Did you hear that?? ✨MJC-mail✨ just got here!!

Barbie, bad gastro times & an anniversary!

Hello beautiful beings! 💜

I’ve started to really look forward to writing to you all 🥰 When this newsletter began I was worried it was gonna turn into another form of content I felt like I had to do, but every month I collect up my photo moments to share with you all and feel truly thankful 1. for the chance to reflect and be grateful for what’s been and 2. that there are lovely humans here who want to check in with me and how life’s been.

Like… wow. That’s beautiful.

I hope these emails bring you something good, a bit of warmth or comfort or reassurance or just something colourful to scroll through when things feel a bit grey. I’m so thankful that you’re here and I’m excited to catch up with you in the comments later! 🤗

So, July… 12/10 would recommend, despite how she ended…

Let’s get the not-so-great out the way early, shall we?

My first trip outside on day 3, and the 3 seasons of Love is Blind I got through…

Your girl got struck down with gastroenteritis hard. She came out of nowhere and had me laid out for a week - one trip to urgent care, lots of hydration tablets and plenty of plain toast later, I was up and kicking again!

I’m actually really proud of myself for surrendering to total rest - a lot of the time even when I’m ill my brain is still running on 100 with all the things I should/could be doing and serving me a hefty dose of guilt for not being able to. But this time, I put the reality TV on, told the work events that I had to cancel, and refused to feel bad on top of feeling bad. I’d call that a self-care win! 🌟

Now let’s rewind to the start of the month…

I had a gorgeous time at Pride in London. Highlights? Meeting this rainbow-clad sausage dog and getting to ride on the Diva Magazine float in the parade. Char was hyping the crowd up on the mic, there were so many beautiful smiley people and it felt like pure sunshine. 🌈

The pink supremacy continues within this relationship

We did our first hosting gig together last month as well! Just Like Us (a charity that champions LGBTQ+ education in schools) got in touch to ask if we wanted to co-host their awards, which was super wholesome and fun, plus a lovely way to support an org that’s doing such good things. 🤗

And while we’re on the theme of pink things… We all know who this month really belonged to: the Barbie movie.

Issa Rae for president IRL, and Amercia Ferrera 4eva 💕

I can still hardly believe that I’m writing this, but MTV got me into an early screening so that I could go and interview some of the cast on the day of the UK premiere. Which was surreal. You can watch the interview here!!

Not only that, I got to film a whole in-studio special where we really dug into the movie and shared what we thought - the good, the great, the could’ve-done-without-that-joke-thanks. If you wanna watch that, it’s here!

And to top off the pinkest fever dream of all time, I hit the carpet for the premiere 🤯

I have been training to be this pink for a long time

I’d had this dress on my ‘to rent one day’ list for months, and it came together so perfectly. I booted the imposter syndrome out of my brain, strut my stuff and soaked up every gloriously pink moment 💖

But believe it or not, that wasn’t my favourite part of the month. The moments I’ve been happiest in July have been filled with family, nature, and slow days full of smiles. 🌞

Char continues to charm every member of the family she meets

Char and I have spent lots of time hanging with the fams, cooking and eating, playing in the garden with the young’uns, building Lego flower bouquets, helping various family members dye their hair and watching my brother in a wrestling show.

These moments have felt absolutely golden, and the fact that I was able to be present and soak in the joy rather than being stuck in my own head feels like the greatest gift. One of the things I cherish most about this relationship is the Char has gently, lovingly encouraged me to adjust my perspective on which parts of my life have the most meaning, and what I’m allowed to enjoy. I feel happier right now than I have in a very long time. 💜

It was one year anniversary in July as well! We spent it dancing in the rain at Community festival, glamping in a field, listening to poetry and leaning into our spiritual selves. I had the best day. 🥰

woof

And to finish it all off we went dogsitting in a cottage surrounded by forest walks and this heavenly lake. All I can think of to describe the whole thing is: thankful, thankful, thankful x a million. 🐶

What’s been going on with you all?? Please do share your July highlights/lowlights in the comment section if you feel like it! I promise everyone is kind and I’ll come back to as many as I can 🤓

Do we need to stop talking ourselves out of doing self-care things just because we can’t do the entire thing in one go?

Reminder: you don't have to do the ~ whole ~ thing for it to count ✨

5 minutes of stretching is better than none. one extra glass of water is wonderful. little bits of housework are still a win. can't make it out? a quick call is still socialising. a few deep breaths before bed?? beautiful.

It’s tough out here. Let’s give ourselves credit for the self-care baby steps and let go of the all-or-nothing thinking. We’re doing great.

Transcript: Hello my loves, your reminder for today is to give your inner child something to look forward to. It is about time that we all reclaimed that thing that we used to love to do more than anything in the world when we were young, that maybe we fell out of practice of, maybe we told ourselves we weren’t good enough to do anymore… We still deserve to do that thing! Whether it’s singing or dancing or painting, some kind of sport or hobby, reading even! You still deserve to do what you love, even if it’s not “productive” or lucrative. Even if there’s a million other things on the never-ending to-do list that is adult life. Your inner child deserves something to look forward to, and showing up for them is showing up for you.

---

That’s it for this week angels! Thank you for being here, and being who you are. Wishing you the most peaceful August possible, and I’ll catch you soon!

Love,

M 💜