Our latest SupaSole shipment has arrived and I am so pleased to announce that this is the best shipment we’ve had! This is largely due to the fact that we have been working closely with the factory to improve the quality of both the shoe and the free shoe bag that they come with. We have also though expanded our colour range to include dusky pink to the existing colours so now there really is one shoe to suit every outfit, from black to chocolate, champagne to cream (with bronze, silver and red inbetween!)

Customer feedback is so important to us and we have taken your comments and suggestions on board and also improved the packaging our end. The shoes now come in a fab new packet with the shoe bag neatly folded up inside and they now also include a free hairband so not only can you secure the shoes tightly while they’re in your bag, you have a hairband for the way home to put your hair up after you’ve let it down  (They are also still only £4.99 a pair!)

One thing that hasn’t changed however, is the amount of pleasure my 4year old still gets from an empty cardboard box……

Last week was the first MTBHerts networking meeting of the year and it was lovely to be back! I really enjoyed catching up with some of the regular attendees as well as seeing some new faces there. Our professional speaker for January was Jeanette from Cocoon Photography http://cocooncorporatephotography.co.uk/ and she talked to us about the importance of corporate images. In an ever more online and visual world, the face of your business is an increasingly important component with professional photography of you and your products having a surprisingly powerful effect. Additionally, when it comes to creating a new website or updating a current one, the difference between using stock photos or your own images can validate your company beyond words.

It was a great talk with some fabulous examples shown to us. In addition, one of the biggest things I took away from the morning was how lovely the support element is at the MTBHerts group. It’s not just about making sales, it’s about building both a professional and personal support network of like-minded people that you can ask advice from and vice versa. I feel very lucky to be part of such a group.

For details of a local networking meeting to you, you can visit http://www.mumstheboss.co.uk/index

I’d like to wish you a belated Happy New Year! How has January been for you so far?

January for me has gotten off to a mixed start. We had the most wonderful Christmas, my daughter turned four on the 30th December and she had a great Birthday and we had a really fab New Year celebrated with really good friends. New Years day, one of them (whom I will love forever) got up with our girls so that we could have a lie-in After a delicious brunch cooked by my gorgeous husband, of American pancakes, maple syrup, eggs and bacon, we walked off our hangovers in Cassiobury Park followed by indulgent hot chocolates in the cafe there. I couldn’t have asked for a better new year.

This month, I have finished the application for my youngest daughter’s primary school place which has been really nerve-wracking. While I live in the catchment area of the school I want and I already have another daugher at the school, I cannot be complacent. Last year, 50 of the 60 places were filled by siblings leaving other siblings without a place. To add to my nerves, I was also phoned the week before the applications had closed by my third choice school and told that I don’t have a place for my daughter there and they advised me to change my school application list before the deadline closed. This has left me with no confidence in Herts County Council and the system they use to allocate school places if they are allocating them before the applications deadline has even happened. I find it incredibly frustrating that I now have to wait until mid April to find out where she has a place.

Workwise, it has been an unexpected whirlwind. The Dyna-Girl sale has been tremendously busy. This is largely due to customers talking about me on the Money Saving Expert Forum. I have seen a huge increase in traffic to the site and have been as busy as Christmas. While this is lovely, I haven’t had the time I usually like in January to reflect and plan yet.

On the plus side, despite January normally being a dull month of detoxing and exercising, January has been a lovely month for seeing friends both for us and the girls. My youngest daughter has eight Birthday parties this month! (Last week, she had three. When she woke up on Monday and asked where the party was today, she was horrified when had school!)

While I don’t make resolutions, (I’ve only been to the gym once this month, I’d be rubbish!) I do want time to sit back soon with a large glass of wine and make plans for the year ahead. I want to make sure it’s a good one and once I have written them down, it makes it more realistic.  I have rough ideas already.  I want to make sure that Dyna-Girl is bigger and  better than ever, yet I need to make sure I have lots of time for my family and friends.  I have found a lovely quote that I am going to write at the top of my page of goals for 2012;

“People who say it cannot be done should not interupt those who are doing it.” Author Unkown.

