The London Mummy, Author at The London Mummy

The Best Of The Rest : January Sales

Taking full advantage of Granny’s willingness to bump down the stairs for the 100th time / look up things on YouTube / play kitchen football (delete as appropriate), I had a few moments to hit the sales. From the drawing room obviously. Rain + countryside + children = snatching two minutes here and there to peruse the January sales.

Maybe I am late to the party but I have worked out that there is no point looking low end as there really is nothing left (unless you are in situ) however higher end is great if you know what you want. Also the ‘normal’ sizes are still left high end as the only people who can afford the items at the original price are size 6’s. Controversial? Maybe.

Anyway, here is what I saw and liked!

Banana Republic Mongram Textrured Top. Was £55 now £28.

I love the zip down the back, the gaping arms (to make your arms look skinny!) and the on trend colour for SS16 – Cream.

Saint Laurent Leather Trousers. Was £415 now £290.

Ok, not an every day purchase but if you have been lusting after some to see you until you are 60, this classic flattering fit are all yours. (Unless you are a size 6 of course – they are sold out).

Cos Raised Textured Knit Jumper. Was £55 now £28.

I earmarked this when I was in a Cos store but decided to wait until the sale. To my delight it was and I have just ordered it online.

Pull & Bear Check Print Foulard. Was £17.99 now £12.99.

Not a massive saving but saving enough to justify a purchase?

Isabel Marant Studded Suede Ankle Boots. Was £330 now £128.

I have a penchant for suede and studs combined so these really winked at me. Bargain!

Savannah Miller Semi Sheer Top. Was £40 now £20.

If a dry January is for others and you have a few soirees, this is a pretty top to dress up or down. And it’s half price!

Savannah Miller Blue Denim Shirt. Was £38 now £26.80.

This is a classic shirt both in fit and fabric that suits most people. (If you have put on a few pounds over Christmas, perfect disguise!)

Anthropologie Argenta Longline Jacket. Was £120 now £58.

If it stops raining, this understated but chic coat jacket could take you from Winter to Spring. Love the leather trim and at less than half price it is a steal.

If you like this post, check out Parkas For Women, School Run Trainers, TLM Loves… Jumpers With Detail.

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Activities Family Life Fashion People Places Products

A Quick Review of 2015

I hope you had a really Happy Christmas and you are enjoying the family time (and not just biding time till they go back to school..)

Here is a little review of The London Mummy in 2015. These were the posts, pictures and articles most engaged with, by YOU!

PEOPLE

A & L Property is growing rapidly. If you have any property management requirements, she is your girl!

5 Services in London that may help you in the New Year.

If you are thinking of starting your own, Samantha Bishop has top tips to think about before you even contact a web designer (which should be her by the way – she did TLM!)

I love my daily emails from Wear & Where… Fashion & Lifestyle Blog from 2 mother’s in London.

PLACES

We went to The Goat in Chelsea who now have a kids entertainer over Sunday lunch. Win!

Farm Trips Close To London was popular, especially useful over October half term.

A Festive Train Ride on board the ‘Orient Express’ at Christmas was magical and very original.

Pitch & Putt in Wandsworth & Battersea – a gem of a place for when you have a short window of time.

PRODUCTS

School Run Boots and School Run Trainers were my most popular posts of the whole year! From feedback I have received, I think it worked as we are all too busy to research ourselves so like it when it arrives in our lap!

Useful Baby Items was a very reflective post and actually now I am 8 months on from that post, I think a ‘Part 2’ is in order.

Personalised Stationary with your own painted picture on it! Alex’s stationary is going so well, you can now commission her to do a ‘proper’ painting!

Harriet Hoult’s Art is one to watch. I love the bright colours. I have just the right spot on my kitchen wall… 🙂

Of course, not forgetting the post I wrote on if you want 3 kids – Time For Number 3! and my ‘reflective’ Birthday post 35 Things I have Learnt in 35 Years.

