Seven Days

ok alphabet spaghetti

Seven days. Seven whole days since I opened my Macbook.  I can’t believe it.  It’s usually the first thing I do on waking, and closing it is the last thing I do at night.  But I made it a whole seven days without truly even thinking about it all that much. It was clearly time for a break.

Ironically, the holiday I should have been looking forward came to represent something I dreaded. As a small business owner, the prospect of being away from my comfort zone for a whole week, from being able to blog and respond to customer queries was terrifying.

My husband Phil with Leanora (2 next week) and Eska…

Phil with Leanora and Eska...

And yet I was painstakingly aware how important it was that I took a few steps back to focus on restoring my sense of well-being.  Sometimes, the blog posts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,  the whole crazy social media carnival – it just needs to sit on the shelf for a little while, while you get back to basics, while you rest and allow your creative energies to restore themselves and focus on re-connecting with those you love and treasure most…

Girls2This past week has been an emotional journey for me.  That might sound a little dramatic (I only went camping, right?).  But the previous seven days have been so much more than a holiday, a break away from things. They have provided me with an opportunity to turn on, tune in and drop out. And in so doing, realise how horribly burnt out I was – and how much the most important personal relationships in my life had been suffering through a relentless routine of work-sleep-work-sleep-work.  I’d been burning the candle at both ends and all around the sides and was beginning to neglect not only myself, but everyone and everything around me.

Leanora

My lovely break at Fforest has provided me with an opportunity to sit in the sun, listening in to and being surrounded by nothing but nature (cows can either be very noisy or very quiet, I have learned,  and squirrels are pesky creatures capable of knocking over whole tins of baked beans!).  I’ve began the process of re-evaluating my life and what is important and give serious consideration to how I spread my precious time to ensure that both those I love, and me get a fair deal from now on.  I’ve seen my husband beaming proudly as he watches his daughters play, and I’ve listened to my little girls laughing and singing together as they greet each new day as an adventure – simple life pleasures that I’ve been blinded to through a haze of to-do lists and work deadlines for months.

It is amazing, once you step back to observe and reflect, without the usually daily pressures (that you often only create for yourself anyway), how much clearer things seem.  I realise the key from here on is to stick fast to a routine that will allow me a more balanced lifestyle with scheduled weekly down-time.  With absolutely no compromise.

Eska and Leanora...

So here I am, rested and with a renewed sense of energy, loving family and friends by my side supporting me all the way and honestly? I’m absolutely raring to kick some butt and show you what wedding blogs and wedding bloggers are really made of.  The next few months are going to see some changes and big news announcements made.  Love My Dress might have been quiet this past week as I took a rest, and the blog schedule might have been a little unsettled for the past few weeks as I worked on a secret separate project, but I have to say, from where I’m sat right now, the future is looking wonderful, all bright and shiny and ready to take these blog pages I adore so much on to the next level.

Like the very first tin of alphabet spaghetti we warmed on the little gas stove said during our camping trip last week said, everything is gonna be absolutely, completely and utterly ‘OK’…

Via Instagram

Ok

I just wanted to say, a huge thank you to darling Franky for holding fort whilst I was away and to all of you, the many loyal readers who have continued checking in – despite a very much reduced blogging schedule whilst I took a break. Love My Dress will back in all it’s glamorous glory as of 6am tomorrow morning, with a brand new week full of uttery beautiful wedding blog content. I can’t wait!

Annabel x

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

30 thoughts on “Seven Days

  1. <3 You have no idea how relieved I am that you finally took some time off Lady. These are important lessons that we all need to learn about balance and what's good for us and I'm so so please to hear that you're going to be making more time for you and your family.

  2. It’s so important to be with family Annabel. You should never feel bad with regard to your business for that. I’m learning that all of the time. So happy you took some time off and glad you enjoyed Fforest – it’s gorgeous eh! Happy to have you back xxxx

  3. Thanks so much Claudia, Fforest is wonderful, a beautiful natural retreat – just exactly what we needed, away from the humdrum noise of every day life! Had I not featured that wedding I’d heve never known about it!
    Big thanks to you and Marshy 😉
    xXx

  4. Thank you so much. You are so right. It had gotten so much and I was losing sight of what was important to me. Just 7 days away has changed everything.
    I just need to be good to myself and all those around me who love and care for me now by sticking to good, healthy decisions in moving forward and taking this blog on to it’s next amazing new adventure.
    Thanks so much again lovely Cara,
    xXx

  5. Beautiful post m’dear. I know how badly you needed the break and I’m so glad the time away has done you lots of good. Can’t wait to move forward with you.
    As an aside, the girls are looking so grown-up. Such gorgeous wee things <3
    Franky xxx

