I Have Done It

I can't believe I have done it, I have blogged every single day in August. I find that a little bit crazy really. But I have to say I don't think I'll be doing that again. Towards the end I was finding it really hard to think what to write about so some of the blog posts at the end may have been a little bit weird.

I feel like my blog may need to take a different direction just a little a bit and be a bit more creative.  I would like to get at least two weeks ahead on my blogs and have a few for when I really can't think of anything (does anyone do that?).

I think I have said before that I would like to do some more fashion type blogs and some home style blogs. So once Little Miss P is back at school I want to start working on my Christmas blogs and January 2017 blogs... I think that would give me a great to start to the year. 

I also want to do this with my YouTube. I haven't done anything for the past month with YouTube, I just wanted to spend time with Little Miss P and work out where I would like YouTube to go. I have been watching a few channels to see what I like watching myself and what I would like to watch myself. I have written a little list about what sort of things I would like to do, but that will be in a different blog post.

I will be holding a giveaway soon once I have worked out how to do it, lol. Hoping to do that at the end of September.

Love

Mrs P

Things I have been loving - August

August is a great time of year for me as it's mine and Little Miss P's birthdays so I have quite a few favourites this month. Well more than four anyway.

1) First up is my new baby, my pink sewing machine - I haven't been playing with it as much as I would like but once Little Miss P is back at school I will be on it most days.

2) Pop Tarts - I got loads of Pop Tarts for my birthday, I mainly got chocolate but also got cookie and cream ones. They are all lovely and I only get Pop Tarts as a special treat as if I eat lots of them I will probably get to the size of a house. 

3) Playdoh - I know this is a bit of a weird one but Little Miss P got some for her birthday and I have been playing it with her and I find it a lot fun, I find it quite therapeutic. I kind of just go into another world. We made a funfair scene and other ones too.

4) My Disney Primark Pumps - They are a lovely grey and  have Mickey Mouse heads all over them and they are so cute and really comfortable. I have worn them most of August as they go with most of my outfits. And I love Disney things.

5) Note Pads - I love writing things down as it keeps me on track with what I need to do on a day-to-day basis. It just helps me keep track on life and the things that I am working towards.

So there you go, my five things that I am loving at the moment.

Love
Mrs P

Reasons to be Cheerful #4

1) I am going to be an Auntie again, woohoo my stepsister is pregnant with baby number three due on the 8th March

2) I am spending some lovely quality sister time at my sister's house with Little Miss P and my sister's two boys... and so far they are being really good

3) We are going on a few small UK adventures still to come this year, one of them we are off to Center Parcs and the other one we will be off to Kessingland

4) We paid off some extra mortgage for the house, it feels so nice to do that once in a while

Love
Mrs P

4 More Days

I only have four more days then I have done what I set out to do. I am finding it hard though as I don't really know what to write and I still don't as I sit here at 10.10pm. I am hoping that something comes to me, but I am guessing not, so will just say what's happened today.

This morning was just a chilled out morning at home. Mr P had a gig to go to at 11am and that was really about it until 12.30 when my sister picked me up with her boys and off we went to Owl's House. The kids all had a play while us mums had a cup of tea, well I had juice as it was very hot in that place. We didn't leave there until 4.30pm so all the of the kids were really tired. 

But Little Miss P and I only had half an hour at home until we went back out to a BBQ to one of the ladies' that I work with. Little Miss P had lots of fun with all the kids and even sang a few songs. I nearly had a whole bottle of wine to myself so I am not sure how much of this will make sense, lol. I had a lovely time.

I better get to bed now as I feel like I need my sleep now. Goodnight :-)

Love

Mrs P

Chores for my Daughter

I remember when I was younger I had chores to do with my two other sisters and brother. It may have been only helping with the washing up and putting my clothes away. But I had to do them to get any treats.

I was talking to a few mum friends of mine and asked them if they have any chores for their children. All of them said no. I was a little taken back by this as for one they are 8 now and two I do for Little Miss P.  I was thinking am I asking her to do too much or am I just getting her ready for life.

So I thought I would put down what her chores are and just see.

1) She can put a load of washing on so that means putting the clothes in then putting the tablets and fabric softener in and turn it on.

2) She puts her own clothes away. Once I have folded them up or put them on a hanger she has to get them and put them away or I put them on her bed and off she goes.

3) The last thing is that she helps me take the recycling out to the recycling bins.

