You hear that when you become a Mom your perspective changes. I remember being devastated at missing a train, or my day being RUINED because those shoes were not available in my size. Life ended when I saw a spot on my face, my world crumbled when I got on the scales and they moved a millimetre from where they were supposed to be. Missing a party was inconceivable. I never had A THING to wear and of course my hair, my crowning glory had to look magnificent all all times.

And then you have kids.

Now if I miss a train, I nip past the shop and grab a coffee and wait for the next one without skipping a beat, I can’t remember the last time I wore heels but I recently bought a pair of functional black boots which actually are a size too big, but I figured that I could fit more sock inside. I don’t get spots any more – it’s bags and lines that I’m on the look out for. My world still crumbles when I get on the scales – no, let me correct that – the scales crumble when I get on the scales. I’m pretty excited if I get to go to parties at all. I still don’t have a thing to wear and my hair spends more time in a bun than looking magnificent.

Regular readers of my blog will have picked up by now that my husband owns a company called Perception Events in London and recently they did Stylist Live at the Business Design Centre for Shortlist Media. So when he asked if I’d like to go on Sunday I was very excited. A day of girly pampering, beautiful things, yummy food and complimentary bubbles? Twist my rubber arm.

On arrival I popped off to get my complimentary glass of fizz and started to make my way around the exhibition. Clarins were there in force which prompted me to go and see if I could book in for a massage and to my eternal sadness they were fully booked already for the day. I went and consoled myself with a mini makeover, bought a beauty pack, sipped some more bubbles and moved on. Swarovski was also there (one of my favourites) which I tried not to spend too much time at before moving over to Aveda where they restyled my hair.

I was rather happy with that. My purse started to complain, but I swiftly told her to hush and on I went.

There were also some seminars that had sparked my interest, but one that caught my attention was titled, ‘Why Motherhood is not the end!’

This of course spoke to me, and as the timing was pretty much perfect I went over, stood in the queue (which was exceptionally longer than I expected), went into the Culture Lounge and settled in for what turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining talk. I could waffle on for ages about that talk as it was lovely to hear about the experiences of other professional moms, both work for large companies and entrepreneurs taking control and managing the balance of being a mother and having a career. It was well run, engaging and when I left I felt I had taken something away from it.

Of course I couldn’t leave without swinging past the VIP lounge to look at some of my fabulously placed pieces from Lady Josephine and while I was there I caught a fashion show, admired (cough, cough) the chocolate fountain, and generally soaked up the atmosphere before heading back to the buy some home bound treats.

Although I will never again stress about things like shoes, social life, clothing and my looks, being at Stylist Live reminded me that it’s so important to take time out to be good to yourself as a mom, to put down those super cute toddler clothes and rather spend the money on that lovely bag you’ve been eying out for the past 4 months, or just to take time out, leave the kids behind and remember what it was like to just think about yourself first.