Movembering

Being a man working at notonthehighstreet.com, you don’t get many chances to be manly. The occasional bit of heavy lifting, snatched conversations about the weekend’s football results and that’s about it.

When we realised Movember was rolling around, it dawned on some of us that it was the perfect opportunity to bring a bit of manliness to the office in the form of unshaven upper lips. What’s more, we could help our fellow men too. Movember is all about promoting awareness of prostate and testicular cancer, and raising some funds to help fight them too. These diseases affect so many men and we wanted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other blokes, gents, chaps, dudes, lads and hombres, and help to take the fight to these horrible conditions.

So far, through family, friends and of course our wonderful colleagues, our team of mo-growers have raised around £600 at the time of writing this post. And just in case there’s anyone else out there who’d like to help us out, you can sponsor us by visiting our official Movember page.

Of course we were all hoping we’d end up looking like Tom Selleck, Hulk Hogan or (at worst) Super Mario, but it’s still early days really. On a personal note, I really miss my beard (which I shaved off as per the Movember rules) – it’s really cold without it!

Posted by johnashton on 18 November 2011

hello Mabel

Carrie, our merchandise and picture editor, picked up a very special delivery at the weekend, and brought her into the office just now. Mabel got a lot of attention to put it mildly, and she just lapped it up peacefully. We’re in love…

Posted by jokite on 08 February 2011

Harry's birthday wish

Holly’s son Harry turned six last week – he was just three months old when Sophie and Holly were working on the concept for notonthehighstreet.com. He came in to the office because his birthday wish was to ‘code’ with the cool dude Joe Simms, the technical director. The genes run deep in this one – he hopes to work here in 15 years time!!

And on the way to the cinema for his birthday film, Harry questioned Holly on how Joe could have built the whole website when he hadn’t seen any wood or nails in the office. Just so cute! If only it were that simple…

Posted by jokite on 08 February 2011

when Harry met Santa

Just before Christmas, my partner Frank and I took our son Harry to Lapland for three days to meet Santa. After a three hour flight to Kittlia we arrived in Lapland, and no sooner had we arrived at our little log cabin, I found myself getting all wrapped up in four layers of Arctic gear (nothing to make you feel as attractive as when wearing an insulated blue jacket and charcoal on your nose from the crossing the arctic circle ceremony!) and driving a team of huskies with Frank and Harry in minus 28c, hanging on for dear life for 5km. I have no idea how they can race them for 250km! The landscape is so stunningly beautiful but the cold is hard to bear – but delicious warm berry juice that evening was the perfect antidote for extreme temperatures.

The next day Harry met Father Christmas, which was a totally amazing experience, starting with a sledge ride pulled by Rudolph and a meeting with the big man himself. The beauty of the wilderness was a really soulful experience,and the Northern Lights took our breath away that evening over a glass of mulled wine.

On the last day, we tried our hand at a spot of ice fishing on a frozen lake in minus 30c! More warming berry juice was required before we began the journey home, ironically to a frozen London…

It was an awe-inspiring once-in-a-lifetime trip that I so recommend, especially if you have children! Santadays organised the whole thing for us and I highly recommend them.

Posted by hollytucker on 27 January 2011

Kate's big adventure

Back in March we told you about our creative director Kate, and her trek across Everest in aid of the Myasthenia Gravis Association. Five months on and Kate and her father Tony, who joined her on the trip, are returned from their travels, and as of last week have raised a phenomenal £1585 for their efforts!

They both had an amazing time, despite some delays caused by a highly inconvenient volcano! They started their journey flying from Kathmandu to Lukla, and then endured 16 days of trekking in sub zero temperatures, across extreme mountainous terrain.

Myasthenia Gravis is an auto-immune disease which is characterized by fluctuating and sometimes fatal muscle weakness. The charity works to aid the development of improved diagnosis techniques and better treatment for Myasthenia Gravis, so it really is a very worthwile cause.

Before she left, we gave Kate a little gift to show our support and wish her luck on her trip. Kutuu created a beautiful personalised necklace, shown above against the magnificent Everest backdrop.

Well done Kate and Tony!

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 25 August 2010

Christmas comes early for Rufus

I received a lovely gift in the post the other day. Not for me, but for my dog, Rufus – yet I was just as excited as if I’d received a goodie bag for myself. I knew Rufus would be delighted – his life revolves around tricks and treats! He’s so well trained now, and so eager to please, that even if we accidentally drop a dog treat on the floor, he never dives in and wolfs it. Instead, he starts doing every trick he knows in succession to see which one will work! It’s most amusing. On this occasion, his command was to ‘sit’ or ‘lie’ in pose for photos: he waited obediently for his treats but as I messed around with my iPhone snapping photos of him looking woeful, the temptation was more than he could stand. A sneaky lightening move left my carefully styled arrangement looking rather bare. I shouldn’t have pushed my luck.

