Cooking evening with Morrisons

Last week I was very lucky to be invited to a cooking experience hosted by Morrisons. It was a very exciting and cheerful evening. As soon as we arrived at the event we were greeted with drink and coffee.
As you might already know Morrisons is one of the biggest food retailers in UK. Morrisons owns 476 stored and their business is mainly food and grocery. The unique thing about Morrisons is the fact that they use their own manufacturing facilities and this gives them control over the provenance and the quality of food.
We were invited to the event to be presented the new M savers range of products.

Richard one of the Morrisons chefs demonstrated how easy and cheap is to cook the Meatballs in tomato sauce with spaghetti recipe for only 58 pence a portion. How great is that? You can actually feed your family of 4 for only £2.32. Here are a few pictures with Richard cooking:

The dish looks yummy and tastes yummy too!


Above you can actually spot Sarah Willingham too! This lovely lady is an expert on saving money and a restaurant entrepreneur. She shared with us some saving tips about how to shop wisely and told us more about what M savers has to offer.

Before I tell you more about the evening and about my dezastruous recipe I would like to share with you the Saving Tips that Sarah shared with us:

- When shopping always take with you a shopping list because like that you will not be tempted to buy things that are not on offer and that you simply don't need;
- Never shop when you are hungry! You might end up buying more just because your stomach is empty;
- Be aware of the supermarket layout - offers usually are displayed at the end of the aisles,but sometimes you can seek for bargains elsewhere.

Now getting back to cooking, we were all offered to try out and cook some of the recipes that you can find on the Morrisons website. Funny enough I end up cooking the same recipe that Richard demonstrated. Easy enough! However I like a chat and unfortunately my meatballs were not as good looking at his! But at least they were tasty!

See me in action! Thanks God Richard was around to help as I was way too busy to talk with the rest of the ladies!

And now I present you my Meatballs in tomato sauce and spaghetti!

As you can see I am still to perfect my cooking skills!

After we all finished cooking we sat down and enjoyed eating our dishes.

In the picture above you can see the other three bloggers that participated at the Morrisons event. From left to right i present you Danielle from BlogbyBaby , Michelle from Utterly scrummy and Hannag from Resourcefulcook.

 Morrisons M Savers Product Range is exntended to over 500 items. You will be happy to know that the majority of the M savers are under £1.
You can also buy 1Kg of Frozen Chicken Breast Fillets for as little as £3.99. Check the Morrisons website for more details and recipes.
I am so happy to be part of the M Savers world. At last I have the knowledge and the tools - all offered by the lovely people at Morrisons - to cook lovely meals for my family and save valuable money too.
In a world were all the prices are going up and salaries are staying the same the Morrisons with their new M savers products give us hope.
You will very soon see more posts on this blog about M savers products and even tried out recipes. They might not look as good as Richards but they will be cheap and tasty.

About her...

She doesn't have a chance...it makes me sad...I see how she's looking at the girl with a short skirt...she would love to be like her... They are probably both in their teens. They look like they are anyway. I see her like me...a girl who would love to be thinner, a girl who would love to wear nicer clothes, a girl that gets noticed when she walks on the street. But she's invisible and the people surrounding her would never be able to help her be any other way...it's so sad. With her they are three women...one that seems to be her mum and the mums friends...I can't hear what they are saying but I see this young lady eyes...the three woman laugh and she's not saying a word. Every now and then she looks down at the floor...after which she takes a glimpse at the pretty girl in the corner. She looks at her and then she stairs at the floor again...I feel sad...I feel like stopping my music, getting up and go to talk to her...I want to tell her that I know exactly how is like to be her...I want to tell her that part of me is still like her...she needs to know she's not alone and that she can be brave and lose the weight and love herself...like i started too... I want to tell her mum to support her daughter and instead of laughing about her to laugh with her! But I see the mum being the same at her daughters age and as nobody helped her she will never help her daughter! Sad! They all get up and get off the tube now...missed my chance...I guess...
Can you imagine their reaction though? I would've probably be slapped on the face...so this is why this is just a Tale Tube only.
Now I wonder how many of us are out there? Trying to hide under baggy,ugly clothes to make themselves unnoticeable!?!? Probably too many...

Shoesday Tuesday 1#

Today i decided that i will try and participate to the Shoesday as well!

I think the idea is quite simple - take a photo with a pair of shoes - your shoes old or new,shoes you like,shoes that belong to your husband or to your kids etc.

I one love shoes and my collection of shoes it's increasing quite quickly. You see i am working for a fashion distribution company so in the room next to me(i should probably say showroom) there is quite a large collection of Sam Edelman  shoes. 

Sam Edelman Showrrom

Sam Edelman Showroom

I am actually wearing a pair of Sam Edelman shoes as well! You will not however see a picture with my feet. I really don't like my legs so...

Sam Edelman Caper

This meme started over at Blue Beat Wood but i just noticed that she doesn't have it up today.

Hope o will not upset her.

My words of wisdom

The week that just passed was quite a busy one....events, days out and the Baby Show!

I met new people and learned new things. I even learned new things about myself. I do wonder how a 31 year old woman can still learn things about herself but it happened. Writing it - a 31 year old woman- doesn't actually feel like I'm talking about myself! When the hell I got to call myself a woman?!? I feel like I'm suddenly this woman I'm not even recognising...I don't look like I thought and wished I would look in my 30's! Why? 

 Why do we grow up so fast? This weekend I even met people I've met before! Two lovely bloggers! It was really nice and it was like meeting friends.
I had a great week but I feel tired...I guess I should slow down a bit now that I'm in my 30's...probably having one busy day a weekend could be enough? I feel tired but happy that i learned so many new things and meet some really fantastic people! You'll hear more about it in my future posts this week.

Anyway so to keep the tradition up the Words of Wisdom for today are from Rob Thomas :

 "And the people we've become, well, they've never been the people who we are."

