Last minute Christmas details – home, style & beauty

By |2022-12-02T16:39:28+00:00December 2nd, 2022|Categories: Christmas, Gift ideas, Interiors, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , |

And just like that we're in December! I'm bringing you that last of my Christmas prepping posts today, after this we'll be back to chatting about real life until the end of the year and we have a lot to catch up on because November was a funny old month for us. However we'll talk about that soon, for now I have my final post with John Lewis & Partners for 2022 and it's all about last minute Christmas [...]

Preparing for the empty nest – our new place is done

By |2021-06-21T11:47:41+01:00June 18th, 2021|Categories: Interiors, Midlife, Project Happier, Retail Review|Tags: , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

Newcastle update – the story so far

By |2021-05-07T17:14:11+01:00May 7th, 2021|Categories: Interiors, Retail Review|Tags: , , , , , |

Given that we've flipped back into the Narnian Winter (it's snowing again as I write) there's absolutely no point in talking about Summer clothes or outfits so it's something completely different this week. I haven't said much about our Newcastle adventure since last September so I'm going to talk about that instead and show you what's been going on there. So here's a Newcastle update - the story so far. The story so far... why Newcastle? You may remember it [...]

Christmas 2020 – how to make it feel special at home

By |2020-11-13T08:46:39+00:00November 10th, 2020|Categories: Christmas, Family|Tags: , , , , , |

Christmas 2020 - how to make it feel special at home As I said in Friday's post, it's still hard to know just what Christmas is going to be like this year. If the infection rate continues to fall we may see life opening up a little more but even so, I think it's clear that it's going to be a much quieter one spent at home - if we're lucky with the people who are closest to us. I [...]

How to celebrate under lockdown – happy birthday to me

By |2020-05-19T15:37:56+01:00May 19th, 2020|Categories: Interiors, Midlife, Project Happier|Tags: , , , , , , |

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 [...]

British brands – three you should know

By |2019-10-29T17:48:18+00:00October 29th, 2019|Categories: Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Something a bit different for you today because thinking we were going to be almost through to the other side of Brexit, I planned a British brand focus. As it happens we're not (why am I surprised?) but I'm going to talk about three of them anyway. Before I start though, I have an apology. One of the enquiry forms on Darryll and Bettina's website for The D'Azur failed on Saturday and so all of the enquiries that you sent [...]

Everything Christmas at John Lewis & Partners

By |2018-11-16T16:50:50+00:00November 15th, 2018|Categories: Christmas, Gift ideas, Interiors, Retail Review|Tags: , , , , , , |

You seemed to enjoy our last virtual wander round John Lewis & Partners in May so when I was thinking about my Christmas posts, there seemed no better place to spend a day. It has to be said that they really have become the kings of Christmas in the UK. Some of my friends now say that they refuse to even think about Christmas until the TV ad comes out - they see it as the official launch of the [...]

Embracing autumn and bringing it in

By |2018-10-30T22:02:12+00:00September 28th, 2018|Categories: Interiors, Project Happier|Tags: , , , , |

It's just a short post from me today because it's been a funny old week. I've been slogging my way through a heavy cold and feeling a bit contemplative after the evening with my friend T. I've been thinking about life and reflecting on the pros and cons of the knowledge that I suppose most of us gain by midlife simply as a result of the experiences that we've lived through. The upsides are many - the 'what the hell?' [...]

Creating a garden for good times to come

By |2018-05-08T17:05:01+01:00May 8th, 2018|Categories: Interiors|Tags: , , , , |

Don't worry - I'm not turning into Charlie Dimmock. In fact when I think of creating a garden for good times, I sigh. It's so hard to get anything to flourish in this cold, windy corner of the north... well apart from the ever expanding collection of balls that pop up in the flower beds. For years, whenever I've looked through the windows I've spotted yet another one glowing in all of its neon glory. However that's another thing that's [...]

