I'd like to give a heart felt, shout out to Lydia Kimmerling aka The Happiness Explorer.

Lydia is a great friend and has also been my life coach over the past 5 years,  I can honestly say she has turned my life around. 

I've had an amazing life so far, I went to Uni and got my photography and styling degree. I lived in London where I worked as a nanny with a fabulous family and also worked as a photographers assistant on styled shoots, it was a blast! I then left to travel  the world for three years, leaving my career path in the dust. 
Moving back home to Cornwall I started working in the hospitality industry, not really knowing what to do, career wise, or if anything was available to me. I moved  from job to job over a few years, feeling unsatisfied. I always had the nagging feeling that I could do so much more but had no idea what to do. I knew I wanted to do something creative but I had so many ideas flying around I didn't know where to start. 

Whilst planning my wedding I got so involved in the flowers side, I loved it and didn't want to ever leave the buzz of the wedding day and everything that went with it. There and then I knew I wanted to work with flowers but I was still waitressing and leaving my job and jumping into the unknown felt daunting. 

This is where Lydia comes in. I was on a skiing trip (honeymoon) and on the second to last day I broke my wrist. When I got home I had Lydia's name going over and over in my head. I hadn't seen her for years but knew she was living in Ibiza and working as a life coach. I was stuck at home, unable to work.  Eventually when I couldn't ignore my inner voice any longer I gave her a call and have never looked back. 

Three months after working with Lydia I quit my waitressing job and signed up to an amazing  flower school and Ruby Alice was in the making. 

It has gone from strength to strength and I am over the moon. a couple of years ago I contacted Lydia to see if I could work with her again and we did a few months of one to one life coaching. This time it was because I felt ready to move my business to the next level, I had so many different ideas but they were all floating around my head and I had a churning in my stomach to be more. 

After a few sessions the churning had completely diminished, I was a free again to be creative and love what I was doing. 

This year has been crazy, for us all! Who knew Coronavirus would hit us so hard! It's really made me reevaluate what I do. I absolutely love the flowers and I always will, but again I had the thought in my head that there could be more. I felt like I needed to change with the changing times. Will we get back to what we knew before? I really do hope so but I also want to try a new career path, one where I can work online where it doesn't have to be face to face and I can do it from anywhere in the world. 

Again I went back to Lydia for some more coaching and from that I realised that's it, 'I'd love to do what she does'... Life Coaching! 

I'll never stop the flowers completely, but I am going to start retraining in a few weeks time and this time next year I'll be a fully fledged life coach. I can't wait! 

Don't worry though my lovely brides and grooms I'm still here for you 100%. 

I'm looking forward to life opening up again and for weddings to be in full swing, I miss the creativity and the buzz, but I have chosen to do this career change so I can keep evolving and moving with the times. 

The reason I wanted to write this post is because there is a lot of uncertainty with job and career losses happening at present due to Coronavirus and I just wanted to say that you can change career any time, personally I don't see age as an issue, you are never too old! I'm 46 in May and will be starting on a new career path. I used to feel stuck and not 'know' what I wanted to do or be. Life coaching really helped me and maybe it could help you? 

If you're interested in knowing more about life coaching have a look at Lydia on Instagram, link below.

​Or wait a year and I can coach you myself! 

​Life is what you make it, never feel stuck. 


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As a bride you would love a totally fabulous hen weekend, not planned by yourself! You  deserve it, planning a wedding is no small feat and lets face it, unless you are an extremely lucky bride who is marrying a man interested in colour schemes, scented roses and matching 'save the dates' with invitations, you're pretty much doing this solo! You don't have to head over seas to have a fabulous Hen, just point your maid of honour or head bridesmaid in the direction of this blog for a few tips. Here are my top three ideas to make for a fabulous Hen weekend in Cornwall.
I hope it lights a spark. 

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#1  - The Stay

​I recently went on a friends hen do in Cornwall, we chose to stay at Retallack Resort and Spa and I now highly recommend it! This 5* resort is fabulous. Make sure you book a lodge with an outdoor hot tub, if you're anything like us, you'll be in it more times than out! Sipping champagne, looking out over the beautiful views of the lake and countryside was heavenly. In cooler weather opt for a lodge with a log burner and cosy up one evening, if you aren't out partying the whole weekend. 
​There is so much to do at Retallack, if you're looking for a complete chill, make use of the ESYA spa, eat delicious food in their fabulous restaurant or just chill at your lodge, yep, in the fab hot tub! If you're looking for something more active, head over to the  inflatable Aqua Park on site, this will sort your hangover out! Try a bit of Wakeboarding and for the really daring have a go at surfing on the FloRider. Even if you don't give it a go, you can sit in the bar, over looking the FloRider,  drinking delicious cocktails and watching all the blokes fall on their faces, highly entertaining...and they just keep going!
Check out their Luxury Hen packages.
​Click  the image to be taken there.....aaaaaaaaand relax! 



