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Ad/Press Trip: 👗 I’m not putting away my summer wardrobe just yet, especially this lovely @kemitelford dress! (My birthday present to myself! I added the ribbon because it looked a bit like a maternity dress without it with my ‘mum tum’) I get so many comments about it! Loving a bit of leopard print at the moment and the colour makes me so happy! This will be first into the suitcase, when I get round to packing! 😱😂 🇮🇹 You may remember that I took the kids to Italy to see my parents on my own this summer as Dave’s new business is so busy (yay!) that it meant he didn’t have time for a holiday (boo!), but now I’m managing to prise him away. We are off to @kalyvesbeachhotel this week and I am SO excited, I can’t tell you! ✈️ This is our first family holiday that’s not to my parents’ house (thanks mum and dad!) and I can’t wait. I have no idea what to expect but the idea of some family time after what has been a pretty tough year all round is making me so happy.
Disclaimer bit: We have paid for our flights ourselves but our stay and the activities there will be provided in exchange for coverage like this and on the blog. They have some amazing half term offers on at the moment. Well worth a look if you want a last minute break!
#pinklinker

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AD/PRESS TRIP courtesy of @bookings_for_you 🏺 Would you believe that this is an olive oil jar I’m standing by? 😱
This was during our vineyard tour by @mansaltotuscany who were the owners of Villa Tornaie where we were staying. The villa itself was enormous, with 7 bedrooms, (sleeping 14) a gym, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and outdoor pool with breathtaking views across the Tuscan hills, (swipe for more!) the estate also has other, smaller properties scattered around, it’s huge!
🍇 Bookings For You sent us out there to give us an idea of the type of villas on their website. With options for all party sizes across France and Italy, I would well recommend having a look on there for your next break, the site is so easy to navigate.
⛪️We packed SO much into our short break there. Siena was within easy reach and we had a wonderful day exploring there, (eating the most expensive gelato), as well as amazing ‘proper’ food, in fact, we did so much eating wonderful food on the trip that I’m going to do a whole post dedicated just to that! ☀️ I’ve made our Tuscany trip one of my story highlights if you’d like to see more about what we got up to. There will also be a blog post to come.

Dress: @meandiinternational (part of a campaign two years ago)
Sunglasses: @havaianas
Trainers: @converse
#NotJustAVilla #HandpickedbyBFY #BFYVillaLeTornaie #mansalto #mansaltotuscany #pinklinker

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AD-PRESS TRIP. ☀️ Best thing about going away with other bloggers? Having someone to take photos of you who doesn’t huff and puff and only take one! 😆 Thanks @emmaand3 for this lovely shot. Swipe for the ridiculous amazing sunset last night.
I’m away in Tuscany on a press trip having the loveliest time. This was on our trip to Siena yesterday which is just beautiful, well worth a visit! I’ve put all my stories from the trip into a ‘Tuscany’ highlight so go and check it out if you’d like to see more!

I’m also taking over the @bookings_for_you Instagram account today so I’ll be putting some photos of the villa itself up there today (gorgeous) and the surrounding area (stunning!) and doing some stories as we go on a wine tasting as the villa we are staying at is part of the @mansaltotuscany vineyard! What could go wrong?! 😆🍷 This trip is courtesy of @bookings_for_you and @mansaltotuscany arranged by the wonderful @mammapradamarketing 💗
#whatmamawore #whatmamaworemonday #ootd
#NotJustAVilla #HandpickedbyBFY #BFYVillaLeTornaie #mansalto #mansaltotuscany #pinklinker #tuscany #visittuscany #italy #travelblogger #travel

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My hair.
It’s as much a part of my identity now as my love of tea or the fact I always change into my pj bottoms if I’m not going out again.
I’ve had bright coloured hair since my early teens, but when I became I mum, I stopped dying it. I somehow felt that being a mum meant I shouldn’t have wild colour hair. No idea why!
Then I slowly rediscovered my identity after being lost in the wasteland of postnatal depression and the hair came back!
I feel like it’s a good indicator of my mood, when it’s faded and drab, it usually means I’m having a bit of a tough time and my hair is the bottom of my priority. Then I get a little boost in mood and it goes back to this and I instantly feel better.
I get SO many questions about my hair, so I thought I’d answer a few questions here.

Where do you get it done? Both @thestuartholmessalon and @hileyhairclub in Cheltenham have invited me in before for complimentary cut and colours and I’ve been so happy both times. @hileyhairclub have a dizzying amount of bright colour options available and specialise in the unusual colours. Between hairdresser visits I top it up myself.

How are you brave enough to top it up yourself? Do you bleach it too?
I do bleach it too but I prefer not to really, it’s a bit of a faff getting straight edges when you can’t see the back! I’m really not scared of colour, I’ve been doing it so long now that I’ve learnt that any disasters can be fixed! 😆 and also that these colours suit me and I know how they take to my hair.

