Weekend Fun...

This weekend was full of friends, fun and lots of laughs…the best kind!

Saturday was spent taking the little dude to his swimming lesson, he really is getting the hang of it and more importantly enjoying it now.  We then headed off to meet friends over from Abu Dhabi in the pub.  No pictures of that one I'm afraid, too busy chatting!

On Sunday we headed off to Virginia Water for Mr and Mrs M's housewarming BBQ.  The boys gathered around the BBQ on one side of the garden as the girls swarmed around the babies (and prosecco!) a grown up version of the boy/girl divide at a middle school disco!

We were treated to delicious 'posh dogs' if you haven't tried them yet…do yourself a favour and fire your BBQ up this weekend, you will not regret it!  As a thank you for the fab hospitality we brought along the ingredients for my UK take on the US S'more.  Traditionally S'mores are made from marshmallow sandwiched between graham crackers and hershey chocolate, but given it is difficult to track down graham crackers in the UK added to the fact I really don't like Hershey chocolate I decided to come up with a UK friendly version…step forward McVities chocolate digestives!  All you need to do is pop your marshmallows on BBQ skewers (if you are using wooden ones make sure you soak them first to stop them catching on fire!) once they are melted squish (technical term!) them between two chocolate digestives, works well with both milk and dark versions.  Enjoy!

Mr M in charge of the BBQ

this little dude got so many cuddles and loved every second

Daddy and his boy...

…so much love

eyeing up the posh dogs…or is it the blondes?!

family selfie

why wouldn't you match your babiators with your dummy!?

still can't believe he keeps his sunglasses on!

we laughed ALL afternoon

UK S'mores

Thanks everyone who helped make this weekend such a good one…special thanks to Zoe for the amazing pictures!

Its The Weekend...

And this is the best view to wake up to…

We've got a pretty hectic weekend with lots of visitors coming to meet the new addition to our family…we can't wait to show him off!

Hope you've got lots of fun planned…and if you are near a baby hold them close and breath in their deliciousness

Here are a few fun bits and tips from around the web…have a good one…

Super easy way to freshen up your drawers on Clementine Daily

Would love to know who this poor PA was working for

How to not look like an idiot when ordering wine

Its The Weekend...

image via pinterest

This is the first weekend in months that Mr O and I have no commitments so we're looking forward to spending some time together as a couple before the Baby O's arrival…at the moment we have no plans, we'll just see what we fancy when we wake up.  Don't you just love those weekends?

Here are a few fun bits from around the web…hope you have a good one…

Love these egg cups from Not On The High Street

Five books to inspire you in business and life

An interesting post on kids and electronics

I've eaten so many avocados this pregnancy so I loved these five recipes 

Its The Weekend...

What are your plans this weekend?  Mines a busy one…brunch with friends, lunch with a bunch of colleagues today and one of my best friends Baby Shower tomorrow, obviously all dependent on whether Baby O decides to arrive this weekend!  Whatever you are doing I hope you have fun.  

This YouTube video was my absolute favourite thing on the internet this week, I loved it so much I felt it deserved its own post…enjoy!

Its The Weekend...

image via pinterest

I hope you have lots of fun stuff planned for the weekend, I'll be staying sober on an annual pub crawl we've been doing for too many years to remember and then celebrating my little sis's birthday and Mothers day on Sunday.

A few fun and inspiring things from around the web...

How cool is this Dad!?

With Baby O's arrival being so imminent I found this article particular interesting.

Having been labelled bossy from a young age and tried hard to stifle, its nice to see this lean towards redefining bossy.

Love these planters…I'll be keeping my eyes open for similar in charity shops over the coming weeks.

Have a good one!

Its The Weekend...

…so…

Image via Pinterest

A few things that have kept me entertained/interested this week…

 - Amazing paper dresses made by a four year old and her Mum

 - This brought back a lot of memories and made me smile…no where is my Spice Girls Greatest Hits Album!

 - A round-up of the greatest shoe moments in film

 - Illustration of every Best Actress Dress worn since 1929

Hope you have a good one...

Just Another Manic Monday...

After a hectic weekend and Monday, this sums up how I've been feeling today…

Image via Pinterest

Its The Weekend...

Image via Pinterest

A few things that have kept me entertained this week…

This Happy/Get Lucky mashup is the perfect way to kick of your Saturday!

