Beauty with a Conscious

I volunteer most weeks with the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice, located in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, where I deliver a mindfulness meditation for the out-patients at the Living Well Hub. It's one of the highlights of my week.

The hospice is also where I host my small business networking events for Glasgow-based entrepreneurs; I love that I can give back in this way too as I donate all money from ticket sales to the hospice. (My next event is taking place on Thursday 24th August, 10.30am - 12.30pm if you wanted to join in, tickets are available here).

The latest venture from the hospice is Beauty with a Conscious, which now has salon space within the hospice itself for offering beauty treatments to the public. (the hospice is a lovely, calm space and members of the public are welcome at the café, the gift shop and now the beauty salon.)

I've been to their Battlefield salon; the treatments were very well priced and I really enjoyed my massage and facial. You can also book online, which is super handy. I'm actually going back soon for some pre-holiday pampering!

You can read in this blog post some of the other holistic treatments in Glasgow that I enjoy, including Reiki Love Club and White Rabbit Healing.

And if you'd like to get more time for the things that really matter, I share lots of tips and tricks on my website, www.sarahstewart.co.uk/blog

Dizzie: The Online Refill Shop

I'm a huge fan of Dizzie (previously The Good Club), the online refill shop.

I place an order each month (I pay £3.99 monthly which gets me one delivery (and return) per month... it's £5.99 per delivery if you choose to place orders on an ad hoc basis), and my products get delivered to my door in a big green box (it's UK-wide carbon neutral delivery). 

Dizzie stock a wide range of refillable groceries, as well as other items. For the refillables, when my big green box arrives I take the refillable cartons and empty them out into my own glass jars (Dizzie sell glass containers too, but I also just keep a store of any glass jars at my house that I clean out and keep). The empties then go back in the big green box, which is collected from my door the day after my delivery.

Some of the items that I get from Dizzie are:

Bulk items:

• 5L shampoo
• 5L conditioner
• 5L shower gel / bubble bath
• 5L laundry liquid
• 5L fabric conditioner
• 5L all purpose cleaner

Refillables:

• Ground cumin
• Ground turmeric
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground paprika
• Sesame seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Baking powder
• Pretzels
• Crisps
• Cashew nuts
• Muesli
• Porridge oats
• Pecans
• Bombay mix
• BBQ almonds
• Peanut D&Ds
• Pasta
• Rice
• Flour
• Caster sugar
• Dates
• Prunes
• Dried apple slices

Other groceries:

• Tins of chopped tomatoes
• Jars of pasta sauce
• Compostable bin liners
• Recycled kitchen towels
• Oat milk
• Dash water
• Oatcakes
• Olive oil

There are soooo many refillable products available - definitely worth having a look.

There is a special offer running right now, where if you enter the code REFILLER at checkout you will get a refill kit containing (2 x 2L jar, 1 x 1L jar, 1 x kilner funnel and 1 x Dizzie jar labels). You need to spend £20 to qualify, and it's whilst stocks last.

I also have a referral link, which is https://getdizzie.com/j/sarahseqtbm, and if you use this I get £10 off my next order and you'll get a free refill kit (as photographed below) and the reusable coffee cup.

Happy refilling!!

Sarah x

P.S. If you want to get my weekly newsletter, you can sign up here to get on my mailing list: www.sarahstewart.co.uk/newsletter

An Alternative Advent Calendar

 

An Alternative Advent Calendar - A Moment of Calm This Christmas

This December, join my friend and fellow coach Beth Wright, for an alternative advent calendar - A Moment of Calm This Christmas.

Each day, Mon thru Friday, we'll be sharing 10 minutes of thoughts and activities on the themes of intentional or mindful living, simplicity and slow living in our pop-up Facebook group. (It's free to join in).

At the weekends we will be sharing a (simple) challenge.

Christmas is such a magical time, but it can also end up being busy, stressful and the enjoyment taken out of it because we are run ragged and exhausted by Christmas Day! So, we wanted to bring you a Moment of Calm this year so you can fully enjoy and be present with loved ones.

We're looking forward to creating a peaceful space for you all. 

Sarah x

Mindfulness and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice

Giving Back

I volunteer at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice each week where I run a mindfulness meditation session for the out-patient visitors. It's actually one of the highlights of my week, and I'm delighted to be able to give back in this way. (I lost my mum to cancer when I was a teenager, and she spent a few weeks in a hospice in Aberdeen before she passed).

Peaceful Productivity and Intentional Living

I'm acutely aware of our limited time (more on my story here), and as a result am an advocate of making the best use of the time that's available to us... I'm less about 'busy, busy, busy' (which was definitely my crux if we were to rewind 5, or 10 years), whereas now it's more about peaceful productivity and intentional living. 

Rest is Productive

The other week I was at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice salon, Beauty with a Conscious, which is in the Battlefield area. It's open to the public, and all profits go to the hospice. Taking time out to rest and recharge is important to me, and it's even better when it involves a massage!! I had a facial, back massage and head massage… and it was bliss, and reasonably priced (I took advantage of their Halloween special offer and had the 3 express treatments, 1.5 hours, for £44... and I believe they're running this offer until the end of November). You’ll find them on Instagram here. 