PS: Saying that i need to tell you i am going out tonight with the great Mammasaurs and Musodad! YEY!!! 

Celery soup

I cooked celery soup. If you usually read my blog you will know that I am following the Dukan Diet. I find it quite easy to follow as I am allowed to eat as I want.

Anyway last week I was In need for some soup so decided to make some celery soup - had some in the house...

Never done it before so I used the good old Internet search to help me and discovered a very simple recipe on the BBC website.

Here it is:

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1⁄2 red onion, chopped 150g/51⁄2oz celery, chopped 200ml/7fl oz hot chicken stock
2 slices toasted ciabatta, to serve
Preparation method
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the garlic, onion and celery over a low heat for five minutes, until softened.
2. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
3. Transfer the soup to a blender and liquidise.
4. To serve, place the soup into a bowl with the toasted ciabatta alongside.
By James Tanner
From Ready Steady Cook


When it was ready the soup smell really yummy.

My family verdict for this recipe: not the best ever soup but healthy and filling!
Daughter didn't like it, daddy ate it with toasted bread and mummy put a dollop of Total Greek 0% yogurt on top of the soup. The yogurt gave the soup a really nice taste.
If you decide to cook it please let me know. I would love to know if you enjoy it or not.

SunFun 3#

Sunday is the fun day of the week. Mammasaurus and Actually Mummy got this amazing idea - SunFun! The idea is simple. You can post anything you can find funny that week - a story about something funny that your kids done, a picture, a cartoon etc. You get the idea! For the past two weeks I posted funny cartoons about social media. As I don't want to disappoint here is one for this week:

Hope you like it. Anyway for more funniness head over to Actually Mummy

Or join here this is Blog Hop:

Life in UK by Mrs.B

The last guest post for the month of February comes from my lovely Estonian friend Mrs. B that blogs over at Cranky monkeys. She has a lovely blog and she always inspires me to write from the heart. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook. Mrs.B is writing about her family and always has healthy tips to share with you. Below see her take on Life in UK:

So far in my life I have lived 18 years in Estonia, 5 in America, 1 in Germany, 6 in Australia and 6 in the UK.    The day after our oldest son turned 1, we left quiet, wide-streeted, cycle-friendly and warm Canberra behind and arrived in London with two roll-up mattresses, a travel cot and a couple of suitcases.

Why? WHY on Earth would anyone move from Australia to the UK?  Many have asked me that question :)

Well - Australia IS perfect, but it is far, far away from the rest of the world.  Travelling anywhere takes a long time and is very expensive.  In order for us to ensure that our kids were able to visit Estonia often and learn to speak the language, we decided to settle in London at least until they were in their teens.

In the beginning we hated it - the city was so crowded, dirty and busy, and my husband straight away had to work very long hours.  It was hard to adjust to the very different pace of life.

Luckily I quickly met some local Estonian women and after decades of not having any Estonian girlfriends around, it was very nice to have that element in my life again.  It was the one thing that helped me through those initial first cold winter months.

Slowly but surely we truly settled in - we got used to the pace of life, my mother moved in with us to help us out with our two boys, I went back to work, we bought a house and all through this we made more and more friends, saw more and more fascinating places in London, travelled around Europe and to America, and always to Estonia for a month in the summer.

I do miss Australia the most of all the places I have lived, but for the moment I love it here - I love all the great parks in this city, I love being able to buy great clothes, I love having lots of multicultural friends, I love being close to Estonia and being able to travel elsewhere in Europe and America much less expensively and much quicker than from Australia.

Who knows where we'll be in another 10 years, but for now I feel at home here.  This city makes me feel young and alive, it makes me feel like I could do anything or go/travel anywhere I wanted to.

Thank you so much much Mrs. B for writing this post for my blog.

Satcap Day

I guess you are all used by now. Saturday is Caption Day so if you have a caption for the picture below please go on and make a comment below.

For more please head over to Mammasaurus.

Happy Saturday!

Reflections on the tube

Written last night while travelling with the tube....

I sit here. I'm on the tube. I like listening to music when I travel by tube. I sit here and I look around. So many souls travelling with this tube every single day,hour,minute... I like guessing what people are talking about...I like imaging the life they have...we are all souls that feel,love,suffer,exist...
In front of me there is a couple. They both read the same newspaper, they are not holding hands but every now end then they look at each other and talk. You can see how much they live each other by they look in each other eyes. It's like they eat each others words. Now I'm thinking...wow they are so lucky!!! They are so lucky to have found each other. They are not a young couple, they both have white hair....she wears a flowery dress and he is wearing a suit and a bow...they must be in their 60's.....he is probably taking her out for theatre or for a meal. I spot they both wear wedding rings. Both rings are simple and She's not wearing a diamond ring. I wonder how long they been married with each other? I wonder if they ever cheat on each other? I wonder if they have kids together? But all that matters is that they still look at each other like two young kids that just fell in love with each other. How nice...I wonder how many couple get to live this kind of love these days? Probably not many... Now is their time to get off the tube...he gets up, takes her hand, she gets up and they both walk to the door of the train...there's nothing else I can say...just...beautiful....

A cucumber make me happy!!

Better said a whole jar of cucumbers make me happy!!! I love picketed cucumbers! Give me Any type of pickled cucumbers and I will eat it!
But...my favourite ever cucumbers are my mums pickled cucumbers! If you ever had pickled cucumbers you will know that the majority are sweet. I like those two but my favourite ones have to be pickled in water and salt. I think that this is the way my mum used to make them anyway. However my mum can't send me cucumbers from Romanian and I can't find small cucumbers to replicate her recipe here. But please if you know where can I order them from let me know. It will be highly appreciated. I know in England you call them gherkins:

The reasons I'm writing about cucumbers though is the fact that I FOUND THEM! I found them in a shop in London! Of course they are not an English brand. I found them in one of the 99p shops. Had some turkey breast tonight and I ate some pickled gherkins as well....

