40th Birthday Swag Bag Blog Hop

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to an amazing party on an island resort. Imagine my excitement! Unfortunately, it is only a virtual party and is in fact a blog hop originally started by author, Susie Orman Schnall, you can read about her book and the original post at the bottom of this one.
I was tagged by Jersey based author, Georgina Troy and you can read her blog post here. And I am tagging Pam Burks, who is one half of Ellie Campbell and the link to her blog is here.
So, on with the post… let’s get to the swag bag!
I have to imagine I have been invited to my best friend’s 40thbirthday party on an island resort and all the guests are taking things for an enormous, treat-filled swag bag. My categories for gifts are: book, beauty product, snack food, music album, and ‘my choice’.
Please play along at home, and if you fancy taking part in the blog hop, leave me a comment below!
Book

So many wonderful books to choose from, but one which I read recently and haven’t been able to get out of my head is Julie Cohen’s Dear Thing. I’ve told all my friends about it and I think everyone on the island should read it!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Beauty Product
I’m a ‘Wash and Go’ sort of gal, so my beauty shelf is pretty minimal I’m afraid. However, I do love perfume and my current parfum de choix is ‘Flowerbomb’ by Victor and Rolf. Before my hubbie bought me a bottle for Christmas, I used to swoop by the perfume counter in Debenhams and spritz myself every time I was in town!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Snack Food
Last Christmas, my family and I visited the German Market in Birmingham. I used to live in Germany and adore German food and the market really put us in the mood for Christmas. One of the stalls was selling caramelized almonds and they were absolutely delicious. So I’d take a huge bag of those to share.
 
 
 
Music Album
I have two daughters aged 14 and 12. The house resonates from every room with the sound of Katy Perry, One Direction and The Vamps. It’s hard to even remember what I like sometimes! Throughout the 80s and 90s I was a huge Madonna fan and most of her of music has good memories for me. But for today, if I can only take one CD to the party it will have to be Gary Barlow ‘Since I Saw You Last’ (Isn’t he lovely!)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My Choice
Well, I’m with a group of wonderful women having a good time, relaxing and sharing their stories what else would I choose but a note book and pen of course! The funny anecdotes, tear-jerking stories, shared jokes and one-liners would probably give me enough material for a whole book! I love starting a new novel; I enjoy planning it, with a synopsis before I start, a three act structure and then a chapter breakdown. Every new novel idea gets its own notebook and ring binder and for my notebooks I usually head to Paperchase. I like small handbag-sized ones to take out with me, but I work in a large A4 sized one at my desk.
 
Thank you to Georgina Troy for inviting me to join in and thanks to Susie Orman Schnall, author of On Grace who started 40th Birthday Swag Bag Blog Hop. Read the original post here:
Look out for Pam Burk’s swag bag goodies on her blog ChickLitSisters.comon 23 June
By Cathy Bramley

Cathy is the author of the best-selling romantic comedies Ivy Lane, Appleby farm, The Lemon Tree Cafe and A Vintage Summer. She lives in a Nottinghamshire village with her family and Pearl, the Cockerpoo. Her recent career as a full-time writer of light-hearted romantic fiction has come as somewhat of a lovely surprise after spending eighteen years running her own marketing agency. However, she has always been an avid reader, hiding her book under the duvet and reading by torchlight. Now she thinks she may have found her dream job.

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