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Fashion Friday: Leather Look

January 23, 2015, 4:05 pm
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This was my travel outfit when we flew to Ireland last weekend! I wore my By Malene Birger metallic knit jumper and a white sleeveless Vila shirt underneath. I also layered a black Boob nursing singlet underneath it all for comfort/coverage when feeding Eduardo on the airplane. A tad more daring than my usual style are these leather trousers that I picked up recently by Michael Kors. I actually had passed these up before Christmas as I figured they were too much of a splurge for such a trendy piece. But I couldn't stop thinking about them ever since then and while picking up my outfit for The Saturday Night Show, Jonathan surprised me by convincing me to get them. I'm not going to argue with that!! I finished off the outfit with my black wedge boots from Whistles.

 I hope you're all having a fabulous Friday! 
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Style Saturday: Puppy Love

January 24, 2015, 4:48 pm
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I went along with a friend of mine to see a new puppy today (not for me, for her!). It was an eventful afternoon involving a long road trip (long for nervous drivers like me = a 40 minute drive), a petrol pump disaster and dog poo. And this was all BEFORE we'd even seen the puppy!! I will leave it up to tomorrow's vlog for to reveal what happened. But this was what I wore! Complete with my shearling jacket because I'm actually freezing my bum off posing for these pictures. 

I wore my cream chunky knit Jack Wills jumper that I got from ASOS, army green Michael Kors skinny jeans and my leopard heels from Kurt Geiger. I will admit that I actually chickened out and ended up wearing a different pair for driving just because I'm not that confident about driving in heels yet! 

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! I want 6 more puppies!! 
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New Camera Fun

January 25, 2015, 3:08 pm
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I originally bought this camera as a Christmas present for my sister but my mum got her the same thing...instead of going back and returning it I decided to keep it for myself! It's the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 - of course I got it in pink. Today was the first time I took it out of its box and used it. I have come to the conclusion that these are actually pretty cool! Aside from the fact that the film is ridiculously expensive (I think it works out at about £3 a picture!), I love how the photos come out and they have that vintage look, like an Instagram shot but in "real life" form. Jonathan loves how they look on our fridge! Here are the three snaps we took today. Emilia & I were wearing matching velour tracksuits...I mean how much classier can you get. Also, if you are having a hard time getting your toddler to pose for pictures I recommend investing in one of these OR painting your own camera pastel pink. I think Emilia believed that this was a magical toy camera because I've never seen her give such a cheesy grin before! She was so pleased with herself! 
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Mommy Monday: Sharing & Doggy Friends

January 26, 2015, 3:23 pm
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Here's what we got up to today. As you can tell, Eduardo is a fan of anything that Emilia deems "off-limits". In other words, her Doc McStuffins doll and doctor's bag...her Elsa & Anna dolls...these are her prized possessions. Things he is allowed to look at but not touch and when Emilia is out at her ballet class or playgroup I sometimes catch him tentatively touching her stuff with a look of excited disbelief on his face! Having said that Emilia is actually quite good at sharing her toys. Even if her initial instinct is to shriek in annoyance she will rarely refuse to share with her brother. 


Eduardo got his hands on Doc and parts of her doctor's bag (though he wasn't allowed to touch the stethoscope...never the stethoscope!!). And Emilia proceeded to change all of her toys' nappies. She went through a lot of imaginary wipes & nappy bags. It turns out her toys have many poo explosions.


Bianca got put in the red buggy which she quite enjoyed...she was pushed around by both Emilia & Eduardo until I found her parked into a corner in the sitting room, fast asleep. I like to think she appreciated the colour co-ordination of the buggy to her bow. Theo wanted to get in on the action too but unfortunately none of the children's toys could hold his weight. Ahh Theo...he's a real gem. I can't wait for them all to be groomed tomorrow! 
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Beauty Tuesday: Little Green Box!