#2- The Spa

The Bedruthan Hotel & Spa, this has got to be one of my favourite spa's in Cornwall, it's sister hotel, The Scarlet, is up there too, with it's clifftop hot tubs! A must in pretty much all weathers, accompanied by a glass of champagne of course.  
​What top's it for me though is the Bedruthan one hour, out door,  Sensory Spa Garden experience, inspired by fire, earth, water, air and space. Get ready to be pampered, scrubbed, warmed, cooled and well and truly look after by the fabulous staff. The finale of this experience is a seat around the fire pit with your feet  placed in a copper bowl of warm water, sipping a delicious herbal tea, it really reminded me of being in places like Bali or Thailand (without the heat!). You'll walk out feeling relaxed, invigorated, refreshed and smooth (your skin that is!). I recommend adding in the tapas lunch, with a glass of the local, Cornish Camel Valley Brut, delicious! I promise you, you won't be able to eat all the food, it just keeps on coming! After a sumptuous lunch, over looking the vast cliff top views, towering over the sea, I'd personally head back to the indoor spa and float around in the huge hot tub ( it would easily fit a large group of hens) and wait for a treatment, the beauticians have magic hands, I had my best massage ever only the other day at Bedruthan and that's saying something as I've had many, all over the world! 
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#3 The Workshop

​Come and get creative with your girls on one of my 'Hen workshops'. I offer morning or afternoons of flower crown, bouquet, wrist corsage workshops, to name a few. If the bride is having a DIY wedding, why not  learn all the how to's of the bridal flowers, making  it extra special. I can tailor the workshop to suit your needs and desires. All done in a relaxed, fun atmosphere....you're not in school anymore!  
​As an example of what to expect. 
Flower crown workshop: I can either come to you, brining with me all the flowers and materials needed, plus a bottle or two of prosecco and some nibbles OR you can come to me, location can be discussed, there are lots of options.
Once everyone is settled and holding a glass I will begin! I'll demonstrate how to  make the base, wire the flowers and attach each one. Making sure everyone is happy, you then get to chose the flowers you'd like to work with, I can help with colour combinations and design if needed. While you are all underway, I will be readily available to help wherever needed. I will give as much help or as little as you all want, this is meant to be fun, not a nightmare!
At the end you will all (trust me you will) have a beautiful flower crown that you can wear out that evening adding to your hen party get up.  Or take them back to wear whilst chilling in your hot tub at Retallack and Instagram them like crazy!​

​You don't have to head to another country to have an amazing hen. There are so many hidden gems in Cornwall, come and learn to surf, eat delicious food, get creative in a workshop, lay on a golden beach.
Whatever you do, wherever you, go make it a fabulous Hen. The bride to be really deserves a break with her best girls. Planning a wedding really is a full time job and can become all consuming.

My first blog! I've been told it should be all about flowers....Don't get me wrong, I LOVE flowers and creating beautiful designs, but I'm also a mum, who like any other mum wants the best for their children and also themselves. So I'm going against the grain and blogging the lot!
 
On the lead up to my wedding I  immersed myself in the wonderful world of flowers and I stepped up my fitness regime as well as keeping the family home running and happy...well you know! So for me it's only natural to talk about all of it. I hope is will inspire, inform and interest! 
 
When stating out in my business I went on the fabulous 'Tallulah Rose' wedding flowers, country retreat and what an absolute treat it was! (There will be lots of flowery images to follow). Not only were we all staying at the fantastic 'Sparkford Hall', a luxury manor house, with the fabulous Tallulah Rose flower school crew, but we had our own cook! The food!! I haven't eaten so much in a long time. I was supposed to be starting my 8 weeks 'no sugar' but that went out the window on the first day. The cakes! So this brings to the image below.
On the second day I got up early and went for a run, luckily Verity, one of the ladies from the Tallulah crew, came too and took this lovely pic. She kept me going, every morning of the retreat. So even though I ate like a horse, I felt amazing! If you push yourself, get out there and go for it, you are so rewarded. The retreat was amazing, I learnt so much, had a laugh with the fabulous ladies, ate cake and drank wine, but the run first thing and yoga at the end of the day was the icing on the cake. Never forget how good that bit of exercise makes you feel!
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