{Lost your mojo? Glasgow What's On}

Apparently, Richard Branson is helping Britain get their mojo back... and his good friend King Mojo is going to be in Glasgow tomorrow (Wednesday 1st May)!

Thought I'd quickly share some details with you in case you want to check it out.

He will be at Avenue G - one of Glasgow’s best coffee shops apparently - on Byres Road from 8am giving away free teas, coffees and breakfast butties to the first 100 people that come through the doors. One lucky customer will also receive an extra special gift, courtesy of King Mojo (ooooh, what could it be?).

In order to qualify for a free breakfast, customers should follow @VirginHolidays to see a special #Mojo photo, which they should show on their phone in order to receive their free Mojo breakfast.

King Mojo will also be making his way to The Grosvenor Cinema, on Ashton Road in Glasgow’s West End from 7.30pm. King Mojo will be offering the first 100 people in the queue a free cinema ticket and a bag of popcorn for the 8.15pm screening of Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper’s new movie ‘A Place Beyond the Pines’. (Ryan Gosling... yes please!!)

{image source}

Every tweet which includes #Mojo will help unlock prizes via The Mojovator. To help uplift the nation’s Mojo, The Mojovator gives opportunities to win a range of mojo-enhancing prizes, like VIP tickets to a summer festival, a trip to Las Vegas or a holiday with seven mates to a private paradise island.





http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/mojo/

{Review: Hairdressing salon, Kano}

I love nothing more than getting my hair done - a few hours of child-free bliss as I get pampered - what more could a busy mum ask for!? However, as with most mums, it can be tricky to negotiate an appointment that suits my schedule! The other weekend I was lucky enough to have a Saturday day child-free and first stop was the hairdresser for a some highlights and a wee trim.

I've had so many different hair styles over the years, but for now I'm growing my hair and keeping it blonde. Blonde is not my natural hair colour though and it takes a bit of upkeep! Cue Nicole at Kano :-)

I'm fortunate to have found a fabulous salon in Glasgow's Southside that I absolutely love. Kano caters for both men and women (and there are also treatment rooms in the basement). The salon is really relaxed and I'm always made welcome by the staff - they're all lovely. I used to trek into the city centre for hair appointments but the salons I frequented were a bit pretentious and over priced. I'm much happier at Kano.

The salon

Colour on - time for cuppa & magazines!

The end result - loving the blunt fringe!

I also occasionally pop into see Nicole for a wash & blow dry for special occasions, like my work Christmas lunch or my daughter's first birthday party. I was also there to have my hair done for my 30th birthday party and before my sister's hen night. 

All ready for my work Christmas night last year!

As I mentioned, there are also some treatment rooms in the basement where Stephanie runs Beauty in the Basement. I can highly recommend her for a spray tan!   

My kids have also had their hair cut at Kano and the girls are brilliant with the little ones. My son apparently doesn't like having his hair cut (please say it's a phase?), but he does like going in to 'have a chat with the ladies!'. His words, not mine!!

Kano Unisex Hair

260 Kilmarnock Road

Shawlands

Glasgow, G43 2XS

I received a complimentary cut & colour with Nicole at Kano in exchange for this post. As always, opinions are my own.

{Meal Planning Monday}

After a fairly horrendous week last week of tummy bugs and general not eating-ness, I'm back onto the weekly meal planning with Mrs M.

My dad & his wife arrive back tomorrow from the Middle East... this is a permanent move back to Scotland. Yippee!! I'm so delighted to have them back. They were in Trinidad for a few years, followed by a few more years in Oman... and it's felt like forever!! They're going to be staying with me until Friday, so I'll probably not plan too much in terms of meals as I'll see if there's anything they'd fancy.

I didn't do fantastically with the Fish is the Dish Healthy Happy Hearts challenge last week as I was ill and didn't eat much more than a few crackers, but I'm back on it this week.

I'm trying to improve my diet in general, not just increase my intake of fish. It was getting ridiculous the amount of cakes and chocolate that I was consuming! To get me back into good habits I am keeping a food diary. Don't get me wrong, I will still eat cake... just not as much!!

Monday (just me) - smoked salmon, scrambled egg and Food Doctor pitta bread

Tuesday - might get some take out with my dad & Jo... fish and chips perhaps as this is something I know they have missed!

{image source}

Wednesday - omelette & salad

Thursday - smoked mackerel pate for the grown-ups maybe (I've still not made this despite it being on my plan for a number of weeks now!!) and fish with vegetables for the little ones

Friday - decorate your own pizza

Saturday - pasta bolognese

Sunday (just me) - something from the freezer

What's on your menu this week?

Do pop along and have a look at the other entries on Mrs M's blog, you can find them here.

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

{Sunday Roundup}

It's been a fairly quiet week. I ended up with the same bug that the littlest had (either that or a bit of a Crohn's flare) and was off work for a day whilst I rested. It's only now that I'm eating normally again as I felt rather nauseous even looking at food... not like me!

