Hi everyone and welcome to my new blog!
For those of you who read my old blog ‘Lollipops and Little Ones’, you will see there has been quite a change, not only to the name of the blog but also to the style of the website and a change of direction in how I will be presenting my posts.
So why the big change you may ask? Well, the change in my blog also represents the change in my life over the last 18 months. When I started Lollipops and Little Ones it set out as a pregnancy blog to write about and document my experience through my final pregnancy with my third child Jake. It evolved from there into a lifestyle blog and I was very passionate about writing it. I love to write and it became a great outlet for me as well as challenging me to write about new and interesting topics I may not have previously thought about.
My life’s path was, I thought, fairly set. I was married, had a lovely home, three beautiful children, an aspiring photography business and my blog. All seemed pretty comfortable.
Then my life changed completely and the rug was pulled from under my feet when quite suddenly towards the end of 2014 my marriage of ten years ended and the man I had spent the last sixteen years with, was no longer by my side. I was floored. Suddenly here I was, a woman in her early forties, on her own with three young children and feeling like a ship lost at sea. It took every ounce of inner strength I had to pick myself back up and dust myself off but for the sake of myself and the children, I knew doing so, was my only choice. Thankfully, I had an amazing support network around me that got me through the early days and with a New Year in 2015 brought a new sense of focus.
This post, therefore, is not an excuse to lament my sorrow about the end of my marriage but about the start of the new life that took its place and despite the inevitable dark days, all the wonders it brought with it….
I am a great believer in focussing on all that you have rather than all that you have not. For me, as long as I have my health and my children are healthy then that’s a pretty good place to start. If you have that, you have choices, with choices comes opportunity and with opportunity comes the possibility of success.
So I entered 2015 with an open mind and a journey of rediscovering who I was. A lot happened for me in 2015. Most surprisingly, I found love again. I wasn’t looking for it and this time it took a new form, one not based on appearances and image but something more soulful. I met a man who has turned out to be my greatest ally, supporter and friend in life. He is the man behind the camera in these images. The one who picked me up and helped me believe in myself and who opened my world up to many new adventures as well as embracing my children with kind and open arms and taking us on a wonderful motorhome holiday in Devon much to their excitement.
I was whisked away to beautiful places, Monaco, Nice, Venice, Florence, Portugal and Mallorca and we joined forces to create a new and exciting high end photography business Beau & Belle London to run alongside our own ventures. It is early days for the business but we have high hopes for its future. All of these things have slowly helped me heal the sadness that came from my marriage ending. I didn’t write very much last year and stopped writing the blog all together in May. I lost my voice for a while and the passion to know what to say and instead focussed firmly on rebuilding the photography business I had relaxed in favour of spending time with my children. However, with another New Year has come new vision and a very positive and exciting start to 2016. My business is taking a fresh direction. Although I am still committed to photographing weddings, my core business will now focus on portraiture as fits well with my lifestyle. As a result, I have launched a brand new website which focuses purely on portraiture and which I am very excited about.
Which finally brings me to where I am now. To my new blog. I decided to rename it because I didn’t feel Lollipops and Little Ones was the right name for it anymore and didn’t fit with the direction I wanted to take it. The new blog is going to be a glossier look at fashion, health and beauty, travel and general lifestyle pieces. I thought hard about what I wanted to call it so I went with something fun yet powerful. I hope you like it!
I am embracing the future and am looking forward to all the positive things I hope the year ahead will have in store. Most importantly, I look forward to re-engaging with my old readers and meeting lots of new ones!
Thanks for your support.
Ahhhhhhhhh LOVE this!!!! I’m biased I know, but I’m very proud to shout THATS MY FRIEND!!! And, that incredible man who picked you and supported you, ( love him) I’m so proud of him and you and all you’ve both achieved together!!
Author
Thanks Zoe. So glad you love the blog. Can’t wait to share more 🙂 xx