I think most of us approached 2022 with a degree of optimism following the restrictions of the previous two years. It felt as though the hardship of the pandemic had helped us to pull together and be kinder towards each other and that was reflected in the lovely feedback we QVC presenters received from you, our viewers. Comments about keeping you company while locked down in your homes really did keep our morale, as a team, high in some difficult times.

For a lot of us, the thing we were most looking forward to was being able to travel more freely again, albeit wearing masks on planes and in public places. Anxious as I was to travel abroad, our first foray was not to sunnier climes but to a rather wet and windy Lake District in February. We’d rented a holiday cottage in Shap, on the edge of the Lake District long before we knew storms Dudley and Eunice were brewing on the other side of the Atlantic.

We did manage plenty of walks alongside beautiful lakes with dramatic scenery as a backdrop, but we had to abandon a plan to visit my sister and her husband in south-west Scotland as Eunice also brought snow making driving conditions even more hazardous.

Podcast appearance

March was Inspirational Women’s Month on QVC and I was delighted to be asked to chat to Will Gowing again for the QVC podcast, Inside QVC. If you’ve never listened, all previous episodes are available including the one from the week before mine where Will was interviewing the wonderful Tova Borgnine, not knowing that it would be the last time they would speak. For those of us who have worked at QVC for a long time and therefore known Tova the longest, it was particularly sad. She was always so gracious, and I will miss receiving a Christmas card from her this year with a handwritten personal message.

Chris and I were away in March. After all my considerable health issues of 2021, he decided we should return to Mauritius, where we went a year after my CML diagnosis and where we were married in August 2019. I’d be lying if I said we had wall-to-wall sunshine, in fact, some days we had torrential downpours – it was almost like being back in the Lake District but around twenty degrees warmer. And we did have some lovely weather like the day we reconstructed the photo that our daughter took of us on the day after our wedding which now graces the wall of our family room.

But even on the overcast days, we needed our Ultrasun SPF. I’ve been a massive fan for years of the once-a-day application and really love the new formulas that have tan activation ingredients in them. My favourite is the factor 30 which is appropriate as they celebrated their 30th anniversary in April. I’m pretty sure around half the weight in my suitcase was my Ultrasun and other beauty products – once all of them are packed there is precious little room for clothes and shoes!

So Ultrasun was celebrating its 30th anniversary in the same month that I was celebrating the tenth anniversary of my CML diagnosis. It might seem a little odd to you that I celebrate, but what I’m really doing is being grateful for another year of life. We always try to mark the date and often go to Brighton for a day trip because that was how we marked the first anniversary. This year we had an unexpected extra guest – Quin, our son’s dog joined us on our day out… I love this photo!

A summer of celebrations

May saw us on our travels again, this time an unexpected trip to Barbados. My best friend, Denise, who I first met when we worked on the Price is Right together back in 1984 had hinted that she and her long-time boyfriend, Steve, might tie the knot and that they would like us to be witnesses… how could we refuse? They didn’t get married in the end as they didn’t have all the necessary paperwork, but it was lovely to spend time with them away from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.

June this year was most memorable for the fabulous Platinum Jubilee celebrations. I was working for three of the four days but there was a lovely atmosphere at QVC even for those of us who had pulled ‘the short straw’! Big thanks to one of our newest presenters, Ophelia Dennis, who offered to cover one of my shifts or I would have been working on all four days. I’m glad the country was able to show Her Majesty the regard and affection with which she was held.

It was also my birthday in June – some of you probably entered the mega giveaway I did of some of my favourite QVC products – a BIG birthday this year as I turned sixty-six so am now technically a pensioner although I’ve opted to defer my pension for now as I’m not quite ready to retire!

In July we were off on our travels again with the whole family, this time to Javea in Spain which holds a special place in our hearts as we used to have a holiday home there.

I tend not to take annual leave in August as I remember only too well trying to plan things around the children’s school holidays. But we did have Chris’s mum and my mum to stay, and we had a lovely family gathering with not one, but two birthday cakes for my mum. It was also the month I got to do my first show with Dannii Minogue ‘in person’ rather than via video link. We repeated it on the QVC birthday on October 1st which is when I first laid eyes on this amazing sequin jacket of hers! I had to wait another six weeks or so before it was available to buy – I wonder how many of you went for it too?

Back to September though and what I thought was going to be the worst month of the year with the passing of Queen Elizabeth. I think it must have hit me really hard because she was born in 1926, the same year as my mum. To be honest, having to take the channel off air when the official announcement was made was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my twenty-nine years at QVC.

Speaking of which, we have now entered our 30th Birthday year and we have some fabulous things planned to celebrate from the start of 2023, including specially designed products, live audience events and BIG giveaways – I can’t say too much more at present, but watch this space.

Realising how much the monarch’s death had affected me, Chris organised for us to go back to Javea for a few days in October to unwind – just the two of us. Little did he know what was going to happen while we were there. Within hours of arriving at the villa we were renting, our son phoned to say that Chris’s mum, Audrey, had had a fall and was in hospital having broken her hip. We immediately changed our flights to return to the UK the following day, but sadly we were too late. She had taken a turn for the worse overnight and passed away with our children, Dan and Sophie holding her hands. At eighty-eight, we knew that the day wouldn’t be too far away but it was so sudden, and you are never prepared for it. She has spent every Christmas with us since the death of Chris’s dad twenty years ago so this one is not going to be easy. My heart goes out to you if you are in a similar situation.

The publication of my latest book, The Dilemma, my first for fourteen months, fell in the middle of the preparations for the funeral. I tried my best to feel enthusiastic as Audrey always read and gave feedback on my books, but sadly she never had the chance to read this one.

I also filmed my experience of menopause during this period, as part of QVC’s ‘Menopause Your Way’ initiative which was headed up by Jackie Kabler on air. If you are at this time of your life and struggling do go to the page on our website – sometimes a problem shared is a problem halved.

