Journeys Are My Diary

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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.

March Round-up

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I thought that doing a monthly round-up would be easier than doing a weekly one but seems instead that months just escape me and I end up so late doing my round-up! It won’t be very accurate, but here is my March.

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Watching: Catching up on loads of TV in the evening, as we only did DIY in the day. I/We caught up on SHIELD, Agent Carter, Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Grimm, Dance Moms, The Walking Dead, NCIS, Blindspot, X-Files, Gotham, Catfish, The 100, Limitless, Ink Master, Casualty, Holby City and probably more that I don’t remember. I also got quite addicted to watching old episodes of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA.
Reading: Fantastic Mr Fox, Six Lies, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, Fated,.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): Several custom dresses with Disney fabric including; Inside Out, Jungle Book and Lion King. Also a Belle inspired dress and an Aurora inspired dress. An adult Alice in Wonderland dress. A Jessie Dress and Pinocchio outfit from my store listings. I made Aurora and Rapunzel bows on custom request too. Closet Geek was closed for 2 weeks for DIY though.

And in other news…
– Mum got back from New Zealand! After spending the whole of February away, it was really nice to have her back at the very beginning of March. I didn’t realise quite how much I missed her.
– Megan got accepted into her first choice for Secondary School. To be honest I had expected as much but considering 90% of her class/year at her school didn’t, it made me even more grateful. We took her out to dinner at NYC bar and grill to celebrate.
– World Book day was fun! Lily went as Harley Quinn and Megan went as Wenda from Where’s Wally/Waldo.
– Lily was in Shine assembly and it was also the last week for her teacher before going on maternity leave. It was a really sweet but sad moment in assembly and Lily even got to give Mrs Riley her leaving gift.
– Lily’s birthday happened! She turned 8 and honestly as usual, she just grew up overnight. We had a lovely day with birthday lunch out at Pizza Hut but relaxing for the most part. It’s always nice when a birthday falls at the weekend.
– It was a busy weekend with Lily’s birthday Saturday and then Mother’s Day on Sunday. It was lovely though and I was spoilt by the girls. I got a new Disney Tradition ornament and a new Disney Pop Funko too. We went out for lunch with my mum, my sister, my brother and his girlfriend and son too. It was nice to get together as a family.
– I finally edited the girls’ first YouTube video and it was pretty funny to watch. I have no idea when we’ll get around to doing another!
– Some MAJOR DIY took place in our house during March. We started with the kitchen floor on a day off but moved to finishing off the whole house during 10 days off that Chris had booked (and I closed Closet Geek).
– Chris’ birthday was mid-March. He’s way too laid back about doing anything on his bday so it was hard to figure out a fun day. In the end we played mini-golf in Sheffield and then went to Meadowhall where we shopped a bit and had Five Guys for dinner.
– Chris and I tried Cosmos for the first time. Cosmo is a chain restaurant of buffet food. However where most are Chinese and/or Indian, this one is sort of everything. You do still get Chinese and Indian but you also get English (like roast dinner stuff), Italian (like pizza and pasta), loads of nibbly bits like chips, onion rings, curly fries etc. Japanese (like Sushi) and so much more. On a lunchtime it’s £7.50 for as much as you want so it’s really not that bad.
– The girls broke up from school and we celebrated (as always) with Pizza Hut for dinner. It was nice as Chris was actually off work for a change so we all got to go together.
– We celebrated Easter at my brother’s house as it was also a birthday party for his twin boys. It was nice for the girls to get to spend time with their cousins and other kids their age – not to mention play out in the garden and have an easter egg hunt.
– I finished off the month feeling really ill. I totally burnt myself out with all the DIY and letting myself get tired. I was pretty ill for 2-3 days and then had a bad headache for another 1-2 after that. It sort of sucked after achieving so much with the house.

Looking forward to in April:
– Getting the house officially on the market was my main thing to look forward to in April. Since I’m late writing this post, this has actually already happened. We had the person around to take photos in early April, then the house went on the market and we got a copy of the brochure, then our “for sale” sign went up the very next day.
– Mum’s birthday. She’s actually away for her birthday (and I wish I was going to Storybrooke), but we’ll celebrate just beforehand I’m sure.
– Finding some time to work on new ideas for Closet Geek. After shutting the store for two weeks, it took about another week to get caught up. It’s been nice having the odd time here and there to try new projects and I hope to have some more this month.
– Time off with the girls. Most of Easter hols has been in April and as always I look forward to spending time with them. It’s funny how sad I feel when they go back now, rather than the relief I used to feel when they were smaller and more annoying!
– Honestly there isn’t much happening in April as far as I know so not much to look forward to!