January 27, 2015, 3:59 pm
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I was recently treated to this little green gem - an all-natural and organic beauty box from Souk Souk. It works as a monthly subscription service, where you receive 5 little green beauty products & a magazine for £10 + p&p each month. By no means am I all-natural OR organic when it comes to beauty products but I am very open-minded when it comes down to things like this and I'm willing to give anything a try! I also really respect those who stick to the all-natural way of life. I wish I were that disciplined! Here's what was in the January box: 


Green People Gentle Cleanser

This stuff smells really fresh & clean. It's 91% organic and suitable for all skin types. 


Mungo Murphy's Nourishing Seaweed Mask

This is like nothing I've ever tried before! It comes in a green, smelly powder form and although it does stink a little I'm weirdly intrigued to try it on my face!


Bentley Organic Shampoo & Conditioner

I'm a bit skeptical about these because I'm normally of the opinion that all-natural shampoos & conditioners don't work that well but I'm willing to give these a go. They have a lovely citrus smell and are perfect for travel as they're just the right size, so I might pop them in my suitcase for an upcoming trip next week ;) 


Afyna Relaxing Body Lotion

Last but not least is this body lotion which seems nice & smells pleasant but what I like most of all is the packaging as I think it resembles an old-fashioned milk bottle! 

That's everything that I got this month! I do think this is a fabulous idea for people who are interested in going green with their beauty products and would like to discover new brands. I also love how the box & packaging is made from recycled materials...I feel like a lot of thought went into all the details of this beauty box. I'm keen to be introduced to more all-natural/organic products and am interested in seeing if they make a difference! 

Let me know what you think! Are you interested in going green with your beauty regime? If you'd like to sign up to Souk Souk, you can do so here!

*Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. I was not paid for my review, nor am I affiliated in anyway with the brand. I was gifted this box however am under no obligation to mention it...this is just something I genuinely find interesting and wanted to share :)
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What I Ate Wednesday {28.1.15}

January 28, 2015, 3:38 pm
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Breakfast

Today started in a bit of a panic as we were rushing to get out the door so I didn't have time to eat a proper breakfast. We had meetings in Central London but between getting children organised, weekly grocery shops being delivered and putting the correct colour jumpers & harnesses on dogs of course we ended up running late! So I grabbed a Nutri Grain Breakfast Bake and a banana to eat in the car on the way to the train station! I also made sure to take a bottle of water with me...especially as I felt quite bloated today!


Lunch

After a morning of meetings, we went to Pizza East for lunch. I ordered the beetroot & goat's cheese salad but kind of wish I would have got a pizza instead as they did look amazing!! I also got a Diet Coke as I haven't had one in ages!


Dessert

I could not pass up dessert (especially after such a light lunch!), so I got the salted caramel & chocolate tart with cream. (YUM!) This was extremely rich but very good. Everyone else got donuts with an amazing chocolate mousse/sauce thing on the side which I was very jealous of! I had this with a cup of black coffee.


Dinner

This evening I made Jamie Oliver's Trapani Pasta which is one of Jonathan's favourites. It's actually more of a summer dish as it's made with a raw sauce of cherry tomatoes, almonds, parmesan, anchovies, chilli peppers, basil and garlic. Everyone loved this but I think next time I need to omit the chilli for the children :-/ I sometimes forget the Jamie's recipes can be quite spicy (which we love, but is a bit much for small kids). 


Snack

After dinner I tried to keep it healthy with an orange & cherry Fruitopolis yoghurt. I also drank 2L of water today...and that's it!

What did you eat today?!
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Throwback Thursday: Bandana Baby

January 29, 2015, 4:34 pm
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This is little Anna at about age 6 or 7! I can't believe I never noticed this before but it appears that my mum and I had the same idea with this "bandana" trend...evidently she liked to put them on me (worn as a scarf) and I now put them on Eduardo (worn as bibs though, ha ha!). I don't know why I find that so bizarre! To be totally honest I never even made the connection until now! I started out putting these bandana dribble bibs on Eduardo purely because he used to drool so much (and still does when he's teething!) so they were more functional than fashionable. But I do love them as a little accessory to his outfit...and as we can see here my mum obviously felt the same way! What do you think of the bandana scarf and/or bibs?!
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Fashion Friday: Getting Ready for America!

