Tag Archives: Weekend

Five on Friday

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I went on a spending spree at Space NK and used up the vouchers I got for Christmas and my birthday last autumn. Love that shop! I will do a separate post on the things I bought next week.

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I started putting together a kitchen inspiration folder ahead of our planned renovation later this year. Between that and my Pinterest board I don’t think I’ll be stuck for ideas.

Jewellery

This jewellery tree was on sale for only £10 in a local boutique. Having some of my favourite pieces on display on top of my dresser will hopefully encourage me to accessorize more.

Unisa boots

Honestly, I am not a shopaholic but I had forgotten about these Unisa boots that I bought just before Christmas. Now that I’ve found them, I can’t stop wearing them as they are so comfortable. They remind me of my favourite pair of boots that I had at school.

Star jumper

I’m also somewhat obsessed with my Star sweater from Hunky Dory (another Sale buy) – accessorized here with my ten-year-old son’s beanie, which I keep stealing – much to his embarrassment I should add (I just tell him it’s pay back for all those toddler tantrums he used to throw in the middle of the supermarket to embarrass me!)

Happy Friday everyone! I hope the weekend is all you want it to be – and more! X

Five on Friday

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I cleared out my old nail polishes and stocked up on a new colour (Smokin’ Hot by Essie – in a gorgeous deep grey with purple undertones) as well as a fast dry top coat by Morgan Taylor called Need for Speed

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It’s half term this week so on a rainy afternoon the children and I made these yummy Daim biscuits (as well as an almighty mess in the kitchen but these babies were well worth it)

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I finally booked tickets to go and see the Isabella Blow exhibition Fashion Galore! at Somerset House. I’m going with a friend next Saturday – the day before it ends, talk about cutting it fine!

Tulips

My tulips from Valentine’s Day are still with us (just about). I saw a tip on the Internet which said that putting them in ice cold water made the flowers last longer. It seems to have worked.

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I’ve also been decanting my kitchen staples like flour, sugar, pasta etc into glass jars (mostly from Ikea) and labeling them with these cute chalkboard labels from Not on the High Street. Looks so much better than lots of half full bags and packets spilling stuff everywhere.

Happy weekend everyone! X

This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by

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Happy Sunday everyone! I’m back with my weekly roundup – I do like these posts as they’re a great reminder of what we’ve been up to during the week, sometimes it just whizzes by so fast. Tomorrow is the start of half term and it couldn’t be more welcome – a week of no school run, homework or extracurricular activities.

1. We had promised Cameron a bike for his birthday back in November and last week we finally went and bought it. A very happy boy has been cycling to and from school this week.

2. Casper was very proud that his poem about Africa made it onto the display board at school. You can’t read it in the picture but I was impressed by the rhyming he used.

3. I finally got my hands on the new Porter magazine – and it didn’t disappoint.

4. Clemmie talking to her cousin in Sweden on her ‘phone’. Sometimes it’s very hard to have your family in a different country 😦

5. My husband bought me some beautiful flowers for Valentine’s Day.

6. The kids enjoying a movie night. It was Clemmie’s turn to choose so they all watched Sofia the First – the boys would never admit it of course, but I think they quite liked it!

7. More cycling! It was a lovely sunny day today so we got the bikes out and cycled around the neighbourhood after lunch.

8. Signs of spring are popping up everywhere, like this pretty lilac blossoms. Please, please, please let this be the last of the rain and the cold!

London

And then there was today: an afternoon spent up in London with one of my oldest and best friends (who I hadn’t seen for almost a year as she lives abroad. But that’s the beauty of a really strong friendship, you can just pick up where you left off), walking along the Southbank, people watching and enjoying a glass of bubbly in the sunshine.

The perfect end to the weekend! X

Linked In

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Hope you’re all having a lovely Saturday. After last night’s raging storm, we had rain and hail this morning which finally cleared away to leave us with a glorious sunny afternoon. Right now, a roast chicken is cooking in the oven, the children are playing quietly (probably up to no good but I’m prepared to ignore that for the moment) having been outside to burn off some of their energy, and I’m feeling virtuous after my workout at the gym this morning.

Here is a quick roundup of some of my favourite links from around the web this week:

1. Twelve things every home should have

2. Fourteen foreign films that will make you believe in crazy true love

3. An essential tool for all bloggers/Instagrammers: Take your selfies to another level with this Muku Shuttr iPhone camera remote control

4. The best street style accessories spotted at New York Fashion Week

5. Maybe it’s because I’m on a health kick at the moment but the mere sight of these banana cupcakes with cinnamon frosting on Pinterest made my mouth water

6. See all the latest home trends for spring 2014

7. Get the low-down on how to dress like one of my all-time favourite style icons, Sienna Miller

8. Stickygram comes up trumps again with this neat idea to transform your photos into magnetic jigsaws

Want to follow me? The easiest way is via BlogLovin – you can find me here

A Fresh Start!