Week 11 – Monday Round-up

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Another quickie round-up this week as I’m watching The Walking Dead and apparently it’s a good one! After the girls had a late night last weekend, this week has felt very tiring generally. Megan was okay for the most part but Lily suffered pretty badly with tiredness and that was a headache in itself. They both had school Monday to Friday as normal, Singing Stars on Monday, at their Dad’s on Tuesday and Red Nose Day on Friday. Otherwise everything was fairly standard. Monday we were supposed to be having curry and beer for dinner but when the girls requested croissants and pain au chocolat, Chris and I were swung by that too. Instead Chris and I had curry and beer on Tuesday night, when the girls were out with their dad. Wednesday after school, Lily decided to grow her own prince. it was pretty funny as we’d had this frog thing for about 3 years and never done it and she randomly came downstairs wanting to do it. The frog disintegrated and left a tiny prince, who we were assured would grow full size (full in the sense of the full size it was meant to, not life size) within 72 hours. Sure enough it did and by Saturday she had a not so handsome prince.

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On Wednesday I made a skirt for Amy, in the space of about 3 hours. I was pretty pleased with it too! I did learn a few things and next time I will be making it both longer and gathered, but she seemed fairly happy with it and that’s what mattered. That same day I started on Amy’s cake and sadly it all went a bit wrong but I didn’t have time to do anything about it. On Thursday I carried on with the cake but I also had cleaning and tidying of the house to do. Finally it was Friday and I had so much to do. A huge shop and leaving my bank card at home wasn’t the best start to the day but it turned out okay. I came home and started to cook – lasagne, macaroni cheese and profiteroles stuffed with butterscotch instant whip. After lunch, Amy and Olivia arrived and I sat down with them for a while before we all headed out to get the girls from school. When we got back, I had more cooking to do, including butterscotch creme brulee. Lily then helped me sort out the dining room and set the table as it was her murder mystery party that night. Everyone got ready and then people filtered in from 7pm onwards. We got started around 8pm and I served dinner and then dessert. The murder mystery was pretty basic but it was meant for kids – Lily seemed to enjoy it and that’s what matters. Afterwards the girls went to bed and everyone stayed for a cup of tea/coffee. My mum, brother and his girlfriend ended up going home after a little while but Amy was staying here and Tom/Nat stayed a little longer too. Once everyone was gone, we all stayed up to try and see Amy’s birthday in but gave up at 11.30pm. As it happens I was still awake at midnight so I text her and then went to sleep!

In the morning I was up and got Amy’s present, cake and balloons ready for when she came downstairs. We didn’t really do an awful lot that day to be honest, but it was nice and relaxed just sitting around. We headed out around 2.30pm as we had a dinner reservation over in Lincoln at 3pm. We all ate out at Damons and it was a really lovely meal. There was me and Chris, plus our girls, Amy and Olivia, Nat and her son Harry and our mutual friend Jon. It was nearly 6pm by the time we left though and that meant that once we got home, the girls went pretty much straight to bed. At around 7.30-8pm, Nat came back over to us and as Jon was still here, the five of us spent the evening playing Cards Against Humanity. It was a fun evening and after everyone was gone we managed to stick it out till just gone midnight and see Amy’s birthday out before heading to bed.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and the girls and Chris brought me breakfast in bed and some beautiful cards and a gift. I then got up and tidied up the house, before taking Amy to catch her train and popping to the shop for some food. I came home and cooked lunch for my mum who stayed for a few hours over lunch and left around 4pm. The girls got their homework done and then somehow it was pretty much time for them to go to bed. I was incredibly tired and just spent the evening monging out on my computer and blogging. It was a crazy sort of a week but I imagine the next two will be as well!

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

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Special days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are always a little strange in our household. I lost my dad over 10 years ago, so I no longer need to buy Father’s Day cards or presents (except for my kids and their dad of course). However my partner needs to remember – getting a gift and card for his dad. Mother’s Day is equally weird as while I’m busy inviting my mum around for lunch and buying her a gift and present, my partner Chris lost his mum before we even met and started dating, over 15 years ago.

