The Day That... REVIEW

The day you give birth to your child is a day you will NEVER forget. Good bits & bad bits. ( the horrendous pain!) and I was sent a gift that will cherish this moment forever.
The Day That... Has an army of photographers who take photos of dawn breaking at various locations. It does evoke all the emotion and significance of that special day.

So of course, they sent me a beautiful framed photo, which I chose from a variety of photos, online. You get to say what the photo is for and choose your frame. Easy.As.That.

When it arrived, it was beautifully packaged and very secure inside the box.

When I saw the breathtaking photograph, it brought a lump to my throat and tears in my eyes.

My beautiful baby girl was born on that beautiful special day.

A unique beautiful gift and I am so very grateful for receiving this!

www.thedaythat.co.uk

Review: Prince Lionheart BoosterPod

Due to my hectic work schedule - principle of my dance school DanceJam, Freelance dance teacher and part-time social media junior exec, *I AM SUPERWOMAN* - Molly spends a couple of days with her nanny. Where she is spoilt rotten!

We didn't want to buy a highchair as Molly is getting bigger by the day and a highchair would just be a complete waste of money.
Prince Lionheart came to the rescue. Last year, I reviewed the bebePod as an alternative to the Bumbo, and this is a step up.

Straps on to the chair, it allows your toddler to feel more a part of the family dinner table and the seat looks incredibly squishy and comfy!

Molly actually sits in it for fun. I promise I don't deprive her of actual fun.

Prince Lionheart always manages to come up trumps when it comes to style, use-a-bility but above all, comfort!

Here's Molly and some boosterPod lovin':

Don't forget to check out Prince Lionheart's other products here.

This is an honest review and I recieved the boosterPod on behalf of Prince Lionheart.

Fittie McVitie Friday

PHWOAAAAR.

Image taken from ryanlochte.com

Peppa Pig World @ Paultons Park

I have always been lucky to live so close to Paultons Park - my Nan and Granddad used to take me and my sisters there all the time when we were younger, but I distinctly remember getting really bored of it. Nothing had been updated for years and just looked really old and out of date.

Roll on 20 years or so (jeez, kill me now, I AM OLD!) and Paultons Park has had a HUGE revamp, with lots of new rides and play areas and now Peppa Pig World, and who doesn't love Peppa Pig!

Well, Molly for one, is obsessed. Except she likes to call it Peppa Duck! So to see her little face where she could see lots of gorgeous pastel colours and the famous Peppa theme tune in the near distance was one to treasure.

We went on lots of the rides, although some of the queues were horrendous, so we steered clear. But Molly loved the little boat ride and car ride, all rides are perfectly suitable for her age.

There are lots of places to eat, so we grabbed lunch back in Paultons Park. I do have to say, the burger I bought was pretty grim looking, so I left that.

And of course, I couldn't resist the gift shop. Its pretty hard to resist....especially if you are a shopaholic like me! So Molly is now the owner of a lovely Princess Peppa toy, Peppa book and some cute hair clips - which she hates!

If your child loves Peppa Pig, or even theme parks, you must go!!!

Paultons Park

Life is a pool party...

Ah, I remember my good old Vegas days. The only way to get over my sin city hangover was by going to Rehab (and I don't mean The Priory type) and Wet Republic.
Nobody can do a pool party like Vegas.
Sipping Mojitos, at the outside David Lloyd pool, with whingey over-indulged (on burgers) children, just doesn't float my boat!
However, I have spied a few little purchases which have inspired me to bring the 'pool party' look to mundane UK.

Dust off your paddling pools, get waxed, sip on my fave M&S Mojito Fizz and do it Vegas style!! Yeeeha.

Tootsie and Fudge

Let's face it, the baby/children market is a pretty huge one. Competition is tough with children boutiques popping up all over the shop (no pun intended). Due to my obsession with buying clothes and well basically leading Molly down the path of being a huge spoilt brat, I have come across A LOT of online shops. Only a rare few really stand out to me.

*Wave hello Tootsie and Fudge*

First off, LOVE the name. Secondly, they stock some of my favourite brands: Katvig, Molo, MALA and loads more.
And if you know your brands, then you will recognise the Scandanavian theme.

Fun, bright and colourful. Clothes designed for children to have fun in. Clothes that stand out!

I decided to try Molly in the gorgeous MALA romper. Perfect for cruisers and um, romping about I suppose!
It comes in the HAMA (beads) print - which I have a little collection of thanks to my 9yr old neice - and it looked so comfy, that I was actually a bit jealous. I think I could squeeze one arm through the head bit!!
The romper is £19 (bargain!) from ages 3 months to 2yrs (damn!), with even a junior version of a vest top or a halterneck dress.

