Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Harry Potter turns 20!

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Can you believe that on June 26th 2017, JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” has been publish for 20 years?! It seems no time at all, since I discovered my love for Harry Potter and his Wizarding World but despite being 38 years old this weekend and having gotten both my daughters to love Harry Potter too, I find it hard to believe that it really has been twenty years since the start of my favourite book series.

That said, I wasn’t one of the first people to jump aboard the Harry Potter band wagon. In fact, when both my mum and dad were raving about the books, I was actually wondering what the hell was going on with all these adults loving a “kids book”. It wasn’t until 1999 (Philosopher’s Stone was 1997), not long after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published, that I finally caved to peer pressure and borrowed my parent’s copy of the first book. In typical “child” fashion, I hated to admit when my parents were right, but oh my god I loved the first book. So much so that it was read within a few days, despite working full time. Book two was then devoured within days, followed by book three. It was official, I was hooked. I was desperate for the fourth book… and I suppose that was when I truly became a Harry Potter fan.

Book Four – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was pre-ordered. When it arrived, I couldn’t wait to get reading and I literally didn’t put it down until I was done. This became the same for all the other books, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and finally The Deathly Hallows. I have never before, or since, been so hooked on a book series. And it didn’t end with just the books either. I went to see every movie that was released, if not on the very first day, within very few days of released. The Deathly Hallows Part 1 was released not long after my ex and I split up and having no one who was immediately free to go to the cinema with, I ventured for the first time by myself to see a movie – rather than wait too long and go with someone else. When the final movie was released, myself and fifteen other friends, all gathered for a party of sorts. We all went to the first midnight showing of the movie and some of us even got Deathly Hallows tattoos to remember the occasion – this was my first ever tattoo.

This week I have been to London and of course a visit to the Platform 9 3/4 shop is an essential part of that trip. Not only that, but as I mentioned earlier – I turn 38 at the end of this week and guess what I’m doing for my birthday? A trip to Watford and the Harry Potter Studios (it will be my third time!). I’m really a huge Harry Potter geek and I don’t care if I should be too old for it or whatever. I have loved Harry Potter for (almost) twenty years and I will continue to do so for at least twenty more. I have loved sharing the stories with my children and hope they will continue to share the books with their own children too. This weekend we are also attending MCM London Comic Con and they have pre-releases of the 20th Anniversary “house” editions of the Philosopher’s Stone and I’m so tempted to get one (or all of them…)! Harry Potter books are the one and only set of books I would never be parted with, over all the books I own.

As a final thought and conclusion to my post, I wanted to share this infograph, put together by Cartridge Save. It has loads of fun facts about most used words and phrases, along with how many copies have been sold and how many words are in each book etc. If you’re yet to read Harry Potter, no matter what the reason, I honestly recommend you give it a try! You have nothing to lose and a whole lot of love to gain!

Escape the Room

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Back in March it was Chris’ birthday and we never really know what to do for it as he’s one of those “I’m not really bothered” people. However I love to throw a party so I always want to try and do something. Over the time we’ve been together, we’ve had an Alice in Wonderland murder mystery, a board games night and also just going out for dinner with a group of friends. However this year we had tossed around the idea of an “Escape the Room” (sometimes called Exit Room). Having looked into it locally, to see what was available, we decided it was definitely something we could do, if enough of our friends were interested. Obviously there would be Chris and I, so that was already two and most rooms only allow for five/six people (some do go higher but it’s not common and some are even just five – which is awkward when you’re in couples!). We asked my friend Nat and her partner Dan, who Chris gets on well with, along with Chris’ friend Jon and his partner Becka. We also asked my brother and his partner, but they weren’t able to make it – which in the end turned out better with us only being able to accommodate six players. We did however decide to go out for dinner at Frankie and Benny’s beforehand and my brother (who is also Chris) and his partner Erika, came along to join us for that.

Before I get too ahead of myself, for those of you who are wondering “what is an escape room?” well the answer is fairly simple and pretty much as it sounds. You are placed in a room – and you need to escape. There are always varying scenarios, whereby you’re trapped, locked in etc and you need to find the way out. It’s not as simple as just finding the door, or a key etc. it’s supposed to last up to an hour and so it’s a series of clues and puzzles. Usually, the game is timed and you have 60 minutes – the concept being that you get locked in for good if you can’t escape in that time. However of course, they have to let you out so they can continue to let other people play – but it’s fun to pretend and I guess you walk away as either a winner for managing it or a loser for not managing it.

