Amazon Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Disneybounding for Guys

August 27, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

A little while ago I wrote a blog post about Disney Bounding. It really only covered ideas for girls so I figured I would do something similar for guys too. As I mentioned before, Disney bounding is a really simple concept and is so easy to do, with just regular high street clothing. I’ve put together a couple of ideas, to show you what I mean.

Prince Eric Disneybound

This outfit idea above is Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid. It’s put together with really simple items like a white shirt and blue jeans (these are from Stand-out.net) and a red belt. Instead of a white shirt you could also use a t-shirt instead.

Fix It Felix Disneybounding

This next idea is for anyone not fancying being a prince! Fix-it Felix from Wreck-It Ralph is another really easy Disneybound to tryout. This flat-lay includes a denim shirt from River Island and jeans from Boohoo.com – other items such as the belt, boots and cap are also commonly found.

Gaston Disneybound

Last but not least, an idea for those guys who prefer to be the villains. A simple polo shirt (Sports Direct) with a jumper over the top (Amazon), will give the look of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Couple that with a pair of black jeans (Superdry) and some brown boots and you’re done. To be fair these boots are costume rather than every day, but they could easily be replaced with a more everyday pair!

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April 10, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

My first picture this week is of Lily. On Sunday we received an Amazon delivery with some things she’d spent her birthday money on. She was so excited, especially as Megan had upset her the day before by refusing to play with her and I had offered an hour or so on Sunday to play instead. Lily and I were watching OUAT when the dolls arrived and Lily unpacked them all and faced them towards the iPad to watch with us!

On Sunday we also went out swimming. It was something I had promised to do during Easter and with decorating and illness, we just never got around to it. So on our last day together, we headed out to swimming and as an extra treat I bought the girls lunch at the cafe there too. Megan had a cheese, tuna and mayo panini and for the first time, managed it all!

Florida 2015 (2 weeks to go) The Shopping

March 18, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

Today is 2 weeks to go till our holiday and I seriously can’t believe it. This week in my Florida series I’m covering the shopping – which I believe falls into two categories; Clothes and “Stuff”. I’m sure the two categories speak for themselves, but I really couldn’t think of a better name than “stuff”. It’s basically just all the other things you need for a holiday, that aren’t clothes! Within those two categories, there are of course two more – things you need… and things you want.

Many weeks ago, the girls and I made lists of what we’d want to pack – regardless of what we actually had. We included all the clothes items we could think of – and then all the other STUFF! From that moment onwards, we began to shop. I’ve been picking up bits here and there, while the girls did one main shop in Meadowhall. We’ve picked up incidentals as we’ve gone along and now I think we have pretty much everything we need.

Megan’s Shopping

Above you can see the items that Megan got in her Meadowhall shopping haul. The hat is in replacement of a typical sun hat, there are of course sunglasses, shoes and a cardigan. All of these are really accessories and that’s basically because for Christmas I bought both girls 10 dresses and have since made them 2-3 more. One thing they definitely didn’t need was main clothes, so these were the extras. That said, I’ve bought them some pjs, swimming costumes, the odd t-shirt and skirt etc. On top of that she has had a Travel Diary, an autograph book, as well as some other things I can’t think of off the top of my head.

Lily’s Shopping

Again, above is Lily’s shopping haul from Meadowhall. A lot like Megan, she has just the extras, because she had all the dresses she needed as a Christmas present. Also I forgot to mention before, but they both also got their suitcases for Christmas, which meant they were pretty much all set. Other than the clothes she got from Meadowhall, we’ve also picked up a travel diary and autograph book for Lily. She’s also had a new rucksack to use as a flight bag. Of course there are a few other bits and pieces too, but again I can’t think of them off hand.