The tumble dryer broke, but a new one is winging it's way to me right now. So at least that's something that I can cross off my list! Was not good timing as I had a tonne of vomitus sheets to clean :-/

We visited a friend in Edinburgh for lunch this week and my son has been absolutely brilliant with the toilet training. No mistakes on Thurs, Fri, Sat or this morning before the kids went to their dad's house. We've managed to go out and about, do a long trip in the car etc and he's been a super star! Major proud mummy here!!

My son, or 'batman' as he wanted to be referred to, having a wander around Kelvingrove yesterday. Yes, he did save the girl (Barbie) but she seems to have lost her clothes in the process!!

Having a taste of mummy's (cold) cup of tea - yummy apparently!

Out with the Play-Doh

I didn't do Mrs M's meal planning Monday, as I just couldn't face writing about food but I did have some fish for the Fish is the Dish Healthy Happy Hearts campaign - read more about the challenge here

Building a rocket ship with a kit that my friend gave us.

We received some beautiful fairy lights from Blaze On for a review that will be going live this week, with a competition too.... watch this space :-)

How has your week been?

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

{Smitten Saturday: Alison}

Each Saturday I'll be featuring one thing that I'm loving, whether it be food, make-up, an activity, a person... you get the idea!

You can grab my button over here ---> and take part if you so wish? 

And please help spread the word - I'd love to get a few more bloggers joining in :-)

There should hopefully be a linky tool at the bottom to allow you to add your post *crosses fingers*

Anyway, this week I am smitten with my little sister, Alison (also known as Ali & The Grey House or @the_grey_house). (Everyone we meet that doesn't know us thinks that she's older though, sorry Ali!)

I was starting to lose my running & keep fit mojo and Ali has managed to get my spark back again.

Yesterday she signed me up for the Glasgow Half Marathon and I'm actually excited about my next race (I know, I can't believe it either - me, excited about running!).

Glasgow

I got such a buzz competing in the Edinburgh Half Marathon last year in May, my first ever race! Since then I've done a 10 mile run around Millport (September 2012) but then after that I'm ashamed to admit I've done nothing and my fitness levels have decreased dramatically. The weight has also started to creep back on :-/

This is it though, I've now got a goal... to beat my time of 2 hours 12 min.

Bring it on! Thank you Ali for giving me the kick I needed!!

So tell me, what's got you Smitten this week?

{Project #RecipeSwap - Thai Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry}

At Home with Mrs M

The Mrs Makes

I sent the following recipe along to my #RecipeSwap partner Crysta from A Hat Full of Wool. Along with the recipe card I included a little tub of red thai curry paste. It's a meal that I used to make frequently and it's really straightforward and reasonably quick. 

Head on over to her blog to have a look at her review here.

{image source}

Crysta sent me a lovely sounding recipe for tiramisu and included a Green & Black white chocolate bar. You can find my review here.

Turns out that Crysta & I are the first of the Recipe Swappers to complete our reviews, but the list will continue to be updated as more appear :-)

{Review: The Mal on Sunday}

Extra! Extra! Read all about it...

I was delighted to be asked along to try Malmaison's new Sunday Lunch menu - The Mal on Sunday. I loved the little newspaper that was at each table setting instead of a menu. Really well done and rather amusing!

I've stayed in a few of the Malmaison hotels before but have rarely eaten in the restaurants. I do love the Aberdeen Malmaison, my home town!, and have enjoyed the odd G&T in the MALBAR ;-)

Anyway, back to Sunday Lunch...

The Mal on Sunday is the "king of Sunday lunches" and guests can start with an unlimited hors d'oeuvres table featuring a selection of cheeses, ham, smoked salmon and individually prepared omelettes, eggs, pancakes & waffles. And that's just to start!! There is then a selection of main courses which include huevos rancheros, swordfish, steak frites and the traditional prime rib or chicken roast with all the trimmings, followed by desserts such as Crepes Suzette, Creme Brulee, sticky toffee pudding and the Mal Sundae.

My sister, @the_grey_house, and I arrived at The Mal shortly after my daughter's 2nd birthday party ended and we were looking forward to enjoying a proper catch up before she had to drive back to Aberdeen later that afternoon.

The impressive Malmaison building in Glasgow

On our way down to the Brasserie

We were shown to our table and invited to help ourselves to the Chef's Table. We did go and have a look at the table, but the chef wasn't there and the area wasn't lit very well so it wasn't easy to see what was going on and without someone to tell me what was what, I wasn't sure what I was doing!

The Chef's Table

We both opted for the soup of the day anyway as we loved the sound of apple & celeriac... and it didn't disappoint. Yum!!

Perusing the menu!

Decisions, decisions...

Apple & Celeriac Soup

The soup was creamy & delicious. It wasn't served with bread (probably just as well when you see what's to come!!) but perhaps this was on the Chef' Table and we didn't spot it. Portion wise, the bowl was massive, as you can see...

Enjoying the starter :-) 

(I think I look a bit frazzled, but that's a result of entertaining six under 5 year olds that morning!!)