It's not a bad start, I think it's good and it is getting her ready for life.

Love

Mrs P

Sunday Dinner

I am a part of a group called Tesco Orchard where I get vouchers in the post to review items and to try them out, leaving comments about them. I don't have to do any blog posts for them and I don't normally do it, but I thought I would as the other half made a lovely meal with it. Well he did with the Gammon.

He made us a lovely roast dinner by cooking the the gammon in coke for a few hours and it makes it really nice & sticky on the outside and a nice texture inside. We had it with parsnip, broccoli & aubergine and it was so lovely.

We all sat at the dinner time on a lovely Sunday afternoon with the doors open and the sun shining. We don't normally get to do that so it was lovely to have some family time on a lovely day.

Love

Mrs P

Bathroom Cabinet - Summer 2016

I don't normally do these types of blog post, but as I'm doing one everyday in August I need to step a little out of my comfort zone. I thought I'd show you a few things in my bathroom cabinet that I use everyday or at least once a week. I am not a big make up person so there will be no make up in this, but a few skincare products.

First up are these two products that I got to review and I absolutely love them and will be buying again.

It's Garnier Skin Active Night Time Moisture Bomb & Garnier Skin Active Day Moisture Bomb. 

The night time one is a lovely and thick super-recharging antioxidants gel cream. It just makes my face feel like it's cooling down and working with my skin. I wake up in the morning and it feels so soft. The day time one is less thick, it's still nice and also has SPF 10 on it for when you're out and about.

The next two are Simple products, kind to skin moisturising facial wash. I have used this about twice and am still loving it. It has vitamins B5 and vitamin E in. I am thinking of changing this one soon, and trying something a little different. Maybe from the Yes To range. The next Simple is smoothing facial scrub, this is nice to the skin and works and is also cheap.

The last thing is this Avon Planet spa peel off face mask. I have only used this twice and both times it's been OK, it's not the best I have had as when you peel it off it peels off in small bits not one big bit and that kind of annoys me a bit. But it seems fine on my skin and it's a good price too. Will I buy it again, probably not but I will use it as I hate wasting things.

I hope you like the little look in my bathroom cabinet.

Love

Mrs P

Here is little Miss P Crisps challenge 

Cute fabric

As I have said before I got a gorgeous little sewing machine for my birthday this year. I haven't done any sewing since I was about 16 so I have been looking around to buy some cheap fabric and I have sound some cute ones. 

I have found two cute ones. First up is Dumbo, I loved this film when I was younger and it made me a lover of elephants. While this film is great it is very sad at the same time but if it wasn't it wouldn't be a Disney film would it. I love how Dumbo had really big ears, way too big for his body. And when I saw this Dumbo fabric I had to buy it and it was so cheap... really cheap. I found it on eBay and when I got it I was so happy with it.

The other fabric is this Chip and Mrs Pots design from Beauty and the Beast. Chip has to be one of my favourite characters from this film, he is the cute one in the film and I will always remember when he said 'Mama do I still have to sleep in the cupboard' after he turns into a real boy, I love that bit of the film. Also it's being released as a live action film next year so it's at the front of every Disney mad person's mind at the moment. I saw this bit of fabric and I just had to get it. Chip looks adorable in it and the colour of the fabric shouts of Belle's dress, the lovely yellow.

I think I will make hair scrunchies from the fabric as that's what I know how to make at the moment. I will have to show you a picture once I am done making them, it will be once Little Miss P is back at school though.

Love

Mrs P

Without Little Miss P

If you read the blog post before this you will know that Little Miss P spent the night at my mum's house and she is spending all day with her on Saturday. It's been the first day in ages that Mr P and I would have had a whole day without Little Miss P.

We woke up at about 8am then spent most of, if not all the morning in bed. Mr P was on the laptop doing banking things and looking for new Home Insurance. I was just browsing the internet checking my eBay as I have a few things for sale at the moment, and also putting a few things for sale on there too.

That day we got asked if we wanted to pop along to my friend's BBQ, she only lives in Collier Row so it's only about a 15 min journey from my house by car. We popped along for about three hours until we had to go and get Little Miss P from my mum's house. It was nice chilling out and just talking to people without worrying if Little Miss P was bored or what she was up to. I did feel a little bit lost without her next to me though, I have to admit.

It would be nice to spend some more time with just the hubby though, as it was nice just being us again and not mummy and daddy for a bit.

