“January is the month for dreaming.” – Jean Hersey
Welcome January

Happy New Year and I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas! Unfortunately, ours was
filled with illness so I have only managed to write this New Year’s blog now.
This is a big month for me. I am hitting a milestone and turning 40! Although I have been
long dreading reaching this age, now that it is actually here, I am feeling excited and
positive. My thirties were filled with much change, upheaval and uncertainty; my husband’s
job meant that we moved all around the country and I had no family close by as we started
our family. Anyone else married to a doctor will understand this situation well and I often
felt very alone raising our three children. Now, as I face my next decade, I feel everything is
much more stable and solid, that I can reap the rewards of the last tumultuous ten years
and relish the things I have achieved. We have bought and renovated a gorgeous old coach
house in beautiful Boston Spa, my children are all happily settled at school, and I am proud
of the things I am achieving in my career. So roll on fabulous forties!

This month I’m celebrating:-
While many people spend January detoxing and dieting, I do not! A January birthday is not
ideal and so I never have any intention of making it glum by denying myself too much;
especially this January as I celebrate the start of my fourth decade. However, that doesn’t
mean that I carry on in the same overindulgent style as Christmas. I try to be more
conscious about what I’m eating and start some good healthy habits for the new year; just
nothing to strict!

This month I’m reflecting:-
On all the things that I have achieved in 2022! As well as looking ahead in the new year and
getting some good habits in place, I think it is also important to look back over the previous
year and reflect on your progress and the things that you feel really pleased with.
I am so proud to have worked with some fantastic brands in 2022. One of these companies
is La Residence Interiors. They gifted us the most fabulous Brunswick Extending Weathered
Oak Dining Table and I look forward to the years of celebrations and memories that will be
made around it.
Working with Hobbs, one of my most favourite brands, has also been a dream come true. I
absolutely loved attending the Hobbs press event in London; the subsequent instore styling
event that I organised with Hobbs York and Personal Stylist Laura Fawcett, was a real
highlight of last year.

The other events that I have loved organising have been with The Enterprise Collective,
which I set up for bloggers and influencers in Yorkshire to network and share their expertise.
A real standout moment from March 2022 was having the fabulous Jack D March come to
our event and share his amazing knowledge and experience.

There are also some amazing family related events and experiences that have made 2022
such a fabulous year. We had our first ever family holiday abroad at the incredible Almyra
Resort in Cyprus. Covid and just the expense of having babies meant that we had never yet
managed a foreign holiday. This trip was everything I had hoped for and where some of our
most happy memories were made.
And where would I be without our most incredible, fabulous and wonderful au pair Melissa!
I discovered the absolute life changing extra pair of hands that having an Au Pair brings in
2020 when we had Lisa from Germany living with us. After years of struggling with three
children, no family nearby and my husband constantly away at work, I had finally worked it
out! Since then, we have also had Laura from Italy and now our current au pair Melissa, who
is from Yorkshire, is an absolute wonder. Check out my blog about how to find the perfect

And of course, I am super proud of the progress that we made in 2022 on our wonderful
coach house. It is now, finally, the most lovely space to live and relax in. Years of living in an
unfinished house was very stressful and hard work, but my dreams have come to fruition
and we now have the dreamiest of kitchens in our big upstairs room and the cosiest of living
rooms downstairs and I couldn’t be more delighted!

This month I’m still working on:-
Whilst my delight in our newly renovated rooms cannot be dampened, there are still things
to finish off this year. There is still work to be done on one of the bathrooms and I really
want to create a useful boot room. And then there are the endless finishing touches and
painting over of grubby little handprints. But all these jobs for this new year are much
gentler than the momentous changes that we made in 2022.
I am also going to embark on a clear out of our garage. I would love to be able to use this
space as a gym, especially whilst the weather is still so cold. Before this can happen, a
thorough spring clean is needed; the garage is filled with things that need selling, given
away and taken to the dump. Out with the old - the perfect job for the new year!
This month I’m wearing:-
January is the perfect month for a bit of hibernation. The weather is grim and there is no
better way to avoid those winter blues than by getting warm and cosy at home. And I will be
doing just that in these fabulous Bobby Striped Pyjamas from Phase Eight (AD/PR). These
100% cotton pyjamas are so comfy and come with matching eye-mask and scrunchy for
nights snuggled at home.

But of course, for some of us there are things to celebrate in January and with my big
birthday this month, I won’t only be dressed in lounge wear!! Check out this gorgeous
Helena Gold Stud Dress also from Phase Eight (AD/PR) which I am very much looking
forward to wearing (my husband better have organised something…!).
This month I’m listening to:-
At the beginning of each year, I have started a little tradition with myself to listen to The
Secret on Audible. The Secret is an audiobook that has become a global phenomenon and is all about gaining confidence, happiness and life satisfaction. I love having a bit of a listen
and using it to give me some direction in thinking about some of my forthcoming goals. I
really recommend it to anyone who is wanting to reset and refocus for the year ahead.

This month I’ll be eating:-
Of course, being healthy is one goal that many of us set ourselves after an indulgent
Christmas. I have the delight of working with Dorset Cereals whose mantra is that “healthy
eating doesn’t have to be boring”. Perfect! I am looking forward to finding out about how
their muesli and granola can be enjoyed in these colder months!
This month I’m decorating:-
As you may have noticed, I absolutely love decorating my house. And as sad as I am to see
the Christmas decorations being put away, January brings the start of some beautiful
blooms. I love to arrange seasonal flowers to dress difference corners of my house and am
looking forward to the snowdrops, winter jasmine, daphnes, winter heather and cyclamen.

I hope everyone is coping with the dark winter after all the Christmas excitement and fun.
of 2023 unfolds here in Yorkshire. Wishing you all the happiest of New Years.

Love Caroline xxx
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