Sick (Again!) & Friday Faves

Well, this may come as no surprise to you, but two things happened this week that were definitely not on the cards for me anyway:

 

1) I got sick again :-( I did feel something coming on for about a week but I thought with all the nutrient rich food that I have been eating plus extra antioxidants (smoothies) I won't get that sick. Whomp, whomp...I did. So after being tired of being sick all the time I had a little visit with my doctor. Turns out I have another sinus infection. It seems that my sinuses are a bit on the small side so when a usually harmless little virus comes along (i.e. the common cold) it gets a bit stuck in my sinuses and the infection just gets worse and worse until I am sick with a horrendous sinus infection. The doctor said to look up Chronic Sinusitis (yup, that is what I've got). So I am now armed with some nasal spray (sexy, non?) and some Sudafed (which doesn't seem to be doing much)! I was thinking I might have to consider that surgery that they can do on sinuses to help you from getting so many infections, except some of my friends have had it done and they still manage to get sinusitis. What's a girl to do? Anyway, starting to feel slightly more normal. Fingers crossed for a healthy next week! 

P.S. This does indeed mean that I did not workout. Not once :-( 

My accessory of the moment.

2) My car ended up back in the garage! When I was off to the Ideal Home Show in Manchester last weekend I found that the last 15 min of my drive was spent stepping on the accelerator and going nowhere! I ended up just putting on my hazard lights and sort of coasting to the nearest parking space. Dangerous, I know. When I got back to the car after the show I started it up and I began my drive back home (this was based on my husband's advice, which was 'try and get as close to our local garage as you can'). I made it to the garage and got a lift the rest of the way from my superhero boys! 

The next day the garage called (they know me well!) and told me they couldn't find anything wrong with it :-/ They suggested I take it to a transmission specialist. I did. I got my car back today. The transmission specialist said he couldn't find anything wrong with it. This car is playing tricks! 

Crazy times this week people :-) 

So here are a couple of my faves from the week:

1) The World Cup has started! Looking forward to both England and the USA's opening matches!! The boys have even gotten in on the act with football madness in the garden. 

2) First Big Brother Eviction. Oh dear who's going to get the ax!

3) Gardening work has begun. Even though I am not feeling 100%, we cut down some trees and basically butchered our yard! Tomorrow will start a bit of a clean up I think. Plus, now we need the big guys to come out with real saws and chippers :-) 

A massacre has occurred!

4) White Wine. Yes, I know I haven't been feeling well but I went ahead and had some white wine. It was good and yes, I had it in my garden in the sun :-)

5) Waiting for my drugs to kick in! Looking forward to waking up and feeling better. 

So that is it for tonight. I hope everyone else had a good and healthy week. I'll be back Sunday with a post on Father's Day and of course my weekly food & fitness plan for next week. 

Also, keep a look out for my 100th post coming very soon!!

xx

Decorating Your Children's Bedroom is...Easy!

I mentioned yesterday that I spent the day at the Ideal Home Show in Manchester. This was curtsey of Dulux Bedroom in a Box. Now, I had never heard of Bedroom in a Box but I have heard of Dulux. We have used Dulux paint a lot in our current home and in some previous places we have lived. Dulux paint comes in such a large variety of colours and textures and it is really reliable. We have never had a bad batch of paint with Dulux!

So when I was asked if I wanted some tickets to the Ideal Home Show to take a look at Dulux Bedroom in a Box stand I couldn't resist.

So what is Bedroom in a Box?
Dulux Bedroom in a Box is simply a box which contains an exciting colourful mural (and adhesive) and coordinating Dulux paints (some boxes even contain brushes!). The boxes available are: Jungle Adventure, Fairy Princess, Sea Adventure and coming soon Peppa Pig and Marvel Avengers Assemble.

At the Ideal Home Show the Dulux Bedroom in a Box stand was decorated using the Sea Adventure themed box. The staff were all really friendly and helpful answering some of my questions such as:

What happens if you need more paint than what is provided? 
The boxes are meant to contain enough paint for two coats on three walls of 3m x 3m. If you are purchasing online you will be asked if you need more paint than what is provided in the box and it can be sent on. However, the paint colours used should all be readily available at your local DIY stores.

