Wednesday 27 February 2013

{Review & Giveaway: Cake from Baker Days}

You all know how much I love cake...well, I was offered a personalised letterbox cake from Baker Days from their Mother's Day range to review and I certainly couldn't pass up the offer of free cake!! I've sent cake a few times in the post before to friends, a victoria sponge and chocolate brownies, but the perfect thing about these little cakes is that they fit through a standard letterbox! Ingenious!!

"Petite, personalised and postable"

There are so many designs on offer too - I picked 'The Best Mothers Day Cake' - however there are get well cakes, birthday cakes, new job cakes, thank you cakes... you name it and there will be a cake for you!

The adorable tin my cake arrived in! "Just for You"

The Best Mothers Day Cake "Best Mum... Love from your wee rascals"

Each cake can also be personalised, some even with photographs, and once you've chosen your design you can choose the type of cake - plain sponge, carrot cake, fruit cake, chocolate cake and there is even a gluten free cake. Plus, if you order before 2pm you can choose to have guaranteed next day delivery (in the UK). What's not to love!

My cake arrived the other day, however as I do not have a standard sized letterbox (trust me to be difficult!), my cake ended up at the depot! I quickly rescued it and can confirm that it was just delicious and was very quickly devoured by myself and the two little ones! Yum, yum, yum!! What a perfect treat!!


Here are some of the other cakes on offer...





*** Baker Days are so amazing, that they've also offered me a personalised Mother's Day letterbox cake for one of my lovely readers as a giveaway with the special request that the winner posts photographs on Twitter and their Facebook page please ***

Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter below... 
*crosses fingers* This is the first time I've used one of these!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday 26 February 2013

{Facebook}

Glasgow Mummy has joined Facebook!!

I'm yet to add a button over on the right ---->
But if you follow the link below you will find my page.
Would love you to 'like' me :-)



Do you run a page on Facebook? Be sure to leave a comment and I'll reciprocate the 'like' love x

Monday 25 February 2013

{Meal Planning Monday}

I am so very proud of myself - there were cakes and biscuits galore at work today and I resisted them all. I'm back on the healthy eating... for now at least!! I also managed to do a 10k run this evening, pleased with myself!

Last week's meal plan went well and the ham that I cooked in the slow cooker was lovely!

Anyway, here's the meal plan for this week:



Monday (just me) - microwave low fat dinner (I know - I've resorted to a microwave meal, but I really couldn't be bothered cooking and it was low fat at least!)

Tuesday (just me) - eating out

Wednesday - ham & cheese omelette

Thursday - slow cooker roast chicken & veg

Friday - chicken noodles

Saturday - sausages and mash


Sunday - pasta bolognese

Do pop over to Mrs M's blog to see what everyone else is cooking this week.

{You're Just my Cup of Tea}


It looks like a few of my followers are reckoning that Single_Man_75 and I are an item, especially in light of his recent announcement.

I thought I would clarify things a bit... yes, Single_Man_75 came to Glasgow to visit, but I'm not the woman in his life that he is now referring to on his blog.

I guess it's now an appropriate time to briefly mention that I have however also met someone. My husband is aware of this (I was spotted apparently) but I had planned to tell him anyway before he meets the children (which is yet to happen).

Not sure I want to go into any more detail at the moment... I'm sure you can all understand why. What I will say is that I'm really happy (despite all my current stress that is associated with moving house!!)

Sunday 24 February 2013

{35 at 35: Glasgow Tourist, Check!}


(I attempted to use #madewithover app but quite clearly need more practice - I should have put the font in white!)

So this weekend Single_Man_75 came to visit, and I managed to tick off another item on my 35 at 35 list - be a tourist in Glasgow for the day. Granted, we only did half a day, but I'm happy with that. We hopped on the open top city bus tour and saw the sights of the West End and City Centre.


We then had a very quick tour of GoMA. One of the canvases was some text about a cheap last minute holiday - cue confused face - was it art?!! We also had a laugh at the huge folders and one of the other pieces was a post-it note which we also had a chuckle at. I would like to understand and appreciate modern art, but don't really get it... can anyone provide some insight please?