January 30, 2015, 4:00 pm
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I'm getting a lot more use out of these riding boots than I thought I would! I also kind of love the camo colours in this outfit...the shirt/blouse was super affordable & from Forever21 (bought over the summer) and my trousers are by Selected. The boots I got on sale from ASOS and are Ted Baker. I'm still having a hard time getting in & out of them with those zips!! Underneath my shirt I wore a long-sleeve black nursing top by Boob Design as it's quite cold out! I also wore my long gold necklace from Gorjana as I liked how it tied in with the gold zips on my boots :)

As I look at these pictures I miss my doggies SO much...they are gone for the next week as we're off to Disney World on Sunday - eek!!! Packing is a total nightmare but I am getting through it! But the most difficult thing is not getting to see my dogs for such a long time. I know by about mid-week next week I will probably start to unravel a bit...ha ha ha! No, I'm not pregnant but I do get emotional about my furry babies. 

I hope you're all having a fabulous Friday!
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Style Saturday: Getting My Hair Done!

January 31, 2015, 4:10 pm
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I got my hair done yesterday in preparation for our Florida trip! It was quite a scary experience actually, as this was the first time I got it done since moving to the UK! In Ireland I had a trusted hair stylist that I really liked and even went back to him when I visited in July but since then I hadn't set foot in a salon. I was nervous about starting up with someone new but I got a recommendation from two different people about a particular salon in my town so I decided to give it a go. I opted for just a colour touch-up and no cut as I think I like my hair this length for now. The new hair stylist basically just freshened up my colour which is a lighter blonde balayage blended through the ends & a few face-framing pieces at the front. The rest of my root colour is my own. She also applied a toner as I like it quite cool-toned to balance out the warmer bits & keep the blonde from looking yellow. I am so happy with the results! They gave me a beautiful blow-out too. I got it blow-dried straight with lots of volume which is how I like it! 

What do you guys think?! Oh, and please ignore any packing mess in the background...today has been a chaos of lists, clothing piles and suitcases - argh!! And I'm not even finished. I still have a few bits & pieces to put away. But I'm so excited for Disneyworld!!! 
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I'm Back! (Not an April Fool's Joke!)

April 1, 2015, 12:00 pm
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Well, hi there! It's been a while (like two months...) since my last blog post! But I'm back and it's not an April Fool's prank, I promise. I thought I'd ease in slowly with a simple What I Ate Wednesday - and as you can see, not much has changed! Actually this is a good tool for me because I've gained a few lbs recently so I need to get back on track!

Breakfast
Breakfast was porridge with almond milk, almonds, blueberries, cinnamon and a black coffee! I'm still drinking my water - I take a 500ml bottle in the mornings and fill it up another 3 times throughout the day to get to 2L! 


Lunch
My lunch rarely changes when I'm at home as you can see! I had a red onion & chive bagel with applewood smoked ham, cheddar cheese (a dash of red & black pepper) and toasted it in our sandwich press. I also added some cherry tomatoes & cucumber, these are the staple veggies in our fridge! And I tried to drink another bottle of water.


Afternoon Coffee
When the children were napping I caught up on Keeping Up with the Kardashians accompanied by a black Nespresso coffee :) (Linizio Lungo)


Afternoon Snack
Later that afternoon I was feeling a bit peckish so had a strawberry Fruitopolis yoghurt and organic apple (I don't know why I mentioned this was organic...ha ha ha! But it was, and it tasted great!).


Dinner
For dinner we had beef tacos! This picture makes it look like all we ever eat are tomatoes & cucumber, but actually that's not the case I just didn't have any other veggies in my fridge! I made these with minced beef, kidney beans, garlic & herb taco seasoning and served them with tomatoes, cucumber, salsa and some grated cheddar. They were really delicious!