So, the past few months have not been the best for me personally, but we’ve had some amazing event days that I hope you’ve enjoyed and of course, as already mentioned there will be many more to come during our 30th birthday year. I have had one piece of good news though. The results of my latest CML blood tests are still showing only minute levels of the disease so I’m medication free at least for the first month of 2023.

Thank you so much for watching and shopping with us, for all your lovely comments on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (I’m now on TikTok too – don’t laugh) and hoping you have a wonderful Christmas.

Much love as always

Julia xx

The post The highs and lows of 2022 appeared first on Stories.

On the subject of loyalty, I want to thank all of you who read and comment on my QVC blog on a regular basis. The presenter blogs (all of them, not just mine) will be taking a break for the summer so this will be my last one until September. If you do social media, I’ll still be keeping you updated on my Twitter @JuliaRobertsTV and I’ll be doing stories and posts on my Instagram at juliagroberts. I’m also planning on getting my head around ‘reels’, so watch that space! However, if you prefer to read a blog, I’ll still be writing a monthly blog about what is going on in my life on my author website, but it doesn’t very often include anything related to QVC, apart from some of the clothes I wear in the photos!

Speaking of which, I wore this Kim & Co dress, one of my favourites from her range to my publisher, Bookouture’s, summer party on Monday. I signed with them in October 2018 and am currently working on my sixth book for them. I usually take plenty of photos at these get togethers, but I was so busy chatting that I completely forgot to take any, apart from one of the 10th anniversary cake!

I also missed out on a slice of cake, but I’m trying to be good in that department to help keep the weight that I’ve lost off.

Another fashion love that I’ve bought recently are these Moda in Pelle shoes and it’s largely thanks to fashion guest, Katie Pemberton. She sent me a text message prior to a show she was co-presenting because she remembered that I liked them, and they’d previously been sold out in my size. They’re fairly similar to the Clarks ones I wear but a tiny bit higher in the heel and are nice and supportive for my left ankle post the surgery I had in January 2020. That all seems such a long time ago but thanks to a brilliant surgeon and the hours I spend each week on physiotherapy/exercise, my ankle is stronger now than it’s been since I was teaching fitness classes in the 1980s.

And while talking about my health, that was part of the reason that June was such a busy month for me. I had quite a few follow-up appointments on my medical issues from last year, starting with blood tests to check the function of my pituitary gland after the surgery last October. My endocrinologist was pleased to report that everything is functioning normally again now, so he doesn’t need to see me for a year.

The same is also true of my neurosurgeon who I saw after a brain scan last week. It showed no sign of any residual tumour, and all the post-surgery swelling has now gone which is a massive relief. Lastly, I paid a visit to the eye surgeon who performed my replacement lens surgeries last year following OCT scans and visual field tests on both eyes. Again, everything is looking really good. After all the worry of last year when I averaged more than one medical appointment per week this truly was GREAT news! Even my three yearly mammogram results came back clear. I can honestly say a weight has lifted from my shoulders, although I do still have to have my blood tested every two months to check on chronic myeloid leukaemia levels.

So, it was a very busy June with all these medical appointments alongside my full-time job at QVC and finishing the second draft of my next book, which is due out in October. I won’t now be able to share the cover and title on here when it goes on pre-order but of course it will be on my social media platforms, including my Facebook page @JuliaRobertsTV and you’ll be notified if you’re signed up to the newsletter on my author website.

Speaking of my latest book, the latest draft is now with my editor, and I have a few days off before the editing stage starts, which fortunately coincides with the two weeks’ holiday from QVC that starts tomorrow. We’ve rented a villa in Javea, Spain where we used to have a holiday home and where part of The Woman on the Beach, my most recently published book is set. Incidentally, that book has been selected for a reduced-price deal on the Kindle version for the whole of July if you’re after a summer read.

Back to the holiday, though. We’d planned to holiday in Javea together as a family two years ago. Everything was booked and then cancelled due to the pandemic and last year it wasn’t possible to go anywhere much, so we’re all really looking forward to introducing Katie, my son Dan’s fiancée, to Javea as it will always have a special place in our hearts… I’ll be posting some pictures on Instagram of me in some of my fave QVC outfits.

So, I’ll be off your screens for a couple of weeks which means that I’ll be missing some great offers including the Liz Earle Today’s Special Value, which launches on air tomorrow night but is already on presell. It’s the Superskin Smooth and Firm Collection, which along with old favourites like Cleanse & Polish and Instant Boost Skin Tonic (back to the original formula, thanks to customer demand), includes your choice of Superskin moisturiser and the new Superskin Microdermabrasion Polish for smoother, softer skin. Bought individually from us, it would be £107.50 plus all the individual P&Ps so at £46.96 it’s less than half price and a great way to stock up if you’re already a fan, or an affordable way to discover the brand with the confidence of the 60 day moneyback guarantee.

And if you’re a fan of beauty products, there is also an Estee Lauder Today’s Special Value on prelaunch on our website, which includes the Bronze Goddess fragrance.

Just before I sign off for the summer, I promised you a photo of my little vegetable patch, which is coming on nicely thanks to Richard Jackson and his fab range of gardening products.

We’ve had lots of lettuce already, one radish (quality over quantity on that one) and as you can see, the tomatoes and runner beans are coming on really well and should be about ready to start harvesting when we get back from Spain.

I’ll be protecting my skin out there with Ultrasun and as it’s going to be very hot here – I hope you’re well stocked up on it too.

Have a lovely summer and speak to you on here in the autumn!
Much love,
Julia xx

The post Sunny sunflowers appeared first on Stories.

Do I feel any different now that I could officially be claiming my state pension? No… in fact I’m feeling younger at the moment than I have in years because the health issues I’ve experienced in recent years seem to be under control. The endocrinologist tells me my pituitary gland is now functioning normally, but I’ll wait for the results of my brain scan next week before I start celebrating.

