My favourite read ever - Mammywoo

There is a blog I follow which I believe is the best thing I've ever read.  Seriously.  If she turned her blog into a book I would buy it. The hardback.


You may be familiar with her, Lexy, from Mammywoo.  Last year she won Best New Blog in the MADS awards.  In my opinion she should win best blog every year.  Lexy's blog chronicles her adventures through motherhood and a heart-wrenchingly honest account of a battle against severe depression.  Her style of writing is awesome, sometimes almost poetic, and so many times I have laughed and cried while reading a post.  Lexy's writing can't help but touch your heart, whether it moves you to tears or fits of giggles.  Or both.


With her permission below is an extract from a recent post on her blog, Carry on... Curry (Aunty Pat? You may want to give this one a miss), which you can read in full here.

Anyway. Cucumbers.

I am so positively childish that I find buying a cucumber more embarrassing than selecting and then purchasing a job load of Tena lady or even Tampax.

Reminding myself that Therapy has taught me to be honest, I switch Cbeebies on for Addison and pick up my phone.

He answers after the second ring.

‘Irish one, I am not buying the cucumber’ I state clearly, channeling my inner lion.

‘We need wipes as well’ he replies, seemingly not hearing my roar.

A cucumber, wine and wipes?

Is he trying to kill me?

No. Way.

‘Irish one,’ I say trying not to laugh ‘There is no way in hell, I am walking up to the till in Morrison’s with a cucumber, a bottle of wine and some wipes’

‘Why not?’ he asks confused, while I nearly cry laughing.

‘Think about it!’ I shout.

‘I have done and I don’t get it. Am I missing the joke here?’

I start to try and explain but he interrupts me, his voice dropping an octave.

‘We need some condoms too.’

I throw my head back and howl.

‘What?’ he asks, confused but trying to be assertive (confused and assertive, not a good combination!)

‘Are you serious?’ I spurt out in between gaspfuls of hilarity ‘you want me to walk up to the VERY BUSY check outs at Morrison’s, in the middle of the afternoon and buy condoms, wine, a cucumber and some wipes?’

‘Yes.’ He states matter of factly before finishing the call ‘I don’t know what is so funny but I have to go now. Love you.’

An hour later after I have got Addison dressed, tried and re-tried in my head over and over again to make the shopping list sound less seedy and more motherly, blushing just thinking about what the check out girl or boy might think I am planning, I get a text message.

PMSL. MENTALIST. I WILL BUY THE CUCUMBER. LOVE YOU.

Thank god for that, I think putting my phone down just as it beeps again.

BUT YOU BUY CONDOMS OK? I AM NOT STANDING AT THE CHECK OUT HOLDING A CUCUMBER AND CONDOMS.

The man has a point.

Compromise reached.

Another win for therapy.

Hang on… Condoms?

HA!

It’s not christmas yet is it?

Xia-Xia Hermit Crab and Confetti Cottage - Review

We were recently sent the XiawXia (pronounced Sha-Sha, as confirmed by my daughter!) Interactive Hermit Crab and Confetti Cottage to review.


There are currently 4 crabs available as shown below and we received the orange one in the bottom right hand corner of the picture.

These are really cute little creatures which scuttle forwards and backwards when you squeeze their pincers.  They have a little sensor which tells them when they've run into something, so they change direction.  It's scuttling caused mass hilarity in our household as it ran about all over the place. They reminded me a little of the wind up toys that I had as a child, although these run on batteries.   


Each crab comes with a 'micro friend' which lives inside its shell, but can also perch on a little peg at the front of the shell.  The shells are interchangeable between crabs and there are separate shells available to collect so a little girl into collectables would really enjoy these, assuming that more characters become available.


The crabs can also be turned off, so they don't wear themselves out running backwards and forwards when they're not being played with.


Confetti Cottage is a sturdy little house which the crabs can live and play in.  It has a main compartment and something like an attic.