So given where we live, the best choices for us were Lincoln, Doncaster and Scunthorpe for the Escape Rooms. Lincoln however, has very “Lincoln” themed rooms – with themes like the Magna Carta, Lancaster Bomber, Time Machine (Tank related), and Lincoln Imp. None of these themes really appealed to us, so we narrowed it down to Scunthorpe and Doncaster fairly easily. Doncaster had Clueless Detective Agency, Ward 13 (Asylum), and Hostage. They have a new one called The Heist coming but that hasn’t opened yet. Scunthorpe only had two options, Sherwood and Prison. Since there wasn’t an awful lot of information or way to tell which would be best, we went for Scunthorpe as it was marginally nearer and since the Prison one had a higher difficulty rating, we went for that. In truth I think that Chris might have preferred to do Ward 13 but having never done anything like this before, I was a bit of a baby – wondering if there would be live action actors in there and then I’d get freaked out!

On the night of Chris’ birthday, after we’d had dinner, we all headed off to “Open the Door” in Scunthorpe. When we arrived, we had to read these information sheets about what we were or weren’t allowed to do, then we had to store all our coats, bags and especially phones, inside a locker. Next we had to split into two groups (though I think this was specific to this scenario). We were then blind folded and lead into the room, in the two separate groups. When we took off the blind folds, you could see why we had to break into two groups – because three of us were locked in one cell and three were locked in the other. Typically we had split into girls versus boys and I’m glad we did cos often boys annoy you when their methods are different to yours! The three of us girls worked well together too, so it all worked out.

First we had to figure out what was in the cell. There was writing on the wall, a tool box under the bed and a sink. We could also hear the boys, but not see them, as their cell was right next door to us. We could see out into the main part of the jail too – where a desk, mirror and lockers could be seen. While I don’t want to spoil the actual plot and clues for anyone who goes here, I will give you a rough idea of what we had to do – starting with the fact the boys found a torch in their sink pipe, so we thought to look in ours too and found one as well. We weren’t really against each other either, so it was nice to throw about ideas between the boys and the girls. The things on the wall lead us to believe we had to figure out some number combinations as we had two lots of combination locks in our cell. The boys had something handing from the ceiling they couldn’t reach and it turned out that one of our combination locks, opened a box that allowed a string to be lowered and they could reach the box! Anyway, we had to do multiple things in our cells, which eventually lead to finding a remote control car under the lockers out of the cell, which when driven to the cell, had keys in that meant we could unlock ourselves. Once in the main room, there were so many things we had to do, including get inside two lockers, figure out how the desk drawer unlocked, see if the telephone did anything, why the mirror was hinged etc. There was a jigsaw type puzzle, as well as some number/letter puzzles and it was really a lot of fun. In the end we made our way through to a secret room, where there was map and coordinated, a little laptop and a safe. We had so much fun and no one got mad and shouted at any point.

We made it out in 52 minutes, when the deadline is 60, so we were all pretty pleased with that. I will admit we did have a little help from the “admin” as they give you a walkie talkie and occasionally point you in the right direction. For our first experience though, it was a definite thumbs up and we all agreed it was something we would love to do again. After discussing it with the kids the next day, it also sounds like something they would like to do, so we hope to do another, maybe with the girls and even my mum. All in all, I loved the idea of the puzzles and a scenario where you need to escape. It wasn’t too hard but just the right amount of adrenaline pumping, in order to get you excited. From a specific perspective, the Open the Door rooms in Scunthorpe were actually easy to miss on the street and when we had mentioned them to the waitress at Frankie and Benny’s, she didn’t even know they existed. However the service we got was fantastic and friendly, we rated them 5 stars on facebook when we got back and I would be happy to recommend their rooms to anyone. As someone who loves to throw Murder Mystery parties, I have seen they now do at home Escape the Room games and I would definitely be up for trying that too.

Have you ever done an Escape Room?

