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Instagram post 2197097409581033167_184009684 Ad/Gifted.
I had such a lovely meal on Monday night at @ivycheltenham which included trying their Christmas cocktails, Cinderella themed to tie in with the panto. Like a pudding in a glass (it comes with a spoon!) and delicious but deceptively strong! I took my Mum along and the food was excellent too, I was so impressed. It was really nice to spend some time with her, since having the kids, we rarely have one to one.

In all honesty I’ve been finding things tough recently. I find it easy to write about mental health when I’m in a good place but when I’m not I feel exposed and vulnerable and try to hide away. Which isn’t helpful or conductive to feeling better as I get more and more isolated!

So I’m trying say yes to doing little things to make myself feel better and this was one of them, and it turned out to be wonderful. I’m also going to go for a run later too which always helps and take Hendrix to go and vote*! *he’s unsure which way to vote as of this morning. None of the parties have free bonios on offer which would totally have swayed him! 
So a little life update from me!
The Ivy: brilliant!
Me generally: not amazing but I’ve been here before and I know what to do.

How are you? Is Christmas overwhelm getting to you or are you feeling organised? 🎄 
#pinklinker #cheltenham #theivy #cocktails #christmas
Instagram post 2192222994959524316_184009684 Caption: He’s not allowed on the bed! 😂

Sorry for being very quiet on here. I’m battling my usual Winter blues. Not much to say really. I’m trying to keep active, to get into the spirit and not let the overwhelm consume me. It’s just one day after all! ❤️ Christmas pjs, their smiley faces and morning bed invading labradors are the things keeping me going. How are you? Are you ok? Tell me happy news if you have any! Or share your woes. Either is allowed here. 💗
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Rare family photo alert! On Friday night I made Dave finish work early and we headed to @thebreweryquarter in Cheltenham for some incredible ice cream sundaes in the very funky @creamscafecheltenham (I had no idea it was so big inside! Very cool interior design too.) and then onto the @cineworld cinema to see...you guessed it! Frozen 2! I was SO excited. (Never mind the kids!) And we weren’t seeing it in 2D, nor 3D, oh no, we went to 4Dx! It was an incredible experience, the seats moved, there was cold air blown at us in snowy scenes and water sprayed.
In all honesty, I think 3D might have been enough for me though, it was seriously magical, I felt I could reach out and touch things! But the seats moving was a bit unrelaxing!(Bear in mind I don’t like theme park rides so possibly not the right person to ask!) You could also hear the fans quite loudly in certain points where the film went quiet. My kids and husband LOVED it though. 
As for the film, it was AMAZING! I love love loved it. I loved the songs, the answering of questions, the new characters, the strong females. Brilliant!
Missed the after end credits scene though, so make sure you stay until the very end if you haven’t been yet! 😊 ⛄️ Have you seen it? Tell me what you thought! And have you seen a 4Dx film? 
#breweryquarter #cheltenham #cineworld #frozen2 #4dx
Instagram post 2185087374990553502_184009684 About last night! Or yesterday really! I am so so so happy with our @mavenconnex blogger event went yesterday. 4 months in the planning, and our first full day.

We took over the gorgeous orangery and one of the conference rooms at the breathtaking @deveretortworthcourt and @florismartuk sent three of their lovely independent florists @forgetmenots4364 @fiorellaflowers and @stone_roses_florist to make Christmas wreaths with everyone and also to give a talk about buying from your local florist to support small businesses AND get the best deal for your money.

We also had the most incredible talks. Lovely @emmaand3 my fabulous co-organiser shared some of her wealth of blogging knowledge, @sales_academy_adam @ouralteredlife and @spencersarc.mummy gave inspiring motivational talks, Serena from Made 4 U Podcasts talked everyone through the equipment she uses, the supremely talented @amytreasureblog sparked the most amazing creativity with her hands on flatlay workshops and @oliviarnorthcote gave everyone some excellent styling tips, even pulling out one of @mamalifelondon tees to demo an outfit, not realising she was in the audience! I also need to mention the fact we ate and drank delicious food all day. What made it truly lovely though, was the way everyone was so friendly and chatty with each other, it really did make for a happy day and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the way it went! 
Everyone went home with their wreaths and a goody bag stuffed with fab items from @taylors @jimmysicedcoffee @oxouk @arladairyuk @daelmans_stroopwafels @bumboo_uk @yessnacks @vitstix @deenoapp with @getrocketbook for the speakers.

Also our chosen charity @inkinddirect gave a presentation telling everyone about their wonderful work.

Phew! Hope I got everyone. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone involved who helped to make it such a wonderful day. 💗 And to Emma, who has been a pleasure to work with every step of the way!