After some Chinese food, a group of us hit The Shed for a cheesy night out including the lovely Bex from Olive Dragonfly (Roz aka @rozzystar was only there for part of the night unfortunately).


And that was when Glasgow_Mummy met Single_Man_75!!!


Thursday 21 February 2013

{Wisdom}

Doing a lot of thinking lately about moving house, making a house a home and the big changes that are ahead. 

As ever, I find inspiration from my Pinterest feed and I wanted to share these quotes with you...




Wednesday 20 February 2013

{Project 333 - Living With Less}

So I mentioned before that I have been making space in my wardrobe and I said I was keen to participate in Project 333, whereby you live with 33 items for 3 months. I thought it would be difficult to narrow my clothing down to 33 items, but I've actually found it ok - turns out I don't have as many clothes as I thought! It's the accessories, jewellery in particular, that I've found difficult along with my shoe collection!
Items I've not included in the list:

  • Watch
  • Links of London bracelet
  • Alexis Dove Wild Rose ring
  • Prescription glasses (I'm getting my new pair of Tom Ford glasses this weekend from SpecsDirect2U - excited!!)
  • Underwear
  • Pyjamas
  • Loungewear
  • Workout clothes

Here's my list of 33 things:

  1. North Face parka, black
  2. Ted Baker trench coat, beige
  3. Urban Outfitters tuxedo style jacket, black
  4. Grey zebra print scarf
  5. Fossil handbag
  6. Grey flower mini handbag, from my neighbour's shop Velvet Moon
  7. Black patent boots from Next
  8. Black patent court shoes from M&S
  9. Russell & Bromley black shoe boots
  10. Hunter wellington boots
  11. Dune trainers
  12. Sequin jumper from Mango, black
  13. Gem jumper from Warehouse, grey
  14. Karen Millen pencil skirt, black
  15. Mint Velvet bandage skirt, black
  16. French Connection dress, black patterned
  17. Salsa bootcut jeans
  18. Next skinny jeans, denim
  19. Next skinny jeans, purple
  20. Oasis shirt, orange
  21. Oasis shirt, cream
  22. Mint Velvet grey cardigan
  23. Wolf t-shirt
  24. Mint Velvet black cardigan
  25. Mint Velvet nude/black lace vest
  26. Pink blouse with lace detail on the back from Primark
  27. Sequin dress from French Connection
  28. Plum wool dress from Baujken
  29. Animal print silk dress from Warehouse
  30. Gold lion belt from Warehouse
  31. Grey studded jumper from Tesco
  32. Black shirt from Tesco
  33. Grey dress from Baujken
I just need to pack away the rest of my wardrobe, for now anyway, and I will attempt to manage with just these items for the next 3 months - so that's until mid-May. Eek! If the weather improves, then I might need to revisit my list!








Monday 18 February 2013

{Meal Planning Monday}


Here is a very quick post for Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday...

Meal Planning Monday

I'm so busy right now trying to get my house ready for going on the market. I've spent the whole of this evening painting and cleaning!! The agent is coming on Thursday to photograph the house and the home report is also being done on Thursday - no pressure!!

Anyway, here's the meal plan for this week:

Monday (just me) - I had chicken salad

Tuesday (just me) - chicken salad again - leftovers from tonight

Wednesday - baked potatoes with beans and cheese

Thursday - might try cooking a ham in the slow cooker! Ham, roast potatoes & veg

Friday - stir fried rice with ham (leftovers from Thurs) and veg (peas, pepper, mushroom)

Saturday - take out (having friends over!)

Sunday (just me) - something low fat... maybe a grilled chicken kebab?  

If you're interested...here's how the house is looking at the minute... I'm getting there and I'm confident that by Thursday I'll be ready!

What was the dining room... now a tidy playroom!

My kitchen, which I now love! I'll be sad to say goodbye :-(

Sunday 17 February 2013

{Selling Houses}

I'm a tad stressed out and emotions are running high.

