Forty-four years and counting

Just over a week ago, my now husband, Chris and I celebrated forty-four years of living together and above are the gorgeous flowers he presented me with! Before we were married, we always used to mark the occasion and until last year, were usually on holiday. Last year we were in lockdown, of course, but this year we decided to have a break from our diet (I’ll tell you more about that later) and treat ourselves to a meal out.

We did think about going for a posh afternoon tea but decided against it in favour of pizza, which we both love and haven’t been having due to watching our weight. It was delicious along with tender stem broccoli and truffle fries.

Can I just say that we were quite good, as we shared the starters, the main and the triple chocolate tart pictured above, and although we probably doubled our calorie allowance for the day, I’m pleased to report that the weight is still coming off at a sensible pace.

Chris also bought me not only this anniversary card, but also a card that said ‘So Proud Of You’ on it. I can’t actually reveal why he is proud of me at the moment, but should be able to in my next blog, so watch this space if you want to know.

I’ve also celebrated another anniversary. Yesterday, it was a year since My Mother’s Secret was published – for some reason, it feels like an awful lot longer, but I guess there has been quite a lot going on. I love this photo, taken by our son Dan’s girlfriend, Katie, and featuring a Charlie Bear called Daniel! I do have a bit of a ‘thing’ about yellow flowers as they always seem to lift my mood. I’m looking forward to the daffodils and tulips blooming in my garden so that I can cut some and bring them indoors.

It was one of our neighbours, Sally, who started a trend of having yellow roses in our bedroom. She bought me some when I was recovering from my first cataract operation and since then Chris buys me a bunch every couple of weeks. Sally and her husband are currently renovating their house and are living in a bit of a building site, so we invited them around to ours for dinner on Monday night and she brought these beautiful yellow tulips. We all need yellow flowers in our lives with the dreary grey days we’ve been experiencing lately.

In fact, colour generally is a good mood elevator, which is why I was happy that our presenter stylist, Stine had selected this red Nina Leonard jumper for me for Fashion on Friday last week. She took this photo of me wearing it teamed up with Emu boots and Danni Minogue jeans. I was really sad to miss the Danni Minogue Today’s Special Value on Tuesday, as the pull-on jeans are my favourite, BUT I did order them in three colours including pink!!! Back to bright colours cheering me up.

I also missed the Davina exercise bike Today’s Special Value last Saturday, which is a shame as I bought one last year and have been pleased with it. I don’t use it all the time as my operated ankle can get a bit stiff with the peddling action, but it is a good aerobic alternative to walking on my treadmill and jumping on my Aeropilates machine, both of which you can see in the photo taken in my little gym at the bottom of our garden. You can also see that I’m QVC through and through, as I have on my Skechers archfit trainers (I have several pairs as I love them) and my Skechers leggings!

Going in the gym has certainly helped with my weight loss over the past couple of months, along with calorie counting and keeping an eye on how much I’m moving courtesy of the Apple watch Chris bought me for Christmas.

It’s a very satisfying feeling when I reach my targets for the day. It’s also good to be able to move more freely after the slow recovery from my ankle surgery. Actually, that’s another anniversary… tomorrow is two years since the operation to correct the position of my foot/ankle and replace the frayed tendons. I’m not going to lie, it is still quite painful at times, particularly after an exercise session, but it feels incredibly strong now compared to how it was. So, already over a stone lost and another one to go until I’ll feel happy within my own skin again.

And mentioning skin leads me neatly into the fact that we have a fabulous Beauty Weekend planned for you on QVC. Everything kicks off this evening at 9pm, with a two-hour show hosted by our beauty expert Ali Young. And when I say ‘everything’ kicks off, can I draw your attention to the fact that ALL beauty products will be ZERO P&P for the duration of the event, i.e. until midnight Sunday, whether featured on air or not. It really is the perfect time to stock up on some of your beauty favourites!

It’s also maybe a good time to try a new brand and we have a few of them launching during the event. I’ve been enjoying some mineral crystal baths courtesy of Sea Magik, who have their first full hour Saturday morning at 10am, and I’ve also been trying out new-to-us haircare brand, Monpure. My hair likes the Strengthening Silk Protein Shampoo and Strengthening Essence Conditioner. I like the fact that Monpure are an ethical brand who care as much about the environment as they do about great formulations for the scalp and hair. They are PETA certified cruelty-free and also vegan if those things are important to you.

I’ll also be presenting the first show of make-up brand Sculpted by Aimee on Sunday afternoon. I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but I do now follow Aimee on Instagram and if you’d like to, she is @aimeeconnolly_com.

I’ll also be presenting a Clinique show at midday tomorrow, which was actually the second skincare brand I used back in my teens after a couple of years using Almay… anyone know if Almay are still going?

So, don’t miss the fabulousness on offer this weekend on QVC, and I should also mention that everything apart from clearance-priced items (not just beauty) is on 3 Easy Pays, which, for those of you who don’t know, is three interest-free instalments. I’d say fill your boots… or maybe that should be buy your boots!

Much love,
Julia x