1. FREE Gift Wrap and Tags – All you have to do, is send us your lists and the messages you want to send on each gift tag and we will hand gift wrap, write the tags and post all your christmas presents for you. (each one is sent with a Christmas chocolate too!)
2. Teacher’s Presents – You can also buy your children’s teacher gifts from us!

   Fizbags make a fabulous gift as they are useful, practical and a gift the teacher will use! For only £3, they are an affordable gift that won’t look cheap and are different to the usual flowers and food given! Make sure you get a couple for yourself too so that you aren’t caught short with all the festive shopping.

3. Stay Organised – Get your Organised Mum diary and calendar now so that you can get organised in advance of the festivities.

   With space for lists, stickers to help with repetitive events, pockets to keep loose paperwork, plus much, much more, once used, you’ll never go back.

4. Gift Vouchers – For those hard to buy for people, give them a Dyna-Girl Gift Voucher so they can choose the perfect gift at their leisure. Each gift voucher is sent in a festive red envelope (and still gets a festive chocolate) and is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.
5. Save a Sole or Two - Get your SupaSoles now in time for all your christmas parties!

   Not only for nights out dancing, they are portable enough to have in your bag to help you home after a day out shopping, a hard day at the office, or as a stylish alternative to slippers for around the house or on the plane! Only £4.99!

6. The Right Tools for the Job – With all the extra food shopping to be done, you will not regret purchasing a Trolley Dolly to help you out.

   A patented, world first solution to getting a realistic-sized supermarket shop back home without using a single plastic bag! Packed inside the handy outer bag are…

   • 6 x Vest-style carrier bags with long handles in assorted colours
   • 2 x Shoulder bags
   • 2 x Short-Handled carrier bags
   • 10 x fruit & veg net bags with cord lock closing fastener
   • and 1 x Trolley-token/Key ring

   All Fully washable, the interior nylon bags will hold 13.7Kg per bag. That is the equivalent of 30 tin cans or 20 bottles of wine. They also have the capacity to fit over £300 worth of standard household shopping in one trip! The interior bags are also colour coded (i.e. Green for fruit & veg, Blue for frozen goods, etc.) to help you pack more easily and makes you more organised once you get home for the unpacking!

7. Recharge – By treating yourself to a product from the gorgeous Bath Thyme range.
   
   • Relax at the end of the day with a natural pillow mist scented with exotic flowers for a good nights sleep
   • Keep calm throughout the day with a gorgeous room spray
   • Revitalise tired feet with the pleasant refreshing smell of lemongrass with their natural daily use foot spray.
8. Travel in Style – If you’re planning a trip away, make sure you do it with the gorgeous NY designer Jimeale range of travel accessories!

   From lipstick purses to make up bags to weekend bags, no matter where you are going, there’s a bag for that!

9. Stay on your toes - Save yourself time getting ready by treating yourself to a pair of our Tipsy Toes. Paint your toes and walk around while they dry with no danger of smudging them so you can carry on getting ready comfortably.
10. Don’t forget to Sparkle! – Make sure you sparkle on the outside as well as the inside with a little something from our gorgeous range of genuine silver, or our costume jewellery.

So now all you have to do, is sit back, relax and enjoy the festive build up!

As some of you may know, we attended the Britain & Ireland’s Next Top Model Live Show at the London ExCel last weekend. It was our first time at such a big event and so we were really nervous yet fortunately it turned out really well!  It has been a long time since we have sold face to face and we loved it.  We also learnt a lot about display, adapting our stand over the weekend to suit the event, and sales too!  It was amazing to put a face to our customers and hear their feedback on our products and it was a really reassuring feeling too to have it confirmed that we are on the right track!

