Category Archives: Life

Posts about the three men in my life, home, work and everything else in between.

Liberty for Anthropologie {up a tree, K I S S I N G}

You know how certain things are made for each other; jam and cream, black and white, Liz and Richard etc etc Well there is currently the most amazing collaboration happening — like two planets colliding — it’s a spectacular pairing. Basically, my two very favourite  brands have put their heads together and created the most beautiful collection. Liberty for Anthropologie It makes me feel a bit giddy just to think about it, to be honest. And even more giddy to see these beautiful images. A symphony of colour and pattern; the most beautiful synergy of an iconic, much loved British brand with an American born company, over 100 years it’s junior. Anthropologie Love Anthropologie was founded in 1992 in Pennsylvania; and I vividly remember my first Anthro experience. It was 1998 and we were in the states, visiting a friend. I remember walking into Anthropologie and  literally feeling as though I’d found my spiritual home. To this day, I’ve never been into another store that’s given me the same ‘kid in a sweetshop’ feeling. The shop fittings were beautiful, the product even more so. And every time we returned to the US, I managed to seek out the local Anthropologie and… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Interiors, Life | Tags: , , , ,

235 weeks and 2 days | Our cool caravans are in print!

Exciting news! Dolly 1 and Dolly Too (that isn’t a spelling error, by the way, she is Dolly ‘also’) have been featured in this month’s issue of Reloved magazine! SO amazing to see our cool caravans immortalised in print. I was expecting a little mention but incredibly there’s a 4 page article on the two Dollys! It makes me feel so proud to see them in the pages of a magazine. But even prouder to receive so many lovely messages from people, to say that our caravan makeovers have inspired them to do the same with their own vans. There used to be such a stigma surrounding touring caravans. And they have certainly always been regarded as the poor relation when it comes to VW campers, that’s for sure. Campervans have an air of cool about them whereas caravans have always been seen to be a little bit dowdy and —dare-I-say-it — embarrassing. Not any more though. People are swiftly realising that campervans and motorhomes are costly to run; you have to pay road-tax, insurance, MOT.   Plus there’s the inconvenience of getting to your destination and setting up — only to have to put everything away again if you… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Brand Collaborations, Caravan Love, Family, Interiors, Life | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just So Festival {the best family festival for first timers}

A question that I’m often asked is;  ‘Of all the festivals you’ve been to, which is the best family festival for first timers?’ It’s a tricky question to answer; depending on the kind of thing that would suit you. Are you seasoned campers — happy in large crowds — or would you prefer something on a smaller scale. Would you be keen to experience something eclectic and left-field or do you prefer something a little more mainstream? After going to Just So festival, last month, I’d probably say that it’s definitely one that covers most bases and (in my humble opinion) of all the festivals we’ve been to, it would scoop our award for the best family festival for first timers. Just So is one of the smaller UK family festivals — with a capacity of just 5000 — which makes it a great first festival to cut your teeth on. If you compare it to Camp Bestival for example — which has a capacity of 30,000 and is a much bigger beast — it’s positively tiny. But good things come in small packages and even though it’s diminutive in size, Just So has got a lot going for it. The… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Adventures, Brand Collaborations, In the UK, Life | Tags: , , , , ,

Looking as young as you feel | Sanctuary Spa Products Review

I’ve spoken before about my beauty regime and how it’s changed over time. Much as I still like acting like an overgrown child — cavorting around a festival field wearing a glitterball on my head — my body and skin (annoyingly) are definitely not still in the first flush of youth. These days, I need a little bit of help to keep them looking as young as I feel. Water intake definitely improves skin-tone and elasticity — there’s no doubt about that.  Good diet and exercise too. But what other things can you do? Once your twenties and (whispers) thirties are behind you, you need a little help to keep things looking their finest. Sadly, the days of slapping a bit of cheap moisturiser on and hoping for the best are long gone. So in my endless pursuit of a more youthful complexion, I’ve recently been testing out some products by Sanctuary Spa; and I’m so excited about them, I wanted to share my findings with you. Salt Scrub Now, I’ve been using their salt scrub for years. I think I may have first bought it when I was getting married — and that was in 2001 — and I’m faithful to… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Brand Collaborations, Life, Style | Tags: , , , , , , ,

