Wednesday 30 April 2014

{I've been shortlisted for the BiBs!!}


So the title of this post and the badge above totally give the game away, but today I was thrilled when an email popped up in my inbox from BritMums with the subject header "BiBs FAMILY shortlist". I knew a few of my followers had nominated me (thank you!) but I had not anticipated making the shortlist of sixteen! Just 16, and I'm one of them!! I am absolutely over the moon!!

The BiBs Family award, sponsored by Nelsons Teetha, is for "blogs that share the laughter and tears of family life telling stories that elicit a-ha's and understanding from all of us. They are honest and open about the realities of family life and we love them for it."

Next month is the 3rd birthday of my blog. How the time flies! I've loved every minute of it and have enjoyed sharing my story with you on these pink pages! You've been there through the ups and the downs, and the support that I've received has been amazing. I like to think that I tell it as it is, and I've always been as honest as I can on here - from stories on wetting my pants at my personal trainer's house through to the telephone call that changed my life. There's certainly been plenty laughter, but it's been a tough few years and as such there have been lots of tears too. What can I say... it's been one hell of a journey, that's for sure!


Just being shortlisted is unreal - I am honoured & still can't quite believe it! This is a really big deal for me - thank you so much!

However, I'd really, really appreciate it if you could take 5 minutes out of your day to fill out the online form & show me some more support by voting for Glasgow Mummy. Pretty please, with cherries on top? ;-) Voting is open until midnight on Friday May 16th and you are only allowed to vote once.


This voting, along with 2 picks from the BritMums team, will decide the list of 6 Finalists. The winner will then be announced at BritMums Live on Friday 20th June.

Eeeek!!! How very exciting. And thanks to Glasgow Fort who are sponsoring me because I'm going to be there at the event this year!!

Sunday 27 April 2014

{and relax...}

I'm feeling inspired after my weekend at the Blythswood Square Hotel and Spa. I'm still thoroughly relaxed after all that pampering and want to try and recreate the amazing atmosphere of the hotel back at my home... (on a minimal budget too if that's possible!!).

There's something about the spa that instantly relaxed me... I think it was most certainly a combination of the lighting and the incense. (When I was on honeymoon in Thailand there was a different incense each day in our villa... a really nice touch).


I'm still in the process of doing up my bathroom, and I'd like to eventually have a few candle holders, maybe a miniature Buddha ornament and an incense burner on a shelf. I've thoroughly enjoyed having a few baths this past month (they help my Crohn's symptoms) & look forward to relaxing even more when I get my hotel inspired bathroom finished!

I bought a gorgeous glass silver tea light holder from Sainsburys for £2 and I was given a beautiful silver heart cut-out tea light holder as a house warming from my friend Vicky. Both are perfect for creating some mood lighting in the bathroom!



I've also spotted a Buddha ornament on eBay that I like the look of, and I'd love to get some hanging lanterns for candles too that I can suspend from the ceiling on invisible wire. Something along the lines of these...




Final touch will be some incense and then I'm sorted :)

Long soaks in the tub with some soothing music, here I come!

Friday 25 April 2014

{R's Birthday Surprise at Blythswood Square Hotel}

It is R's birthday today (Happy Birthday!!) and I had planned a luxurious getaway for the Easter weekend at the Blythswood Square Hotel for us to celebrate. I managed to keep it a secret from him right up until we pulled up outside the hotel in our taxi!! I'm amazed I didn't spill the beans as I was super excited about it all!

I absolutely love the Blythswood Square Hotel. It's a 5 star hotel and spa right in the city centre of Glasgow, and it's location meant that we didn't need to waste any precious time travelling across the country for our weekend break. I've thoroughly enjoyed their Square Eyes Film Club events and I've also attended a Cupcake Masterclass at the hotel. Bex over at The Olive Dragonfly also had her mini hen party here, so I knew that we were going to be in for a great weekend of pampering!

Our room was ready when we checked in at lunchtime on Easter Sunday, so we were able to suss out our digs and drop off our bags before hitting the spa!

Our Bathroom to Bedroom hotel room - amazing!