Love

Mrs P

Date Night

The other night Little Miss P stayed at my mum's house (her nanny's house) so they can spend some nice time together with just the two of them, as when she's normally there there is always one of the other grandkids. But this time it was just those two.

So that night Mr P suggested that we should go for a nice meal out, just the two of us. It's been a while since we have done that. So he picked the Miller & Carter in Epping. I love Miller & Carter, it's always lovely food and has a lovely atmosphere. I had a half rack of ribs with chips and ordered a side of onion loaf as I love it from there, thinking that they would only bring one onion loaf... Over they brought three of them! It seems that is what you get when you order a side, of course I couldn't eat all of them, just way too many for me.

We did manage to share a little dessert between us, just a vanilla ice cream with a cookie in it and it was actually lovely ice cream. Also ordered myself a little hot chocolate at the end. It was nice food but did take over 2 hours from start to finish. But it was a lovely few hours, just the hubby and I.

As I got in the car I had to undo the top button of my jeans as I was feeling very fat after eating all of that food. We got home and both just sat down watching a film together.

Can't wait for next date night.

Love

Mrs P

I Always Wanted

I have always wanted to do certain things in my life. This little Blog was one of them and I have wanted to do it so I did and I have stuck with it for over five years. It's a little hobby really, I don't make money from it, it's all just a bit of fun and giving myself something else to do other than being a mum.

But saying that this is the only thing I have stuck with. I have wanted to do lots of things like own my own play area but that will cost way too much money so it's too much of a risk. I wanted to have my own little shop but again it costs too much money to set up. I haven't been saving to do any of these I have just given up. I did do Avon but they kept ringing and when they got things on my order wrong I would have to keep ringing them and tell about five different people about it. It just took the piss in the end.

But I have now turned 30 and am thinking about where I am heading really, it's not a midlife crisis, well I don't think it is. Little Miss P is now older and I have a little job as a midday play leader at my daughter's school so that's a little bit of extra money coming in (about an extra £250 a month). So maybe it's about time I can try and set up something small like my own little online shop and work my way up and not quits. I think I can't do this as I don't have a brain to do this, but I need to just keep going until I make it.

So once Little miss P is back at school I will start working on it. But I will only start with selling a few things on ebay that I don't use anymore to try a get a bit of money for them.

Maybe I will do a monthly little blog on how it's going.

Love

Mrs P

Old Shows

 I was watching one of my old favourite shows the other day and that got me thinking about all the old shows that I missed when I was teenage, or just shows that's aren't around anymore.

The first show is The O.C. I loved this show and would make sure that I watched it every week when it was on. Maybe it was the beautiful people and seeing what living in the Orange County was like as it looked great and they lived near the beach and all had pools in their gardens. The first few Series were better than the last ones. My favourite character was Summer Roberts and I like her personality in it.

Gossip Girls, it was similar to The O.C. but this time full of beautiful people in New York City. Based on four main characters and one of them writes a blog, but it's not the person who you think it is. They talk about all the people she goes to school with, they party lots, take drugs and drink.

Now for two British TV ones my first one is Hustle. We have the DVD box set and have been watching some off these recently. It's based on a con group that play the long con on people that are greedy. It's not a serious show it's actually funny where they sometimes talk right to the camera and explain the con to you a bit more.

Next up is Hotel Baylon, I love the old cast of this and it is based on the real hotel. Someone who worked at the hotel put it in a book then it got put into a show. Some of the things that made me laugh was them hunting for a gem, one of them getting shot (OK that one was not funny but it was a good one) and the night shift one was just great.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and go and check out these shows.

Love
Mrs P

Things I have been Buying

I have bought myself a few things so I thought I would show you what I got. It's only a few small things.

I really wanted a light box, I don't know why as I don't really need one but they are lovely. Then I saw this mini one that is so cute and it was only £8. You get all the letters with it and even some smiley faces and balloons that are a little cute.

Lush is a great shop that I love, I would love to buy more from them but I don't use the products enough. It's nice for all of 10 mins while you're in the bath but that's about it. Little Miss P likes this shop too and she picked herself  up a small Rainbow Fun and I picked myself up a pink flamingo bubble bar... I can't wait to use it.

I have not got anything else recently. Well I don't think I have anyway.

Love
Mrs P

Etsy Review - Loulabellescrafts1

One of my friends is due to have her baby in about two weeks' time she doesn't know the sex of it as she didn't want to. So I wanted to pick her up something that I really like the look of and that was gender neutral, so it could be worn by a boy or a girl.

