Category / Review

by jo

Film Night

We decided to start having a family film night at home – we’ve Virgin TV so have a few movies on demand, as well as H’s collection. Last night was our proper first one – and to make the night easy for all of us, we ordered in our food from Domino’s.

Toy Story 2 was the film of choice for H, while we chose a pizza each, plus starter and a small dessert. Being vegetarian and a Weight Watchers Blogger Ambassador I managed to keep my points low (and eat half a pizza and be full) – I switched my cheese to a lower calorie version, so while I’ll still have used a lot of points it could have been worse!

Film Night Pizza from Domino's

H only likes cheese and tomato pizza although will try bits of ours – and Shaun picked the new Chimichurri pizza – Chicken breast strips, red and yellow peppers with a drizzle of Chimichurri sauce (parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano and white or red wine vinegar). He found it interesting (trying to work out what the flavours were) although wasn’t that keen on the taste of the sauce. The pizza itself wasn’t overloaded with topping, just the right amount of everything. I’ve since read that a member of the public won a competition on This Morning to devise a pizza – The People’s Pizza – and this is it.

Domino's Chimichurri Pizza

Thanks to my newly found wine knowledge we even picked a wine which went with the food which was pretty good (apart from when Shaun knocked his glass on the floor), and of course Toy Story 2 was great, even though H still asked what was happening all the way through.

One thing I really like about ordering with Domino’s is being able to choose your time of delivery – we opted for 6pm, so H was in her pyjamas and ready – and we were tracking the order online from being cooked to being out for delivery (she found it really exciting) – in fact our driver only turned up late because he was confused where we are (we’re on a main road, but off the main road) – otherwise it would have been with us by 6pm – though that wasn’t a problem as our pizzas were still nice and warm.

Domino's Pizza Countdown

Now we’ve started our Family Film Night, can you recommend us any films we need to be watching please? I’m thinking Finding Nemo is the next one!

We were reimbursed for our pizza for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.

by jo

Review – The Sapphires on DVD

Sapphires DVD Cover

We were sent a copy of The Sapphires to review – and is based on a true story, though the film is based on the stage play. Think along the lines of something like The Commitments but without as much humour, heartwarming and plenty of soul.

Oh, and it features Chris O’Dowd from the IT Crowd (who even sings – if that is his voice and not someone else dubbed in then he’s got a good one).

So, the film. Firstly, I enjoyed it – I like a bit of that ‘feelgood’ feeling and this came along at the right time. Shaun wasn’t so keen after a while, but I put that down to him being a bit grumpy that night.

The Sapphires

It’s 1968 and three sisters have a singing group, enter a local talent competition and despite being the standout talent, don’t win due to being Aboriginal. Dave Lovelace (O’Dowd) is rightfully angry and ends up becoming their manager encouraging the girls to find soul, and finally their cousin comes on board. They then set out on a tour of Vietnam to sing for the troops.

Obviously, being in Vietnam back when the war is on isn’t the safest, and we see parts of their journey, highs and lows and plenty of courage and commitment, and especially their friendship and family.

The Sapphires

If you like your films to have that kind of slushy feelgood feeling, this will be right up your street.  It’s available to rent and own on DVD from the 4th March 2013 and if you’re stuck for a film then I reckon this would make a fab Mother’s Day present!

We were sent a copy of the DVD to review, all opinions are our own

by jo

Review – The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club by Helen McGinn

Knackered? Yep.

Mother? Oh yes.

Wine Club? Crazy. But yes please.

The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club has just been released – and after getting around two thirds of the way around this book, I now realise at the grand old age of almost 43 that I need some proper knowledge about wine in my life. No more will I go to our local M&S and get some of their awful cheap rosé or red and endure it, wondering if I’m pregnant as it tastes so bad and it surely can’t be that bad? (it really was)

The Knackered Mother's Wine Club by Helen McGinn

I now know I need some wines for my wine cupboard too. Yes, cupboard. We have space – it currently holds some random spirit bottles, plus the unopened bottle of Triple Sec I bought in Duty Free once. Actually, I bought it without having a clue what to do with it – and I think that’s the problem with me and alcohol. I mean, I don’t have a problem – I’ll have a glass once or twice a week, maybe a half a guinness in the pub on a knitting night, but never that much – and what I need is education. I have bits here and there, bottles that kind of go together but not quite – I need someone to help me have some order and organisation in my life without making me feel like a bigger fool.