I had booked the Blythswood Spa Escape & included in the price (£260 per room per night based on two adults) we had the following:

  • Luxury accommodation (and that it was!)
  • Full Scottish breakfast
  • 55 minute spa treatment each on the day of arrival
  • Complimentary use of The Thermal Experience
R had a ishga Hot Stone Massage and I had chosen an Elemis Skin Specific Facial. It was extremely relaxing and I loved every minute! Whilst the face mask was on I was given a head, neck & shoulder massage. It was perfect! I do love a good facial :)

After the treatments we met up in the relaxation suite where I had a cup of green tea and chilled out for a bit. There were lots of inviting loungers to chose from with cosy blankets to keep warm. 

From here we headed back to the spa reception where we were shown to the locker rooms and once in our swimming gear we then made our way to The Thermal Experience. We spent two blissful hours in the various steam rooms & saunas... The Laconium, The Sauna, The Saunarium, The Crystal Steam Room, The Tepidarium, the Hydro Pool and the Vitality Pool.

Feeling thoroughly spoiled and relaxed we then headed back to our room where we had a few hours before dinner. I may have enjoyed a hot bath with a glass of fizz (thanks Ali!) before slipping into my little black dress!



The food was amazing, with the dessert being my highlight. The macarons were to die for!

After a brilliant sleep, I started the day with another bath and then we headed back to the restaurant for breakfast. Full Scottish for R and Eggs Benedict for moi. I know I keep saying this, but it really was amazing! I wasn't quick enough off the mark to get any of the pastries, next time!

We checked out of our room at midday, but I had paid for us to return to The Thermal Experience again (£20 each) and so we spent another three hours journeying through the series of rooms again. And if it couldn't get any better, we were then booked for Afternoon Tea in The Salon. I had clocked an offer on Emerald Street for two-for-one tea so we had afternoon tea for two for £22.

Duchess of Bedford Afternoon Tea... the sandwiches were gorgeous & loads of them too, followed by two perfect scones with lashings of cream and jam, and rounded off with carrot cake, lemon meringue pie, lemon drizzle cake, caramel eclair and a raspberry meringue (according to the menu this was a macaron, but it was more like a meringue and very different to the macarons we had with dinner in the restaurant the day before which were delightful). All washed down with some earl grey tea.

Mmmmmm!!!

It was the perfect end to an absolutely amazing weekend!!! 


Monday 21 April 2014

{Matters to You, with John Lewis}

If you haven't already seen the campaign, then take a look at the new John Lewis 'Matters to You' Home Insurance advert... highlighting the emotional side of insuring the things that matter to you.

John Lewis adverts are always so clever aren't they! (I adored the Christmas one last year - massive tear jerker!).


As part of the campaign, John Lewis have launched a children's drawing competition. 

All you have to do is choose your child's masterpiece on the theme 'favourite things / what matters most', photograph it, and write a little bit about what it means to your child, you and how it makes you feel. Would be a great activity for the Easter holidays :-)

To enter head on over to the John Lewis competition site to upload your picture and details. You can find the terms and conditions here

There will be four winners, and each winners artwork will be worked up by professional illustrator Emily Woodard which will then be framed with the original into a piece of art to treasure forever.

Here's Emily at work:



The competition closes on 24th April at 10am - so not much time left to enter!

Here's one of my favourite masterpieces that the eldest drew... what matters most to us is our friends and family. We're a sociable family and the kids are confident talking to lots of different people during our daily routines. In this picture, you'll see my two kiddies with the joiner and electrician (we had just moved into our new house and were getting lots of things fixed!!) and that's me as a fairy up in the sky! The eldest's favourite part is their 'jelly hair'!!


Sunday 20 April 2014

{Ikea Glasgow & the new Metod kitchens}

The other week the kids & I were invited along to check out the new Ikea Metod kitchen range.

Boy was I impressed. I love Ikea, and have always found the staff to be helpful (especially in the cafe) and the morning was just brilliant. We were welcomed by the team, including the store manager, and they all were just so enthusiastic about their new products & the company itself. It was a delight to see & hear.