Dessert
It's no secret that chocolate Hobnobs are my vice! But I'm trying to not eat a whole pack  practise portion control so I had just four along with my decaf coffee (black). I ended today at about 1.5L of water which isn't bad...it's so hard to drink a lot especially when you need to pee every 5 minutes!

And that's everything I ate today! You can watch the video I filmed today below:



Hope you enjoyed this post/video! I will be back with another one soon...not two months later ;) 
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Easter Throwback!

April 2, 2015, 12:59 pm
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The daffodils are up in our garden and I even have a few in a vase in my kitchen so needless to say that was the inspiration behind this throwback picture! This was taken when I was about 6 years old, do you see Emilia or Eduardo in me?! 

I hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend! I can't believe it's already here!!
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Happy 1st Birthday Eduardo!

April 9, 2015, 1:58 pm
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Cuddles with mummy 
His birthday cake was banoffee pie, made by me :) 
The best big sister - genuinely excited for him to see his cake & presents!
Blowing out his candle
With his auntie Erika
Playing with the present we got him - they both loved it!
Devouring his birthday cake :)

Exactly one year ago this little boy stole my heart. Before giving birth to him I never could have imagined myself with a boy...I've always been a total girly girl and when we found out we were having Emilia I was so relieved and excited! I'd always wanted a girl to dress up in pink & bows, do girly things like play with makeup, take her shopping and get mother-daughter mani pedis. I grew up the oldest of three sisters so I honestly didn't know very much about boys. To tell the truth I had little to no interest in finding out either, as I'd always imagined them to be rowdy, messy, smelly creatures who only cared about cars, sports or playstation games. So when we found out Eduardo was a boy as much as I was happy to have one of each I was also scared and apprehensive about how on earth I was going to be a mum to a little man. 

I cannot tell you how wrong and ignorant I was about everything! Boys are JUST as much fun as girls...for one thing dressing them is amazing and opens up a whole new world of options! I never realised just how much fun picking boy clothes was - it is equally as fun as girls' stuff! Eduardo loves planes, trains and car noises, he likes getting messy and dirty, he wants to get into everything and it's actually the sweetest thing in the world to watch because it reminds me of his daddy whom I love to pieces. 

Another wonderful thing about having Eduardo is that he is so affectionate and a total mummy's boy. I have a strong bond with Emilia and she will come to me for comfort when she needs it or is feeling scared but she is also fiercely independent so you feel like you really need to work for her hugs! But Eduardo is a cuddle monster...no matter what I'm doing he will always lean in for a hug, a kiss or even start climbing my legs just to be close to me. It's so amazing to me because as a child I was more like Emilia so I feel like I "get" her whereas Eduardo took me by surprise. And I can safely say as a mummy I appreciate it very much :) 

This past year has been a big one especially with our move to the UK and settling into family life with two small children. I can honestly look back and say I'm proud of everything we did but I'm also a bit sad that it's over. First birthdays are always emotional for me (I was the same with Emilia) because it marks the end of breastfeeding which is a huge bond between mother & baby. But this time round was even more bittersweet as I'm pretty sure that this will be my last baby so a part of me doesn't want him to grow up and I'm clinging to every moment! 

Happy 1st Birthday, little man. We are so lucky to have you <3 

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Eduardo's Mickey Mouse Party!

April 14, 2015, 1:24 pm
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Last weekend we threw Eduardo a vintage Mickey Mouse themed 1st birthday party...and here's how it turned out! All photos are courtesy of Chris Brock Photography, who took some wonderful candids of our very special day. 


I got almost all the decorations for the party from Etsy. I got inspired on Pinterest and started pinning all my favourite Mickey Mouse party details a few months ago. Then I basically took all my favourites and searched for handmade items on Etsy to give the party that vintage feel. Eduardo is obsessed with Mickey, everytime he sees his face he wants to kiss him and makes a "mmmmwah" sound. 