New Tiles and Wenge Worktops {A brand new look for our old kitchen}

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know that I have a love/hate relationship with our kitchen. I loved the AGA and pretty much hated everything else about it. When we moved to our current home, 6 years ago, the kitchen was top of the ‘things to change’ list. But a kitchen makeover is expensive — particularly after you’ve just spent all your money buying a house. So we agreed to live with it for a couple of years; then rip everything out and start again when we’d topped up our savings. But sometimes life doesn’t go quite to plan.  And a couple of years later the kitchen was the last thing on our minds, as we were the proud parents of two baby boys. Now babies are expensive. Two babies are doubly expensive — and time consuming. And after all, who wants to be doing DIY when you can be snuggling up with two tiny newborns? So the kitchen makeover was put on hold again. Albeit, there was never a room more deserving — and in need — of a bit of an overhaul. So another four years on and we decided that we’re going finally to apply to… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Brand Collaborations, Interiors, Life | Tags: , , , , , ,

The GLTC Abbeville Storage Bench {The smartest smart storage}

smart storage — The Abbeville Storage Bench from GLTC

Smart storage. Does the ‘smart’ mean clever? Or does  it mean dapper and debonair? Well in the case of the Abbeville Storage Bench from GLTC it means both of those things. This is one bit of furniture that’s as clever as is it good looking. The Perfect Reading Nook. When we first bought the Abbeville home, Bertie declared that it would be a good place to put his books. Hmmm. Yes. It would make the perfect reading corner. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind for it, but I could totally see where he was coming from. The three recesses make the perfect book-store. Deep and high enough for the tallest, widest books. Plus the cushioned seat makes a lovely reading perch. This smart storage bench is the perfect addition to any child’s bedroom. Looking for a little library and reading nook in one neat package? The Abbeville ticks all the boxes. We already have book shelves but invariably the books get taken and read elsewhere. So somewhere to sit — and store the books — all in once place is a very clever idea indeed. I get a bit fed up seeing books strewn about the house, if… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Brand Collaborations, Interiors, Life | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

7 More Sleeps to Just So Festival 2017

Just So Festival

So whilst Camp Bestival may be over for another year, festival season is still in full swing — hurrah — and the boys and I are now counting the days until Just So Festival, which is on the 18th-20th of this month. We’ve never been before and I am beyond excited!! It’s now in it’s 8th year; our friends have been since the first one and always wax lyrical about how much fun they have. We’ve always wanted to go but it falls the weekend before Shambala, which we’ve been going to for years. And much as we love them, we’ve always been a little bit hesitant to do two festivals back to back. But we vowed to fill this summer with as many good things as possible, so this year we are going to both! Just So is a different kind of offering to the festivals we’ve taken the boys to before. Underpinned by a strong arts and theatre vibe, I’m getting the feeling that it’s going to be more like a huge, interactive art installation; or a crazy theatre production where festival go-ers find themselves as part of the cast. Childhood Dreams Full of wonder and magic, Just… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Adventures, Brand Collaborations, In the UK, Life | Tags: , , , , ,

229 weeks and 2 days | Camp Bestival 2017

Camp-Bestival-2017

What makes Camp Bestival 2017 stand out from any other year we’ve been? It rained. And rained and rained and rained. But as a very wise man, called Gilbert K. Chesterton, once said; ‘When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.’ And I think that perfectly sums up Camp Bestival 2017. Festival Fun Yes, it rained. Yes it was muddy. But there was still so much colour and fun. The soggy conditions didn’t manage to dampen the humour and spirits of the families that braved the weather this year. It was nothing short of extraordinary to see thousands of adults sitting in a field — literally getting soaked to the skin — watching Dick and Dom, live on stage, to keep their children amused. We British are stoic when it comes to appalling weather conditions, aren’t we? It almost had a different feel to other years, in that there was even more camaraderie and good spirit (if that’s at all possible). Everyone was in the same (leaky, soggy) boat. Most people had young children in their party to keep entertained; and everyone was sick of the British summer trying to spoil things. But… Read More

By The Twinkle Diaries | Filed under Brand Collaborations, In the UK, Life | Tags: , , , , ,