TODDLER STYLE: A week of outfits #55

The weather this week has been so nice - we've had lots of afternoons playing in the garden (hence outfit 3), picnics in the park and a quick sale shopping trip. Whoops. I did pick up some bargains from Mothercare though - just in case you're in need of a shopping fix. Also this week I decided to set up a new Instagram account - treasureeverym - which is open for everyone to enjoy! My other Instagram account I still use (and share different photos), but that one will remain private because it has photos of Isabella's face etc. Things I don't necessarily want to share with the world. I'd love it if you checked out my new account and followed if you want to follow our lives and see what we get up to :)

Day  1

TODDLER STYLE: A week of outfits #50

This week has been a lot more positive than last week - with some good news about a relative who isn't very well, changes at work and far less tantrums! Thursday seems to be Isabella's worst day of the week, with tantrum after tantrum, however hard I try to make the day nice and fun. I'm not sure if it's because it's the first day of the week she's not at nursery, or that she gets so overtired from being at nursery for three days that I get the brunt of that? Who knows. She's also continued to wake up in the night with the most horrendous screams. One night this week we couldn't settle her until 9pm (Thursday night in fact), which hasn't happened since she was very little. I'm not sure if she's at an age where this happens, but we aren't in a Wonder Weeks thunderstorm so I'm at a loss as to why.

Day 1

TODDLER STYLE: A week of outfits #48

This week has ended up being one of the most social weeks I've had in a while! I went for a lovely meal out with our friends from NCT on Thursday...without the babies. This is a seriously rare occasion and it was so relaxing having a catch up over wine and pizza. I value their friendship more than they probably know, having such a friendly group of fellow mummies who you can share worries/ concerns/ milestones/ achievements and everything in between is so precious. We then had some other very close friends over for a meal on Friday night, hosting dinner parties at home has become the new 'meal out' since having Isabella. I absolutely love hosting and we had such a giggle, this week has reminded me to really treasure all of my amazing and inspiring friends.

Day 1

BABY STYLE: A week of outfits #25

This week was back to normal with my husband back at work and all festivities over, which was both nice and sad. I've loved having two people on the parenting job, but I was looking forward to having mine and Isabella's little routine back up and running. Now that we're into 2016 it doesn't seem that long until I return to work so I'm determined to make the most of every single day. We've spent so much time playing this week with all of Isabella's new toys and enjoying being out and about now it's quiet again. Quality Mummy and daughter time is the focus of the next few months!

Day 1

BABY: Last few SALE purchases...

Ok, ok I know that I have done quite a lot of sale shopping but these really are the last few pieces I've picked up in the summer sales this year! I absolutely love a bargain and when I found a free delivery code for Debenhams, it made these purchases even more reasonable. A lot of the clothes below are still in stock, so I've added the links if you like them too. The dresses are 6-9 months, as I thought they'd be good on the run up to winter when paired with a cardigan and tights. I also picked up a couple more items for next summer in 12-18 months, I really hope she is in this size next summer otherwise my forward planning will have failed!
 

GIFTS FOR MEN: Ted Baker Mens Mini Hanging Christmas Gift Set

I have some more inspiration for those hard to buy for men today because let's be honest, any inspiration is always welcomed when it comes to buying gifts for men! This time we're talking scents again but mini versions, perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree or as stocking fillers. The Ted Baker Men's Mini Hanging Christmas Set (£22 from Debenhams) is a set of four different mini fragrances, which are individually boxed in the most stylish of packaging. Due to the fact that each fragrance is beautifully packaged you can easily separate the four fragrances and give them to four different people - ideal stocking fillers!

A bit more about the four fragrances:

'XO: Fresh, Green and Woody

Designed for men who have a passion for the finer things in life. Fresh green top notes lead to a heart of aromatic woods, red berries and ginger roots, mixed with base notes of pink pepper and warm, sensual spices.'