I'm ready to move on... time for a fresh start... and as such my husband and I have decided to sell our marital home. There was no pressure put on me, but I know that it's the right thing to do. I would like to move to an area where the local schools are better and I also need to downsize. I really don't need to be living in a house this size when it's just me for 3 nights of the week!

There have been so many happy memories in this house, but coupled with that are the not so happy ones.

I'm sad to be leaving but excited for what the change will bring.

I'm doing my very best to declutter, organise and clear up as I make my way round the rooms. There are also a few small DIY jobs that are (still!) outstanding - work work to be freshened up and I'm halfway through painting my small internal bathroom.


I want the house to be warm & welcoming for viewers - today I bought a plant for the office and I have some pictures to hang... I'm getting there, slowly!

I've also seen on Pinterest that you can put vanilla extract in a coffee cup in the oven for an hour and it makes the whole house smell like heaven apparently!

Here's hoping by the end of the week I will have the house sparkling and ready to go on the market. There's just the legal stuff to sort out and then we're set. Eek!

What are your tips for a successful sale?






Thursday 14 February 2013

{Declutter: Making Space in my Wardrobe}

I'm hoping to move house soon... time for a fresh start! So I'm very busy getting the house ready for going on the market.


First up is decluttering. This will benefit me hugely when it comes to the new house as I'm not going to have the space that I currently do - I need to downsize you see. I'm currently living in a gigantic five bedroom house and I'm on my own half the time, so what do I need five bedrooms for? It will be more practical and cost-effective for me to be in a 3 bedroom house where I have a room for each of us.

I've been having a read of some decluttering blogs and sites for inspiration and look what I found:

Project 333

Courtney over at Project 333 started the concept of living with 33 items for 3 months. I have been trying to work with a capsule wardrobe, but didn't restrict myself to the number of items. I'm now thinking I might try this out for the next three months and see how I go!

Here are the basics:



  • When:
  •  Every three months (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)
  • What:
  •  33 items including clothing, accessories, jewellery, outerwear and shoes.
  • What not:
  • These items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring or another sentimental piece of jewellery that you never take off, underwear, sleep wear, in-home lounge wear,  and workout clothing 
  • How:
  •  Choose your 33 items, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of site.
  • What else: 
  • Consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. Remember that this is not a project in suffering. If your clothes don’t fit or are in poor condition, replace them.



As part of this I'm going to make some space in my wardrobe...

How to Make Space from Be More With Less

Start making piles of clothes and be ruthless...

Pile 1 - I love these items. They fit me well and I wear them frequently: KEEP

Pile 2 - I want to keep this but I don't know why

Pile 3 - These items don't fit me or my style: DONATE

Pile 4 - These items aren't in good condition: BIN

Here's what you do next:

Take Pile 4 to the tip

Box up Pile 3, stick it in the back of your car and take to the charity shop before you have the chance to re-think

Put items from Pile 1 back into your wardrobe

Box up the items from Pile 2 and put it in the back of your wardrobe for 30 days

If you didn't miss the box after 30 days, do not open it - instead donate it to charity

An uber organised wardrobe!! {image source}

Eek!!! Can it be done??

The chest of drawers in my bedroom has three drawers... the top drawer is for underwear, tights and nightwear. The middle is for clothes I wear frequently and the bottom is for clothes that I don't wear but I can't bear to part with.

I really should just bite the bullet though and donate the clothes from the bottom drawer that I don't wear to charity.

What I have done is put some of my clothes into plastic Ikea boxes in my basement that are now labelled 'Fancy Dress' and it contains a variety of different items (belts, shoes, handbags, dresses etc) that I think the kids might like to dress up with when they're a little bit older. I do wish my mum had kept more of her clothing, so I'm keeping a few bits and pieces for this purpose.

So here's the challenge... can I narrow my wardrobe down to 33 items for the next 3 months???


Wednesday 13 February 2013

{Zizzi, Royal Exchange Square}

On Saturday night, Becky (@OliveDragonfly) and I got our glad rags on and headed out to Royal Exchange Square for the VIP opening of Zizzi's. I was thrilled to be invited and had spent the week looking forward to the event.

