Ain't No Sale Like A Primark Sale!

So, today I found myself in the West End, in my favorite place.... Primark!!

I am LOVING the shirts, they would look so cute with jeans, and the oversized Tee Shirts, and the boots and the maxi skirts....I could go on!!

I was lucky enough to walk into a few sale items today, here are my bargains:

1- Oversized POP Tee: was £6.00, reduced to £3.00
2- Army phone case: was £3.00, reduced to £1.00
3- Little Black Dress: was £13.00 reduced to £5.00
4- Voile Panel: was £6.00 reduced to £3.50
5- Socks: £2.00
6- Light Blue Maternity Jeans: £11.00
7- Polka Dot Phone Case: was £3.00, reduced to £1.00
8- Pink |Lace Skirt: was £12.00, reduced to £6.00

Total saving: £23.50!! Ain't no sale like a Primark sale!!

Last Night I Ate.... Poached Egg Crumpets & Mozzerella Salad

 

You Will Need:

2 crumpets
2 eggs
Mixed salad leaves
Tomato
Cucumber
Raddish
Mozzerella
Olive oil
Lemon Juice
Balsamic Glaze

1- Crack the 2 eggs into a pan of boiling salted water

2- Toast the crumpets

3- Arrange the salad leaves on a plate and add the sliced tomato, cucumber, raddish and mozzerella

4- Drain the eggs and butter the crumpets

5- Place the eggs on top of the crumpets and drizzle the salad with olive oil, lemon juice and balsamic glaze, finally season well with salt and pepper and Enjoy :-)

 

Last Night I Ate.... Cheesy Pasta

 

 

You will need:

 

Spaghetti pasta

Some mushrooms

A red onion

Half a red pepper

2 cloves of garlic

25g butter

25g flour

1 pint of milk

Handful of grated cheese

1/4 block of feta cheese

Cayenne pepper

Basil

Mixed herbs

Salt & pepper

 

1- Chop up veg. Put pasta onto boil. Melt the 25g of butter in a pan on a medium heat. Fry veg on a medium heat

 

2- Once the butter has melted mix with the flour. When it has formed a paste, slowly add the milk, stirring continuously until it starts to thicken

 

3- Drain the pasta. Add the feta cheese and cheddar cheese to the white sauce. Mix into the pasta. Mix the vegetables into the pasta.

 

4- Finally add a few pinches of cayenne pepper and a sprinkling of basil and mixed herbs. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy! Yum!

 

 

 

My Boyfriend

He is my cake
My sugar, my pie
He is so pure
And everything nice
His eyes are magical
One of a kind
And the very best thing,
He’s in my bed every night.

Tonight

The hours roll into one
And time flies
And I feel so small
In the world tonight

Dreams of travel
And sunshine
A different place
To calm my mind

But it’s just all the same
So constant
No sign of change

And time doesn’t exist
It’s all one
Day and night
Dark and light
No existence
Just resistance
Against time tonight

My Body At 3am

Three am
Flying objects in the darkest night sky
The city is cold tonight

The planes are loud
Cutting through the atmosphere
And the clouds

Bad tv with no morals
Playing in the background

Why is this my favourite time
When everyone’s asleep
My body’s dead inside

Aching so bad
For a tiny bit of sleep
But I feel so good
And I’m getting so deep

Scratching beneath the surface
Of the sweetest lullabys
Endless hellos
And never one goodbye

This is my heaven
This is my time
When everything’s so still
Peaceful and sublime

Last Night I Ate.... Sardine Spaghetti

 

 

 

You will need:

 

Spaghetti

A red onion

2 garlic cloves

A tin of sardines in tomato sauce

2 tbsp tomato puree

A slice of bread

Tbsp of parsley

Olive oil

Lemon juice

2 tbsp capers

 

1- Put the pasta onto boil

 

2- Chop the red onion and garlic and fry in some olive oil

 

3- Put the slice of bread in a blender to make breadcrumbs

 

4- When the onions have gone soft add the tin of sardines and tomato puree and crush together with a fork to form a paste, leave on a low heat

 

5- Fry the breadcrumbs with the parsley

 

6- Drain pasta and stir in olive oil, lemon juice, capers and sardine mix

 

7- Finally stir through the breadcrumb mix and season to taste



 

 

Last Night I Ate.... Crispy Smocked Mackerel & Rice Salad

 

You will need:

A handful of cherry tomatoes

A red onion

Balsamic glaze

Olive oil

Watercress

Rice

Lemon juice

Mackerel

1- Set the oven to 200 degrees and boil the rice

2- Slice red onion and put into an oven proof dish with a handful of cherry tomatoes. Drizzle over balsamic glaze and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven for around 20 minutes

3- When rice is cooked mix with lemon juice

4- Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the mackerel for around 5 minutes on each side until crispy

5- Arrange the watercress on the plate with the rice, cherry tomatoes and onions and finally the mackerel and voila!