Confetti Cottage

It is also a good way to carry the crabs around, and has a 'front' door and a 'back' door.  However I really struggled to get the full sized door open - there is nothing really to grip on to to pull it down.


I was really impressed with the sturdiness of the cottage.  Unfortunately, the attic part is a little tight to get the crabs in and out of, and when my daughter was trying to get her crab out, one of the pincers snapped off.  I was surprised and disappointed that it broke so easily, basically within a few hours of playing with it.


The micro friends were really cute but easily losable and a bit of a worry when you have tots around - my 15 month old would easily have put it in her mouth and choked on it or swallowed it, and my 5 year old who helped me review this isn't that careful about where she puts things.


The crabs retail for about £9.99, which I think is a little pricey for what they are, taking into consideration how easily the crab broke and as Confetti Cottage also retails at around £9.99 - I would happily buy more if the crabs were around £5 but I can't see me paying around £10.  The shells on their own retail for about £4.99, which again, I would be prepared to pay up to £3 for.  Personally I think they've got their pricing a little bit wrong but we are pretty new to collectables so I'm prepared to be corrected!


Despite the couple of problems we had with it, I still love this toy - the crabs are so cute!  I imagine they would also keep a cat entertained for a while!  I hope the problems I've highlighted are addressed as with a lower price tag and a slightly more sturdy tag we would definitely be buying more.  Even if just for me to amuse myself with!




We received one crab and the Confetti Cottage for the purposes of this review - no other reward was given.  The opinions given in this post are my own.

Black Opal Effect Mani!

Inspired by the wonderful manicures produced by the TraceFace Philes, in particular this post I decided to do a holographic strip over dark polish manicure.  I wasn't sure which strip polish to use but then remembered I'd picked up a lovely NYX polish in Purple Ave during my last trip to the Outlet village!  Although it looked lovely in the bottle, when I applied it over a pale colour it just didn't look as good.  But I think over a black polish it is absolutely stunning!


I applied 2 coats of a black polish I had to hand (in this instance a Rimmel black) and then a coat of Seche Vite to seal the colour.  I then applied 2 coats of the NYX followed by another coat of Seche Vite to give it real gloss and this is the result:

The polish on my pinky was a trial of another glitter polish!

It's really hard to convey properly in photographs (especially as I'm rubbish at taking them!) but the holographic particles catch the light beautifully and reflect different colours.  It really does give the effect of a black opal.  The NYX polish is similar to a bar glitter polish but the shapes are random which I think gives a great effect.  I can't stop admiring it and moving my fingers around to catch the light in different ways.

I think this is one of my favourite manis to date, but I'm tempted to take a leaf out of Tracy's book and top this off with a crackle polish, just to see how it works.  If I do, I'll let you know!

GALAXY Traditional Style Hot Chocolate

If there is one luxury in life I need, it's hot chocolate!  There is nothing like a comforting silky hot chocolate drink with squirty cream and marshmallows (or a flake.  Or both!  I've even had one with maltesers!)  It's my treat when I take the kids to a soft play centre, if I can fight them off the marshmallows and the chocolate!  It's my treat when I've had a stressful day, or been out throwing snowballs at the kids.  I mean building snowmen.  Anyway, you get the picture.  It's my go-to comforter and warmer upper!


So I really didn't need to be asked twice to review Galaxy's new Traditional Style Hot Chocolate!

This is a new product, which you make with milk instead of hot water.  I usually use instant hot chocolate, but these can be a bit thin.  I heated up some milk in a saucepan, tho I could have easily have popped a cup of milk in the microwave.  When it was close to boiling I poured the milk in the cup and added 4 heaped teaspoons of the hot chocolate powder, which resembled instant coffee granules, and stirred.  I know you don't really need telling how to make hot chocolate with milk instead of water but I just wanted to show how easy it was to heat up the milk and that it didn't really take any more time than boiling the kettle.  The granules dissolved instantly, something that I find a problem with instant hot chocolates.