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat

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Recently I’ve been finding it hard to make time for blogging. In the day time I work and due to not being fully recovered from this horrible illness, by evening my mind is a mess and there is no hope in hell for concentration. I have a list of so many things I want to catch up on, but every time I turn my laptop on, I just can’t be bothered – and that’s a horrible feeling. However, this morning we have an electrician round to check our electrics – all part of completing the sale on our house. He has taken over the dining table which is where I usually work and so I’m a bit lost for what to do. Then it hit me, that I could actually use that time to go on my laptop and blog – until of course, I realised that he’d turned off multiple plug sockets, including the one the router is in! So I’m sat here, typing this into notepad, hoping that I may still find time to place it on my blog later. After all, I’m going away for a few days tomorrow and if I don’t do it today, it may never get done!


Anyway, I’ve completely side-tracked from the post I was going to make… and that was about the musical “Joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat”. Theatre has always been a massive passion of mine, especially musicals but really all genres. Ever since I was old enough, I bought a programme from every show I ever saw and I still have them all to this day. Wicked and Phantom of the Opera are my favourites, having seen Wicked three times and Phantom twice. I also love Starlight Express which I have seen three times too. I won’t spend forever listing all the theatre shows I’ve seen but needless to say I was really excited to hear that Lily’s school were going to tackle Joseph for their Y3/4 play this year. When Lily was cast as the Pharaoh I was even more thrilled. In the end, I made the technicolour dreamcoat for school and Lily’s pharaoh costume. Neither were anything special but school seemed pleased with them and the play was pretty good too.

Since Lily took such an interest in the play (she watched the DVD I bought her three times, before doing the performance) and loved all the songs, I decided I would look to see if Joseph was still touring, as I knew it had been last year. Sure enough, it was doing a new tour for 2017 and Joe McElderry was still playing Joseph. Funny enough, we had nearly gone to see the play last year, because my mum likes Joe McElderry so much but in the end we had decided not to book. Anyway, there were a few options to book, one before Lily’s play and a couple afterwards. A part of us wanted to watch it before, because she felt that would help her act it better, but I also knew the school play would be nothing like the real version so instead she could just continue the enjoyment afterwards. In the end we booked for Easter Weekend in Skegness, which fell about two weeks after Lily’s play.

When we got to the theatre, I bought a programme – it was only £4. We found our seats and they were pretty great to be honest. Lily ended up almost centre of the stage, with a good clear view. The play itself was really enjoyable. Lily sang along and danced in her seat and my enjoyment definitely came from seeing her enjoy it. I have seen Joseph three times before, so this was my fourth. I’m a little sad to say, that it was probably the “poorest” version I have seen, but unfortunately you often find that with touring shows as they have to keep a budget, make it easy to travel etc. That said, the cast was great and if you forget about the fact that people play multiple characters, it wasn’t really that bad. Lily loved it and that was definitely the most important part.


Though we had traveled in my mum’s car for the most part, we had driven to my mum’s in my car and so as soon as we were back in my car – the Joseph CD went on (Lily had convinced me to buy it at the intermission) and we sang along all the way home. When we got back, Lily asked for the CD and headed to her room to keep on listening, while lying on her bed and playing on her iPad. Once the Easter holidays ended, we put the CD back in the car and now listen to it most drives to and from school. All in all, Joseph was a great success but I do hope that it becomes a West End fixture again at some point as I would love for Lily to see the full quality version.

Do you like the theatre? What’s your favourite show?

Simple Tips For Making Your Bathroom Look More Expensive

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After the kitchen, the bathroom is probably the most expensive room in the home to fix up. A quick look online will show you exactly how much some people pay for their bathrooms, and there are some scary looking figures on display.

But the honest truth is that you don’t need to splash out on marble stone tiles and a rain shower to make your bathroom look the part. With a little creative thinking – and a lot of hard work – you can turn the tiniest of dingy bathrooms into a beautiful place to relax.

Take our bathroom, as the perfect example – it looked awful when we moved in, but I think we managed to do a pretty good job in the end. Here’s a few tips that helped us improve our bathroom’s look by a significant amount.

Storage and Containers

You never see a plush, expensive bathroom full of clutter. So the first step is to ensure you have plenty of containers and cupboard space to put everything away when it isn’t in use. You could even go down the traditional route of keeping things in large glass jars or ceramic jugs rather than plastics – just keep them well out of the way of the kids!

A beautiful bathmat

You don’t have to spend a lot on bathmats – when they are brand new, they always look great. But let’s face it, in a busy household they tend to get pretty unkempt very quickly – and it has a serious impact on your bathroom. So, lose the Terry cloths and look for something a little more long-lasting. Turkish or Persian rugs are a great substitute, and you don’t have to go too wild on size, and you will still benefit from a more sophisticated look.