What do you use to top up? I use @directions_hair_colour (that I buy myself) and get a mixed box of 4 different shades that I decide between depending on my mood. Last time was flamingo pink, this time cerise! I find the paler colours do nothing in my hair but the magenta and cerise are so strong they turn my shower pink. And on one hilariously memorable occasion, my entire left side, face and both feet. Right before the school run.

Will you ever go back? I have let it fade out before but I just don’t feel right. A bit sad!
Is your hair wrecked? It’s not wrecked but it’s definitely a different texture to the other side and needs a lot of extra moisturising to get the same feel.

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🌸Shyness🌸
I gave not one but two talks last week about blogging for business. One with my business partner Emma and one on my own. This might not seem like a big deal but there was a time not so long ago when I literally couldn’t speak to strangers as I was so painfully shy. As a child I used to make my Mum take clothes back to the shop for me and order for me in cafes and I used to get called stuck up a lot as I literally couldn’t reply if people spoke to me when we were out. I also had a problem with blushing and my whole face, neck and chest would flame and the more I tried to stop it, the worse it got!
Alcohol helped a lot when I was in my early 20s but I’d be crippled with fear the next morning about what I’d said the night before and what people thought of me, I also got the most horrific migraines the next day and would lose whole weekends to them.

It wasn’t until having my children and moving to a new place that I started to push myself into talking to people I didn’t know for their sakes and my own loneliness. Over the years my confidence has grown considerably as I pushed myself more and more into social situations but I still rely on beta blockers when I’m doing something a bit scary and I always feel daunted when I’m going to anything on my own.

I learnt long ago to try and imagine myself as the person I wanted to be as I walk into a room and that’s really helped, and also, when I feel a blush starting, I try to focus closely on an aspect of the other person’s face or listen really intently to their words and it helps to distract me.

I’m pretty sure people wouldn’t know it to look at me now but it really has been a long journey to get to this point and it’s why I will always make a beeline for anyone standing on their own looking nervous anywhere I go as I know exactly how they are feeling. 💗

Gorgeous jacket: @mintvelvet picked out for me by lovely @oliviarnorthcote who will be giving a styling session at our @mavenconnex South West event.

Make up: @beccacosmetics_cheltenham who invited me in for a make over last week. (Cruelty free and they have some vegan products! 😊)
#whatmamawore #whatmamaworemonday #pinklinker #thismamaloves

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I forced myself out for a run today with the support of everyone on here who messaged me motivation when I wavered on my stories. I needed to go.

I was late to running. I avoided all types of fitness for most of my life, but one January about 5 years ago, I started running. I couldn’t get to the end of my road. Literally. But I pushed myself hard, I ran through rain and sleet and extreme heat. Come rain or shine, I was out there. I did fun runs and 5ks then 10s and in the September of the same year, I ran a half marathon. Very slowly. Very painful. I sobbed at the finish line.

2 weeks later I had my hysterectomy and I just never got back into it in the same way after. I am determined that this year will be different.

I need to run to help control my anxiety. It is so necessary. Running gives me space to think the thoughts I try to avoid. It helps me process and it just calms me. I have always abused my body far far more then I have cared for it but I’m determined to change that. It deserves it. I deserve it.

And I have the perfect partner, who charges along! We only stopped for pees. (Him, not me, although it can be close after 2 kids! 😆) I don’t look glam when I run, I certainly don’t look like the women in the adverts, bits of me bounce, wobble and chafe and I have an attractive ‘wheeze pant’ thing going on but I did it, and I’ll do it again this week.
Apologies if you passed me and I tried to smile at you, I fear it looks like the terrifying grimace of a serial killer from Luther! 😂 How do you manage life when you feel stressed? Do you do anything like running?

#pinklinker #mentalhealthawareness #rmr #running #fitnessmotivation #gettingfitagain #mentalhealthmatters #mydaily30

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Throwing it back to the @inkinddirect community picnic we were invited to up in London.
It was a chance for us to hear from the product donors and also the charity recipients and to say it was a humbling, tear jerking experience would be an understatement.

The way it works is simple, big companies often have surplus stock, for example shampoo, and instead of sending it to landfill, they choose to give it to the charity, who put it on their website for sale at a very low price. (The reason they sell it and don’t just give it away is to ensure that the charities only take what they really need, it was explained to us very well and made perfect sense, of something is free, someone might choose to stockpile it meaning that another charity in more desperate need might miss out.) There were lots of activities put on by the companies involved like @amazon @lego @proctergamble @loreal @disneyuk and so so many more businesses donate.

We also heard from some of the charities involved and they talked about things like how the product donations are helping with the very serious issues of period and hygiene poverty that we heard about on our last visit, where families are having to choose between soap and food and how children are being bullied at school for being smelly because their parents couldn’t afford washing powder. It genuinely broke my heart all over again.

