The end of days And just like that they've flown. After 25 years of family life our nest is empty and it's the moment I've been dreading since my boys first arrived and filled our home with love, mischief and laughter. I distinctly remember holding each one of them for the first time and feeling so many things: joy, awe, responsibility, love... all tinged with an awareness that I was heading on a journey that would be over before I'd [...]
Happy Friday! Although it already feels like an age ago, today I'm bringing you my British City Staycation - Newcastle Part 2. I left you last week as we were hit with the news of Mum-in-law's diagnosis and everyone in the family was reeling. I'm grateful to all of you who've sent advice and links to the various organisations you recommend. The doctors have told us that the most urgent thing for now is to get the LPAs in [...]
Well hello, it's good to be back and talking to you after our two weeks away. I'm wondering how this post is going to work because a few of you will already have seen the photos on Instagram but of course there was no space on there to give you the full story behind them so I hope it will still be interesting for you. As you know after various holiday cancellations we decided to spend two weeks over at [...]
It's my last post before we go away and so I thought I'd do something a bit different. Several times a year I'm asked by magazines, newspapers or other bloggers to do interviews which isn't usually as grand as it sounds, it means they send me a list of questions to answer and sometimes they publish them, sometimes they don't. It's something I never really have time to do but quite enjoy doing because I find it helps to crystallise [...]
As we approached summer this year I thought it was going to feel like a long one. Without the rush of a big family holiday to prepare for I imagined it being languid, like the summers you read about in interwar novels where people spent long, limpid days at home in the shade with a book. And of course it isn't turning out that way at all, it still feels as though time's rushing by and weeks are eaten up [...]
And at last, our city apartment is just about finished. All we have left to do is find a few pieces of art for empty spots and update the bathrooms - but that will have to wait until there's no longer a global shortage of sanitary ware or plumbers working to six month waiting lists. As we sat back with a glass of wine on Sunday evening and looked around us, it struck us both that we'd done something we'd [...]
I think it's always worth taking some time to reflect as your birthday approaches and tomorrow I'll be 54 so that's what I'm doing. Of course I'm usually looking back over a busy year of personal achievements peppered with standout moments but this one, of course, has been a little different. It's hard to view the last twelve months with any kind of perspective because even though lockdown's starting to lift, it doesn't quite feel as though this strange time [...]
Style, menopause, hot sauce & books - how's that for a lead in?! A surprise mini post today because there are a few things I've been meaning to mention and one in particular that I need to flag before Friday. I do like posting on a Tuesday again though - even if it's just a quick 'hello' it helps me to feel as though life's getting back to normal which it is in a way. I had my second jab [...]
Another week over and it's certainly been an interesting one. In this post I'm finally following up on my promise to do my HRT update - going private in the UK but first I just want to refer back to last week. I think a lot of us are starting to look ahead tentatively, wondering what life is going to be like when we start to emerge from lockdown. Your replies to my question last week about how you were [...]
Well as you may have seen on Instagram, we had a big celebration in our house this week because on Wednesday it was our 20th wedding anniversary. And I know that immediately some of you will do the maths and think but surely the eldest is 24? And you're right. You see there's a story behind our story that I've never told but today feels like the day to do it. It isn't going to be easy to write and [...]
And here we are in February, a month I like because it takes us swiftly out of winter and into the beginning of spring. It's a month of love in our house because not only do we have Valentine's Day but also our wedding anniversary. First though comes Midlifechic's birthday. Yesterday this little blog of mine reached the grand old age of seven and of course in the context of the lives that we've lived, that doesn't seem very old. [...]
Well hello! How are you? I hope your 2020 ended with a Christmas that meant something to you, even if it was a bit different - and that you feel in some way restored. Hitting a new year in a state of extreme lockdown wasn't what any of us were hoping for but we'll get through it together. Today I'm going to do a quick Christmas recap for my memory bank and then I'll share the way that I'm going [...]
My last post for 2020 - wow what a year. In fact I almost feel I should leave it at that because what can I say? I don't have enough perspective to review it dispassionately yet but I thought I'd share my immediate reflections here, even if only because one day I hope this will be an interesting sociological record to look back on. So I'm going to do it in my usual way, starting with the downs, moving on [...]
