Hey Doodle!

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Being mum to a two year old is exhausting. Eliza is currently in to everything and flits from one activity to the next in the blink of an eye, so when you come across something that keeps her sat in a chair for more than five minutes you know it’s something special.

We were recently gifted this erasable silicone story book from a brand called Hey Doodle, who I admit, I had never heard of before. From their website:

“HeyDoodle is a range of sustainable and educational wipe-clean silicone activity mats aimed at children aged 2 to 7. Featuring a new type of canvas, HeyDoodle offers parents, grandparents and kids a limitless and reusable drawing platform. Each mat contains hours of fun in colouring, tracing, and doodling and then hours more by simply using a damp cloth to reset the canvas. Perfect for all forms of travel, cafes & restaurants, hotel and waiting rooms, office receptions – anywhere you need to entertain kids in a fun and educational way”.

Eliza loves colouring (usually for 30 seconds at a time) so I knew this would be a hit with her, but I didn’t anticipate how much of a hit! She lasted a good twenty minutes at the table colouring the book and exploring the story; she would have gone longer if I hadn’t have been dinner time!

I was a little bit sceptical about how easy it would be to erase her efforts ready to start again, but all I needed was a damp cloth and it wiped away effortlessly. This was also true for the pen that found its way on to the table!

We used this again the next day when we went out for dinner, we knew we’d have a bit of a wait and we didn’t really want to resort to letting Eliza play with our phones. Again, Hey Doodle was the perfect solution, keeping her occupied, and as space was limited we kept it folded up so she could just do one page at a time.

With Christmas rapidly approaching, both Bob and I agree that Hey Doodle makes for the perfect gift- we are going to get Eliza one of their placemats for her santa sack, and as our friend’s little ones grow up they will also be getting sets from the brand!

The set we were gifted is this one, it costs £24.99 and is beautifully packaged and 100% something we will use over and over again for years to come.

Nice one Hey Doodle, I may finally get to drink a cup of tea in peace!

Golden Touch*

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Up until a year or two ago I was strictly silver/white gold jewellery only. Yellow gold seemed too grown up for me, and perhaps even a little boring.

Well, I am a grown up now (apparently) and I find myself more and more drawn to yellow gold pieces of jewellery. I’ve recently added some beautiful pieces to my collection, hence why I’ve once again bought myself out of blogging hibernation to show them off.

rings c/o Astley Clarke

Astley Clarke, a brand I have admired for years, recently let me pick from their collection of gold rings and it was like letting a kid loose in a candy shop! I literally spent hours browsing their collection (because I kept getting side tracked and looking at the rest of their stunning jewellery too) before settling on these two beauties. These are perfect for wearing as standalone pieces and for stacking and the Amazonite ring especially is perfect for brightening up any outfit; ideal given that very soon I will be back in work wear as my maternity leave draws to an end. I’ll share how I’m styling my rings over on Instagram once I’m back “in office”…where has the last ten months gone?

The other item I’ve recently acquired was a lucky giveaway win on Instagram. I started following Walking Primrose as soon as I caught a glimpse of their pieces. I’d actually already put this necklace on my Christmas list (yeah, already!) when I took a chance and entered a giveaway- something I never do these days! Anyway, I was gobsmacked to have won the necklace of my dreams, it’s even more stunning in real life, and the owner of the company really goes above and beyond when it comes to packaging and delivering her products- if you follow me on instagram you’ll have seen how it arrives.

I cannot stress enough how much I love Walking Primrose and the ethos behind the brand. Please do check out the website and read up on them.

So now my Christmas list is lacking in an item, but I can pretty much guarantee it’ll be another yellow gold piece…or two, or three!

Brand Profile: Lindex

The first time the brand Lindex popped on to my radar was when I was pregnant and I was starting to browse around for baby clothes; in fact I made one of my first baby related purchases from there and have been obsessed ever since.

As well as selling some of the most beautiful baby clothes and accessories that you’ll ever see, Lindex also cater for kids and women too as well as stocking beauty products.

Whilst I can’t comment on anything but their baby selection I can very much vouch for the quality of their products, and the attention to detail on each piece; from two way zippers on sleep suits to make nappy changes a little easier (although there is NOTHING easy about changing a 9 month old’s nappy!) to size extenders such as an extra row of poppers to help you get that bit more wear out of each piece. We have quite the collection these days, and if you follow me on Instagram you’ll soon see some of our latest additions. In the meantime, I just wanted to shine the spotlight on Lindex as a brand as I have nothing but love for them, and they definitely deserve to be better known than they are!

In their own words, here is Lindex’s Higher Purpose:

To empower and inspire women everywhere. We do that through our actions as a company and through a progressive fashion experience.   

We lead the way.   

