January, gone already?

January is gone already? What happened? I know some people have been saying that it’s been going on forever, but I honestly feel like it has flitted by in the blink of an eyelid. Never a fan of January, I always think it is a bleak, never ending repetition of cold grey days, but this year I have found it to be not too bad at all. While there have been some particularly wet and miserable days, there have also been some beautiful sun-filled days with blue skies and I have been loving it. In fact, I’ve been needing it. Anyone else?

It’s been so lovely out, that it has almost felt like spring (well, at least down here in the south of England, I know some of you have been having snow and cold temperature drops). I’ve even started to notice the plants are already starting to bud like its spring already! The days are also getting longer so there is more light. It all fills with me with hope and optimism.

For those of you who are into your gardening, there is a gardening sale on the QVC website at the moment, so don’t miss out on that. Also, did you know that Richard Jackson is now bringing his own plants to us now, like his set of two hydrangea in pots (I am a sucker for hydrangea) or two Japanese Quince in pots. Most importantly at this time of year, though, we mustn’t forget the birds and Richard’s High Energy Bird Food is second to none!

January is also the month when everyone makes resolutions to be fitter and healthier, and they make all kinds of plans to be better versions of themselves. I have been caught up in this myself on a number of occasions but this year, nah, not so much. I went easy on myself. I had a busy run up to Christmas with work and then Christmas itself was busy with the family all here (7 of them) visiting for a week. Then, I went straight back to work the day after they left and haven’t really stopped since. So, I decided I wasn’t going to add further pressure by setting myself a definite resolution. Instead, I opted to just let things happen naturally. For example, I was just chatting with a friend of mine recently in Ireland and she is doing something called, ‘100 Days of Walking’. That’s all it is, simply a commitment to walk for 30 minutes for 100 days straight and she is loving it. She goes for her walk every day, come rain, hail or snow. Even if she has had a busy day on her feet, she doesn’t count that because for her part of the 30 minute walk is the headspace too. It allows her to cast off her day and reset her mind as well. So it’s a double winner in my book. I am thinking of starting it, anyone else fancy it?

Eating more healthily is also a big thing at this time of year. Getting enough fruits, vegetables and fibre is key. Eat more superfoods is what you read everywhere, and I do try with my healthy juices and smoothies.

But superfoods aren’t just for your body, now with the help of Elemis, they are for your face as well!

Take the Superfood Cica Cleansing Foam, for example. It’s packed with fermented superfoods and formulated with Micellar technology, so it easily removes all traces of make-up and leaves the complexion looking calm, balanced and refreshed.

With naturally sourced olive and mango cleansing agents, green tea seed oil, fermented agave and vegan-friendly kefir, it really is like one of my healthy smoothies but in a facial cleanser. Definitely worth trying as part of your ‘new year, new you’ regime.

If you like the idea of using superfoods for your cleanser Elemis have also brought us a Superfood Cica Calm Hydration Juice as well. This moisture-quenching, prebiotic gel moisturiser is formulated with soothing cica to drench the skin in juicy hydration, leaving your complexion feeling calm, cool and refreshed. Exactly what we all need at this time of the year with the wind, rain and central heating drying out our skin (or is that just me?)

This all reminds me that I’m feeling a little peckish and could do with whizzing up another veg smoothie in my Vitamix Blender. It’s probably the one kitchen appliance I wouldn’t be without.

Before I do that though, I just wanted to say how much fun I’ve been having at work recently and I do really have to put that down to some fabulous guests.

I had a show recently with Nikki from Lola Rose and we had so much fun, as we always do. I have a nickname at work, they call me Meatball (because it sounds like Miceal) and Nikki revealed that as a child her nickname was Noodle. See we always refer to ourselves when we work together as Meatballs and Noodles.

The lovely Antthony Hankins from Antthony Designs was in recently as well and he was the king of fashion as he was wearing a crown and was head to toe in sequins.

He is a man who is living his life for himself and I was loving it. He has such great energy to be around. Boy, does he have energy. He works non-stop and travels all the time and even when he travels he tries to find salsa classes he can go to, as he has just started recently and he is determined to get good at it! Lol. I’m exhausted just thinking about getting out of bed most days! I need some of Antthony’s ‘get up and go’ mentality!

Anyway, I’ve been chatting for long enough. Time to make that smoothie and try to start achieving even half of what Antthony manages to do in a day. Maybe today I’ll take that first walk of the ‘100 days of walking’ challenge, who’s with me?

Until next time,

Miceal xx