New York, New York

This time tomorrow we'll be in the big US of A. First stop on our adventure is New York City. I for one cannot wait. And judging by the children's uncontrollable behaviour, they too are excited beyond words.

We've decided that first port of call has to be The Empire State Building.

I'm still trying to work out how to fit in a trip to Purl...

Ruby and I have been very busy getting ourselves ready for being Stateside.

After all, we wouldn't want to arrive ill-prepared.

I'm sure there's going to be alot of posting to be done by the time we get back. Hope you all have a great rest of August and look forward to catching up in September.

See y'all xxx

Birthday Girl

My little girl is going to be 7 tomorrow. I can't quite beleive it. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, really, promise' I used to say to Mum when she said it all goes so quickly. I wish it would all slow down.

We are about to hit a big milestone after the summer. Samuel moves on to High School and Ruby goes in to Key Stage 2. It seemed bad enough when Ruby went in to school and I was no longer a Mum of pre-schoolers. That didn't seem possible. And now I've turned in to one of those Mum's that has 'grown up' children. Almost 'independent'. It's all so crazy. And whilst part of it is great. It's fantastic to see them developing into independent people. Fab to sit down and have a chat with my 11 year-old son. (Let's face it soon all I'll get is a grunt!) A blast to go in to Urban Outfitters with my daughter picking up pretty things, chatting and oohing over them and moving on.

But it pulls at your heart strings too. It just doesn't seem that long ago and we so need to treasure every moment of this...


Before it turns into more attitude of this...

Sew Hip

The news is out. I don't need to keep my blabber mouth shut any more. And I for one am very relieved. Just apologies for now to everyone because I've now been given permission by Manda to talk. And boy will I talk and talk and talk...

It's announcement day for 'Sew Hip', the newest, coolest, most exciting sewing magazine.

I caught up with Manda last week, where she brought me up to speed on this new thrilling adventure. As you can see, Manda has the post of editor, which will mean it will be the most beautifully written, shot and researched magazine. That in itself is enough of a sway for me to be involved.

Issue 1 looks set to be a winner already, with fantastic designers Amy Butler, Amy Adams and Sandhi Henderson being featured, to name but a few.

So be prepared and preorder your issue now. They aren't going to hang around in the shops for long...

Oh and did I mention I just might be in it? Guess you'll have to buy it and see...

Not quite Glastonbury

Sunday was the UK's largeset free concert - apparently.

It was certainly the kids' first taste of live music.





Same Difference playing High School Musical's 'Breaking Free' - doesn't get much better in Ruby's eyes!

Then of course we all had fun boogying to McFly - shame they didn't play 'Don't stop me now!' thought Noah...

Several hours, many ice-creams and lots of water later and we were still on Daddy's shoulders.

And finally the one Samuel had been waiting for... 'Scouting for Girls'

It really was a great family day out and fun to do something (almost) that as adults we would choose to do.

Shhhh

Some things are just too exciting to not be shared.

Every now and then something out of the ordinary happens.

But it's top secret and I promised I wouldn't tell.

But nobody reads this blog. Right?

Taken over

We've had a big arrival in the office this week...

It feels a bit like we are being taken over...

And then there were more...

I for one am very excited about these new additions. The very clever Alice, from Alice Apple, has created these gorgeous creatures that we are delighted to have at Blueberry Park. They aren't quite available online yet (they will be soon). Until then, please feel free to get in touch to reserve your personal favourite now.

One moment of madness

It seems I'm now committed (or should be). I've now not only gone and signed up for this year's Leeds Half Marathon, but sent an email around to let people know. And already people are putting their money where my mouth is and making it now impossible for me to back out.

So I guess the race is on. Not that I'll be racing. I'm only just back into my running gear after a month's absence with my bad back. I gingerly stepped out yesterday for the first time. And whilst it didn't feel bad (it actually felt rather good) my lungs weren't quite sure they could remember being pushed like this and definitely need a bit more preparation.

Still, I've said I'd do it and I will. In the meantime, if you want to make absolutely 100% sure that I won't chicken out, hit here and give a donation to put more guilt on to me and make sure I carry out my threats to participate.

Just remind me to not mention a full marathon...ever...

(Big thanks to those that have already supported me. I do appreciate your generosity x)