All posts filed under: Reviews

Luxurious Christmas presents with a difference

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I told you the other day, this is going to be one interesting month here, on the blog, as I have so many gorgeous products to tell you about! We all have at least one special person in our lives for whom buying the right Christmas present always proves a challenge. Not necessarily because they are fussy with what they like and prefer but because we love them so much, we want to present them with that unique, special gift that conveys our message of love and appreciation to them! So I thought of putting together a few ideas of Christmas presents that would communicate a message of lavish love to those special people in our lives: 1. Handmade, locally produced gorgeousness Etsy is the perfect place to start looking for one of a kind, personalised presents that are guaranteed to enchant. Mel, a lovely friend I met through the wonderful world of blogging, and with whom I forged a strong friendship that comes from love of books and shared experiences and worldviews, has launched …

Christmas Gift Guide: Best Children’s Magazines

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I was planning to hold on with my Christmas gift posts until the first of November but I have so many beautiful things we have been reviewing lately and am itching to tell you about and so many lovely gift ideas have been suggested to us that I am caving in! I am starting this year’s gift idea blog series with a less obvious Christmas present idea for a child, as I am sure there will be plenty of toy gift guides out there to pick and choose from! One of the things I will be getting Emma this year is a magazine subscription, as this is the sort of present I know she would really appreciate and it is something that will keep on giving long after the festive wrapping paper has been scrunched up and recycled and the mince pies been eaten! Emma is an inquisitive (very nearly!) six year old who LOVES facts and I think she would love getting the ECO Kids (the magazine I have in mind for her) in …

Clarks Children’s Winter Boots-A Review

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Autumn, as sweet and bright as this one has been so far, has taken reign over the land well and truly and we have all started to feel the need for cozy knits and warm boots, especially early in the morning and in the evening, as soon as the sun goes down. If your children, just like my Emma, are in the annoying habit of growing out of their last year’s everythings, then you would soon (if you haven’t already) be looking for sturdy, reliable, reasonably priced and comfortable boots for them to wear. Clarks were kind to approach us and offer Emma the choice of a pair of magnificently looking leather boots from their new autumn-winter collection. We had a good look on the website (Emma has big feet and some of her choices simply weren’t available in her size) and settled on the Epsie Skye boots, which arrived promptly, within a few days of placing the order. I had thought myself clever and did order a 12 1/2 F for her, since at …

An Extraordinary Saturday Out with McDonald’s!

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Last Saturday, we were the honoured guests of a very well organised and intimate blogger event organised by McDonald’s UK, as part of their current Happy Readers campaign. McDonald’s Happy Readers campaign was created to put more books into the hands of families, with recent research from the National Literacy Trust showing that only half of children enjoy reading and almost one in seven don’t have a book of their own. Since the campaign launched, McDonald’s has fast become one of the UK’s biggest book distributors and have given away over 32.8m million books via their Happy Meals and online. Young at Art, Northern Ireland’s leading arts provider for children and young people, were invited along for an “extraordinary” story telling session and they did marvelously in bringing to life excerpts from Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” to the utter delight of their young audience! The choice of Matilda for the story telling session was not coincidental, as in a new inter-generational UK survey by McDonald’s, the book, first published in the UK in 1988, was revealed …

Easy Weeknight Meals with Old El Paso

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Which family does not strive to make the most of their time together while, at the same time, aiming not to compromise on health or great taste? We live fast-paced lives, to the tempo of school bells, train schedules, after school activities and tight deadlines and more often than not, family meal times become also rushed and an end of line rather than a nourishing time, both for body and soul. We were invited to make the most of our weeknights by Old El Paso and put their new Smoky BBQ soft taco kits to the test. As luck has it, the day the package arrived, I had planned on this slow cooker quinoa and  turkey mince recipe so using my soft tacos seemed like the logical thing to do! I found the tangy combination so tasty and versatile that every time I had a chance, I reached for my Old El Paso. And it never stopped at tacos, I did put the sauces to good use with a burger, as you can see below …