Unexpected celebrations and old friends

Hello,

Hope everyone is OK – the world continues to be a scary and unpredictable place and I think we are all feeling a little unsettled and anxious right now. I’m not going to dwell on world events here – more than ever I think it’s important that while we acknowledge the bad things that are going on and do what we can to help, we need to focus too on the little brighter moments. We try to do that for you on-air at QVC, and off air too I’ve had a bit of a crazy (in a good sense!) time since my last blog.

I mentioned then that I was going to be running a half marathon – my first formal running event since I injured my Achilles tendon back in October. Well, that Sunday morning I got up early to head off to run and received the incredible news that my novel The Perfect Couple had gone to number one on the Amazon charts – not just the crime chart, the entire chart! It had reached number two when it first came out but hadn’t quite made the top spot,  but for some reason it started climbing again recently and for the previous few days had been back at number two just behind Harlan Coben at number one. I’ve been a huge fan of his books for years – I have 21 of them on my bookshelf, I counted! – and it was a massive thrill just to be sitting next to him on the charts, but I had accepted that I was never going to knock him off number one. And then – it only flipping happened! I still can’t quite believe it. It really is a dream come true and I’m still pinching myself.

I think the news gave my legs wings because I practically flew around the half marathon course! The weather was appalling – the event was on Greenham Common, to mark last year’s 40th anniversary of the women’s protest camps – and it’s exposed and breezy at the best of times but that day it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale so it was really tough going, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and my leg held up beautifully so that was fantastic too.

And then – you won’t believe this – as I pulled into the driveway back at home, there were lots of leaves blowing around and I spotted a flash of blue in among them, so I went to investigate and there was a fiver. A five pound note, just blowing around in my drive! Our house is open to the road with no gate so I can only think that some poor person opened their wallet while walking nearby and the wind whipped it away.  I popped it in my purse and a couple of days later someone was collecting for charity at the supermarket so I put it in the tin – passing on the good luck!  All in all, one of the best days ever, and made even more wonderful by the fact that it really came out of the blue. It tends to happen like that, doesn’t it? The very best days and the very worst days of your life often happen completely unexpectedly.

Anyway, work is busy as always so here are a couple of things I wanted to flag for you this week. As we get into March I’m now back to using sun protection on my face every single day. Abi, our Ultrasun suncare expert, says we should use it every day of the year regardless of the weather, but particularly between March and October. I’ve used it all winter when I’ve been outside for longer periods (e.g. running!) but now it’s a daily thing and I’ve been using the new SPF 50 Face & Scalp Mist Spray which is fantastic – SO easy, just a quick spritz, and you can even use it over make-up which is amazing.

Perfect if you forget to apply your sun protection in the morning and easy to pop into your bag so you can spray it on if the sun comes out unexpectedly (we can dream, eh…!). Excuse my dirty trainers in this photo but it really is the best new addition to my running kit, I love it.

And one more thing. Back in the autumn one of our lovely jewellery buyers got in touch with the presenters and asked us if there were any classic jewellery pieces we’d like to see being brought back into stock. My answer was immediate – the Kiss ring! I bought two of these rings when I first joined QVC and they have been my very favourite rings. I lost one a couple of years ago and was so sad, so I’m completely delighted that they are now back with us (and yes, I’ve just bought another two, just in case!). This is my original rhodium plated one and they also come in gold, rose gold and mixed gemstone. I see from the reviews so far that others are pleased they are back too, which is nice!

And that’s it for now. Take care and see you soon.

Love Jackie x