Oh it’s good to be back in my blogging haven – it’s been a long week starting my new job even though I’ve only worked for 3 days. Friday is my day off which will be a luxury, I’ve never done a 4 day week before. So this morning I’m luxuriating in not having to set off for an hour’s drive. I started on Tuesday and didn’t feel nervous but did feel very unsettled, almost homesick in fact. Although I’ve done lots of consultancy with lots of different businesses it isn’t the same as starting as part of a team, the relationships are never as important because they’re temporary. However I just want to share the moment that I pulled into the car park with you. I felt sick and didn’t want to go in so I checked my phone and found it was full of Instagram messages, tweets, comments and emails from so very many of you wishing me luck. It was such a magical thing – thank you to each and every one of you who took a moment out of a busy morning to do that – you were the wind beneath my wings as I entered into my new world.
So, in case you didn’t see it on Instagram this is what I was wearing:
Whistles Sophia dress (which I love apart from the fact that it went into the sale yesterday and is nearly half price); Autograph cotton tights; Boden Jackie Heels; necklace – can’t remember.
Although I’m smiling here I had a crazy urge to go and sit under the dining table like a toddler and pretend it wasn’t happening.
Outfit as above with Boden Ingrid Coat
So my first day was a whirlwind of induction meetings with various team heads. It’s quite a small company – 140 employees and it has a great recession survival story having been rescued from the brink of closure by an entrepreneur who has turned it around. They have reversed their production cycle from importing product from China and selling to the UK high street and now they manufacture on site in the Lake District and supply lots of shops on the UK high street and also export to 42 countries worldwide. Steph McGovern will be presenting BBC breakfast live from our site in April so I’m hoping to be able to reveal the brand before then so you can all watch it if you’re interested!
Anyway the day went well, even if it was a bit of a blur of names, faces and objectives. I got home to find that Mr MC has turned into a domestic god – dinner was ready to be served, the boys had done their homework and the house was gleaming. He’d achieved all this on top of a day’s work which was pretty impressive – I wonder if it will last. His domestic skills are certainly better than mine.
For day 2 I’d been told I would be spending the morning working on the production line in the factory which gave me a wardrobe dilemma. This is what I went for (these photos are weary ones after a day of toil and manual labour)!:
Zara breton, Gap slim cropped pants, Boden loafers, Eternal Collection pendant
I wore my pink coat to add a little glamour to the factory floor!
Boden coat past season, similar here
So yesterday I was finally able to sit down with my own team of 4 staff to get to know them a little better and my afternoon was spent working on interiors trend prediction for 2016. I was shattered when I got home and could barely articulate. Hopefully it’s going to get easier when everything isn’t quite so new. The journey is stunning – Wordsworth’s daffodils are in full bloom and I drive along the edge of Grizedale Forest and right round Morecambe bay but it’s a long one that needs 100% attention. Tractors are my new enemy.
So this is the shot of the inarticulate woman who arrived home yesterday:
Navy Autograph coat; navy Whistles dress, Jigsaw scarf, Accessorize necklace, Jigsaw Milly shoes
They even managed to get a smile out of me!
Oh and here’s a moment of pure joy for you – you know all the fuss I’ve been making about new shoes for my new job? Well imagine my delight when they gifted me a shoebox on my first morning with a pair of company boots. I managed to take a quick picture just for you – this is what I wear when I go onto the factory floor or even if I need to go to the canteen!!
I’m sorry not to have a link for you so that you can rush out and buy some! So, now I have a busy day made even more busy by my wretched middle son who has just called from the bus to say that he has forgotten his Food Tech ingredients. So whilst the rest of the UK is watching the eclipse, I will be driving into town on a very grumpy mission of mercy. Actually every pupil at every school in our area has been given eclipse glasses by the parents of a science mad boy who was knocked off his bike and killed last year which is such a lovely thing for them to have done in his memory. Maybe I won’t be grumpy with my much loved son – maybe I should just be glad I have them all despite their faults. Have a lovely weekend all of you and keep in touch – I will reply to your lovely comments and emails as soon as I catch my breath.
