My early Mother's day treats!

When I picked my little girl up from school she came out with her hands behind her back and a furtive sort of look on her face. It was cute because she was the only one in her class to be hiding her creations, all her classmates had them in full view - so I had some sort of idea what delights awaited me. 

She is as impatient as me and could not wait to show me my card - which I love. She picked my favourite colour and did her writing so neat! 

Such a simple yet beautiful card and one I can display for a long time! 

But that wasn't all - she had also been baking. 

I am a major chocoholic and she has made some choc truffles with her class and she told  that whilst making them she sneaked to the loo to lick some chocolate mixture off her hands. I asked "Why in the toilet?" and she very cleverly replied "Cos Max got told off for eating it off his hands and I didn't want to get into trouble!" 

I love these little conversations we have that reveal some of her quirks but as a 'responsible'mum I did advise that perhaps the loo wasn't the best place to be testing the mixture! 

But I am so pleased with her and really happy with the effort she has shown - despite needing the loo break!! 

And she says there are still loads of surprises to come yet .... 

(I know the photos are not the best - I am blaming my phone! But I get to upgrade in a couple of weeks - so the photos should be a lot better!! 

COMPETITION LINK- Ravi Famous £100 online voucher

Another competition link for a £100 clothing voucher to spend online at Ravi Famous 

I had a quick look around the website and picked a few items I would treat myself to if I was lucky enough to win! 

I love this skater dress with floral motif and I like it in the red colour they do too! 

This geek t-shirt is fab and comes in other colours too.

This looks both cute and snuggly warm!

But there are lots of amazing clothes to pick at a really fabulous price so maybe you should check it out and then head over  To this facebook competition here you could end up being lucky enough to expand your summer wardrobe!!

Good luck! 

COMPETITION LINK - Baileycakes Blog Beauty giveaway

I have stumbled across another fab blog. This is a really good lifestyle blog from Dorset - an area of the UK I would love to visit! And to top it off Hannah of the Bailey Cakes blog is holding a competition as a thank you for all of her followers!

The prize includes Lousie Gray for Topshop Eye pallette, Louise GraforTopshop 'impact' eyeliner, Louise Grey for Topshop creme eyeshadows and a £20 gift voucher for Zalando 

I have had a look around www.zalando.co.uk and if I was lucky enough to win I think I would be spoilt for choice! 

I did decide I liked this Anna Field dress priced at £34 - I think its striking and unusual and my typical colour!! 

So why don't you pop over to Bailey Cakes Blog and check out the competition and her fabulous post. And have a browse and see what you would treat yourself to if you were lucky enough to win!! 

My cooking - Chocolate Treats! Fudge and Hot Choc!

 I like chocolate! I like making new things with chocolate - here are two things I have made recently that both kids (and me) really enjoyed!

Hot Chocolate 
The kids wanted some hot chocolate but we didn't have some - however we had a lot of chocolate bars and treats in the cupboard so I decided to make my own! I melted chocolate in milk (using the microwave) and then to mix really well I used a blender - this created a frothy top. I added to this froth with some yummy whipped cream, crushed maltesers and some orange chocolate matchmakers!! They looked amazing but tasted a lot better!! I was quite proud of myself. Within minutes I went from being the mum of two disappointed kids to having two happy chocolated up kids!

Chocolate fudge (quick & easy) 

This was a personal challenge to myself because over the years I have tried unsuccessfully to make fudge about 3 or 4 times. It hasn't worked out so I have become frustrated. For some reason this morning I woke up determined to try something new and found an easy recipe for fudge!! I thought I would give it another go because this version looked simpler. 

To make I warmed up 400g dark choc (50%+ cocoa solids) with 25g of butter and a tin of condensed milk. Once all these ingredients were melted together I whisked in 100g of icing sugar (sifted). Once it is stiffer then put in a greased lined tin and set in the fridge before cutting into squares. 

In hindsight (that wonderful thing) I should have used an electric whisk because there are still icing sugar crystels showing - but that does not effect the taste! It is yummy!!!!! 

The Great Spring Clean 2013

In all the time we have lived in this house I have not given it a proper spring clean. In my mind a spring clean involves a deep clean and vacuum of all rooms, a massive de-clutter and organisation of household items and 'junk/treasured possessions' - all done in the same time period.

I don't want it to seem like I haven't cleaned at all - I have done all the above - in all the rooms - but not in the same weekend / weekly period.

