I'm BACK!!!

2015 was going to be my year. I started off with a bang, blogging every day, on top of things, all was well. Business was great, family was healthy and intact and things were looking good. Yeah, well, life is what happens when you're busy making other plans eh?

The year settled in and began to show its real colours. Since then I’ve been hospitalised, suffered that allergy in L.A., been (the victim) in a car crash, been hospitalised again and burned myself.
July and December are traditionally my favourite months of the year - July is when I turn the notch down a little on work, the kids break up and so the school runs stop, it's my birthday and the sun comes out. Well, as much as the sun ever comes out in England.

I write this on August 1st. July is over. Hallelujah. July sucked. I would think of a more eloquent way to put it but sometimes you just need to call a spade a spade. It sucked.
I’m glad to see the back of it.

I’ve never been a ‘woe is me’ personality and don't worry, I do not intend to start now. I started drafting my ‘July Favourites’ for a YouTube video and thought to myself ‘actually the best thing about July is that it is over’. My favourites are pretty much all non-beauty. I have literally not worn makeup for a month. I’ve been in bed (enforced by the docs) for over two weeks of the month so there are a lot of books on my list.

We had a week-long break booked in Cornwall for the last week of July and were able to keep the holiday. That has helped me get my head back, as it were. Eight of us travelled down on my birthday. There was literally no signal there, so we were all looking at and engaging with each other instead of our phones. Seeing the kids hang out together and reconnect as friends and siblings was blissful, if not extremely noisy and messy.

Our youngest child finished primary school last month. We are starting a new phase as parents - one that does not include a school run for the first time in 20 years. That I will not miss!

Business is still great and ultimately, although the shock of the crash and the aftermath is still giving me horrific flashbacks, we all walked away from the car after we were hit..
After the impact, then the noise (you feel it first) and then flying glass when the coach hit us, I braced myself to look into the back seat not knowing what to expect. Then I heard screams, saw that the children were dazed, bloodied, but awake, and my first thoughts were literally: ‘The kids are ok. Put your hazards on, get off the motorway, call the police and the ambulance. You can do this. The kids are ok. The kids are ok.' And we are. And we will be.

So, as I face August determined to make it as spectacularly fabulous as I can, I just want to thank you again for all of your get well and birthday messages, cards and flowers.

I'm home, rested, absolutely back to work and the blog and filming and and and and - mainly loving life.

SPF is coming this week, as is the insider low-down on the new Pixi skincare, and retinols will follow.

Screw you 2015. I'm pressing restart. :)