The new Metod kitchen's are beautiful. They're well thought out (the design process was considerable as the company started from scratch to redesign the basic building blocks of kitchens & took on board many of their customers feedback over the six years of development) & as well as being extremely functional and flexible (like the cupboards that will fit under stairs - see below!), they are also aesthetically pleasing & lovely to look at. 




There's something for everyone... From the more traditional shaker style to the sleek gloss units that are on trend right now. In terms of colours, there are muted creams and beiges through to darker greys and browns then for the wild ones there are bright reds and mustards! There are literally loads and loads of options for doors, drawer/cupboard combinations, handles, appliances etc and the store is laid out really well with everything on show for the customer to see & touch. 


The new kitchen design space at the Glasgow Ikea is cosy & welcoming. The ceilings have been lowered in this part of the store to reduce noise, there are coffee machines & even the desk height for the computers can be adjusted at the touch of a button, for example to allow the kids to get involved or for wheelchair users. Ikea have thought of everything it would seem.


I love the mustard doors!

And again with the mustard because I love it so much!
One of the things that I was also impressed with was the commitment from Ikea for recycling. They had options to suit every kitchen, even a tiny one like mine! So many different shapes & sizes of recycling bins!

All the lighting options were equally amazing - such a huge range! And we heard about the LED bulbs & the energy savings to be had (I've also subsequently starting making the move to LED bulbs and so far have changed three over in my hallway. It's an expense upfront but the savings longer term will be worth it).

I'm literally bursting with ideas & inspiration... I'd love to re-do my kitchen to maximise the use of the space. Some day!! And when I do, I'll most definitely be paying Ikea a visit. 

In the meantime I've been kitting out the interiors of my kitchen cabinets with Ikea shelf inserts and the bamboo drawer inserts look beautiful. No doubt I'll be back next week to stock up on more stuff - I do love a good clear out session & an opportunity to get organised!! (Plus I could be done with some more tea lights!!!).

Ikea also gave us a few presents to take away - thank you :) They match my current kitchen perfectly!


Drawer inserts from the new range


Ceramic egg holder


Apple corer


Saturday 19 April 2014

{Storybook Glen, Aberdeen}

I loved Storybook Glen when I was a wee girl.

I have very fond memories of days out there, and have always been keen to take my kids there for a visit.

If you haven't heard of it, Storybook Glen is a "magical world of make-believe" (their words, not mine) just outside Aberdeen with around 100 nursery rhyme and fairytale characters amidst its 28 acres of parklands.

Next door to Storybook Glen is 'The Den" which is an indoor soft play area and cafe. At the moment, visitors to "The Glen" get free access to "The Den" for a session (not sure if this is an ongoing offer or not). I'd advise that you go into "The Den" first if you're arriving at 10am for the park opening, as apparently the soft play soon gets busy (it's not that big compared to the Glasgow soft plays that I'm used to!).

We had a bite to eat at the cafe before we went into the park itself. (The food was alright, I've had better lunches as soft plays elsewhere and I thought it was a bit pricey. But it filled a hole and the kids seemed to enjoy it.). The facilities at the soft play and cafe were lovely... it's clearly new and everything was spacious and clean. My two absolutely loved the racing slides!!

Auntie Ali at the Cafe

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed with the Storybook Glen itself though. A lot of the buildings were locked and the kids were unable to explore the houses, which I remember doing as a youngster. I think the park has loads of potential, but for me it just wasn't cutting the mustard (as a 32 year old grown up I appreciate that I'm not the target market, but I didn't enjoy the morning as much as I had thought I would). The kids however did love it (which was the point of our visit). 

My sister and I found the characters to be a bit more like drag queens than Cinderella princesses! I know, you'd think I was expecting Aberdeen's version of Disneyland... which I understand is totally unrealistic, but seriously I do think there is so much more potential to be had here. I'm assuming the lack of upgrades at the park is down to the admission prices, which I think are reasonable (given that entry to "The Den" was included) but I'd have happily paid a slightly higher entry fee for a more magical experience.

There was plenty of space for the kids to run around, and lots of chutes, swings etc for them to play on and our four hour visit at the soft play, cafe and Storybook Glen certainly tired them out! I'm not sure I was convinced with the safety of all of the climbing frames etc., so be sure to keep an eye on your little ones whilst they're playing. 