Many thanks to Mrs Twee’s Dog Bakery who sells on notonthehighstreet.com through seller Colloco. Rufus is a big fan!

Posted by sophiecornish on 23 June 2010

hey baby!

Like most people, we’re always gushing over anything baby-related, which is why we felt we had to share these pictures of two of the cutest babies ever wearing products from notonthehighstreet.com. One of our sellers Manuka Baby, who sells Merino wool and pure organic cotton clothing, bedding, and sleepwear, sent us in some of their gorgeous range to try out.

Six month old Petra is wearing the Layered Warmth Honeycomb Merino Wool Vest, which is available in three different sizes, from newborn to one year old. The vest is woven in a honeycomb pattern from super-soft 100% pure New Zealand Merino wool. Merino wool is said to help your baby to regulate their temperature – keeping them neither too hot, nor too cool!

Another of our favourites from the Manuka Baby range is the Sleepsac. Unfortunately it is baby-sized (it would really come in handy for power naps at your desk) so we asked another of our little friends, ten month old Christine, to try it out for us.

Perfect for traveling, this little sleeper allows you to quietly transfer your little one from the car-seat to pram to cot, and they’ll be none the wiser. Also made from Merino wool, the Sleepsac will fit your baby from newborn to two years old.

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 08 June 2010

my mum Penny V is no 1 bestseller - again!

For those of you who may not already know, my mother is Penny Vincenzi, the best-selling novelist. Her new novel, The Best Of Times, is number 1 in the UK best-sellers list. It’s the third time she’s been at the top of the book charts, but it’s never any less exciting and we’re all very proud!

She has been a huge inspiration throughout my life – she wanted to be a famous and successful writer since she wrote stories as a child, and that’s exactly what she’s done. She also made me see work as something you should love to do, which has shaped my life in the most positive of ways.

For both Holly and me, our mothers have been fantastic role models in our determination and belief that we will succeed, and we feel specially blessed that they have always understood our personal challenges and supported our own ambitions for notonthehighstreet.com

Posted by sophiecornish on 12 April 2010

a bondi birthday

Holly is taking a well-earned break at the moment catching up with family and friends in Australia. It was also her birthday last week, and we sent some goodies over for her to open while she was away. So if you’re sending a gift or two to far-away friends, we recommend the following as being brilliant gift ideas for travel and rather nifty to post too!

Alphabet bags Initial Tote bag (H) from Alphabet Bags

Wine bottle stopper in F and H from Letteroom

Personalised notebook (“Holly’s great escape”) from Noble Macmillan

Smokey earrings in gold from Hurley Burley

And there’s even more to open on her return! Well we had to show the gifting guru we’d learnt a thing or two…

Posted by jokite on 07 April 2010

ain't no mountain too high for Kate!

In two days, our very noble creative director is taking on a huge challenge. She is off to do a charity trek with her father, Tony, to raise money for the myasthenia gravis association. Never heard of it? That is exactly why they chose it as their charity!

The trek will start with a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla (the world’s most dangerous airport… it has an inclined runway that is much shorter than most!). They will then trek for 16 days – ten days to get up to Base Camp and six days to return. Along the way, they will stay in Namache Bazaar, walk Hilary’s Suspension Bridge and visit Tengboche Gompa. They plan to travel beyond Base Camp to Kala Pattar (Black Rock) which is 5,545m above sea level for the best views of Everest.

It is by no means going to be an easy trek. At Base Camp there is only 50% of the oxygen that there is at sea level, and it will be about -16C at night. Needless to say, Kate has invested in special equipment to ensure she stays warm and safe and arrives back in one piece (very important to us!).

During the trip, Tony will turn 64 which makes the trekking duo even more admirable. They will be celebrating his birthday along with Easter – Kate has packed a huge variety of chocolate easter eggs to make sure at least one easter Sunday tradition is upheld! When the trek is completed, Kate and Tony are going to do a sunrise flight over Everest to see where they have walked and get an amazing view of the summit from above

It is going to be an amazing adventure and we wish her a huge amount of luck – we know her go-getting spirit will take her through!

So far Kate has raised a brilliant £1,300 for the myasthenia gravis association but she would love to raise more – to read more about the charity or to donate, click here.

We gave Kate a little gift to take with her and to keep as a reminder her of the trip. Kutuu designed a special bespoke piece shown above.