So I went to Etsy and typed in baby bandannas and a load came up. I saw this cute Dumbo print so clicked on it and then had a look at all the other things that louabellescrafts had for sale. Then I saw the same Dumbo print with two other bibs, a lovely grey one that I really liked as well. I had a look at the reviews she had and I bought it straightaway.

I thought it might take about 2 weeks to come as it's handmade but to my surprise it only took five days to come in the post.

The quality of the bandanna is fantastic, it is well sewn and the fabric is lovely, on the back of the bib it is nice and soft. There are no marks on it and it would fit perfectly around a baby. It even has two different poppers at the back so you can choose the size.

 I can't wait to give this to her as it is so cute.

I will leave a link for you here to her Etsy page.

Love

Mrs P

Tea Party

For my 30th my mum wanted to something nice for me so she threw me a nice 

little tea party at her house with just the girls in my family. My nanna came down as well as my auntie and cousin. It also worked as a nice 8th birthday tea party for Little Miss P too.

My mum got some lovely cupcakes made with 30, 8 and Minnie Mouse heads on. They looked absolutely lovely and too good to eat but of course we did (when do I ever turn down cake). My mum got a lovely table cloth and napkins in the style of Cath Kidston as Little Miss P loves the style and as soon as she walked in and saw it her words were 'Oh wow, Cath Kidston'.

We had scones, cream mini sandwiches, lots of different types of cake and lots of tea. I think we could have fed a small army with the amount of food we had. I ate so much I don't think I could have put any more away. But I did get to bring a goodie bag home for Mr P.

I am very thankful to my mummy for doing it for me, so thank you mummy.

Love

Mrs P

Here is a little Video for the Other week Hope you enjoy. 

10 places I would love to visit

There are so many countries in the world that I would love to visit. But here are the top 10 for you...

1) Reykavik (Iceland) 

I really want to go due to the fact that I might be able to see the northern lights, it seems like a lovely country to visit as well even if it is very cold. And I am not good in the cold. I love the idea of the log cabins and open fires with a hot chocolate in the evening and in the daytime having a husky ride and maybe a helicopter ride to look at the glaciers.

2) New York 

I would love to go to New York for the shopping and to experience just walking around all the buildings. Having a horse and cart ride around Central Park would be great. And obviously having to go to the Tiffany building and maybe picking up a cute pair of new earrings.

3) Las Vegas

I'm not a gambling person, the only reason why I would love to visit Las Vegas is to just see if it's really like the movies and see what people say, see all the hotels and go to watch a few shows. This holiday would just be for the pure extravagance of it.

4)Amsterdam

This looks like a beautiful city with its canals. They say you can walk around Amsterdam and always be amazed.

5) Sorrento (Italy)

I would love to go to Italy for ice cream and pizza, but Sorrento has caught my eye being a coastal town. It's perched on top of cliffs so it must have great views from your hotel rooms. And they seem to get nice weather all year round.

6) Hawaii

Hawaii is made up of small islands in the Pacific. It is known for its rugged landscape and waterfalls with gold beaches. I can feel myself going for a week just to chill out and do absolutely nothing other than drink some cocktails sitting in the sun and maybe have a splash in the sea.

7)  Queensland (Australia)

I would love to go to the world's largest coral reef the Great Barrier Reef just for the size of it. I would love to go snorkelling there, I think it would be amazing.

8) Yellowstone (USA)

I think this would be an amazing place to go for walks and see the hot springs in the Verdant forest. It is an unspoiled natural beauty. And maybe see a bear or two.

9) Grand Canyon (USA)

I think everyone knows what the Grand Canyon is by now, how amazing would it be to get a helicopter ride to see the scale of it.

10) Quebec (Canada)

Ok I have been to Quebec for a few hours when we were driving through it. I didn't realise how pretty it was but if I have known I would have stayed there longer. It's an old city with lots of hidden gems that you will need to just go and find.

Love
Mrs P

TV for the Moment

I have done a blog post like this before where I talk about the TV shows I am watching at the moment. I don't have the best TV channels like sky, but I have the standard ones.

1) Containment
This is exploring what happens when a mysterious deadly epidemic breaks out in Atlanta. I like all the main characters in this program especially the characters that are inside the cordon. At the moment they're trying to bring food to cordon but a gang take it all to sell it to people and they have just worked out it might not be what it seems.