Here's a brief list of the items I got along with where I sourced them: 

Personalised Eduardo bunting & high-chair bunting - Fancy Flags & Banners
Mickey Mouse paper straws - BA Collections
Mickey Mouse garland - Bluefin Works
Fabric cake bunting - Backyardprims
Mickey Mouse cupcake toppers - Ava Lane Paperie
Mickey Mouse paper windmills centrepiece - Aubabi78 
Mickey confetti in red black & yellow - Mountain View Creations
Mickey Mouse themed loot bags/goody bags - Scraps to Remember
  Mickey Mouse invitations - Styles with Charm

The catering for the party was all by a company called The Icing on the Cake which I was lucky enough to find on Facebook. I got so disheartened & frustrated while looking for the perfect Mickey Mouse cake...I found that a lot of them looked cheap or flat looking which I don't like. I want a cake to look yummy, even if it is themed! So the one I chose was similar to Emilia's 1st birthday cake that my cousin made with the petal icing but obviously in the classic Mickey Mouse colours! I also got red velvet cupcakes, cookies and both kids & grown up sandwiches. This catering company specialises in pop-up vintage afternoon teas so they provide beautiful china tea-sets with all the accessories. It was really gorgeous and everybody commented on how fancy everything looked! 


I also baked some Mickey Mouse shaped cookies with Mickey sprinkles from The Bakers Confections on Etsy...these didn't turn out very professional looking but they were home-made and special, so I put one in each goody bag and everyone thought they tasted great! (Especially Emilia ;)


We had an absolutely wonderful day spent with some of our close family & friends...Eduardo & Emilia had a blast and the sun even made an appearance later in the afternoon! We had planned on getting a bouncy castle but unfortunately it was spitting rain that morning so they couldn't deliver it - but in the end it didn't really matter as the kids hung out on their swing-set and trampoline. 

Thank you to everyone who came to Eduardo's first birthday party and helped make it special! And I hope you all enjoyed the pictures! Any questions, let me know in the comments! :) 
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Eduardo's 10 Month Update!

April 15, 2015, 1:28 pm
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Obviously Eduardo is no longer 10 months old - it was his 1st birthday last week! But these were old pictures & a video I filmed 2 months ago that were too cute not to post. Plus I really enjoy looking back on these updates...so here ya go! 



He was so alert and feisty in this video for some reason! I think he had just woken up from his morning nap and was in a great mood. I have so much to update on since doing this video as A LOT has changed so I will probably post that next week! Stay tuned!
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Date Day

April 21, 2015, 3:54 pm
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Throughout all the craziness that's happened over these past few years, the one thing that has remained constant and which I can always rely on is my relationship with Jonathan. Unfortunately it's also something I often take for granted. I recently realised that as much as we have the luxury of jobs that allow us to spend a lot of time together, we don't tend to make time for each other without the children unless it's something work related. And while our relationship is strong a marriage takes work and it's important to me that we look after it so we can be the best parents possible to Emilia & Eduardo! So we've decided to make a conscious effort to organise a weekly "date night" or in today's case "date day" where we don't talk about work and do something nice for the two of us. 


Today's date actually exceeded all of my expectations! I had anticipated maybe going for a meal in our local town (I'm a simple girl!) but after showing Jonathan an Instagram pic of the kind of amazing deliciousness that is a s'mores milkshake, he suggested Bluewater which is home to the red velvet Lola's Cupcake shake - my all-time favourite treat! The excitement nearly kept me up all night...I couldn't wait to go! We decided to beat rush-hour traffic and go during the day when it's quieter...hence the "date day" was born! Here's what I wore on our lunchtime date - a pretty simple outfit which is nothing you haven't all seen before! The blue shirt is an old Tommy Hilfiger one, my jeans are beaten up €5 ones from a Zara sale rack, the pink bow flats are from ASOS about 4 years ago and my pashmina was from a stall in Sorrento. My bag is by Chloé (my 21st birthday present from Jonathan ;)