Admission Prices (correct at time of publishing):
Adult - £5.60
Child - £3.85
OAP - £4.30


If I was to go back to park, I think we'd go elsewhere for lunch (or take a picnic which is permitted on the grass area outside the park's front entrance) and I'd put together some kind of tick box scavenger hunt to make it more interactive for the little ones... maybe a prize of some sort if they can find all of the characters on my list!

Little Miss Muffet


The castle


Cinderella and her carriage


The leopard


Tellytubbies


Sitting on the fairy toadstools


The climbing frame


Humpty Dumpty!

Shrek
Old MacDonald's Farm

Pirate Ship





















Have you been to Storybook Glen before - what were your thoughts?




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Thursday 17 April 2014

{A Long Weekend in Aberdeen with the Kinder}

Last weekend we headed to Aberdeen to stay with my sister, catch up with family and do a bit of sightseeing. For all intents, we were on 'holiday' and the kids had a blast. For me, who was feeling under the weather somewhat due to my Crohn's flare, it was an opportunity to have family on hand to cook for us and to run around after the little ones! R even managed to come and join us for the Saturday antics :-)

During the day I did my best to stick a smile on my face despite my discomfort and in the evenings I rested.

Anyway, here are some of the pics and details of what we got up to... we were rather lucky with the sunny weather!!

Thursday

Ice Cream at Duthie Park with Grandad and Nanny Jo

Chocolate smiles all round!

Enjoying the big chutes!


Friday

Storybook Glen (full post on this later...)
Swimming @ the Beach Leisure Centre


Saturday

Breakfast at Prego 
Codonas Amusement Arcade
Walk along the Beach



Let me take a #selfie!








Wednesday 16 April 2014

{Homes & Interiors}

Homes & interiors is my thing. I'd quite happily forgo clothes & make-up to enable purchases of house-related goodies! Possibly quite tragic, but I'm sure there are others out there like me?

I get excited about paint colours, fabric patterns & soft furnishings. I can't wait to decorate my new house & transform each room. All the furniture from the old house was efficiently placed into the appropriate rooms by the removal men, but it's only now...6 months down the line... that I'm starting to rearrange the rooms & figure out what works best where. 

You'll have seen from earlier posts that the kitchen and bathroom have already had mini-makeovers, using up paint from the old house and a few purchases of mirrors, shelving & storage accessories.

The 'playroom' or dining room has also had some changes recently. I was given some B&Q vouchers from my sister for my birthday with which I bought some more paint. My dad's wife had suggested a better layout of the furniture which I eventually did (thanks Jo!) & it all works much better! 

Next on the list is the living room. My new Marks and Spencer sofa arrived (purchased in the sale & put onto a credit card!) and it's glorious to have something comfortable to sit on. Pure bliss! I've started painting the walls (navy, inspired by my sisters house) and just need to put on the second coat. A wood burning stove & a plush carpet are on my wish list for this room, but funds won't allow it just yet. But I can dream for now & write out my (never ending!) list...

These stoves are beautiful!


Something I'll need sooner rather than later is a desk chair for my hallway landing office space - at the moment I don't have a chair & have to keep dragging a dining table chair upstairs - I'd love a Ghost chair in either clear or grey:


I've also been lusting after a new bedside lamp - I'd love something with a bit more impact & have been craving these ones for a while!

Carpet for my stairs & hallway are also on my list...the current carpet is blue, it's rather grubby and not to my taste at all. But I'm living with it obviously until I can afford something along the lines of these:

Finally (well for this post anyway!), a bench for the garden... I'd love a bit more in the way of seating so we can have more space to entertain. The warmer weather must surely be on its way and there have been a few sunny days in Glasgow lately!? I'm envisaging garden parties & lots of BBQs :)

For my tree, although I just need a half circle bench! {image source}

I'm also hoping to convert a low concrete wall into a bench, like this one here.

Watch this space for how I get on!

Beauty with a Conscious

I volunteer most weeks with the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice, located in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, where I deliver a mindfulness m...