A UK-based Food and Travel Blog – Recipes, Baking, Travel and Lifestyle
For the last few weeks now, in the back of my mind, I kept on thinking “I really must get a new blog post up” and every time I go to sit down at my desk I just get distracted with something else. Lockdown has been an incredibly difficult time for so many people, my family included. Like others we’re also missing our family and friends, we’ve learnt to value things we maybe took for granted in the past and we’ve been reminded of what is truly most important.
Blogging has been a passion of mine now for years. Hello Cuppies has been written whilst I’ve worked a full time job and whilst running a successful cake company and it’s been fun, but it’s also been exhausting! I’ve met some incredible people and I’ve made some friends for life…I’ve just realised this sounds like a goodbye – it’s not!
Out of all those priorities, along with the usual family and parenting stuff, blogging just sometimes gets pushed aside and whilst I do miss it when I’m busy with other things I can’t ever see myself stopping. I sometimes just don’t have the time needed to dedicate to a blog post…and if you’re one of those people waiting for the Banana Crunch Cake recipe I shared on Instagram I’m so sorry it’s not live yet. I will do it at some point, I just can’t say when. If you’re really keen to bake it, send me an email and I can send back a photo with my scribbles on. Otherwise this banana loaf cake recipe will be better than any other banana cake recipe you’ve tried – bold statement there I know, but it’s so good!
I’ve also taken a bit of turn with regards to the ‘opportunities’ that land in my inbox from PR’s and brands looking for exposure for one thing or another and it’s started to make me feel a little bit.. uhmmm…’ick’. Not in a major way, I’ve just had to remove myself from some distribution lists and I’m not sure if it’s just a lockdown thing or something more permanent, who knows. I guess we’ll find out. I think it’s probably more a case of realising what things matter and what things really don’t…if that makes sense? Also, I despise the fact that the bigger brands are now reopening with their huge marketing budgets and taking custom away from the small indies that have adapted during lockdown and stayed open in ways people never imagined they could. It’s kind of sickening really.
If you’ve been making the most of a small company to get you through lockdown please please continue to do so. That loyalty will pay off and it will mean so much more than putting your money in the likes of Pret’s or McDonalds’ pockets.
Running Cuppies ‘n’ Cream full time has been a dream of mine for so long. I know some of you reading this will have listened to my moaning, my wishes, my plans…and some of you will know how hard I’ve found it too. I’m sorry if I’ve bored you with my hopes…but something exciting is happening and whilst I don’t want to be one of *those* annoying people that pretends they have a big surprise up their sleeve and constantly posts every day about some big reveal, I’ll not do that, I am in the midst of trying to figure out what my future will hold and if it all goes to plan – it will be all worth it.
Like many other cake companies when lockdown was first initiated I shut up shop – so to speak! All of my orders were postponed and rescheduled and we holed up at home watching the news with moments of sadness, anxiety but also, for me, a feeling that I needed to make the most of however long I was going to have to spend at home. We’ve had more time together which has been lovely, more time to wind each other up (not so lovely) and my step-daughter Lucy and I have become addicted to an old school Nintendo game called Dr.Mario! Maybe that’s the reason I’ve not had time to blog!! Steve had learnt how to make Gnocchi, we’ve ordered takeaway from our favourite local restaurants, discovered new ones (Wingsandtingz is just at the end of my road!) and finally accepted that things are going to change and that the world and life will probably never be the same again.
I built an online shop on my website for more simple type bakes. Small buttercream cakes to enjoy at home, fudgy brownie boxes (which can be posted anywhere in the UK), strawberry cupcakes, chunky cookies and I’ve written so many kind messages on gift cards, seen so many happy smiles when you receive your orders and waved from my kitchen window for those that have collected their treats…and I’ve adored it. 100%, wholeheartedly adored every single moment! I thought I knew everything about running a cake company, I’ve been doing it since 2011, but it turns out that running it full time and managing an online payment system and some days having 20-30 orders a day to work through is a whole new ball game!
We moved house in the first week of lockdown too, my anxiety was through the roof! Moving a four-bedroom house without a removal company is really tough, but we did it! Never again though.
