My Week/Weekend

Well another week has rolled by (and then some!) and it's been a bit quiet on here, but without sounding like a broken record the kids have been full on and life has just taken over as per usual! Mec has been working overtime with some major project at work (something techy, I don't ask, just try to be supportive as a I can!) so we've barely seen each other this week and it's meant I've been in charge of the kids all week and over the last weekend. I actually took them for a short break down to Bexhill to see Grandma Seaside which was really lovely, and they had a great time jumping waves and running along the promenade.

The view from my deck chair! Nice :)

The De La Warr Pavillion - and yes, I did look round the design shop, again!

There's love between these two sometimes!

My mum and I also took the kids up to London during the week, for fun and frolics along the Southbank.  It's so easy on the train it was a no brainer, and there's just the right amount of stuff to do along there, and more really, to fill a long afternoon in the sun. We couldn't help but hop on the bright pink bus for frozen yogurt, it was really delicious and the view out across the Thames from the top was fab! Tabby and Sam got romantic on the top, so cute when they want to be!  

Pucker up! 

I have a photo just like this from last year when I took the kids along the Southbank so couldn't resist a double take to see how much they've grown up! 

We checked out the view from the Tate restaurant - I felt weak at the knees as the kids crouched up against the floor to ceiling windows, eek!

I hope you've been enjoying the summer, whatever you're up to - kids or no kids, summer hols or not! 

Here's hoping for a restful weekend ahead and hopefully feeling a bit more pulled together next week!

x

My Weekend

Well I don't really know where this past week disappeared to! Looking back I think we've just been enjoying the gorgeous weather, hitting the parks and playing in the paddling pool. It's a tough life but someone's gotta do it! ;)

And after all that running around it's been nice to slow down this weekend and I have to say it's been a really great one. I kicked off the weekend on Friday night with an evening in by myself. Mec was out at his work summer party (I think he rolled in at about 1.30am, I'm not really sure, I sleep through anything!) and so once the kids were in bed I made myself a homemade pizza and watched a really interesting documentary film called 112 Weddings. I don't know if you've heard of it, it was recently posted about on the A Cup Of Jo blog, and seeing as I was home alone (Mec would not be into this kind of film, too much talking, not enough explosions!) I thought what better an opportunity to watch it. 

Directed and produced by Doug Block, a documentary filmmaker who has spent the past 20 years filming weddings as a side project to his day job, the film takes a frank (albeit slightly american) look at the institution of marriage, and follows up with a handful of Doug's favourite couples from the past to see where life and marriage has taken them. Being married myself, for a grand total of 8 years now, which is obviously only a dot in the many years I assume and hope I'll be married, I find the topic of marriage really interesting. I love hearing from different couples, older couples, etc about what marriage has taught them, or what the experience has been like for them. It was definitely an interesting film which I enjoyed, and one thing that stuck in my mind was how much having children affects a couple's relationship. No newsflash there though right!! 

Saturday was spent seeing friends - I'm really annoyed with myself for not taking any photos now (what kind of a lazy blogger am I!?) but it was a really lovely day catching up with some old NCT mums and their girls. Spookily, all 6 of us in our NCT group had baby girls and although we've not been great at catching up regularly, to see the girls together once in a while is really special and it's crazy to see how much they have grown up!  

The background sound to this weekend of ours has been the awesome My Head Is An Animal album by Of Monsters And Men. Whilst not a new album, Mec only bought it recently, we've been loving Dirty Paws. If you haven't got it, look it up on the iTunes store, you'll love it!

Today, Sunday, has been a slow kind of day. I had a much need lie in (thanks lovely husband!) and then after lunch decided to bake a fruit pie, as you do! The kids and I went fruit picking this week and we came home with overflowing tubs of raspberries and blackberries. The kids had wanted to pick strawberries but they had been rather over picked this past week I think and were cordoned off. But we were happy with our little harvest and after much consideration I decided a pie would do nicely for the fruits of our labour. 