Swap out your taps

I think a lot of people would love to splurge on something like a freestanding bath. But the reality for most households is that they are far too expensive to justify, and most bathrooms don’t have the room anyway. But you can make the most of your current tub by switching out the bath taps – and you can do the same for your sink, too. It makes such a difference to the style of the bathroom and is such a cheap way of getting an instant improvement.

Go big on mirrors and artwork

There are some spectacular and beautifully framed mirrors out there which you should invest in – they will give your bathroom and instant lift, no matter how dull or boring your tiles are. You can also hang artwork or pictures – just make sure they are framed nice and tightly, so they don’t suffer from moisture leaking in. It adds a little personalisation to the bathroom, too, which, ultimately, is what separates a great bathroom from a standard one.

Improve the lighting

One final, easy fix for you – improve your bathroom lighting. Try using spotlights in the bathroom, and you can even pick up chandeliers these days for a reasonable price – or create one yourself. Set up some dimmer switches so that you can dim the lights for a nice, relaxing bath and you will enjoy your bathroom even more. Any thoughts to add? Let me know in the comments section!

Monthly Round-up – March

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Watching: Given that it’s mid-April before I write this, I have very little recollection of what I watched, other than what I made a note of in my phone. I watched several Netflix series including; The OA, Friends with Better Lives,
Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, and Iron Fist but I don’t remember which others. I watched the newest Annie movie. I also re-watched Cinderella and Guardians of the Galaxy. As well as keeping up with Bones, Holby City, Casualty, Riverdale, Grimm, New Girl etc. I saw Beauty and the Beast at the cinema.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): March was pretty crazy for orders, always seeming like I had a few more than I could cope with. However I managed to get through them and that’s what counts! I announced a Wonderland Giveaway for the monthly box, plus made LOADS of ears and bows, along with a Belle dress, two Briar Rose dresses, a Boys Woody top and waistcoat and a girls Woody dress. There was also a huge wave of orders for Infinity scarves after Roisin from Disneyfind, shared the scarf I sent her. I think I made 15 in one week and since then the orders dribble in still! Of course there was a technicolour dreamcoat and a pharaoh costume too which you can read more about below! Finally with the upcoming 25th Anniversary for DLP, I designed some ears which have proved very popular too!

And in other news…
– One of the first things that happened this month was Lily’s birthday, when she turned 9. We had a very calm day, making lego in the morning, Pizza Hut for lunch and then chilling out when we got home until bedtime.
– World Book Day was also at the beginning of this month and since last year Lily had gone as Harley Quinn, before it was super popular to be Harley Quinn, this year she went as Dr Harleen Quinzel. She looked absolutely fabulous. Megan didn’t get to dress up now she’s at secondary school, which is sad!


– Megan broke up with her boyfriend – her choice. It wasn’t especially dramatic but she did feel pretty bad afterwards so us three girls went shopping and I taught the girls about retail therapy ;)
– One of the most life changing things that happened this month is that we finally got an offer on the house. March 13th. After having the house on the market for almost a year, and after living here for almost 4 years when we only intended it to be 1 or 2. Fingers crossed it’s all proceeding well as we have accepted the offer since then, the “sold” sign went up on 20th, we had the survey done and started to complete the forms. More info to follow!
– Lily and I went on her school trip, to Cadbury World near Birmingham. It’s always really nice to share school trips with the girls but this time it was especially nice as Lily and I even sat together on the coach. It was a long and tiring day, especially as Lily was full of cold but we both enjoyed ourselves.
– Amy and Liv came to visit for the weekend and although we didn’t do a lot, we seemed to keep busy. We didn’t pick them up till fairly late on Friday so all we did was drink and catch up, but then Saturday we saw Beauty and the Beast, plus went to Meadowhall and had Five Guys. On Sunday we just hung out while I got some work done, until eventually I took them back to the station.
– Chris’ birthday was the 20th and it was nice to spend the day together, even though the girls weren’t around to enjoy it at all. We went into Lincoln in the morning to do some shopping but it threw it down with rain all day so we cut it short and came home. In the evening we met with friends and went to Frankie and Benny’s for dinner and then did an “Escape the Room” game which was amazing. Hopefully I will post about that soon!
– Not really a big fan of Red Nose Day (or Children in Need for that matter) but always happy to donate £1 to non-uniform and a red nose etc. However I did love that there was a “Red Nose Day Actually” short, like an update to Love Actually – and I cried and found it amazing too.
– Then came Mother’s Day. The girls made a mistake with my gift and ended up upset but it really didn’t matter as it was lovely to spend the day with them and then with my own mum too at lunch time. We went out to a restaurant called Meat Inc. that does amazing burgers and I was really hoping to review but completely forgot to take pics! Maybe next time we visit I will remember.
– I can’t remember if I mentioned this last month or not but Lily was given the part of Pharaoh in her school play – Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat. She was really excited (and nervous) as it was a big part but I knew she would be amazing (AND SHE WAS!). I offered to make the technicolour dreamcoat for school and Lily’s Pharaoh costume too. I was the last of the family to see her play (with everyone else seeing it Monday and Tuesday, and Megan and I waiting till Wednesday) but it was pretty decent. I got embarrassed at the end however as I got given a bunch of flowers and a very public thank you, for helping with the costumes.
– One of the last things we did in March was have some friends around for socialising. We played Jackbox all night and it was a lot of fun. I’m really glad we’re finding more time to do that, although I do wonder if moving will effect these nights!