My mum and our family

A few months ago I started watching a show called “Long Island Medium“. Its a funny story really as I first saw Theresa Caputo on another show called “Next Great Baker” and thought she was mental. However her show airs right after “Judge Judy” on TLC (honestly, Chris and I are obsessed with Judge Judy) and several times, “Long Island Medium” just came on afterwards and I let it play. After that I often chose to put on her show, intrigued by her spirit encounters and genuinely moved to tears with a lot of the stories that feature on the show. While Theresa is most definitely a “crazy American” to some extent, she is the first person to really make me believe in a spirit presence, an afterlife and the ability to contact people once they’ve passed away. I’ve always been very much a skeptic but recently I’ve been wondering about contacting a medium to see if talking to my dad is possible. It’s even crossed my mind as to whether or not it’s something Chris would want to do for talking to his mum.

Realistically I don’t know if its a step I want to make or not. I miss my dad of course, but for the most part it’s not on my mind every day. I watch the stories on TV and I’m deeply touched, to the point where it makes me cry. Would being in that position myself, be too emotional? Maybe one day it’s something I’ll do, but at the moment I’m definitely on the fence about it. I would love to speak to my dad one more time, as I’m sure Chris would with his mum, but whether it’s something we’ll ever do anything about – I don’t know!

In the meantime, this weekend is Mother’s Day and I’m looking forward to it. Not only do I get to tell my mum how special she is (though I try to tell her that more than once a year), but I also get to cook lunch for her. On top of that I’ll be celebrating as a mother myself, spending the day with my two beautiful daughter’s – who one day will no doubt be mother’s themselves.

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Yummy Mummy – Lush Shower Gel

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During my trip to London a few weeks ago, I treated myself to some new Lush Shower Gel – Yummy Mummy. As you may know, I’m always interested in trying out the new shower gels from Lush and have previously reviewed Hot Toddy, So White, Prince Charming and Rose Jam. My all time favourite is most definitely Snow Fairy, a limited edition Christmas scent. This Mother’s Day, Yummy Mummy has been released as a Limited Edition.

Lovely in lilac, this super-scrummy, sweet and floral shower gel is filled with lustre for a touch of glamour.

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I couldn’t quite decide what the scent of this shower gel was as I used it, but there was a definite berry-ness to it. I’m not great with my fruits to be honest so saying it smelt of berry is about the closest I’ll get. Sadly though, it seems I was completely wrong. The Lush website states orange oil, along with several floral scents! Oh well, either way I liked it.

The colour of this shower gel is simply beautiful. I absolutely adore the lilac colour of it. The consistency of the shower gel also seems a little thicker than some of the others, giving it a more smooth and conditioning feel. It lathers well too so overall its a huge thumbs up in my opinion.

If you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely should. I would assume it will be gone after Mother’s Day (March 15th) so snap it up now while you can! Also while you’re at it, grab Ultraviolet. I don’t know if its limited edition or not but its AMAZING and if you liked Bathos, you’ll love this bubble bar.

Week 13 – Monday Round-up (better late than never?)

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Wow, what a week! Strangely it was actually quite a calm and relaxed week in lots of ways, but then suddenly at the end of the week it seemed to pick up momentum and just BAM!

After a nice quiet weekend, I started off the Monday strangely tired. Sadly that tiredness seemed to linger all week long really. In fact, I didn’t really recover from it until today (half a week later) which is why this post is so super late! Not only that, but leaving this post so late has meant that I have managed to forget the majority of what happened last week (oops!)

The highlight were:

– Making Mug cakes. After seeing Amy’s post about Mug cakes, I decided I wanted to make one. Much like her I’d seen loads on Pintrest but just never gotten around to making them. On Tuesday Chris and I made one each, then on Wednesday I made a couple more with the kids. We had a lot of fun, especially when Uncle Chris’ mug overflowed with chocolate cake!

– OUAT and OUAT in Wonderland! Last week, my brother and I finally managed to catch up with Once Upon A Time. So this week it was great to actually keep up, watching the next episode on time. We also managed to make a start on Once Upon A Time In Wonderland (which is just average so far) only to find out it will definitely be cancelled at the end of this season (oh well!).

