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Knock,Knock

Haha..you never thought I would come back, did ya?

It’s been ages since my last post and it sure feels good to be back. We had a new addition to our family over the Christmas hols J and we call her Nikon D7000. She was a great companion on a recent trip to Barcelona. I’m glad we went there even though I wasn’t so keen at first. It is a lovely city and the locals are very proud of their culture. Communication was a bit of a struggle for me, but courtesy of “Handy Manny” we remembered a few of the more usable phrases like si, Hasta Luego, Gracias, Hola and errr that’s about it. I didn’t get a picture of Sagrada Familia which I’ve been told is an iconic architectural piece, but Barcelona has a lot to be proud of as we did get some other lovely shots.

The weather was nice and warm for Winter. I remember one of the guys at the Concierge reminding us not to leave the hotel without a jacket…What jacket?…my first opportunity to enjoy sunshine in almost five months..I will be lapping up every minute of it.  Speaking of concierge…the hotel was, how should I put it…”fue magnifico” (and believe it or not, that’s Spanish..if you don’t believe me, Google it). If you ever find yourself in Barcelona..you must stay at W Hotel or Double V as the locals call it. We had the most gorgeous view of the beach and the service was on point.

Enough rambling, see for yourself (speaking of rambling, one of the must see places in Barcelona is called La Ramblas..dry humour J hope I made you smile)

The City



Statue of Columbus apparently pointing the way to America



Excellent Sea Food and Paella Place

View of the Beach and City at Night



View of the Beach and some part of the city from the Hotel room



W Barcelona Hotel

Art at La Ramblas

Career Mums

OMG,  the days are going so quick now….It was only a little while ago that I added my Summer Cocktail post and How to host a garden party article and bang – Autumn’s here. I have even heard talks about Christmas shopping, even though Christmas is still over 12 weeks away..clearly, some people are blessed with too much time on their hands.

Anyway..what’s been going down on Blogsville? ..as always I have gone and buried myself under a mountain load of work and abandoned a few of the things that are dear to my heart.

I was reading a post on the Dailymail today (yeah I enjoy the tab and gossip columns occasionally) and they had an interesting article on superwomen working mothers and how they have had to rework their careers so they can have time to enjoy their families. I can relate to a couple of experiences like Rachel Clacher and her hubby joking about how lucky they are that their children were born at the weekend and bank holiday because Rachel never took any maternity leave. Reminds me of when I had my daughter and about an hour after she popped out, I was on the phone to a colleague saying I wouldn’t be in that day because the baby had arrived..and my daughter arrived almost two weeks late. Joanne Berry admitting to buying the fairy cakes for her daughters nursery school picnic also got me thinking , ‘cos I’ve been there and done that…not to mention the emotional turmoil and short temperedness they have all had with working long hours at home and in the office.

I however had to agree with Nicola “CITY SUPER-MUM” who says if you have enough money to buy the support you need and are lucky enough to be the boss so you can dictate your hours..you can indeed be super woman and have it all..would you agree?

Check out the rest of the article Here…makes an interesting read

A Decent Future

So after all the years of rude awakenings courtesy your alarm clock, the crazy bolt to the bathroom to get all scrubbed up and ready for work, irritating traffic, cups and cups of coffee, annoying co-workers, stubborn clients, the  difficult task of balancing work and home….and all other events that define the life of a career woman. 

……30, 40, 50, 60, 61, 64, 65 and then you hit retirement age…some of us hope to have retired long before then. After all these years, what sort of life have you made for yourself? What has all that toil come to? Parents living off their kids and saddling them with the responsibility of paying their utility bills, living off a meager pension, kids inheriting a huge amount of debt from parents….exactly what plans are you making for your retirement…Some may argue it’s a bit too early to think of that, but I beg to differ. Our financial decisions now, have a great deal of impact on our future investments except of course you win the lottery or somehow hit the jackpot.

I was thinking of a family friend who used to be affluent and had a lot of assets in his younger days. He was CEO of a number of companies and lived a high profile life. Now in his sixties he is barely managing to make ends meets. Where did it all go wrong? – Decisions, Determination and Discipline

Decisions Like it or not, you can’t work forever. So start making plans now for your retirement. If you already have a nice stack stashed somewhere think of how you can get some returns and invest wisely. If you are part of a work pensions plan, forecaste your pension and think of ways you can increase  your input. If you haven’t already started with a pension scheme, Get information and advice on how to catch up. The earlier and quicker you pay up that mortgage the better. If you’ve got talents, make the bold decision to do something profitable with it…..

