Thomas the Blogger!

Incase you hadn't guessed...

My 20 month old son Thomas loves to play with my iPhone and has a habit of calling and texting people, leaving baby comments on Instagram pics and moving my apps around!  This time he seems to have gone one further as I notice he has taken & uploaded a photo and published it as a blog entry!

I think he is working on his first novel next...!

What cheeky things do your children get up to?

Doing up the Flat...

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but we are currently saving to move.  As a part of the whole process we have been sprucing up the walls with a lick of paint and generally making a few improvements ready for viewings.

The carpet in our bedroom badly needs replacing due to many make-up spillages, a dropped iron and the fact that it is now 6 years old and has endured a puppy and a baby!  So yesterday I went off to Homebase to get myself some new laminate flooring!  When we first got Charlie we put laminate throughout the hallway and living room as we anticipated a few accidents while he was being house trained, and we still had a couple of packs leftover so we decided to go ahead and use the same flooring for the bedroom so we could make use of those, plus I think it will be much easier to keep fresh and clean for when we do start to have people come in to view the flat.  I have plans for a big fluffy rug to make the bedroom cosy underfoot!  I am lucky as my Dad can fit the laminate which will save me money and he can do this for me next week, I am so excited!

We also invested in some trunks for our shoes.  I love to keep my shoes in order and all in their original shoe boxes, as it helps to keep them from getting squashed.  Unfortunately my shoe addiction has meant that there is no more space for further shoe boxes and as they were stacked so high the bottom few were getting crushed anyway! So I have now separated the shoes into 3 trunks, Simon's, my flat shoes, my heels and kept my very best ones neatly in their boxes!  Although I was sad to see my shoe boxes go I have to say the flat did look instantly neater!

Our final purchase has been a new wardrobe!  This is the most exciting for me because when we moved into the flat my parents gave us my old wardrobe from when I lived at home.  It was one of those open, metal ones which at the time I thought was really funky but now I hate!  We have spent the last 6 years saying we would get a new wardrobe but never actually did, so I am so excited to have finally ordered one!  I will put up a picture when it arrives but here is the link Wardrobe There are a few reasons why I choose this wardrobe and why I am mega excited to get it!  Firstly, as I mentioned I am sick of the open wardrobes.  Also, the mirror I have is too heavy for our walls so I have had it leaning against the wall instead, it looks messy plus I have to stand well back to see what my whole outfit looks like!  Before Thomas was born I had my every day make and hair things in two beautiful teal glass bowls on my window sill, then when he could walk he started to put his stool up to the window sill and help himself!  Eventually one of the bowls got broken so to avoid him hurting himself I got rid of the other one and replaced them with cardboard CD boxes from Ikea, so now he cannot hurt himself, however he can still get his mitts on my make up and there has been a few casualties! So I am looking forward to having the 2 shelves on the wardrobe to put all my things!

It may seem a bit silly to have lived with the old set up for so log and change it around just before we intend to move but I hope that these changes will help with the sale, plus we can take it all with us, with the exception of the flooring!  We want to save up for another few months yet so we will get some use out of the new bedroom before we go anyway!

Have you made any home improvements lately? xx

This is what my hallway currently looks like!

The wardrobe to be replaced! I have taken off about half my clothes in this pic so you can tell I needed something neater!

2 of my new show trunks! The blackets and pillows won't be living on them permanently! 

September - What a Month!

Wow, September has just passed me by in a whirl of hen dos, weddings, my anniversary, home improvements  lots of work, birthdays and making the most of the last few summer days!  Not to mention that my son has practically given up his daytime naps, which means no chance to get on the laptop - he tries to get involved and has damaged the screen so we only use it when he is in bed now! 

Here is a photo round up and I promise to try harder at keeping up to date next month!

In an attempt to save my walls from further scribbles I  made a chalkboard on the fridge!

Mum & 2 of my sisters at one of the Weddings I attended

Simon on the racetrack in Slovakia, he came 2nd overall

Yum, wedding dessert!