I started a Facebook page in October to post articles and these were the most ‘clicked’ on.

The Key Jar is a jar that you put in 48 questions to pull out whenever you are all together as a family. My 3 year old answered every single one ‘I want to go to a fair’ as he is still slightly young (!) but if you have any 5+ it is a great idea to get them thinking.

This article A Fat Lot of Good Enough was encouraging to those of us who have moments that we aren’t doing as well at parenting as we hope for!

One Question one mother asked her now very successful sons every night…

Maybe a little too late, but this article on Not Over Indulging Your Children is great.

These were a few of my favourite snaps on my Instagram page

THANK YOU

If you have read The London Mummy from the beginning, thank you for taking a chance on me when I launched in April 2015 and if you have just started following me, hello!

If you have any recommendations for things to do, places to see or friends who are launching their own business and want a Spotlight, please email me hello@thelondonmummy.com

It would also be great to hear what you would like to see more (or less) of… TLM is predominantly about supporting small companies like Crane Bump Baby and Muklet

If you would like a banner or advert on TLM, please email me hello@thelondonmummy.com or you can reply to this email.

Lastly, please forward this email to any friends who you think might find The London Mummy useful. I don’t plan on world domination (yet) but I have lots of exciting posts planned in 2016 so don’t want anyone to miss out 🙂

HAVE A WONDERFUL 2016 XXX

thelondonmummy.com

Facebook : facebook.com/thelondonmummy

Instagram : Instagram.com/thelondonmummy

Twitter : twitter.com/londonmummyuk

nb. A special thank you in particular to Katrina, Julie, Lucy, Emily, Hen, Flora, Laura, Tania, Hannah & Caroline for liking, poking, suggesting, sharing and commenting…

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TLM Monthly Edit

TLM Monthly Edit : December 2015

Christmas has crept up with no chance of compiling Christmas lists for our loved ones as it has been a mucky few months in terms of childcare (although things are now looking up – phew) so here is my December Edit with a few bits that I would have included had I done them!

A Mini Filled Christmas Stocking For Your Child’s Teddy or Doll £10

This is such a cute idea and all for a good cause too. Buy a stocking for your little one in either pink or green and leave it for their favourite teddy when they wake on Christmas morning. £2 goes to Refuge Crisis Appeal. Email Carina ministockings@gmail.com for more information.

Moonstruck £D Fiber Lashes Mascrara £23 Yoonique

Being a staunch mascara wearer, I was over excited to try this 3D mascara that would give you a false eye lash effect without the effort of ‘real’ false eyelashes. Eek. I am in love. I slightly look like I have a daddy long legs stuck to my eyes as it works SO well. (I think this is a good thing!) Special wipes are included as once its on, it ain’t going anywhere. Perfect before a big night out!

Personalised Embroidered Basket £22 Edit 58

Personalised? Tick. Help keep things tidy? Tick. Original? Tick. Good value? Tick. Need I say more.

NB. And as the kids are on holidays, I don’t have time to say more, although I have really perfected one finger left hand typing whilst keeping tot at bay with right hand. But it takes longer than I would like!

Superhero Scootearz £12.99 Scooterearz

These keep little hands warm without the headache of looking for/misplacing /losing gloves each day, not to mention the effort to put them on the right way!

Leather Clutch Bag £30 Davina Mulford Millinery

This little combination would be a perfect gift for a sister in law or mother. Davina also sells beautiful fedora’s!

Character Embelished Skirt £15 Next

There are some high street shops that you can’t give as a present. Next isn;t one of them. They have upped their game recently and there smart simple styles could often be mistaken for … designer! Here is a classic example. A cute charcoal gathered skirt with grosgrain ribbon and applique little animals on it. I’m not into emblems, motifs or applique for that matter but this is charming (and it has a little red robin on it – a cheeky nod to Christmas). Alas, I had to ask the assistant to take it from my hands and place it back on the rails. My daughter doesn’t ‘need’ any more winter clothes!

