I suppose the title of this post should really be ‘last week’s favourites’…I’m a day late but with all the party preparations last week and then the clearing up yesterday I have a feeling I’ll be playing catch-up all week. Anyway here’s a quick round-up of the last seven days:

1. My thermos mug from Ikea comes in handy on busy mornings when I end up having breakfast on the run.

2. I made another batch of low carb muesli this week (find the recipe here) – my favourite breakfast.

3. Banana bread is great to put in the children’s lunch boxes and as an afternoon treat with a cup of tea. (Recipe here)

4. The week started off very warm and we made the most of the sunny weather with a trip to the playground after preschool. As the week went on it got progressively colder and I think it’s definitely time to dig out the hats and gloves (although I think the chances of finding a matching pair are very slim, given how many gloves were lost at school last winter).

5. Beautiful autumn colours on a crisp, sunny morning.

6. I had been looking for a new ‘smart’ winter coat for a while but not found anything that was quite right. I have a padded coat from Zara which is great when it gets really cold but I wanted a slightly dressier one to wear for nights out. Usually buying coats is a nightmare as I’m small and unless I find one in a petite fit (which means much less choice), the sleeves are too long and it swamps me. But I went into town mid-week to take a few things back and there it was – the perfect coat. As luck would have it there was one left in my size and, being H&M, it was a total bargain at only £39.99! I tried to find it online to link back to for a better picture but for some reason it’s not up on the H&M website, so you’ll have to make do with the picture I snapped in the changing room. The main body of the coat is a black and white tweed type of pattern, with black sleeves and a detachable fur collar which you can of course wear with other coats and jackets as well.

7. It was only a quick trip into town but I did manage to have a wander through our local department store where they were setting up the Christmas display. I know a lot of people complain that the stores bring out the Christmas decorations too early but I kind of like it. The boys’ birthdays are at the end of October and beginning of November but after that I like to start planning for the festive season – I can’t stand stressing about it in mid December when the shops are full of people and things are starting to run out, or worrying about Internet deliveries arriving in time. Only ten weeks to go until Christmas Day folks!

8. Every Friday Clemmie and I go to Gym Tots with my friend and her daughter. The girls love running around, climbing on all the gym equipment and bouncing on the trampolines.

9. As you probably know by now the week culminated with a birthday party for my husband which went on into the early hours of Sunday morning. We all had a great time and he got some fantastic presents – almost all of them golf related!

Hope you’ve all had a fantastic start to the week! X