As you can see in the above picture...I ate quite a lot of it.
Now I'm kind of bursting. Not even Thinking Slimmer helped.

I love...

I love...

...sunshine on a winter morning - like today
...my daughter smile and laugh
...walking in the park
...summer rain dropping on my face
...autumm leaves and their yellow/brownish colours
...a good cup of cappucino
...dancing and listening to music
...cooking and baking
...swimming in the sea
...the green grass
...my daughter's voice
...my husband kiss

and that is all for now...ow...and i really love this song right now...

My "questions and answers"

I love memes! It just gives you the opportunity to talk a bit about yourself and to feel part of this big blogging community that is the "Mummy bloggers". I am delighted to be tagged not once but twice by two lovely bloggers - Emma from A matter of choice and Claire from A boy with Aspergers. The both wrote 11 questions each for me to answer. I will try and answer all the 22 questions as well as i can.

Emma from A matter of choice

Would you like to live in a different country? Why would / wouldn't you? I already live in a different country - England. I moved here 5 and a half years ago when i got married. We really want to go back to Romania in the next couple of years because we think that it will be best for our daughter to grow up close to her grandparents. My ideal place to live though will be somewhere where is sunny most of the time but not very hot - somewhere like Spain or even Carabeen?
 
Are you doing what you thought you would be at this age when you were a teenager? Not really. Considering that i studied Law at University i never thought that i will end up working in a Fashion Company in the Supply Chain Department.

What is your biggest addiction, and does it worry you? I smoke. I started smoking when i was about 16 years old. I stopped for a year and half when i was pregnant and then breasfeeding but now i am smoking again. I don't smoke a lot...but it worries me....


Do you speak a foreign language? Would you like to? I speak English as a foreign language as my birth language is Romanian. I understand italian and spanish..more or less but i would love to know more.

What is your favourite holiday destination? (either past or a 'dream destination) I love holidays no matter where they are. I am a beach kind of girl though so i guess my dream destination is somewhere where is nice and sunny. I loved Rome a lot when i visited with my husband too.

What most annoys you? Sniffling i think is the most annoying habit ever. Why would you do that? Just wipe your nose!!


What is your dream job? Very hard to answer...let me try describe as much as i can though...i will have to work as i need intelectual stimulation and working with adults. I think working gives me some kind of mental satisfaction. A part time job will be the best - somewhere where i don't have to be on time or where i can work as much as i want - yeh dream on - and then to have time for my kids as well. I think i would love to have a cafe shop where i could  organise meeting ups with mums and cookery lessons.


What are you looking forward to this year? I am looking forward for my sister to come and visit me in a months time, to fly to Romania and visit my parents and to go on a proper beach holiday - the last one is not booked yet though...

How upset would you be if you woke up tomorrow morning and the internet had ceased to exist? I am not sure...i will probably miss talking with my parents and my sister so often i guess.

What day / period of your life would you like to re-live? I think i would love to re-live my wedding day. It was lots of fun but i wish i spent more time with the people i love. Espeacially with my grandmother.

If you could travel in time (you know, without buggering up the space/time continuum thing) would you go forward or backwards? Both in future to see how my daughter will be when she will grow up nad back in time to meet my grandparents when they were young and hug them.




Claire at A boy with Aspergers - they are actually 13 questions
 1. How old was you when you gave birth to your first child & was this planned? I had my first child when i was 28 years old and it was planned. I did get pregnant quite fast though...


 2. How did you feel both physically and mentally following the birth of your child, for example, how long before you felt yourself again, fitted in your old clothes, returned to work etc.? Our life change completly when our daughter was born. We are by ourself in London and we have to care for a child with no help. I developed depression shortly after birth and since then it's been a struggle. But bit by bit we are getting better. I still don't fit in my clothes and i still have to lose almost  20 KG but oh well...

 3. Did you experience the “Baby Blues” or suffer postnatal depression? If yes, are you over this, slowly getting better, or maybe things are still quite hard? Already answer this question above. And yes i did.

 4. What are your family values? Hm...i dont really know if we have anything like that...i mean besides spending as much time with the family as possible no more. Ah and always TALK.

 5. Are you a SAHM or a Working mother? I am a working mum


 6. So, why did you start your blog? I started my blog as i need it to talk about my feelings 


7. Do you feel less isolated when blogging and interacting with other bloggers through social networking sites and if applicable, blogging events? Yes i met wonderful people since i start blogging. And some of this people i like to believe that are my friends.

8. Are you going to Britmums Live and if yes… what are your reasons for wanting to attend? “waving hand in the air… I’ll be there” Yes i am going. Why? To meet my friends and to find out more about the blogging world.

 9. As a blogger do you ever help the promotion of certain charitable organisations or engage in campaigns for a good course? If yes, what charities and why? I do write the odd charity post but still need to find a charity i can dedicate to.


8. What’s the most amazing experience you and if applicable, your children, have experienced as the result of your blog? The Butlins Christmas weekend. My daughter loved the activities at the Bognor Centre

 9. Do you have a goal you want to achieve as a result of you’re blogging talent? Maybe it’s to write an E- Book, start an online business, start vlogging, or like me begin self hosting (I think I’ll be taking this leap in the early summer)? I keep thinking what to do next but i need more experience first.

10. Name one blogger who regularly inspires you - She is the first blogger i met in real life and since then we been out for dinner and drinks and i think we can call each other friends. I think we actually have a lot in common and i admire her for her strenght and her fantastic writing - Mrs B at Cranky Monkeys


11. What piece of advice would you offer to a new blogger or anyone considering starting a blog? Don't be afraid to start blogging. Online life can be wonderful and mums are the best. And advice? Write from the heart.