Looking forward to in April:
– Easter Holidays! I love love LOVE having the girls off school – not just for having them around, but also for saving myself three hours in a car for the school run. We don’t have too much planned but you never know!
– We have tickets to see Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat at Skegness on Easter Weekend. After it was announced that Lily’s school would be doing the play, she took such an interest that I suggested booking tickets. I’m so glad I did as she was then given a great part and really loved the play. I can’t wait for her to see it done on a big stage.
– Mum’s birthday is in April. We probably won’t do much but I’ve already bought her present and no doubt we’ll all go out for lunch.

Life Lately (an April update)

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Hey everyone! You may (or may not) have noticed my substantial absence from my blog this month. To begin with, I was just busy but for the last 3 weeks (maybe even a little more), I have been so ill that I haven’t even picked up my laptop! I haven’t updated about Lily’s birthday, going to see the Live Action Beauty and the Beast movie, or the Escape The Room game that we played for Chris’ birthday. To be honest, most of March is a bit of a blur now and we’re almost half way through April too.

So I’m writing this post by way of explaining why I haven’t been around. But I’m also hoping to go back and catch up too. After posting this, I’m going to write my March round-up. I can’t promise I’ll remember much but I will give it a try! During this coming week I hope to update on Chris’ Escape the Room at least as it was such a new experience for me, but hopefully some of the other things too. Anyway I’m sorry I was gone so long but hopefully I will go back to posting at least 2-3 times a week. With moving house soon we’re going to have some life changing/exciting times and I want to make sure I document it!

Is Wales Seriously Banning E-liquid Flavours?

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You might have heard recently that the Welsh government has been taking steps to get E-cigs ‘under control’ in Wales. They attempted to ban E-cigs in public places, but have thus-far failed to do so.

But, ironically, they may have actually figured out how to make E-cigs much less enjoyable.

They are banning flavours.

Yes, this is true – it’s not a prank or a joke. Here’s the official statement from Public Health Wales.

“Confectionary-like flavours of e-liquid should not be permitted, in order to reduce the appeal of vaping to children and young people.”

 According to a spokesperson from Public Health England, it was said that ‘only children’ enjoy sweet flavoured E-liquids – and that the flavours were obviously designed with the intent to market the devices and the liquids to children.

This is obviously a stretch. In fact, it’s more than a stretch – it’s downright ridiculous to those of us who understand vaping and the ideology behind it. We obviously disagree with this completely… but just for the sake of the argument, we are going to share a few thoughts on why we believe that such a ban is not only unnecessary, but also on how it could also cause more harm than good.

Argument Number One… Fruity and Sweet Flavours Appeal To Ex-Smokers Too

Believe it or not, fruity and sweet e-liquid blends carry a lot of appeal for ex-smokers. They taste good, and they help people who used to smoke to move even further away from the idea of smoking as it pertains to cigarettes.

They also help to establish vaping as its own habit… separate from smoking and something unique in itself. Without flavours, far more people may just stick to smoking.