Mindfulness

Circling back to mindfulness, it's been a year that I've been volunteering at the hospice now (albeit with a break due to Covid when we had to stop the out-patient service at Christmas-time last year) and I'm self-taught... what I've decided to do is make it 'official', and I'm now training to become a mindfulness practitioner. I'm not totally sure how long it will take to qualify, perhaps a year, but that's me started on the path... and I'm excited for what's next.

Candle Gazing Mindfulness Meditation

I've written a blog post sharing an easy way to get started with mindfulness meditation, it's a candle gazing mindfulness meditation - you can read the full post here on my business blog.

As an aside, I had a brand photoshoot the other month with Bex from www.bexphoto.com, and here's one of my photos taken in the grounds of the hospice:

Skincare & Make-Up Routine

Living Mindfully

I've had a shift with my thoughts around consumerism and material possessions; a combination of Covid-19 and personal development has really opened my eyes to the world that we live in. I'm mindful now when I make a purchase, and typically what I do is I will write the item that I think I need onto a shopping list and if I still feel like it's needed a few weeks or a month down the line, then I will make a purchase. 

I'm trying hard to live with less; I'm by no means perfect, but the intention is there and I am doing my best (I feel I've been saying 'I'm doing my best' to my kids a lot lately, it's hard being a single mum with a pre-teen and a teenager under the one roof!). I do wonder what the planet is going to be like in the future if we continue on our current path, and so I try and do my bit (I don't always get it right mind you, and I know I could do better/more).

Skincare & Make-Up Routine

Historically I had an all singing, all dancing skincare routine with various cleansers, moisturisers and a host of different types of serum. More recently, I have a cleanser and a moisturiser, and I will occasionally use a facemask. That's it. And my skin is still in good, some might even say great, condition. (I was actually complimented on my glowing skin the other week!).

A few other things that contribute to my skin - I don't drink alcohol and I also use a collagen builder supplement daily.

In terms of make-up, I've really pared things back in this department too. Partly for time reasons; I don't want to spend an hour getting ready in the morning - my priorities lie elsewhere and there's also the fact that when I'm travelling in my campervan (@veritythevw), I want to be able to travel light. 

I had also been working with a nutritionist on what I consume (not only in the food, but everything else too) as I was trying to do my best to ensure my Crohn's Disease didn't flare up again. Part of this had been giving thought to the toxins that I allow into my body... this includes the products that I put on my face/body.

My current go to products are:

• Tinted moisturiser (which has an SPF)
• Under-eye concealer
• Lipstick
• Eyebrow cream
• Mascara
• Eyeshadow (which I don't typically always wear) 

The products that I do use are vegan and I buy when I can from certified B Corporations. 

B Corps are companies, verified by B Lab, to  meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. There are 800 B Corps in the UK currently, and you can search the directory here. 

I get my pet food from a B Corp (Lily's Kitchen), toilet paper (Who Gives a Crap), clothing (Baukjen) and so on. 

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How to Minimise School Run Drama

I've been doing some reflecting on school mornings, and the drama that can sometimes ensue in getting everyone organised and out the door on time. 

I'm certainly enjoying the slower mornings during the summer holidays!

I thought I'd share my thoughts on how we can minimise school run drama ahead of the schools going back, so that you can think about any changes you'd like to make in advance.

As a single mum, I've not only to get myself showered, dressed and ready... but I also have two kids to organise (oh, and there's the dog too!). It's gotten easier as they're getting older, and I'm now working from home which also helps massively too, but I can still vividly recall the morning madness as I tried to get two toddlers ready for nursery on my own whilst simultaneously getting myself organised to go into the office!

There are some hacks that you can try however to get your mornings from chaos to calm:

• Plan your week on Sunday evening. I like to take an hour to look ahead at the calendar for the week on a Sunday evening. It allows me to address any conflicts before they become issues. This way you can also make sure that you've got time to make any arrangements for the kids if there are particular events at school (last minute World Book Day costume perhaps!).

My journal for my morning routine

• Get up before the kids. This is something I've only been doing in the last couple of years. I used to be a prolific snoozer, and would sometimes hit snooze 6 or 7 times before actually getting up and would typically only get out of bed after the kids woke me! Whereas it's so helpful for my mental wellbeing and readiness to get some time just for me to fill my cup. You can read more about my morning ritual here.

• Lay out clothes the night before, including choosing what you're going to wear. If there is ironing to be done, ensure it's done in advance so you don't have to deal with it in the morning... that always used to catch me out!

• Are there ways that you can use automation? I'm not talking robots, but for instance, I get my milk delivered from a local dairy on a subscription... so I know that I'll always have milk for breakfast. I had seen me in the past frantically texting friends to see if they could drop me off milk at night, or even popping to a neighbour to ask them to fill a jug for me in the morning!