Speaking of which there has been a fair amount of celebrating over the past couple of weeks. The photo at the top of this blog was taken on the evening of my birthday when the family gathered for dinner at a local restaurant to help me mark the occasion. We sat outside as we had Quin the dog with us and if I’m honest it was borderline warm enough despite the glorious sunshine of earlier in the day. It was a lovely evening though topped off back at home with a slice of Espresso Martini birthday cake, courtesy of our son Dan’s fiancée, Katie – shame I didn’t get a photo before we all dived in!

My day had started well with some beautiful flowers from Chris and some funny little presents… one of them a mug he’d had made which I can’t share on here because of a ‘naughty’ word when describing me as ’66 and ******* fabulous!

My BIG present was this garden rocking chair which he ordered when it was a TSV last month. It had arrived just in the nick of time and only took about twenty minutes to assemble. As you can see from the photo, it really is a BIG present and soooooo comfy – really pleased we’ve been having the weather for me to enjoy it. Also sneaking into the photo is my ‘Brian the Snail’ purchase from QVC (his eyes light up at night courtesy of a solar panel) complete with his fuchsia. I did a final bit of planting on my birthday morning, using Richard Jackson’s Root Booster of course. I’ll post some photos on my next blog because everything is coming along nicely.

Chris finally managed to drag me from my comfy garden chair to go for a walk at nearby Virginia Water. Just look at that blue sky – we were so lucky with the weather. He probably regretted his suggestion as we ended up walking six kilometres – it was a good job I was wearing my ankle support!

Actually, to digress a moment, some of you may have seen on the news that traces of the disease poliomyelitis have been found in samples taken from the Beckton water treatment works in London. For those that don’t know, I contracted the paralytic form of this disease at 14 months of age and although nowhere near as badly affected as some, I’ve lived with the after-effects ever since, including needing remedial ankle surgery in January 2020. People think polio is consigned to the history books like smallpox, but it isn’t, although it is preventable thanks to the vaccine.

As well as my chair, Dan and Katie treated me to some new bedding, perfect as I’d hinted several times that I would like some, and Sophie and Reece got me a garden clock, a wall sign and these glorious flowers – the aroma of the peonies permeated the house for days.

My friend, Denise, who we recently went on holiday with came across for Pimms and a barbecue on the Saturday. We’d had a bit of a running joke about the ‘boys’ (I use the term loosely) not being brave enough to have tattoos and, unbeknown to me Chris had ordered some tattoo sleeves! Just look at them posing but it did make me laugh!

Last weekend it was Father’s Day, always a bit of a tricky one for those of us who no longer have our dads. It happened to fall on what would have been my dad’s 102nd birthday. I was fine in the morning even posting this photo of me holding my son, Dan at just a few months of age, (he’s now 35!) flanked by Chris and my dad. On the drive into QVC though, the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri came on the radio.

To give context, this is the song I walked ‘down the aisle’ to at our beach wedding in Mauritius on my son’s arm. Just prior to this photo being taken, Dan had said to me, ‘Bobbie (our children’s name for my dad) would have been so proud of you.’ I only just held it together on my wedding day but didn’t stand a chance on Father’s Day.

I hope you were able to either celebrate with or remember your dad with affection last Sunday. Our children came over to ours again and we had takeaway pizza – Chris’s choice – followed by a luscious lemon cake which I’d thrown together before work.

Speaking of which, I need to head into QVC now but not before congratulating Shayni Thomas, the winner of all these beauty goodies. I really hope you’ll enjoy using some of my favourite QVC beauty products, Shayni.

Have a great weekend
Much love
Julia xx

The post Sunshine, laughter and tears… appeared first on Stories.

So, today I celebrate my 66th birthday, but that pales into insignificance against the celebrations last weekend for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the wonderful milestone she has reached! I was very happy to decorate my home to show my appreciation for the dedication to duty she has exhibited over the past seventy years.

In my front window, I had a flag with Her Majesty’s portrait on it and I captured this great photo through the JM by Julien MacDonald mirror that we have above our fireplace in the lounge. Did anyone else see the man himself alongside another QVC favourite, Lulu, on the first night of the four-day weekend? We were watching with my daughter’s family who we had round for the day. I’d also strung bunting, blown up red, white, and blue balloons and dotted several flags around the garden where I’d spent the morning planting up my hanging baskets and containers.

I used Richard Jackson’s Root Booster to give them a flying start, as did Dennis, my helping hand in the garden when he planted up my veg trug, very neatly I might add!

This year I’m growing (or trying to grow) carrots, radishes, lettuce, spring onions, chillis, aubergine, tomatoes, and runner beans. Fingers crossed, with a bit of TLC and plenty of RJ’s Flower Power, I’m hoping for a bumper crop.

My dad always grew runner beans and sweet peas. From my childhood, I have memories of the two rows of canes supporting the growing plants stretching out across the bottom of our garden. What would have been his 102nd birthday coincides with Father’s Day this year on June 19th, so a bit of a double whammy for me. He’d have been pleased to see how well my sweet peas are doing again this year. I’ve already picked two lots to bring indoors for their fragrance and colour… they will always remind me of him.

After I’d finished gardening, I headed to the kitchen to make a broccoli and walnut cheesy quiche, cheese spelt scones and this Victoria Sandwich cake! I’m normally pretty good at cake baking, but this one was a little ‘overdone’ at the edges. The sponge was good though and the jam and buttercream were spot on, if I do say so myself! We were able to dine ‘al fresco’ with Sophie and family for the first time this year! Although I was working for the other three days of the Platinum Jubilee, I did manage to catch the concert, which I thought was superb. The highlight, though, had to be Her Majesty entertaining Paddington Bear to tea at Windsor Castle, which had me laughing out loud.