Argument Number Two… Fruity and Sweet Flavours Were Not Designed To Market E-cigs To Children

No E-cig companies in the UK make it their policy to sell to underage users. E-cig websites and businesses alike, as well as all of the prominent vaping associations, support the ’18 and over’ rule for vaping. Nobody wants to sell vaping products to kids or children. Nobody wants to see children getting addicted to nicotine. Nobody wants to see younger vapers using the devices behind their parents’ backs.

The idea that these types of flavours were designed specifically for children and minors is quite outlandish, to put it lightly.

Argument Number Three… Fruity And Sweet E-Liquids May Increase The Odds That Smokers Will Be Able To Successfully Switch To E-Cigs

Vaping is definitely a bit different than smoking. It’s also a bit more expensive to get started with. These are both disadvantages that can cause smokers to continue to smoke instead of switching over.

So what does vaping have to offer over cigarettes? Well, vaping is up to 95% less harmful than cigarette smoking. It’s also less expensive in the long run, and can provide an alternative nicotine delivery system that can help smokers to quit.

But it also offers a larger, more diverse array of flavours – which make it its own unique experience. This diversity is part of what has made vaping so successful. One day, someone is smoking cigarettes that they don’t even like, just because they are addicted to nicotine. The next, they’re vaping on a fruity, sweet E-liquid blend that they love, while also getting their nicotine at the same time.

This allows them to kick smoking, because they’re not even missing out on anything by switching!

Hopefully, the Welsh Assembly will change its viewpoint on vaping. The vaping industry has done a lot of good things for Wales. It has provided jobs and revenue – despite the challenges that vaping has thus-far endured.

And this, unfortunately, just seems to be another roadblock in the way. Will the vaping industry be able to get past it? It’s impossible to know for sure at this point. Hopefully things will work out to negate this rather extreme ruling – but only time will tell, so we’re eager to get some more updates and clarification from Public Health of Wales.

Have you got an opinion? We’d love to hear it.

Monthly Round-up – February 2017

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Watching: This month I watched Maze Runner, Sharknado 4, Anastasia, Sing, Batman Lego Movie and Green Lantern. I also watched Bitten, Helix and started Riverdale. As usual there was Dance Moms, Bones, New Girl, Big Bang Theory, Grimm, Blindspot, Casualty, Holby City, Let It Shine, Suits, Jane the Virgin and of course The Walking Dead started again.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): February has been crazy busy with orders but seems to have gone in spurts. I listed Moana ears and bows in the store on January 30th and so that caused the first wave of crazy. February 1st was also the last day for my 2K giveaway box, but I also launched a new monthly giveaway later in the month which was Beauty and the Beast themed (not to mention a loop giveaway I had been participating in finished too). I fiddled with some new bows, got some of Megan’s artwork printed on postcards, tried out some candle designs and generally ploughed my way through orders. I made a duvet cover and pillowcase, then bunting to match. I tried to work on new ideas for dresses but never seemed to find time – but decided to look for boy models, so I might list boys clothes. All in all, it was hectic and that’s not even mentioning when I sewed my finger!

And in other news…
– This month we have definitely spent more time being sociable. One night we had our friends Jon and Becka around for games and ended up staying up till 3.30 in the morning. Another night we have Jon and Becka, plus Nat and Dan around for dinner and though Chris headed to bed early, we went well past midnight.
– Amy and I booked to go to Beauty and the Beast afternoon tea at The Kensington Hotel in London. It’s not till May but I’m already looking forward to it.
– Lily chopped her hair short! The decision came out of nowhere and luckily she hasn’t regretted it since but I couldn’t believe she actually decided to go through with it.


– Valentine’s Day happened! The night before, Chris and I had a M&S Valentine’s Meal because it was our one night without the girls in the week. Valentine’s Day itself I spent the day with the girls and my mum, playing board games. Then when Chris got home we all exchanged gifts (that’s a sort of new tradition we have now) and then we headed out for some food and the cinema to see Batman Lego movie.