It's been a while since we had a midlife lately catch up because I've been so busy with everything Christmas but it's starting to feel as though most of the planning is done now so I can come up for air. Wasn't November a funny old month? Even more of a nothingness than November usually is so I'm not sure how interesting this post is going to be but I suppose we're all in the same boat. As always, ours [...]
Hello again - as you probably realised I ended up taking the whole of last week off. Thank you to everyone who sent a little message checking up on me, it showed me that you notice when I'm not here so perhaps I do bring some value with this blog... which is something I often wonder about. Of course we 'should' have been in Paris but as it happened I had a nasty chest infection anyway (not Covid, I did [...]
I know some of you, the Scots in particular, have been wondering whether I was ever going to publish this. It's two weeks since we went away for Mr MC's birthday and already it feels like a lifetime ago - not just in terms of time but also in lifestyle because now our freedoms are far fewer again. We were so lucky to snatch a weekend of fun when we did and looking through the photos it reminds me that [...]
As promised, today's post is an AW20 Boden edit - and by that I mean my pick of the pieces that have arrived over the last couple of weeks. Like me you'll be getting used to the fact that retailers are working around delayed deliveries this season and so quite a lot of product is only available on backorder. However, everything I'm showing you here is available now. As always, I was drawn to some of the stunning dresses that [...]
Today, as promised, I'm bringing you the answers to the survey questions I asked last week. Thank you so much to everybody who responded so quickly to each survey giving us a hefty sample size of 3,000 overall which means we have a really good insight into how midlifers are feeling as we come out of lockdown. You'll see that I haven't separated out the national and international charts because most answers were very similar which surprised me. I thought [...]
The zeitgeist and what to wear for the weekend Has anyone else found this week to be a tough one? For me it's been by far the most challenging of lockdown, not for any particular reason other than the new monotony. As I've said before I've realised how much I rely on forward goals to keep me going and with the endless uncertainty that seems to surround us in the UK in particular, it's still impossible to implement any. Of [...]
And so we find ourselves at the beginning of June - that's more than two full months of lockdown and yet I still find myself circling back to the initial reaction of pure shock every now and then. In other ways though it's become a way of life and there's something comforting about living in a bubble where you don't have the friction of everyday life. It seems as though we're going to have to start emerging soon though and [...]
Hello, I'm out of sync at the moment because I had two days off for my birthday last week and then tunnelled into the Bank Holiday. It means I'm behind with the comments (and everything else) but I'll crack on with them after this. First of all though, a catch-up, starting with midlife lately and then I'll move on to some SS20 at home outfit ideas because a few new drops have landed this week and they'll be the last [...]
Well hello... on this day that has always been a beacon in my calendar... because it's my birthday. A friend who graduated to the same age as me last week said she was dreading it this time because all it meant was another year on her age with none of the associated fun. And I admit that I'm less bouncy about it than usual but that's because I haven't been buoyed by our usual festival weekend. I miss having a [...]
Pandemic diaries Hello from a suddenly chilly north of England. Just as I'd got into the swing of summer dressing it's behaved true to form and gone the other way - I've just had to break off to go and put some socks on when I thought I'd finished with them until October. I suppose it reflects everything else that's going on because I'm finding I just can't plan ahead for more than a week at a time at the [...]
Hello everyone, I'm back from my 'week off.' I hope you've all been settling into this new way of living, I thought we'd have a quick Midlife lately quarantine catch up today and then perhaps go on to look at some clothes on Friday. As this spell of good weather continues (she says, touching wood), I'm starting to think about a wardrobe for a summer that is largely, if not completely, going to be spent at home. Before that though [...]
Lockdown continues - how are you feeling? Hello everyone, I shot myself in the foot a bit on Tuesday with a recap on what we'd been doing so today I thought I'd focus more on how this is feeling instead. Obviously these are just my personal reflections so I'm hoping that in the spirit of social diary, you'll add some of your thoughts in the comments at the end. What I'm keen to log is: as the lockdown continues - [...]
Hello everybody, I hope hope you're all ok out there. We'd never have imagined a week like the one we've just had would we and who knows where we go from here? For now, I'm going to try to keep up with a weekly coronavirus update even if it's just as a kind of social diary to log how this bolt from the blue affected an ordinary family. So here we go - Coronavirus diaries - lockdown week 1. Coronavirus [...]