What happens if your wall space is not big enough for the mural?
The mural comes in strips like normal wall paper so you can either leave out a strip on one side or one on each side or the paper can be easily trimmed.

How much does the Bedroom in a Box cost?
The recommended retail price is £70 which includes: Dulux Matt 2.5L coordinated colour (depending on the box you choose), Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood 750ml paint for trim, Polycell Maximum Strength Wallpaper Adhesive, and Walltastic Designer Wallpaper Mural.

In my opinion, the Bedroom in a Box concept is fantastic. I think it is super helpful for those novice DIYers, people who want a limited choice (lets face it too many choices are paralysing) and it is easy (most people can complete their room transformation in a day!).

An easy children's bedroom remodel! 

Thank you to Dulux Bedroom in a Box for inviting me to the Ideal Home Show. I had a great time and enjoyed seeing a real Bedroom in a Box and meeting your staff.

This post is in association with Dulux. I have not purchased nor been given a Bedroom in a Box so all opinions and information is purely based on my experience at the Ideal Home Show.  
xx

Food & Fitness 8th June 2014

Hello! I hope you have had a lovely weekend. Things here have been a wash out! I guess when I planned to do some gardening this weekend I didn't realize that it was going to be pouring with rain, mixed with thunder and lightening! Whoops, I guess we'll have to work on the gardening another time ;-) We had a rather lazy Saturday due to me feeling really congested (again!) and also due to the semi-unexpected down pours. Today was spent out at The Ideal Home Show in Manchester (will give more details in an up coming post!).

Oh dear was going to include some photos of the weekend but phone has died on me and didn't upload to my account. Boo!

As always on a Sunday here is my food and fitness plan for the week:

Food:
Sunday- Lamb Chops with Pasta and Tomato Sauce
Monday- BBQ Chicken with Rice and Salad
Tuesday- Ham Pie with Mash and Peas
Wednesday- Soup with Fresh Bread
Thursday- Beef Stir-Fry with Rice
Friday- TBD (just me and the boys)
Saturday- Chicken Taco Salad

Fitness: 
Sunday- Rest (still feeling under the weather and a bit feverish)
Monday- Rest or Run 6k (depending on how I feel in the morning)
Tuesday- Spinning
Wednesday- Strength Training (concentrate on arms)
Thursday- Running Club (7k)
Friday- Personal Training
Saturday- Run



Have a fab week and see you soon with a post on Children's Bedroom Decoration!
xx

Friday Faves 6th June 2014

Yay, it's Friday! I hope you have all had a good week. Mine has been good but a little sniffley. I have had a very intense cold all week and will hopefully be feeling better soon. Today's weather is awesome and we are off out to the park later today with some friends! Can't wait to enjoy some more sun. :-)

I hope you are having a great (and sunny) Friday too.

As always on a Friday, here are my 5 faves:

1) Big Brother- Yes! BB has started back up and as my husband says 'There goes the next 3 months!' I just love watching BB. It is probably my guiltiest pleasure. Ah...mindless junk TV :-)

2) My Trainer - Had two meet ups with my trainer this week and feel sore (but in a good way). She took my measurements today and hopefully I'll see how I've improved. She is sending the numbers over later. I am glad that she is back as I missed being pushed and can't wait to get a new plan set up.

3) Conversations with my boys - Both of my boys are real chatter boxes at the minute. Frankie can really chat now and follows the conversation really well. He is also pretty funny when he wants to be. Dylan is still finding his voice and learning new words and his favourite word is still 'NO' but he is saying more and more and he also makes me laugh. The other night in the bath he said 'Mumma, ready, steady, go!' Then swiftly threw his toy boat out at me. :-)

Frankie and I had a chat about shadows (just like in Peter Pan!)

4) Getting outside/Sun/Bubbles - today is a gorgeous day so we had some tea outside in our yard and then blew bubbles. I love simple times like this!

Dylan running after some bubbles (he looks tiny here)

5) Gardening- I have finally got to do a bit of gardening. Just some simple things but I felt good about getting them done.We now have a new window box and a new evergreen plant outside our side door (the one we use the most). We also have some plans to cut down a couple of trees and do some more weeding this weekend. Now if only we had lots of money and could get that landscaper back to do the more serious things that need doing! ;-)

Not yet symmetrical, getting another flower box soon!