The best shoe moments in film

Carrying on the shoe theme…check out this infographic of Carrie Bradshaw's most iconic shoe

Amazing pictures shot by Gray Malin in Antarctica and using everyday items to provide contrast to the stunning glacial backdrop

Hope you have a good one!

Weekend Round Up...

This weekend was a good one…the rain stopped and the sun shone – for a little while at least!

On Saturday I headed off to the Hollywood Arms in Chelsea for the gorgeous Yummy Mummy To Be Cordelia’s baby shower.  The private room upstairs in the Hollywood Arms was the perfect setting, complete with storks on the wall paper!  Cordelia made the cake herself and it was probably one of the best cakes I have ever eaten.

Not content with filling my tummy with cakes and sandwiches, I met up with Mr O and a couple of friends at The Rum Kitchen in Notting Hill.  The boys, being big rum fans, made a good effort working their way through the cocktail menu while I settled for one of the most delicious salads I’ve had in a long while and will be attempting to recreate at home soon – roasted pumpkin, chickpea, red pepper, mango, avocado, toasted coconut flakes and a mild scotch bonnet and lime dressing.  All that goodness has to cancel out the earlier cake!  No photos I'm afraid, I was too busy eating!

Sunday was a bit more relaxed, skyping with much missed friends on the other side of the world, followed by a spot of shopping (Forever 21 accessories I love you!) and all finished off with delicious truffle mac and cheese (recipe courtesy of vmac & cheese), seriously I think I would eat this everyday if I could!!

J Crew & Kate Spade Inspired Forever 21

Yum!

Hope you all had lovely weekends…

Weekend Round Up & Operation Organisation...

This weekend flew by is a haze of bin bags, storage boxes, paint brushes and Nutella!

We had out carpets cleaned last Thursday, a job I have been putting off for years, but after one too many drinks have ended up on the floor during the course of various parties it was finally time to bite the bullet and book a professional deep clean.  The results are truly amazing, our carpets look brand new, I'm still a bit in shock!

A horrible red wine stain once lived here!

Having the someone round to do the carpets meant we (Mr O) had pull EVERYTHING out from all of our hiding places - under the bed, under the sofa, behind doors etc.  With everything out and piled in either the kitchen or the bathroom there was only one thing for it a huge sort out.  We sent a couple of boxes to my Mum and Dads to store, but we also threw loads out and have a big pile for friends and the charity shop…such a good feeling to get ruthless on the clutter!

We popped out to pick up some shopping on Saturday and I bought everything I needed to make Nutella banana bread…the only problem is I consumed the whole jar within two days, it did not get close to a banana…oops!

The Baby wanted it!

We also popped to Baby Gap to take advantage of the Grazia 30% discount to pick up a couple of items for Baby O and some presses for friends who have recently had gorgeous baby girls.

It will be a while until Baby O can wear these, but they were just too cute to resist!

Its The Weekend...

Last weekend I woke up convinced I could smell the see, when I woke up fully and realised I was nowhere near the see, to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

Via ddgdaily Instagram

But until I get to the beach here are a few bits and pieces from around the internet that have kept me entertained this week…

Victoria Beckham and Skype have collaborated providing an interesting and interactive peak into journey to becoming not just a successful designer, but a respected one.

You've probably seen the what career should I have quiz doing the rounds on Facebook, I was crazy excited to get astronaut as that would be my dream job!

Wish I had moves like this!

As a complete newbie to blogging I found this post on Design Sponge really interesting.

Hope you have a great weekend...

Weekend Round Up

This weekend was a good one too short as always, but I felt as though we packed a lot in…

We started the weekend with MORE birthday celebrations for Mr O on Friday night, he definitely knows how to spin out a Birthday! Saturday morning started with two very hungover boys on my hands to I rustled them up a restorative breakfast and something a little healthier for me.

Once h had some food in his tummy Mr O was able to drag himself into town with me for a bit of chocolate covered strawberry action in Covent Garden.

If you are passing a Godiva chocolate store at any point definitely try out the strawberries, they’re delicious!  We also got involved with the British Heart Foundation LOVE installation, £3 gets you a padlock and a heart to write your message on, such a cute idea playing on the love bridges in Cologne and Paris.

We warmed up in Magma a real treasure trove for book lovers, there is always something interesting to be found here, Mr O has his eye on a couple of these prints.