So, I mentioned at the beginning of my blog that I was doing a birthday giveaway based around my top ten beauty products from QVC. As you can imagine, I use many more than ten beauty products and some of my absolute favourites are missing from this list because they are out of stock currently at QVC – Elemis Pro Collagen Definition Facial Oil is a prime example. But I do use all of the following, and if you are the lucky winner, I hope you will enjoy using them too:

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic duo – I’ve loved the original since the very early days of QVC but this is the Rose & Lavender if you haven’t yet tried it.

Elemis Overnight Matrix Moisturiser – my absolute ‘must have’ at the moment, and it comes with a cleansing balm in my prize.

Elemis White Flowers Eye & Lip Make-up Remover – no rubbing or scrubbing the delicate eye area and very effective.

L’Occitane Divine Cream Moisturiser – I use this as my day moisturiser over oils or serums and this comes with a bonus travel size in my giveaway.

L’Occitane Treat Your Feet – a foot cream that doesn’t smell minty! And it’s sandal season AND you get the extra rich foot balm too.

Ultrasun Tan Acccelerator 30 Face & Body – I use this on every holiday… need I say more?

Philip Kinglsey Elasticizer in Mango & Hibiscus in a full litre size – couldn’t be without it.

Gale Hayman Lip Lift duo – I’ve used this for almost 25 years and never found a better conditioning treatment for the lips.

Benefit Bad Gal Bang Mascara – in my opinion, the best mascara for length and definition

Laura Geller Tahitian Glow – my little secret for a bronzed, dewy-looking skin on face and body… I LOVE it!!

This little haul would be over £450 to buy currently from QVC, so it’s a lovely giveaway, especially for my birthday. And to be in with a chance of winning, simply answer this question.

I’ve been at QVC since it first aired in October 1993 but how old was I when I started?

a) 27
b) 32
c) 37

Leave your answer in a comment before midnight on June 19th to be in with a chance of winning… Good Luck!

Well, we do have Laura Geller Tahitian Glow as part of the competition prize, which leads me nicely into the fact that we have a Laura Geller Today’s Special Value tomorrow (launching 9pm tonight), which is already available on presell. It doesn’t feaure the Tahitian Glow BUT it does have; Balance & Brighten foundation in your choice of colour, Spackle tinted make-up primer in Bronze, Blusher in Rose Bronze, Italian marble lipstick in Bellisima (beautiful in Italian), and Kajal in Burnt Cocoa, which I love. It’s under £45, on 3 interest-free easy-pays and is zero P&P.

I’m not on for Fashion on Friday tonight as I’m off out with the family for dinner, but I’ll see you next Thursday.

Have a great weekend!
Much love,
Julia x

The post My birthday gift to you appeared first on Stories.

The holiday to Barbados was organised back in January and for Chris and me, it was a return to the Crystal Cove resort that we visited for the 30th Anniversary of us living together. It was a bittersweet occasion back then. I almost cancelled after losing my lovely dad just a couple of months before, but Chris thought we should go. I’m pleased to say it was a much happier visit this time around and in great company too.

For Denise’s birthday, we had the hotel arrange the pebbles in the pool and we also ordered some chocolate dipped strawberries which we enjoyed with cocktails over a game of cards after a delicious dinner at a sister hotel. I’ve discovered a new favourite cocktail called a ‘mud slide’. I have no idea what is in it, but to me it tasted a bit like a chocolate milk shake. It’s a good job I was up every morning for a beach walk and had a twenty-minute swim in the pool each day or I’m pretty sure I would have put on a lot more weight than the 1lb I actually did! That would have been a shame, as I’ve worked so hard to lose the weight in the first place. Still, it was a holiday, and you need to let your hair down and relax sometimes.

And relax I did. I didn’t take my MacBook Air with me on this holiday as I normally do, so no writing was done, hence the lack of a blog last week. Instead, I read two and a half books, one of which was called How to Kill Your Family… I wasn’t looking for ideas!!!

I also took a few of my books to take some photos with and then leave in the resort as I usually do. One of them, If He Really Loved Me, was particularly relevant as it is partly set in Barbados. We took this photo in the east coast resort of Bathsheba where my favourite scene from the book was set – in my book, though, there was no seaweed. Apparently, the weed has been particularly bad this year but fortunately it didn’t wash ashore on the west coast where we were staying.

If you saw me on air on Wednesday, you will have seen that I have quite a deep tan. It’s not from sitting out baking for hours, I can assure you, as the sun was far too intense for that. It’s because I was using my favourite Ultrasun Tan Activator SPF 30 products for face and body. Actually, the body option is the beauty Supersize of the Month at the moment, with over a £10 saving if you wanted to try it. It’s a 400ml size, but it does have a 2 year shelf life once opened. You still need to be sensible in the sun, even when using Ultrasun, if you want to protect your skin. I applied after my shower in the morning, before going to breakfast and sat in the shade between 11am and 3pm, and if I did go for a beach walk, I wore a peaked baseball cap to shade my face. I also exfoliate on alternate days using the Liz Earle Gentle Face Exfoliator and a Decleor body scrub.

Talking of beauty products that I use, I was asked a question about my current faves on a virtual coffee morning chat that I had with some of our QVC customers just before I went on holiday.

I put my presenter manager on the spot by asking if I could to a ‘birthday giveaway’ competition of some of my faves and he said yes! It will be on next week’s blog, so do remember to check back in.

So, I’m back to work with a bang, but not actually on this weekend when we have a great offer from Dyson. The V10 has been a Today’s Special Value before, but it is on its lowest price ever, £249.96 and on 4 interest-free Easy Pay interest-free instalments, and it’s already available on our website.

It includes two filters, which I think is a brilliant idea, as you don’t have to worry whether the washed filter is completely dry if you need to use the vacuum. I hadn’t tried the V10 before, but I gave it a little go at home and it’s more powerful than my current model and also has three levels of power.

