January catch-up – books, films, TV and fresh air

As it’s still January there’s nothing interesting in the shops and payday hasn’t come around yet so it’s another chat post today – how’s your month going? I hope you’ve managed to swerve this week’s Blue Monday mood. I know a lot of people get themselves into a pickle about it being a manufactured event but I do think there’s something to it. I’ve noticed that a lot of the chats I’ve had on the canal when I’ve been walking Ted have been a bit gloomy this week. It hasn’t helped that it’s been grey and cold… but it passes… and these dreary winter days make the sunny ones that pop up now and again feel special. Over the last few years I’ve managed to turn myself from actively dreading this part of the year to really quite enjoying it. I’ve accepted that it’s a time when there will be less work and less fun so I make the most of the quiet. It’s a chance for my inner introvert to stretch its toes and revel in the things it loves most. January catch-up – books, films, TV and fresh air.

January catch-up

At home I’ve set up three separate cosy spots for reading. As you know I read a lot all year round getting through at least three novels a month but January now gives me the time and space to layer interesting reading on top. Losing myself in the pages of a book is one of my ultimate pleasures. I love being transported into somebody else’s mind, it’s the biggest escape I know. I love the fact that it can transcend all barriers – I can travel in time all the way back into the mind of somebody experiencing life the Roman days… or in place to somebody experiencing Muslim life in an Indian village… or in age reading the autobiography of somebody looking back across the expanse of their life. Some of my friends shake their heads when they realise how much I read, insisting they’d never have the time and yet they’ll go on to talk about some reality show they’re watching on TV or the life of someone they follow on Instagram. It’s just about choosing how you spend your time isn’t it? And I know that my pleasure lies in the pages of a book not the flicker of a screen.

Screens do come into reading though. In the early years of our relationship Mal and I, like all couples, had to negotiate how we’d fill the shared space of our home. He’s a minimalist, I’m not and we’ve had to work at meeting somewhere in the middle. He’s very good at putting up with the fact that I have far too many clothes – he understands that I couldn’t write a style blog without being able to change outfits around. The piles of books that grew month by month in addition to the full bookshelves that I brought into our relationship were more of a problem though. I hardly ever read a book twice but I still find it really hard to part with them and so my compromise a long time ago was to start reading fiction on Kindle. It has its pros and cons (a big pro being that he doesn’t realise just how many books I buy!) and I manage to get a tactile paper ‘fix’ from reading the newspapers at the weekend along with my magazine subscriptions.

If I’m reading non-fiction though it has to be in print – I have to be able to pencil notes in the margin and mark pages that stand out. And this is the time of year for non-fiction so my reading stations are my January delight. I have three books on the go so each spot is for a specific mood. One is a travel book for moments of escape, one is about style for dreams of the year to come and one is about the philosophy of happiness – that one’s for ever I hope. I’ll let you know if they were good when I’ve finished them. If you’re looking for something to bury yourself in this weekend though a novel I really loved recently was Here One Moment – it was great on so many levels that it’s hard to describe but it’s an enthralling and easy read, I think just about all of you would enjoy it. My Kindle library shelf is low at the moment so if you have anything you’d recommend in return, please do add it in the comments.

So, having the time and space to read properly, in hardback, has become one of the great pleasures that accompanies January and when I’ve read enough I’ve also allowed myself to fall into TV. January has been all about the escape into One Hundred Years of Solitude on Netflix – have you seen it? I’ve been in stalemate with the book for 40 years because although I studied a lot of Gabriel Garcia Marquéz when I was at uni that one wasn’t on the syllabus. When I graduated I made a pledge with myself that I’d keep my skills sharp by only reading books in their original language if they were French or Spanish but life’s always been so busy that I haven’t had the energy. So instead this month I’ve watched it and as the series went on I found myself relying on the subtitles less and less so that feels like an achievement. If you haven’t watched it yet it’s beautiful, it takes you so far away from everything we’re living through at the moment and yet the parallels are all there – social commentary at its finest. If you enjoy Magical Realism (think films like Amelie, Field of Dreams, Pan’s Labyrinth, Benjamin Button) then you’ll love it.

Other than that life has been about getting back on track at the gym as I said a few posts ago. I wish I could say I was learning to love Reformer Pilates but my goodness it’s hard. I went into it thinking I’d be fine because I’ve built up a bit of muscle over the last four years but it’s the little ones that it catches. I spent last night thinking I was coming down with norovirus because my midriff hurt so much but then I clocked that the pain was just from the ab workout we’d done on the Reformer beds. No wonder the Pilates crowd always look so lean and lithe!