Kate can be seen above during a training ramble in West Sussex. There will be more photos after the trip to inspire you!

Posted by jokite on 31 March 2010

a very happy Harry

I love planning Harry’s birthdays, even though it almost becomes a second job for a while! It is all worth it to see the big smiles on the day. We always have a theme and this year it was Knights and Princesses – perfect for boys AND girls! Yummy food was a must – pizzas, chocolate letters and brilliant cupcakes were created especially for the theme.

All Harry wanted for presents were power rangers and anything involving destruction – so disappointing when all I wanted to give him were authentic gifts like the gorgeous Wigwam from when I was a kid! And my great idea to give the boys foam swords and tiaras for the girls backfired slightly – suddenly the cute innocent children began a mass brawl with foam swords flying – I never realised how much a foam sword could hurt!

But on the way home, seeing a red-faced and exhausted Harry flopped in the back of the car, eating cake, surrounded by balloons, trying so hard to keep his eyes open, made me a very pleased mum indeed. Now I’ve got to start thinking of an even better idea for next year…

Posted by hollytucker on 02 March 2010

monkey business

Teenage sons (and probably daughters too, but Honor has a couple of years to go) bring a certain level of cynicism to the gifting in our household, making gift exchanges a little tentative at times! But my husband, Simon, nearly took away my crown of gifting guru with his present of a Beckett & Beckett t-shirt to Ollie for his birthday. I can report that the obscure and amusing designs seem to be accepted by teenage boys, which believe me is no mean feat. Useful news for mothers of teenagers everywhere.

But it’s not just teenagers who are fans – these tshirts have become a big hit in the office too. Many of our boyfriends/ husbands/ brothers/ male friends can be spotted sporting one at weekends.

And with their latest Bond offering we might be ordering a few more too! Quite a good Valentine’s present for a man who is terrified of hearts…

Posted by sophiecornish on 03 February 2010

Christmas with the Tuckers

Now Harry has finally got over his whooping cough, poorly thing, I can finally get back into the swing of 2010!

Christmas was a really happy time and I couldn’t resist taking some photos to show the pretty Christmas things we bought from notonthehighstreet.com. Like all other children, Harry gets extremely excited on Christmas eve and I have to admit I do too… so we hung up the stockings, decorated the house in a Britannia style with union jack bunting, and laid out Harry’s mug with mince pies and carrots, next to Harry’s handwritten letter to Santa in its special embroidered case to make sure Santa received it safely.

The bottom of Christmas tree was overflowing with presents at my parents, all beautfully and simply wrapped courtesy of the partners’ stunning gift wrap. Martha Stewart eat your heart out!

Harry seemed to have a never-ending supply of presents so he was beaming all day! I was delighted to be given some wonderful Hurley Burley jewellery and Frank loved his calendar blocks, they look very cool and are functional too, the perfect gift for a man! Carrie, my sister, loved loved loved her vintage heart framed picture. I might just have to get myself one too now…

Happy new year!

Posted by hollytucker on 07 January 2010

mummy's got a sticker chart

The worm has turned in our household: It’s definitely come to something when your ten-year-old presents you with a reward chart for completion by the end of the month! I’m not sure what it means, but I was pretty sure all the hard-working mums out there would help figure it out for me. I get stickers for taking her to horse-riding myself (and not calling from a traffic jam half way home to say I can’t, as I usually do), for being the ‘helper mum’ on a school trip (nailed that one), and for any kind of home-baking (completely out of the question, I’m afraid). My daughter Honor never stops telling me how proud she is of what I do (in fact she’s an honorary Not Girl, coming into the office to get us to smarten up our filing system whenever she gets the opportunity) so I’m taking this as a chance to shine on the maternal front, and not as a hint that I could do better! Sound familiar?

Posted by sophiecornish on 30 November 2009

60 years wonderful

When my mum, Sally, turned 60 recently it was cause for a celebration. We took her away to Majorca and stayed in a wonderful little hotel where we were blessed with great food, gorgeous views and perfect weather. She was overwhelmed when we gave her a Bombus bespoke piece – nine hearts of the special places in her life. Lots of tears were shed! The office also very sweetly gave her a wonderful Hurley Burley necklace which she just loved. Sally has been the hugest supporter of notonthehighstreet.com from the very beginning. Remembering every anniversary with gifts for the team and regularly sending a little something to teams she hears are working so hard. It is support like this from our families that has been the reason we have been able to get though tougher times. Happy Birthday Mum and hugs all round from your fans at notonthehighstreet.com x

Posted by hollytucker on 30 October 2009