– Thursday we decided we were having our last takeaway (not ever, but at least for a while). This is for two reasons! One, I want to lose weight – you can see my weight loss journey if you follow Twice the Mum and Weight Loss Wednesday. Two, we need to save money as my brother is moving out this month and we won’t have his lodger money any more! **Spoiler Alert** It didn’t last long as we had takeaway again this following week. HOWEVER, that will hopefully be our last.

– My Beauty Education began. On Thursday (after my kebab!) I posted about Spring Cleaning my life and as part of that, I want to adventure into new waters – beauty blogging. My first purchase was an Urban Decay pallette which I had been longing for almost a year. However I knew I would have to wait for it to arrive in the post! On Friday I picked up a couple of magazines after work, both of which had free beauty products with them, and started my first lesson.

Friday night I started on Marie Claire. This had a free lip gloss by Neal’s Yard Remedies with it. Saturday morning I read Glamour. This had a free eyeliner from Model Co. I tried both beauty products, sniffed several perfume samples and learnt what I like about a magazine and what I don’t. There will be a post coming soon about these magazines! I also bought a sample perfume, signed up for Birchbox and joined the Discovery Club at The Fragrance Shop.

– Saturday with the kids. On Saturday, I spent the whole day with the kids and it was lovely. In all honesty it was probably a nicer day than Mother’s Day (the following day) as that turned out to be quite stressful and tiring. Chris was at work on Saturday so the girls and I went for a wander around Marshall’s Yard in Gainsborough. We went into Browns Department store (as I tried to pass on my new beauty education to the kids), Next, M&S Simply Food and Wilko. On top of that I treated the girls to a cupcake from Cup-Cakes and some sweets from Sweet Tradition (both of which will appear in my Hidden Gem feature soon!)

After Marshall’s Yard, we headed to Tesco in order to buy the food for Mother’s Day dinner (since I was cooking for 9). I also completely went back on what I’d said about “that” blogging t-shirt for kids – ending up buying it for both my kids. This is because Megan is actually now a blogger (and if you’re interested you can find her at Little Princess Blogs) and Lily is pretending to be, while I have her blog set to invite only/private. The day was really about making them happy and the t-shirts did so I’m happy to retract what I said before!

Finally we headed into Gainsborough itself, doing a bit more browsing and shopping in places such as Superdrug and Boots. We ended up buying two Barry M nail polishes, both of which I’d wanted to try (Silk and Gelly), but the girls picked the colours. We came home and painted our nails – again, I’ll be reviewing the nail polish in a future post.

The evening continued to be lovely as Nat arrived to re-dip-dye her hair. Since I had decided to try the new Bleach London colours (especially Washed Up Mermaid), I took the opportunity to re-bleach my ends – though I haven’t coloured them yet! This means I currently have blonde ends, though I’m actually quite liking them.

– Mothering Sunday. Firstly I just have to say… who the hell decided to make Mother’s Day the Daylight Savings day too? As most mothers will know, sleep is something that can be very hard to come by at times! Not only that, but on Mother’s Day the kids seem to think its a great idea to wake you nice and early to give you presents and maybe even breakfast in bed. Take an extra hour off that for us and you’re already starting to take away from that whole “treat your mum on Mother’s Day” thing.. you know? Anyway….

The girls woke Chris at about 9am (new time) and they all headed downstairs to make me breakfast. This was nice as it gave me time to come around and actually be awake before I was presented with food.

I was given pain au chocolat, croissant and french toast (some even with cheese!). I also got a cup of tea made in a huge mug. The girls brought up some food to eat with me too, though we soon had to evacuate the bed when Lily managed to croissant crumbs everywhere!

The girls also got me a beautiful card and a stash of Lush. Though I’m grateful the girls’ dad still takes responsibility for Mother’s Day presents, I do wish he would listen to the girls though! They wanted to buy me bath bombs and bubble bars (my favourite) but he insisted on a shower gel (which I don’t particularly like the smell of) and a bar of soap (that smells great, but I don’t use soap… ever). Sadly I’ll be giving them away or even selling them – but the thought was there, nonetheless!

