Lifestyle Archives - Page 25 of 27

Christmas tree memories

The sight of our Christmas tree always evokes memories from December 2010 – POD was born on Christmas Day. It’s impossible to look at the tree without smiling. It looks wonderful in the evening when it’s all lit up but it holds sentimental value too.

The decorations purchased just before her arrival are especially poignant – an array of red baubles, red beads and fir cones tied with red and green ribbon.

Over the past three years new decorations have been added to the tree, each creating their own memory. These include Beatrix Potter characters – POD’s favourites being “Mrs Tinkywink” and “Jemma Puddyduck”. There are several hand-made decorations and a dove too.

With POD’s birthday on Christmas Day, it’s hard not to be a little emotional at this time of year. Her first birthday saw her mesmerised by a Christmas tree despite not knowing what was going on around her. The most memorable photograph is one of her poking a decoration with a curious look on her face.

On her second birthday she developed a fondness for pulling the decorations off the tree in-between having fun with cardboard boxes!

This year we will no doubt see POD really appreciate her birthday and Christmas. The tree even went up early December so POD can enjoy it for longer.

The fir cones tied with red and green ribbon remain my favourite decoration. Not only are they beautiful, they’re a perfect reminder of what was a truly unforgettable Christmas.

Spend less this Christmas

Working on the premise that seeing is believing, we were set a challenge by Poundland to see what we could purchase with just £20. Christmas is always an expensive time of year so this experiment would no doubt prove an interesting one.

Having looked at the list of stores we discovered our nearest Poundland was conveniently located in Central Guildford. Leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and Cadbury’s were clearly visible when we arrived at the store. What struck me too was the variety available in Poundland. Everything you need for Christmas – from decorations, tableware and wrapping paper to cards, presents and entertainment.

There was also a large selection of food & drink on offer in addition to cosmetics & toiletries, home & garden, entertainment and stationery & crafts.

As we already had Christmas decorations, wrapping paper and cards, Christmas indulgence was first on the list! I purchased boxes of After Eights, Maltesers and Cadbury’s Mini Fingers to keep us going over the festive period.

In cosmetics and toiletries, I found Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty Hair Clips. POD is always losing hair clips at nursery so they’re a good stocking filler. As was the London Bus Money Box – its only a matter of time before she starts collecting pennies! POD turns 3 on Christmas Day so I also purchased a Happy Birthday banner. We always have one room decorated for her birthday rather than for Christmas so it will be useful.

We’re all sorted with her birthday and Christmas presents although I did purchase an 8-pack of handbag sized Kleenex Tissues. Just in case!

She enjoys colouring so the 24-pack of Colouring Pencils, 2-pack of Wobbly Eye Colouring Books and Children’s Fun Pack with Colouring Book and 2x Exercise Books was ideal.

POD loves to explore her creativity. We spend a lot of time ‘sticking’ so I’m continually topping up our supplies. Poundland had a 15-pack of Creative Foam Sheets, two good sized packs of Assorted Sequins (blue and multi-coloured) as well as a handy box of Glue Spots. Having browsed the stationery available I also found a pack of Paper Clips, Bulldog Clips and Pins for me and a 2014 Desk Diary for Daddy.

The household section provided me with a Clip Lock Storage Container, Mango & Papaya Pot Pourri and a set of 3 Paintbrushes – we have much painting to do!

Having not visited Poundland before, I was amazed at how many great products I purchased for just £20. So thank you very much Poundland, we shall be back!

Disclaimer: We received a Poundland voucher for the purpose of this Christmas challenge. Opinions are our own.

Compare4Kids Christmas competition

We were set a challenge by Compare4Kids to choose toys up to the value of £100 using their Children’s Gift Finder. As gift finders go, this one is especially easy to use. You just select the sex of the child you’re purchasing for, their age and your budget.