On maximum suction, it gives up to ten minutes run time, but it’s up to an hour on the lowest setting. It’s fabulous if you have pets… we’ll be pet sitting Wilfie again soon so it will come in very handy!

Well, I must close and head into work. Have a great weekend and remember to watch out for the competition on my next blog.

Much love,
Julia xx

The post Birthday celebration appeared first on Stories.

Quin was as good as gold and particularly enjoyed stopping at every single doggy water bowl for a drink! His only naughty moment was eating a shell on the beach – is it normal for dogs to like fish? Bear in mind I’m a cat person, so that is a genuine question. It hasn’t done him any harm as we had him for an overnight stay this week while his pawrents had some building work done on their porch.

Although the family couldn’t come to Brighton with us, we did all get together in the evening for a family meal at a restaurant called The Seahorse near Guildford, which we’ve driven past loads of times and I was keen to try. It was a lovely evening, and I was even on the receiving end of this gift from our daughter, Sophie. She knows how much I love bees and their symbolism.

In case you don’t know, the bee symbolises hard work and persistence. Aerodynamically, the bee is not designed to fly but it doesn’t know that, so it flies anyway – kind of the story of my life.

Speaking of bees, the Ceanothus in my garden is a positive bee magnet and it is even more beautiful than ever this year. I love the colour so much that we now have four dotted around, three with the bushy growing habit but also a ground cover one. To say that they are all laden with blossom is an understatement and they are alive with the hum of bees hard at work when you walk past or perhaps sit next to them in your favourite garden chair.

How lucky am I? I mentioned to Chris how much I liked the Today’s Special Value chair from last Saturday when I sat in it on the garden set at work. It is soooooo comfortable and has a rocking habit rather than a swinging habit, which I’m less keen on. He always struggles to think of a birthday gift for me, but not this year. The grey one, which works best with our garden furniture, is due to be shipped the week of my birthday… I can’t wait, for the chair that is, not this particular birthday! I officially become a pensioner this June (note I missed the “old age” bit of the description) so maybe Chris is imagining me slowing down a bit – not going to happen! I have edits for my next book and a first draft for the book after that to be getting on with, not to mention QVC.

On the subject of books, I was asked to be a guest at a literary festival last Sunday. It was the first year Birchington had held a literary festival and the first for me as a guest speaker. I had a lovely chat with interviewer, Karen Beynon, and also met and signed some of my books for readers. Note I was wearing the same Dannii Minogue pink trousers that I was wearing while reclining in the garden chair above! I now have them in cobalt blue too. The rest of my outfit was also QVC. Skechers leather trainers, Joules top and Dannii Minogue faux suede jacket which is GORGEOUS.

I ditched the jacket in preference for something a bit warmer (also QVC – Centigrade) when we drove down to Margate after the festival for a walk along the sea front. It wasn’t cold, but it was a bit cool and grey and with a spit of rain in the air.

It was a trip down memory lane for us, as Chris worked in summer season in Margate forty years ago. Funnily enough, he shared a bungalow in Birchington with two other members of the Jim Davidson backing band. I wasn’t able to stay for the season due to work commitments, but I visited whenever possible. This photo was taken by Chris on one of Margate’s beautiful sandy beaches – be honest, with that blue sky, it doesn’t look like the English seaside, does it?

We went in search of The Winter Gardens theatre, which is the venue Chris worked at. I was shocked to see the disrepair it has fallen into, although apparently it is still hosting live shows – Josh Widdecombe was on the bill on Sunday. I hope it can be saved from falling derelict by someone with deep pockets.

So, a long day in Kent, but a lovely refreshing shower revived me when we got home using the rose shower oil from the L’Occitane Today’s Special Value, which is new to me.

The Today’s Special Value launches on air tomorrow at 9pm but is already available to purchase online. It’s a really good offer with half litre sizes of the shower oil, liquid soap and eco refill of liquid soap, and a separately boxed hand cream, all for £53.46, which is less than half the usual price, and it’s on 3 interest-free Easy Pay instalments. And if rose isn’t your fragrance, it comes in vanilla as a different option. I’ll see you on Sunday for L’Occitane shows at 2pm and 5pm, with gardening shows making up the rest of my weekend.

Hopefully see you there!

Love,
Julia xx

The post Have I been good, Glamma? appeared first on Stories.

I have to say a big thank you to our fabulous Alison O’Reilly, who designed the stunning ring which Dan had to smuggle out to the Maldives in his sunglasses case so that it would be a surprise for Katie. She had expressed an interest in having a sapphire ring if they ever got engaged as that is the birthstone for September, the month they first started dating. I’m sure you’ll agree, that is not just any old sapphire… it’s truly a stunner!

Alison also designed my beautiful engagement ring and, as mentioned in my previous blog we celebrated the fourth anniversary of our engagement earlier this month. I also mentioned that I had another anniversary approaching.

It’s ten years since the 360 health check that highlighted an ‘issue’ with my blood. I took the call on Friday 13th April while I was at work and on Monday 16th April I was at UCLH for further blood tests. The bloods were checked while I waited, and I was then called back into Dr. Gavin Ling’s office where I received a preliminary diagnosis of suspected Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia, which could be confirmed by undergoing a bone marrow biopsy that he recommended I had there and then.

This photo was taken the next day. It was at the leaving do for one of my favourite ever people that I’ve worked with in my 28 plus years at QVC, Dickie. I was feeling quite fragile, both emotionally and physically, but there was no way I could miss his send off. I hadn’t mentioned to anyone what had happened the previous day, but I’m fairly certain Dickie knew something was up.

My follow-up appointment for the results of the biopsy was with Professor Anthony Goldstone on April 26th. It confirmed the preliminary diagnosis, and my treatment began immediately. I always remember the ‘prof’ saying in answer to my question about prognosis, ‘You’ve got a good fifteen years if you respond well to treatment. You should easily make 70!’ It seemed a long way in the future, but I’ll be 66 in June so I’m rather hoping he was erring on the side of caution.