Well hello... hasn't this been the strangest of weeks? I awoke on Monday morning to our usual routine and by Wednesday it had all gone awry. As one of my reasons for writing this blog is to connect with future generations of my family, I'm going to be logging how it feels to live through these strange coronavirus days but it won't all be doom and gloom. I'll be looking for the upsides wherever I can, hoping that Midlifechic can [...]
A casual midlife lately Hello, it's time for a quick catch up I think with a casual midlife lately. Wasn't February grim? It really seemed to drag, I think everyone in the UK is feeling battered by the weather. We usually go away for our wedding anniversary early in the month and I really missed it - thank goodness it's March. We're surrounded by signs of spring up here - the daffodils are out, there are lambs in the fields [...]
Chatting through the points you've raised in the reader survey I've spent some time over the last couple of weeks reading through the really helpful feedback you gave me as part of the reader survey. 3,000 of you answered so I'm still going but I'm noticing that certain questions are coming up quite regularly. So, given that it's been just too wet and windy to take any photos this week (will it ever stop?) I thought we'd spend some time [...]
What I wear in January, outfit ideas women over 40 Today's post is the first of a new series that I'm aiming to include every month featuring a compilation of outfits that I've been wearing for work and weekends. These posts will show you what I wear day in, day out and they should contrast nicely with the new season try-ons that I do with some of our favourite high street brands. I'm not going to patronise you by saying [...]
(Please note that this post focuses on thinking ahead to the end of our lives. If you are ill or recently bereaved, you may find it difficult to read... but I hope not) As you can see, I have a completely different topic for us to discuss today and at first it may not seem easy but actually it's not so bad. I'm supporting the brilliant people behind the charity Marie Curie who are trying to get us thinking ahead [...]
Well hello and a Happy New Year to you. I'm back to blogging a little later than planned because we had guests until 30th December and then went over to Newcastle for a family funeral so it turned out to be busier than we expected. However everything went well and mum-in-law declared it to be 'the best Christmas for years' - phew! Reflections on a midlife decade Even though it's ten days old now, I feel as though I need [...]
This is it, the last post of 2019. I've been trying to work out what would be most useful to you right now and so in anticipation of the sales starting, I've sifted through what I think are the best buys of AW 2019. They're the hero pieces in my wardrobe and so I've rounded up my personal recommendation of what to look out for from specific retailers' sales. I'll finish with a few thoughts about Christmas because it feels [...]
For the last couple of weeks I've been writing two potential versions of this post in my head. You see on an ordinary morning just after we got back from France, I discovered a marble-sized lump in my breast. My immediate reaction was denial. I told myself it was just the edge of a rib but then I asked Mr MC to check and I could see by his face that it wasn't. Just like that life began to spin [...]
As you know, over the last few months I've been starting the journey towards going grey with the team at the Josh Wood Atelier in London. I still have about 50% of my natural blonde and brown in my hair so I won't be completely grey for a few years yet however I'm no longer trying to conceal the transition. Instead I'm allowing the strands of silver to shine though in all of their glory. My first appointment was at [...]
It's a cornucopia post today and a bit of a long one so you might want to pour that cup of tea / glass of wine before you start. I've been testing a lot of beauty products over the last few months and a few have made my 'must tell readers about...' shelf. So I'll start with those and then move on to menopause followed by a bit of a midlife melting pot. By the end of it there should [...]
Today's post is a little bit different, I'm taking part in a writing project that was commissioned by the peer to peer lending company Zopa. To celebrate their Innovative Finance ISA, which they say “sits in the middle between low risk, low yielding cash ISAs and volatile, high return stocks and shares ISAs”, they asked a number of people to think about “the middle” and what it means to them. Of course for me, the middle immediately makes me think [...]
Well here we are on 'Brexit Day' at the end of what must have been one of the craziest weeks in British history. Our business is feeling the impact. We work with a number of Sci-Tech businesses that are being badly hit by the loss of European funding, the stalling of potential global funding and the inability to get innovations passed in the absence of a governing system. As a result, some people we know are facing the loss of [...]
I've been compiling Mother's Day gift posts for as long as I've worked in retail and as always, this year they're everywhere. So when Marks and Spencer approached me to put one together for them, I pushed back. But then they asked me to go beyond the clichés and do it with a difference and after spending some time looking through their site, I felt that I could. So, today I'm thinking about Mother's Day and the gifts that you [...]
