{Broken, Part II}

In August I confronted him, but he denied it.

I knew he was lying... but I didn't have any evidence. 

On 23rd of December, 2011 - I knew for sure.

On 28th of December, 2011 - I told him I knew.

On 29th of December, 2011 - I asked him to leave.

I'm starting 2012 as a single parent and there is a lot of change ahead. I'm excited, nervous, worried, scared... but I know I am stronger now and I can do this.

{Broken}

The past few months have been really difficult. I'm not ready to blog about it yet, but I wanted to share these words with you... Please bear with me as I get my head together.

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{Fabulous Finds: Christmas Traditions}

'The Christmas Express'

I stumbled across this idea on Pinterest yesterday and I really wanted to share it with you before Christmas Day. I think my kiddies are too young to appreciate this just now, but I think it's such a great idea and I definitely want to make this a new Christmas tradition for next year.

Erica over at Confessions of a Home Schooler shared a fantastic idea for a Christmas adventure and I think it would be perfect to do this week in the run up to Christmas Day.

Here's the gist... print the golden 'Christmas Express' ticket that Erica has kindly shared. Hide said ticket in kiddies bed and continue with bedtime routine as normal.

Whilst this is going on, prepare some snacks and drinks for the journey (Erica's suggestion is popcorn and hot chocolate - yum!) and put them in the car and get the Christmas tunes playing on the car stereo. When your children pull pack the covers to climb into bed they will find their special ticket. Tell them to get their slippers, dressing gowns (and any other extra layers - this is Scotland after all!!) and head to the car.

When they get to the car, punch the ticket (think that's such a fab idea Erica - love it!) and then proceed to take them on a magical journey round your city looking at all the sparkly Christmas lights. Don't forget to stop somewhere for your snack too.

What Christmas traditions do you have in the week leading up to Christmas Day?

{Piquing my Pinterest: Gift Wrap}

I'm linking up again with Tina Gray for her Piquing my Pinterest blog hop. I'm a bit late at joining in this week, been rather busy in the lead up to Christmas. Anyway, all my gifts are now wrapped, but for those of you that are yet to wrap your presents (or if you haven't even started your shopping yet!) here are some ideas I pinned for gift wrapping:

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{Merry Christmas}

I've been so busy lately with the run up to Christmas that I haven't had much free time for blogging. Coupled with the fact that my toddler has now decided that he doesn't need a daytime sleep, or if he does sleep it's normally much later in the afternoon once the baby is awake... meaning that I don't get any kiddie-free time until they are in bed at night whereas before I would get 2 hours to myself each day!

Anyway, thought I would do a quick post to share some of the photographs from my Christmas card this year seeing as they have all been posted now... I love my son's '75% elf' t-shirt which I bought last year from www.notonthehighstreet.com. I bought the Photoshop template for the card from Vol 25. 

{Things I'm Loving Right Now}

ER & Grey's Anatomy - I've never watched these series prior to now (I saw some of ER, but not much) so I'm watching them from the start on Sky Atlantic and Really. I have 52 episodes of ER in my planner to catch up on... don't have a clue when I'm going to have the time, but I best get a move on as they are taking up valuable memory on our Sky+ box and don't think the hubby is best pleased!!

Sleep - my daughter who is now 7.5 months old is teething and has been waking during the night. I had to have an afternoon nap the other day as I was so exhausted! I absolutely love my bed

A nice hot cup of tea - you can't beat a good cuppa!

I've also just come across the following website, Just Little Things and it's basically a list of all the little things we should appreciate. There were a few I could relate to in just the couple of pages I looked at...

My Christmas shopping is finally done and all my items I ordered online have arrived - yay!

I don't normally wear lipstick but I put some on the other day and it totally reminded me of my mum. 

I popped into my local salon for my Christmas hair cut & colour and just love getting my hair washed by someone else... bliss!!!

What are you loving right now?

{What I Wore Wednesday #9}

Linking up again this week with Transatlantic Blonde for her What I Wore Wednesday blog hop. 

Similarly to Transatlantic Blonde who is sporting a fab holiday sequin jumper, I am in my Christmas jumper.  Big thank you to my good friend @OliveDragonfly... this is a jumper from New Look which she got last Christmas and has passed it very kindly onto me, and I love it.

Worn with my skinny jeans from Next :-)

{Fabulous Finds: Glasgow Southside Gift Shops}

Not sure how many of my readers are local to Glasgow, but I thought I'd share some of the shops that I go to when I'm looking for a unique gift as some of them also offer online shopping. If I'm not shopping online, then I do try to shop local and visit the little businesses that are in my area. I tend to pop to these shops every so often and top up my gift drawer (I have a chest of drawers in my guest bedroom that has gift bags, greetings cards, gift wrap, ribbons and gifts) so that I've always got a few bits & pieces for birthdays, new babies etc and then come Christmas-time I revisit my drawer and assign gifts to people - it means that I tend to not have to buy much in the way of Christmas shopping. 

