Organix Veg and Oat Bars

I am one of those mothers who shamelessly feeds her children whilst going around the supermarket.  Mainly to keep them sweet whilst I ponder over what to buy (because obviously, I’ve forgotten to make a list), and also because I get the inevitable whine about being hungry as soon as we get through the doors.

So often, it’s straight to the kid’s snack aisle for us Continue reading

Baby Nose-Clear

I have a sniffly baby. By sniffly I mean, his breathing is not quiet, and on a slightly less light-hearted note, by sniffly, I mean feeds are often interrupted by sad little splutters and cries and a few times in the middle of the night, he’s woken up crying trying to get a decent breath.

In the mornings, you can look up his tiny seven week old nose and see it’s chock full of mucous and snot. Continue reading

My Beautiful Beautiful Shoes

I know he can’t see the dress, but is it bad luck for your husband-to-be to see your wedding shoes before the big day?  If it is, well then we are already doomed.  Because I can’t stop talking about my shoes, and I also can’t stop looking at them.  Every couple of days, I have to have a little peek-a-boo at them sitting there, pretty things, in their shoe box.

And the shoe box is not hidden away from Ross.  It’s sitting on a shelf in our bedroom, and even though I know he won’t be nearly as interested in them as I am, and certainly not interested enough to sneak sly little peeks, he was there when I picked them up from the post office, there when I excitedly ripped open the package, and it’s fair to say he’ll definitely be around when I break them in between now and July 24th.

As much as the National Wedding Show showed me exactly what I didn’t want in my wedding (a long fussy gown, a marzipan-slathered fruit cake, a hen night that involves a pink limousine) I did go home with some great ideas and even some concrete decisions made; a french netting veil, cheesecake of glory and shoes from Harriet Wilde.

You know when you see something, and that’s it, mind’s made up, won’t even bother looking at anything else, because how could anything else even come remotely close? Well, thats how I felt when I saw my shoes.  And the netting embellishment in turn helped me to make up my mind about my veil, which then helped me decide on gypsophila flowers in the table settings and my bouquet.  As odd as it may sound to say I’ve planned the look of my wedding around my shoes, it’s true – these beautiful shoes have really helped me out!

I’ve gone for Bella Ivory with the ivory netting, and aren’t they just the cutest shoes you ever did see?  I just adore the little puff of netting on the toe.  So ridiculously dainty.  The moment I slip my feet into them I instantly feel about ten times more girly and feminine.

And I can’t help but smile.

If you want your own pair (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?) You can pick up the phone and have a chat with Ruth.  Because the only thing better than ordering pretty shoes, is ordering them from someone as nice as she is.

Anyone for cheesecake?

We have an 8″ vanilla cheesecake that arrived this morning.  It’s a sample of our wedding cake and right now it’s defrosting in my fridge.

Cheesecake of Glory

Cheesecake of Glory

I saw the English Cheesecake Company at the National Wedding Show last November and that was it, I was sold. What could possibly be nicer than a vanilla and strawberry cheesecake at a July wedding?  I stopped looking at other cakes there and then and happily ticked it off my gargantuan list of Things To Organise.

So I called and ordered on Thursday, and it arrived this morning.  In dry ice, no less.  And can I just take a moment to remind you of your GCSE Chemistry lessons and that dry ice is cold.  Very very cold.  I’d go out on a limb and say it’s the coldest thing I’ve ever held.  Because in my excitement to get to my cake, I did not heed the warning and I picked up the bag of dry ice with my bare hands.  Ouch!

Always wear oven mitts when handling dry ice.

What I should have done.

It took a few seconds to register that my fingers were, infact, freezing, before I realised what I was doing.  Fortunately, an hour or so later, my hands are fine, pink and warmed up nicely.  And the dry ice has warmed up and dissipated.  That is a mistake I shan’t be making again.

I’ve already tasted my cake and let me tell you it’s melt-in-the-mouth amazing.  Creamy and delicious and a real pleasure to eat.  I know it’s going to go down a storm at my wedding this summer, especially with all those gorgeous strawberries piled up on top.  If you ever fancy a cheesecake, the English Cheesecake Company is without a doubt the place to get it.

Vivien to the rescue

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve picked out (and bought) the dresses Megan and Katherine are going to wear as my Bridesmaids this summer.

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have sorted that out, because it’s not been plain sailing, and out of all our wedding plans to date, that was the one thing that has caused me stress. Not quite sleepless nights (it takes a LOT to stop me from heading off to the land of nod each night) but certainly a fair bit of worry.

One of the very first things I decided after agreeing to become Ross’ wife was who I was going to ask to be my bridesmaids. My girls. My wing(wo)men. It was a no brainer. My sister and my bestie. Easy peasy! What hasn’t been so easy was picking out their dresses.

You see, I’m not wearing a traditional long gown. Without giving away too much (incase my husband-to-be reads this) my dress has somewhat of the fifties about it, as some of you have seen. And I needed something to reflect that for my bridesmaids.

So the search began. And I looked everywhere. I looked into getting something made from Light in the Box, but decided it was a little too risky, scoured the internet and the highstreet for dresses and just when I couldn’t find anything that was right, and in budget (because as much as I drool and swoon, there is nothing by Candy Anthony I can even remotely afford outside of my dreams), Vivien of Holloway came to my rescue. And I had a good feeling about Vivien. The kind of feeling you get when things are about to fall into place very nicely indeed.

So last week, Katherine (bestie) and I made the trip up to north London to the Holloway shop and as soon as we stepped through the door I knew we were on to a good thing The staff were helpful and friendly and the dresses, oh, the dresses. Just gorgeous! Pure retro glamour.

It didn’t take any time at all to find what we were looking for; a minty green halterneck swing dress with a colourful flowery print and matching bolero I’d seen on their website and even though I’m not going to be wearing it at my wedding, I tried it on anyway. All in the name of research ;-D

Within half an hour Kat’s dress was bagged up and paid for and yesterday I went back with Megan and picked up her dress, and the petticoats, and two sweet little belts which finish the look off rather smashingly, and now I can safely say that’s another thing done and ticked off my list. Big sighs of relief all round.

This is Katherine in her dress. Doesn’t she look gorgeous?