• Wake the kids before they actually need to get out of bed. I've found that rousing the kids around 15-20 minutes before they need to wake is helpful. I go into their rooms, open their curtains to let some light in, and let them know what time it is.

• Put the clock forward. The wall clock in my kitchen has been set 10 minutes ahead of time. It helps keep us on track! The digital clock on the microwave is at the correct time... just to be sure!!

• Have everything you need by the door. I used to have two dedicated hooks by the door for each of the kids school bags, and we've a bench by the door that stores their shoes. We've also got an apothecary set of drawers in the hallway, and each of us has a drawer for our hats, gloves, scarves etc. In one of the drawers I even have a hairbrush with a few hair bobbles wrapped around the handle. This is for any last minute drama from my daughter if she needs to put her hair up! Thankfully it seems we will no longer need the drawer that houses all of our Covid face masks! I've got a dedicated dish where I keep my car & house keys too, so they're always to hand.

• Think about where items are stored in your kitchen. I've got plastic cups for the kids in a cupboard at their height, as well as plastic bowls and the cereal is in a cupboard they can reach. This way they can be taught to make their own breakfast.

• Have a planner/calendar on the wall. For kids that can read, I've found that having a daily planner and/or calendar on the wall that they can consult is helpful. I've got my colour coded time blocked Google calendar, but they obviously don't have access to that. I sometimes forget that unless I put something on the wall they won't know what I've got planned. It's particular useful if there are any changes to the schedule - such as school trips or whatever that might impact the morning routine. My free digital planning templates are available here to download. I use a meal planner (included in my templates), and in the morning I'll consult what we're having for dinner that night and take anything out of the freezer if needed.

Hopefully these ideas will spark some ideas of your own.

I did also ask my nearly 13 year old son if he had anything else to add to the list. This was what he came up with...

• To wake up sleepy pre-teens, you could perhaps suggest that they have a quick shower in the morning. This has been super helpful for my son, and he loves his morning shower with some of his favourite music playing too.

• Stick to a routine. If you follow the same routine every morning, everyone will be used to the order of events and this will also help things go smoothly. 

He then followed his suggestions with the comment 'So do I get any revenue out of this?' 🤣

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Where to Brunch in Glasgow's Southside

I love to treat myself to brunch in a wee café. I used to work from home pre-Covid, and would take myself out once a week with my laptop for a nice coffee and a bite to eat. That all stopped obviously during the pandemic, and I'm slowing getting back out there again! It's been a while since I've worked from a coffee shop, but I've been enjoying brunch with the kids every so often. 

This weekend we visited The Brunch Club in Giffnock for the first time (used to be BRGR), along with Dawn and her daughter. They don't take bookings, and so we did have a little bit of a wait (understandable as we needed a table for 5). I wasn't blown away by my choice of smashed avo (avocado, red onion, garlic, fresh cherry tomatoes, balsamic glaze, poached egg & sourdough toast; £9) although I did enjoy the halloumi that I added (£2.50). My son felt his waffles were a bit dry (waffles with Nutella and fruit; £9.50) but Dawn loved her plate (Alba which was veggie haggis, poached eggs, truffle hollandaise, crispy kale and sourdough toast; £9.50) and the girls enjoyed their pancakes and Nutella. I'll try something else next time... tacos perhaps! Dawn had a virgin Bloody Mary, and it looked ace (I sadly didn't photograph it!). 

It's been a while since I've written a review of a restaurant or café... when the kids were little they tended to love most things and a lot of the restaurants got 5 stars when they were asked to rate them!! Whereas now, my son at nearly 13 years old and my daughter at 11 have opinions! Their favourite meal is steak & chips (we had a fab dinner in York at the start of the summer holidays at Cut & Craft, I'd recommend it if you're in the area... as would they!!), and when we're brunching they're all about pancakes and Nutella.

Anyway, back to brunch...

Our hands down favourite is Bramble, opposite Queens Park at 924 Pollokshaws Road. Similar to The Brunch Club, they are walk in only. So if we're headed here of a weekend I try and go for them opening (Sat 9am, Sun 9.30am). When Bramble was in Giffnock we queued for an hour once to get a table, and that wasn't fun with two hungry kids in tow! Most items on the menu I love, the vegan flatbread (sweetcorn fritters, salsa, pineapple chutney and mayo on a soft flatbread; £9.50) is a favourite as well as the pulled pork tacos (which isn't on the menu anymore *sad face*). The kids tend to order pancakes with Nutella and strawberries (£9.50, or £6.50 for a small portion).

Last on my list, for now, is Café Strange Brew. Again, as with the others, this café is walk in only. I was here with Evie (they're dog friendly) for breakfast a few months ago and didn't have to wait too long for a table. I love the presentation of the dishes here, my yoghurt and granola came with little edible flowers... so pretty! 

If it's just coffee that I'm headed out for, then I do love Grain & Grind. (My son is obsessed with their sausage rolls and brownies!) I love their coffee, and even have a bag in Verity for my Moka Pot.

What's your favourite spot for brunch?