Without doubt, my highlight of the whole weekend was seeing Jade Thompson winner of this years series walk away in a pair of our very own SupaSoles, it was such a  proud moment

There were many other fabulous moments though from the weekend, I was fortunate to be surrounded by some really lovely business owners which made the weekend a lot more fun.  I was also lucky enough to slip away from our stand for a few minutes now and again to do some shopping of my own as there were some fabulous products on sale there.

It was brilliant meeting some of the models, and seeing all the lovely attendees there, some of the outfits worn were incredible.

I loved seeing the catwalk show too and was so impressed with the choreography of the models and male dancers as well as the skater!

And of course, not forgetting the Vodka Mojitos which were amazing

Are you planning a Halloween party this year? There’s no need to spend lots of money on expensive equipment or spend hours thinking up complicated entertainments. Try these five easy and enjoyable games that can be enjoyed by children from three years old and upwards:

Ghost Hunt

Pick up some bags of Halloween-themed chocolates: you can normally get them from supermarkets and other shops at this time of year – if you’re really stuck, look online. Chocolates shaped like ghosts, bats and pumpkins are the sort you’re looking for. Ask the party guests to stay in one room while you hide the chocolates all over the house. Then release them to try and find (and eat) as many as they can.

Dead Fred

You’ll need a collection of bowls and tea-towels to drape over the top of them. Then you gather together all the bits of ‘Dead Fred’. Use peeled grapes for his eyeballs, un-popped corn kernels for his teeth, cold cooked pasta for his guts, a peeled tomato for his heart, chopped up bits of wool for his hair (and so forth – you get the idea). The guests have to feel what’s in each bowl under the towel, and guess what bit of Dead Fred they’re touching. Be prepared for some ear-piecing squeals.

Witch’s Cave

Designate a ‘witch’s cave’ somewhere in the house (for safety’s sake, have it away from stairs or anywhere where people could hurt themselves rushing to get there). Close the curtains and turn out the lights. Nominate someone to be the witch, and the rest of you scatter. The witch has to come and find you, whereas the rest of you have to try and get to the base without being caught.

Apple Bobbing

Go old school and try apple bobbing. As simple as it sounds; float some apples in a bowl of water (a washing up bowl works well) and the guests have to try and grab the apples with their teeth. The floor (and guests) will get wet so play this in a room with a waterproof floor and perhaps give participants a waterproof coat to wear

Musical Zombies

Like musical statues, except when the music stops everyone has to pull the most frightening zombie pose and grimace that they can. Have a camera ready to capture the best ones!

Author Biography:

Celina Lucas owns Office Alchemy, a virtual assistance business providing administrative, secretarial and creative support to a variety of small businesses, sole traders and entrepreneurs. Celina has over 15 years experience as an executive assistant, office manager and secretary and is also a published author. She regularly contributes articles to online sites on a variety of topics of interest to small business owners. Contact Office Alchemy at info@officealchemy.co.uk for a free, no-obligation consultation or visit the website at www.officealchemy.co.uk

Read Celina’s parenting and lifestyle blog at www.whupsydaisy.com

I wrote a blog post at the beginning of September about getting active.  I don’t know if you read it, but my goal was to get in shape in time for my wedding anniversary party on 15th October.  We had been going through loads of old photos and I was shocked at how my weight had been gradually creeping up since having the girls.  So, I joined a gym, found a fabulous friend to motivate me and an exercise routine that I enjoyed.

It has been hard work but I have persevered over the last six weeks and I was really thrilled to have lost 12lbs for my party.  I feel so much better for it and I know it definitely has made a difference to my overall look.  We had a fabulous night on Saturday surrounded by our favourite family members and friends and  there was lots of dancing, singing and Sambuca shots  Here’s a photograph of me and my gorgeous husband ruining the song “Things” by Robbie Williams (well the female part anyway!)  We asked people who came for donations to charity rather than giving us presents and we were touched at people’s generosity as we were given over £500 to pass on to different cancer charities.