2) 2 Broke Girls
I watch this as it's very funny. It's about one posh girl (Caroline) who loses all her money and meets up with poor girl (Max) who has never had money. She moves in with her and they try and survive day by day with lots of rude humour and quick witted comments. They take the piss out of anything.

3) Dragons' Den 

 I love watching this as a family, we all sit and watch this even Little Miss P. If you haven't heard of Dragons' Den before why haven't you, it's a show on BBC2 about five dragons (successful business people) wanting to invest their money in a business, but first you have to pitch your business to them. 

4) Inside the Factory

This is a new show on BBC1 where they take us to look at how our food is made. It may sound boring but it is really interesting. So far I have only seen how to make crisps and half of the baked bean one. It's interesting just to see the process of it all, the machines that they use and how long it takes from start to finish. Who knew that one bag of crisps only takes four hours from the farm to the bag.

Love
Mrs P

Dear So & So

Dear Tesco
I know that I should have checked to see if the leggings I bought my daughter had a tag on, but I thought that when I walked out the shop the door alarm would have gone off. But no, so I didn't find out until I got home and when I went to my local little Tesco they couldn't take it off as they don't sell clothes. Frustrating.

Dear My Face
Why have you decided to come up with a load of teenage spots when you are about to hit the age of 30? Come on! Maybe it's time I book a facial.

Dear the Child that sneezed on me
It was very nice of you to ask me to do up your shoelaces but it would have been great if you hadn't have sneezed in my face. Now I have a full on cold and can't breathe out of my nose and find it hard to sleep at night.

Dear Argos
The trampoline that we got for my and Little Miss P birthdays from the hubby is great but we were missing a lot of parts so it was a bit annoying. But thanks to Charlie we have all the bits now.

Dear Apple charger
I have loved you lots and use you every day. But I am very sad to have to say bye to you as you have now fallen apart on me.

Love 
Mrs P

Here is a little Youtube It be great if you
 could pop over 

My Birthday Gifts

I didn't ask for much for my birthday, I only asked for one thing and that was a sewing machine and I got that, I picked it myself. I'll show you all my other things I've got.

  From my mum and stepdad I mainly got money as they didn't know what to get me, so that was great as I can pick up some clothes for myself, or put it into one of my savings accounts until I know want. Some of the gifts that I got from Mr P and Little Miss P were in a hamper full of chocolate! Mainly all my favourite ones, which are Galaxy and Galaxy Caramel and lots of different hot chocolates. They also picked me up some lovely candles that spell out my name. Little Miss P made me my birthday card which I absolutely love, it was such a thoughtful gift.

My sister got me a new Minnie Mouse watch. This will be perfect to take to work with me as I don't have a watch and I should really wear one. My Nanna already gave me my birthday present when we went to Disney World so we could buy nice things there. Which I did.

My Aunt gave me some Amazon vouchers as that's what I asked for from her as there will always be something from Amazon that I would like. I also got lots of other little bits and bobs and am very thankful for everything that I've got.

Love

Mrs P

My New Baby

I thought this post could all be about my new baby, well my new sewing machine. It's a lovely strong pink from John Lewis. I have used it once since my birthday, but once Little Miss P goes back to school I will be using it a lot.

My aim is to be able to make a skirt with it by the end of the year, I am going to start small at first though and make a hair scrunchy. I have already made one in a royal blue material and have just bought some Tsum Tsum fabric to make another hair scrunchy for Little Miss P.

I haven't used a sewing machine since high school, but I was pretty happy about how quick I picked it up again. The only thing I struggled with was putting the bobbin in and it took me a few tries to get it right. But it looks like I am not the only one as a few reviews have said the same thing. But overall I love my little sewing machine so far. The next thing I really want to try and make is a little apron for Little Miss P. I have done one on a rough bit of fabric and it turned out OK for my first try, now I have to get some nice fabric to make one for when Little Miss P is cooking, then maybe one for me and Mr P as well, and work my way up from there.

Love
Mrs P

Up a Hill

I am not the best walker even though I walk everywhere as I don't drive, and I don't mind going for the odd walk around a nice lake or the forest.

 We ended up going to Devon to see my sister in law and her family and as they live on the western border of Dartmoor we went on the moors. Mr P fancied going for a nice long walk up a very big hill, my first thought was oh my hell, what is he thinking that walk is going to kill me let alone we had Little Miss P with us, how were we going to tackle that. It was over big rocks and over a little stream. But as Mr P wanted to do it I would give it a go so Little Miss P and I started the walk behind Mr P.