Chris’ Shopping

On Friday, it’s Chris’ birthday. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted for his birthday presents and so in the end I took him shopping for a few bits and pieces he needed. Anyone who knows Chris, will know he’s very much a black clothes type of person, meaning he doesn’t have an awful lot that’s suitable for a sunny holiday. He also wears a lot of jeans, combat trousers and long sleeved t-shirts. This obviously wouldn’t do! Though the picture above is terrible, I bought him some new swimming shorts and five new t-shirts. I also bought a whole heap of trainer socks. After that I ordered the odd thing here and there, including another t-shirt and some cut-off combat shorts. Finally I spotted a hat I thought he would like in Tesco and this has become his sun hat.

There are a few other bits that Chris has wanted, one of which was an iPad mini. He sold his full size iPad and bought a Mini instead – he’s really pleased with that decision. For his birthday I’ve also bought him a couple of other bits, like a new swimming towel and a bag to use on the flight. I don’t have a picture of these though as they’re hidden away, waiting for Friday.

My Shopping

My main shop was definitely a parcel that was long awaited from Hot Topic. I treated myself to a Harry Potter dress and five Disney dresses. That said, after trying them on, I decided to get rid of both the Princess Quotes dress and also the Harry Potter one, as they just didn’t suit me. However I’m really happy with my remaining four dresses, one of which you may have seen in my Disney Outfit of the Day post, on Sunday.

As well as the Hot Topic haul, I picked up a few other bits and pieces as I went along. There are the two dresses above, as well as a couple of other dresses from Ebay. I also got a few t-shirts, a pair of shorts and a cardigan. I also picked up a couple of pairs of shoes.

Most recently, I got a £70 Amazon voucher and I’ve put it towards “stuff” for the holiday. I bought a charger case for my phone, a backpack for my laptop and the parks, and finally some Disney fashion books for the girls (because they love the one Amy bought them on her last visit).

I’m sure there are a few other bits here and there that I’ve forgotten to mention, but these are the main things we’ve bought for our holiday. We’re almost ready to go. Next week I will be sharing our packing with you all, where you’re see the final stage of our holiday planning – with one week left to go!

Ozeri Soft Touch Electric Pepper Mill and Grinder*

January 10, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

I have always wanted an electric grinder and so when I was asked if I wanted to review one, I jumped at the chance! Ozeri is a brand I am very familiar with now and also a make I trust. I wasn’t at all surprised when a very stylish black pepper mill, arrived at my door.

The Ozeri Savore Soft Touch Electric Mill and Grinder* is really a very sturdy yet great looking pepper mill. It’s simple to use, with a twist lock and an easy insertion of both batteries and peppercorns. If I had to pick a downside (though it really isn’t much of one) I’d say that 6 AAA batteries was quite a lot – and sadly, unlike some of the other Ozeri batteries – it doesn’t come supplied with them! That said, its a minor grumble and overall I absolutely adore the blender.

I can honestly say I have used this product almost every day since getting it. The one touch button at the top is just so simple and easy to use. The grinder isn’t even that noisy, despite being electric. I haven’t had a single problem with it and I really am pleased I got it. Now I just need to get myself a salt grinder to go with it!

Book Review – The Parent Agency

November 15, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of “The Parent Agency” by David Baddiel (hence the cover and graphics) and while I read it quite a while ago, its unfortunately taken me ages to get around to writing about it!

Now published, the cover looks more like this:

It is available from Amazon and at the time of publishing this post, costs just £6! The Parent Agency. This book is by David Baddiel, as I mentioned. He’s published three other books for adults, but this is his first for kids.

As I’m obviously not a kid myself, its hard to judge it completely. I found the book pretty funny and the story line was actually really good. There were times when I found some of the language and expressions a bit tiresome and repetitive, but I’m sure that’s not something that most people would notice, especially kids.

Barry Bennett hates being called Barry. In fact it’s number 2 on the list of things he blames his parents for, along with 1) ‘being boring’ and 3) ‘always being tired’.
But there is a world, not far from this one, where parents don’t have children. That’s far too random for something so big and important. In this world, children are allowed to choose their parents.
For Barry Bennett, this world seems like a dream come true. Only things turn out to be not quite that simple…

The start seemed a little slow getting going, but then once it did, I found it more enjoyable. It’s an easy read and I actually completed it in one day – a train journey to and from London in fact. The storyline IS predictable, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. In fact, at the end, I still got a little choked up – perhaps because I am a parent. I do think its something that Megan would enjoy reading (she’s 9, nearly 10) but I’m not so sure about Lily at only 6. I also think that perhaps its a little more geared to boys, though I’m sure girls would like it too. I’m definitely glad I got to read it and would happily recommend it to others.