I officially can not live with it any more though. Yes I have been recovering from my operation and so has the other half. But all the books, cds, dvds, games, teddies, clothes and ornaments are making me feel like I am drowning in crap!!

Slowly but surely I am de-cluttering - the other day I did music magpie to reduce some of my cds and jeans. Then yesterday I sold some old, unwanted and broken jewellery. I've donated some books to the local library and I've stockpiled items for a car boot.

But today I have bitten the bullet and made a somewhat small start to my huge, ginormous list!! It might take a while - but I will just work my way through it and tick them off. After all an organised tidy house leads to an organised tidy mind?

The worst / strangest view out of my window ever.

www.wooden-blinds-direct.co.uk  Are currently running a bloggers competition to try and find the worst view from a window. 

Well as soon as I read about this it took me back to 2009 when I looked out of my window and there was a runaway bus!! 

Well ok... it was a stolen bus - but it was driving erratically and crashing into parked cars causing a lot of damage. 

Me and my family were minding our business when we heard all these screeching noises coming from outside  when we stood up to take a look a bus was swerving all over the road irregardless of parked cars and pedestrians. It was one of those moments when we all looked at each as if we couldn't see believe what we were seeing. After the initial shock when we deemed it safe we ventured out to investigate - all along the street front doors were opening and other families were stepping out shaking their heads in disbelief. There was the distinctive scent of burning rubber and thick obnoxious black tyre marks running parallel all the way up the road. Those few people who had not parked on their drives were examining their vehicles to check for damage and all neighbours chatted together to gather what we knew about this incident.

Now buses do not run on our street and the people who had seen the driver could see that he was not wearing the local bus company's uniform so we gathered that something was off with the whole scenario. Eventually it came through the local grapevine that the bus had been stolen by someone with a grudge and in total had caused over £250000 worth of damage. Not just on our street but the entire 30 miles the driver had travelled had seen some form of destruction. 

It was definitely a window view that I won't forget about in a hurry!

To read about it in our local paper click here...  

If you feel you have a story about a view you have observed then head over to Wooden Blinds Direct. See what it involves and drop an entry in yourselves. You could win a Kindle Fire!! 

In Love With Fashion Wish list! (Albeit a gothic theme!!)

etailpr blog have teamed up with In Love With Fashion (ILWF) and are running this amazing competition where you can win £200 to spend online.

All you have to do is head on over to ILWF and pick some items and accessories that you like, then put them onto a collage to show them off. Now this is only the second time I have done something like this and the first time I have done a photo collage thing! So yay to me!! (haha) 

I found 5 items that I would be pleased to add to my some what dark wardrobe.      

        1  . Black and silver stud and buckle trainers at £38 I picked these because they look

 comfy and I live in trainers. (At the moment - when I get a job the 

posh shoes will come out!) The studs give that 'rocky' vibe which I know and love so these would coordinate with a lot of clothes I already have.

                      2.  LOU LOU Black Velvet Burnout Skater Dress  at £38

This is like because I consider it multi-functional. For the day time it can be teamed with funky tights, comfy shoes and for a night it could be jazzed up with a belt and some eye-catching accessories. I love wearing velvet too, its such a cuddly fabric. 

3. Black skull patterned bag with dark silver skulls! Was £35 NOW £17 (Save £18) 

I adore and love this bag. Its black, its big enough for me - yet not too big to fill with kids sweets and wipes etc... It has skulls on it - but in a subtle way. (This photo doesn't do it justice, click on the link and look in closer detail!) I just hope they still have it by the time I can afford it- because no spare income at all right now AND I WANT IT SOOOOooooooo MUCH!! 

4. Black Tie-Dye long sleeve high low top!  £28 I have always liked tie-dye but do prefer it in the two-tone colours rather than the psychedelic hippy tones! This could be teamed with a skirt, leggings, jeans - it is so versatile and because it is tie-dye it is so ontrend too! 

5. Lou Lou Purple Prom Skirt £36 - as with the dress I do need to wear more skirts and I love prom style skirts. It is purple not black - but as I wear both colours it would match many other items I have. 

I know it is a dark and maybe gloomy theme for some people - but I always wear dark clothes and feel naked wearing white or other pale colours!! I wanted to do this to show that even people with alternative fashion style can shop at fashionable & trendy stores. 

I think I have achieved this pretty well? 

To have a go at this yourself head over to etailpr and check out their guidelines on how to enter. It closes on the 15th March and the winner will be hand selected by Love's design team. 

.