Tuesday 27 August 2013

Trendy Tuesday - Salt City Emporium & Funky Giraffe

Where does the week go?  Every evening I think "I need to blog!" but I so rarely have the energy/time.  I am amazed at how other bloggers find the time.  I'm sure once Ethan starts school it'll be a bit easier to find the time.  At the moment my only chance is about 9pm, once the children are asleep and we've eaten.  It's hard to feel motivated!

Despite lacking in energy, I'm still loving dressing my boys.  Instagram is a constant source of inspiration for fashion, both for myself and the boys.  I love seeing what others are wearing and dressing their children in.  I follow loads of funky dressers and end up finding all these amazing companies who make really cutting edge clothing.  I recently discovered Salt City Emporium, an "Urban lifestyle brand for the modern family" founded by Jen and based in, yes, you guessed it, Salt Lake City, Utah.   I couldn't resist ordering a couple of items from them, despite having to get them shipped in from America.  It was totally worth it though.  I bought a pair of leggings for each of my boys.  I've got to be honest, it was hard to choose which designs to go for!  The leggings aren't cheap, especially when paying for international postage, but they are handmade items made from organic cotton, so you are getting something special.  I went for a mountain print for Felix and a chevron print for Ethan (I am so feeling chevron prints at the moment!).  You can follow Salt City Emporium on Instagram @saltcityemporium.


Another company I've ordered from recently is Funky Giraffe.  We're long standing fans of the dribble style bandanna bibs in our house.  I'd actually like to say I introduced them to all my friends.  I was certainly one of the first people to use them in our town when Ethan was a baby, all my friends asked about them and ended up buying loads and now almost all babies have them!! I've never bought any from Funky Giraffe before now though.  I'm impressed with theirs- the more you buy, the cheaper they are! Funky Giraffe also sell some clothing and little moccasin slippers which I really love.


So - that's our style for the week!  Over to you - have you discovered any new brands on Instagram?  Been inspired by something on Twitter?  What have your little ones been rocking?  Link up below!  Don't forget to comment here and visit the others who join in!

Monday 26 August 2013

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it.  Felix is now 3 months old.  Where has that time gone?  I swear since he came along things have gone even faster than before.  I can't believe my first baby, my vibrant chatty little boy, is starting school, SCHOOL, PROPER SCHOOL in only days.  Time went fast with one child.  It's speeding by with two.  I feel like the old lady in A Squash and A Squeeze - "It was fast with one, it's speedy with two!".


Most days I feel like I can't catch my breath.  Life is one wonderful busy blur of milk feeds, dressing children, brushing teeth, reading books, cooking food, cleaning up, running around, fitting in naps (not mine!), meeting friends and drinking cold coffee.  I wouldn't change it for the world though.


Adjusting to having one child was hard and it's been difficult adjusting to the dynamics of two, but it hasn't taken as long to settle into a routine and overall, things have been a lot smoother than I thought they would.  I love both my boys more than I can describe and it's a true pleasure and privilege to be their mother, to see them grow and thrive.  Nothing I've done in my life makes me as proud as these two people do.  I know it's somewhat vomit inducing but in all honestly, motherhood is the most rewarding "job" I've ever had.  It's also the hardest.. but if you put a lot into something, you get a lot back.


Walkers Mighty Lights Review

Reviewing products is an undeniable plus point about being a blogger and what is more enjoyable but a huge box of crisps to try out?  A week or so ago I took in a surprise delivery.  Ethan jumped on me before the postie had even left the front door.  He knows there's a good chance that items being delivered are effectively "for him" (who doesn't get more pleasure and less guilt about buying things for their children instead of them?!).  On this occasion though, it was something for the whole family to try out.  Well, not Felix, I might be a slack mother on occasion but he's only 3 months old, I'm not about to feed him crisps!

Yes, a lovely box of free crisps!  Yay!  It wasn't even 9am but I hadn't had breakfast and the baby was screaming, so I decided to indulge myself straight away with a packet of roast chicken flavoured crisps and very tasty they were!

Mighty Lights are a new range of crisps by snack giant Walkers.  The idea is a tasty fibre filled snack that is 30% lower in fat than normal crisps.  I'm not generally a fan of "diet" crisps, but I'm always happy to try out a new snack!  I have to say that I really enjoyed the "non fatty" feeling of the crisps.  They were dry and crunchy but in a good satisfying way.  Some crisps feel too oily to me - these were just right!  There was a decent amount of flavour, I think the ridge effect helps with this, trapping more taste!


Mighty Lights are available in three flavours, Ready Salted, Roast Chicken and Cheese & Onion and all flavours are suitable for vegetarians.  I would have liked a Salt & Vinegar, that's my favourite flavour, but I have to say the Roast Chicken flavour is good and the Cheese & Onion flavour tasty but not too onion-y and overpowering (i.e. your breath doesn't stink of onion for the remainder of the day).

A key point with these crisps is that they have a lower fat content, are made from real potatoes with no artificial colours or preservatives and are a source of fibre and Walkers would like to know if I'd be happy to put them in my child's lunchbox.  Well, I would have to say yes.  I have already in fact.  Ethan has tried all three flavours and declared them "yummy!".  I don't think I'd put them in every day, crisps are still a treat in my book and I like Ethan to have a variety of items in his lunch box.  I'm not opposed to him having crisps though and I do like the fact these aren't as full of fat.


