Can you believe another month has gone by? It doesn’t seem live five minutes since the June Birchbox landed in all its candy-striped glory, and now here we are with the July offering.

This month’s box is printed with tropical palm trees, and the theme is definitely high summer – far-flung adventures and getting away from it all. But would the products that made the edit have me dreaming of cocktails on the beach? Take a peek…

Well, it seems like this is it. Summer, I mean! Finally here in full force, just when we least expected it.

Of course, this being the UK there has to be the odd day where it plummets back into midwinter after a week of blazing sunshine, so it’s never quite safe to pack away your winter woollies entirely. But generally, it's been really nice.

Have you been making the most of it? I feel like there is a pressure to be doing stuff because it's so uncertain that summer is actually here to stay.  We need to do ALL OF THE THINGS before the sun abandons us!

As parents, it's not often that we get a night out. I could definitely count on one hand all the times we've been out since Theo was born- and he's almost two!

That is our choice though. Having babies certainly changed my priorities - I used to love my nights out but I'd sooner spend time with my son now. Plus, hangovers aren't great when you're likely to get woken at 5am by the baby!

It is important to let your hair down sometimes and reconnect with friends though - and remember who we are when we aren't being mummy and daddy. Theo is old enough to stay over at his Granny's house, which makes things a lot easier as we're not worried about getting back to relieve a babysitter and we can get up a little bit later than if he was at home!

Of course, I couldn't resist the rare event of getting my glam on to do an outfit post - when you're normally covered in mashed biscuit and sticky handprints you have to make the most of a night off!

Sometimes, a beauty tool comes along that redefines the way we do things, it’s just that darn good.

And when fashion and beauty bible Vogue describes something as a ‘game changer’, you know it’s serious! Global technology company Dyson, who pretty much revolutionised home appliances, have turned their hand to hairdryers, and the resulting best-in-class product – the Dyson Supersonic – is celebrating its first birthday.

So I was excited to be invited along to an exclusive party at John Lewis Grand Central Birmingham to find out more.