How to Make a Ribbon Badge and a Beautiful Baby Photo

In my previous post was a picture of my baby inspired by Pinterest photos of babies month by month. In this post I will show you how I created this photo.

How I made the ribbon badge:

1: You will need some silver paper plates, coloured paper, 3 packets of stick on gems and some PVA glue. I got these items from Poundland. You will also need scissors and Sellotape.

2: Take a sheet of yellow, blue and pink paper, fold and cut each one in two. Fold one of the halves in roughly 1 inch sections and cut them up.

3: Cut the middle section out of the plate.

4: Fold each 'finger' of blue paper in half and stick on the back of the plate at 12 o clock, 6 o clock, 3 o clock and 9 o clock. Then stick one in between each of those.

5: Do the same with the yellow 'fingers'. Fold the pink 'fingers' in half again and cut down the fold.

6: Stick the pink 'fingers' in between the yellow and blue ones.

7: Fold in half and staple together the 3 bits of paper you have left over.

8: Stick them on the back of the plate.

9: Take another plate and cut the inside section out as before. Cover the back of the plate with everything stuck on with PVA glue.

10: Stick the plate you just cut out onto the original plate and leave under a mattress for an hour.

11: Using the black gems, cut to size and arrange onto the plate whatever you would like it to say.

12: Finally decorate using the heart and star gems. 

 

 

 

How I made the photo:

 

1: Arrange pillows against a corner of a wall on your bed.

2: Drape over a throw. I got mine from Primark for £5. 

3: After baby's fed and burped lay him on the throw.

4: Lay your ribbon badge against the pillow behind your baby.

5: Take the pic! Finish off by using some Instagram effects and voila!

My Baby & Me - Month 1

 

During my pregnancy I was in a hole so deep I didn't think I'd ever get out. Everyone always talks about post natal depression but no one ever mentions pre natal depression. I had never even heard of it and didn't know I was suffering from it until after I'd had the baby.

Once that baby came out everything changed. It was like my head was replaced. I started smiling again and I haven't stopped since the first time I saw his little body, across the room, with a tiny oxygen mask and doctors around him. I could hear him, his tiny little voice and it was like hearing heaven. I wanted to hold him but because I had lost so much blood it was a while before they put him on my chest. After the birth was such a blur, but I will never forget when I first held him and looked into his eyes. It was literally the happiest moment of my entire life. 

We stayed in hospital for 5 days after the baby was born. I am so glad that I wasn't rushed home as most new mothers are. The midwives and maternity support workers were amazing and helped me so much. I don't think I would have got the hang of breast feeding without them being on call 24/7. And it was so reassuring to have professionals around when things were happening to my body which I was unsure of, like the blood clots you can get. They can look very scary, and it was a relief to be told that everything was normal. The most shocking part was when my milk came in. I woke up at 4am to go to the toilet and I was wearing a onesie. As I unzipped it I thought I was dreaming. My boobs had swollen up to the size of Jordan's. They were so hard like stiff rubber. When I tried to lay back down it was so painful. I honestly thought they were going to explode. After a day of warm showers and breast pumps they went down. 

I will never forget walking out of the hospital when I took my baby home. I felt so strong and powerful. I was a completely different person to the one who had waddled in, uncomfortable and exhausted, 10 days before.

The first month has been beautiful. All I have wanted to do is lay and stare at my beautiful baby. 

What to expect:

My baby wakes up every 3 - 4 hours. When he does I change his nappy, feed him, cuddle him, burp him and enjoy watching his changing expressions and little noises. After he has been awake for around an hour I hold him close to me and read, watch TV or browse the Internet until he falls asleep.

My advice for the first month:

1: If you have had a traumatic pregnancy, now is the time to relax and forget the rest of the world - stay in bed.

2: When you do need to venture out to get nappies or food or do your washing, have a relaxing bath and a little pamper before hand. Theres nothing better than having your iPod blasting walking along feeling confident with a pram in your hand! Also, babies love being in motion as it reminds them of being in the womb.

3: Don't listen to anyone else. Having a baby is the most natural thing in the world and don't let anyone ruin that or take that away from you. Do what you feel is right, it is your baby, not anyone else's, and enjoy him as much as possible.