Bluewater has a huge selection of restaurants but we finally decided on Jamie's Italian for lunch as the last time we were at one was probably in Dublin. I went all out and ordered my absolute favourite pasta dish...black squid & mussels spaghetti! Seafood pasta is pretty much all I eat when we're in Sorrento - I am obsessed! This certainly didn't disappoint...the spaghetti was amazing and super filling! So much so that I passed on dessert (totally unlike me) and didn't even feel like my cupcake shake! Instead we opted to do some retail therapy which mostly involved spending a ridiculous amount of time in toy shops picking out presents for our kids, Jonathan trying on and subsequently falling in love with the Apple watch (I still don't get it) and me filling the void in my heart after finishing up with breastfeeding by buying 12,000 push-up bras.


Here is some of the damage that was done today! As you can see it was a very pink haul...poor Jonathan! This is minus the kids' toys of course...but I did pick up a little flannel beach dress for Emilia from Juicy Couture which I thought would be so cute over her swimsuits this summer! I also got a set of hot pink heart print pyjamas which were on sale. From Victoria's Secret PINK I did pick up some bras as I'm in dire need of new (smaller...*SOB*) ones! And one boring pair of white undies. The bras are all from the Push-Up range and I got four "The Date" ones (in black, grey, indigo and berry) as well as one plain "Wear Everywhere" white one.

There was one more major, unexpected and very exciting thing we did today that I haven't mentioned yet because it's not the right time BUT I will tell you about it soon ;)


Meanwhile back at the zoo...here's what this monkey was getting up to! I swear to god, my children could not be anymore different! Emilia would never do anything this crazy but this ladies and gentlemen is little Eduardo Jonathan...professional furniture climber and the sole reason for which I will most likely go grey in my late twenties. 

All jokes aside, today was pretty amazing and we both came home feeling refreshed, renewed and even more in love. I highly recommend setting aside some quality time for each other every week especially if you have kids! Life can get stressful, crazy and sometimes you end up taking out your daily frustrations on the very person you are closest to. So it's important to give your relationship a little TLC to remind yourselves why you got together in the first place! Let me know what you think of date night/days. Do you have them and if so, do they make a difference to your relationship?
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Trip to the Groomer's

April 22, 2015, 4:18 pm
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This morning I was greeted by this beautiful baby (two beautiful babies actually but the other one is more difficult to get a picture of ;) who decided to have a cuddle with mummy's shoes while I was doing my makeup & rushing to get ready! These baby blue cloud pyjamas are from H&M - they have some really cute kids stuff actually! 


The reason why I was in such a rush is because today was grooming day for our dogs and their appointment was for 9am (we were 20 minutes late of course...as always I underestimated just how long it would take to get six very excitable dogs into their harnesses and out the door). After I dropped them off I headed to the gym to squeeze in a workout. Since I stopped breastfeeding I gained 5lbs (*boo*) and with summer fast approaching I feel the need to shape up & try to get the pre-baby body back! I've already seen some comments speculating that I'm pregnant again...I'm not, but after having two kids back to back the "mummy tummy" struggle is real, folks! Especially after eating a big meal! 


And here is what my six furry babies looked like after their trip to the groomer's! I wish they'd stay like this all month long but then they probably wouldn't enjoy their walkies so I shouldn't complain. But for at least a couple of days they look and smell amazing! If you don't already know who is who...here's the "secret bow code" ;) Who is your favourite puppy?!

dark blue = Albi
light blue = Theo
purple/lavender = Sina
pink = Nivea
yellow = Nuvies
red = Bianca

When I went to collect them, everyone was calm & quiet except for Bianca who yapped non-stop until I picked her up. The groomer said "ooh she's always so chatty isn't she?!" Ha ha ha, that's one way to describe her!