We also heard the difference it makes to children undergoing cancer treatment to receive care packages with toys from Lego and Disney in, as they are seen as something so special and valuable.

I wasn’t asked to post this, and we paid for our travel ourselves but I wanted to share as I think it’s such a worthy cause. In fact, @emmaand3 and I both decided to make it the official charity for our next @mavenconnexblogevents in November as we rate it so highly. 💗

#littlepiecesofchildhood #dailyparenting #wildandfreechildren #capturingchildhood #kindredmemories #slowliving #motherhoodsimplified #humaneffect #documentyourdays #my_magical_moments #celebrate_childhood #inkinddirect #charity #charityevent #ikdpicnic

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Sparkly summer days! This weekend was probably the hottest weekend we’ve had at a festival. Good though!

We’ve got a few things planned this week but trying to have lots of calm quiet days to get mentally prepared for back to school. I’m absolutely determined to be more organised this year.

Anyone else say that every year and then fail miserably by half term like me?! 😆 I’m already wondering where half the things are and what they actually need! 😂

Full review of @thebigfeastival coming soon. We were invited to attend as press. #thebigfeastival #pinklinker
#wildlittleadventurers #littlepiecesofchildhood #dailyparenting #wildandfreechildren #capturingchildhood #kindredmemories #slowliving #motherhoodsimplified #humaneffect #documentyourdays #my_magical_moments #celebrate_childhood #oxfordshire #festivalkids #kidsfestival

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Doing what makes us happy! Eating and dancing! 😆 @funlovincrims were brilliant, @lewiscapaldi was amazing, (we even spotted him strolling around the festival later that night with his hood up, hardly anyone recognised him!) And then we danced up a storm to @rudimentaluk and I taught my kids all my dnb moves! It’s come a long way from my teenage nights in dark basement clubs with sweat running down the walls! 😆

Fab day yesterday hanging out with my little brood and the lovely @emmaand3 & Erin. Excited to see what today brings! Have you been before? Any recommendations? {We have been given complimentary press tickets to attend.} #bigfeastival @thebigfeastival

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‘When it rains, look for rainbows, when it’s dark, look for stars’ - Oscar Wilde
I’ve always loved this quote about finding the best in a situation. This holiday hasn’t been easy for a myriad of reasons, I hate feeling like a moaning myrtle as I know how lucky I am in so many ways but equally, if I only show my ‘highlight reel’ with bright bubbly captions about how great everything is, that’s so damaging for people.
When I was in the depths of postnatal depression I would see all these happy photos on Facebook and feel like such a failure as I sat in my milk soaked pjs, surrounded by chaos, snapping at the baby to just stop crying for 5 minutes. Then be overwhelmed with guilt a minute after. It was horrible. It wasn’t until later that I realised that some people were tidying one corner of their house to get that ‘perfect shot’, or their children were beautifully dressed but they were still in a dressing gown as they had no clean knickers! 😆
It’s important to me to use my platform to be honest about motherhood, that’s what I set out to do, 4 years ago. This holiday we have had some amazing amazing experiences and fun but we have also had tears and shouting, fighting and tempers lost. On a near daily basis from one or another. Anxieties have been high and things haven’t been a joy all the time by any means. I do constant battle with myself over my desperate need for a break from it all and the fact that it’s such a short time that they will be with me. Frustration and guilt make an uncomfortable cocktail, I love them so so so much but equally they drive me up the wall!
But I have a break today, the kids are (reluctantly!🙄) off to football camp and I am working, dog walking, food shopping and generally trying to catch up, so not relaxing, but on my own! 🙌😂 So if your summer holidays have been similar, some wonderful moments and experiences peppered with tears, tantrums and frustrations (that’s just me!) and you’re wondering where you went wrong, you’re not alone!! And apparently from my other posts touching on this, many many many of us are feeling the same! So hugs all round. We’re all in the same boat.
#pinklinker #thismamaloves #ukparentbloggers

Pink Pear Bear

Loves The Great Outdoors.....and Cake!

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Big Pink Link

Humour

When you’re just ok at Christmas! No Mum guilt here!

10 reasons I suck at being classy!

Why having a puppy is like having a toddler.

The perils of parenting older children.

Are they supposed to fight this much? Siblings!

Psssssst! Everyone is faking it!

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Hello, I'm Louise, welcome to my blog!

Mother of two, (a son and daughter both in school), married over 10 years and nearing 20 together and owner of a very bouncy labrador called Hendrix and an elderly cat called Pablo.

We love to travel as a family and enjoy nothing more then a weekend exploring or at a festival in our camper Wilma.

Big fan of cheesy detective programs, tea, cake and early nights!

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