Spotlight on John Lewis – a virtual afternoon in store

By |2018-04-06T10:40:27+01:00April 6th, 2018|Categories: Hair & Beauty, Interiors, Retail Review, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Please note that this is a sponsored post in collaboration with John Lewis. As such, links are affiliated and upon purchase, a small commission may be paid to Midlifechic. The retailer pays so this costs nothing to readers but it enables me to continue bringing you two posts a week. Now that Midlifechic is being viewed over half a million times a month, It costs into the thousands of pounds to keep it running and loading smoothly. I thank you [...]

Spring home updates and a wander round the shops

By |2018-03-30T12:31:00+01:00March 30th, 2018|Categories: Interiors, Sale|Tags: , , , |

Happy Easter weekend everyone. After a week of mayhem in the office (it's never good when a forthcoming Bank Holiday coincides with the end of a lot of clients' financial years), I've had some serious disruption to my schedule. So here I am, blogging on a Bank Holiday. However I will be logging off very soon and I'm going to spend the rest of today deciding how I'm going to bring some spring home updates into our house. It's hard [...]

Christmas finishing touches: making it extra special

By |2017-12-08T15:02:40+00:00December 8th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , |

Christmas has felt a bit chaotic in our house this year. When I had more time on my hands I used to shop very methodically, starting with everything planned out on spreadsheets as soon as October half term finished. Now I seem to shop from my own posts as I go along and so deliveries have been piling up in my office. It's only today that I've unpacked all of the parcels to see where I've got to! I'm just [...]

Christmas home updates – a very rare interiors post

By |2017-11-28T17:00:38+00:00November 28th, 2017|Categories: Christmas, Interiors|Tags: , , , |

I was out with some friends last Friday and the group was divided between those who were decorating their houses for Christmas this weekend and those who were giving it another week. We were chatting about the pros and cons of having lived in a house for a long time. I really enjoy unwrapping my much loved decorations every year, it's all part of the tradition of Christmas. But there are so many lovely things in the shops and sometimes [...]

Twelve things for Tuesday – and Mother’s Day weekend

By |2017-03-28T16:46:27+01:00March 28th, 2017|Categories: Family, Midlife, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

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 [...]

Winter outfits and a bit of Christmas sparkle

By |2017-03-18T15:08:58+00:00December 13th, 2015|Categories: Christmas, Family, Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Well what a week we've had in the aftermath of Storm Desmond. We were stranded at home until Wednesday (much to the delight of the boys) as the schools and the roads were closed. We finally switched over from the emergency generators to the mains supply last night so life is just starting to get back to normal. It has been a strange, dark time, dark because everybody has had to conserve the little bit of power we had, so [...]

Casual Christmas party chic …and interiors

By |2014-12-05T18:11:08+00:00December 5th, 2014|Categories: Family, Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

And we're off - the first official Christmas 'going out' event. One of the karate clubs that Mr MC trains with is at Lancaster University so tonight we are going out with a group of students on their dojo's night out... now there's a wardrobe conundrum if ever there was one. I am absolutely old enough to be their mum and my one hope for the evening is that this isn't their first thought as I walk through the door. So, casual [...]

A mindful Midlifechic weekend

By |2017-01-02T13:28:09+00:00October 21st, 2014|Categories: Family, Project Happier, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

So after the electricity meltdown that was Friday, we had digital meltdown on Saturday and Sunday with absolutely no broadband. This is extremely rare in our house. Because I often like to work from home we have 2 lines, just in case, so if one goes down there's always a spare. But no, this weekend we had digital silence. So given that it was my first at home for 7 weeks, I decided to make it a mindful Midlifechic weekend [...]

Midlifechic clothes, food, interiors and accessories – all in one post!!

By |2014-07-15T18:52:22+01:00July 15th, 2014|Categories: Interiors, Style|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The plan was that this was going to be the epitome of a hot, sunny post but it's all gone a bit wrong again thanks to our bizarre weather. If you're a regular reader you'll remember the post when I was feeling sad about our friends (J&R) who are moving. These are the friends who, for 10 years, have lived just around the corner and, even though they're moving to a village nearby, it won't be quite the same. R [...]

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