Snowcap Beanie reduced to £38 Anthropologie

This popped up on my Instagram feed from a fab fashion blog I follow Wearing It Today

A lush take on the the mainstream Pom Pom Hat!

Hope you are enjoying the fun festive frivolities this week. Hope you go get some rest before Christmas so you are fresh for Father Christmas xx

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Events Family Life Places

What’s On : Television For Little Ones Over Christmas

As soon as the Christmas TV line up was announced, we bought a Radio Times and sat with our highlighter and marked appropriate films over the Christmas holiday season for the little ones. (I’m not actually exaggerating!) Obviously we plan to play family games most of the time so this was just in case they needed some downtime in front of the television… 😉

I have included films that are showing on terrestrial (between 0700 and 1900) as there is a problem nowadays with too much choice, so easiest to keep it ‘old school…’ and some grandparents don’t have Sky!

Saturday 19th December

1355 THE MUPPETS BBC1

1710 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS C4

Sunday 20th December

1505 TOY STORY 3 BBC1

1515 THE ADDAMS FAMILY C4

1705 PINOCCHIO C5

1800 HOME ALONE C4 (This is an absolute favourite in our house.)

1930 SOUND OF MUSIC SING ALONG ITV (My husband insisted I should include this!)

Monday 21st December

1035 JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH C5

1210 JACK AND THE BEANSTALK C5

1350 THE BORROWERS C5

1550 SHREK 2 BBC1

Tuesday 22nd December

1120 THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS C5

1225 FIVE CHILDREN AND IT C4

1550 SHREK 3 BBC1

1610 THE SECRET GARDEN C5

Wednesday 23rd December

0735 THE RUGRATS MOVIE C4

0925 SHORT CIRCUIT BBC1

Christmas Eve

0905 BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS BBC2

1030 SANTA CLAUSE BBC1

1230 STUART LITTLE C4

1550 FINDING NEMO BBC1

1655 SNOWMAN C4

Christmas Day

0820 HERBIE RIDES AGAIN BBC2

0945 THE CAT IN THE HAT BBC2

1345 THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL C4

1510 THE WIZARD OF OZ C5

1510 BRAVE BBC1 (This is the Radio Times kids pick)

1645 STICK MAN BBC1

Boxing Day

1310 JURASSIC PARK ITV

1525 PUSS IN BOOTS BBC1

1645 THE CROODS BBC1

Sunday 27th December

0915 FLUSHED AWAY BBC1

1040 SUPERMAN ITV

1350 MARY POPPINS BBC1

1535 HUGO C4

Monday 28th December

0900 BEE MOVIE BBC1

1625 MADAGASCAR BBC1

Tuesday 29th December

0900 SHARK TALE BBC1

1020 CARS 2 BBC1

1755 FINDING NEVERLAND BBC2

Wednesday 30th December

0900 THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG BBC1

1030 CHICKEN RUN BBC1

1230 WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY ITV

1555 ROOM ON THE BROOM BBC1

1620 MONTERS INC BBC1

New Years Eve

1055 TINTIN

1450 UP BBC1

1520 HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS C4

1845 ET ITV2 (exception to the above rule)

New Years Day

0900 TURBO BBC1

0935 THOMAS AND FRIENDS C5

1630 WRECK IT RALPH BBC1

1800 TANGLED C4

Right, i’m off to Sky Plus as much as I can, as nothing like having a back log of movies saved up for after school in the winter months!

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Interiors Products Spotlight

Sophie Cann : The Bird Box

One of the most frequent questions I am asked about my blog is, ‘how do I make money from The London Mummy?’ The simple answer is, I don’t! Many blogs sell advertising space (I don’t have time to get my act together at the moment to do this – hopefully 2016 is my year), use affiliate marketing (generally only the big companies enable this so you lose your authenticity as you only include the large established companies) or do sponsored posts (where you are basically paid to write about something). My aim is to only ever include items, people and places that I genuinely love. I want a central place to showcase all the amazing business’s and products that are new to the market and support people who are making their way.