Where would we be without a little bit of a What I Ate Wednesday?! Here's what I made for dinner - sweet & sour prawn stir fry with spinach noodles! This was my first time using these noodles, they are an organic Japanese brand that I randomly found while doing my shopping on Ocado. I figured they'd be a good way to sneak in some hidden veggies to the family's diet without them noticing and my plan worked! Emilia & Eduardo loved them :) 

What did you eat for dinner today? 
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Pub Lunch

April 23, 2015, 4:17 pm
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Today the sun was shining so we headed out for a lovely pub lunch with the whole family! I dressed appropriately in a flowy top that would hide a multitude of sins...ha ha ha! The top is from Maje and I also wore my olive green Michael Kors jeans and some blush pink ballet pumps from LoveClothing. We went to The Jolly Farmers as it had been highly recommended to us and it didn't disappoint! 


It was a beautiful day so we sat outside where Emilia & Eduardo could both enjoy the children's play area. If you have ever experienced dining out with small children you'll know that things like these are a godsend! Bored kids forced to sit at a table are never a lot of fun, so this way they could burn off some of their energy while waiting for their food! Emilia wore all navy today - her dress is from Benetton, shoes are by H&M and her bow is from Layniebug Designs. 


I ordered the veggie burger (not pictured) which was amazing and absolutely could not say no to this heavenly creation also known as sticky toffee pudding WITH CLOTTED CREAM. Oh my goodness...I don't even care that I looked like I was expecting baby number three after I'd finished every last bite - it was so worth it!! Yes...the summer diet is going very well indeed. *tumbleweed*


Poor Eduardo was so tired by the end of his meal but that didn't stop him from devouring his own brownie before attempting to polish off Emilia's as well...ha ha ha! I had to go through about 75 wet wipes to get all the chocolate off his face/hands/hair/ears etc. 

We had such a wonderful family day out. I am so in love with pub lunches now (this was only our second since moving here!) I want to do it every week!
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Family Day in Brighton

April 25, 2015, 3:47 pm
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Yesterday started with Eduardo giving me a series of mini heart attacks with his newest party trick...climbing the bookshelf. The worst thing about it is the cheeky grin he gives me every time I catch him with a foot up on the bottom shelf. He makes it so difficult to be cross with him!!! 


Emilia spent the morning at nursery where she acquired this little toy in her hand. I was pretty horrified when I found it in her backpack but she showed no signs of remorse and instead seemed very proud of herself! A serious talk about not taking things that don't belong to us ensued but I'm still not sure she understood what I was saying! Having said that, I'm not exactly one to talk as I know my mum used to discover a whole collection of toys I would "borrow" from kindergarten. Emilia's whole outfit here is from H&M (except for her headband which was a PO box gift!). She looked so cute with her little backpack going off to "school"! 


Later that afternoon we headed to Brighton to see Zoe & Alfie! We had such a lovely time with them and Zoe & Emilia shared this sweet moment together which I'm so happy I captured! Emilia's hair has just barely become long enough to play with and Zoe was plaiting it for her. She was in heaven! I think I need to get her some tiny elastics but right now she is still pretty attached to her bows. She doesn't like to wear it any other way!


For dinner we had Wagamamas as Jonathan had been craving it since there isn't one in our town. I got the chicken ramen which is my favourite (aside from yaki soba - I always get either one of those two). For me the highlight of the day was Zoe's amazing milk & white chocolate chip cookies which she spontaneously whipped up later that evening...they are by far THE BEST cookies I've ever tasted! (They're actually Tanya's recipe - check them out here!) They are super dense and filling but realistically if I could I would eat a whole batch of them in one sitting! The shirt I'm wearing here is from MiH Jeans and my belt is from Zara. 

I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend. :) I'm still dreaming of those cookies.  