After the lovely wake up, it was time to get up and get on with dinner. I cooked chicken wrapped in bacon, with mash and vegetables (also with cheese sauce or peppercorn sauce). We had ice cream, apple pie and chocolate fudge cake all for dessert and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. My present to my mum was mostly the dinner, but I also bought her some gloves which she’d asked me for and a book I’d seen recommended on Amy’s blog. The book is called Dear Mum and you can find it on Amazon. The basic concept is that you give your mum the book and she fills it in. There is everything from her life growing up, meeting your dad, having you and various other things. Once completed, she gives it back to you and you have a very unique keepsake. If I get time, I will be posting about this book separately as I really do think its lovely.

Once everyone had left, I was exhausted. I fell asleep snuggled up to Chris on the sofa and didn’t wake up for an hour! The rest of the evening was filled with getting the kids to bed and trying to relax. We had an early night and the next week began…

Hopefully I will be on time updating my weekly post this week – fingers crossed! I also hope to post again soon with regard to a lot of the things I’ve mentioned in this post. Hope you had a great week last week and are having a great one this week too!

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It’s Mother’s Day and 13/52

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Gosh its Mother’s Day and I feel like I should do my mum justice by posting about how wonderful she is, or giving a nod to my children for how amazing they are. However, I’ve had such a lovely day and the true sign of that is that I’m exhausted and really have no energy to post at all.

Tomorrow is my round-up day so hopefully I’ll find some effort to write a super detailed re-cap of the week, but for now I’m going to leave you with a picture of my beautiful girls for my 52 Project.

Please also remember that my Oliver Jeffers’ book giveaway is still running and its really easy to enter!

http://www.journeysaremydiary.com/2014/03/oliver-jeffers-how-to-catch-star-10th.html

Lily: Rooting through the colouring box to find a Frozen picture to colour in.
Megan: Drawing her own freehand picture of the Frozen sisters, Elsa and Anna.

http://www.practisingsimplicity.com/search/label/the%2052%20project

Mother’s Day Wishlist – Part 3 – Disney Traditions

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While yesterday’s post followed on from the day before, by being about charms – today’s post follows on from yesterday, by still being about Disney. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before on my blog, that I collect Disney Traditions ornaments. Until this last Christmas, I only had a few, but then I was lucky enough to get bought several and I have somewhat of a collection.

Today’s wishlist focuses on some of the other ornaments available, that I don’t have yet. In all honesty I don’t think there are any I wouldn’t want, but these are my favourite picks of the moment.

A. Thumper – £16.43 / B. Rapunzel – £31 / C. Ariel & Eric World Unite – £30 approx
D. Belle & Chip – £35 / E. Tinkerbell (May) – £19.90
*all prices from Amazon website

First up is Thumper. I mentioned him in my post yesterday and how I have a soft spot for him. With this ornament its no different, I just think he looks completely adorable!

Next up comes Rapunzel. I remember watching Tangled for the first time and it fast became one of my favourite Disney movies. I love Rapunzel’s character and this ornament is a fairly recent release. I have to admit I’d love to see a version with short brown hair too though.

Ariel and Eric are one of several couple sets that you can get. I already have Aurora and Philip, and Belle and the Beast. There is also Cinderella and Prince Charming and Snow White and her Prince. All five of these ornaments can be placed on this Castle Displayer, to make a complete set.

Belle is my favourite princess, as I’ve mentioned a few times before. I already have Belle & the Beast, Belle in her blue and white dress sitting down, and the Once Upon a Time ornament of Beauty and the Beast. This particular ornament is Belle and Chip and I just think its super cute.

Last but not least comes Tinkerbell. She was my first ever Disney Traditions ornament and I actually have two of her already. This particular one is Tinkerbell with snowdrops (flowers) representing the month of May. Its a set of twelve, one for each month, but May appeals the most as its the month of my birthday.

Do you collect Disney Traditions ornaments? Or any ornaments for that matter.
Which would you love to collect next?

Mother’s Day Wishlist – Part 2 – Chamilia Charms (Disney)

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Carrying on from yesterday’s Wishlist, today’s Mother’s Day list is once again based on charms I would like. However this time, the charms are from Chamilia.

My love of Chamilia charms is, and always has been, largely based on their range of Disney charms. My first ever charm bracelet, while made by Pandora, was filled with Disney Chamilia charms. Once I started, I never wanted to put any other type of charms on that bracelet, which resulted in me being bought two more bracelets, one for general Pandora charms and one for general Chamilia charms. I still have one solely for Disney charms, though its now on a Chamilia bracelet too.