Before I start, I have to say thank you to Nicky Keep who sent me a picture of the above jumper when she was shopping in Sainsbury's - I rushed straight out to find one! It's my last day in the office and I'm hoping to log off for two whole weeks so that means that this is probably the last post of 2018. I haven't really had a chance to look back at the year yet but I feel [...]
It's been a while hasn't it and some of you have written in to ask why I haven't been doing Midlife Lately. The thing is that for me, this is not a job. As I've always said, I started Midlifechic primarily as a personal journal so that I could leave a record that my future great grandchildren might read. I was inspired to start writing after reading through boxes of family letters that I discovered after my mum died. For [...]
Ok, I promised we'd have a catch up and I have so much to tell you - October has been a blur but let's start where I left you last time, just before the funeral. Newcastle It was, as you can imagine, heartbreaking. When you're inside a family, you never really see the impact that your relative has beyond your immediate enclave until something like this happens. As we arrived at the crematorium, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size [...]
Hello, its a post of two halves today because this week has taken an unexpected turn. I'll move onto that later but I want to start by telling you about the dinner party that I mentioned we were hosting last weekend. You see a little while ago I was contacted by a company called La Belle Assiette. I hadn't heard of them before but they're an online chef service. Their website covers most of the UK and it enables you [...]
I do find the new retail calendar weird. Mid-season sales in the third week of September would have been unheard of a few years ago but of course retailers do smaller drops throughout the season now to meet the demand for perpetual newness. So, I have two of these new drops to whizz through with you. They're both from retailers that tend to sell through quickly and in my eyes, these are the best pieces from the latest collections. Hush [...]
I thought I'd take a breather from the madness of new season so that we can have a quick catch up. Today I'm bringing you a post of recent outfits, try-ons and a midlife lately catch up which has ended up being more introspective than I intended but that's what happens when I have something on my mind. So, as far as the weather is concerned, we seem to be sliding quickly into Autumn here but every so often, summer [...]
So finally we've made it - our long awaited holiday is in sight. I can't tell you how excited I am at the thought of having all of my boys to myself for two whole weeks, I'm going to treasure every minute. The housesitters are briefed and Gary is on his way to Northumberland to stay on a cousin's farm. It's been a hectic week. A while ago, thinking that this would be a quiet time at work, I scheduled [...]
And so the world of style blogging is hitting its summer lull. As the sales are in full swing and the storybook sunshine goes on, I can feel my mind turning away from its usual fascination with retail towards the things that matter more. I'm very aware that for our family, this will be our last calm summer for a while. We have no important exam results to anticipate and when autumn comes, our status quo will continue with everyone [...]
Hello, I'm back. My schedule is still slightly disrupted but it's good to be blogging again. Let me tell you all about our trip to Valencia which turned out to be very simple and very relaxed - just what we all needed. This is one of those posts that is a bit of a personal journal as well as a midlife style blog. As you know, one of the reasons I write is for any future great, great grandchildren of [...]
This morning I am feeling every one of my 51 years which could have something to do with the fact that I decided to party like a 15 year-old in celebration of my 51st birthday. I haven't stopped all weekend and my brain is dead so I'm going to let the pictures do the talking and share a bit of my birthday joy with you. It all started on Friday night when my sister and brother-in-law popped over with presents. [...]
It's my birthday tomorrow which means I've been 50 for a whole year. Like most people I still reel slightly when I have to write my age on a form but other than that, I feel great about it. I've just had one of the best years of my life, not because anything particularly remarkable happened but because everything finally started to make sense. I noticed this new feeling of 'rightness' when I was chatting to my auntie on her [...]
As you know, I've had an ongoing relationship with Specsavers since last summer. They're a brand that I particularly like to support because of all of the quiet behind the scenes work that they do, giving back to both their local communities and the anti-bullying charity Kidscape which I discussed in my post about their fundraising awards. This season they have asked me to look at two of their spectacle ranges in more depth. The Twiggy for Aurora collection which [...]