  6. ….Annabel, I think there is something in the air…I as well as many (self employed) friends have been through a similar experience. The unsettling feeling of leaving your workspace/home, no email access, brings on very strange levels of anxiety. It’s ridiculous how we feel. I took time away in my caravan…like you saw new wonderful mannerisms and quirks that my girls have developed over the last few months but it seems I had failed to see. That in itself made me feel quite sad. Soooo I have returned with new approaches to the working week planned, new chapters, and a zest for life that had been drained from me. We so need to put aside more time away with our loved ones. Not just in the week, but wonderful pockets of weekends to escape to the countryside, the sea, sleeping under canvas or, in my case, a tin tent.
    Vickyxxx
    (ps – we had pesky crows not cows and squirrels)

  7. It looks and sounds like a lovely break. You work extremely hard and breaks are so important. Take more of them, and your blog can be in the safe hands of others whilst you are away.

  8. I adore Love My Dress and eagerly await your new posts every day. Everything has been fine whilst you have been away and besides, most people are taking a break now too – so I am sure not checking the blogs as often as usual.
    Can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve and look forward to checking in tomorrow. I hope you are outdoors again today and enjoying this sun!
    Cally x

  9. I’m so glad you enjoyed your break, spending time with your gorgeous family and recharging those batteries! I am sure you will be back with renewed energy and passion and I can’t wait to see what you’ve got up your sleeve, always something exciting going on at LMD! xo

  10. Such lovely photos of your family and this has come as a timely message for me too – as aways, you’ve not the nail on the spot LMD. Thank you x x x x

  11. You speak wise words that strike a chord with lots of us. So glad to hear you’ve had a wonderfully restorative holiday with your lovely family. Stick to your guns, enjoy your regular family downtime: LMD is in great shape and I can’t wait to see your new projects come to fruition. Much love x

  12. I love these personal, brave posts, they make LMD what is is ……. authentic and real and totally addictive. Can’t wait for a full week of wedding pretty and catching up with my favourite blogger!

  13. Hello lovely,
    Thanks so much for your reply – you are *so* right about the weekend thing. I’ve vowed to try not to work on a Sunday, so that I can give the best of me to my family on this day, and we can plan outings and have fun, instead of me having to dip out of everything to ‘catch up on work’.
    I’m so pleased you’ve had a rest too – you deserve it!! And I love sleeping under canvass. I discovered this week I can totally survive without a hair-dryer for 7 days. Amaze! 😉
    xXx

  14. Best thing ever is to return to read comments like this! Makes me so happy and all the hard work worth while – thank you thank you. Yes, I did enjoy the sun! Mostly hanging up 10 tonne of holiday washing but hey, it was still lovely to be outdoors 😉
    xXx

  15. Thanks Louise – you are always so supportive and lovely, I really appreciate that.
    I feel so much better after a break it is SO important. I used to think I could get away with it! Planning a break in October already 🙂
    xxx

  16. Hi Ellie, thanks for your lovely comment. Trust me, I don’t feel brave at times! I feel scared and nervous and anxious and all those things, but I believe in Love My Dress 100%, it’s my love and passion {apart from my family!} and so I have to make sure I look after myself to give it my best 🙂
    I hope you had a lovely day today and can’t wait to share the first of the week’s posts with you tomorrow.
    Lottsa love xxxx

  17. Lovely to have you back, I think today’s blog strikes a chord with all of us. I found out that I missed a friends birthday this week as been working so hard 🙁 (hanging head in shame). We all need to take some time to ourselves at moments don’t we? I think you may have inspired an indulgent evening with a bubble bath, a magazine and one handsome fiance – how indulgent! 🙂
    Jess xx

  18. So glad that you had a nice and well deserved break away Annabel.
    You and family time is so important and quite often it is far to easy for us to take what we have for granted – quite accidently. So I think it is great that you are doing something about this.
    Believe me, you don’t know what you have until you don’t have it anymore, so hold on tight 🙂
    Beckie xx

  19. Glad you’ve had a lovely week away. My week away saved me! You’ve seen my recent ‘end of an era’ post. I did wonder whether to tell all about my plans but honestly I could not sustain the workload that I’ve experienced this summer. I too had to work out what was important. Like you I have a very supportive husband, but feel I’ve taken advantage of him of late. I need time for my children too, one is a teenager – where did that time go!? I’m excited to scale down a bit, although not slow down with all the ideas I have for Vintage Style Hire! Looking forward to a good catch up soon. Love to Phil xx

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