messy bun autumn winter hair trend

My favourite hair trends for Autumn/Winter 2017

by with No Comment PersonalUncategorized

I have a confession to make.  I’m not that big a follower of fashion.

I tend to fall back on clothes and styles that are familiar and that I feel suit me, rather than following what is trendy each season.

The problem with that is that I can end up stuck in a rut, still wearing the same clothes and the same hairstyle that I wore ten years ago.  Actually, my hair is pretty much the same now as it was on my wedding day ten years ago, just a little bit longer.

So maybe it’s time to mix things up a bit.

I’ve been taking a look at the hair trends for Autumn/Winter 2017, with some help from Ellisons, and here are my favourites.

messy up do autumn winter hair trend

Side partings.

Ok, this is a bit of a cheat, because I’ve been wearing my hair in a side parting for years.  But it’s lovely to feel like I’m on trend with it!

Some of the partings on the runways this season were really deep, so I think I might gently start mixing things up a bit by moving my parting about a bit and seeing how I like it.  It might not seem like much, but just wearing a parting on the other side to normal can change up your look.

 

Up-dos.

I think Autumn/Winter is often the season of up-dos, as everyone gears up for Christmas party season.

For me as a busy mum there is something very appealing about a messy bun.  Or for days when I want to feel a bit more polished then a sleek ponytail like those shown by Oscar de la Renta would be a great option.

I’ve also been saying for ages that I want to learn how to do things like french plaits for Nerys, so this winter might be the time for me to get practising on my own hair and trying out some different braided looks.

autumn winter hair plait
Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

 

Acid hair.

Multicoloured hair has been a huge trend this year, and the Autumn/Winter twist is for really bright colours.

Oh I wish I was brave enough to go for a style like this!

I dye my hair a lot thanks to the greys that started appearing when I was eighteen, but I tend to stick to nice safe browns and auburns.  Maybe it’s time to try something a bit bolder!  But remember, no matter what, take care of your hair using organic products like these conditioners. It’ll be much healthier!

 

These looks have all been noted by Ellisons as being key trends for Autumn/Winter 2017, and they’ve also put together their picks for the key trends for eyes, lips and nails.  From romantic neutrals on the eyes, to bright red lips and festive gold nails there are trends to suit everyone.

What I love is that soft, pretty neutrals are trends for both eyes and nails this season, which is great for an everyday look.

But for anyone hitting the party scene this Christmas there are some much bolder options to go for, like metallic grunge on the eyes and fun chequerboard nails.

Which trend will you be trying out this season?

 

Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post.

customer service

When did you last experience great customer service?

by with No Comment Personal

Nerys and I went to our local library on our way home from school yesterday.  When we went to check out our books the lady behind the counter recognised us.  She acknowledged that we had been turned away from their recent halloween event as it was fully booked, and said how sorry she was that she had had to turn us away.

She then went on to tell me that they were planning a Christmas event at the start of December, and for me to keep an eye out for it so that I could book and come along.

It was a really little thing but I walked away feeling really good about our experience.  It sounds a bit silly maybe, but I felt valued as a customer and as a visitor to the library.

So often when we think of customer service we think of the big corporations and call centres full of people working to keep customers happy.  It was nice to experience it on a more personal level, to feel like my day had been made a bit brighter by someone taking a bit of time to provide great customer service.

I personally really value good customer service, and I will often stay loyal to companies who go that little bit further to make me feel valued as a customer.  CCSN recently carried out a survey to find out what people think about customer service, and this fab infographic shows what they found.

infographic about customer service

So, is customer service better or worse now, in the digital age?

I’m a bit torn on this to be honest.  I think that we’ve lost a little bit of the personal touch with the big corporations, which is one of the reasons I love shopping with small businesses as you tend to still get that personal touch from them.

I also find it hard with the big companies to know the best way to contact them, as sometimes their contact details are buried on their websites.  CCSN is really handy to know about if you ever find the same problem when you want to get in touch with someone’s customer service department.  It’s basically a directory of all the numbers you could need for dozens of different companies, and is really easy to use.

What I’ve found recently with the big companies is that I have just embraced the way things are now, and often tweet them if I have a query or an issue.  It seems to get a quicker response that emailing, and is much better than sitting on hold or pressing my way through multiple menus on the phone to get through to the right person.

The thing is, problems do occur.  No one and no business is perfect.  I’ve had a few issues with a couple of the big supermarkets recently when I’ve done online orders for my weekly food shop.  What is important to me is how quickly and easily the company then handles the issue.  If they can make it right one way or another, and be polite and pleasant to me in the process, then that to me is good customer service and I will use them again.

What does good customer service mean to you?

