't recognise my face, but maybe my behind as I flashed the road!!!

Luckily we had a friend with us who's a midwife and both Big Mac and myself were fine (if a little shocked) and he has been a lovely, chilled out baby.

So, here's to my latest beautiful thing - Big Mac.  And I promise that I'm now back to work and this blog will be regularly updated with lots of things to make life a little more beautiful.

Moved

The reason that April's been a write off in terms of blogging is that (finally) we moved.  Now, as you probably know, moving isn't much fun at the best of times, but I really wouldn't recommend it when you're 8 months pregnant, as I am.  It has been incredibly stressful trying to get everything sorted before the imminent arrival, and try and make our new house feel like home for the Things.

We've moved out of London (sob sob) to Beaconsfield, so life is very different at the moment.  I'm trying to find my feet (and some friends!) but have to be honest and say that I'm really missing London right now.  The beautiful architecture, the convenience of so many shops, cafes and activities for Thing 1 and Thing 2 on our doorstep, not to mention my friends.

But Thing 1 is settling in beautifully at her new school, and Thing 2 seems to be enjoying nursery, and then of course Thing 3 (hmmm, not sure that's going to work is it? Maybe this one will have to be the Cat in the Hat!) will change everything again anyway.

In terms of Beautifulthings.co.uk, the move has gone really smoothly, which is one less thing to worry about and our normal speedy service wasn't interupted at all.  If you're in this area, please feel free to post ideas of things to do with kids - would love to hear.

Our Holiday in Aldeburgh

seems like a distant memory already!  Well, I suppose it is really, apologies again for lack of posting. during April.

So, we booked 6 Coastguard Cottages for a few days at the end of March and it really was as lovely as it looks on the website.  A wonderful location, just behind Aldeburgh High Street and a few minutes from the beach, with a wonderful attention to detail that made us feel very lucky to call it 'home' for a few days.

The Things absolutely loved the (windswept!) beach and we enjoyed the fresh air and family time.  Oh, and if you have small children and are visiting this area then you must go to Easton Farm Park - we enjoyed a wonderful day here with the animals.

Cupcake Heaven

Another beautiful sunny day here in London and the Things are both at nursery.  Of course this means it's work time for me, but I also thought I'd take a little trip to Primrose Hill with a notebook and do some brainstorming (and maybe eat some cupcakes too!).

There is the cutest little bakery in Primrose Hill - Primrose Bakery, where they do the most delicious cupcakes.  And they look beautiful too.

Cupcakes have been big news for quite some time now and it's not hard to see why - they add a little bit of pleasure to a day and (let's face it) they're all about delight and decadence with their sugar sprinkles and swirly butter icing.  Yum.

So if you're in NW London, this is somewhere I would recommend to give you a lift.  And on that note, enough cupcake eating, it's back to work for me.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Beautiful Holiday Cottages

When planning a holiday I love nothing more than surfing the internet, looking through brochures and trying to find the perfect holiday for us.  So I just had to share this beautiful site with you - we're off to Suffolk for a few days soon and I'm really hoping that the cottage we've booked through Best of Suffolk will be as lovely as it looks.

All cottages on this site have a real wow factor - I won't tell you how many hours I *might* have spent drooling, before finally deciding.  A very pleasant way to spend half an hour (or more)!

Oh, and if you know Suffolk at all, any recommendations on places to visit with two small children would be much appreciated.  Feel in desperate need of a holiday and not having to battle airports is a huge bonus, grotty British weather not so much ....  Will do a full report when we get back.

Graze.com

One of the things I want to do on this blog is bring you some of the things I've found that are helping to make my life 'beautiful' (!), for this read positive, fulfilled, happy and healthy (with no doubt some retail therapy thrown in too).

I recently came across a fantastic idea at Graze.com.  This website will deliver to your desk a delicious box of fresh and dried fruit, nuts and seeds - a healthy snack to stop you reaching for the chocolate, which I do with alarming regularity.

My first box arrived on Tuesday and it was really yummy - large batons of juicy, fresh pineapple, a punnet of dried apricots, strawberries and macadamia nuts, and a little pot of roasted seed mix.  I felt very virtuous whilst munching away and would thoroughly recommend.

Visit the site NOW because they have a fantastic offer running - your first box FREE and second for half price - perfect for trying it out.

Let me know what you think - I was very impressed, and so was Thing 1, who ate rather more of the pineapple than I wanted her to!  As a weekly treat, it certainly beats Starbucks on the feel-good stakes.