What his words did do though, once I started to feel okay after the initial onslaught of the oral chemotherapy drugs, is spur me on to do things I’d always wanted to do. Like writing my books, who knows if Life’s a Beach and Then, my first book would ever have been started, let alone finished and self-published if I hadn’t had that time limitation hanging over my head. I’m currently almost done with the first draft of my tenth novel, which is due out in the autumn. By the way, if you live in the Margate area, I’ve been invited to be a guest speaker at the Birchington Literary Festival on May 1st, which is an appropriate date, as it’s a first for me.

So, having seen plenty of my family over the Easter weekend, we’ll be meeting up again next Tuesday to celebrate me making it through another year since diagnosis. We may also raise another glass to the happy couple (there have been quite a few already) and toast our daughter, Sophie, who is about to start a new job. It’s all happening for the Maxwells at the moment.

One thing we won’t be toasting is Crystal Palace in the final of the FA Cup. Dan and I went to Wembley for the game last Sunday but despite the amazing atmosphere created by the ‘red n blue army’ we just couldn’t manage a win on the pitch.

I’m still so proud of what my team have achieved in their first season with Patrick Vieira at the helm.

Well, the house feels very quiet now that Quin and Wilfie have gone home from their ‘holiday’ with us. It was lovely having them to stay, but it did make me realise that a dog is much harder work than a cat!

I’ll also be scattering some Richard Jackson grass seed in the little brown patches (not sure where they came from) after the Richard Jackson Moss Killer has had a chance to work. It’s been so lovely to get out in the garden in the fabulous weather we’ve had, albeit for short breaks from my writing desk!

I’m heading into work shortly for my shows, including the Fashion on Friday double-header at 5pm on main and 6pm on Style. I had loads of compliments on the Finery dress I wore last week. I’ve been hankering after it for a while and finally took the plunge getting in both the red and the navy stars option. Finery is fast becoming one of my favourite brands, although Monsoon have some gorgeous styles this season.

If beauty is your QVC ‘thing’ though, I hope you can join us this coming Sunday. We have some of your favourite brands, featuring Molton Brown, Nails Inc, Liz Earle and Laura Geller to name but a few and the Philip Kingsley Today’s Special Value on the day is already available to order on our website. It’s featuring a gorgeous Mango and Hibiscus fragrance which smells like an exotic holiday! There is 500ml of the Body Building Shampoo, 500ml of the Moisture Balancing Conditioner, and 150 ml of the Elasticizer, all in the fragrance, plus 150ml of the Elasticizer Booster Conditioning Treatment, which you use in place of regular conditioner between Elasticizer treatments. If bought individually from Philip Kingsley, it would be £160 so our Today’s Special Value price is saving over £100 and it’s on five interest-free easy payments to spread the cost.

Just a quick mention before I go of a new beauty product featuring this weekend. The brand is Frances Prescott and the product I’ve tried is called TRI-BALM. It cleanses, exfoliates, and moisturises and is a balm in a stick. I’ve applied it all over the face and left it for ten minutes, which is a pleasure because it smells divine.

Enjoy the weekend and of course Bank Holiday Monday on May 2nd and I’ll be back with my next blog in a fortnight.

Much love,
Julia xx

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After all the health issues of the past two years, starting with the ankle surgery and swiftly followed by the broken wrist, I’d been unable to keep up with my normal fitness regime. I’m fortunate to have my little home gym, but my ankle wasn’t strong enough for most of my Aeropilates exercises and certainly not the jumping using the cardioboard. Even walking on the treadmill was a massive effort and to be honest quite painful. Without exercise in my life, the weight had crept on, but I didn’t realise the implications until after my brain surgery, I was having a problem with high blood pressure. I hate taking medication unless I absolutely have to so was keen to avoid going on blood pressure tablets. I asked my endocrinologist what I could do to lower my blood pressure and he was quite blunt in saying, ‘lose some weight.’ Wow!

I’m not going to lie, I was a bit upset at first as the increase in weight was in part due to being unable rather than unwilling to exercise, but the next morning I started counting calories and committing to a daily exercise routine. That was mid-November and even with Christmas, Valentine’s Day and my recent holiday, I’m now almost two stone lighter and back to the weight I was for our wedding in 2019, and I feel so much better for it.

I chose not to follow a fad diet because I know they don’t work in the long term for me. I’ve stuck to between 1200 and 1500 calories a day (mostly) and exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, although it’s usually an hour. I’m almost at the weight I want to be when I turn sixty-six this June (and officially become a pensioner) and when I get there, I intend to adopt a 5/2 approach to keep the weight off. Five days of being ‘mindful’ what I eat and two days more relaxed. So, to get back to my original point, I love my Skechers trainers and fitness gear for helping me achieve my weight loss… so far!

Just to return to mentioning my holiday for a moment, as well as the photo of the line-up of Ultrasun products we used while we were away, I also recorded this little video to mark their 30th anniversary – how could I miss the opportunity to congratulate them for keeping me protected in the sun from such a glorious location?!?

So, Happy 30th Birthday to Abi and Ultrasun and thanks for such great products. If you didn’t know, there is a special deal on a supersize of the Face & Scalp Mist Spray SPF 50 for the whole of April.

My son and his girlfriend are currently away on their holiday, which they were unable to take this time last year due to the pandemic. They’re in the Maldives, which is definitely on my list for a revisit. We went when our children were in their mid-teens, and they are now mid-thirties, so it’s long overdue as at the time I remember it being said that the islands may only have thirty years before disappearing into the ocean due to rising sea levels.

Of course, we packed them off with Ultrasun and strict instructions to stay out of the sun in the middle of the day. Dan’s tried snorkelling for the first time – apparently, he was swimming alongside a shark which as his mother made me panic a bit!