We had fun choosing several gifts at the lower end of the scale before repeating the process to the higher priced products. On each occasion we viewed a wide selection of gifts from top online retailers. These included Mothercare, The White Company, John Lewis, Hamleys, Argos, Not On The High Street, JoJoMaman Bebe and ToysRus to name a few.

With our toddler’s Christmas Day birthday rapidly approaching, we opted for a Standing wood easel (£45) from the Great Little Trading Co as the first item on our wishlist. POD loves to draw and this wooden standing easel seems study enough not to knock over! It’s double-sided too – one side is a blackboard and the other magnetic. The easel also comes with a hand holder for a paper roll and a large shelf for paints and brushes. POD already has a selection of paints and pens so the perfect accessory would be this Create and Play Triangular Crayons and Stencil set (£4) from M&S.

POD has taken an interest in watches and the time recently – not to say she goes to sleep when she’s supposed to! This Learning Clock (£18) from John Lewis is an ideal way to start learning. It teaches children to tell the time in a fun way. If you move the clock’s hands it tells you the time and it’s possible to test the children too.

With a huge love for books, POD really needs somewhere to sit other than her bed. She does have a chair in her room but it always seems to house her dollies. The Peppa Pig Seaside beanbag (£27) would be great for her to sit on when she fancies a browse – she’s a huge Peppa Pig fan as well!

Finally POD sees Mummy taking photographs all the time and would love her own camera! She also loves bubbles so this Bubble Camera (£5) from Hamleys would be a superb accompaniment for outdoor play.

Disclaimer: This post is an entry into the Compare4Kids Christmas competition. The winner will receive all of the items on their wishlist for Christmas.

Hi-Tec Winter boots – the verdict

These St Anton Hi-Tec Winter boots seemed ideal for our countryside exploits. You can read the reveal post here. They’re made from premium leather, have Thinsulate insulation to trap in the heat and a sockliner for long-term comfort.

The snow boots felt wonderful when I tried them on but what was the verdict after testing them?

They arrived the day before a short break to Bruges. I decided to try them from the off but packed another pair of boots just in case. We traveled by car to Folkestone then took Eurotunnel to Calais with a drive to Bruges the other end. Other than a stop-off for coffee, very little walking was involved. The boots felt great at that point, it was like wearing slippers.

Once we’d dumped the bags off and eaten, we set off to see what Bruges had to offer. We walked for hours exploring what is a beautiful city full of medieval buildings, cobbled streets and canals. The Hi-Tec boots didn’t come off once, they were wonderful to walk in and felt snug. The laces didn’t need adjusting at any point either.

Little did I know I’d experience temperatures of -6 degrees while we were in Bruges! We were lucky we got to visit the Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival which this year is based on an interpretation of the new Disney film Frozen. We didn’t stay long as we didn’t want our toddler to get cold but great to test how warm the boots would keep my feet. They really did.

Back in the UK, there was quickly an opportunity to test the stability of the Hi-Tec boots in the wet. Again they were a pleasure to wear and I didn’t once lose my footing. I was disappointed they got muddy but as they’re waterproof they wiped clean.

These Hi-Tec St Anton 200 Winter Boots are fantastic, the verdict is I love them. They’re made of premium, soft but durable leather, they’re waterproof and the D-ring lacing is easy to secure. Thinsulate insulation keeps your feet warm (but not sweaty!) and the sockliner provides underfoot cushioning.

The Hi-Tec St Anton 200 Winter boots are available in Chocolate/Taupe (pictured) and Black/Graphite priced £79.99. Delivery is free for UK orders over £30.

Disclaimer: We received a pair of Hi-Tec St Anton 200 waterproof boots for the purpose of this review. Opinions are our own.

Hi-Tec St Anton Winter boots

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a proper pair of snow boots although I remember owning moon boots when I was a child. The snow seemed especially deep at the time – perhaps that’s because I was only small!

Given how much time we spend outdoors, a pair of boots that suits all conditions is essential. These Hi-Tec St Anton 200 waterproof boots seem ideal for our country exploits.