Mumsjustlove.com

We were delighted to see that some of our products have been featured on MumsJustLove.  This site aims to trawl the web finding a collection of lovely products for mums and well, we think we have rather a lot of those!

The products they've chosen include Baby Prints on Canvas, which makes a great new baby gift, and the Baking Kit, a lovely gift for small children - Thing 1 and Thing 2 are *very* into their baking!

Actually, I think we have lots of other beautiful things that are perfect for new mums, small children and Christening gifts - check out our Gifts Section and see if you agree.

The Bobby Pin Mirror Compact

A lovely piece of press for us in March's Essentials magazine - our cute Bobby Pin Mirror Compact, created by celebrity illustrator Jeffrey Fulvimari is featured on their Treat Yourself page.  Thank you Essentials. 

Also featured on the same page is this rather gorgeous Emma Bridgewater mug - what a great Mother's Day gift.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 are very excited about Mother's Day (bless them, they love any day that sounds a bit different and clearly have no concept of what the day is actually about) so maybe I will get breakfast in bed:

I don't own any Emma Bridgewater things, and having just had a good look at her website, I think it's about time to change all that.  Really beautiful things.

Oops, it's February already

So it seems that one of my New Year's Resolutions to be more active on my blog has already fallen by the wayside, with this being my first new entry in 2009.  Sorry everyone, I've had a good think about the blog and promise more posts, that are more focused, more regularly!

I'm sat in my office today looking out of the window at a covering of about 4-5 inches of snow, and it's still falling.  This is nearly unheard of in central London and according to the news, is the worst snow the southeast of the UK has seen in fifty years.  Of course, it means that everything comes to a standstill!  It feels like I'm the only one in the world working today - so much for getting my press list together and up-to-date - it's been voicemail all the way this morning for every journalist I've called. 

A great day for browsing the internet and looking for lots of beautiful things to tell you all about in 2009.  Enjoy building your snowmen or snuggling up in the warm with a hot chocolate and a good book, whichever is more your style ...

Gift Ideas for the Ladies in your Life

Whether you're buying Christmas gifts for your mum, sister, best friend or wife, chances are, you've got a few women on your list to buy presents for.  So we thought we'd try and be helpful and make some gift suggestions for each person.

Gifts for Mums

For new mums, you should have a look at our Mother and Baby Goody Bag, which contains three natural, herbal balms.  We love the Grow It: Herb Garden - a lovely treat for anyone that enjoys either gardening or cooking, or both!  For mums who like to look good, then how about the Black Fan Shell Bag with its vibrant print and roominess?  And the Black Chunky Bead Necklace is one of those items that every woman needs in her jewellery collection - easy to wear and modern-looking, it goes with everything.

Gifts for Sister

For your trendy little sister the Ollie & Nic Baker Boy Hat will keep her looking good and warm, and the Horse Resin Necklace was designed and handmade in the UK - it's brilliantly kitsch, she'll love it.  If she's a fan of colour, then how about the cheery Dumpling Dynasty Shopper?  Or if she needs to chill out then the Be Happy Candle should help with that.

Gifts for Best Friends

Well, the obvious suggestion here is our scrummy Friendship Tea or if she's a chocolate-lover then the Girls' Night Selection Box will keep her happy for a while!  We are loving the handmade resin jewellery from UK design team, Charmed, and the Turquoise Little People Resin Necklace is fun and funky.

Gifts for Teachers and PAs

Finding a little thank you gift can be tricky, but we have some gorgeous ideas.  The Warming Winter Spice Hot Chocolate is absolutely delicious and looks great too.  Or after a term of teaching a classroom of children, a little relaxation should be on the cards so they should appreciate the 5 Flower Bath Melts in Gift Box.  Or how about the Sleepy Tea - do you see the theme here?!

Gifts for Little Girls

And if you've got some little girls to buy Christmas gifts for, I think we've got them covered too.  The Christmas Felt Hairclips make a cute stocking filler and all the little girls I know (including Thing 1 and Thing 2) love baking cakes, so the Baking Kit would be ideal.

Gifts for your Wife/Girlfriend

And finally to the most important person!!!  Ollie & Nic are fantastic UK designers that most women love - their bags are always on trend but are also classics, and they're super-practical.  We don't think you can go wrong with the Ollie & Nic Lady Chocolate Tweed Bag.  If she likes jewellery then how about either the Mini Heart Charm Necklace, a classic piece that she'll love or for something more colourful, how about the Pink and Purple Bangle Bracelet?  And for a cute stocking filler the Raspberry Chocolate Hearts are yummy.