This book has it in droves. I’ve been sitting reading it on the train and just yesterday another mum looked over the top of my book “is it any good, this book?” she said. Whether she’s seen a copy in stores or whether it’s just the really catchy cover which drew her in I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound like it’s just me that needs some help and direction.

See, what I’m learning right now is that you don’t just buy the cheap and cheerful stuff. Think ahead – a bit like doing meal planning, work out which wines go with your food or evening snacks. Pay a bit more and have nice wine rather than pay less and have more (nasty) wine.

There’s also recommendations for which types of wine go with food – Helen McGinn, the writer was once a wine taster for Tesco so she knows her stuff. She also has her Knackered Mother’s Wine Club blog where she’ll share good deals and good wines (seriously, are you still here? She is the Superwoman of all things Wine – she’s done the hard work for us).

The best thing? The book is written in a way which is easy to understand – I now just have to work on the knackered side of me to retain the information, but I’m getting there – right now post-it’s are helping. You could too. The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club is out now and at a damn good price via Amazon.

by jo

We Love Books and We Love Our Library

It’s possibly a good thing for my bank balance that we didn’t join our library until recently, as last time I came away with new books for H I ended up wanting to buy copies for us so we could keep them forever. Sighhh.

Today we took the first lot of books back and took out some more, and seeing as it’s something we’ll be doing a lot more, here’s my new little idea – We Love Our Library – where I’ll do a briefer than usual writeup on each book and recommend (or not!). Obviously this isn’t something we can do single-handedly which is where you come in – as most people still have a library nearby (I hope… who knows these days) – so let’s share what we’ve found.

Here’s today’s stash…

Love Our Library Books

The Monster Bed by Jeanne Willis and Susan Varley – published by Andersen Press. This is a Dennis The Monster book, and I’m hoping there’ll be more from this monster – H has an irrational fear of them, so this was perfect for reinforcing how much monsters are scared of humans – in short, Dennis the Monster decides to sleep under his bed as that’s where the humans go to scare him, a human finds his cave and has a lie down on the bed but decides to check underneath the bed for monsters… and well, you can guess the conclusion. H enjoyed it, it’s a book that rhymes and is fun – one we’ll read plenty of times.

Not Last Night But The Night Before by Colin McNaughton and Emma Chichester Clark – published by Walker books. It’s the familiar rhyme, but this time the little boy’s friends (who happen to feature in most nursery rhymes too) are all paying a visit – until the point it all becomes a bit too much! It’s fun and involves plenty of repetition which is always good for younger kids. Lovely illustrations too as you’d expect from Emma Chichester Clark (which is the reason I picked it up).

Finally, Ginger Finds A Home by Charlotte Voake published by Walker Books. I liked the really lovely illustrations – ginger is a cat, a stray, and is skinny and hungry. He finds a bowl of cat food and eventually a girl turns up with the bowl and adopts him, naming him Ginger. The story has not too much going on and I liked the illustrations best of all – let the story and the pictures keep everything really simple. I wouldn’t recommend this book if you’ve lost a cat (it might be upsetting with a small child thinking someone else has their cat?) – but it has a happy ending.

We Love Books at Mum Friendly

 

by jo

Review – Running Shoes

I am definitely not a runner. I say this, as this backs up the fact I’m no authority on running shoes – however, I do run daily. Almost every day I’m in a mad dash for the train – and if it’s at home that’s two lots of stairs to get up and down in less than a minute, if I’m at work it’s a run from the bus through Clapham Junction and onto Platform 15.