Have a great weekend!

xx

A Meeting With My Trainer

As you might remember my personal trainer has been away on vacation in Mexico for 2 weeks. I have really missed her. My strength training carried on without her (I promise you I did not slack) two days a week lifting as heavy a weight as I could that was safe, but there were some things I couldn't do without her support, feedback on proper positioning and help with some of the weights.

Before she left for her vacation I was feeling a bit down about my progress. I had been training with her about 5 weeks and hadn't really seen any difference in my shape (although I know it takes a while for your shape to change). Don't get me wrong, I definitely have been feeling better for working out with her and needed a serious kick up the backside to get back into strength training but I feel something is missing.

Some of my gym kit

I told her that when she got back we would need to have a meeting to re-take my measurement and see if any thing had changed. She made some suggestions of things that I could be concentrating on while she was gone. Here they are:

• Carry on with my training twice a week
• Cut back on the caffeine but drink more water
• Eat more protein, less refined carbs, and more fibre filled fruit
• Find a new fitness challenge

Sooo...

• I have carried on with my training.
• I have stuck to her eating suggestions for 2/3 my day. I have lost 2lbs. I think it has helped with a more noticeable change in my shape.
• I have also signed up for a 10k! (but it is only in Nov!!)

Some of my new snack staples (still finding room for chocolate though!)

Now that she is back, I am hoping to have my measurements taken again and let the numbers do the talking. I also want to talk to her more seriously about my fitness goals and see if we can come up with something suitable together. I can't wait!! I hope she is well rested ;-)

Have you got any new fitness goals?
xx

Crying Day (Annabel Karmel muffin recipe)

Oh dear! It has been one of those days over here. Both my boys were up at the crack of dawn, both in tears. No, they didn't want to get back to sleep! :-/

The day carried on with my youngest full of tears. There was not much to do in the way of consoling him. Holding him didn't work, he wasn't hungry, he wasn't ill...he was tired and he was fighting sleep!

Nap time came and went. No one was interested despite my putting them down several times. The crying continued.

Lunch time helped! :-)

After lunch we baked some Annabel Karmel 'Bomb' muffins. That also helped but when I limited them to one each the crying began again.

BOMB Muffins (Banana, Oats, Maple Syrup, Blueberries)
Ingredients:
30g rolled oats
86g whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 lg ripe banana mashed
1 egg
30g melted butter
4 Tbs maple syrup
3 Tbs soft light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
55g blueberries
Demerara sugar

Preparations
1. Preheat oven to 180 C or 160 C if fan assisted. Line 6 large or 12 small muffin pans with paper cups. Mix together the oats, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a large bowl. 

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the banana, egg, butter, syrup, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in the blueberries.

3. Spoon into the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters full. Sprinkle a little Demerara sugar on to each muffin. Bake until muffins have risen and are firm to the touch. 12-14 min for small muffins or 15-17 for large. Cool on a wire rack. 

************

No one wanted super. No one wanted a bath. No one wanted cuddling.

Both my boys went to bed tonight at 6:45pm! Mummy is relieved. Tomorrow will be a better day!

xx

Food & Fitness 1st June 2014

Hello! I hope you have all had a lovely weekend! We have had a low key and happy weekend in some sunshine :-) We had quite the adventure today in a garden centre! It was seriously the biggest garden centre I have ever been in! We originally went to go to their Dinosaur Discovery park but when we found out (in the most dramatic way) that the dinosaurs weren't working due to an electricity cut we made fun in other departments!

Yes, jumping on potting soil can be fun!

Food:
Sunday- (winner, winner) Roast Chicken Dinner
Monday- Ham with potatoes and green beans
Tuesday- Burgers with Salad
Wednesday- TBD
Thursday- TBD
Friday- Pasta with Salmon
Saturday- Take Away

Fitness:
Sunday- Pilates (30 min Exercise TV)
Monday- Rest
Tuesday- Spinning
Wednesday- Group Personal Training (my trainer is back!)
Thursday- Running Club (might aim for 40k this month)
Friday- Personal Training session
Saturday- Run 6k

Have a good start to the week!
xx