 

Disclaimer – this is a collaborative post.

living arrows

Living Arrows 2017 – 47/52

by with 8 Comments PersonalUncategorized

Twice last week Nerys asked if I could walk to pick her up from school, because she wanted to walk home instead of going in the car.

She’s getting clever this one.

The way she asked on Monday morning it really seemed like she just liked the idea of walking home.  Then a few minutes later, as if it had just occurred to her, she mentioned that maybe we could stop at the park on the way.  A few minutes after that, she told me she’d had a great idea.  That I could bring her baby and her buggy with me, so that she could push her home and take her for a play at the park too.

I couldn’t really say no after all that!

living arrows toddler at park

So on Monday and again on Friday, I left the car at home, and carried baby and her little buggy to school to collect Nerys.

Then we walked home, with a stop at the park on the way.

And it was lovely.  It really was.

There’s something a bit special about slowing down, and going at a three year old’s pace.  Some days I want to get home quickly, so I can put the next load of washing on or get a quick bit of work done while Nerys plays.  Other days though, I relish this slower pace.  Nerys is such great company these days, and so much fun, I love having these times when I have nothing to distract me, nothing to focus on but her.

September will roll around before I know it, and she’ll be in school all day like Rhys.  These afternoons that we have at the moment just the two of us will be gone.  And while some days there are jobs that need to get done, other days I will slow down and relish this season of life before it’s gone and we move on to a whole new way of doing things.

 

Living Arrows
children playing on a tablet

Should I set strict screen time limits for my children?

by with No Comment ParentingPersonal

When it comes to the things we do as a family we try to get a sense of balance for the children.

We like to go out and let them burn off some energy outside.  So we go and build sandcastles on the beach, we walk in the woods and we head to the park for a run around and a play.

Other times though we stay at home.  We do craft activities and we bake together.  We play board games and read books.

We also allow a fair bit of screen time.

children playing on tablet

The tv is on quite a lot in our house.  I like to have it on as background noise if I’m honest, and the children like to have CBeebies or Nick Junior on while they play together.

The children have access to my tablet and to a laptop, and while they always ask before they use them, we’re generally quite quick to say yes to them.

I know some people have really strict rules in place around screen time, but we’ve generally taken a more laid back approach.

I don’t really keep track of how long they’re on the various devices for.  Although we do have a general rule that once we head upstairs for bath and bed time all electronics get left downstairs.  So they do have some wind down time each evening away from the stimulation of the games and videos and from the light of the screens too, which has been found to interfere with sleep patterns.

Sleep is so important, especially for children, and I really don’t want to do anything that will potentially mess with that.

The blue light that’s emitted from the screens of things like smart phones and tablets can reduce the amount of melatonin that our bodies produce, which makes it harder to fall asleep.  This then makes us feel more tired the next day, making it harder for us to learn and remember things and potentially even leading to feelings of depression.

So I feel that having a cut-off point in the evenings for my children and their electronic devices is a rule worth having. 

I do feel a bit hypocritical though, as I get into bed most nights and scroll through social media on my phone.  Or watch Netflix on the ipad.  Or even finish up a bit of work on my laptop.  All things that give me a good dose of blue light when I really don’t want/need it.

Like most bloggers I do a lot of my work in the evenings and at night, so something like a blue light filter for laptops would be great to give me a bit of peace of mind that I’m doing what I can to protect my eyes, and my sleep, from the harmful effects of too much screen time.

For now I’ll stick with our rule of not really having screen time in that last hour before bed.  But I think that really is the only rule we stick to when it comes to the children using ipads and things.  I tend to think that if you really restrict anything then it makes people want it more.  I know that if I tried to give up eating chocolate it would be the only thing I would think about all day long!

We also aim for a balance in our family between us as parents making decisions and being in charge, and letting the children lead the way and learn to regulate their own behaviours.

One of the things that really appealed to me about baby led weaning was that it had been shown to help babies learn to regulate their own appetites, and to stop eating when they were full, rather than when the jar of baby food was empty.

It’s the same with screen time for me.

I want the children to learn for themselves about a healthy balance between playing computer games and watching videos and enjoying a variety of non-screen related activities.

We’ve been really pleased to see that Rhys has pretty much managed to do this.  There have been times in the past year where he has spent a lot of his day in front of a screen, playing Minecraft and watching videos to learn how to do more things in Minecraft.

Now though, he seems to have naturally found a balance.  He’ll play for a while, then completely of his own accord he’ll stop.  He’ll put down the ipad and come and play snakes and ladders with me and Nerys, because he wants to, not because I’ve told him he should.

So that’s why we don’t really have strict screen time limits in our house.  And for now at least that approach seems to be working for us.