Determination  The easy part is to decide on what to do, but you would need to stay driven and focused to make it work. Live within your means and reduce your credit. You may not be rich immediately but you can build your wealth. All those spontaneous accumulations of Louboutins, Chanel and Vuittons..you need to think them twice. While some may argue that their Choos and Manolos are investments. Ask yourself how much return you get on these sorts of investments. The idea girlfriend - is to put in something and get at least a little bit more in return, Get it?...good. Now you could try swapping some of that designer collection for a share price portfolio

Discipline This is where you stay determined and weed out all the stuff that make you do otherwise. Be practical with your finances. Prepare an effective budget for your spending after summarizing your expenses and income, record expenses and payments and stick to your budget.

 There are people who have money and people who are rich - Gabrielle Bonheur Coco Chanel

The saying that the safest way to double your money is to fold it in half, is b*l*sh*t at its best, walk into an investment firm and speak to some professionals, make your money work for you.

Michael Kors

I have a huge tote bag for my bits and bobs which I take to work every day. I like the fact that I can chuck in my laptop case, lunch bag and other stuff that get me through the day in without looking over loaded. My tote has served me well, it’s been almost three years now and I need to retire it.

For a while, I wasn't able to decide on a new bag. I knew what I wanted - something big, preferably a tote, can go with most outfits (could be one of my favourite colours gold or brown)  and look chic. I saw a lady sporting a nice Michael Kors bag recently and had a look on their site – I think I have found what I’m looking for. Here are some of my favorites - hobos and totes inclusive

Tan SKorpius Large Should Bag

Dark DuneWaverley Draw String Tote

Skorpius Ring Toe in Cinnamon

Cobalt Ring Tote (available in black)

 Knox Drawstring Shoulder Bag

Grayson Large Bag in Camo

Barley Tonne Hobo

House of Fifty - Fall Edition

More ideas for inspired living - checkout the Fall Edition

Positive Parenting

Yes, yes I know….it’s been ages…..

No…I haven’t stopped blogging, I have only been trying to add a bit of productivity to my currently chaotic life. In the middle of work, exams, house hold chores, organizing the kids holiday schedules and everything in between I haven’t had much time to get inspired to do or think creatively. A couple of times over the past few weeks, I have reminisced on how much I took for granted back in college, where all I had to worry about was - what to wear to class, how to get through a boring lecture or my CGPA…..I was looking at life through rose colored glasses then.

Fast forward ten years and I am wearing high definition spectacles, long sighted, short sighted or in between – I am seeing the real world as it is. Now I have real stuff to worry about, I try not to worry but there are times we get thrown things beyond our control and we just have to deal with them. I had a conversation with a colleague at work today, a style icon In her own right, you could hear her laugh all the way down the hall and she is always up to organizing some fun spirited competition to lighten up the mood at work. Most people have an issue they are dealing with, the beauty of this lady is that you could never tell. On the outside she looks soft and delicate but on the inside she is hard and tough……lesson one made me ask myself - how do I handle adversity? - don’t wear your problems..everyone has something they are trying to deal with continue to stay strong and positive and look fabulous.

What started off the conversation with Kay was her looking round the local shops at lunch time for some turn up shorts. I asked what they were for and she said she is off to camp tomorrow with twenty five kids tomorrow for a week. She has three other adults with her and I’m like, taking time off work now for me would be for a holiday ( a relaxing holiday) not running after a bunch of high adrenaline teenagers who probably wouldn’t listen to you anyway. Then she explained the situation with her kid and that was lesson number two…..Patience..the problems we face should build us and make us better people. She has learnt to be more patient with others after having to deal with her sons issues.

So Kay told me of the issues she is having with her teenage son who is being threatened with an expulsion from school by the authorities. The boy isn’t doing drugs, weapons or anything of that nature at school, he is being kicked out because he is jumpy, never concentrates, distracts other kids in class and gets rude to teachers. Doesn’t sound out of the ordinary to me, I have heard worse, but she assures me it really is bad. She has been working with the local authorities and a child psychologist to help improve things because if he does get kicked out of school, his chances of getting into another good school is minimal.

Being a mum myself, it can be very worrying and embarrassing when a child is labeled as trouble. These days teenagers seem to think they know everything and it takes a lot of God given patience to make them see the true nature of things.

My colleagues story of what she is going through with her son at school prompted me to look up some online help. And I found this article by Jeanne Potts Faulconer on Family and Home Network Her guidelines are more applicable to younger kids. To sum it up no matter how much a child pushes you to that very edge, continue to love, continue to stay positive believing it’s a phase and underneath all that rage is a beautiful heart, continue to endure and persevere, continue to seek new ways to help him overcome it and to help yourself get through it, continue being hopeful…

'A mighty power and stronger Man from his throne has hurled,For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.'~ William Ross Wallace

It's not mothers day, but I'm dedicating this minute to all super mums out there who work as part time cook, cleaner, maid and chauffer. Working round the clock to bring up kids who will define our future. It's not an easy task but we are made of tough stuff :0)