We headed back to the tube via China Town taking in the decorations for Chinese New Year…just beautiful

Sunday was a much lazier day…breakfast in bed catching up on my magazine reading followed by a pub lunch with old friends celebrating National Yorkshire Pudding Day!  Too busy eating to get a picture of the lunch, but here is the view!

Hope you had a good one

Its The Weekend...

…thank goodness for that!

Via Doctors Closet

Here are a few bits and pieces from around the internet…

7 habits of stylish people from Style Caster

A sneak peak of SJP's new shoe collection 

Wishing this was in London rather than Dallas…Inside Out Project

Image Via Art&Seek

Alternative posters for 'Her', looking forward to seeing his soon

And this one is in honour of our Scottish house guest this weekend…Red Hot Chilli Pipers…brilliant!

Hope you have a great weekend 

Its The Weekend...

Via Pinterst

Here’s this weeks round up of some bits and pieces from across the internet that have caught my attention and/or made me smile this week…

This made me chuckle on a slow Friday afternoon…so true!

As our one bedroom flat starts filling up in anticipation of Baby O's arrival I found this post on Cup of Jo particularly interesting.

This beach in The Bahamas has been added to my travel wish list…swimming pigs!?!  Enough said!

Image Via Wikipedia

Finally a 100 years of fashion in 100 seconds…which is your favourite era?

Half and Half

This weekend was a weekend of two halves…my half great and lots of fun, poor Mr O’s not so much.

He spent most of Saturday making boxes to house Baby O’s expanding collection of stuff (more on those another time) and then yesterday spent to whole day unblocking the kitchen sink, mending the broken toilet and fixing a leaking bath.  All instead of going to the gym or getting out on his bike.  What a legend!  It’s his birthday today so I’ll be sure to spoil him more than normal to show my appreciation of all things DIY he does around the flat.

My weekend was less DIY filled and more friend filled.  On Saturday morning I popped to the opticians to pick up my new specs.  I obviously dragged Mr O with me for a second opinion…I’m pretty happy with my choices, although it always takes me a little while to get used to a new look.  From the opticians I headed off the Barnes to meet a friend for a walk.  On our way out we stopped for bacon and egg sandwiches at Barnes Farmers Market…delicious.  If you’re in the area on a Saturday you should check it out.  Its every Saturday from 10-2 in the car park of the Essex House surgery.  From there we headed on to Giuliana for coffees and hot chocolates to keep us going as we walked around Barnes common.  It was such a beautiful morning and lovely to be outside making the most of it.  On the way home I did the decent thing and stopped in to The Ginger Pig to pick Mr O up a bacon and chilli sausage roll!

Sunday followed a fairly similar pattern, I got up early to get my jobs done and then headed off up the M4 to catch up with another friend.  The chosen meeting place was The Crown at Bray, a lovely little pub with roaring fires, that whilst owned by Heston Blumenthal isn’t too weird!  We caught up over roast beef and horseradish sandwiches which we opted for to ensure there was room for dessert.  Sticky toffee pudding for me.

All in all a lovely weekend…

Apologies for the lack of photos, I need to remember to take more, but with the arrival of my shiny new camera I no longer have an excuse not to get snapping!

New Camera & Specs And A Bit Of Weekend Reading...

Its The Weekend...

This post should have gone live yesterday, but I was having all sorts of problems with the site, but better late than never!

Via Pinterest

Here’s a little round up of some bits and pieces from across the internet that have caught my attention and/or made me smile this week…

Like most little girls I dreamt that one day I would become a prima ballerina.  This documentary series narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker show just how hard you have to work to achieve that dream.

http://on.aol.com/show/cityballet-517887470/episode/517996964

This article struck a real chord with me.  It’s nice to think about giving bad habits up  rather than adding more to my to do list

http://elitedaily.com/life/motivation/20-things-that-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/

This video freaked me out, I have never seen anything like this, nature is pretty amazing and terrifying at the same time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpsOERzWGo&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DISpsOERzWGo&app=desktop

Last bit of weekend fun…which city should you live in?  I got Tokyo!  Having not been there I'm not sure about living there, but I would love to visit.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/what-city-should-you-actually-live-in

TGIF...

Even though this week has onnly been four days long it feels a LOT loooooonger!

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