Not only do they look great, these Hi-Tec boots are made from premium durable leather with a rubber outsole and have Thinsulate insulation. This means they trap in the heat to keep your feet warm when the temperature drops – a clever lining prevents any sweating. They also have a sockliner designed for long-term comfort.

Hi-Tec prides itself on producing lightweight, quality, comfortable footwear. Almost 30 years on, the company enjoys worldwide recognition as being one of the world leaders in sports and outdoor footwear. They were voted Outdoor Footwear Brand of the Year in 2013.

As well the durability and softness, I was delighted at how stylish the St Anton Winter boots were. The outsole looked like it would provide stability and traction whatever the weather – essential when you have a toddler in tow.

It was a nice touch that there was a personal message from Hi-Tec’s Chairman, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award this year, inside the box. It was a thank you from Frank Van Wezel himself and included his email address for any comments or questions.

The Hi-Tec St Anton Winter boots looked like they’d be extremely comfortable and perfect for our outdoor adventures. The laces were easy to adjust when I tried them on and the soft fur lining made them so comfortable. The sockliner provided that additional cushioning and the boots fitted perfectly.

You can read the verdict post here.

The Hi-Tec St Anton Winter Boots are available in Chocolate/Taupe (pictured) and Black/Graphite priced £79.99. Delivery is free for UK orders over £30.

Disclaimer: We received a pair of Hi-Tec St Anton 200 waterproof boots for the purpose of this review. Opinions are our own.

New Mattessons Double Dippers

Running a business full-time and parenting a toddler often means I’m short on time. Although we usually have a healthy meal in the evening, lunchtime is more of a grab what you can affair. It might involve a short walk to the shop for a sandwich and crisps or on especially busy days toast or cereal.

It seems I’m not alone. According to a recent survey, busy lifestyles have resulted in traditional meal times being a thing of the past. We’re often skipping meals or turning to unhealthy snacks to tide ourselves over – more than 50% of women have a mid-afternoon energy crash around 3-4pm. This will be the time I’ll crave chocolate if I’ve not had a proper lunch.

Frequent smaller meals now seem to suit our busy lifestyle better – over half of us hardly ever eat three meals a day. We also tend to snack on the go too regardless of whether we’re at our desk, walking or travelling.

With this in mind, there’s definitely growing consumer demand for healthier alternatives that have the nutritional value but require little effort. Mattessons’ Double Dippers have satisfied this demand with a new high protein snack. This healthy, tasty option comprises of 100% chicken breast and with less than 190 calories per pack.

Each pack contains marinated natural chunks of chicken breast and two dips – one of which is creamy and the other crunchy. You just dip the marinated chunks of chicken in the creamy sauce and then the toasted crumbs. Each pack of Double Dippers contains a fork so you can eat them straight out of the packet or grab a plate. What’s important is that you don’t need to stop what you’re doing and you’re eating a much healthier snack.

Double Dippers are available in four flavour variants – Classic with a creamy dip, Thai with a sweet chilli dip, Italian with a tomato and basil dip and Tikka with a smooth mint yoghurt dip. Having tried them all, my favourite was the Italian although my husband preferred the Thai.

Double Dippers are available now and stocked in Asda and Tesco. They retail at £1.59 mark and there’s a downloadable 25p off voucher available here.

An infographic of the Mattessons snacking survey results is below if you fancy a nose.

Disclaimer: We received a selection of Mattessons Double Dippers for this review along with payment. Opinions are our own.

The Elf on the Shelf

POD will be three on 25th December so she’s old enough now to remember her birthday and the festive period. With this in mind, we had a Christmas themed treasure hunt at the weekend and she met the Doves’ Elf on the Shelf.

We thought it would be nice for POD if she named him. This is quite dangerous given she has dollies called Boadicea, Bob and Rice as well as the aptly named “dolly”, “elephant” and “monkey”.

