I’m very late blogging this week (again) but I have news on my work life balance and a tough midlife career decision that I can finally share with you. One Sunday night a few weeks ago, I was sitting at the dinner table with my head in my hands dreading the madness of the week to come, feeling that I was living in a very small but very fast hamster wheel. Mr MC looked across at me and asked me what was wrong. The words that came out were “I feel broken.” I’m not a melodramatic person and I usually manage to see the positive in things so he took me very seriously and sat beside me as I typed out and sent my resignation email. Since then there has been a tussle, I have discovered that when you decide to leave a medium size company it is seen as a betrayal (not by my immediate colleagues who greeted my news with a sad smile and a pat on the back) but by the rest of the company. So I haven’t been having a very good time at work and I feel a bit shattered however my last day is on Wednesday this week and I will then begin to reboot.
I know lots of you have been following my progress with interest because you’re in similar work life balance situations so I’ll write a piece that wraps up my thoughts and experience soon when I can look back clearly. I’m just so relieved that I can write openly again, hiding what has been going on has made it really difficult to blog, it’s been like having a blockage. I’ll be going back to working alongside Mr MC as an independent marketing consultant and I already have two lovely interior design clients lined up. Sometimes you have to try something new if only to learn that the grass over there isn’t green.
And now I’m going to detour into the happy world of midlife style, here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to and if this kind of post bores you, read on to the end of the page for an unmissable offer that I uncovered last night which has to be a mistake on the retailer’s part.
Coolsculpting
Last Friday I went down to London to visit lovely Midlifechic reader Sarah Baldwin who is the Lead Therapist at the Attune Clinic in London. She invited me to try Coolsculpting which is classed as a ‘non-invasive alternative to liposuction.’ It is useful for women who are within 2 stone of their ideal weight and targets the areas of fat that are impossible to lose through diet or exercise. I had a treatment on my tummy and I will dedicate a full blogpost to it next week. I’m feeling pretty sore and swollen at the moment but I’m really excited about seeing the results which should start to show in May. Having seen the before and after photos of Sarah, I’m confident it will all be worth it.
A half term escape
It has also been half term up here and I had booked an extra day off so that I had time to spend with the boys. We went to see Zoolander 2 which I wouldn’t normally mention, as usual I was using the time to think through ideas for my blog when I saw Anna Wintour pop up followed by Tommy Hilfiger and then Valentino, Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang – all taking the mickey out of themselves. Quite bizarre but really joyful to see that they have a sense of humour!
We then had a night at an AirBnB in Manchester with the boys. Planning what to wear with my swollen tummy reminded me of the early days after having a baby – although I didn’t have the handy maternity clothes to hand. It had to be leggings all the way. I’m not sure how you feel about graffiti but as we arrived this rather amazing piece had just been completed and was being shot by a number of photographers and film crews (and us).
Cashmere and merino jumper; longline white cotton shirt; leggings; Clarks biker boots (past season); shawl collar coat
We stayed in a loft the Northern Quarter which is Manchester’s equivalent of Soho. Here are some pictures for you along with the link if you’re interested
Having so little choice, I don’t think I’ve ever packed so lightly for a trip away, I simply changed into suede heeled Boden boots before we went out to eat.
We indulged the boys with a Red Hot World buffet – if you haven’t been to one it has endless dishes from around the world and you can eat as much as you like. The quality was dubious but it was perfect for teenagers who didn’t hold back. Neither did Mr MC who then lay groaning all night with a full tummy.
The following day we did a spot of shopping – I loved this idea in Waterstones, for people who feel they’ve read everything they had a wall of books wrapped in brown paper with a swing tag that told you a little about the book inside.
I spent ages looking through them trying to guess what was inside with the youngest who is a bookworm like me. Did I buy any clothes? No. I’m still feeling pretty uninspired by the shops, other than some great navy and tan styling in House of Fraser there was nothing new.
We had another large lunch (I’m going to need full body Coolsculpting) and I wore another low key outfit.
H&M jumper; Whistles fleet tote
Before going home Mr MC and I wanted to visit the Tibor Reich exhibition at the Whitworth Gallery. Even though they protest, it’s always entertaining going round art galleries with the boys, they satisfy themselves by being irreverent about what they see but I smile quietly knowing that even if they are being controversial, at least they’re looking. The middle one was especially perplexed by this sculpture which he decided was a cat with a sock on its head.
So, we had fun, which was exactly what I needed to take my mind off the sadly difficult situation at work.
One surprise success has been this Spirograph set which captivated the boys in the gallery shop so we bought one and it has kept them away from their digital devices for a while – yes really!
Apologies for not bringing you new season fashion as promised but the deliveries are sitting in my bedroom waiting for my tummy to deflate so that I can fit into them. The good news of course is that after Wednesday I will have much more time for my blog, I’ll be able to post more regularly and I’ll be able to resume conversation with you in a timely manner. I know it’s been a bit like an old fashioned long distance phone call recently – you’ve commented or sent me an email and there’s been a lag before I’ve had chance to reply. I particularly apologise to everyone who is awaiting an email reply. Thank you so much for bearing with me and keeping on reading and commenting, I really do appreciate it, especially at them moment. Wish me luck for the next few days which look as though they’re going to be difficult ones and keep in touch.
Unmissable offer
I just had to share this one with you. Last night I was shopping for some new lingerie at M&S and I discovered that if you go to this page here you can benefit not only from this weekend’s 20% discount code FEB16SM but you can also use the ‘lingerie spend and save’ code ‘Lingeriesave’ (spend £30 save £5; spend £50 save £10; spend £75 save £15). I bundled up some beautiful Autograph lingerie for our trip to Paris and then some everyday stuff plus I used the 3 for 2 offer. In the end my discount amounted to 45% which has to be a glitch. The 20% off ends tonight so you need to move fast, here’s the starting point again.