It's the time of year when everyone's thoughts turn to love. Whether you like it or not, you are surrounded by hearts and flowers and meal deals for two. I have been endlessly prodded by retailers to create lists of things we should buy to prove to our loves how treasured they are. And as I've been drafting emails in reply, explaining why I'm not running a "50 things to buy your Valentine" post, it's made me think hard about [...]
Hello! We're back from our amazing adventure in Transylvania and I have so much to tell you. However today I must crack on and catch up with the work that I've missed so I'm forcing myself to stay away from the photos until I have more time. In the meantime, I have a post about how to keep your complexion glowing in midlife. I've been putting it together since I included this picture a couple of weeks ago and was bombarded [...]
How to find your purpose at midlife. It's a different kind of post from me today. You see last week I was shaken by the sudden loss of a friend in the village, someone I have known for a long time. She died within days of returning home from a fantastic holiday with her husband and sons. A brain tumour that had given her no warning also gave her no chance. The whole village has been rocked by it and [...]
We have some catching up to do. Forgive me for the fact that this includes Christmas, luckily there aren't many sequins because we did most of our partying earlier in the month. When I left you in 2017, it was the eldest's 21st birthday and he was due to arrive home from London late that night. So, we're picking the story up as we arrived at the railway station to meet him. The 21st birthday Poor boy, I don't think [...]
Hello - and a very Happy January to you all, I hope you've had a wonderful break. We had a lovely couple of weeks off despite being beset by illness and I'll tell you all about it in a 'midlife lately' post next week. In the meantime, I'm just popping up briefly. The boys don't go back to school until Monday and so I'm trying to be around while they're off. You see we were chatting over dinner one night [...]
It has been such an exciting week winning the WeAreThirtyPlus Blogger of the Year Award and none of it would have happened without you so I just wanted to share the evening with you... and answer all of the questions that so many of you have had about what I decided to wear. About WeAreThirtyPlus You may remember I was surprised to find that I had been shortlisted a few weeks ago because I hadn't submitted an entry. I have [...]
I'm following on from my post about leather leggings with a focus on a different type of trouser. You see when I was down in London last week, I gambled on not having to stand up too much in my consultancy sessions. For once, I travelled light without 'street shoes' in my bag. It misfired. I was working with a larger team than expected and so I had to stand to enable everyone to hear (and see) me. We were [...]
On Tuesday I mentioned that I've been challenged to get going with a new midlife health and fitness plan. I have committed to do it until January and today I'm going to tell you more about it. Before I do, I'm just going to cover the reasons why I'm doing it with a quick recap. I have hit an absolute exercise trough. Long term readers know about the car accident I had in December 2014. It wasn't a serious one [...]
Boo! Yes I'm still on holiday but I thought I'd surprise you with a post. You see every week I get lots of emails from readers and I've noticed that they often include the same questions. So, I thought it would be helpful to put a Midlifechic FAQ in my 'About Me' section. This is it and I'm sending it out as a post just in case you're missing me - which you're probably not but I can hope! Midlifechic [...]
Hmm..what shall we talk about today? It's that finger drumming time of year so I thought I'd show you a few of the outfits I've been wearing recently. It will give us a chance to have a little chat about what's been going on too - I have a story that I've been meaning to tell you for a while about the trials of student internships. A school mum outfit Some of you may have seen this on Instagram. I [...]
As we wait for the sales to finish and the new season stock to arrive, I'm covering some new topics. Back in January, we were discussing midlife symptoms - both physical and emotional and since then, I've been keeping an eye open for solutions to some of the problems that were raised. The results of the survey that we did showed that 27% of Midlifechic readers are having problems with thinning midlife hair. It isn't something that I have experienced [...]
I have a late addition to the summer sales for you. Hope will be opening their sale tomorrow (Saturday 8th July) and I have a VIP preview which means you can go onto the site and snap up the bargains before everyone else. In preparation for the new stock arriving, they are having a huge clearout from past seasons and a lot of items are 70% off. It's a great opportunity to buy something of high quality at an amazing price. Here [...]
So my friends, today's the day. I have achieved my half century. Everyone I've spoken to over the last couple of weeks has been asking me one question - how are you feeling about it? So I thought I'd try to articulate exactly how it feels to reach your 50th birthday. Prepare for one of those long streams of consciousness - it's been a while. You may need to make a cup of tea before you sit down with this [...]