I hope this has given you some ideas - not long to go now so if you've still got shopping to do (like me!) you'd better get a move on!

Ten under a Tenner

With everyone feeling the pinch a little at the moment I thought it might be a good idea to put together our suggestions for lovely gift ideas that won't break the bank.  So here are our top 10 under £10.

1.  Happiness Tea, Friendship Tea and Sleepy Tea - £5 each - the perfect little gift to for tea-lovers

2.  Mission statement notebooks - there are three different types so you should find one to suit the lady in your life - as seen in Cosmopolitan, Closer and the Daily Mirror, £7 each

3.  Warming Winter Spice Hot Chocolate - a luxurious and decadent gift at an affordable price, and it is yummy - £9.99

4.  4 Bath Melts in Lilac Gift Box - for someone who enjoys pampering, these smell as good as they look - £8.99

5.  Handmade Set of Two Felt Hairclips - a cute stocking filler for little girls, available in three different designs, £5.99 for set of two

6.  Doll Face Make-Up Bag - for sassy girls everywhere, this lovely cosmetics bag comes with a matching hairclip - £9.99

7.  Two Christmas Tree Chocolates - beautifully presented, these make a wonderful Christmas gift for teachers, nannies, PAs and anyone who loves good chocolate - £5.50

8.  Not for Anyone Else Bracelet - stylish and simple - a great stocking filler - £7.99

9.  Ooh La La Cake Purse - a fun Christmas gift idea - £6.99

10.  Silver Guardian Angel - a lovely gift idea for someone special - £7.99

We hope these give you some ideas for unusual and interesting Christmas gifts that won't break the bank. 

Handmade in the UK

Every Christmas we try to have a bit of a theme at Beautifulthings.co.uk - it's usually something that's important to us and this year we wanted to be more eco-friendly and support small UK businesses.

As a small business ourselves we know how difficult it can be to get people aware that we exist and then decide to buy from us (and I can't tell you how much we appreciate our customers!).  With that in mind, we also like to work with and support other small businesses so I thought I'd give you a quick introduction to a couple of our suppliers.

The lovely Amanda designs and makes our beautiful felt hairclips (as seen in Easy Living):

and I know I've already talked about Lucy in Brighton who designs and hand makes her vibrant jewellery - we just added a new design so do have a look:

When buying a gift for someone I think the idea that it's a handmade gift makes it extra special and if it's handmade in the UK, then even better.  Our gorgeous goody bags containing natural, herbal balms all made in Wales make wonderful gifts and as well as looking pretty, they really work.

And if you'd like to know more about where any of our gifts are from, please just ask.  We're always happy to receive e-mails and phonecalls (and even letters!) from customers.

More press coverage

I'm delighted to see that the fun Marry into Money Notebook has been featured in December's edition of Cosmopolitan.  We love these cheery notebooks: also available are I'm Going to be Really Rather Naughty and this is my plan and I'm Going to Change the World and this is my plan.

We think these notebooks would make excellent stocking fillers and are also perfect for Secret Santa presents.

Sorry to bang on about Christmas, but we're in full swing here now.  All I can say is I'm clearly getting old because I can't believe how quickly it's come round again!

Easy Living

As the glossy magazines bring out their Christmas gift guides this month, it's rather an exciting time here, seeing whether any of our products are featured.  Great news on Wednesday (and believe me, I needed it that day!) I popped into the newsagents with Thing 1 and Thing 2 in tow, and there was the December issue of Easy Living.  Got it home and hooray, our gorgeous Russian Doll Hairclips are featured.  Unfortunately the price is wrong, but the credit is right, the image is good and they're there - and that is the most important thing.

It's always particularly exciting to feature in a magazine that I love, and Easy Living is one of my faves.

There are a few more possible mentions in various magazines in the pipeline so I'll keep you updated.

Busy times

Okay, so this was one of the things that I was worried about when thinking of starting a blog - that's right, that'd I begin well, and then my posts would tail off a little.  Exactly what's happened and I apologise.  But I do have an excuse .... sort of ....