'Skinwear: Enticingly Aromatic

Fresh, zingy extracts of Lime, Bergamot and Lemon are blended with notes of Rosemary, Cypress and Juniper with an enticing base of Sandalwood, Amber and Musk.'

'X2O: Spicy and Intense

Top notes of Tangerine, Tea and Cardamom with Lavender, Rosemary Spices and Violet Leaves and a base of Black Pepper, Sandalwood and Amber.'

'M: Understated Sophistication

Top notes of Tonka Bean, Musk and Vetiver are combined with Coriander, Amber and a rich, woody base.'

How's your Christmas shopping going?

(Mine is slow progress but it's more mustering the energy to go, rather than anything else).

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

WEDDING: Recent Wedding Purchases

Over the Christmas period we met up with a lot of people we hadn't seen since we got engaged, back in May 2013. Every single person we met congratulated us and asked how our wedding planning was going - at this point my panic levels started rising! Since the summer we hadn't really done anything towards our wedding, other than make the invitations and have a meeting with a potential catering company. We'd both been so busy starting new jobs, moving house and the run up to Christmas! These conversations did us good though, it's got us back on the wedding planning track. So since Christmas we have delivered the notice of marriage to the correct registrars office, discussed catering with another place, paid the deposit for the place we're getting married at and had a look through the items we've already bought. I really need to get my wedding dress but I've just started to really try and eat healthier, so I don't want to get a dress now and it be too big by my wedding (probably wishful thinking but hey ho!).

We've actually managed to pick up some brilliant bargains for our wedding, so I thought I'd share a few with you...

^ We bought this Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 camera at The Wedding Show, they had a show offer and I can't remember the exact price but it was around £65. We also bought 90 shots (the paper the photo prints on), which were also on offer. It's not a cheap option for a general camera but we're going to us it as our 'photo booth' and it's a lot cheaper than hiring one. We chose it in a pale blue colour, which will go well with the pastel colours at our wedding. I've reviewed it in more detail here. ^

^ A while ago Paper Themes (I reviewed a couple of their fantastic products here) had an offer on their website - if you filled in a questionnaire you received a £20 voucher with no minimum spend, how amazing?! These cute little paper flowers were £3.99 a pack, there are 3 packs in this picture. Unfortunately they aren't available on the website anymore but you can get them for the same price from Debenhams Wedding Stationary here. ^

^ I also bought these from Paper Themes, they're £8.49 for a pack of 5. We are planning on using them to label the sweet area we might have or little signs for something. We aren't going to use them as place cards but they're so versatile, the options are endless! ^

^ These Tea Light Lantern Bag's were a bargain at 2 packs for £1, from Poundland. They have a pretty star and moon pattern on the bag, which you can see when you put a tea light inside. We will probably put fake tea lights in, just to reduce the fire risk. ^

^ We bought 5 of these hearts at The Festive Gift Fair at the NEC on the run up to Christmas. They were £1 each, we might hang them on the end of each aisle but not quite decided yet. ^

^ As I've mentioned, we're doing our own photo booth, this 'Photo Booth Dress Up Kit' is from Tesco and was reduced to 75p! We just need to get some wigs and an old dressing table we can revamp for all these props to go on! ^

Have you seen any good wedding bargains around recently?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Extra 10% off the Debenhams Blue Cross Sale! ENDS TODAY!

Debenhams currently have their BIGGEST Blue Cross Sale, which ends TODAY (Sunday 7th July 2013)! Some of their items have up to 70% off and I've found an extra 10% off code, which can be used on Blue Cross Sale items!!

 

Enter XH64 at the checkout to receive this brilliant EXTRA discount :)

 

My favourite picks from the sale...

 

£22.50 (+extra 10% off)

 

£18.00 (+ extra 10% off)

 

£4.00 (+ extra 10% off)

 

 

£25.60 (+ extra 10% off)

 

 

£20.00 (+ extra 10% off)

 

£28.00 (+ extra 10% off)

 

Have you taken advantage of the Debenhams Sale?