Here are my 11 questions:


1. Why do you blog and when you started blogging?
2. What do you like blogging about?
3. If it will be to choose now will you be a SAHM mum or a working mum?
4. What's your guilty pleasure?
5. What do you do to relax?
6. How many kids you have and would you have some more?
7. How would you describe your life right now? 
8. Have you ever had a celeb tweet you?9. Tea or Coffee?
10. Ice cream or chocolate?
11. Sea side or mountains holidays?



The rules:

1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about herself on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the “tagger” listed for you in her post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. Choose 11 people to tag and link to them in the post.
5. Let each blogger know that you have tagged them.
    
   And i tag:
   Thecrumbymummy 
   Realhousewifeofsuffolk 
   Morethanamum 
   Dorkymum 
   Expatmummy 
   HPMcq 
   Snooandme 
   Fishfingersfortea 
   BoobieMilk 
   TigerTales 
   Reallymissingsleep 
    
   Hopeyou are not already tagged ladies. Please tweet me so that i can pop over and read your post.
    
    
    
    
    
    

Build-a-Bear Workshop Fun Packs

I think everybody knows the Build-a-Bear shops - Especially parents of little kids.
The other week we took my daughter to visit one of these shops. She loved it. They were so many types of bear designs and outfits to dress them up.

But now i want to introduce you to the all new Build-a-Bear Workshop® Fun Packs with Furry Friends and Build-a-Bear Workshop ® Friendship Hearts Gift Tins.
These are a nice alternative to the big bulky bears.

Build-a-Bear Workshop® Fun Packs with Furry Friends - 12 of Build-a-Bear Workshop best sellers will be introduced as part of the Friendship Heart Series in an all new miniature format. Great collectibles, perfect pocket money purchase!

Each fun-pack (£5.99) comes with:
· Mini Furry Friend
· Heart and Ceremony
· Shirt
· Fabric Sticker Set
· Trading Cards
· Collector’s Guide with Activities, Online Code (that allows you access to special interactive content at www.bearville.com™) and Owner’s Certificate.

You can also buy a Build-a-Bear Workshop ® Friendship Hearts Gift Tin - A unique heart- shaped tin is priced at £14.99. Perfect gift for Easter!
The gift set includes:
- Heart Shaped Tin with Handle
- Mini Furry Friend
- Me and My BFF (best furry friend) necklaces
- Deluxe Dress
- Accessories, bow and flower
- Friendship Heart and Ceremony
- Trading Cards
- Collector’s guide with Activities, Online Code ((that allows you access to special interactive content at www.bearville.com™) and Owner’s Certificate.

The Friendship Heart series comes with one of six colourful hearts that each has a special meaning . Fill your Furry Friend with Love (red), Strength (green), Courage (purple), Happiness (yellow), Dreams (blue), or Honesty (orange). The special BABW Heart Ceremony is included so that each child can bring their Furry Friend to life.

My daughter really liked the fun pack and the bear. I don't think that at 3 years old my daughter really understands the whole concept of the trading cards. She enjoyed however to play dress up with the bear. Got bored a bit too fast though...so among her toys this is not her favourite.

In my view as a parent I think that this is quite a good and fun idea but just a it over priced for what it offers. Never the less this could make a great gift for Easter.

Words of Wisdom #Hope

How can I be so tired on Monday? I think Mondays is the worse day in my book - I hate them. I try every week to think that Monday represents a new beginning but is bloody hard. I think I miss my daughter the most on Monday's.

For the past couple of months my daughter keeps mentioning her "sister". One day she said to her daddy that the two of them should go o the kitchen and "make a sister" even. Other days she just talks like she is actually talking with a imaginary sister. She shows her the toys, her babies and she takes her for a walk. It doesn't scare me at all she has an imaginary sister. It just hurts. It hurts we are not able to give her a sister. I'm not even sure why we can't do it...
Tonight she passed the phone to her daddy on the assumption that her "sister" was on the phone. Daddy had to talk with the "sister" for a couple of minutes. How cute is that. I do hope that soon I will get pregnant and that my daughter will have a sibling soon. So as you might guess the Words of Wisdom for today are about HOPE.


HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
by Emily Dickinson

"Hope" is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~

Healthy pancakes?!?

You might laugh but the healthy pancakes really exist and I'm going to show you how to make them. First though I need to tell you why I chose to make this healthy option.
I didn't mention it before but at the same time with listening the "Thinking Slimmer" Slimpod I am following the Dukan diet as well. Dukan diet is based on eating proteins as a main food, followed by vegetables and no carbohydrates. I thought it will be quite hard as I used to love (I still do) my potatoes, pasta, and rice. Even though you are not allowed to eat carbohydrates you still need to have oat bran every single day.
A very interesting way to eat the oat bran is to make a "galette".
Here is a picture with mine. On the Dukan website they look a lot better though...

For more information about how oat bran can help you please read more on the Dukan website.
The recipe is very easy. Ingredients below are for one galette though:
1.5 tbs oat bran
1.5 tbs low fat fromage frais
Sweetener( if you want to make it sweet)
1 egg

Mix all the ingredients together(except the egg white) until smooth and then add in the egg white. Pour into a warmed frying pan and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. Use a spatula to turn the galette over and cook for another 2 minutes.

The pancake is quite thick and if you are not on a diet then you can add fruits or any sauces you might like.
If you try them please let me know I would love to know your opinion!

#SunFun - 2#

#SunFun - today is the second time I am taking part.
The first funny thing that I would like to share with you is something that my daughter said today. Every day she gets more and more funny and she is acting a lot like a little lady.
Today when on the way back from the park we had to climb up the stairs that take us to our flat. As soon as we get into the house she said: "That was such a hard work!" followed by "Phew!".

The second one is a picture I found on the Internet...again with the subject "Social network":

For more pop over at Mammasaurus for some more funniness.
If you want to take part grab the badge and post something funny!

Have a great week!

#Satcap with my boogie

   The picture i am choosing for today's SatCap is about a year old. I love my daughter's cheeky face in it:

The washing line defeat

  Please feel free to leave a caption if you have one. 