Initially she decided on “Elf” but having understood “Elf the Elf” wasn’t a name, he became “Ben Elf”. Given she’s a fan of Ben and Holly, we encouraged her to think of another name. Ben Elf then became Jake Elf which was an improvement but Jake Elf quickly became Ben Elf again.

So we will be registering him as Ben Elf.

POD loved the Elf on the Shelf book and its been read several times over. She likes that he has been sent from the North Pole and helps Father Christmas. When she was told he flies back each evening to report on what she’s been doing, her response was “no he doesn’t”.

She enjoys looking for him but mostly believes we put him there rather than he arrived of his own accord.

In an attempt to create a bit of magic, we took Ben Elf away with us at the weekend. Although she was pleasantly surprised he’d joined us, I’m sure she thought we’d just put him in our bag.

We had to work quite hard while we were there to ensure Ben sprung up in the most unlikely of places.

Ben Elf must be spluttering to the North Pole each evening as POD likes to cuddle him. She’s also tried bending his legs backwards and seeing if he can do the splits.

She also likes to turn his head all the way round like an owl. This she finds highly entertaining as she’s tried to do it to me a few times.

Ben Elf may have been touched and moved around which is against the rules but he does have a name at least. Apart from the time he was thrown across the floor, he’s been well loved too. We just need to work on less mauling and encourage POD to believe in magic.

We’re linking this Elf on the Shelf post up with Jocelyn at The Reading Residence. If you’d like to join in with #ElfTakeover, click on the badge below.

Win the Fat Face Land Rover #LoveWINter

In 1988 two friends were desperately trying to avoid working for a living and set off to enjoy themselves in the French Alps. Although life was good it was inevitable their funds would run low.

The plan was to design some sweatshirts, sell them at night, ski during the day, stick around until Spring then head to the beach. Fat Face was born and the rest as they say is history.

The same entrepreneurial spirit and passion remains at the brand’s heart to ensure everything it does is designed to be loved for life outside the 9 to 5.

Love Winter. Love Fat Face.

Last month saw Fat Face launch their #loveWINter campaign. Celebrating the beauty of Winter, it encourages everyone to wrap up warm and get outdoors. We all know there’s no such thing as bad weather if you’re wearing the right clothes!

#loveWINter

As part of the #loveWINter campaign, and to mark the closing of the brand’s 25th anniversary year, Fat Face has launched a very special competition. The chance to win the Fat Face Land Rover Defender and all the kit you’ll need to embrace life outside 9 to 5 this Winter.

The prize

You will win everything you need for the ultimate Winter adventure – the Fat Face Land Rover Defender 110 XS station wagon complete with roof rack, roof tent and camping kit!

Enter the competition

You can enter the competition online at www.fatface.com/lovewinter or visit your local Fat Face store. The competition closes on December 13^th and lucky winner will be announced on Christmas Day. Good luck everyone!

Disclaimer: A Fat Face gift voucher will be provided for participating in the #LoveWINter campaign. Opinions are our own.

A lesson learnt

Tots100 and PartSelect are giving bloggers the opportunity to win a professional house clean and £250 to spend on an appliance. This post is all about sharing some appliance love, in turn telling a cautionary tale.

If we had a coffee machine, that would be my most loved appliance. As we don’t it a toss up between the retro fridge and the Dyson. This post relates to the latter.

Last year our Dyson stopped working. Usually it would go to Dyson heaven and we’d replace it. On this occasion we decided to try and get it repaired. I suspect as we’d received a timely offer in the post for a service.

When the engineer arrived it became apparent very quickly that he was knowledgeable about all things Dyson. It was quite refreshing and a new experience for us given we’ve never serviced anything before. Other than the car.

Our toddler was under two at this point. The engineer had said hello to her when he arrived then focusing his efforts on the Dyson.