Our customers, our co-workers and our partners are all part of this ambition.   

We know this might sound ambitious, but almost all of our customers are women,  so basically, this is all about them.   

It’s the kind of customer focus that goes beyond the latest collection and the store window.   

A purpose.   

This includes all dimensions of sustainability. We will demonstrate that respect and equal opportunities are the way forward.  

We want to set an example. It’s about optimism, forward-thinking and self-confidence.  

And this spirit influences everything we do.   

Our collections, our stores, our communication.   

We have a clear point of view and that helps our business.  

It gives us energy and motivation. But it doesn’t make life easier.   

We’re raising the bar for ourselves.  

You can only inspire people if they respect you and respect doesn’t come easily.   

So, if we want to create an amazing company for women, we have to be an amazing brand.   

Sure, Lindex is not the biggest brand in the world. But we’re not small and definitely big enough to have an impact. 

We can change things.   

And when we grow, we can change even more things.   

That’s the idea.   

Lindex also have a sustainability promise, which has three key areas of focus…you can read more about this here

If you’re not familiar with the brand yet, or the fabulous things they sell then I urge you to give them a follow on Instagram and get ready to create one heck of a shopping list!

Embracing the last of Summer with Montezumas

It might be September, with a distinct nip in the air already (at least down here in the South West) but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up on Summer. Not for me anyway, I’m holding out for a warm and sunshine filled day for my wedding at the end of the month, and what perfect way to manifest it than with a sun and sea inspired collection of chocolates from Montezumas?

Sea Dog has lime to spark your palette and a subtle tang of sea-salt as well- kind of a pregnant person friendly version of a tequila shot!

I love the bright pink packaging for Hot Pickle! This bar isn’t for the shy and retiring…I love chilli in chocolate so this is right up my street.

Summer and happiness go hand in hand. So does chocolate and hazelnut. Add in salted caramel too and I don’t see how this bar can fail to put a smile on your face. What a winner!

Coconut is the ultimate Summer flavour, and lemon brightens everything so I can see why this dark chocolate bar made it in to the collection. It sounds like the ultimate uplift!

I know not everyone approves of white chocolate, but I LOVE it. Creamy vanilla makes me think of ice cream on a beach, and the golden colour is reminiscent of the sand too.

All of these bars, plus a whole host of other delicious treats are available on the Montezumas website for £2.59 for a 90g bar. Which flavour are you going for first?

ModiBodi Maternity*

Where has time gone? All of a sudden it’s basically September, I’m 30+ weeks pregnant, getting married in less than a month and just a few short weeks after that will be mum to a little girl!

For the most part I am super organised with it all, I’m one of those people who micro-manage everything, and whilst it still feels like there is loads to do there really actually isn’t. One area I am definitely not organised with though is packing a hospital bag for both myself and for baby. I haven’t even made a list, I don’t even really know what to take! I might be super on top of things for what baby is going to need, but when it comes to Mum I am clueless. The only thing I have so far are some great little maternity products that I was gifted from cult period pant brand ModiBodi which I was kindly sent, these are sat next to my otherwise empty hospital holdall waiting to be joined by…well…I don’t actually know what yet!

I was sent the Breastfeeding Cami and Maternity Briefs, obviously it’s impossible to give a full review at this stage given that I’m not post-birth, but what I can tell you is how lovely they feel and how comfortable they are to wear.
The Breastfeeding Cami is designed to give comfort and support whilst absorbing up to 25ml of boob leak per cup, making it an more environmentally friendly alternative to disposable breast pads and something I’m planning to use especially in hospital when I want to be packing as little as possible (famous last words!)
You can also wear this pre-birth to deal with any leakage, I’m not quite there yet but I feel like it’s only a matter of time!
Another added bonus is it has an inbuilt sling to assist with one handed feeding; something I will surely find invaluable once Bob goes back to work.

The briefs certainly aren’t sexy, but arguably better looking than the M&S granny pants I’ve been living in of late. Much like the period pants these are designed to deal with bleeding, discharge, bladder leaks etc, the difference being these have a much higher absorbency than the period pants and are cut to suit an ever expanding bump/be comfortable on a post-baby belly. These are so comfortable and I’m definitely going to get a few pairs in stock for those first few weeks especially. I find regular pads uncomfortable so the idea of maternity ones fills me with dread! I also like how secure these feel once on, and whilst pricey they can be used as period pants once things go back to normal too.

It would be a bit extreme to say I’m looking forward to fully testing out these items, although it would mean to wait to meet baby is finally over! I’m just keeping everything crossed she doesn’t decide to make an early appearance at the wedding- or at least until I have my hospital bag packed!

Those who already have children, what were your must haves for your hospital bags? Both for yourself and for baby?

Thanks ModiBodi for giving me a jump-start!