Do you take a more laid back approach like us, or do you really limit screen time in your house?

 

Disclaimer – this is a collaborative post.

 

 

 

siblings project november

The siblings project – November 2017

by with No Comment PersonalPhotography

There is a slight difference between this month’s siblings photos and October’s photos.

Just a month ago we were at the beach without coats, and I wrote in my siblings post about how lovely and warm it was when we went out to take our photos.

November’s photos were taken last weekend and oh my word it was chilly out!

Not that the children seemed to notice though.  Or if they did notice it didn’t bother them.  They were perfectly happy running around having fun, and then sitting for a few minutes so I could get some photos of them together.

siblings project november 3

siblings project november 2

siblings project november 1

I was more than happy with the photos of them sitting down together.  I think I took about 20 others of them in that spot that I could happily have shared in this post!

But then they went and stood together leaning on the railings and I just had to seize the moment and grab a few more photos.

siblings project november 4

I am so pleased that I started this project back in January, and that I’ve managed to stick with it up to this point.  I take a lot of photos of Rhys and Nerys but I’m not sure I would have all that many of them both together if I wasn’t pushed to do it every month.

It’s something that I’m definitely planning on continuing next year too.

I love having this little photographic record of them and their relationship each month.  What’s so funny is that month to month I don’t think they’ve really changed all that much, but then I look back at January’s siblings post and they do both look so much younger.

It’s the same with their relationship.  Month to month it doesn’t seem to change much, but then I look back at how they were at the start of the year and can see that actually things have shifted a bit.

As they both get older they can play together in a slightly different way.  Nerys is old enough now to ‘get’ some more of the games that Rhys wants to play.  He was teaching her to do ‘rock, paper, scissors’ the other day on the way to school and it was just so nice to hear them giggling away together while playing.

I quite often wake up in the mornings to the sound of them talking and giggling together in their bedroom, and go in to find them both in Nerys’ bed with a pile of toys around them that they’ve been playing with together.

I hope as they get older they realise how lucky they are to have each other.

The Siblings Project - Dear Beautiful
living arrows

Living Arrows 2017 – 46/52

by with 13 Comments PersonalUncategorized

When Friday evening came around last week we looked at the weather forecast and realised that we would most likely have a stay-indoors sort of weekend.

It looked like we were due a full weekend of wet and windy weather.

Luckily our only plans were taking Nerys to the doctors on Saturday morning for her flu vaccination and Rhys to his swimming lesson on Sunday.

And, honestly, I would quite happily stay in for a weekend.  I’m a real homebody and love spending time just pottering around at home with my family.

Nerys though, she has this need almost, to get outside.

living arrows

So luckily for her, the rain blew through by Sunday afternoon and we were able to go for a walk along the seafront.

It was getting close to sunset by the time we got down there and man alive it was chilly.

I really don’t think she noticed though.

She never once mentioned that she was feeling cold.  She just loved being outside.  Running on the sand.  Looking out to sea.

She did mention at one point in our walk along the front that she was hungry.  What made me and Steve laugh was the fact that she said it so innocently as we walked past a cafe.

It was brilliantly done.

“I’m really quite hungry”.  Then a minute later, “Oh look, here’s a cafe”.

Yes, what a coincidence!

She is bright this little one, and wicked too, in the best possible way.

 

Living Arrows
living arrows

Living Arrows 2017 – 45/52

by with 5 Comments Personal

Back to school today, and back to the normal routine after a lovely quiet half term last week.

I think the break was just what we all needed after a long first term at school.  We went to the local library, the children had a day out at Wiggly’s fun farm with their Grandparents and 2 of their cousins, and we took the bus into town one day which the children always enjoy.

Other than that we mainly pottered around at home.

We got the craft box out and made a few bits and pieces.  We played many, many games of slides and ladders.  There may have been a day or two where the children didn’t actually get dressed.

That didn’t stop them from playing outside the front of the house with bubbles though.

living arrows

living arrows

living arrows

If you can’t blow bubbles outside your house, in your DanTDM pyjamas, when you’re six, when can you?!

I honestly really enjoyed getting to spend last week with the children. 

They’re pretty good company these days!  Although it’s hard at times, because Rhys would quite happily stay at home most days while Nerys has much more of a desire to go out.  So it can be a bit of a juggling act trying to keep them both happy.

It’s easier at the weekends, when Steve is around and we can divide and conquer if we need to.  So on Saturday Steve stayed in with Rhys, while Nerys and I went out to Cwmdonkin Park for a play (and a cheeky welsh cake from the cafe).

Parents with more than one child, do you find it hard to keep everyone happy or do your children generally like doing the same things?

 

Living Arrows