About

How profound a question! Well I’ll start with my name shall I? My name is Nicole Allen. I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. I moved to the UK when I was 12, where I undertook my secondary and further education. I am married and a mom of two. Although a stay at home mom for the most part, I have had many jobs and projects over the years (juggling around the kids, school and husband’s work) from cake making, breakfast club assisting, house cleaning and dog walking, to, in more recent times, the beauty industry… perfect timing with Covid-19 don’t you think? [Insert face palm emoji here.]

I’ve always loved creating, making, hostessing, organising and teaching. Even in high school I used to make chocolates and stationary and sell them to my peers. I guess that’s another thing I should add, I can’t leave out the fact that I am inescapably, at my core, an entrepreneur and rather business-minded. I owned a Wedding Dress Boutique when we got married and have started up several little businesses over the years. Many have come and gone over time for all sorts of reasons, circumstances, relocating, kids and just life. 

Speaking of high school, when I wasn’t making chocolates, I was studying my butt off. I did my GCSE’s, A’Levels and then went on to do a Business degree with French. Through my French connections I then went on to get my Cambridge Certificate for EFL teaching (CELTA). It was amazing. I loved it. Teaching was seasonal and I did it around many other student jobs like waitressing, working in Corfu in a bar, summer jobs and a bit of travelling (but no where near enough). When I was at Uni is where my awareness of food started and then after the birth of my son is when my passion for health and nutrition was lit. 

I love being able to help, share info, offer ideas and suggestions, break things down into small bite-size, easy-to-swallow segments, demystify, and connect with others and that is why I’m doing Coffee Cups and Cuddles. My dream, why not try again at having one, is for our blogs, vlogs, posts and content to inspire and be used by others, in the way that I am inspired by and use content which I find along the way. I love scrolling through social media and finding a recipe, craft, idea for reducing waste, piece of advice about money (and so I could go on and on) which I think is awesome and having a go at doing it myself. I trust that peppered throughout the content in Coffee Cups and Cuddles, that you too will find the same sort of gems and fun, useful tools.

Imagine we are friends chatting in a coffee shop, or in one another’s home… Okay that maybe a little harder to imagine than usual, given the current Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdown preventing us from doing just that… and the very idea likely rubbing salt in a raw wound… but bare with me. 

If we were to sit across from one another and sip on our coffees (mine’s a black Americano), we would likely chat about the kids, what we’re doing for dinner, what we are doing for someone’s birthday, what home project we are working on, asking for advice/ suggestions, the issues and challenges we are facing at the moment and so on…. And that’s the vibe and inspiration of Coffee Cups and Cuddles. 

Much of the content here pertains to the day-to-day runnings of a home (I’ll admit there is a fair bit of focus on food) and family life, as well as more specific things I am passionate about: baking, reducing waste, nutrition, cooking, celebrating, organising, budgeting, health, faith etc. 

My hope is that some of the ideas, stories, photos and vids will encourage, inspire and bring enjoyment to those who follow or visit. Whether that be a simple recipe/ craft idea or onto the bigger more in-depth topics like the steps we took to change how we eat, how we incorporate our faith into our family life, some of the things we do to budget etc.

If any of what we do can help/ inspire/ relate to anyone else – amazing! Perhaps even find a tribe of like-minded people who like our vibe.

I love gathering ideas from the internet, blogs, social media, TV, friends and then combining the elements which suit us, to try out in the home on the family. Sometimes it’s a huge hit becoming something we adopt as a regular practice, and other times it’s just a nice one-off; either way it keeps the mundane at bay! This blog is essentially where I share all of that and what we do and if we can pass that forward for anyone else, in even a small way, that would be our mission accomplished & bring huge satisfaction.

So grab a coffee, take a moment and imagine you are hanging out with a friend as you explore the blogs, social media posts, vids and pics. I’m sure there will be some ideas and suggestions which you can relate to and be of use, help and inspiration. We would love to help you along your journey and be there along the way, like a friend would be.