We then moved onto the main course. Seeing as it was Sunday Lunch, I chose the traditional roast prime rib of beef with all the trimmings and Ali went for the wild mushroom risotto with tarragon and mascarpone. 

The plate was wider than me!!!!

The beef was beautiful although for me there wasn't enough gravy with the dish and as a result the Yorkshire pudding and potatoes were a little dry. I was going to ask for more, but didn't manage to catch the attention of our waitress. As you can see from the portion size, I struggled to finish it... I had to leave two of the three roast potatoes! Ali on the other hand demolished her risotto.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

For our final course, I had to choose the Sticky Toffee Pudding (I'm on the search for the best sticky toffee pudding!) and it was delicious. Ali ordered the Creme Brulee.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Creme Brulee

The atmosphere in the Brasserie was relaxed which I really liked. I could imaging sitting reading a book or catching up with friends over a long lunch. I also liked the music that was playing in the background (so much so that I wrote a few of the tracks down - Whitney Houston, Dusty Springfield, Mary Wells, The Spinners...).

The newspaper wasn't wrong... by the end of the meal I was ready to pop!! 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I wish now that I had tried a cocktail, but there's always next time!

I loved my starter and dessert, but the main course for me was average. I think I possibly could have made a better selection as I'm loving the look of Briony and Graeme's mains in their review (which you can read on The Glasgow Food Blog here). I think next time I'll be having the burger thank you -  it looks amazing!

I received this complimentary Sunday Lunch for two in exchange for an honest review. Opinions as always are my own. The Mal on Sunday is available from 12 noon - 4pm and is £19.95 per person (kids under 12 are £7.95 each).

{Sunday Roundup}

This last week started off well... I was really tired on Monday from all the shenanigans at my colleague's wedding on the Sunday night, and then that wasn't helped any by having to work an early shift on Tuesday.

Urgh... early start :-/

However, it was a short working week for me as on Wednesday I was off to Mrs Jone's kitchen for a biscuit masterclass with Zoe Clark from The Cake Parlour.

My creations!

I then had five nights with the kids to look forward to as their dad was away with work. But disaster struck on Thursday and the littlest had diarrhoea and vomiting which lasted for 36 hours and she's still a but cranky and not herself. On a positive note, the eldest & I managed to not get the bug, but it did put a dampener on our weekend activities that we had planned with Auntie Ali.

Snuggles on the sofa!

I attempted to make some biscuits myself, but my first solo attempt didn't go that well. The icing was too thick to start with, and then too runny. Practice makes perfect... I shall keep trying!

Despite illness & the rain, my daughter's 2nd birthday painting party went ahead as planned and it was a huge success (if I do say so myself). I'll do a separate post on this with more photos :-)

Hope you all had a good week?

P.S. If you want to check out Roz's review of the wine tasting from last week, you can find the post here.

{Smitten Saturday}

This week I'm smitten with my son.

Yesterday, despite my daughter spending most of the day vomiting everywhere & being clingy, I decided to go ahead & start potty training my son as he seemed keen. Gotta grab the opportunity when it arises! So in between mopping up puke, I was trying to keep on top of my son.

He was amazing. He did two pees & a poo on the toilet with no bother at all.

Lets see how day #2 goes!!

Please do grab the badge (---->) & join in. Lets try & spread the word that is Glasgow Mummy's Smitten Saturday.

{35 at 35: Biscuit Decorating, Check!}

When I spotted on the Glasgow Baking Club blog that Zoe Clark was coming to Mrs Jones kitchen to teach a biscuit decorating course I immediately signed up.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending a session in Mrs Jones kitchen where I made the most amazing birthday cake for my littlest's first birthday party. Have a peek at the cake here.

Anyway, 'learn how to decorate biscuits properly' is also on my 35 at 35 list and Zoe's cookies are just beautiful:

Zoe Clark's teapot & teacup cookies

This morning I arrived at Mrs Jones kitchen to be greeted with tea & a cake (perfect start to the day!) and I met the other ladies that were attending the course. Zoe was lovely and an excellent teacher. I'm amazed that we managed to get through so many designs in such a short space of time.

First we were shown how to whip up the Royal Icing. We then took a small amount of Royal Icing to which we added some colour. After taking some out for the outlining piping bag (for which we used a 1.5mm metal nozzle), we watered down the icing a little for the flooding piping bag (no nozzle was used, we just cut the end off the bag).

The blank cookies.

Piping in the Royal Icing outline on the birdcages with a 1.5 nozzle.

Flooding the cookie with a watered down Royal Icing - I chose a mint green colour.

The shoe cookies - they icing I selected for the shoes was grape violet, but the lighting in this photograph makes them look pink.

Getting there..!

Zoe teaching us how to over pipe the birdcage

Look at all the pretty coloured biscuits!!

Ta-da!!

My selection of finished biscuits... birdcages, cupcakes, teapots, shoes, dresses and heart lollipops.

These vanilla biscuits have a 2 week shelf life and will be ideal for the littlest's 2nd birthday party this weekend. What perfect timing!!

I'm keen to hone my technique and must try and get some practice in!! Biscuit anyone??