– I treated myself to a new lipstick and nail polish from the L’Oreal Beauty and the Beast range. I had to order from Amazon Italy but I actually had some euros left on my travel card so it worked out well. The Beast lipstick that I picked is perfect, but I haven’t tried out the blue polish yet. Hopefully I’ll do a review!
– For Galentine’s Day I sent Amy and Liv a gift, plus gave Nat something when she came around later that week. In return Amy sent me a Gaston Pop Funko and I love him.
– I booked to go away for my birthday weekend and I’m so pleased I have. I’m desperate to get back to the Harry Potter Studios, especially now they have the Forbidden Forest though a bit sad Chris might not be able to come. I’m still hoping to throw a murder mystery the night before we go away though.
– Lily and I worked on and off on her chocolate project, largely through half term. When Pippa’s birthday came around I used everything I’d learnt about making ganache and baked an amazing (even if I do say so myself) chocolate cake for her.
– I reformatted my laptop as it was dying fast and I honestly thought I would need to buy a new one. However it seems much better and much faster now so hopefully I can last out a little longer!
– Got a letter from Megan’s school, commending her on her hard work (this is the second one I’ve had since September. She’s also up to 16 certificates, which she needs 10 merits for each (so 160 merits in total!).
– Finally came Pancake Day and in true form we had pancakes for both dinner and dessert. We had stuffed pancakes with chicken, followed by sweet pancakes with various toppings.

Looking forward to in March:
– Can’t really think what March has planned to be honest but I know it’s a fairly hectic month. There is Lily’s birthday to begin with, followed by Amy’s, followed by Chris’ and then finally Mother’s Day. Lily has a school trip and a school play in March, plus her chocolate project is due so I imagine that will make things even busier.
– Amy is coming to visit for the weekend of 17th-19th. I haven’t seen her since we went to DLP so it will be nice to catch up. We’re also seeing the new Beauty and the Beast movie which I’m excited but nervous about.
– As I mentioned, Chris’ birthday is this month and we’re going out for dinner with friends and then doing an Escape the Room game. I’m quite excited about that too but I have to admit I’m worried it will be creepy!

A Guide to Buying Kids Shoes

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Children’s feet grow so quickly which means they go through shoes at an alarming rate! It’s important to regularly get your children’s feet measured to make sure they aren’t pinching or too loose. Blisters and bunions are no fun and can be avoided with shoes that fit properly.

Getting the Right Size Matters

First things first, get your kids feet measured by a professional. Your children are running around, exploring, and walking. Their footwear needs to be comfortable and durable. A professional will be able to give you an accurate size and style of show to suit your child. Your children’s feet can grow up to two sizes bigger within a year! So it’s vitally important to get measure regularly.

Consider the Style you Buy

A professional will be able to tell you, but bear in mind the style you buy. Your child may be keen on the cute design, but they need to be practical too. Heels, over an inch high, are going to affect the way your child walks. Over time your children’s feet may develop blisters. More seriously, if they wear heels too high this can lead to changes in the bone. This could make it difficult to walk normally in the future. Fendi baby shoes are a good option. They have some good slip on shoes and pumps that are fuss-free. If you notice there is more wear on one side of the shoe, or the shape of the shoe is slopes, it could indicate your child’s putting more pressure on certain areas. A trip to a podiatrist will be able to tell if there’s anything that needs correcting.

For Babies

For all children barefoot is best, but especially babies. Letting babies crawl around your home without shoes on is a good idea. It allows muscles to develop correctly and also gives skin the opportunity to breathe. For those who’ve not yet learnt to walk, the feeling of the floor beneath you is a good aid to learning. Make sure you’re baby’s socks are made of the right material and fit correctly. They really should be made of 50% wool or cotton.  Young feet are extremely soft and pliable so be careful about squeezing feet into socks that don’t fit.

Hygiene

Another thing to consider is your young child’s foot hygiene. Feet should be washed and dried thoroughly on a daily basis. If not the spaces between the toes could become infected and lead to athlete’s foot or other infections. Toenails should also be trimmed to make sure that shoes and socks aren’t rubbing against them and causing pressure.

Happy 9th Birthday Lily

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Just a quick update from me today and I also know I’m yet to do my February Round-up. However I couldn’t let today go by without wishing my youngest daughter Lily, a Happy Birthday. We’ve had a lovely day that’s involved opening presents, muffins for breakfast, building Lego, eating at Pizza Hut for lunch, catching up with family and then chilling out. I’m actually quite sad the day is over but I think some of that is knowing tomorrow is Monday and the school run begins again!

So once again, Happy 9th Birthday Lily. I can’t believe how much you’ve grown and what a beautiful, funny and smart girl you’re growing up to be.