Anniversary drinks with my love

Thomas and his cousin enjoying the last days of summer

Mum and I on hen do number 2

There are no pics of me in the outfit I wore to this wedding! So here is my lovely sister instead! Yes, she was double parked!

Quick Mummy, lets have a poppop before the sun disappears!

Night 1 in Slovakia, about to eat a huge meal and put on a stone, haha

We found this cheeky monkey on the plane, he made us laugh as Simon's Dad is called Melvyn too!

Hen do cupcakes!

Some nails I did this month, this girl is as far from Barbie as you can get yet she choose ext in bubble gum pink! Cute!

Thomas thinks Slovakian cakes rule!

I am not good at selfies! This was getting ready for hen do number 1!

Simon on our anniversary

Bride to be!

Slovakian meal, indulgent but so so good!

Do you think they were expecting us to drink much??

Ready to enjoy the Slovakian Wedding,

Another work pic

Catching up with a good friend after we had both been away

I am glad someone found a minute to put their feet up!

These photos have not uploaded in order, and I will be pushing my luck with Thomas if I try and change them, but we basically had the 1st hen/stag do on the 1st weekend, then the following weekend we had the next hen/stag do!  Then we went to Slovakia the week after and spent a few days there before our friends got married.  The Bride is Slovakian and after being friends for 5 years it was lovely to meet her family and see where she grew up!  This last weekend just gone was my friend's wedding which was local, however she has married an Australian and is living over there so after having Claire here for the last month it was bitter sweet to see her get married, knowing that she will be off again soon! 

In between all of the wedding fun we have had my Mum's birthday, our anniversary, I have been busy with work and then of course seeing friends and family who were not part of either wedding! It has been crazy and amazingly fun, but I will enjoy a quiet October to re cooperate I think!

OOTD - Sisters Edition!

Happy Weekend Everybody!

My outfit today was very casual and nothing special but I thought my sister Naomi looked cool so I wanted to do a little outfit of the day post!

Naomi - Long sleeved shirty - H&M

Blazer - New Look

Shorts - Not sure!

Shoes Navy Vans, even though cheeky Thomas got in the shot and you can't see them in this pic! You can below though!)

Me - Neon coral tshirt - H&M

Jeans - New Look

Sandals - Primark

Mwah x

Then and Now!

I wanted to do a couple of 'Then & Now' collages to remind myself how far I have come in terms of weight loss since I had Thomas!  

I was pregnant in the 1st pic and the 2nd one was taken at Xmas time, 10 months later

I know shape and size doesn't matter but for me personally I feel more confident and happy being slimmer, I still have a way to go regarding toning up but these pics have made me realise that I am not doing too badly so far!

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Thomas is 2 months old in the pic on the left and the pic on the right was last week!

Sorry if this post was a bit self indulgent!

Have you been up to anything over the last few years that you are really proud of? xx

My Favourite Dresses for Nights Out

For someone who has an 18 month old and therefore doesn't go out on the town much I have far too many dresses!

Here are a few of my recent favourites, although I do have many more that I love!

Topshop £9 in the sale!

Missguided approx £23

InLoveWithFashion approx £30

ASOS £22

These pictures were all taken on nights out between January and now!

I would love to see your favourite going out outfits! x

Local Walks

Recently I have been going on a lot of walks around my local area with friends and family, to make the most of what little summer we are having!

There are a lot of  places to visit close to where we live, including nature reserves and country parks, which is brilliant for a Mummy like me who is looking for cheap or free places to take my son and keep him entertained!

Here are a few photos that I thought were pretty and wanted to share with you!

Thomas enjoying a jog across the field!

Do you have any local walks nearby? x

Beatlemania!

We have just spent a fantastic 2 days in Liverpool with my parents in law!