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Family Shopping Day

April 26, 2015, 4:49 pm
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Yesterday was a pretty eventful day - it started off with me winning the hair battle between Jonathan & myself, hahaha! I had been trying to convince him to shave his head for SO long as I think it suits him the best and he finally agreed with me. I love him with a tighter haircut! I think it shows off his face & makes him look younger and slimmer. Needless to say I am very happy with his decision :)


We headed to Bluewater (again) but this time with the whole family in tow. Although it was a bit stressful getting both children organised and working around their napping schedule, it actually turned out to be a lovely day out! I wore my pink & rose gold trousers from Ted Baker, Forever21 olive green blouse and New Look leopard flats.  


We ate lunch at Jamie's Italian again as they are very child-friendly and I love that the highchairs are all TrippTrapps so Emilia & Eduardo feel like they're at home! This time I ordered the crab spaghettini which were delicious and Eduardo had home-made fish fingers and potato wedges which he completely polished off!!! He is a monster! He also insisted on clutching Donny (Doc McStuffins' brother in case you didn't know) the entire time he was eating! 


As a special treat I told Emilia we could go to "the cupcake shop" which she was super excited about! Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when I brought her over to the Lola's Cupcakes stand!! It was so cute! I don't think she truly believed that there was such thing as a cupcake shop, (and I don't blame her...it does seem like something out of a dream) so when she saw all the different flavours, colours and sizes she squealed with excitement! She picked chocolate of course and I got red velvet. Her daddy got a brownie and Eduardo had a mini Oreo cupcake! 

After that we went to the Disney shop which we had been bribing both children with all day. Emilia was equally as excited about that and marched around the shop picking out things for both Eduardo and herself...she quickly learned that the double buggy makes a perfect shopping trolly to store things in (I followed behind putting everything back!). Some of the items she picked for Eduardo included a Snow White doll and a Mickey Mouse beach ball. Her choices were noticeably more extravagant such as a Doc McStuffins doll & accessories set, Sofia the First ship with mermaid dolls...but in the end they were allowed to pick one toy each so she got a set of Disney Princesses and Eduardo got a Mickey Mouse train station (or at least I think that's what it is, I'm really not sure!). 

I hope you all had a good weekend! 
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Baking and Books

April 27, 2015, 3:57 pm
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I took hardly any pictures yesterday but Sunday is normally pretty quiet in our house so we didn't get up to much! It had been a while since I baked cupcakes (surprise surprise, eh!?) and I was a bit inspired by Zoe's cookies and our recent trip to Lola's so I attempted to recreate Eduardo's Oreo one! I made these Cookies & Cream Cupcakes which contain actual crushed up Oreos...they turned out absolutely delicious! I got the recipe from my Keep Calm and Bake Cupcakes book but it's basically just a regular vanilla cupcake with crushed Oreos added to the mixture, a vanilla buttercream icing and some cocoa powder & a mini Oreo on top! Very easy and yummy! I enjoyed way too many of these while watching Vikings yesterday afternoon (which I've recently really got into...it's not a bad show! Very violent though so be aware!).


Emilia helped me bake and after devouring her cupcake later that evening, she turned around to me in her chair and said "best cupcake ever!" She really knows the way to her mother's heart! Ha ha ha! Other than baking, we had a very lazy day getting back into the kids' routines in preparation for the week ahead. As you probably already know I've stopped breastfeeding (which I'm still struggling with by the way...I admit I sometimes cry about it :( I miss it so much!!) but one of the good things that came from this is that I get to put Emilia to bed again. That was one of the hardest things to let go of when Eduardo was born as I always loved reading her books and tucking her in at night but it became daddy's job for the past year. Now we've swapped over again and Jonathan usually puts Eduardo down while I read to Emilia. Eventually when he's a bit older we'd like to read to both of them together but for now they're at quite different stages of attention spans when it comes to books so Eduardo gets a much shorter story! I took this picture while Emilia was snuggled up in bed waiting patiently for story-time to commence...she looked so cute! 

What books do you enjoy reading to your children? Or which ones do you remember reading when you were young? I have such nice memories of when my mum read me books as a child and I'm really happy to pass this tradition onto my kids too!

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