However, (always a however) in order to write an authentic post, I do have to have some sort of experience of the product, service or place so I often include topics that I have used (or would like to use), that have been directly recommended to me (I love hearing about new things – please send me any ideas) The same stands for new products. Occasionally however, one of the bonus’s is, I am sometimes gifted a few items… A recent arrival was a beautiful gift box hand delivered by the lovely Sophie from The Bird Box. She arrived with a stylish and generous package, packed with 2 scented candles, body wash, body cream and children’s body wash. It was such a treat as it is not something that I would usually buy myself. I can genuinely say that they are the most gorgeous products and I am so excited for Sophie’s little business.

Sophie has a great story of how she came to start The Bird Box.

“Firstly as a singleton, then as a wife and mother, I enjoyed living in London for 12 years before playing “musical chairs” with my family home. My husband and I decided to decamp from London to Berkshire. Unconvinced, we moved back to London before finally deciding country life did actually suit us better, so we moved back to Berkshire again! (Sigh… and breath!!!) I finally feel settled and happy here in Berkshire with my lovely husband, two gorgeous children and my two smelly dogs.”

It was whilst she was pregnant with her daughter Cece that she had the desire to set up a beauty and lifestyle retreat called “The Bird Box” in converted stables at the end of their driveway. Unfortunately gaining planning permission was slightly trickier than anticipated, but she still believed in The Bird Box idea. So undeterred, she decided to focus on the home and beauty aspects and set about developing her products.

“I have always been a very creative person and have always been hugely passionate about the quality of the products I use, so it was only natural for me to create my own candles, scents and beauty products, thus The Bird Box was born.”

It’s her mission to create beautiful, original, artisan products of the highest quality that you’d want to buy for yourself and not just for friends (because as women we too often put ourselves last on the list, don’t we?). And it is a bit of a girl thing – over 95% of all candles are bought by women!

With this in mind, she wanted to give something back. Having a daughter massively changed her personally and her outlook on life. She felt so blessed and fortunate to be a woman born into western society.

“We take for granted so many everyday choices and rights; like simply getting an education or choosing who we are going to marry. An enormous amount of women all over the world do not have these rights, and as a citizen of the world I want to help these women in any way I can. With this in mind, I choose to donate 5% of all my profits to PLAN International’s “I am a girl” campaign. I know it’s only a token gesture, but I believe if we all make a little effort to support each other then great things can happen!”

As for her future, Sophie has lots of exciting plans and aspirations for The Bird Box. She is currently balancing being a mummy to a very young family and being an entrepreneur. She has determination and a belief that she will get to where she wants to be – it may just take her a little longer – but no doubt it will be sweeter for it!

Sophie’s Favourites

Hotel : The Witchery, Edinburgh

Restaurant : Novikov (The best California rolls EVER!)

Shop : Daunt Books, Marylebone Hight Street

Website : TED talks

Holiday destination : Seaview, The Isle of Wight

Parenting Tip : “Smile lots at your children and make sure they see you smile”

www.thebirdbox.com

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Interiors Products

Operation Christmas Decoration Overhaul

When we put the Christmas decorations up last week, I (definitely only me – everyone else was thrilled) felt that our decorations needed a revamp with a few new bits and pieces. The collaboration of my husband and my decorations when we married, now 6 years on, have really seen their day. What started as a set, had ended up as only 1 or 2 and the ‘mulled wine infused with cinnamon scented Christmas candle’ is really in need of the bin…. So off I went on a cyber shop for a few pretty (for me) and fun (for the children) items to spruce up our countdown to the Big Day.

Hooray Tree Decoration £4.90 Holly’s House

It wouldn’t be a recommendation from me without a bit of neon and sparkle thrown in. How fun are these… You could even turn it into a key ring afterwards!