Last weekend we went over to Newcastle for the first time in a while. We needed to catch up with everyone there especially mum-in-law who was on good form having thoroughly enjoyed Christmas – she insisted on sending us home with all of the boxes of chocolates she’d been given though because she can never quite compute that we don’t have little boys at home any more. They’re still in the back of the car – I must take them to the food bank rather than let them into the house because I know I won’t be able to resist them. Anyway here we were doing the usual food shop at M&S before we went over to see her – she’s developed a liking for pastel de nata and they do particularly good ones (I’m told – I’ve resisted so far).

I’m aware that when I’m at home in January I have a complete palette cleanse in terms of what I wear. Everything goes to navy, grey or even black as you can see here, I think it’s a reaction to the sparkly excess of Christmas.

Boden jumper, Fat Face leather mini, Hush coat, Cos necklace – all past season; boots (now less than half price in the sale!)

But then as soon as I pack for an urban environment I brighten things up again. The style book I’m reading talks a little about how if we think carefully about outfit planning our clothes choices should be influenced by the landscape that they’ll move about in. It helped me to understand why I have different wardrobes for home and Newcastle. When I’m in our rural landscape at home I tend to dress more for blending in, somehow it feels like an affront to the beauty of all of the nature that surrounds me to try to stand apart from it. It’s the same if we’re going on a sunny holiday, I tend to pack the colours of the sea, sunsets and tropical plants. However when I’m going somewhere manmade with lots of grey buildings (or rather beautiful Georgian sandstone as they are in Newcastle), I tend to dress more brightly. I think if you don’t want to feel lost amongst the crowds and high rises of a cityscape you have to do that – a consideration for any 2025 wardrobe planning perhaps.

I’m still trying to get my 10k steps in each day so we made a point of getting out and about while we were there and it makes a nice change from home to have shops to pop into here and there. It was unseasonably warn for the first couple of days, it felt like April and so my finishing touches of scarves and gloves were left back in the flat.

Cord flares; Stories jumper; Adidas trainers M&S necklace; Jaeger coat, Jigsaw bag (all past season)

We were on our way to see Nicole Kidman in Babygirl here – now there’s an eye opening midlife movie for you! Coming so quickly after Demi Moore in Substance it feels as though there’s finally an acknowledgement of just how discombobulating this stage of life is. The many pressures that face us in terms of conformity are being reflected but also so are the opportunities to stare those down. It’s going to be interesting to see what comes next.

By the way my skirt and jumper are navy here not the black ones I was wearing above. Looking back over the last few years I see that I always seem to wear mini-skirts at this time of year, again I think it’s my own new year backlash against the opulence of December’s rich midi-skirts.

John Lewis coat AW22; Mango jumper AW23; Jigsaw bag AW24; Boden belt AW16; Skirt and Boots (gifted AW24)

This was on Saturday and we were heading out to our favourite afternoon dancing place. We’d started the day with an exhilarating run through a city that was icy cold all of a sudden and in my quiet January frame of mind I wasn’t quite in the mood for an afternoon of disco lights. It was a lot more low key than usual though, dry January seems to be doing its work everywhere and the high spirited groups moving on from their Prosecco brunches were noticeably absent.

Boden jacket (AW24 gifted); Arket halter top (SS18); Jeans; Hush boots (recent from Vestiaire Collective)

Sunday was bitterly cold again so we were glad to have the Baltic Gallery right on our doorstep. It meant we could go out and spend an hour on a new exhibition then slink back to our cosy apartment to read the papers.

Jacket (now in clearance, gifted AW24); Mango jumper SS22; Jeans; Belt; Adidas Gazelles SS24

Just a reminder that we still have an offer running on winter weekends at our Baltic Nest – if you book a Friday and Saturday we’ll give you the Sunday night free of charge to recover from our vibrant city! It’s getting booked up now but there’s still some availability – you can find all the info here, just mention the offer to Mal when he gets in touch with you after you make your booking.

January catch-up – work & blog planning

After my deliberately slow start to the year I need to get moving with some serious planning for the months ahead. I’ve worked in retail for over 30 years now and at the moment the one we have ahead of us feels as if it’s going to be the most challenging of them all. The last few seasons have been such a struggle as prices have risen and consumer spend has dropped and I don’t think many brands have a strong feel for the best way forward. It would be really helpful for me on both a blog and a work front if you could give me an indication of how you’re feeling about retail at the moment. I’ve put a very quick questionnaire together, it should only take you a couple of minutes but it will give me an idea of how the land lies for those of us who, as midlifers, are supposedly cushioned from the worst of the blows to spend. I won’t be profiting from what you tell me in any way, it just gives me an idea of how to approach the blog this year and it also helps me to give a bit of a steer to the retailers I talk to – in the long run that could mean you see more of what you want in the shops. Thank you in advance if you can give me a few minutes this weekend.