While I have reached my goal, I don’t intend to stop now.  I’m going to carry on with the fitness part as not only is it fitting into my lifestyle so beautifully and really is making a difference, I am actually enjoying it!

‘Jade was the Judges choice as winner of BINTM Series 7, but who do you think looks best in this Twisted/Gorgeous Photo Shoot that the Team at BINTM Live did with the 13 finalists from this series?
Vote for your favourite picture and you could WIN an amazing prize!!

Click on the link to vote! www.bintmlive.com/vote

I was excited to be back at an MTBHerts meeting after the long Summer break and it was so lovely to see that I wasn’t the only one! We had our best turnout yet and the room was buzzing with a great mix of old and new faces.

Our speaker was Sally Pettitt from the Mother Factor http://www.themotherfactor.com and her topic was “7 Actions to Motivate Yourself to Business Success.” It was a very timely topic to re-energise our enthusiasm after the holidays and she shared some really handy tips with us including how to get organised, goal setting and some inspirational blogs and articles.

After the presentation, we shared our news, tips and contacts while drinking tea and eating cake and the morning flew by! It was just the boost I needed to get back into the swing of things and to encourage a good working routine again now the Girls are back at school.

I’d like to leave you with a quote re-told by one of our attendees which summed up the mood of the morning;

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn

My new exercise regime is going well. I have quickly gotten into the habit of getting up at 6am to go swimming and I am even (annoyingly) waking up naturally at 6am at the weekend as well. I’d be lying if I said I loved it, but I can already see results and that is enough of an incentive for me at the moment.

I didn’t want to diet though as well.  Life is far too short and I need *some* pleasures….!!  I do usually eat fairly healthily, however, one of my downfalls is that mid-afternoon slump!  You know that point when you start to feel exhausted and are hungry but still have hours left before hubby gets home and a cup of tea just tastes *wrong* by itself…??  Well, I would either join the girls in their after school snack with one or another of our homemade cakes, or a few biscuits maybe or even some toast and so I was delighted to discover www.graze.com

I have one box sent to me each week and despite being healthy, I feel like I am having a deliciously calorific snack mid afternoon.   Their range is fabulous.  It’s all delicious, healthy and natural and includes nuts, seeds and dried fruit, tasty crackers and olives, freshly baked bread and flapjacks. Each box comes complete with a nutrition guide for each product and a nice little napkin. Once you have eaten your snack, you log on to their website and rate what you have eaten with either Bin, Try, Like or Love and they then choose your future boxes based on your ratings. My favourites so far have included Black Pepperdoms (fruity mango chutney with black peppercorn rice crackers), Honey Be Good, (honey cashews, honey peanuts and honey pecans) and my favouritest of all, Jaffa Cake (dark chocolate buttons, orange infused sultanas and roasted hazelnuts.)

You can also tailor your boxes to suit your lifestyle and what you want to achieve, which is fab, so you can choose boxes for energy, to help you lose weight, boost your immunity, maintain a balanced and varied diet, 80/20 rule (and just treat yourself) or to level out your blood sugar.  The Graze team’s aim is to get you eating more healthy food, that tastes good, and fewer muffins!  Each box is balanced to give you a full range of naturally active ingredients and a constant source of energy.  You can read more at http://www.graze.com/health

The snack boxes are giving me a well earned boost in my new exercise and fitness regime, not only because they taste amazing (and I actually look forward to eating my afternoon snack) but because they are healthy and yet I feel that I am having a treat and that is an important part for me.

In addition to the great website that is easy to use and visually pleasing, the customer service on the one occasion I have needed to contact them was first class which is increasingly becoming rare.

I highly recommend them! Boxes are priced at £3.49 but for a limited time only, Graze are offering you a free box! Simply enter offer code LR23GHR at the checkout to take advantage of this fab offer and snack guilt free!  Enjoy!

(Disclaimer;

I haven’t been asked or paid to write this article, I wrote it because I genuinely love Graze.Com and wanted to share them with you!  I pay for all of my boxes myself.)