My Parisian Obsession

I'm not 100% sure when it started, or how the thought even crept into my mind- but right now, I'm pretty much obsessed with Paris. So obsessed, that one night in dreary December, I spent a full 8 hours looking at short term let apartments and cheap flights, rather than getting my much needed shut eye. 

But yet, I have never been. 

(Well no, wait, I have in fact been to Disneyland Paris aged 8, but really that doesn't exactly count)

Some may think it's a romanticised 'Disney-esqe' dream, one where I'm expecting a Scouse boy to swing by and fly me off there for a first date, others that fear I believe I'll arrive in the city of lust and return engaged to a flirtatious French man within 48 hours. 

Yet it really isn't like that at all. A year or so ago, maybe I could only see myself there with one person in particular, but now, I can almost only envisage myself there alone. As lonely and lost as that may sound. I see it more as a journey into independence (probably with a bit of Destiny's Child Independent Women as the soundtrack...)

Aside from the romance, I assume part of me hopes I'll somehow be as lucky as Owen Wilson in 'Midnight In Paris', by stumbling across a time machine and spend endless hours drinking  with the Fitzgerald's and listening to jazz in its purest form. 

But, even for me, I know this is a little far-fetched...ok, maybe more than a little. 

Then a fortnight or so ago, a friend innocently shared a Facebook status. A status I read whilst ordering my daily 'Skinny Grande Chai Latte, Extra Hot' which resulted in my mind racing towards the Euro Star and my stomach flipping with the overwhelming sense of fate playing its card.

The status featured a book, which launched a few days previously. A book written my women who made their dreams come true in a particular European city. Yeah, you guessed it- PARIS.

My Paris Story, is collection of real-life Parisian dream tales, written by 22 women. Why these 22 women? Well, they form part of a network of professional women living in Paris created by business and life coach Dawn Z Bournand. Now this is one group I aspire to join!

Reading a chapter or 2 each evening, before my worn out mind hits the pillow is exactly the tonic I need. Leading to nightly sweet dreams of sitting outside a famous Parisian cafe, drinking copious amounts of coffee, accompanied by sweet pastries whilst jotting each and every thought in my whirring mind onto paper.  

With the hope that those written words become the start of a novel. 

A novel that started in one special place. Paris.

Women In Their Own Words

Tuesday is usually my quietest day. The one I usually spend staring aimlessly at the busy week ahead, wondering how exactly I'm going to inject some social excitement into a life spent making women feel beautiful for theirs. 

Tuesday is also the day I spend catching up on any intriguing social media I've missed out on over the weekend. And how grateful I am, that last Tuesday lunchtime I was grazing through my Twitter time line- when my index finger stopped scrolling on a tweet from @FemaleBloggerRT.

The tweet in question was from Sarah-Jane Darcey, a successful writer specialising in Fashion and Lifestyle, with a CV any aspiring writer would be envious of, who has recently launched Women In Their Own Words. 

I don't need instructing twice- so I put the kettle on, grabbed the biscuit tin and off I headed to http://womenintheirownwords.com/ for a good old nose.

An hour later, after reading the site from 'cover to cover', I was hooked- and perhaps Darcey's biggest fan.

I have always had a secret passion for writing, in fact it was my dream job in my infant years before I discovered the magic of make-up, but have always shied away from anything other than blogging, fearful of my amateur style and lack of knowledge. Browsing through the plethora of stories on the site, all supporting and encouraging women to write, I finally felt the urge to write something different.

45 minutes, 2 cups of tea and a whole packet of choc-chip cookies later- a personal piece about one of my best friends and business partner Robyn was complete. Before fear kicked in any further, I attached the piece to an email and pinged it off the Sarah-Jane, sure my reply would contain the words 'Not good enough'.

So, imagine my surprise (in fact it was near tears of joy, I'm such a weepy one these days...) when Sarah-Jane asked to feature the piece on her website that coming weekend.

As much as I would love you to head over to Women In Their Own Words solely to read my outpouring, I seriously recommend taking a little more time to explore the wonderful wealth of information on the site.

You never know, it might just give you that little bit of faith you need.

Published Pieces

When I was a little girl, my other career dream (apart from being Kate Moss's make-up artist, which is still the ultimate desire!) was to become a writer. The idea of pouring ones thoughts, ideas and visualisations onto paper and creating another world seemed like the career version of a lottery win. 

Little did I know 20 years ago, that blogging would exist when i 'grew up'- and how thankful I am that it does. Expressing my ramblings on here once a week has relighted my itchy palm and now I'm desperate to put pen to paper once more. So much so, that I have given myself a three year goal  to get my first draft of my first novel done and dusted by the time I blow out 30 candles on my cake.

But, in the meantime, I have been lucky enough to see my written work published outside of my blog, and there is no better feeling that seeing your name 'in print'.

A chance encounter in the pouring rain outside a late LFW show last season, with editor Francesca Bassenger has led to my fashion pieces have been published on No Boarders Magazine website. 

You can read my work for No Boarders here.

My work has also graced the digital pages of Inveterate magazine, which is described as a Vintage Guide to Modern Culture. Sounds right up my street!

You can read my work for Inveterate here.