A Hiatus

I am having a break from my blog and Twitter account.

After going into hospital some seven months ago, my wonderful, loving step dad died yesterday.  I will not be answering tweets, blog comments or emails to my blog account for a time as I am sure you can well understand.

My writing right now is limited to (trying to) compose a fitting goodbye to a man who has been part of my life for the last twenty eight years.

Summer Nights With Curvissa

Despite the current cold snap we are having, my thoughts at this time of the year always turn to Summer holidays.

Being a woman that likes to dress up, my favourite time of day whilst on holiday is when you have finished with a day of sunning yourself by the pool and you get ready for a perfect Summer night evening with a cocktail whilst the sun sets.

Curvissa challenged myself and four other bloggers to choose an evening maxi dress to style and I chose the Buckle Waist Maxi Dress *  which is available in a fantastic sizing range of  10 - 32.

When it comes to choosing a maxi dress for the holiday season I look for a bold print with breathable fabric and a nice length that will enable me to wear either heels or sandals depending on where I wish to wear it.  

The bold green print (also available in coral) is a real winner for me and the gold buckle detail adds an additional elegant touch to the dress.  Happily the dress also comes with pockets which is a particular favourite of mine, especially when you do not want to be laden down with a cumbersome bag.   

I have worn the dress today as I would wear it for an evening out.  I have added a crochet shrug (perfect for when the sun sets and the nights can turn a little chilly), a red crystal necklace to give a contrast colour and some black peep toe heels.

Having worn Curvissa pieces before I knew to size up with this maxi dress.  The buckle waist maxi dress is available in split sizes and I would advise you to go with one size up. 

I love the beautiful print of this dress and the length. I have given the dress a 4.5 rating as the sizing was a little bit off, but once you have the fit as you like it, this maxi dress will fit into your Summer wardrobe perfectly.

Check out the other bloggers who have been trying out Summer evening maxi dresses:

She Might Be Loved

Nerd About Town

Just Me Leah

Sarah Is Smiley

Vicky x
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* This item was gifted to me but all opinions are my own

Are You PR Friendly?

I was recently speaking to Laura from Six Out of Ten when she offered to do a guest post for me about how to be PR friendly.

Here is a bit about her:

Laura works half in PR, half in marketing, and spends the rest of her free time writing about London and lifestyle in her online magazine. She has a cat, a boy, and loves Revels a little too much (don't we all!).

Here is what she had to say:

Although I think calling yourself PR Friendly is redundant (as most bloggers are lovely and wouldn't dream of being unfriendly) as well a waste of precious character space on your Twitter bio and blog, being PR friendly is another matter entirely.

You see, bloggers have seen a few people add it to their accounts, and everyone has followed suit. It's almost the same as adding clichéd phrases such as 'works well in a team' and 'hard-working' and 'works well under pressure' to your CV. They don't really mean anything until you see them in action.

To PRs, just saying you're PR Friendly isn't enough. So what can you do to demonstrate that you can be a PR's best friend? Here are four really easy ways to get PRs on side.

1. Remove PR Friendly from your blog and social channels 

As soon as you mention PR Friendly, you're immediately classified as a review blogger. As in, you only care about working with me and my client for what you can get out of it - a new lipstick here or a press trip there. 

I want to work with bloggers who love my brand and all that it stands for, regardless of whether I might be able to offer a comped meal or sample. I want them to be discerning and strict about who they feature, to not cheapen my client's name by lumping their brand in the middle of fifty others.

I'll avoid PR Friendly bloggers as the reputation behind the phrase, unfortunately, isn't a good one.

2. Have an up-to-date, well-written about page

The first think I look at when scoping out bloggers is their about page. I'll usually look at this before their posts. Why? Because this is where I find out about your story. Why you blog. How you started. Who you've worked with.

You should include the following:

a. Your name (use a blogger alias if you don't want to reveal your full name)

b. Where in the country you live

c. Why you started your blog and how it came about

d. Your perceived successes and a few brands you've worked with

e. Your future plans and targets

f. Your link to contact information and a media kit (if this isn't visible from the homepage)

3. Your contact information

It's amazing how many bloggers have a PR Friendly badge in their sidebar and then literally no contact information available. How can that be considered friendly? How am I mean to get in touch with you? Through an easily-missed public comment on one of your posts that'll head straight into your spam folder? 

No. Have a contact page set up, or be sure to include this in your about page, as above. If you want to include a number you can, but at the very least a text-based email address I can actually add to my address book. Include a contact form too, but your actual email address is the most valuable part.

4. Make your site easy to use

Nothing puts me off more than a cluttered site where I can't find anything. If you're not the best at HTML or CSS then hire a designer to install a clean, easy-to-use template. And make sure it's responsive and mobile-friendly. In case you don't know, Google will be penalising non-mobile-friendly sites from now on. There's no point spending time on SEO if there's no chance 40-50% of your mobile readers won't see it.

If your site is easy to use it means your readers will be able to find my client too. 

By following these really simple steps, you'll ensure you go from saying you're PR friendly, to being PR friendly. And I'll love you just a little bit too.