I had no idea what to wear, and in the end I threw on a Monsoon dress that I had bought towards the end of last year and teamed it with a coral blazer that I borrowed from my sister for the night. As is the way with toddlers around, I didn't get much of a chance to get ready and I also totally forgot to paint my nails... oops!

Anyway, Becky and I arrived on the square (I just love the fairy lights - see pic below!) to the sound of bagpipes, and as we neared the restaurant we realised that it was all for the Zizzi opening that we were attending. Much excitement from the two of us and we were straight away out with our phones to capture the atmosphere!!
We strutted up the red carpet, posed for a photograph and then went into the restaurant to be greeted by the staff, including some lovely men in kilts!! We were then presented with some fizz and had more photographs taken!

Zizzi's, Royal Exchange Square

There was definitely a buzz about the place and the restaurant itself is just amazing! I love the illuminated tree sculptures (Becky & I debated over what to call them!!).



The illumated tree sculptures!


We were sat at a table for two on the upper level, and I think I prefer the seating upstairs compared with the main part of the restaurant. The booth areas on the upper deck are lovely although the long table situated right next to the kitchen was equally impressive - would be great for a party! Our waitress Toni was lovely and was very attentive. The food was good and I'm definitely impressed! I will certainly be going back.


Cat Cubie

The booths upstairs

View from our table

Here's what I had to eat:

The starter

My main - skinny chicken pizza with salad

The desserts - chocolate tart, lemon tart and tiramisu 

In terms of negatives...the rack for the glasses at the bar was too low and it was in my eyeline (I am rather tall though!). I did ask one of the staff about it, and it's being raised asap. Toilet wise there was only one ladies room on the upper level however I believe there were more facilities downstairs but from what I heard they were a bit of a trek and rather chilly so I didn't bother going to check them out.

Couldn't see the bar staff :-/

I've eaten at Zizzi in Princes Square before and it didn't blow me away, but the venue of this one really makes it stand out. It's an amazing space and the food was really good, especially the caramelised onion bread to start and the dessert platter was delicious (I would have happily eaten a second plate of it!). Overall I was impressed and I will definitely go back.

The restaurant opened to the general public on Monday this week.

The meal & drinks were complimentary in exchange for an honest review.

Monday 11 February 2013

{Meal Planning Monday}

Today's post is a quickie... I had the dentist this afternoon after work - root canal treatment - and I'm feeling a little sore!

Meal Planning Monday

Here's this week's meal plan:

Monday (just me) - I had chicken curry & rice that was dropped in by my lovely neighbour!

Tuesday (just me) - pancakes at Becky's house!


Wednesday - omelette

Thursday - meatballs and rice

Friday - salmon pesto pasta

Saturday - eating out

Sunday (just me) - something from the freezer (a fish finger sandwich perhaps!)

Do pop over to Mrs M's blog to see what is on everyone else's meal plans this week.

Sunday 10 February 2013

{Pin It Do It}

Becky and Roz over at The Olive Dragonfly have started 'Pin It Do It' - a new hashtag (#pinitdoit funnily enough!) for us to share Pinterest plans that, as the title suggests, we actually do! I pin a variety of things , but rarely get the chance to follow through so to speak! This is also where the Olive Dragonfly Craft Club comes in...  cue another hashtag #ODCC. Becky has even created her own little button... made up of buttons!!!

Olive Dragonfly Craft Club


One of the latest items that I've made is Valentine's Day favours for my little ones to give to their nursery friends. I shared the idea here as part of the #JanuaryJoy series but I've now completed them and they're ready to go (I'm also ashamed to admit that I must have eaten about 10 packets of the Oreo biscuits whilst I was making these!!!).


Today I'm heading over to Becky's flat for the first ODCC get together and here is the homemade* gift that I will be taking along with me:


Keep an eye on The Olive Dragonfly blog for more info & details of how to join in.

*contents of the jar are not actually homemade...!! I've been busy, sorry!




Beauty with a Conscious

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