It was ok at first even though the top didn't seem like it was getting closer and it was a small incline. But the higher we got the steeper it got and at this point Little Miss P was jumping all over the rocks pretending to be super girl. By now it was very rocky to the point where my foot got stuck between two rocks and I feel flat on my back (Mr P said he thought the ground had swallowed me up). Little Miss P came to help me up at which point I just wanted to go back down and not even think about going on anymore but Little Miss P and Mr P were enjoying it and I didn't want to stop them.

I think I fell over one more time before we got to the top, where Little Miss P and Mr P didn't (I told you I was bad at walking) and by the time I got to the top I was tired. But looking down I was very proud of myself for doing it and enjoyed the view, I think someone said it was 538 metres above sea level.

Now it was time to get going back down. It was a lot easier and altogether it took about 3 hours. I was glad to get back for a cup of tea and put my feet to rest. 

Love

Mrs P

My 30th Birthday

Well I am now 30 years old, oh my I am not sure what to say about that really other than I don't feel  much different really. Other than when people say how does it feel to be 30 and that I have a lot of cards at home saying 30 on them.

Well what did I do for my birthday? Not much really and I didn't really want to, I feel like that Disney was for my birthday and I really want to go again within the next two years as I enjoyed it so much with my little family.

There was one thing I wanted I to do for my birthday and that was to go to Bluewater to get my sewing machine (that says I have reached middle age) but I did get it in pink and it's very cute. Also made a hairband already so go me (I am getting a little bit distracted as I am writing this watching Little Miss P's dance lesson). So in Bluewater we got my little new baby (sewing machine) and we had a lovely meal at Jamie's Italian that I love as the food is always nice. I also got some cheap fabric that I could practice on until the fabric I ordered comes in the post. I also picked up some lovely doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, well a box of 12 but not all for myself.  Afterwards we went to pop into to my mummy's house to see her as she really wanted me to and my nanna was there too so that's always nice to see her.

I loved not doing much just chilling out with my family and having the hubby off for a week to spend nice time with us. Can't wait until his week off in October even though we have a dance competition to go to at the weekend.

Sorry this is a bit of a random blog post, hehe.

Love

Mrs P

Here is a little video about our week

My Five Summer Reads

I said to myself that I am going to do a lot reading over the summer, well to read at least five books was my hope. I don't think I will be doing that, maybe by Christmas I will but by the time Little Miss P goes back to school...  no way! 

I am still going to give you the five books that I picked out to read, most of them are from Charity shops or have been given to me by family members.

So here are my Five Summer Reads

1) Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot 
A former teen pop star Heather Wells has hit rock bottom, tired of singing other people's Lyrics, her dad's in jail and mum's bolted for Buenos Aires and Heather can't seem to stop drowning her sorrows in Kit Kat bars. To top it off her Fiance has replaced her in the charts as well as in her bed.
She has to turn a corner so she finds a job in a New York College and live in her friend's apartment.

2) Caught in the Act by Gemma Fox
It's all about first love, second chance. Carol French is grown up and is about to meet the man of her dreams. Her teenage dreams that is. Because Carol along with the rest of her sixth form gang is going to a school reunion with a difference, it's all talk about how got fat, who got famous etc.

3) Fear of Flying
It's a modern classic that changed the way we thought about sex. Daydreamer Isadora Wing doesn't want much - just to be free and find the perfect guiltless sexual encounter.

4) The Jewel Box by Anna Davis 
Grace Rutherford is one and only diamond sharp, the it girl of 1920s London whose weekly newspaper column delights readers with tales of her nightly escapades, the dinners, the dancing the hairdos and the fashion, the men....

5) The Sister Diaries by Karen Quinn
Although they can't be more different Amanda, Serena and Laura Moon have always been there for one another.  Amanda has a job in the high stakes arena of New York City real Estate but goes home to a cold empty bed. Serena is now an over the top stay at home Mum. Laura spent the last six years caring for their dying mother and now trying to breathe life into her abandoned music career.

Let's hope I will read a few of these.

Love
Mrs P

Here is a video of my Summer Reads

Reasons to be Cheerful #2

1) Mr P
 I would like to say thank you to the hubby for taking Little Miss P to school for me when I had a cold so I could spend more time asleep to get over it, and Little Miss P really liked it too and she got to spend some Daughter and Daddy time.