My husband loves the Beatles so we decided to splash out and stay at the Harddaysnight Hotel When we had a look at booking up the rooms we wanted were £225 each per night, however when we made the booking we were told they had gone down to £90! Whoop whoop, what a great surprise!  Simon and I had stayed in this same hotel in August 2 years ago, when I was pregnant with Thomas, so it was really nice to go back and see it again, and of course for me to have a drink this time!  Thomas stayed between my parents and my sister so we were really able to relax and   let loose!

Simon in our room

We drove up and it takes about 4 hours from where we live so we set off nice and early.  As soon as we arrived in Liverpool we dumped our bags and went for lunch in one of the many pubs close to our hotel.  I get so excited about food and I have to tell you that the Sweet Potato Salad that I went for was really really good! I need to add sweet potatoes to my shopping list for this week so that I can recreate that treat!

Me in our room!

After lunch we headed over to the Albert Docks and after a quick mooch round headed to The Beatles Experience.  This is a great activity where you walk through a sort of museum which talks you through the history of the Beatles from the very beginning!  There are so many photos, items of memorabilia and quotes to look through and read and even though I wasn't born until the 80s I found myself feeling nostalgic!  It really makes you want to go back and be a part of Beatlmania as it happened!

Magical Mystery Mirrors!

Included in the ticket price at the moment is also an Elvis and Us Exhibition and a Fab4D experience so we headed over there next.  It was fun to see some of Elvis' outfits and read up a bit more about him but for me the highlight was definitely the Fab4D experience!  It was a 10 minute animation about a boy who has to try and meet his date on time to play a gig together and he goes on a Magical Mystery Tour bus to get there!  As it was 4D there were bubbles in the air, water sprayed on us, the seats moved, there was a strawberry scent in the air and more!  Great fun! 

Back up to change for dinner!

It was 5 o'clock by this time so we headed back to our rooms to change for dinner.  I wore a little black dress that I got from ASOS recently and my Carvela shoes that I talk about in this post.   

We had a drink in the hotel bar before dining in Blakes, the adjoining restaurant.  They do a deal between 6 and 7 whereby you can have 3 courses for £14.95 which is pretty good so I went for that and I choose a cauliflower soup to start, then I had aubergine terrine with apricot cous cous (this dish was also a winner with me and I will be doing a bit of research to see if I can make something similar!) Then I went for sorbet.  I get so excited about food so I had to share with you all what I had, haha!

Its not just me that loves to take the bathroom smellies home is it??

We then had to head to the Cavern Bar and the Cavern Club! It is international Beatles week at the moment so there were non stop live bands on so we picked the perfect week to visit!

My in-laws are so much fun and out partied me (I put it down to getting up early with an 18 month old every day!) so I headed back at midnight whilst the other 3 stayed out a bit longer and listened to an Argentinian Beatles tribute, fancy! 

We had to start heading back fairly early today to collect Thomas so we made sure we were up and out early and headed back to the Docks so that we could take a trip on The Yellow Duckmarine, which is a tour around the city and the docks on a World War 2 DUKW.  The tour guide was particularly funny today so we all had a good giggle!  Have a click here to be directed to their website and read up a bit more about this activity! 

I would highly recommend Liverpool as a location for a weekend away and we absolutely love the Hard Days Night Hotel!  Obviously it helps to be a Beatles fan but there is so much to do there that you wouldn't need to do any Beatles type activities if that doesn't float your boat!  Last time we visited we did the Magical Mystery Tour and a few museums and I could go on and on about the city and our 2 stays but I think this post is long enough already!  We have already said that we should visit again in another couple of years to do some of the things we have not had time for!

Which is your favourite city to visit for a few days? xx

OOTN - Simon's Birthday

It was Simon's birthday yesterday and his sister kindly offered to have Thomas overnight so that we could go out and have a few drinks.  This is what I wore:

Dress - Missguided

Sorry for the blurry quality!!

Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell

Simon enjoying a drink in our local pub whilst we wait for our taxi!

He always blinks in photos!

Today we are going to watch the cricket with our friends, they are having a fun day with music and a funfair so it should be really good!

Hope you are having a good weekend! x