October is always a really, really busy month behind-the-scenes at Beautifulthings.co.uk because it's when our new goodies arrive by the boxload.  New stock is a funny thing I always find - a bit up and down.  So firstly, a lovely box arrives - hooray, it contains new beautiful things.  This is exciting and involves lots of oohing and aahing around the office as everything is admired (and mentally added to wish lists!).  But then comes the boring bit, boo - each box has to be unpacked and every item checked to ensure it meets our standards, plus ticked off against the delivery note.  This is time-consuming and not something I enjoy.  Soon however the items are ready to go on to the site - hooray.  Time to think about what's so good about each thing, why we love it, why we think you'll love it, how you could wear it, who it makes a good gift for etc.  This is fun and creative.  But then, boo, all the fiddly bits have to be done too, re-sizing all the images, copying and pasting, re-doing the sort order, groan.  Once it's live however it's another hooray, now we can see how many people are looking at, and buying, each new thing - very exciting to see when you love something as much as we do.

So there you go, that's been a large chunk of my time for the last few weeks.  Here's one of my personal faves, a lovely Ollie & Nic tote bag.

Lucy Wallis Jewellery

It's that time of year when so many new beautiful things are arriving it almost gets tricky to keep up with them all, so do keep an eye on the website because over the next three weeks there's going to be so many new things.

One of my current faves is the Lucy Wallis Sweetie Bracelet which is so vibrant and fun.  Now I'm not always brilliant at accessorising (Thing 1 and Thing 2 don't usually give me time, unless safely in front of CBeebies of course) so I love jewellery that I can just chuck on without thinking but that I know will work with whatever I'm wearing.

And it makes it even nicer to know that Lucy designs and hand makes all her jewellery in Brighton and is a lovely lady.  She totally understood when she called me the other day and endured a conversation with both Things screaming in the background!  Oh the joys of working with small children - answering the phone is not always a simple job if there's a tantrum going on ...

I hope you love her jewellery as much as I do.

Cocktails, mmmmm ....

Is it wrong to really, really fancy a Cosmopolitan before 1pm?  What about if I say it's Friday - that makes it better, surely?  I think this sudden craving might have something to do with this rather lovely new sign that's now in the Home Accessories section.  It's got a great retro glamour about it that feels very decadent.

Sooo, back to cocktails.  Can anyone recommend a good place for cocktails in London?  I have a night out planned soon with the girls and we're looking for somewhere to go.  Do e-mail me if you've any ideas!  Thanks. xxx 

Multi-tasking ...

I've had a lovely weekend, which culminated today in having a group of girlfriends and their various aged small people for lunch. This was (of course) lunch in two stages - the first sitting for the children, aged between 6 months and 4 years, and then the second, more civilised sitting, for the grown-ups. But this evening, I can count at least four conversations that I started and never quite finished.  Is this what it is to be a mum - never to finish a conversation in the company of your children?

We were all multi-tasking, all afternoon. And then I started thinking about beautifulthings, and how I often don't finish things that I start here either. But is it any wonder, when I'm juggling so many things at once? So, how do you cope? What works for you with regards to time management? Any tips, I'd love to hear them.

Oh, and as an aside, one of the things I cooked was this rather delicious (if I do say so myself!) tart - enjoy.

Delicious tart from delicious. magazine

Getting Confused

One of the strange things about working in the fashion and gifts market is the different timelines.  So, in reality, it's August.  I'm wearing my summer clothes and flip-flops (although not these last few days!) and I'm using this rather lovely bag for trips to the park with Thing 1 and Thing 2 (when it's not raining that is).  However, I'm also spending large parts of my day finalising the Christmas range for Beautifulthings.co.uk, talking to the press about Christmas gifts and starting to take delivery of some rather gorgeous new bags and jewellery for A/W. Sometimes I feel confused to step outside and realise that it's warm and sunny. And finally, at the trade fairs recently I've been thinking ahead to Spring next year and putting together orders with some of our suppliers. Eek! It's hardly surprising I don't even know which day of the week it is sometimes is it?!?!

Welcome!

After months of planning and hard work the new beautifulthings.co.uk website is finally live and looking good (if I do say so myself!). Thanks go to Anuschka, Robert and the rest of the team at Moustique for their patience and help. I think they've created a lovely-looking site - hope you agree.
The migration of data was hugely time-consuming and frankly rather boring so I'm rather glad I didn't have to do it all myself! That said, it was a job that could be done while Thing 1 and Thing 2 (a.k.a. my beautiful daughters) sang, played and fought in the background.
It was important to me that we retain the girlie feel that is so intrinsic to the site, whilst giving it a more contemporary feel - do let us know if you like it. Plus, I hope you'll welcome our new fairy, who will soon have a name thanks to the competition we're running in this month's newsletter.
I'm off for a celebratory cup of Sleepy Tea - yes, I know it should be champagne but it's 11pm and I'm home alone.

eta, now actually publishing this post the next morning!