Book Review – Insurgent

October 28, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

Usually I try to do a book review as a “no spoilers”, however as this book is the second in a trilogy, I feel like spoilers, certainly to the first book, are quite likely. Therefore if you have not read Divergent, please do not read this book review of Insurgent.

I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am.

Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.

Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever… because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of this trilogy – Divergent. I was under the impression it was similar to Hunger Games so that was my initial appeal in reading. Not long after I read the book, the movie came out and Nat and I went to see Divergent the Movie. This was great too. I immediately went out and bought myself a copy of Insurgent but what with one thing or another, I didn’t get around to reading it for ages. In the end it got to September before I finally picked it up and while I was a little slow to get into it, once I did, I was finished pretty quick.

The book picks up from almost exactly where Divergent leaves off. You follow both Tris and Tobias as the aftermath of the Dauntless attack takes its toll. As I said before, I try to write these reviews without spoilers so I don’t really want to get into plot too much. Instead I will say that while not as good as the first book, Insurgent has a good pace and is interesting enough to get you hooked into the storyline and continue to read. That said, Tris annoys me considerably in this book. Not only that, but her relationship with Tobias frustrates me incredibly. While the plot and story are interesting, though at times I did skim read a page or too, the most dragging part of the story is really the relationship between Tris and Tobias. On many occasions I can’t really understand why they are both acting the way that they do and not only that, I often wanted to bash their heads together.

Overall it was a good book and where I’d give Divergent a 5 star rating, Insurgent would really only warrant a 4. There are some great parts, a lot of suspense etc but really its the main couple’s relationship that lets down this book for me. I’ll definitely still watch the movie when it comes out but fingers crossed its a little better than the book. However, with that said, Insurgent definitely leaves you wanting more. The very day I finished reading Insurgent I ordered Allegiant online. Sadly I have a couple of other books to read first but I am dying to know what happens – despite being told its not a great ending. I’ll let you know what I think, as soon as I get around to reading it!

Book Review – The Fault In Our Stars

August 6, 2014 by Bel 2 Comments

The Fault in Our Stars

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.”
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

As is often the way for me, I’d seen and heard of this book for a while, but until I saw it was becoming a film, it really held no interest for me. However, I often think, that if a book is being made into a movie – someone, somewhere, thinks its awesome. That’s one of the reasons I read “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Divergent“. Admittedly, it doesn’t always mean the book is good – it certainly doesn’t mean that the movie is either. But it piques my interest at least, and that’s exactly what happened with “The Fault in Our Stars”.

The same as every book I review, I don’t want to give too much away and I certainly don’t want to spoil it for anyone else. However I do want to start off by saying, I loved this book and I did, despite knowing it was going to be sad from the get go, sob right through the second half of it. Even though it took me a little while to get going – sometimes its hard to settle into a book, only reading a few pages at a time – once I properly got going, it was a definite page turner. I’d idled over it for maybe a week, on and off, but when I finally had time to sit and read it solidly, that’s exactly what I did. In fact, the kids will tell you I barely moved from the sofa for about 4 hours, crying through most of that.

As you would expect, with the subject matter being cancer, the book is not supposed to be especially cheerful. However its really well written, easy to read and like I said before, a real page turner. Though I felt like I knew what the plot would be from the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised to find plot twists that I didn’t expect. This definitely added to the sadness of the book though. There were also moments in the book, when I wondered (and worried) that the plot would be left on a bit of a cliffhanger, a little like Hazel’s favourite book. I’m glad to say it wasn’t though and while saddened, I was content with the ending.