4: Do breast feed if you can. I have expressed my milk and fed him from a bottle when I am too tired to breast feed but I find that when I do this its very hard to get him back to sleep. This is because breast feeding your baby will tire him out, he will fall asleep a lot easier as he has to work harder in order to get the milk out.

5: Make a Pinterest inspired picture. Baby's grow so quick, I notice my baby's face changing a little bit each day. While browsing Pinterest I noticed many people had been creating photography of their babies month by month. I think these pictures are a great idea as when you put them all together after 12 months it can be amazing to see how quickly your baby has grown. You can buy little vests with 1 month, 2 months etc on or write on a black board with your baby in front, but my favourite was using a ribbon badge for each month. A post on how I made the ribbon badge and created the photo above will soon follow.

S x 

What To Expect When You're Not Expecting

 

August 2012: I was getting geared up for my first ever festival. I was ecstatic about seeing LTJ and asking Roger to marry me (again). Freaked out about the camping part, but the booze and junk food would keep me warm.

I lasted one night in a tent. When I woke up the next day at 6am I begged J to take me to the train so I could escape the rowdy teenagers and hell like toilets. I felt like I had the hangover from hell, even though all I had was half a can of 2% larger. What was wrong with me? Was I getting old?

J kindly dropped me off at the train station. As I was standing in the queue I felt so sick. I thought I’d be okay, but as I got closer to the front, the feeling was getting worse. I finally got called to buy my ticket, and as I stood there, in front of the crowded train station, I couldn’t believe what my body was forcing me to do. I projectile vomited as the poor cashier was asking my destination. People were looking at me like I was an annoying teenager who couldn’t handle her drink. I had no bloody idea what was wrong with me, but I knew for a fact it wasn’t alcohol induced.

When I arrived home the flat was an absolute tip. I felt so fed up. I was still feeling rough, so I tried to sleep. A few hours later I was getting worried, and as it was bank holiday weekend, the only place to go was A&E. After spending all afternoon and evening there, and them telling me it was a ‘virul infection’ and I could go home, I still didn’t feel right. They said I could stay in overnight, and they would monitor me.

The next morning I felt slightly better. I decided I needed a fresh start for when I started uni. I just wanted to be by myself, get away from all distractions. I was determined to finish uni with a first class honours degree. I started looking for places to live, and was feeling really good about myself for being so motivated. I spotted the doctors coming and was ready for them to give me the all clear, and get out of there, but I would have never guessed in a million years what would happen next.

“You’re pregnant.”

That’s all he said. So blunt, with no emotion. Then he walked off.

WTF.

I couldn't be pregnant. I was on the bloody pill and hardly had sex. Me and F had been falling out a lot lately, I couldn’t even remember the last time we passionately kissed, let alone had full blown intercourse.

There must be some mistake. So I chased after him and told him I wasn't pregnant.

"Yes you are. It's come up in your bloods."

I was crying my eyes out, and this stupid doctor, he must have got someone else's results mixed up with mine. This could not be true. I was starting uni in a few weeks time. I'm far too young for all this. I don't even know what to do with a baby. I want to go travelling, I want to make money, I want to be married and have a house and be comfortable and have no worries when I even begin to think about having a baby. Omg omg omg omg omg omg.

This was not happening.

"Excuse me, could you please do another test. I don't think I am pregnant. I think it's a mix up."

The doctor looked at me like I was mad.

Reluctantly he agreed to do another test.

Of course he was right. It came back positive.

I was hysterical, I was crying so much I could hardly form words. 

The next few weeks were a complete blur. I did not know what to do.

How could I have a baby? I had so many plans. My life constantly feels like there’s so much to do, and no time to do it. How would I have time for a baby?

But how could I kill something that’s growing inside of me, that’s made up of me and the love of my life.

I spent so much time thinking.

In bed.

Thinking.

I had a constant headacke.

The flat looked like a bomb had hit it.

I was eating shit, and didn’t even have the energy to have a wash.

I was like a tramp with a bed.

I needed to make a choice.

This was driving me crazy.

I arranged viewings of alternative accomodation.

I booked an abortion.

Then I realised, F was the love of my life. And yes, he was annoying, but still, I couldn’t be without him. This is life, this is real, this is what dreams are made of. Falling in love and creating life. This was living. This wasn’t giving up, this was just the begining.

 

Strong and Fragrant and full of Acidic Juice!

Lusty:

Healthy and strong; full of vigour.

Also: strong, robust, sturdy, vigorous, powerful, hale.

Lemon:

A yellow, oval citrus fruit with thick skin and fragrant, acidic juice.