So the opportunity arose to choose some running shoes to review. So I had a good look at my lifestyle. I do a huge amount of walking – definitely more than running, I love going to National Trust places and I have been known to run occasionally there. Banstead Woods is another place I like to walk around though I fear running in there (it’s hilly and I’m the kind of person who trips over easily) – however, looking at the choice at Sports Shoes.com I went for some which were made for running as well as walking – a good grip but good support too – the description sounded like me!

shoes from Sports Shoes

The shoes arrived quickly and I put them to the test the following day – as ever we were late getting me to the station in the morning, but for the first time ever I didn’t get a shin splint when running for the train – my old trainers were getting past it, but already I can see the importance of paying a good price for some good shoes – especially ones you intend to run in. I’ve found myself running a lot more when I wear them as they’re so comfortable – and when you’re not in pain doing it this is quite important.

Oh, and when you’re forever rushing around like I am, a good pair of running shoes is definitely something worth considering. I found the price reasonable and I’ve already had a lot of use from them.

Another thing I liked on the Sportsshoes.com site was having an explanation about the kind of shoe – I don’t have a clue, but armed with the information there I definitely know I picked the right pair. I feel like once the nights get lighter maybe I’ll give Couch to 5K a go… if Shaun can do it then I can!

 Also, the shoes on offer have some great reductions, so it’s definitely worth checking them out!

I was sent a pair of shoes for the purpose of review, all opinions are my own.

by jo

Review and Giveaway – iPic – magnetic photo frames

As a parent I take a lot of photos. H is pulling a particularly cute face? Obviously I’ve got to take a pic. She’s just smeared chocolate all over herself unintentionally? Hilarious! I must take a photo… and more often than not they’re made into photo books in time, though every now and then I have one of those rare moments when the photo taken is actually really quite good.

I’m a huge fan of putting nice photos on display – we’ve some lovely photos of holidays, scenery and so on, and of course there’s the family photos. The opportunity came to try out iPic and I knew which photo I wanted to use – a gorgeous one of Shaun and H taken in the cafe next to Conwy Castle back in August last year. They were just chatting and it was one of those photos that ‘happened’ – not posed and neither of them are aware they’ve had their photo taken – it’s easily my favourite one from last year. So it was a no-brainer – this photo was the one!

ipicfront

iPic is easy to use too – choose your frame (you can create your own too), upload your photo, drag it to position it (Shaun wanted a person blurred out in the background removing so we zoomed the photo) and that’s it! You’ve also an option to personalise your it. It’s A5 sized, and fits a 6″ x 4″ photo.

ipicback

I like that the photo is mounted onto glass so it’s nice and sturdy. The frame is plastic and feels quite tough, and before you write it off and think that may be cheap, the frame also has some strong magnets at the back – so you can put the frame on your fridge should you choose (so let’s face it, if the frame was pricey there’s every chance it might break if it was pulled off the fridge) – there’s also a stand included; a pole type thing which inserts into the back of the frame – which I completely missed, but it’s part of the packaging the frame comes in and it does the trick.

our iPic creation

Actually, what impressed me most of all was the fact I placed an order on Friday night, and by Monday lunchtime the package was with me – now that is what I call good service.

You can find iPic on Facebook, Twitter, http://www.ipic-uk.com

I have a code to give away – so you can give iPic a go too – simply fill out the Rafflecopter entry form and keep your fingers crossed! The giveaway finishes on the 11th March 2013. A promo code will be supplied for you to make your own creation.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We were provided with a code to make our creation, all opinions are honest and our own

by jo

Blurb Photobook Review – Part One

I was given an opportunity to make a Blurb photobook. This appealed as I know Blurb are used by a lot of people who want to self-publish their books, so I know you can order the books worldwide – which is something that appeals having family in Australia and in York. I love photobooks too, they’re taking the best photos of a time and putting them somewhere to make a lasting memory – somewhere that isn’t just a photo album.

Choosing the photos took a ridiculously long time – but I got there in the end, and saved them all into a new album in iPhoto to use with the Blurb Booksmart app on my MacBook Pro.