Retrieved objects included the obligatory string, hair and elastic bands along with a giant fluff ball, plastic and plastic. We’d had some building work done a few months earlier so the plaster find wasn’t as strange as it seems. Despite laying all his findings out on the floor, POD continued to be well behaved and stayed out of his way.

Despite removing all blockages and replacing a clearly past it filter, the Dyson refused to come back to life. Further inspections were undertaken and the Dyson was turned on and off several times in the process. Further dismantling was necessary and it wasn’t long before the engineer’s hands had vanished into a Dyson abyss.

I asked if I should unplug the Dyson from the wall and the response was “don’t worry I won’t lose my fingers”.

He nearly did when out of nowhere our toddler turned on the Dyson. To this day I have no idea how she found the strength or turned it on so fast, she was only little. Thankfully my record breaking dive to the off switch saved all his fingers, he just hurt his pride. But he did a fabulous job mending our Dyson.

This post about our Dyson being serviced is an entry into the Tots100/PartSelect ‘Love Your Appliance’ competition.

Iconic box sets from Paramount

Paramount has a number of iconic box-sets available to purchase for Christmas. These include family favourites such as Shrek and Madagascar along with the likes of Indiana Jones, Transformers, Dexter and Sex in the City.

FAMILY FAVOURITES

Shrek – a magical series of animated films that brings together all parts of the Shrek legend including Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After. Based on the book by William Steig, Shrek tells the story of an ogre whose life is suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy tale characters. Determined to save his home, he cuts a deal with evil Lord Farquaad and sets out to rescue Princess Fiona.

POD has thoroughly enjoyed what she’s seen of Shrek. She’s fascinated with it although it’s slightly worrying she thinks Shrek is Daddy and Princess Fiona is Mummy!

Madagascar – a tale of a group of New York Central Park zoo animals that find themselves on a trip to Africa. Assisted by four absconding penguins, they end up in Madagascar among a bunch of lemurs. This set includes all three films.

GIFTS FOR HIM

Indiana Jones The Complete Adventures – a Christmas treat for the hero in your life from award-winning duo Steven Speilberg and George Lucas.

Transformers – with Transformers 4 coming to cinemas next year, now is the time to re-cap on the Autobots adventures. The box set contains Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Dexter – after eight seasons of cling-film wrapped kills, heart-stopping near misses and shocking twists, it’s time to mourn the loss of our favourite thriller as Dexter comes to a shocking end.

Under The Dome – the first season centres on a small town that is suddenly sealed off from the rest of the World by an enormous transparent dome. The town’s inhabitants must deal with surviving the post-apocalyptic conditions while searching for answers.

GIFTS FOR HER

Sex in the City (The Essential Collection) – it defined how we wined and dined and made fashion that bonafide best friend. Rarely does a TV series capture a moment but over it’s six seasons, Sex in the City certainly did.

Dynasty – relive the glitz and glamour of this 80’s classic drama. Scandalous love affairs, dirty business deals, power struggles, catfights and bulging shoulder pads add to the drama in a show that epitomised glamour and greed. Box set contains 58 discs.

The Borgias – betrayal, incest, arson, suicide, theft and corruption abound in the Emmy® nominated final season of The Borgias. Catch up on the last 10 episodes or get to know the infamous family from the beginning with seasons 1-3.

Elementary – experience season 1 of this crime solving drama with a box set of all 24 episodes. Stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.

Disclaimer: We were sent a complimentary copy of the Shrek box set which includes Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After.

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Lifestyle

Christmas tree memories

Spend less this Christmas

Compare4Kids Christmas competition

Hi-Tec Winter boots – the verdict

Hi-Tec St Anton Winter boots

New Mattessons Double Dippers

The Elf on the Shelf

Win the Fat Face Land Rover #LoveWINter

A lesson learnt

Iconic box sets from Paramount

Adventures

Visiting Mayfield Lavender Field, Banstead

A wander at Frensham Little Pond, Surrey

7 reasons to love Barracudas camps

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