Yesterday I shared my newest selection of inspiring magazines which included Darling Magazine. This magazine champions the art of being a woman and the positive energy we can all give each other. Celebrating the art of being a woman.

So when Atterley Road contacted me to be involved in their #ARWOMAN campaign I jumped at the chance. I am hugely inspired by women. Strong, capable women who are able to balance home and work life, brave and determined women who don't take no for an answer. Bloggers I look up to like Kat, Emily and Gabrielle, women in media who have the power to influence the world like Arianna, Anna and Moira.

Atterley Road is encouraging us all to share the woman that inspires us, someone in your family, a friend, someone in the public eye and tag it on Instagram #ARWOMAN. There are some incredible stories and interviews on their blog The Road so check them out and be inspired. 

I am constantly in awe of the women who push boundaries, challenge stereotypes and feel a sense of duty to empower their fellow women. I have talked about my Granny frequently on this blog. The matriarch of our family, the role model for the marriage we all aspire to. A warm and tender person with fierce determination and independence. And today I want to share my feelings for the another matriarch, whose commitment to duty and to serve her country, our monarch, Queen Elizabeth. 

It is no secret my family are huge fans of the Royals. Every year if my life I had stood and sang the national anthem on Christmas Day and the presents under the tree are left untouched until after the Queen's speech at 3pm. We were like giddy fools on the day of the Royal wedding, with party bunting and a fever pitch level of excitement when Catherine stepped out of the car. Mum, Natalie and I all shed a few tears as she walked down the aisle, as if we were watching a best friend get married!

And the Queen herself just leaves me speechless. A woman who has held her position for a lifetime. Who stands for hours upon hours a day, makes every single person she meets feel special and has lived almost every second of her life in the public eye. Her birthdays require an official portrait, she travels thousands of miles every month and never ever, has there been a story with a complaint. I listen to her speech from her 21st birthday and feel shivers. 

"I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."

I feel so proud of our Royal family, of the Queen's unquestionable dedication to her nation. A role model for women everywhere. She has endured humiliation, heartbreak and yet still serves her country with formidable fortitude. 

I'd love to know what must go through her mind. Can you even imagine what life must be like? The pom and ceremony being part of normal life, the expectation of everyone around you. Out living Prime Minsters, Presidents, adapting and shaping a modern Royal household. Impartial, influential, essential.

Charming, patriotic, devoted, informed and admired. An inspiration.

Which women inspire you? Which celebrity do you adore?! Join in over on Instagram.

In collaboration with Atterley Road. Check out their super stylish and affordable range here. I'd rather like this hat, this bag on sale and these boots. They'd go very nicely with this floral blazer!

Images credit 1 / credit 2 / credit 3

I am never short of inspiration when I have a stack of old magazines on the coffee table. I hoard them like family heirlooms and constantly refer to my favourites when I need to give my creative juices a bump start.

And with my brother living in America I was able to get my hands on a new stash when he flew over to visit last weekend. I just have to share these three with you. Beautiful presentation, jaw dropping photography and elegant prose to ponder over.

First up is Hearth. A heavy weight, fine art bookazine that you save forever. A success Kickstarter project that is printed as quarterly volumes and evokes a super cool but completely accessible nature. Photo essays to get lost in, a magical literary world of stories from artisans, makers, doers and dreamers. 

There is a definite style that resonates through the magazine but the content is so varied no one feature feels the same. Striking black and white images, dreamy pastels and colourful recipe shots. The thing I love the most about this publication is it's ability to leave you calm but positive in an effortless way, despite the great amount of effort it must take the editorial team to bring together. 

I found a copy of the Queen of craft's magazine Living in a WHSmith last Summer but haven't found it since. So I ordered a few back issues and I cannot put them down. Bursting with colour, this is one to bend to read in the bath, get sandy on holiday and read with a notepad and pencil next to you. 

I read Martha Stewart's monthly publication with my eyes popping, at the colour, the divine food photography, and I find myself inspired to jot down tens of blog post ideas. One issue has a great downloadable flower wrap idea which made me instantly think of blogging some of my favourite floral photographs and turning them into a download for you, to give as a posy wrap to your mother for Mother's Day. It's ok to be inspired and take an idea and make it your own. Developing your own ideas from something you've seen, heard or tasted is all part of a creative process.

Living is heavily influenced by florals and 5 minutes thumbing the shiny pages makes me want to reach for my camera and get snapping for no reason other than to capture something pretty!