OH MY GOODNESS THE TASTE!!!  You know those simply divine luxury hot chocolate drinks that you sometimes come across?  That's what it tasted like, rich, creamy, just the right level of sweetness and chocolatelyness!  I used 1% milk and was surprised at just how creamy and smooth the drink was with such a low fat milk, but you could just as easily use semi skimmed or full cream if you preferred an even creamier taste.


The RRP is £2.99 for a 300g tub.  So it's not going to make your cheapest cup of hot chocolate.  However, I'd keep this in the cupboard for those days when nothing but a bit of velvety luxury will do!!!


Galaxy are also doing a great promotion for charity at the moment.  Head to http://www.hotgalaxywarmheart.com/ and just by a single click you can help one of the two charities Galaxy is supporting, at no cost to you.


I was sent this product for the purpose of this review but the opinions expressed within this post are my own.

Would you like a bag with that?

Last week a new law came into effect here in Wales.   No longer can free bags be given when you make a purchase.  If you want a bag you have to pay at least 5p, usually with the proceeds going to charity.


In principle, I'm in favour.  They've been doing it on the Continent for years!!  That's why shops like Aldi and Lidl don't provide free bags.  It encourages you to reuse your shopping bags - providing you can remember them!  However, British bureaucracy being what it is, it just couldn't be that simple, could it?


Firstly, it's only in Wales.  That's great if you live in the middle of Wales.  If you live on the borders like I do, then you have to remember which country you are in when you go shopping!


Secondly, someone decided to make the law really complicated.  Semi packed foods can be sold in a bag.  However, you add a packaged food to that bag, you have to pay for it.  This means that when you go to McDonalds, you can have your fries in a free bag (they count as semi packaged).  You add a cheeseburger to that bag and you have to pay!


Thirdly, we now don't get green clubcard points when we shop at Tesco :(


So while I quite agree in cutting down the use of plastic bags, I do feel that it could have been put into practice in a better way.

tommee tippee NEW Sangenic® Wrap & Go

I was recently sent this product to review.

NEW Sangenic®Wrap & Go nappy wraps are:

• anti-bacterial, killing 99% of germs on contact
• infused with a fresh citrus scent to combat odour

Not only are the wraps hygienic and easy to use,but the NEW Sangenic®Wrap & Go dispenser fits neatly into a change bag, hand bag, or will clip onto your baby’s pram, pushchair or even your car door. So you’ll always have these hygienic wraps at your fingertips for your ultimate convenience!

The system consists of a little bucket with a handle and a roll of wraps.  The roll fits on a little prong in the bucket and the lid fits on top and can be used to wrap or unwrap the roll.  The wraps then fit thru the slot on the side.

I was impressed by the fresh scent of the wraps.  This is definitely a product you want in your changing bag if you are likely to have to carry around a dirty nappy for a while before you can get to a bin.  Normal nappy bags just don't stop the smell from escaping and I've quite frequently had a pongy bag or car.  The sangenic wraps are definitely good for keeping the smell all locked in.  They are also larger than the average nappy bag too so ideal if you have a toddler or maybe a disabled child in nappies.

The design is nice and bright and you should be able to detach the handles so you can hang the little bucket from your pushchair handle, tho I haven't quite worked that out yet.  Unfortunately the lid isn't brilliantly designed.  I found it quite often fell off and then the roll of wraps fell out and unwrapped themselves all over my bag.

The dispenser and 2 refills retail for £4.99 and 3 separate refills also retail for £4.99.  Each roll contains 15 wraps so it works out quite expensive and I would probably stick to my 89p for 100 bags for most nappy changes, but I would use these wraps for those instances when it's not possible to dispose of a dirty nappy straight away.

Hello, I'm Back!!!

Firstly I'd like to apologise for being away so long!  My personal life has been pretty hectic and I now find myself a single mother of 3 children under 5, one of whom has special needs.  But this means that more than ever I need something for myself and this should be it.  So (kids allowing) here's to a lot more posts and a busier blog!  Meanwhile, thanks for sticking with me during my hiatus.  You never know, I might even get the hang of scheduled posts :)