Aside from when I was on maternity leave for six months 15 years ago with my son Coby I’ve worked flat out since the age of 17 (not counting the newspaper or milk round I used to do at 15/16). I’ve never taken a break longer than a couple of weeks for when we go on holiday, never taken time out from work and whilst I was due to take seven weeks off with Coby to travel around Australia and Bali this summer…this time at home seemed like something I needed to somehow appreciate and make the most of.
Ultimately, because I know I tend to ramble a lot in these types of blog posts, I’ll cut to the chase. My job in private equity simply has to go! Whatever way that happens I just don’t feel like I belong, like I fit in and I certainly don’t feel like I have all that much in common with the people that run the company anymore either. I’ve been very wary about what I share on my blog and social media in the past because ultimately I’ve wanted to stay professional, it’s been my main source of income and I do have a huge amount of loyalty, appreciation and respect for the people and company too. I’ve made friends, progressed incredibly (Office Junior to Marketing Manager) and got to work for one of the most inspiring, entertaining, intelligent (and at times difficult!!) man I’ll probably ever be lucky enough to meet. Leaving my job certainly doesn’t mean I’ll not get to have this person in my life in the future either. Our working relationship has gone further than the norm, he’s become a good a friend, a father figure in ways and someone I know I can go to if I was ever in trouble or needed advice.
In the past the thought of resigning and losing this friendship (and others, hi to my lovely little Alex if you read this) probably scared me more than I realised. Aside from the thought of being broke and having no money to feed my son, leaving a job after twelve years service with a great salary and every benefit you could hope for is really fucking tough to do! But I am going to do it, one way or the other. If I need to learn to live on less money that’s fine, right? Happiness is way more important. Politics and morals also play a huge part of my decision, but that’s a whole other story that I’m not ready to talk about yet.
Ultimately I know I’m in a very fortunate position right now and I absolutely don’t want anyone to think I don’t value what I do have when so many others are struggling and worrying for their futures.
I saw this on Twitter the other day and it’s stuck in my mind since:
‘Don’t put things off: if you want to do something just do it. It’s better to regret trying and failing than not trying at all’
Can you see why?
When I sat down and logged into my blog this evening I didn’t plan on writing a blog post that was so ‘me’ orientated at all. Sometimes writing down my thoughts and ideas is cathartic and it helps with making things seem that little bit clearer…almost like there’s a light at the end of a very long difficult tunnel. I enjoy writing these rambling type posts and despite the fact they don’t usually get as many hits or reads as others posts, I write them for me more than anything else.
Oh, I nearly forgot. Thank you for all the messages I received on the last blog post regarding my Mum and her life as a care-worker. She is incredible and she is fine. Having had a few COVID tests now she’s somehow managed to escape this horrible virus. The home she works in has had a lot of heartache but they’re also now coming through it and people are beginning to socialise and smiles are starting to re-appear. I just hope that at some point soon care workers get treated a little bit better than they have done in the past. I’d love for their wages to get an increase but I’ll hold my breath on that one.
Anyway, I will get that new recipe up soon! I promise. Please do send me a little email or message if you want to chat about anything! I spend a lot of time at my desk and truly do not mind.
Loved this post Natalie! Sometimes you do have to make difficult decisions in life and just follow your dreams!
Ahh, thank you Nikki. I hope you’re doing OK! I can’t wait until we can all see each other again x
Really great post Natalie. I so hope your big surprise is what I think it might be – that we’ve talked about in the past. You are a talented, passionate and inspiring baker and whatever you do next will be wonderful xx
You’re always so supportive and kind Sue, it really means a lot xx
Just caught up with this lovely post. I took the big step off the ledge almost exactly a year ago now and I was terrified for the first six months. Then I was a tiny bit less terrified, then a bit less than that, and when the year came round, I realised I’d stopped being terrified and started being really a lot happier than I had been for years. (Though also a bit poorer. And ever so cross when I realised my one year institutional sub to Office 365 had run out and I was going to have pay for my own software! The cheek!) Anyway, I’m excited for you! It’s going to be fab x
Ahh thank you, this is really lovely to hear. And yep, I’ve got a couple of subscriptions including an Adobe one I’m going to really miss…