Boxing Day

Every year I tell myself that I will not brave the Boxing day sale crown again only to find myself the next year saying the same thing. 

For this year's Boxing day sale, we went to Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, right across the Olympic stadium. This is one of the newest shopping centres in London and considered one of the biggest in Europe.

There was so much traffic and the one hour journey took two hours and a half though thankfully we did not have a lot of trouble getting a parking space. Inside was a different story. It was packed and there were queues in most shops. Hollister in particular had a very long queue that snaked on the way round to the other side of the mall. Then I learned it was fifty percent off. No wonder. 

I was on a mission. I did not want to be distracted. I wanted to focus on getting myself a long awaited pair of black boots in the sale. But unfortunately for my wallet but fortunately for me, we passed by Victoria's Secret (my downfall) and I came out of the shop with two gift sets which were half price. Not bad and too good to pass.

It was mission accomplished too, in the boots department. The perfect knee high length, soft black leather and so comfortable.

It was mission accomplished too in the food department. We had a hearty dinner in one of the Chinese restaurant there. Then we had dessert at Pinkberry.

It was a lovely day albeit tiring and I have a feeling we will be doing the same thing next year.

The Third Birthday Party (for three)

I have written about celebrations intended for our little girl, I wrote about her Christening, first birthday party and second birthday party in my previous posts.

On her third birthday though we decided not to have a party per se but to just take her out for the day. It was refreshing change as there was no stress involved as normally with parties there is the stress of how many guests to have, the venue, the food and during the party itself, you have to make sure the guests are comfortable and well cared for. This makes it so easy to forget the real reason of having the party - the birthday celebrant. You cannot relax nor enjoy the party itself and then you just look back at the photos.

We took her to London. We had lunch at The Rainforest Cafe which is brilliant for kids. 

We then took her M&M's World where she got some sweeties.

Then lastly, a trip to HAMLEY'S toy store in Regents street where she had the most fun looking at every toy imaginable. She rode a £1,000 price rocking horse (ridiculoulsy priced), played the piano and trombone

and we bought her the toy of her choice which was, what else, a Barbie.

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Barely There Make Up

How lovely is this product? I am happy with my Chanel Vita Lumierre though which gives me this effect on my skin but if I find a product that is a fraction of a price that is as good as Chanel's Vital Lumierre, count me in.

Dine In For Two

The other nigh, the husband suggested that we try M&S Dine In For Two for £10. So, after a bit of Christmas shopping at Milton Keynes' new shopping hub MK1 Shopping Park, we dropped by Marks and Spencer which, fortunately, has a branch in the shopping park.  Aside from M&S, the park also boasts of branches from H&M, River Island, Topshop, BHS and Primark.

The promotion consists of One main dish, one side dish, dessert and a bottle of one enough for two people but for our case, more than enough for 2 adults and a 4 year old. 

For our main dish, we had the chicken dish which I forgot the name but still remember how good it tasted, new baby potatoes and herb for side dish and Belgian chocolate souffle. We are not wine drinkers so we opted for the non alcoholic alternative.

Overall, it was a very good meal, the chicken was tasty (even the 4 year old loved it which she had with rice), the potatoes with herb were lovely and the chocolate souffle melted in our mouths.

Would I have it again? I would. Would I recommend to a friend? I definitely would.

The Second Birthday Party

I could not remember why I chose Minnie Mouse as the theme for Ava's second birthday party. All I remember was that I got obsessed with everything Minnie like I was obsessed with everything Strawberry Shortcake on her first birthday.

Since I still did not know anybody back then who can make bespoke cakes, I just got shop bought cakes and cupcakes and personalized them with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake toppers which I think did the job.

The giveaways were melamine cups bought online that I filled with sweets .

I got blue and red balloons representing Mickey Mouse clubhouse colors.

Krispy Kremes

And the little girl was dressed in this with Minnie Mouse headband ears.

Fatima

On our tenth wedding anniversary, we did a little pilgrimage to Fatima in Portugal. We feel as a couple, that it is the best celebration we could ever do having been blessed with a baby after the image of Our Lady of Fatima visited our house back in the UK. 

It was a wonderful and solemn experience which I would love to do all over again in the future.

This very tree is where the three little shepherds would wait for our Lady's apparition during that time. Beside it is a chapel which holds Our Lady of Fatima's image. 

We did hear mass in the cathedral which was said in Portuguese. We do not understand a word of Portuguese but sort of understood in a way as it is the same mass we as Catholics attend every Sunday in our own churches all over the world.

And we lit some candles, too.

A pilgrimage to Fatima where we heard mass in their cathedral on our 10th wedding anniversary is for me, the most fitting way to celebrate it. We capped it off with room service back in our hotel room.

The First Birthday Party

I have been planning her first birthday party way before she was born. I knew I wanted a princess theme complete with castles and pink balloons but when the time came to celebrate my little girls first birthday party, I was by then obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake. How strange. 

So as the story goes, we had a Strawberry Shortcake theme. I had the invites, tarpaulin and lootbags shipped from the Philippines because personalized party stuff here in the UK can cost you an arm and a leg.

The personalized CD invites with Nursery songs in it.

The invites for the adults made and printed by the husband.

The lootbags / giveaways

The tags.

The tarpaulin.

The prizes for the games.

The delicious all Filipino food catering.

It was one first birthday party that was well attended. We all had fun, probably the adults more than the birthday celebrant herself.

To read about her Christening party, click  here.