Rainbow PomPom Lights £25 PomPomGalore

Put these up at Christmas and they will no doubt stay up throw 2016 too. I love them!

Fir & Snowberry Garland £70 The White Company

This is super smart and would be a great addition to any staircase. (Other than ones which children slide down!)

London LED Battery Lights £10 Paperchase

I plan to use these on the back of the buggy or on my handle bars. That’s if the boys don’t grab them first!

Ski Lift Scene With Music £55 John Lewis

From experience with these Christmas scenes, they have the little ones transfixed for longer than most things. They rally are magical and John Lewis do a very engaging Ski Scene. Do it! Or buy it for Grandma & Grandpa’s house…

Traditional Nativity Scene £10 Christmas Time UK

It’s mega important not to forget why we are ~~indulging~~ celebrating Christmas and this little Nativity Scene will help you explain the Christmas story.

Traditional Santa Plate £15 Pearl & Earl

Totally unnecessary but absolutely brilliant personalised plate (I am sure they can sign it from more than 1 child or you could just use your surname) and a great investment if your kiddies have a few more years believing.

The Night Before Christmas £5.24

We were given this book when our eldest was a baby and we have read it to them after we have done the mince pies and carrots for Santa and his Reindeers. It’s a sweet book and a tradition that seems to be working!

Crepe Surpise Crackers 19e Smallable

These are so colourful and a bit different. If you are more traditional – these would be great for the childrens table!

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Activities Family Life Places

Belmond : A Journey On The Festive Express

On Saturday, my 5 year old Hugo and I, were invited on the Festive Express. It was an epic train journey through the British countryside in a beautiful Belmond British Pullman train (sister train to the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express!) Departing from Victoria, it was packed with festive fun for the little ones, organised beautifully by the ‘ultimate travel curator’ Belmond.

We were met at Victoria by a choir singing us onto our train carriage.

The table settings were super smart and the food was absolutely top notch!

The highlight of the day was the superb entertainment from Sharky and George who jested, joked & entertained there was through the British countryside. The highlight was the tug of war down the middle of the carriage and Grandmothers footsteps with a sweet scramble at the end.

A very exciting guest turned up on our way back into a London – Father Christmas, ladedn with a large bag of presents for each child. I couldn’t believe how generous he was before the actual big day itself!

The whole day was so fun & spoiling, we are definitely going to go again next year but maybe i’ll take my second son this time – the oldest can’t have all the fun!

belmond.co.uk

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Fashion Little Products Spotlight

Caroline Hetterschijt : Four Fairies and a Prince

One of my favourite ‘go to’ children’s wear and accessory websites is Four Fairies and a Prince. It launched the website in October 2013 when Caroline met Pinja at NCT when they were both expecting their two oldest ‘fairies’.

They were both dreaming about starting their our own business and were ready for a new challenge. They share the love of children’s clothing from Scandinavia and the Netherlands. About a year before they launched the website they started setting it all up, designing the website, the buying etc. A few month before the launch Pinja gave birth to her second daughter and Caroline gave birth to number three. By October they were ready to go live with their first collection and they gave up their jobs!

Sock With Neon Orange £11.50

Ebbe Dress Hedda £35

Thin Knit Woolen Jumper £39

Ballerina Skirt £25

Caroline’s Favourite’s

Shop : Hema

Restaurant : Claude’s Kitchen, Parsons Green, London

Hotel : The George, Rye

Website : Not On The High Street

Holiday Destination : Domburg, Netherlands

Parenting Tip :

“This is a tricky one, I think that I will find out in 10-15 years if I have done the right things. I try to stay close to myself (which does mean that I do lose my patience once in a while as well….) and raise them in loving and social family. There is a lot of advice out there that comes to you via books, friends, internet of just random people in the street that think they have solutions for everything. It is good to listen but do pick things that work for you, feel right and work for your children and family. I strongly believe that if you raise your children with confidence and love, more then half the job has been done!”

www.fourfairiesandaprince.com

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