Photos: @littlelilypadco
Instagram post 2180423902965183886_184009684 If you had told me 5 years ago that one day I would have a successful blog that I’m proud of and would be running amazing events I’d never have believed you. 
Just coming out of the fog of PND with my confidence at rock bottom and yet here we are! This year Emma and I have had two incredible events already with two more to come.
Sunday (24th) is our all day extravaganza featuring talks on podcasting, monetising your blog and how to take your business to the next level, inspiring speakers like Charlie from @ouralteredlife social media workshops, photography flatlay workshops, a tips, tricks and trends styling session with an incredible stylist and wreath making from @florismartuk with a goody bag and your wreath to take home. (Swipe to see it all!)
Sometimes it blows my mind that I’ve helped to put this together. Me! Someone so shy I couldn’t even speak in shops when I was younger and made my Mum order for me in cafes.
I’m so proud of myself. And the absolute icing on the cake was being asked to give a talk on blogging at my daughter’s school. I felt so validated, sometimes it doesn’t feel like a ‘proper’ job, especially when you fill in forms and there’s no check box!
There’s also food and drink all day on Sunday and the hotel is gorgeous. I’m SO excited. There are a couple of tickets left if you wanted to join us still. I’ll pop the link in my bio.
We also have a ‘freelancer/small biz Christmas works do’ happening at @nrsocial_chelt next Thursday (28th) evening so come and join us there too if you too don’t have enough on your staff to warrant going out!
Of all the options they gave me on careers day at school, this wasn’t one of them. Just goes to show you really can create your own job in this day and age!

#pinklinker
Instagram post 2174616944123300730_184009684 AD-gifted/giveaway.

Is it just me who feels the cold so much more now I’m older? 🥶I used to be really warm blooded and my mum would always shudder at me wearing a tee and no jumper but now my hands and feet are always icy and I’m constantly telling the kids to ‘put a jumper on, you’re making me feel cold’! Just like my mum did to me! 😂
The weather seems to have changed dramatically in the last few weeks but I’ve been living in my @tog24official coat and it’s brilliant! Smart enough for town and practical enough for my country dog walks with the lovely @hendrix_our_labrador (isn’t he big now?) it’s fantastically waterproof and has a toasty inner layer for warmth. And it all zips apart to form 2 separate coats. Best of all, I have one adult and one child’s to give away! On the blog now.

Can I just also take a moment to shout out @oliviarnorthcote who has helped me to make much braver fashion choices, like these leopard print trousers! I got so many positive comments that day. I think black boots might be better though. Can’t wait to hear what she tells us during her styling session at the @mavenconnex event in less than two weeks! 🥳

Happy Monday everyone! What’s your week got in store?

#pinklinker #cheltenham
Instagram post 2171709587806260933_184009684 💗 I just wanted to say a heartfelt THANK YOU. 💗 On Tuesday I felt tired and emotional and got very teary on my stories about this (not so!) tiny person’s school anxiety. If you don’t know our journey, it’s all on the blog under the mental health tab but basically we both have anxiety and I’m always (quietly) worrying about whether I’m doing the right thing and she is worrying about everything else. 😢

After a short period of homeschooling we found a small school that she agreed to trial. She loved it and is so well cared for and looked after there and she chose to go and yet every day it’s the same battle. 🤯

Most of the time I can cope with it. Sometimes I can’t. And that was Tuesday. And you all rushed forward to message me, offering sympathy, advice, empathising, telling me you can relate. And that genuinely made me feel so much better. It took me the whole of the next day to get through all those wonderful messages and I hope I managed to reply to everyone! Luckily I had a day at the hairdresser so had time to spare. (Swipe for a better pic of my lovely hair, it was definitely needed to sit and chat to Elliot for a day.)* This community is what makes it all worthwhile. I’m thinking of setting up a Facebook group for parents of anxious children for a place to find a bit of support and tips and ideas. Let me know if you’d be interested. 
Sometimes I worry that she’ll only remember the times I get frustrated with her, I hope she remembers the love too, and realises all I’ve ever done has been for her, sometimes I feel like I get it so wrong but other days I’m not so hard on myself, it’s a fine balance! 💗 *(I paid for my hair myself in full but last time I went for a complimentary appointment for a review, the reason I chose to go back is because Elliot has created a welcoming space for everyone, especially if you don’t feel you fit the usual salon world. Plus it’s beautiful in there and he is a hair magician!) @hileyhairclub 
#mentalhealth #anxiety #motherdaughter #cheltenham
Instagram post 2169204851974693981_184009684 THREE WEEKS TO GO!!! I’m SO excited. Our next @mavenconnex event is 3 weeks today and it’s going to be fabulous with a festive feel. I don’t have enough space in this caption to add everything we have going on but in a nutshell: 🎄Wreath Making
🎙 Podcasting From a top travel journalist.
👗 Styling Session Tips and Tricks
📸 Flatlay Photography
💷 Monetising your Blog
📱 Business Coaching
🎥 Social Media masterclasses
🧁 LOADS of food. Including lunch and TWO cake breaks!
👜 Goody Bag AND your wreath!
🏰 Stunning venue