Mother’s Day seems like ages ago. Dan and Katie were with us in the morning as they’d been to see Six the previous afternoon, Katie’s birthday present, and had stayed overnight. Before I left for QVC, Sophie called in with her card, which I found very touching and also thought looked a lot like the two of us!

I had some lovely flowers from the children, and also these from Chris – how amazing are those colours!

We weren’t able to see our mums as I was working, but we spoke to both of them on the phone. We know we’re very lucky to still have them both and for them to be living independently. I love this photo from thirty-three years ago with Nana (Chris’s mum) holding teddy and she and Jojo helping Sophie, while I helped Dan. That says it all really… Mum’s giving a helping hand!

We had a rather sad anniversary on April 1st. Can you believe it’s four years since we lost our beautiful cat, Poppy. She was a couple of months short of her twenty-third birthday which is an amazing age for a cat. She was certainly ready to head over the rainbow bridge, so we had to say our goodbyes. I will never forget the kindness and understanding of one of our QVC producers, Andrew, who I rang in tears at 7am to say I wouldn’t be able to make my shift that day.

On the subject of kind, I’m sure some of you might think that I say I ‘love’ things and buy things from QVC when in fact I don’t. The thing is, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it and I totally fell in love with this set of Bundleberry mugs last time I had a show. My intention was to put an Easter egg in each mug and gift them to people however, that’s not going to happen because I love them too much!!!! I’m also awaiting delivery of the outdoor clock in Ivy Green, which was on advanced orders for the week of Easter Monday and to be honest, I’m still toying with the idea of getting the white version too for inside my gym. Sometimes, it’s hardly worth me going to work!!!

Speaking of which, I need to head off now to make my 3pm show, which just happens to be Skechers apparel! It will give me a break from looking after these two, Quin and Wilfie, while their ‘pawrents’ are on their hols! And don’t be fooled, they don’t actually get on too well, although they are improving.

Don’t miss the Ruth Langsford and Tan Luxe Today’s Special Values this weekend. I’ll be with Ruth for two hours tomorrow afternoon from 3pm.

Much love,
Julia xx

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I haven’t been completely absent from the website as last week the Inside QVC podcast I recorded with Will Gowing before I went away was uploaded. It’s the third time I’ve been asked to chat with Will on the podcast and this time it was as a part of QVC’s Inspirational Women’s month. If you haven’t listened to it yet and would like to, it’s still available along with all previous episodes and it will give you a small insight into some of the QVC guests who have inspired me over the years. By the way, thank you if you’ve left a comment, I’ll get around to replying once I’ve finished the endless holiday washing!!!

Speaking about the podcast, you may also want to listen to a previously recorded episode with Tova Borgnine who sadly passed away recently. I’m sure you will have read many tributes from QVC Presenters already, but I wanted to add a few thoughts of my own about this truly thoughtful and generous lady who I have known through QVC for over twenty-five years.

She was so kind to both me and my mum when mum was undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. Tova sent mum some Cactine balm to help the skin better tolerate the treatment and mum swore that it had a beneficial effect. Mum never forgot her kindness and neither did I. Tova also had her husband, Ernest Borgnine sign a photo for my husband, Chris, as he was a big fan. Personally, I never forgave him for his treatment of Prewitt in the film From Here to Eternity… but that’s another story. And she was always interested and read my books from my first, Life’s a Beach and Then to my most recent, The Woman on the Beach. I will miss her, as will so many of us, but she is now re-united with her beloved Ernie.

Talking of Life’s a Beach and Then brings me neatly to one of the emotional attachments I have with Mauritius from where we have just returned. We’ve all had a pretty dreadful two years due to the pandemic, but the past two years has been fairly packed with health issues for me… my major ankle surgery in 2020, two cataract operations and the removal of the benign brain tumour that I didn’t know I had five months ago.

Our first visit to Mauritius was exactly nine years ago after I’d undergone a year of oral chemotherapy treatment for my Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia, and I felt drawn to go back to the place that had worked its miracle previously. We returned to the Sugarbeach resort for the first four days of our holiday. It was while sitting in the shade of the palm trees on that very beach that inspiration struck for my first novel and I’m currently working on my tenth, due for publication later this year, so it really was quite life-changing for me.

Obviously, there had been a few changes but this beautiful walk from the main restaurant to the beach is exactly how I remembered it. Recognise the dress anyone? It’s a recent Kim & Co purchase. In fact, I had several QVC brands with me as you can imagine… Frank Usher beach cover-ups, Skechers footwear, and of course Ultrasun!

I’m not going to lie, we weren’t blessed with wall-to-wall sunshine, in fact we had quite a few heavy downpours, but we still applied our Ultrasun religiously every morning. I’m a big fan of the factor 30 Tan Accelerator (both the face and the body one) and Chris loves the factor 50 spray. We did have a few people ask us what we were doing as we photographed our line-up of products on the beach of the Maritim Resort and Spa hotel where we moved on to for the remainder of our holiday. It’s the hotel where Chris and I were married in August 2019 so once again has a huge emotional connection for us both.

I did manage to do a couple of Instagram Live Chats from Mauritius which is pretty incredible when you think it is six thousand miles away, one of them in the pouring rain with people watching live saying how sunny it was back here!  If you want to watch them, you can follow me on Instagram at juliagroberts – one of the videos is still on my picture grid and the other is under the TV icon where all my Permission to Pry chats from last year are still available to watch. I really need to restart them as it was so good to find out the behind the scenes ‘goss’ on lots of our QVC guests!

Back to Ultrasun for a moment, there is a Today’s Special Value (TSV) from them coming up next Thursday and also the April Beauty Product of the Month (affectionately known to us as the Beauty POM) is from Ultrasun. Just to say that the temperatures in Mauritius were very hot and even with Ultrasun I was only ever in the sun for less than an hour in the morning, pre 11am and the same in the afternoon, post 4pm and I’ve come back with a good tan. In other words, you still need to be sensible in the sun particularly as most of us haven’t seen these types of extreme temperatures in over two years.