The #SatCap is hosted as usually at Mammasaurus Blog and i have to tell you her entry is one of the best this week!

Life in UK by Fromfuntomum

Hope you all had a nice week. The guest post for this week comes from the lovely italian lady that writes From fun to mum blog. On her blog she writes about her life as a stay at home mum and she posts lovely pictures with her daughter G. So pop over her blog and you will not be disappointed. She even has a Sleep training Blog Hop. If you want to chat you can always find her on twitter too - her handle is of course @from_fun_to_mum.

With no further mumbles from me here is her take on Life in UK:

There are a lot of things that I could talk about, I have lived in London for nearly 12 years after all, but I would like to discuss the very first thing that  I noticed about living in the UK. Brits do not understand what coats are for! Especially those under 30.

I moved to London in the autumn. I had a suitcase packed full of scarves, wool jumpers and not one, not two, but three coats! One need coats in winter! From the smart variety to go to work in, to the more sporty puffa variety (and much warmer, might I add), from the short biker jacket to the proper sky jacket...the fashion world is full of coats! They are often the most expensive piece of a fashion collection and there are brands that mainly do just coats and jackets, and add garments and accessories as an extension of the brand. Belstaff, Moncler, Barbour and Woolrich spring to mind and they are all amazing coat brands.

So, back to 12 years ago or so, I am out with Mr H on a cold Saturday winter night and I am wearing layers of warm clothes and a nice proper coat. The British girls around me are wearing short skirts with no tights, tiny jumpers and no coats! I was shocked. I understand that the point of a date or the point of a girls night out is to look pretty, but I would never imagine doing this at the expense of my health. As an Italian, there is something fundamentally wrong to the practice of not wearing coats in the winter. I am from the North of Italy. We get seasons, from cold winters to boiling summers and we have seasonal wardrobes for it. How can British girls not feel the cold? Men are just as bad, to be honest. I know that when wearing a suit one has a jacket, but said jacket is not exactly a coat in the winter months. The mind boggles...

This very issue troubled me for a long time. I was reminded of it every time someone came to visit from Italy and was just as shocked and confused as I was. Mr H told me once that dating me was like having to wrap and unwrap a present all the time. (I admit to sleeping in full length PJs come winter or summer, often with a ribbed tank top underneath, and cashmere socks in winter). How was it humanely possible that my British counterparts did not feel the cold?

I asked and asked that question, and these are the answers I got through the years. Of course NONE of them makes sense to me, but here they are, pretty much verbatim:

1. I wear a coat in the day, but if I am out at night, I won't as they charge money in cloakrooms and I might be too drunk at the end of the night to remember about it. Plus I am from Manchester, we are tough up there! (woman, mid 20s)
2. I wear a scarf with my suit as I can't be bothered with a coat in the tube, it gets too hot, plus the scarf keeps me warm anyway (man, early 30s)
3. Coats are for old women and sensible mums, I just wear a hoody and look cool (girl, teens)
4. Coats are too expensive and I use my money to party! (woman, late 20s)
5. I have a trench coat and that gets me covered at all times, winter or summer (man, late 20s)
6. I am pregnant / breastfeeding / running after a baby, so I am always hot (woman, late 30s)
7. I am from Newcastle, we are real men up there! (Man, late 30s)
8. I take my kids' coats off when they want to run around the park so they don't overheat (mum, mid 30s)

I could go on for a long time as I do truly find myself asking the coat question to this day, 12 years later, but I won't. 

Please, British Men and British Women, get yourself one coat and wear it. You make me cold just to look at you! Coats are not garments made for an older age group, they are one of life necessity in winter months, they really are.

Very quick blueberry muffins

We had this box of blueberries for a while in the kitchen but hubby and boogie didn't really fancy eating them so I decided to bake some muffins instead.
If I wasn't on a diet I would've probably eat them by now but blueberries are not allowed at this rage in my diet.
So as I was preparing the dinner, I thought about mixing the ingredients for these muffins as ŵell. Quickly I googled the recipe on my iPad and found this easy recipe on the Good to know website. You can get the ingredients from there.
I didn't really follow the exact measurements and the order of mixing the ingredients but hubby says they are quite good.
I melted the butter to speed the things up. Below you can find a couple of pictures with the muffins taken by my husband:

I so wish I could have one of these! But I am sticking with my diet-on which you will be updated very soon.

Sunshine in February

The lovely ladies that blog at From fun to mum  and Justaboveaverage tagged me in this meme that promises Sunshine in February. As she is so lovely i will go on write my post. We really need some more Sunshine in February.

So here are my answers:

Favourite Colour: Well here it is a bit tricky...I use to love everything blue but now i think i have a thing for RED! Today is Valentine's Day so it fits isn't?

Favourite Animal: I love animals and i am definately a "dog" person. And i just don't get cats...I wish we had the space to have a dog in our flat. I think that my daughter would really like that.

Favourite non-alcholic drink: This has to be Skinny Capuccino/Latte - loved up and brewed by my hubby for me every morning.

Facebook or Twitter: It used to be Facebook but now i am very much in love with Twitter.

Favourite Number: 7 - I just love it! I Am born on the 25th of the month and my hubby on the 7th! So i let you guess why i like this number so much.

Favourite Day of the Week: Sunday - a day when we relax as a family.

My Passion: I am passionate about cooking and baking! I love feeding my loved ones and not only.

Getting or Giving Presents:I always feel awkward when i give presents. The only time when i am not is when i give them to my daughter. Ah..and i love receiving presents! Small or big presents!

Favourite Pattern: I love the flower prints. I would love a bag with flower prints now.

Favourite Flower: This has to be the snowdrop flowers. It is a spring flower that is the symbol of new beginnings

Now that you read about my favourite things i need to tag some other lovely blogs to do the same. So i am tagging:

Katie at http://snugglebubby.com/ 

MsXpat at http://tigertales-msxpat.blogspot.com/

Hopefully the sun will stay and spring is just around the corner!