All for £55 (I know right? Bargain!) We still have some tickets left but we have to give the final numbers to the florist so tickets bought after a certain date won’t include a wreath so be quick! 
Link for full deets in the bio.
Instagram post 2168120284492833508_184009684 Ad -Paid
Before I became a Mum I did so much baking, my cakes were legendary! I remember making my bestie an intricate butterfly cake for her birthday when we were both at school and my cupcakes were detailed works of art. 🧁
Then the kids came along and my time was spent on them and my baking hobby went by the wayside, along with sewing and jewellery making. 
Now they are older, they love watching baking programs and are really keen to learn, but we are still time poor with school and homework and clubs. Luckily, thanks to @princes and their fruit fillings, we can take a step out of these apple crumble cupcakes (recipe on the blog!) by using their delicious apple filling making them super quick and easy. It's nice to be baking again, and watching the kids inherit my passion for cake! I used some of the left overs to make some super simple crumble pots too. Yum! 🍏

#princes #bakingmadeeasy #cake #gbbo #pudding #cupcake #fairycake #applecrumble
Instagram post 2164470452314131276_184009684 AD - Paid 
Fun fact! 🍒 Did you know I was almost called Cherry? 🍒 My mum lived in Holland when she was pregnant with me and there were loads of big fat black cherries around and she loved them so much she wanted to name me Cherry. My Dad vetoed it though and I became Louise! I think I’d have made a good Cherry! 
I love them too, and clearly so does this little lady! I’ve been getting my bake on with @princes and making the delicious black cherry cheesecake from their website using the yummy cherry fruit filling. So delicious that I had two offers of help to finish the left overs in the tin. 😂 #princes #bakingmadeeasy

Pink Pear Bear

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

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Now you are three! Pink Pear Bear, my third child.

June 29, 2018      Pink Pear Bear      11 Comments

Three years now I’ve been blogging. Three years since I started my little section of the internet with my very first post about the trauma of brushing my daughter’s hair!. I’d seen other bloggers pop up on Facebook and thought ‘I could do that!’ little realising the sheer scale of the hard work and hours and hours you have to put into it to get anywhere.

Family Pink Pear Bear off on a road trip in our camper van Wilma with woolly hats and sunnies on, all smiling at the same time for once!
My family put up with a lot with my job as it involves a lot of evenings and weekends but they all see huge benefits from it too.

When I first started, it was an outlet for my brain, feeling mushy from 4 years of full time Mumming, finding my way out of the fog of PND and ready to step out of my self created little box. My friends always told them I had a way of making the many many stories of my Mum fails sound hilarious, I suppose that I have a gift of making the drama that seems to plague my life sound funny and entertaining and so I thought I’d try and share that with the world.

My son lies face down on the floor of the toilets attempting to peer under!
A particularly good Mum moment for me here! I think he was trying to peek at his sister and wasn’t about to let me stop him!

I also wanted to showcase my story telling videos I made, I had the idea of writing and illustrating a children’s book and thought this would be a good platform to launch from. I also did a lot of craft posts and attempted a video advent calendar every year with a different craft a day.

After a few months, I sent a message to the lovely Sarah, blogging royalty The Unmumsy Mum and although she probably got a billion messages from aspiring bloggers a day, she was so lovely and encouraging and took me over to twitter, something I’d been totally not into before and introduced me to some wonderful people including Mr Kitney. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and day by day, my channels started to grow as I got the idea about how to use them and how fun they could be. There began my obsession with social media!

A post shared by Louise Pink Pear Bear (@pinkpearbear) on Jun 4, 2018 at 11:57am PDT

Over time, my blog has grown away from the idea of being a platform for a book, (maybe one day Mum and Dad, I know you’re desperate to buy it!), and took on a whole new identity and purpose. I found that people liked what I wrote, responded to me, chatted to me, and later brands wanted to work with me.