You can download digital versions of Living which is fab. 

Lastly is Darling Magazine. In magazine terms this is a big one! A larger than A4, thick paper bookazine. It's my mission to collect all the issues over time! I LOVE that they talk about the empowerment of women. The magazine focusses between 8 female characters; The Dreamer, The Hostess, The Confidant, The Stylist, The Explorer, The Beautician, The Intellectual and The Achiever. I think one of the reasons I adore this magazine is that I can identify with all the attributes of each character in any given week. And it feels like a magazine to savour, to wait to read until you are going to be completely undisturbed by general, everyday life. Not one to get wet or sandy, but one to completely immerse yourself in. 

Who are you? I guess I feel most affinity with the hostess. I love filling our home with guests. I love welcoming them, spoiling them and enjoying other people's company. My cooking skills could improve though! This magazine is one for stunning photography lovers, mothers, makers and creatives.

And if you don't take my word for it, read this. What makes Darling Magazine different. 

You can download digital copies of Darling for just $5 so head over here. 

What are your favourite magazines for inspiration?

When I was frantically Christmas shopping in the last couple of weeks of December I found everyone on the list fairly easy to buy for. People had given me a few hints and I love finding little bits and pieces for our loved ones.

But when it came to my Mum I struggled a little. She has a wardrobe full of clothes, handbags, jewellery, perfume and her home has just the right amount of trinkets on shelves. And then I realised, my mum is actually the easiest person to buy for. Because all she ever wants is time. 

And time is what we get the least of. She juggles her job at British Airways, welcoming travellers into Heathrow Terminal 5 at 5am and kindly assisting exhausted parents with buggies as they check in, with helping my sister looking after Yasmin. She finds time for her friends, for swimming dates, for girlie lunches and looks after her husband who has recently had some serious health issues. 

In amongst her incredibly busy life, she manages to find time to blast down the motorway to us, pick up the boys from school, act as our fairy godmother and power wash and iron, a wildy out of control household!

When she comes to visit, she always offers to stay in and man the sleeping boys whilst we have a precious evening out, and 36 hours can go by and we have barely and a cup of tea together. So for Christmas I wanted to spoil her. Take her to somewhere lovely and spoil her with special time, just the two of us.

We headed to our family place in Southbourne this weekend, a place that holds nothing but happy memories for both of us. I had my first holiday at the flat when I was just 6 weeks old and now my boys are reliving my childhood with holidays by the seaside. When you walk into our flat you feel instantly relaxed. It has an almost magical power that sweeps over me and I love that our friends feel the same. 

On Boxing Day we all divvy up the year, booking in weekends and our Summer weeks, and I text our friends to see if they can come and make some memories with us on the beach. BBQ's at the beach hut, sandy feet treading back up the zig zag path and glasses of something lovely on the balcony as the sun sets, with the sunbeams streaming into the living area onto snoozy woofers, worn out by long days tearing up and down the shoreline after 2 excited boys playing in the tiny waves. 

But it was so nice to just be there together.

At just gone 3pm she checked her watch and said "Good grief! It's gone 3pm!" Now that's what you call a leisurely lunch! The Captains Club in Christchurch is the perfect venue for a special but not pretentious lunch date. Beautiful food, elegantly styled and a cocktail list that makes it almost impossible to choose.

It was the longest we've talked in forever and I loved it. We strolled round the town centre, popped in a few gift shops, had a peek in the charity shops and then headed back for the last half an hour of opening time in Southbourne high street. We took in the view of the serene harbour and laughed about my sister's hen party when a dozen of us dressed in purple cocktail dresses tottered off a narrow boat for cocktails at exactly the same hotel.

Southbourne has changed beyond all recognition since I was 6 weeks old. Our favourite bakery is still there but the high street is now bursting with independent restaurants, delis, a coastal art gallery and lots of lovely gift shops. We are so lucky to see these changes and enjoy them. 

This Summer I will be giving our beach hut a little make over and trying to freeze frame those moments which I watch our boys literally relive my childhood holidays. Jumping off the same set of groynes, cycling along the same promenade.

My mum looks after me. At 33 and 3/4 I still really need her. But it's the best feeling when you realise we need each other. Best friends, mother and daughter.

Happy Christmas (ok I know it's January) to my lovely mummy.

Linking up with Mummy Daddy Me and #theordinarymoments