Are we sold on Mighty Lights?  I think so!  Tasty and not so fatty, I've enjoyed them, Ethan LOVES them and hubby said "they're pretty good!" (which is good coming from him on the subject of crisps!!).  Even my aunt gave them a try and enjoyed the flavour!

**We were provided with 3 packs of Mighty Lights for the purpose of review but all views expressed are my own**

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Trendy Tuesday - Jelly Shoe Love!

Did you have jelly shoes as a child? If, like me, you were a child of the 80s (and teen of the '90s! Let's not forget the high heeled Ju Ju Jellys from '95!!) then chances are, you did.

I loved my jelly shoes.  They were perfect for the summer, perfect for the beach, perfect for holidays.  As a child we holidayed in France most years.  We didn't always camp near a beach, sometimes we were nearer a river, and French rivers were lovely to swim in.  Jelly shoes were just right for that because it was safer to have shoes on when paddling and swimming somewhere like that, protecting your feet.  I have a soft spot for jelly shoes :)  When I spotted a pair on Instagram last week, I had to investigate.  I discovered a rather gorgeous pair being sold by Project Jelly.  Project Jelly is a fundraising project, raising money for Mencap, a fantastic learning disabilities charity, a collaboration with JuJu shoes.  25% of all profit from each shoe sold goes to Mencap and shoes retail at £17.95.  Ours arrived very quickly after ordering and came with a cute little bag which Ethan has taken to.



Ethan loves his shoes, he wants to wear them to bed.  I love them as well. They look adorable with socks but I know they are going to be really handy as well, after swimming lessons (we all know how hard it is to pull socks on damp feet, it'll be much easier to pop these on!) and when we visit the beach - easy to clean!

It's been a good week for clothes in our house.  I got a huge bundle of clothes for when Felix is older in the charity shop, some items were unworn with labels attached, Zara Baby, Minymo, Snuglo - some cool brands!!

We're still really loving the Indikidual leggings and Felix has been rocking his zebra print tights!



Got some children's style posts to flaunt? Link up below!  Share the love, comment here and visit others who join in and don't forget to tweet me your links so I can retweet them!


Tuesday 13 August 2013

Trendy Tuesday

I'm writing this at 10:30pm on Tuesday.. I think I'll just get this posted in time!  It's hard to find time to blog when both children are with me 24/7.  I don't think it's fair to get my laptop out and blog when they are awake.  Ethan didn't go to sleep until after 9pm tonight, hence this post being so late!

One of the best things about the children being home for the holidays is being able to dress them in lots of nice fun outfits.  No uniform - yay!  Three weeks from now Ethan will be in uniform 5 days a week.  Of course, Felix is only 11 weeks old, it'll be a while before he's subjected to that.

It occurred to me recently that I'll have to stop buying so many clothes for Ethan.  I've always bought a few years ahead and stock piled clothes, but now he's a school boy, he really isn't going to need as many, so I'm going to have to curb my habit!  Booo..

I thought I'd share a few outfits from the last week:


Scarf - Lidl
Top - Katvig via bebaboo.com
Leggings - Hjorn Hoarth via Funky Little People
Hightops - H&M

Top  left: Romper by 4 Funky Flavours via Monkey & Bo

Top right: Leggings by Indikidual via KyNa Boutique, socks Ted Baker

Bottom left: Poncho by Boys & Girls, shorts by Katvig, Converse hightops with Shwings

Bottom right: Felix wears a Brights & Stripes babygrow.  Bib & nappy via ebay.  Ethan wears a Smafolk top (bebaboo.com), Polarn O Pyret leggings and Moccis.

Do you like our new pushchair?  We've been sent it to review by Cosatto and we are LOVING it so far.  A full review will follow in a few weeks of course.  We need ample time to test it out!

What have your little folk been wearing this week?  Link up below, comment here, visit others who join in - let's see what all the little fashionistas have been rocking!



Monday 5 August 2013

Trendy Tuesday - Zezuzulla

I've written before about the online children's clothing shop, Funky Little People.  Anna, who runs it, is really lovely and has fantastic taste to boot!  If you haven't before, you should really check out her shop.  There's a link/advert on my blog at all times, but there will also be links throughout today's post!

Anna recently discovered a Polish children's clothing brand, Zezuzulla.  Now, whilst they are obviously not Scandinavian, they must surely be influenced by Scandi brands - just take a look at some of the items Anna stocks.  They definitely have a Scandi feel.  If you read my blog regularly you'll know how much I love Scandi clothing brands for my boys.  You may even know about our Polish connection (my husband's maternal grandfather was Polish - that's why Felix's middle name is Jakub).  So, this brand is perfect for us!

I have a couple of Zezuzlla items in Felix's wardrobe (I say wardrobe, it's actually a chest of draws).  Both have a bear print on them.  Yesterday, Felix was rocking these gorgeous trousers.  What do you think?  I really think their items are gorgeous.  Fantastic quality as well, and as the designs are screen printed on, they aren't mass produced items.

www.medicatedfollower.com - Zezuzulla via www.funkylittlepeople.co.uk
Black long sleeved vest - Molo
Trousers - Zezuzulla via funkylittlepeople
Crochet boots - handmade by Katerina's Crochet

What have your little ones been wearing this week?  Link up below!  Don't forget to comment here and visit some of the others joining in!