Small reviews came first, toys and clothes and then bigger projects, photoshoots, hair makeovers, collaborations with big brands. We get to go to wonderful festivals like Cornbury, Geronimo and this year Camp Bestival for the first time. We have a holiday coming up at Hoburne Holiday Parks and get invites to some wonderful and exciting events. I’ve won a trip to London on twitter and we’ve had meals and days out, beautiful clothes, toys, gifts, review stays and actual money!

The best thing of all for me, above all of this, is the community I’ve a) created and b) discovered. Via Pink Pear Bear I’ve discovered a group of like minded people who read and watch my posts, chat to me on social media, confide in me, answer my questions, offer ideas, share experiences and give me solidarity. I am big on no judgement, we are all just winging it, one way or another, the only goal is to get through life with the kids and your sanity intact, anything else is a bonus!

I’ve also discovered a whole new avenue of friends in my fellow bloggers. Some of whom have become friends for life. My friend and I decided to branch out and do something different and created the Cotswold Blogger Awards which was such an amazing experience and a very steep learning curve at the same time. It was lovely to try and give something back to the community and plans are well under way for next years event.

The last few months have been difficult for me personally, with my daughter leaving school to be home educated, there hasn’t been any time for anything, I devoted everything to her happiness (and had a blast along the way) putting my needs aside completely, only taking the jobs I felt I could fit in around her or would really benefit us.

Now though, she’s feeling happy in a new school and we’re going to have an epically amazing Summer holiday and then September will roll around and I can go full steam ahead on the blog and seeing where the next three years will take me!

I was training to be a counsellor when I had my first child, sitting there taking my exam, barely able to fit behind the desk due to my big bump, and I swiftly realised I wasn’t going to be able to emotionally care for my family and have any space left over for anyone else. This blog however, along with being my therapy, has become a way of helping others. I’ve written extensively about mental health, my own, anxiety, anxiety in children, and every single time I get a message from someone thanking me for my words, reaching out, I feel like I am fulfilling what I set out to do all those years ago, to help people.

A post shared by Louise Pink Pear Bear (@pinkpearbear) on May 22, 2017 at 11:48am PDT

 

So finally, the big finish, I want to say thank you to you, thank you to every single one of you who reads my words, comments, double taps my photos, messages me, shares my content, supports me, encourages me and is kind to me when I feel low. If I could, I’d give you all cake and flowers. I appreciate each and every one of you so much and can’t wait to share the next 3 years with you too.

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Comments

  1. Plutonium Sox says

    June 29, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    Ahh exciting times, that three years has flown by! Lovely post and that photo of you all in the leaves is gorgeous! Keep doing what you’re doing 🙂
    Nat.x

    Reply
  2. Alice v says

    June 29, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    Great post! I was pregnant when I started my blog and when I graduated college too. You’re right, the blogging world can be so wonderful and it’s great that we can actually help each other along, especially since it helps us grow too.

    Reply
  3. Rudolph says

    July 1, 2018 at 12:08 am

    Hi there, after reading this amazing paragraph i am too happy to share my
    experience here with mates.

    Reply
  4. Heather Keet says

    July 2, 2018 at 8:40 am

    It’s an exciting milestone and I’m so glad to have ‘met’ you in the blogging world! Maybe I should write a blog this year for my blog’s 5th birthday – and lament that all my bloggy friends live in another continent. #bigpinklink

    Reply
  5. Tubbs says

    July 2, 2018 at 9:28 am

    That’s so lovely! Happy Blog Birthday! One of the great things about blogging is the lovely people you get to meet along the way. People we’d have never met otherwise. Sending birthday hugs!

    Reply
  6. Kate says

    July 2, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    I am in shock that you are only 3 as I see you as such a part of the blogging world and so well established. You share so many aspects of my own journey into blogging and all power to you going forward. Hope your daughter thrives in her new school and well done you for taking the brave home ed choice when it was needed #BigPinkLink

    Reply
  7. mummy here and there says

    July 2, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    aww what a lovely post to reflect on the glorious three years, happy birthday X #bigpinklink

    Reply
  8. stephloveshoney says

    July 2, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    Can’t believe it’s three years already! I remember seeing you first post shared by Andrea from Tatty Bumpkin! You’ve done sooooo much in those three years, you’re amazing! xoxo #bigpinklink

    Reply
  9. Jacqui says

    July 2, 2018 at 7:34 pm

    I also started my blog 3 years ago, and yours was one of the first that I have followed. Congratulations on a remarkable journey! #bigpinklink

    Reply
  10. Claire Rocks says

    July 3, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    Happy Birthday Pink Pear Bear #bigpinklink

    Reply
  11. bryony shaw says

    July 4, 2018 at 7:19 am

    I love these photos they are so pretty

    Reply

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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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