The Covid-19 crisis has sent the world into freefall, and everyone has been struggling to cope with the seismic changes that happened, pretty much overnight. Suddenly, we became isolated from family and friends, many of us or our loved ones had serious health worries, and the economy went into freefall overnight. 

In many ways, life has felt like a dystopian nightmare since the start of the year, and things are still far from normal. We all had our own personal stress levels to contend with. 

I’m aware I’m fortunate to have suffered no serious hardships yet, but the build-up of stress over the last six months has been unrelenting. 

Well, hasn't life just been upside down lately? Back at the start of the year, I would never have believed that 2020 would turn out this way. 

Even when we first went into lockdown in the UK, I didn't think we'd be at the end of July and still not back to normal. The world has been very worrying and strange for quite a long time now. 

And while I recognise how lucky I am to have gotten this far without any of the worst case scenarios touching me, that's not to say it hasn't been tough on all of us. For a while it felt like just surviving, not thriving. The shock was huge and I didn't feel there was anything to write about as all the colour went out of life. 

Although there are a lot of things that are very far from how they were pre-pandemic, some green shoots are starting to appear now, so it felt like a better, more optimistic time to talk about life, lately. 

Having imagination is a priceless quality. It's one that’s often forgotten, and it's hard to put a price tag on, but it can be all the difference between an average result and a spectacular one. 

This is never more true than when it comes to renovating a sad, unloved house into a prized family home. 

I’ve shared my approach to planning a master suite, thinking through the best use of space with your architect and deciding how you really want those rooms to work for you.  The next step is deciding on the look and feel you want to achieve. 

If there’s one thing I’ve found it's that setting out a vision for the final look is hugely important - it's helped me and my husband to communicate and make decisions, and it’s helped with the practicalities of the project, such as deciding where to blow the budget and where to make savings. 

Not everything turns out exactly as you plan - practical considerations have a way of rearing their ugly head and forcing you to adapt as you go along - but making a moodboard does help to clarify the direction of travel.

So the latest FabFitFun box direct from the US was the boost I needed to lift a week that would otherwise have been just a little...well...meh. 

The box is a twist on the usual suspect subscription services I've worked my way though in the past. It only comes out four times a year, and it features a mix of beauty, homeware and fashion items. 

The brands featured are great quality, and each box is a mix of items you select and surprises. Because it's an American box, the featured products tend to be new to me, and it's given me the chance to try out a few things that are hard to get hold of on these shores. 

So what was in the summer edition of the box?

I turned 35 on June 1st, which is officially old. Its funny how you never realise when you're younger that you get to a certain point and don't feel any older, no matter what your passport says. 

The UK is still in lockdown, so I had a day at home with my kids and husband, getting all dressed up for afternoon tea and having a little disco in the garden.

I got some fantastic birthday treats as well, and felt very loved and spoilt in a nice way! It sounds silly but as we’ve been saving up for all the renovation work on the house and buying furniture and all that grown-up jazz, it was really nice to have some things that were a bit indulgent. 

When you get to 35 you’re not supposed to care about getting presents, but that’s definitely part of being a grown-up that I reject - I love presents! Although it goes without saying that the wobbly handmade card from your kids is the absolute best bit, of course. 

Hey, bitches. It’s my birthday! What better excuse could there possibly be to drink champagne and eat my bodyweight in cake? 

Usually, I’m not a huge fan of getting a year older (when I turned 20, I spent all day in bed hungover and crying, and it's been down hill from there). So sometimes I do a post about my day to mark the milestone, and other times I just sort of gloss over it - hey, it’s a Gemini thing, okay?

Today I turned 35, which isn’t a round number but still sort of feels like something. Perhaps it's officially being mid-Thirties (shudder) and not being able to convince anyone that you’re not really an adult anymore. 

And 2020 is a hell of a crazy year to hit the midpoint of your fourth decade. The world looks nothing like it did a year ago, and I never imagined when the UK went into lockdown back in March that we’d still be there when it hit June. 

But here we are. Bizarrely, it’s improved my birthday experience.