The app was easy to download, but getting it to look at the album became tricky – in the end I gave up and dragged the album onto the desktop which worked immediately. Then it was just a case of dragging the correct photo onto the page – where I was immediately told if it was too small to print. Each page has guidelines so you know where it’s going to print to  (so you can avoid key bits getting cropped), as well as allowing you to drag or zoom the picture to where you want it to be.

Adding pages was easy too, and in the end I made a 50 page booklet with one photo on each page, which I’m really happy with.

Blurb Photobook

I opted for a soft cover with one of my favourite photos of H in a Standard Landscape 25×20 cm  with 126 pages Standard Paper; and already I can see a mistake I’ve made – I cut H off a picture!

I’ve set this up with a preview of the first 15 pages, but it gives you an idea of what you can do with Blurb. I’ve edited it, though I suspect it’ll be too late for my order.

Anyway, I’m now waiting for my order… the process making it was straightforward and made sense – the longest part was me choosing which photos to use!

I was provided with a discount code to place an order, all opinions are honest. 

by jo

Hello Baby – A Review

hello-baby

We had an opportunity to review something from Hello Baby – and chose a swimsuit for H. She’s been having swimming lessons since she was nine months and the obvious choice was the Zoggs Swim Free swimsuit as it’s a full body suit and is nice and warm too, handy when you have lessons and it’s cold, especially at this time of year. However, as we’re finding now, H being three and a half and tall means she doesn’t often fit into things which are suitable for three-year olds (they had a 2-3 suit left in stock) and we’re slowly outgrowing stores which supply things for babies and toddlers – so the suit was too small for us to properly try out.

Fortunately it wasn’t a problem – we were able to pass on the suit to another girl in our old swimming classes who is using the suit now and thinks it’s fab (and is nice and warm) – and anyone who uses swimming pools will know the Zoggs brand are a good brand!

As far as price goes, £14.99 is a good price and delivery was quick. They offer free shipping on orders over £50 and have a great selection of brands and ranges. I’d recommend taking a look if you’re looking for things for your baby or toddler as I liked their choice.

You can find Hello Baby on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter

 

by jo

Personalised Wine

Okay, so my husband is possibly the worst person in the world (apart from me*) for shouting about achievements. For the past (gulp) five years he has been studying for his ACCA exams, and a week ago we found out he passed his final exam. There’s just a few bits of paperwork left and then he’ll be fully qualified!

Five years are a long time – and I had no idea what to get him other than it had to be something which he’d like and something which wouldn’t take up space (as he’s forever telling me we have too much stuff). Then the chance to have a bottle of personalised wine came along and obviously I jumped at the chance, and with him being Australian I chose a shiraz.

I was impressed with how quick it was turned around – I put in the request on the Sunday, and it had arrived on the Tuesday, using a courier with an approximate time when it would be delivered (which was correct) – I’m finding I’m so busy these days so having a facility which gives an idea of when it will arrive is VERY useful.

So here it is!

personalised wine

Obviously, the wine needed to be tasted, and that we did. I have to say, my initial taste I wasn’t impressed, but once it had a chance to air in the room a bit it was pretty good – so if you opt for the shiraz open the bottle a good 10 minutes before you intend to drink it!

The shiraz isn’t currently on the site so I can’t say how much it cost, however, I’d say if you were looking for a personalised gift then definitely head over to Gifts Online 4U as they’ve a huge selection of things available.

Follow GiftsOnline4U here –
Twitter
Facebook
Google+

We were sent the bottle of wine for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own

* nobody believes me when I tell them this.

by jo

We Love Books – The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

runaway bunny

This book was first published in 1942 and is a classic picture book. HarperCollins have made it available as part of their Essential Picture Book Classics.

In a lot of ways, this reminds me of ‘Guess How Much I Love You’ – which of course came many years later – but the themes are similar and are full of love (and rabbits).

The Runaway Bunny thinks about running away, but his mother has other ideas – but in a positive way. Bunny will be a boat, mother will be the wind that blows him home, for example.

H loved looking at the illustrations and enjoyed reading it – and it has a good loving message too.

 runaway bunny

Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (and pictures by Clement Hurd) is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in paperback and eBook formats.

We were sent a copy to review, all opinions are our own.