My "nice" day at the NHS Soho clinic

Yes I am not feeling very well. This bladder infection is a lot worse this time and the pain just stopped me from working so at the praising of one of my colleagues I left work to come to the Soho Walk in Centre. I mean it should be very easy - a nurse will see me and then prescribe antibiotics. But as I walk into the centre I knew it will not be as easy. The waiting area is full of people! Who would've thought? After completing the required form I asked about the waiting time and she said around 2 hours...Guess my boss will not be very happy!
So then after waiting for half an hour to be seen by a triage nurse - feeling like in ER hihi - that scribble something on my form and sent me away without forgetting to say that I will be seen in about 1.5-2 hours. Seriously? For a bladder infection? Hey! I'm in pain here! It doesn't take longer than a couple of minutes to take the test and decide if it's bladder infection or not. But what can I say? I need the bloody antibiotics so I have to endure the pain and the wait!
So that brings me to now when I am sitting here and writing this. It's weird...they are so many people but it is very quiet! Only two girls chatting in a corner and a couple that is exchanging timid kisses. Every now and then you can here a nurse calling and walking around. So strange.
I never thought there will be a walk in clinic in Soho but well what was I thinking?!? Of course there is one!
Yey! For a second I got very excited as the phone was showing 3G - very disappointed now though...it just shows an 0....
My stomach is rumbling...I'm so hungry! I should've eaten before! I'm starving!
...just texted my husband the shopping list...doing that made me feel even more hungry!
Geeh! It will be a lot easier to satisfy my hunger if I wasn't on a diet but I am. They have lollies at the pharmacy but the diet doesn't allow it! Why they don't sell chicken? The triage nurse made very clear that I should stay in the room and not go anywhere...Wonder if I could sneak out though?.. Do you think anybody will notice? They have security guards everywhere do they might do...Hm...
One by one the people that were here
when I arrived seem to disappear for a consult...but only half an hour past since I've been in...the nurse said I need to wait more than that :(
There are maybe 4-5 people in front of me...maybe it will take only another half an hour to get in...will see... So annoyed I can't use Internet!
...only 15 minutes later and I lost my patience completely! I'm holding in my hand the container the nurse gave me to fill in (you know what)...and it gets warmer and warmer in my hand! There are a few other ladies holding a container like me. They must have the same thing. Maybe? Hm... Is bladder infection so common? Probably it is! I mean I had my last one at Christmas but tried to cure it naturally as I wasn't in London either and...maybe is just not cleared up since then?!? In a way I hope is just bladder infection and not something else more horrible than this.
______________________________

And....several hours later...I am now at home but I spent a long time at the clinic. My total wait was 3 hours and 45 minutes....I do wonder why I stayed there so long...well I was just hoping I would be seen faster.
I am ashamed to say but I cried even. I was so bloody frustrated I could scream. Oh well... By the time the nurse saw me I was sleepy, dizzy and thirsty. I was starving so badly but I was told I had to stay there. Stupid me! Others kept going out and coming back but I was in such a pain I couldn't move!
I was given 6 pills of antibiotics for 7.49£ - I think that is how much it was??? The infection is suppose to stop in about 24 hours...will I be in pain that long?
After all that I really didn't feel like going back to work for a half an hour so I took the tube home. Bliss to catch a sit and be warm again! Now I'm sitting in bed with a hot water bottle between my legs hoping that this nightmare will be over soon!
And NO I really don't like NHS right now! One of the reasons the Walk in Clinic in Soho was so busy is because the Liverpool Street and Victoria closed down because of the cuts. So all the patients are using the Soho clinic. In a way I was lucky I work just around the corner but....I really like the wait. So for the long wait I blame the NHS cuts and the fact that my GP didn't have any appointments for me until next week!
Avoid going in the Soho Walk in Centre as the wait is in excess of 4 hours...not happy at all...

Loved up Words of Wisdom

I am quite tired tonight...the lack of sleep you see...but I wanted to share a lovely song with you today.

I am grateful to have love in my life and to have someone that loves me for who i am.

This is the week of LOVE.

I discovered David Bowie because of my husband. I started to love his music because of my husband. My favourite ever song by David Bowie is Wild is the Wind. When I hear this song I hear at my hubby. The words of this song touch my heart every time I hear it and I am sharing it with you:

Love me, love me, love me, love me,
say you do
Let me fly away with you
For my love is like the wind,
and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind

Give me more than one caress
satisfy this hungriness
Let the wind blow through your heart
Oh wild is the wind, wild is the wind

You touch me, I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me, all things to me
Don't you know you're life, itself!

Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling, cling to me
For we're like creatures of the wind,
and wild is the wind

Wild is the wind

Wild is the wind

Wild is the wind

Wild is the wind

Have a lovely week and don't forget to share your Love with your loved ones. You have to show that you love someone if you want them to know you do.

Why hitting the bottom can be good sometimes....

