Category: Reviews

1. The Pudding Club : Review & Giveaway

   Posted on 9:28pm Sunday 29th Jun 2014

   We are delighted to be continuing our baby blog series and even more so with the opportunity to share gorgeous maternity wear. Our Baby blogger tells all ....

   The Pudding Club is the brainchild of Alexandra Macleod who was fantastically underwhelmed with the maternity clothes that were on offer on the high street. Alex believes that pregnant women should be celebrating their changing body shape, should enjoy shopping for clothes to dress their bump and feel pampered in the process. (we love this ethos)   The Pudding Club was created to do just that. So when we were invited to review a gorgeous outfit from The Pudding Club, here is what happened  ........

   Today I received something that made me smile and feel like 'me'. 

   
   
   I am a mum carrying another little pudding in her tum, which makes me smile very very much, but it means I don't always have time to think about just 'me'. So when a gorgeous, and I mean totally utterly gorgeous, dress turned up at the door and i knew before I'd even tried it on that it was going to be perfect, I got very excited! 
   
   When I was pregnant with my first baby, I attended two weddings at 9 months pregnant and to be honest it was a bit of a nightmare trying to find something to wear that was both flattering and glamorous; if only I had known about The Pudding Club back then! The good news is that I do now, as not only do I have another wedding to attend towards the end of this pregnancy, it's also a very special family one, so I want to feel extra lovely this time.
   
   The dress is a beautiful sheer black lace cocktail dress. The stunning material overlays a soft lining, which of course has lots of stretch so it lays nice and smooth over all of my curves, and there are a few more this time around! I am just over 4 months pregnant at the moment, so the bump is fairly petite, but I can see that there is plenty of room to grow in that area, however I feel great in it now so I think that's pretty clever designing as I can see it will suit all stages of pregnancy. 

    

   
   
   The sleeves are long but delicate, the length is perfect and there is a detachable satin sash which I love and will definitely wear, although if I wear this to something less formal it could be left off. The sizing seems about right, if not a little on the large side as I am normally a size 10 and this dress is an 8-10 and fits perfectly.
   
   It's not a surprise that it has been worn on the red carpet as it hits the spot that I think some maternity ranges don't; women still want to look glamorous and stylish when pregnant (even if we do feel a little frumpy sometimes). 
   
   There were many stunning dresses on The Pudding Club's online store that I could have chosen, I'm very pleased with my choice as it will be perfect for an autumn wedding, but I do rather fancy some of the other gorgeous designs too; anyone fancy inviting me to their wedding this year, just so I can justify it to my husband!
   
   Lastly I look forward to seeing me 'flourish' in this dress as my bump and body grow, so watch this space for some updated pictures and thoughts....

   In the meantime, if you want to be in with a chance to win a £50 voucher to spend at The Pudding Club, you can simply enter our competition below:

   The Pudding Club

2. Creating the perfect but healthy lunchboxes with Capri Sun

   Posted on 7:47pm Wednesday 25th Jun 2014

   This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

   I have always been a fan of school dinners, not necessarily the meals themselves per se, more the variety they give the children and the lack of panic they give me every morning. So when my eldest daughter decided she didnt actually want hot dinners at school any longer, a slight fear began to rise inside, the pressue of the daily packed lunch was upon me! 

   I have seen lots of of amazing Bento boxes on Pinterest and whilst they leave me in awe of the time, care and attention that has gone into those daily lunch boxes, my first question is "where on earth do they find the time" and secondly, "do the children actually eat them?". Does everyone not wake up in the morning and question what on earth they are going to fill the lunchbox with each day? Or is that just me?

   So I thought we would have a trial run before school starts back next week and when I popped into our local Tescos, I picked up a box of each Capri Sun flavour on the shelf as part of my #collectiveBias #CapriSunSchool shop, as I knew this would be a good healthy start, as they have no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

    

   Tesco must have known how much I love a good deal too, as the Capri Sun was on offer, saving 95p per pack! 

    

   I then started looking round for health lunchbox inspiration. Thankfully both girls love salad like cucumber and sweet peppers, so that is never a worry but neither have ever been huge fans of a sandwich or bread in general (unless they are feeding the ducks) so ensuring that they get the right balance of carbohydrates is essential too.