A. Minnie and Mickey lock charm – £35 /  B. Minnie Mouse headband charm – £40 
C. Cinderella Shoe Charm – £50 / D. Belle Rose charm – £40
E. Princess Royal Crown – £50 / F. Thumper Charm – £35

I have to admit, I haven’t looked at Disney charms in FOREVER. There are so many new ones available, since the last time I checked. In fact, for years and years it hasn’t been possible to get Disney lock charms… and now there are two! Both Minnie and Mickey are now available as lock charms and I would happily have either.

I know just by looking at it, that the Minnie Mouse headband charm will be incredibly annoying, but at the same time it just looks so cute. No matter what age you are, you’re never too old to wear a set of Minnie ears and I would absolutely love to have this charm on my bracelet.

I already own a Cinderella slipper charm, but I love the blue and gems of this one. Also, when you have quite a lot of small charms, its nice to have some dangling ones to break them up. This Cinderella shoe charm would make a lovely and colourful addition to my bracelet.

As I mentioned yesterday, Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney movie. I’m so used to all the jewellery for it being based on gold though. If I had to pick just one charm from all these ones, I would definitely pick this one. I love the colour red, I also love roses and Belle is by far my favourite princess.

The Princess crown charm is really colourful and for me that’s the appeal. Its not dainty enough to be classed as pretty, but at the same time when you have a bracelet full of silver charms, its lovely to have some colour scattered around it. This charm is very different from anything else on my bracelet and that’s another reason it appeals.

Last but not least, the Thumper charm. This isn’t new, in fact its been around for years. However for whatever reason I’ve never seemed to get it. Thumper has a huge soft spot in my heart, despite not especially liking Bambi as a movie. I guess it maybe has something to do with liking bunnies, but Thumper is an especially awesome rabbit.

Do you have any desire for Disney Charms? 
Or perhaps you prefer the regular Chamilia charms?
What would be your pick of charm?

Mother’s Day Wishlist – Part 1 – Pandora Charms

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I’ve always fancied doing wishlists but never seem to have the time to just sit down and browse. However today I find myself with little to do for a change and I’ve decided in the run up to Mother’s Day this week, I’ll do a few wishlists.

While I sit here looking through the Pandora site, I’m aware that I’m not particularly making a list for all mothers, but instead just myself (and I’m a mother). I imagine I’m not so strange however, that my items wouldn’t appeal to other people, including mothers too.

A. Pretzel Charm – £25 / B. Mum Charm – £30 / C. Tiara Charm – £40 / D. Frog Prince Charm – £55
E. Statue of Liberty Charm – £40 / F. Eiffel Tower Charm – £40 / G. Teacup Charm – £25

First up on my list is the Pretzel Charm. I can’t quite tell you why, except for the fact I love Pretzels, especially soft ones. I love the look, shape (and taste) of them and I think this charm is so pretty!

Next comes the Mum charm. Of course this list is Mother’s Day related but that’s only partly why. Many people don’t like to be defined by the fact they are a mum, but I love it. My kids are my whole world and the one thing I am more proud of than anything. Not that I would ever forget I’m a mum, but I would love this charm as an every moment reminder.

One of the main reasons I was even bought my Pandora bracelet, was because my best friend Amy organised it all for my birthday last year. She was so excited to see there was a fairytale range of charms and my next two choices are connected to that. The Tiara charm and the Frog Prince are just adorable. Everyone wants to be a Princess and for sure we all kiss plenty of frogs.

The Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are connected to my love of travel and to the places I have been. Traveling to New York was by far one of the most exciting things I’ve done (alone!) and seeing the actual Statue of Liberty was breath taking. Paris also holds a special place in my heart and while I’ve never properly visited the city itself, I insist on driving through and taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower on our way to Disneyland. Though I didn’t place it on my wishlist, I also love the Big Ben charm, representing London.

Last but not least on my list is the Teacup charm. I was torn between this one and the Teapot charm. There are two reasons for this, the most obvious being that I love tea. Seriously, I just can’t get enough of the stuff. The second reason is because both the teacup and the teapot remind me of Beauty and the Beast (Mrs Potts and Chip), my favourite Disney movie.

What are your favourite Pandora charms right now? 
And which ones are you wishing for?