Love is so weird sometimes. Hubby and I met each other 7 years ago and we've been married for the past 5 and a half years. This is 1/6 of my life. To be with my husband and have a family I sacrificed the life I built before I met him. Don't get me wrong I don't regret it one bit but I do miss my country, my parents and my friends and my sister of course. Even though I DO have my own family right now...when hubby and I argue or i just have a bad day at work I wish I could just "go around the corner" and see my mum for a chat.
Last Friday hubby and I had a big "disagreement" and I thought that we will actually end our relationship. Thankfully we managed to talk and work it out.
You see with me suffering of depression and with us not having any help from family it's been really hard. In my need of punishing myself I punished him as well. I pushed him out of...my heart a little bit and I forgot why i fell in love with him in the first place.... That on top of the parenting struggles and the daily routine it put a lot of pressure on our relationship... I forgot that we needed the "us" time and not only the "family" time. At the end of the day - a working day or weekend we just stop taking with each other and just...watch TV and blog about stuff... Instead of talking with each other about what was bothering us we start talking and confessing to others.
I love the fact that I discovered blogging and that through it I met some really nice and lovely bloggers who supported me through my struggles - but in a way it stopped me from confessing my struggles to my hubby.
Last time my hubby and I went out for dinner-just the two of us I mean....ah....to tell you the truth I don't even remember when was that....so we forgot how to.....be together... Ok ok I will be honest here...I stopped showing my hubby that I love and respect him....I am the one that closed and just wanted to stop feeling all together...and of course this was followed by me stopping to want to "be naughty" with my hubby...
My husband...bless him...he kept trying but how much and how long can a person try until they give up?!?
So after our disagreement last weekend - we actually talked and I finally listened what he had to say as well and how he felt and feels about what has happened in our life in the last couple of years. So...then...I realised how much he still loves me and I told him how much I love him...we hugged and since then we can't stop "hugging" and is like we met each other once more.
I feel like I am falling in love with him once more...on a different level but it feels so nice...I am allowing myself to feel like this again...I feel so warm and loved up inside...
I hope that our relationship will stay as it is right now..and I hope that we will continue to talk with each other like we do now...and I hope that we will try to make the most we can of our 2-3 hours we have in the evening after we put our daughter to sleep and just hug each other at least...and continue to show how much we love each other.
Our love is a lot stronger than I ever thought. Our love has grown so much and I love my husband a little bit more every day. And I always will... Love you forever...

Sunday Funny

My first post for #SunFun and I am doing so late in the day. I apologise. We we've been out but I really wanted to do my bit today.

So here is my entry:

Of course this is something I found on the Internet but I find it quite funny as we both, my hubby and I, use twitter quite a lot. Me more than him. Hope you like it.
This week #sunfun is hosted over at Actually Mummy. Go over and check some more funny entries.

Own a colour for Valentine's Day

Do you want to give your loved one something special for Valentine'sDay? So here is how to make your loved one happy and do something for charity at the same time. Own A Colour is a new charity initiative with UNICEF which gives you the opportunity to own and name your very own colour for a minimum donation of £1.

For Valentine’s day, Own A Colour has joined forces with Valentine’s hero Purple Ronnie to offer complimentary, specially written poems to anyone who gifts their loved-one a colour to own and name this Valentine’s Day.

It’s quite an original way to show the person you love that you care on the most romantic day of the year and every penny raised on OwnAColour.com goes towards helping save a child’s life with UNICEF.

Recent celebrity fans include Sir Roger Moore, Jemima Khan, Matt Dawson and Duncan Bannatyne.

PURPLE RONNIE BRIGHTENS UP VALENTINE’S DAY WITH A SPLASH OF COLOUR

Romantic rhyming favourite, Purple Ronnie, is creating a series of one-off poems for loved-ones this Valentine’s Day, to accompany a very special gift – your very own colour.
A world first, men and women will be able to gift their loved-ones an actual colour for them to own, through Facebook.com/OwnAColour, for a minimum donation of £1 – an initiative in aid of UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organisation.

The gift of colour, accompanied by a unique Purple Ronnie poem, will be available from 8th February – for those who are organised – until Valentine’s Day itself – for those not so organised – and provides a special solution for all those Valentine’s Day gifting dilemmas, whilst also contributing to a great cause.
The limited-edition poem, in Purple Ronnie’s iconic cheeky style, will appear on your loved-ones Facebook wall on the 14th February, along with a link for them to pick and name their colour of choice.
Stewart Longhurst from the Own A Colour team comments:
“What’s great about the Own A Colour initiative is that, not only does it allow people to put their name to a never-before-owned colour, but it harnesses the power of colour to have a positive impact on saving lives of children. Colour is such an important and personal method of expression, so what better way to show someone you love them this Valentine’s Day than with a colour of their very own, accompanied by an original love poem?”

With Own A Colour, your Valentine will be the exclusive owner of one of the 16.7 million colours that the average computer, smartphone or tablet can display.
Recent celebrity donators include The Saturday’s beauty Frankie Sandford as well as other UNICEF Ambassadors and fans such as Jemima Khan, Matt Dawson and Sir Roger Moore, who have all been inspired by their loved-ones in buying and naming their colours; Jemima Khan named hers CFC Blue for her Chelsea mad son, Sir Roger Moore’s Swedish Blue for his wife and Matt Dawson’s colour reminds him of his wedding day.
To Own A Colour, and for more information, visit: Facebook.com/OwnAColour

About Own A Colour
Own A Colour is a charity initiative, in aid of UNICEF and powered by Dulux, which allows you to own or gift your very own colour from a choice of 16.7million. The minimum donation for a single colour is £1, but there is no limit to the total donation you can make. The project is powered by Dulux, in a bid to ‘add colour to people’s lives'. To date, Own A Colour has raised over £99,000.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is the world’s leading children’s organisation, working for children and their rights in more than 190 countries. Together with our partners, UNICEF delivers health care, nutrition, education and protection to children in urgent need.
For more information please visit www.unicef.org.uk
About Purple Ronnie
Purple Ronnie was created nearly 25 years ago by Giles Andrae, the UK’s most published living poet. Now owned by leading family entertainment producer Coolabi, Purple Ronnie is renowned for its witty rhymes and simple illustrations, primarily on greetings cards but also across a wide range of other gifting merchandise.
For more information visit www.purpleronnie.com

Tasty and healthy dinner

Now that I am on the Dukan diet (well I am on it since 2 weeks ago) I am trying to cook something healthy and appealing for the whole family.
I am happy to say that the three of us enjoyed the salad with grilled chicken and beef:

Baby's Satcap

You know the drill - if you feel like you have a caption for my picture below please comment as i love reading them and having a giggle:

Baby's World

For more pictures please pop over at Mammasaurus.

Have a good one!