   I had a look on the Capri Sun website and loved some of their suggestions for calming lunchboxes, here is one of their ideas for   

   healthy lunchboxes

    

   • Snack
     Yoghurt

   • The main event
     Lean ham and tomato sandwiches, made with wholegrain bread Sticks of vegetables such as carrot, cucumber, celery and red pepper

   • Fruit
     Banana

   • Drink
     Capri-Sun

   • Extras
     Sunflower and pumpkin seeds and raisins

   I am not so sure mine would eat the pumpkin seeds as they are both getting older, they both have their own specific preferences and I think that while I may have to throw in some alternative options from time to time, the best thing to do is give them things they like (and they will eat), although if my tween is reading this, this doesn't mean chocolate and sweets!!

   

   The littlest member of the family was more impressed than the tween, even saying that her cucumber piece looked like a sun. (A Capri Sun maybe??).

    

    

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   And on a final note, if like me, you are not blessed with the creativity to make amazing, ingenius and down right cute lunchboxes every day, I will leave you with these Pinterest boards to inspire you .....

    

3. Spoilt Rotten Future Firefighter Babygrow Review

   Posted on 9:56am Wednesday 25th Jun 2014

   We recently ran a competition with Spoilt Rotten and they kindly gave us the opportunity to review one of their gorgeous babygrows, so as part of our Baby Blog, we bring you our baby bloggers thoughts ......

   The first thing I loved about receiving the Spoilt Rotten Future Firefighter Babygrow, was the adorable packaging; a cute milk carton that clips together at the top which made it feel like you were indeed going to be spoilt with something special!

   
   
   The babygrow was neatly folded inside and you couldn't help but love the super soft material, and how it felt better quality than your standard high street vests. 
   
   The design was exactly as I expected from what I'd seen online and it was exciting to have something that felt 'personalised' for our baby boy (his dad is a fireman after all). This is what I love about Spoilt Rotten, there are so many unique designs to choose from that you are bound to find something that is relevant to the child you are buying for, and this makes it a perfect choice if you are buying a gift.
   
   The sizing felt about right (6-12 months), however it would probably be a little on the large side for an average 6 month year old, but they can always grow into it. The important techy bits of the babygrow are:

   • 100% thick Organic Cotton at 200gsm
   • Certified high standards of Global Organic Textiles Standard, Soil Association and Fair Wear Foundation.
   • No chemicals used to ensure no cotton fibres are damaged to ensure a super soft feel (it really does)
   • Envelope Style neck for easy change (who doesn't want an easy life)

    

   The great thing about the Spoilt Rotten products is that they are not your regular baby outfits but I think that's what makes it so special and worth splashing out for, nothing wrong with being spoilt rotten once in a while!

    

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4. Am I a Morrisons Mum?

   Posted on 6:52pm Saturday 10th May 2014

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   It is no secret that I love to shop on the internet, I buy presents, clothes and food online. When Britmums announced that they were looking for Morrisons Mums to take £80 worth of vouchers and shop over the bank holiday weekend, I knew there was little I could do to resist. Going into an "actual" shop and pushing a trolley full of food around a shop was a novelty (although I have found out that I am no good at navigating one once it is full of food), so armed with our vouchers we set about our mission. We received a friendly welcome ......

   

   Morrisons announced last week that they were cutting prices, not to price match or any other such temporary measures but significant price drops that appeal to our money saving hearts. They can tell you about it a bit better than me:

   From today, we’ve cut the prices on over a thousand of your favourite products. Not temporary reductions or supermarket smoke and mirrors, these are new every day low prices on the things you buy every week. So you’ll notice the difference with every shop.
   
   And although we’re cutting prices, we’re not cutting corners. You can check our pricing at www.Morrisons.com/pricecuts.
   
   You’ll still get award-winning meat and fish, still get trained butchers and bakers, still get the best of fresh on Market Street and still get friendly Morrisons service.
   
   Look out for the yellow markers when you shop in store and online at morrisons.com. If it says I’m cheaper you know it’s staying cheaper.

   And there were PLENTY of offers to be had (Plenty .... see what I did there???)

   

   
   My friend and I have resolved to have a "dry" May, so I was delighted to find my non alcoholic alternative on offer at half price .... so I bought twice the amount!!

   

   We decided not to price everything up as we went round the shop, prefering to play games with the girls, such as "find something with a flower on it", I won that particular game! Can you guess what product this flower is on?

   

   Our usual weekly shop is in excess of £100, so I was pleasantly surprised that the shopping came to just over £82 so there were definite savings across the store. 

   

    

   As for our bank holiday meal, well I am never going to make it onto Master Chef but with a light meal costing only £1.97 per person, I will happily invite everyone over next bank holiday weekend!

    

   

   So the question remains, am I a Morrisons Mum? I think I may just have been converted!