It was a bit of a lengthy process but as it was my first pie (don't judge me) I wanted to take my time to get it right. I've made a savoury puff pastry lid type pie before, but this was my first shortcrust pie which involved blind baking the base first, etc. It was definitely worth the effort though as my pie turned out better than I expected and we've had two servings with a side of double cream already today - oops! A few pics below, I know it's not rocket science, but with two little ones running around I don't often make time for baking at home, apart from an easy banana bread I make all the time and fairy cakes that I make with the kids. But now I say hooray for home baking! :)

Apples with cinnamon

In go the berries - I don't know why the fruit looks day-glow here!

A couple of leaves to top things off!

If only Mary Berry could see this now!

So, this evening I think we pretty much continued the easy going theme of the day and, following the usual riot of getting the kids to bed, we ate dinner (more pie?!) and watched an episode of Breaking Bad. Also, I may or may not have hopped onto my laptop at some point as I've got my eye on this tee from Chinti and Parker (I seriously love everything on their site, I would wear it all. And with 70% off right now, what can I say, it's a bit like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey!), we'll just have to wait and see.

Stripe Tee with Love print, Chinti and Parker

I hope you've had a good weekend too, here's hoping for another lovely sunny week! x

What A Glorious Weekend!

I hope it's been just as warm and sunny where you are as it has been here, my skin has quite a rosy glow from so much time spent in the park and in the garden this weekend. We just had a laid back weekend, with fun to be had in the park, a spot of tidying at home (got to love a clean kitchen!) and my new tshirt from Zara arrived yesterday which I got to wear out today, much to my delight! 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend too, it really feels like summer's begun :)

Wedding Anniversary Getaway!

It's taken me a few days to get around to posting about this but I just wanted to share a few photos of our wedding anniversary getaway on the weekend! It was soooo nice to snatch a bit of time back for ourselves (God knows I love my children, I really do, but some time away was long overdue!) and just remember what it was like to do stuff together without all the 'baggage' that goes along with going anywhere or doing anything with small kids.

We ventured to the New Forest, and to The Pig, near Brockenhurst specifically for our getaway, and I couldn't have asked for a nicer, more peaceful backdrop to our celebration. The hotel is basically a lovely, posh country pad with a fabulous restaurant which prides itself on fresh, seasonal and very locally sourced (mostly onsite, or if not certainly within a 25 mile radius) produce for it's ever-changing menu; as well as a handful of lovely, shabby chic bedrooms with heavenly monsoon showers (and if you get a really fancy room with a roll-top bath in your room - note we didn't but hey, maybe next time!).

We were so lucky with the weather - brilliant sunshine both days - and so on arrival we decided to take a stroll around the grounds. I wanted to see the Kitchen Garden where the chef and his team grow and pick all their own veg, etc, and just generally take in all the peace and quiet!

The front of the hotel

The side, including the restaurant conservatory and terrace

Overlooking the Kitchen Garden

The Kitchen Garden (and a view of the "potting shed" where one could get pampering treatments and massages if one desired it!)

How not to pose for a photo!

Who's that cool dude?!

Hello Chickens!

Mec ventured down to see the Pigs but apparently they were quite smelly and totally disinterested in visitors!

This is an awful photo of me, but at least you can see I made an effort for dinner, dressing in my new pretty pink blouse (and you can see my anniversary present, my Bee necklace). And more importantly, you can kind of catch a glimpse of the beautiful garden conservatory which is the restaurant. As the sun went down and it grew dark, it was lovely dining by candle light).

A big swing in the garden - and yes, Mec is flexing his biceps in the photo below (boys eh!)

***

The next morning after a lazy and very delicious breakfast (I'd read that the breakfast was good, it didn't disappoint!), we headed into the New Forest and took a few walks and spotted some ponies just going about their business. We saw a beautiful foal and it's mama too, but they were just too far away to photograph and I certainly didn't want to disturb them. 

A leisurely drink at a local pub, enjoying the view before it was time to head home and rescue my parents who were on childcare duty. 

The lovely Alex Monroe Baby Bee necklace Mec got for as an anniversary - I know I dropped a large hint about it on here so no surprises really, but I definitely wasn't certain and so I was very chuffed to receive such a lovely present. I bought Mec a Bellroy leather wallet which I'd seen on his Pinterest board and which he loved also so smiles all round.