So, this Sunday is Mother’s Day but last Sunday I was sitting on a beach listening to the BBC commentary of the FA Cup quarter final between my team, Crystal Palace and Everton. One remark from the commentary team after the final whistle blew made me laugh out loud, “The game kicked off at 12.30pm and Crystal Palace kicked off at 12.45pm!” Apparently, we were pretty poor in the first fifteen minutes or so, but we certainly made up for it as we ran out 4 – 0 winners and earned ourselves a place in the semi-finals.

I’m sure some of the other hotel guests thought I was crazy as I walked around the swimming pool singing, “Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, we’re going to Wem-ber-ley, que sera sera”… if you know, you know! I’m so proud of what my team have achieved so far this season and particularly for the three Palace players who have been selected to join the England squad for the International Friendly games – who’d have thought I’d ever see the day!

Back to this Sunday though, I won’t be able to see my mum or mum-in-law as I’m working but I’ll be giving them a mention. Feel free to tweet in and ask me to say ‘hi’ to your mum during my shows. And if you were wondering about a gift, you could always go for the Gatineau TSV on Saturday. Although it won’t arrive in time, you could photograph your order and pop the printout inside your card giving your mum something to look forward to.

It features some products new to me from the DefiLift range, so I’m looking forward to my shows with Andrew Bagley tomorrow at 2pm and 5pm to learn more about them. I’ve recently been using a DefiLift eye product at night-time and am very happy with the results.

I know Sunday won’t be an easy day for some of you, but I hope you will be able to reflect on happier times.

Remember to adjust your clocks.

Much love,

Julia xx

The post An emotional attachment… appeared first on Stories.

I’ll come back to that in a moment, but first I just wanted to say that I managed to get the Frank Usher dress I was wearing for that show after all the amazing comments I received on social media. It was a bit out of my comfort zone but that’s what our fashion event earlier this week, Reset Your Style, was all about. I’m doing a two-hour show tomorrow at 5pm recapping the event which is good for me as I missed it.

So, back to the Lakes visit. We didn’t arrive at the cottage we were renting in Shap, on the edge of the Lake District until after midnight, but what a welcoming place it was. You can sometimes be disappointed if the place doesn’t live up to the photographs but if anything, it exceeded our expectations. It’s a good job really as the weather couldn’t have been much worse in terms of wind and rain. At least we didn’t get the predicted snow on the morning we set off for the drive home, but we did have constant rain and gusty winds for the first two days of our stay.

The Monday was Valentine’s Day (I’ll come back to that later) and was a much kinder day weather-wise. We drove to Keswick where we had lunch and then walked by the side of Derwent Water. We visited four different lakes on our visit and although all were beautiful, I have a particular soft spot for this view. The person you can see in the distance is our son and on the end of the lead is Quin, their Dachshund/Jack Russell cross, who thoroughly enjoyed all the long walks and lying in front of the fire when we got ‘home’.

Tuesday was also a reasonable day weather-wise when we visited Ambleside and the serene and vast Lake Windermere where this photo and the one at the head of my blog were taken. Wednesday, however, was a total wash-out as storm Dudley hit. We’d gone to Grange-Over-Sands for a walk by the coast but had to cut it short as we were drenched within thirty minutes. At least it meant I could justify spending some time writing my next book while my Centigrade coat dried out in front of the range cooker.

Thursday was probably our best day – the calm before storm Eunice – and we took full advantage by heading to Ullswater. The younger members of our group decided to climb to a high vantage point for a better view of the lake, but my ankle wouldn’t tolerate it, so Chris and I walked by the side of Ullswater on flatter ground. That said, we had walked almost seven kilometres by the time Dan and Katie picked us up in the car. I was extremely grateful that I was wearing my Skechers boots – so comfy!

We drove back during storm Eunice and the conditions were pretty dreadful. We saw two lorries on their side which had closed the M40 in two places. I was horrified that some people thought it was ‘clever’ to exceed the reduced speed limit, put in place for the safety of all road users.

Although we saw lots of snowdrops while we were away, we didn’t see any of William Wordsworth’s famous daffodils, but I picked these from my garden on Sunday once Wilfie had gone home to his ‘pawrents’. I didn’t want a repeat performance of the tulips episode from my last blog! These were grown from de Jager bulbs, a show I’ll be presenting on Sunday as part of our gardening event. And speaking of daffodils, Happy St David’s Day for next Tuesday if you’re of Welsh heritage.

So, the daffodils survived Dudley and Eunice but sadly, my Crystal Palace gnome didn’t. I got him when Roy Hodgson was our manager and named him Roy in his honour. Maybe him getting broken was a sign because we played Watford, Roy’s new club on Wednesday evening and smashed them 4 – 1 in our first league away win this year.

I mentioned we have a gardening event on Sunday but prior to that we have a gorgeous Liz Earle TSV launching on air at 9pm tonight. It features my favourite Liz Earle aroma, Bourbon Vanilla and Clove Bud in the body wash, body cream and Cleanse and Polish, plus eyebright and your choice of moisturiser. I’ll be on air with Caroline at 2pm tomorrow but you don’t have to wait until then to order as it’s already on presell.

Before I finish, just a quick mention of Valentine’s Day. I mentioned it so often on air that I had bought Chris some speciality cheese for his present as he LOVES cheese, but I wanted him to have a surprise too, so I ordered him these biscuits from a well-known biscuit company. They turned out to be very apt as we had several ‘fried egg’ breakfasts while we were away. We normally have poached eggs, but I didn’t take the poacher and I’m never very successful at the ‘dropping into boiling water’ method. To be honest, I think Chris prefers fried to poached anyway.

I also thought I’d share the card I got for Chris… I’m pretty sure a few of you can relate to it!

I’ll see you on air later for Fashion on Friday with Danni Minogue.
Much love
Julia xx

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