If you haven’t read this book and have been considering it, I definitely recommend you do. Even if you hadn’t considered it, you should. Now I’m going to have to watch the movie and see how it compares, though in my past experiences, especially with “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” the movie wasn’t a patch on the book!

Book Review – Love You More

March 11, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

Love You More – by Lisa Gardner

WHO DO YOU LOVE?
A split-second decision and Brian Darby lies dead. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defence and for Boston detective D.D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter?
As D.D.’s homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic state-wide search for a missing child, she must move quickly in order to learn all of Tessa’s secrets and understand what has happened to the little girl.
But for Tessa, the worst has not yet happened. She is walking a tightrope, with no one to trust and nowhere to turn, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training to do what has to be done. All that matters is her child and no one could love her more…

Two women. With one question…
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO SAVE YOUR CHILD?

As I finished January’s book really early, I started on “I Heart New York” around the middle of that month. However even by the end of the month, I was still struggling with it. So, on the 2nd February I decided to start on another book, “Love You More” by Lisa Gardner.

I really loved this book and it was very different to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. This was a sort of crime thriller, but a mild one. The book flicks between two storytellers – Detective D.D. Warren and Police Trooper Tessa Leoni. At first you begin the story quite confused (which is deliberate) and as the plot unravels, it both answers questions and adds more. However by about midway through the book, you’re starting to understand the bigger picture. The story builds and builds until it reaches its climax and ultimately the book is a very satisfying read.

I have never read anything by Lisa Gardner before and actually only picked up this book because it was a cheap Kindle read around the time I bought by kindle. However its taken me until now to actually read it and I’m so glad that I did.

Detective D.D. is apparently the main character in a series of books written by Lisa Gardner. I believe they are all stand alone books, though I haven’t read any others. I have to admit that after reading “Love You More”, I would definitely be tempted to pick up another of her books. However for now I’m starting with Divergent, as that is my March book.

Ozeri Curva Artisan Series Double Wall Beverage Glasses and Tumbler Review*

October 4, 2013 by Bel Leave a Comment

Everyone in the house is getting really sick and sadly I’ve not escaped it! I’m full of cold and starting to cough somewhat too but I’d promised myself I’d get on top of a whole bunch of blog posts this week and so here I am!

Today I want to tell you about some Ozeri Artisan glasses I was kindly gifted, in order to review them! These glasses are from the same makers as my scales that I blogged about, back in September.

The glasses arrived a few weeks ago and on first impressions I was immediately sold by them. They are genuinely such beautiful and curvy glasses, that I actually just fell in love with them. The packaging they arrived in was incredibly good. Both the box inside the outer box, then the glasses inside the inner box. Nothing was damaged which was a bit of a surprise considering the way the post gets treated sometimes!

I took a whole load of pictures because I like to document these things properly. I’m actually very glad I did though as the box contains a lot of the information you need to know and also far better pictures than I could ever acquire with my iPhone camera.

Each glass is individual in style, each one a little different. However as they are all handmade, they are also unique in the sense that no two glasses will ever been 100% the same. The glasses hold 8 ounces, which is just less than a large glass of wine!

One of the many great things about these glasses is that they will hold both hot and cold liquids in them. As they have double-walls, the heat doesn’t burn your fingers and the cold doesn’t cause condensation (and in turn wet hands). They are dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, which I think is pretty awesome! Though I haven’t tested the freezer part, they certainly work fine in the dishwasher and microwave.

Despite looking quite fragile, feeling light and delicate, the glasses are incredibly strong and hard wearing. As I said before, they were absolutely fine in the dishwasher, not even a chip.

So a few Sundays ago, we had a roast dinner, complete with very chilled wine! As you can see, no condensation and very pretty glasses ;) If I could have afford to do so, I would have bought another set, to have at our Murder Mystery the other night. However when funds are a little easier, I’m definitely going to buy some more. I think they’d be really lovely to have out at a dinner party. Don’t you?

*This product was gifted to me free of charge, though all views and opinions are my own