If you love clothes, colour and FAB customer service, check it out!


www.tootsieandfudge.com

Help Dora Help

Well, its that time of the year again, when Nick Jr are offering the chance for a pre-school or nursery to win £20,000 worth of equipment!

Last year, Hope Nursery, Belfast won and look at what they spent their money on:

Every nursery/ pre-school can apply for the activity pack, giving them educational activity resources.The pack follows the Early Years Foundation Stage development goals and contains six activity session plans that provide stimulating learning opportunities with the theme of Dora the Explorer’s adventures. The themes for this year’s pack are: Cooking, Sports Day, Fairy Tales, Animals, Seaside and Music.

Once the pack has been received, they then have the opportunity to apply for the £20,000 award.

Registration is now open at nickjr.co.uk/helpdorahelp for nurseries to apply for a pack. They have until 22nd July to work through the activities with their pre-schoolers and put together their application for the £20,000 award.

Once this year’s applications have been submitted, an expert panel led by Nick Jr.’s Wake Up World Helena Dowling, alongside Nick Jr. representatives and partners including The Prince’s Foundation, Dora Magazine and Chad Valley will choose five finalists. The public will then be able to vote for their favourite application and decide who is awarded the £20,000.

Each of the five finalists will be awarded discovery and learning equipment from Chad as well as a classroom visit from Dora the Explorer and all five finalists’ award bids will be filmed and aired on Nick. Jr.

Nurseries and pre-schools can apply for the free Help Dora Help Activity Pack and Award Fund at www.nickjr.co.uk.

 The campaign, supported by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts 

For more info please visit www.childrenandarts.org.uk

Tots 100 Book Club

I remember those days fondly, when I was able to wake up at a reasonable hour (you know when it wasn't still dark), grab my book, and lose myself for a couple of chapters or so. See, I used to do this quite a lot but these days, my only form of literature is Baby Hampshire or Elle - essential reading right?

I did, however, manage to start AND finish a whole book recently. Ok, so it was no War of the Worlds but it kept me entertained!

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes:

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun teashop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.


So typically girly, it was the bright, pink cover which caught me.


I must admit sometimes i find it difficult to get into a book at first, almost forcing myself to read but from the first chapter of this book I was engrossed. Moyes has such a realistic and natural flow to her writing, which makes it a believable storyline that just keeps flowing along beautifuly.

I think everyone loves a good old romantic story and this really is a true romance story but the storyline is what makes this book very different from all the other romantic novels. You can almost feel that you can relate to Lou and Will, the two main characters, and almost feel sad when you finish the book, like you have said goodbye to two very good friends!

There were so many laugh out loud moments - LOL - but many times you feel heartbroken. Sitting in the doctors surgery with tears rolling down my face is not a good look!
It was amazing how Moyes managed to take such a delicate subject matter which could have made for a very depressing read and yet still managedto bring some humour out in the book so that the book didn't feel too deep all the way through the book.


Me Before You by JoJo Moyes is available to buy at Tesco's.


Tots100 Parent Blogger Book Club

Oliver Peoples - I salute you!

So I gotta admit, I don't wear my glasses as much as I should. I start wearing them when I catch sight of my crows feet (although I'm sure they are more like whooping great American Eagle feet) or when my head pounds from my constant squinting.

I have often been accused of giving filthy looks to people. No, it's because I can't see you. Unless we are enemies. Then in that case, I'm giving you deathly stares.

I feel a bit conscious wearing my glasses, not because they are brown NHS glasses with bits of cello tape holding them together - they are very chic Chanel as a matter of fact. I just don't think I'm a glasses girl.

SOOOO... I thought it would be a great idea to purchase BIG Eric Morecambe style glasses, you know just to make sure I don't stick out like a sore thumb.

This is a pretty bad photo, I look waaaay to happy! But I do heart my glasses - Thanks Oliver Peoples and Pretavoir. For making me look like the birth child of Chris Evans and Eric Morecambe.

Silent Sunday...

I'm Back...

I'm doing a Britney, Christina, Take That and a Russell Grant. It's my comeback.
I had a mini break from blogging. Not quite sure why. Mainly because I'm stupidly busy (still am) but I just found it a little too much.

I can't promise I will blog every hour of every day but I don't think I will leave it months in between posts now!

So what's happened....

1. Molly is almost 15 months!! She is a little pickle and the funniest mini person I know. Not walking yet but standing and trying to grab things she shouldn't!!
2. I now have my own dance business called DanceJam! It's a street dance school based in Hampshire and I also take classes in school!!
3. I've had my hair chopped.
4. I still love food.

So that's it. Missed me?! X