2) School Report
I got Little Miss P's school report and it is great, I am so proud of her and I hope she is proud of herself for it too. If you fancy reading more about it tap the link.

3) The Weather
I know it's been hot the last few days but it's been nice being able to play in the paddling pool and see Little Miss P have some fun, enjoying a BBQ with the family.

4) Outside Film Afternoon
One Friday afternoon Mr P set up an outdoor movie afternoon for us with a BBQ. We lay on our covers and watched a film and it was lovely.

6) Devon
We had a lovely time in Devon seeing the family and I even walked up a very big hill that took the three of us three hours to do, but the view from the top was amazing.

Love
Mrs P

Homemade Outside Movie Night

The other afternoon Mr P came up with a great little idea and that was have a movie night outside.
I was like, how are we going to do that, we don't have electricity outside. But Mr P had an idea... first he got three chairs out, unplugged the TV and brought the extension lead out, plugged the TV in, brought the sound system out and put the DVD in the laptop.

He also got the BBQ out then it was Little Miss P's job to get the outside bed ready. She got all the covers from our bed and her bed, all the fleeces from our room and all the cushions from the front room. I have to say that she did a great job and made it really comfortable for us to lay on and chill out on.

We watched The Borrowers, an old film that Mr P and I loved when we were younger and it's the perfect age for Little Miss P to watch (she's 8).

The food we had was lovely, so thank you Mr P. All we had was BBQ chicken, sausages and Mr P had a steak. We also had a corn on the cob and dough balls for starters. I love Dough Balls!!

I would love to do this again at some point but let's see how long our summer lasts as it's the UK and we don't have it for very long at all.

Love
Mrs P

The Rest of the Life Story

After Woolworths went into Administration and I had Little Miss P I didn't go back to work, as I thought it would cost more for me to hire a babysitter for her than I could earn from a retail job. I have to say I did feel a little bit lost after having Little Miss P and losing my job, I feel like for a bit of my life I just floated a bit. I am not sure what really happened over the past 5 years other than I was very lucky to see my Daughter grow up into the lovely young lady that she is today.

Let's jump ahead to this year, 2016, where I feel like things are fall into line. We had a great Holiday to Disney World (which I wish I could do every year), I have a job myself, just for two hours a day and it's only until 19th July as I am covering someone who's on long term sick. But it's a start and it's put a bit of money in the bank and best of all it fits in around school time.

We are sorting out the house a bit at a time when we have the money to do so and also putting money to one side for a rainy day. So life is good and I don't have anything to moan about about. We are all healthy and doing OK for ourselves. I can't wait to see what the next few years will bring.

Love
Mrs P

Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, woohoo I am 30.

I have hit the big 30. Not entirely sure that it's a woohoo, but it's a woohoo that I have managed to keep myself alive for 30 years and even keep my daughter alive for 8 years (a big pat on the back for me).

Over the past 30 years I have manged to do a few things with my life, well for a start I was born to a lovely mummy who would do anything for my sister and I. I had a crap dad who walked out and I don't really remember him. I have a family full of strong women who have needed to fend for themselves but I think it skipped me that bit. I am not as strong as they are but I haven't had a reason for me to be strong.

At school I really struggled as I found it hard to learn to read and write and I probably have dyslexia  but have never been diagnosed with it. At the time I think the test cost a few hundred pounds. In primary school I had to go out and have extra lessons and in high school for that I got bullied. I had a few close friends at school and two of them I am still friends with to this day who I am very grateful for even though I don't see them much. I had a few boyfriends in school all of them older than me. I don't think I have ever been with someone who is younger them me.

I got my first job working in my friend's dad's shop, a dry cleaners. I can't even remember how old I was now or even how much I got paid, but once I hit 16 I was still working in the dry cleaners and got myself a job in Woolworths while still going to school. In the end I quit the dry cleaners and worked Friday night fills, only until 9pm and then all weekend in Woolworths. I really enjoyed it and that has to be one of the best times but also some hard time, but mainly good and I would not change it for anything. I was working with so many different characters and playing poker in the store (sorry if any of my managers are reading this).  I worked my way up to training assistant manager before the company when into administration. I was only 22 and pregnant with Little Miss P . I also met my other half there when I was 16 so Woolworths has a lot to answer for in my life.