Here's my list of fab little gift shops, in no particular order:

Velvet Moon

My neighbour recently opened a card & gift shop called Velvet Moon in Charing Cross and she has some lovely items... I bought a few Jelly Cat toys for my son & daughter's Christmas and a gorgeous glass heart jar for my sister's birthday. (Velvet Moon isn't in the Southside but I thought I'd add it to my list seeing as it's my neighbour's shop and she lives in the Southside!)

Velvet Moon, St George's Road, Glasgow

Annie's Shop

I found Annie's by chance as I was driving along one day and made the effort to go back for a browse and I wasn't disappointed. I've since been back a few times and just love everything! You can find Annie's at 521 Clarkston Road opposite Sainsbury's, and soon you will be able to shop online too.

Annie's, Clarkston Road, Glasgow

Annie's 

Gifted

I bought my son a fab 'Ladies Man' t-shirt by Cabbie Kids from Gifted in Clarkston a wee while ago, and you can also shop online with free delivery over £50.

Cabbie Kids Clothing

Nuala Ashe

There are two Nuala Ashe shops, one in Shawlands and the other in Clarkston. Both are brilliant and have a huge selection of beautiful gifts and cards.

Nuala Ashe, Shawlands

Bumblebee @ Paul Hodgkiss Designs

I've only been to this shop on Clarkston Road once after finding them at the Country Living Christmas Fair at the SECC. I bought some very cute robin decorations from them as well as some other gifts and bits and pieces.

Festive robins from Bumblebee

Marie Brown at Home

I love Marie Brown at Home and this is where I bought my True Grace Library candle. I try and stop by the shop whenever I'm in the area. They've always got amazing gifts for the home and also have some cards, jewellery and gifts for little ones. It's also where I bought my cute little truffle stand and glass domes.

Marie Brown at Home, Kildrostan Street, Pollokshields

House for an Art Lover Shop

The cafe here at the House for an Art Lover is fantastic and I've been a couple of times with friends for lunch. It's also right next door to the shop where there is a great selection of gifts. It's a bit of a squeeze in the shop and not ideal for with a pram, but it's definitely worth a visit (you can also shop online!).

House for an Art Lover cafe, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow

Paper Plane

Paper Plane is a little gift shop on Skirving Street in Shawlands with lots of toys, books, cards, wrapping paper and nice toiletries. Definitely worth a visit if you're nearby.

Paper Plane

Butterfly Kisses

I used to visit Butterfly Kisses in Shawlands a lot, but I've not been for a while. Anyway, they are right next door to Paper Plane (there is a door inside that joins them) and have a nice selection of housey gifts and they also have a range of clothing for kiddies and womenswear too. 

Why not pop over the road to Biscuit whilst you are there for a coffee and cake :-)

Butterfly Kisses, Shawlands

Pink Wafer

I've been to this little gift shop once and bought a baby book for my sister-in-law. It was somewhere I'd passed in the car and decided to go back to for a proper browse when I got the chance. I've not been back since, but it is possible to shop online with Pink Wafer too.

Pink Wafer, Battlefield Road, Glasgow

My sister lives in Aberdeen (where I'm from originally) and whenever I go to visit there are a few shops in Aberdeen I like to pop into so I'll try to share these in another post soon.

As always, do let me know what you think. Where do you get your gifts from? 

{Piquing my Pinterest: Christmas Card Displays}

This week I'm sharing some ideas for displaying Christmas cards.  I tend to stick mine to the kitchen cupboards with Blu-Tack, but I thought I'd try to make more of an effort this year and do something a bit more creative.

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You can follow my Christmas board on Pinterest here.

{Free Christmas Printable Poster}

Don't you just love Christmas? For a while I didn't - it was all a bit upsetting with my mum not being there - but now I adore the festive season... even more so now I have my own children.

I've got our house decorated, and sadly enough I theme my rooms (I know, I just can't help myself!). So my hallway is 'winter wonderland' and it's full of silver, glitter, snowflakes and snowmen.

Here are some photos of my hallway...

This year I decided to create a couple of posters to replace my usual prints that are in the hallway and I thought I would share them with you. They are 8" x 10" files that you can print... They're in blue (to match my 'winter wonderland' theme you see!)...

You can download the files here and here.

Let me know how you get on.