Life in UK by Katie Vyktoriah

My dear ones, the today's guest post comes from the lovely and bubbly Katie that blogs over at http://snugglebubby.com/. I met Katie last year at the Tots 100 Christmas party. We connected quite fast and we talk and talk all night. She is one of the ladies i chat all the time on Twitter too and i hope we will see each other soon.  On Twitter she can be found as Snuggle_bubby.
Below i added a picture and her guest post about her Life in UK:

I first came to the UK on 27th December, 2001. And I swear, against all logic or reason, and despite the 8 hour airplane ride I had taken to get here, I still believed wholeheartedly that someone was playing a joke on me. I just could not believe that I was actually IN the UK. I would have sworn that I'd been drugged and all the strange people around me were putting on fake accents and pretending to be British. It just would not compute in my mind that I had actually come to this country, so full of history and myth, so well-known as the greatest empire on earth. How did I get so lucky?

That first year, I did so much. I spent New Year up in Edinburgh, Scotland celebrating Hogmanay. I went to London and saw A Day in the Death of Joe Egg starring my hero, Eddie Izzard and Victoria Hamilton. I visited Chesil Beach in Dorset, and I adopted a monkey from Monkey World. I saw Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall and Oxford. I saw events at the Manchester Evening News Arena, the Birmingham NEC, and Wembley. I went to Chessington World of Adventures and Alton Towers. I was put on trial at the London Dungeon. I visited an 11th century church!

My own country is only a few hundred years old, and we like to joke about how we kicked those lousy Brits out. We make jokes about how England would be speaking German if it wasn't for us. We have a centuries-old feud, while at the same time accepting that we are two countries divided by a common language...

The truth is that coming to England was an amazing thing. I was married for a good long time to a British man, and I learned so much by being immersed in the culture of my adopted country. If I had come here with another American, I doubt I would have had such a great experience or learned so many new things.

But despite the largely exciting and wonderful experiences I've had, there are still some very obvious differences between my home country and my adopted one. In America, when we go to a shop, we're usually greeted at the door by someone with a big smile and an offer of help. There are always workers nearby to help you find something you need or reach something on a high shelf. When we get to the checkout, the cashier will chat with us, looking us in the eyes and making sure we've found everything we needed. And we NEVER have to bag our own groceries. In contrast, here in the UK, I find that shop staff are cold and indifferent. Most of the time, you are left on your own until you check out. And the cashier does everything in his power not to look at you. For the most part, they won't even give you the total or ask for payment, instead assuming that you will notice and offer up your card on your own. There's no one there to bag your groceries, and it is pretty infrequent that you will receive an offer of help. And if you DO (for instance, I occasionally was offered the cashier's help while I was pregnant), they get annoyed if you take them up on it.

In short, the customer service in the UK would be completely unacceptable in the US.

I've also been completely shocked at UK houses. My parents house, a 4-bedroom, 2 bath, 3 reception with detached 2 car garage and a HUGE plot of land cost them the equivalent of £35,000. So imagine my surprise when I found that our 2 bed, mid-terrace house with tiny rooms, no parking and no garden cost us £185,000! And when we bought our second place with 3 bedrooms, it was £230,000! The UK seems to be built upward instead of outward. Space is at a premium, so each home is smaller. I liken it to living in an ant farm. It is completely unfamiliar to me.

But aside from these small niggles, I am happy to be in the UK. Will I stay forever? I doubt it. One day, I fully intend on going back to the US. I'd like to give my kids more room to play and more space to live. I want them to appreciate the value of a smile. I want them to be able to walk down the street and say hello to the people they meet without those people running away. 

The English may be known for their stiff-upper-lip mentality, but they sure aren't known for their ability to relate to their fellow humans.

But this country has been my home for 10 years. I love my life and am the person I am because I moved here. I will never regret being an expatriate. And even if/when I move back to America, I will fondly remember my time in the UK and how wonderful it was to experience something completely different.

Love is in the air for Swizzels Matlow

February is the month of LOVE. With Valentine's Day on the 14th of February we all feel the need to share our feelings with the ones we love. And what a better way to do that with sweets. 
Do you know that 2.75 billion Love Hearts are produced every year, that’s enough to stretch 1.5 times around the world. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D and the first Valentine’s Day gift was sent by Duke of Orleans to his wife, after he was captured in 1415.

The British confectionery giant has produced just 100,000 vintage style tins that are destined to become a collector’s item. The tins are available nationwide at a recommended retail of £1.99 while stocks lasts.

Following the success of the Christmas Mini Love Hearts, New Refreshers and Drumstick Lollies tubes, a 108g Love Hearts tube that reads ‘I Love You’ has been launched. This is available nationally for £1.

Sarah-Louise Heslop, Marketing Manager at Swizzels Matlow, said:

“Valentine’s Day excitement is building and we’ve already had lots of enquiries about our new product range. We decided to develop the Love Hearts collection after hearing so many quirky stories from happy couples telling us how they used packets our sweets to propose.

“Our retro treats offer a range of quirky gifts as an alternative to chocolate. Romantic partners can even hide diamond engagement rings in our tins and tubes. Say I love you the sweet way.”

Swizzels Matlow’s other new romantic gifts include:

• An exclusive long tube full of Love Hearts that reads ‘I Love You This Much’ available in Tesco for £3

• Love Hearts Mini Roll bags which are available nationally for £1.

• Giant Love Hearts four pack which are available nationally for £1.09.

You can log onto the Love Hearts Love Calculator to find out how compatible you and your partner are:

www.lovehearts.com/love_calc.php

My family loves sweets. My daughter and my husband absolutely devorated the Swizzles Matlow that we were offered as a gift and for review. 

A good idea for these little heart sweets is to slip them into your partner lunch box as they have messages like: "Love", "xx" ,"Hot", "Give". 

As a parent i think that these sweets are a lot better than the jelly ones. They are easier to digest by the little ones.