Around the same time as all of that we just bought a house and planned our wedding all within a year or two of each other, I am not sure how I even did it now and how I stayed sane. We brought our little house (not so little really), a lovely three bed with a nice size garden on a lovely little green. I talked to most of my neighbours and if we needed help with anything someone would be able to help us (like the time we came back from holiday and the kitchen was flooded) and the time the hubby drove the neighbour back to the forest as she left her purse on the bench while I looked after her kid. We all try and help each other out and that's one thing that I love about my little green and I am lucky in that way as not all places are like that.

Come back on the 7th for the rest my life story if you fancy it.

Love
Mrs P

Cosmos Dinner

The other night I had a lovely work night out to Comsos for a lovely dinner. I have never been there before but everyone who has been there said how nice it is and that you can eat anything you like from Indian, to Chinese, to roast dinner. It's basically a glorified buffet.

We booked a table as it gets very busy throughout the day and you have to eat in 1 hour and 45 mins then they kick you out.

My first impression is that it's very open and very big. You don't feel like everyone is on top of you, they show you to your seats and take your drink orders and the drinks is where they make their money. After that you just go up and grab your food, it's a lot to take in first of all so I walked around to see what I could have. But I went right back to the duck and pancakes, they are so nice and I also tried the Butter Chicken but it was a little too hot for me... but the rice was lovely. I didn't get to try much more as I did have about six of them and then went on to dessert where I got ice cream and had some of the chocolate fountain with marshmallows. They also had little cheesecakes and some tarts that the hubby would have loved.

I would love to go again in a big group or just with my little family as it's lovely food and a nice atmosphere.

Love
Mrs P

Please check out my daughter youtube she would love it. 

Happy Birthday Little Miss P

Little Miss P is 8, yes my baby is 8, oh my where has the time gone??

I write this as she is sitting next to me on a Sunday morning watching YouTube, eating dry cereal out of a cup that she went to get herself.

What can I say my about little lady now that she's turned 8 years old and maybe one day will read this back to her older self.

This year you have a been a really good girl, you have had a great year at school and have been working really hard. Your work has improved and it's been great being told by your teachers that your reading is a getting a lot better.

At home you have been good, helping out around the house when you are asked to, working hard at dancing and even by 8 you have legs of steel from all the dancing. The only thing I ask from you is to be a bit more confident. It has come on but I can still see that more of it wants to come out.

For the next year I hope that you still work hard at what you love, carrying on working towards the things you want, and never give up.

Enjoy your birthday.

Love
Mrs P

New Yankee Easy Meltcup

A few months ago I told you all that I had a new Yankee Scenterpiece and now I have started to get a nice little collection of melts.

I really love my Yankee Scenterpiece and have it on most nights when I am chilling out.

1) Mango Peach Salsa
If you love strong smelling Mango things this is the one for you, I would put this one on. It is a great  summer one that I love having on in the afternoon, reading my book.

2) Pink Sands
I would say this one smells of sweet roses, well I think it does anyway. This smell is for a nice romantic night watching a bit of telly or having a nice dinner.

3) Black Cherry
This is one of my favourites, it's a strong smell of Cherry. I could have this one on all day. It is a lot more of a winter one for a nice winter day, but for me I like this all the time.

4) Kilimanjaro Stars
This one is a manly smell as I like to call... it I reminds me of a man's aftershave. I do like this one but I have to be in the right mood for it. The other half really likes this one.

Love
Mrs P

Start of the Fun

It's August and I am turning 30 in 5 days on the 5th August. Yes, the big 30. I don't really feel much about turning 30, it's just another day. But I do feel like I need to work on myself, trying to get some more skills and actually work on what I have always wanted to do.

I would love help with it but I know that I will not always get help and I have to stop relying on other people so much to help me. I am a big girl now.

One of my little challenges is to do a blog post everyday in the month of August, that will be 31 blog posts. So this is the first one and I will hopefully be doing some blog posts in bulk as I think that will make it easier for me. I think the hard part will be thinking of things to write about so I have started a little list of thing to write and what days I would like to put them up, but not many, only 3 thing at the moment.

I would like to be a bit more brave with my posts and talk about clothing more and what I wearing. I am no Fashion Blogger I just blog for fun so talking a bit about clothes will be out of my comfort zone and so they may end up being more about home interiors. I will also be doing a little giveaway on my blog on the 5th August, so make sure you come back for that.

Not much to write about now as I want to save some for the other Blog posts. I hope you can keep with and help me out through this challenge and if you have any ides what I can write about please let me know.

Love
Mrs P