July on my mind

Some months are like a whirlwind; you just get swept away with the energy and activity of it and just hope that your feet will touch the ground at some point - that's what July's been like, both for good and for bad. I've been very busy focusing a lot on my training, to the extent that I even forgot to celebrate the 1 year birthday of Makeup by Candlelight on July 8 - so I'll just have to say thank you so much to everyone for all your support now instead, and wish for another amazing year!!! Lately I spend more and more time away in London and other places which is so exciting, but my body has definitely taken a beating from it, so I've really had to be nice to myself. Not in the superficial way I would usually be nice to myself before, e.g. by buying something new that I wanted, but in the "real" sense of looking after myself properly through healthy eating (but still with the occasional treat of course), mindfulness and maintaining a healthy balance of things. Since Him Indoors already spends most of the week traveling somewhere, this month has meant that we've not had that much every day life together but when we've finally managed to be in the same place at the same time, we've certainly made up for it by painting London red or enjoying some quiet time in the garden, playing silly games and BBQing while relaxing over a glass or two of bubbly - it's been like a mini holiday. More than anything though July has really been a month of family time since we first had my parents over from Sweden for a while, and then it was time for the Scottish clan to descend on us for a few days and our visitors have taken us all over the South & South East of England on different adventures, which has been so much fun. While it's always nice to get back into the routine again, it's a bitter sweetness since the house all of a sudden is so quiet as soon as the family leaves and it takes a few days to adjust, which I think only the cat enjoys. Last but not least we have finally booked a holiday for the end of August, to keep us going for another month which I think we're going to need since I don't see this whirlwind slowing down any time soon, in fact it'll be quite the opposite. I know this vortex is going to pick up speed even more in a few days time, so I just need to hold on to my hat, let myself be swept away and relax knowing that we have some sunny and adventurous days to look forward to - 29 in fact, but who's counting...