Happy Tuesday everyone. It looks as though I will be spending a disproportionate amount of time driving this week as I have meetings that range from the Scottish Border right down to the Midlands. So I am putting together a quick post with a few of the things that I have spotted recently that I think you'll like and I'm finishing off with a round up of Mother's Day weekend. Easter This is probably the last stretch of time that we [...]
As you can see, I'm talking about something completely different today. A little while ago I mentioned that I have been having some treatment for a phobia and that I would discuss it when it was completed. Well today's the day. So, let me tell you more about it. My phobia is 'ornophobia' or a fear of birds. It not only covers the idea of them flapping around me or even being in my path when I walk through a [...]
Wow that was quite a response to the last post on midlife loneliness! As I said at the outset, when I receive a cluster of emails on a particular topic, it suggests that something is going on at a wider level. I knew I could count on you to rally around Anna but what I didn't anticipate was the wonderful outpouring of empathy. I'm not going to write a long post today, partly because a power cut has wiped five hours off my [...]
Since Christmas, I've had a few emails from readers about loneliness. When I get a number of emails on a particular topic I take it seriously because I know that for each woman that speaks out, there will be others in the same situation. There is one reader that I've been talking to who I am especially worried about. I have helped her as much as I can and she has asked me to raise loneliness as a topic on Midlifechic to [...]
I am very pleased to bring you the first of the spotlight posts. It's a big thank you to Baukjen for being the first brand to come on board as part of this series and I'm particularly pleased to be working with someone that I haven't featured before. I have only one Baukjen piece in my wardrobe and it is a jumpsuit that I bought in a hurry after seeing it featured in a magazine last year. For some reason [...]
Last Saturday was Midlifechic's 3rd birthday. I'm afraid there are no photos of celebrations this year because I had some emergency dental surgery on Friday afternoon which means I've been feeling sorry for myself, nursing a very sore mouth and a cheek like a chipmunk. Nevertheless 3 years feels like a milestone. Midlifechic began as a short term project when I was going through a period of transition. My youngest son was preparing to leave primary school and the eldest had his eyes fixed [...]
Boo! I'm surprising you with a Monday post because after my two days in London everything feels out of sync - plus I have something special to bring you on Thursday. So today I'm going to start with some rather random recent outfit shots and then move on to the thoughts I had when I read your midlife comments as they came in whilst I was on the train. What I've been wearing Now, this was over a week ago on [...]
So here they are - the results! Over 2000 of you took part in the Physical symptoms of Midlife survey so we have some really interesting and relevant information here. As somebody who hates maths, I am always surprised by how much I love data. I suppose because of my marketing background I have learned how to delve into it and interpret it. Every so often the numbers will tell you that something you had always assumed to be true is [...]
I have been overwhelmed by your enthusiastic and very thought provoking responses to my Midlife in the twenty-tens post. It seems as though I have hit upon something that we all want to discuss in more depth. As you know, the last post focused on the cognitive side of midlife, our changing mindset. As promised, I am now moving on to the chronological aspect or rather the physical symptoms of midlife that most people say they are experiencing. One approach would be [...]
So, here we, are in the retail hiatus of January when there is very little in the shops worth looking at. That means it's time for us to get into some of the deeper issues you've been asking me to cover - such as what is midlife in the twenty-tens (as this decade is now being called) and how can we age well? It's going to be one of those long posts when you may need a whole pot of tea rather than [...]
Given that this is primarily a style blog, I was amazed by the interest and debate that my work life balance posts provoked. There are obviously so many of us in one of two positions - struggling to maintain a career and the needs of a family or struggling to find our sense of purpose as an educated stay at home mum. I've been really touched by the many stories that you've shared with me either privately or publicly over [...]
I'm very late blogging this week (again) but I have news on my work life balance and a tough midlife career decision that I can finally share with you. One Sunday night a few weeks ago, I was sitting at the dinner table with my head in my hands dreading the madness of the week to come, feeling that I was living in a very small but very fast hamster wheel. Mr MC looked across at me and asked me what [...]
It's a happy day in our house today - it's our wedding anniversary. I have more reason to celebrate than most because my life now is my very own happy ending. As with all good fairytales though, I had to go through a struggle to reach it... ...Shall I tell you the story? Are You sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... Once upon a time there was a girl who left university with her whole life ahead of her. Even though [...]