All in all it was a wonderful break and I would definitely recommend The Pig for a indulgent little get away! I only hope next time we don't wait another 7 years before we treat ourselves again! :)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mums out there! I've been enjoying tea & pastries in bed this morning and reading magazines (one of my fav me things to do, uninterrupted reading time!). I hope you've been chilling out doing your favourite thing too x

ps - homemade cards are the best, you can't beat a bit of glitter and sparkly paper! :)

pps - happy first mother's day to my best friend Amy, who had her gorgeous baby, Max, in January! 

Picnic Time!

Wow, what amazing weather we had on the weekend, and for March too, not bad! As life has been getting sunnier, I've started hitting the park with the kids for impromptu picnics and it feels so good - since having kids just hanging out in the park with them in the sunshine is one of my favourite things to do. It's easy, free and the kids are always happy and exhausted after enjoying the freedom of having a good run around. On friday we grabbed a little lunchbox each from our local supermarket and went to the playground across from Tabby's nursery for a little spring picnic... these couple of shots of Sam kill me, he insisted on carrying his own lunch all the way from the shop to the park, but it was a bit heavy so he kept having to stop and regroup everything! It was too cute! (I know, the dummy ain't good, we're trying to cut back but some days he's just too tired and grumpy to give it up!)

(This is just another photo from the weekend which I'm so glad I managed to capture! It doesn't happen often, but there's definitely love between these two!)

I hope you had a good weekend too :)

Chicken Pox And The New Season At GAP

Being a mum certainly has it's ups and downs... there's good days and bad days, crazy fun days and dare I say it boring days. There are also days when I wonder if I've got what it takes! Right now Tabitha has the inevitable, but dreaded, Chicken Pox and it's heartbreaking watching her break out in spots all over her body and not being able to do much to help. She's itchy and grumpy and understandably fed up, and in turn as we're all stuck in the house under quarantine, we're all fed up!

On the whole, thanks to ice lollies and disney films we're surviving the experience so far, but we're not over the worst of it yet I fear. It's probably only a matter of time too until Sam catches it. Wish me  (and my sanity) luck!

So where possible, I've been escaping into a corner with my laptop when I need a break. Despite all the rain I'm definitely sensing a change in the light at the moment and I'm getting excited about spring.  I like spring, as I think it's a time you can be more playful with your clothes. Everyone is feeling happy after the worst of the winter, and has a spring in their step (no pun intended!). Therefore with this mindset, I felt brave enough to go for these GAP jeans (which as an added bonus were in the sale at £14.99!). So far I've worn them out to dinner, with black heels and a blazer, and although I felt a bit nervous at first as they're a bit bolder than I'd normally wear, the outfit looked good. I'm also looking forward to wearing them when the weather warms up, rolled up a little at the ankle, with some sandals, and maybe a GAP essential grey v-neck tee and sunnies.

I really wanted these jeans, but they sold out too quickly. I took too long deciding if it was a trend I could pull off and I missed my chance! D'oh!

Continuing my denim craze at the moment I love this faded dip-dye shirt - I actually just got a similar one from Forever 21 which I love and have been wearing with everything. 

And then to go with all this denim I'm buying, this jumper is a great little spring find - still neutral in the grey but with a hint of colour that nods towards the warmer weather to come.

I love these stripped flats too - Madewell have had a very similar style around for a while, but as they don't deliver in the UK I've not been able to get them (plus Madewell is quite expensive for what it is), so these GAP versions are a great find. 

I'm a bit obsessed with the new GAP range at the moment, they have some great pieces. (And with 20% off until tomorrow now is a good time to check it out!)

Have a great weekend one and all... I'm going to be drinking copious amounts of tea and eating toast whilst on spot watch. There's not much of a normal routine going on around here at the moment whilst Tabby's feeling so unwell, so we're really just cuddling up on the sofa and watching a lot of films. Hey, at least it is still February and not the middle of summer after all! 

x