Posted in Family Life, Fashion by

Going out B&W

{My new snakeskin heels from Office had their first outing last night teamed with skinny jeans, black peplum top from H&M and wavy hair.}

Turning over a new leaf, changing old habits, starting afresh – whatever you might call it, that is what I intend to do from tomorrow. The horrible weather, a lack of motivation and a sore knee (caused by what I do not know – certainly not over exercising!) have all conspired to stop my New Year fitness regime from getting off the ground. Add to that, a diet of too much sugar, white flour and caffeine (let’s face it, what else is there to do when the rain is pouring down outside except console yourself with tea and cake?) and the result is a sluggish mama, constantly tired and lacking the energy to keep up with my three lovely but boisterous children. I’m not a great believer in fad diets or super strict regimes but cutting back on the bad stuff and adding in more healthy food as well as using my gym membership a bit more frequently would be a good start.

On a different note, I spent another three hours in a hospital waiting room today! Clemmie had scarlet fever a couple of weeks ago and today I noticed a familiar looking rash on her body – and sure enough, the doctor at the out-of-hours clinic confirmed that it has come back 😦 So it’s another ten days of antibiotics and no nursery tomorrow. Poor thing but apart from the rash she seems quite happy and there is no temperature this time.

Despite spending all that time at the hospital and being out late at a dinner party last night, I’ve surprised myself by being extremely productive this evening – the house is clean, all the washing is put away and the kids’ homework is done and their bags are packed ready for tomorrow and now I’ve even completed a blog post. It’s always easier to start the new week feeling on top of things – hopefully I can keep that focus going until next weekend!

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Spring is just around the corner!

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Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part as it’s still only February, but there are some signs that spring is on its way like these beautiful daffodils around the corner from our house.

Over the weekend we got a brief respite from the rain and took the opportunity to go outside and soak up some rays and much-needed vitamin D.

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Clemmie posing with the Daffs 🙂

We went to the playground for the first time this year, which seems crazy, but the past few weeks have been so wet that many parts of the country are really suffering with flooding. Unfortunately it looks like the rain is set to return later this week but at least we got a taste of spring. Now I think I would be happy to skip the snow and go straight to warmer weather…

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That Friday Feeling

Posted in Daily Musings by

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Friday again and the last day of January! I, for one, am glad to see the back of this grey dreary month. The rain may still be pouring down outside, but at least we are one month closer to Spring.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend! X

This Week’s Favourites

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A Gingerbread latte (I was pleasantly surprised that they were still on the menu even though Christmas is over) and mini muffin at Costa earlier this week while Cameron was at his tutor. The traffic was horrendous so I needed a quick energy boost to face the drive home.

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Clemmie and her best friend on the way to pick up their older siblings from school. They have known each other since birth and, although they sometimes have their little squabbles, they are super cute together and you can tell they really love each other.

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Finally made it to the cinema last night to see American Hustle and I was not disappointed. It is an excellent film and I’m not surprised it has received so many Oscar nominations.

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During the week my breakfast tends to consist of a bowl of cereal eaten at my desk so on the weekends it is nice to make a bit more of an effort. These scones are a favourite of both mine and the kids and take no time at all to make.

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Another purchase in the Sales – most likely my last this season – but I couldn’t resist these shoes by Poste Mistress which were reduced from £80 to £36.

I had some work to do tonight so apologies for the short post! But I’m firmly of the belief that, if time is scarce, it is better to write something rather than nothing. Hope you agree!

Have a fab Sunday night. X

Happy Weekend!

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Saturday morning: coffee in bed while the children play downstairs. No school uniforms, packed lunches or getting out of the door by 8.30am. Now that I’m working again, weekends are even more precious – two whole days to recuperate, relax and gather our energies for next week.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend! X

This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by

I just sat down to write my weekly round up post and realised I only had four pictures (and none of them of actual people!) from this past week! I guess now that I’m working four days a week and not out and about so much, there aren’t so many photo opportunities (let’s face it, pictures of me hunched over the laptop with a cup of coffee are not that interesting).  It doesn’t help that it’s January – the month which is renowned for being devoid of social engagements – so hopefully things will pick up in the next few weeks. My mood has finally lifted over the weekend and I feel much more positive going into the new week – going for a run yesterday morning really helped so I’m planning to fit in a couple of sessions at the gym this coming week to try and hold on to those happy endorphins!

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I found this book in my bedside cabinet – I can’t remember where I got it but it made for entertaining reading on a train journey into London for a meeting this week. The book was first published in 2006 so some anecdotes were a bit out of date but it gave some interesting insights into the fashion industry.

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It finally stopped raining and the weather got cold (and sunny) enough for me to wear the Ugg boots I got for Christmas. I love Uggs – so warm and comfortable!

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Friday night TV dinner – spaghetti carbonara with a side salad and a nice glass of red – in front of Breaking Bad, of course. We’re now on the last series – what will we do when it’s all over? I’m hoping the second season of House of Cards is out soon…

I had planned to go to the movies with a friend last night to see American Hustle but we left it too late and when we tried to book online all three cinemas near us were sold out. We will have to try next weekend instead.

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A trip to Ikea was on the agenda today, to buy a new shelving unit for my eldest son’s room, storage boxes and all the other usual bits and pieces that magically seem to jump into our trolley every time we visit the Swedish superstore. I was fairly restrained today it has to be said as we’re still feeling the pinch from the Christmas blowout…

It’s almost 8pm so time to round up the kids (who are still downstairs riding the wave of that second wind of energy they seem to get as soon as bedtime approaches) and try to get them into bed. I’m determined that our mornings this week will be a lot more pleasant than they were last week…

Happy Sunday to you all! X