Another Year Older

My cake on my 35th birthday a few years back

After a bout with a nasty flu for two weeks, now I can face my birthday healthy and probably more wise. I am never the one to have birthday blues nor am one who complains about my age. I always take each birthday as a blessing no matter what age I am at. 

In a couple of days it will be my birthday but I still do not know what kind of celebration I want. Will it be spent with family and friends or just family then friends later. I even do  not have any idea where I am going to have it. Will it be at home or in a restaurant? Will I be cooking or order in?

Another birthday celebration of mine a few years back held at home.

The thing is,, it does not matter how old I am nor what type of celebration I will have. The fact that I am at the time of my life where I have everything I have hoped for, then it is already a celebration in itself. And with this, I thank God above.

Mustela

It is not recommended to use a lot of products for newborns and children alike. When the three year old was just a baby, I only washed her with water and I did not use wipes until she was probably at least 2 months. I only used warm water and cotton balls. 

When she was over a year old, there came a point when her face was just so dry that it was itchy and resulted to a few scratches on her face. I read about Mustela on Daphne.ph. This French product is specialized for babies and children. I bought the cold cream and while I was at it, bough the cologne, too.

The first ever two products I bought from the company and I was extremely happy with them. The cold cream improved the dryness of the three year old's face and the alcohol free cologne smells divine, I use it myself sometimes.

Family Day Out For A Tenner

In this day and age, a simple movie and meal for a family of three (two adults and one child) could easily cost  £60 plus. These simple joys are great on a weekend, every weekend actually but who here has a budget for a weekly movie and meal, raise your hand.

I have known about Tesco Rewards for years but I never took notice. Whenever I get vouchers through the post, I spend them straight away on groceries not realizing you get more from it if spent on rewards. I only took notice when my colleague started talking about their days out.

So I tried and had my vouchers exchanged. 

Below is my post on Instagram.

Because it was 3D, I had  to add £5 for the three of us otherwise, the vouchers would have been enough. 

Right after the movie, we had a lovely Italian meal at Bella Italia as I had vouchers exchanged for the restaurant, too. The bill came out £45 but we only paid £5 in cash and the rest were paid with our £40 Tesco Rewards vouchers.

We enjoyed the movie and the meal but it was the three year old who enjoyed the most.

£4 in Tesco Clubcard vouchers is equivalent to one adult cinema ticket.

£3 in Tesco clubcard vouchers is equivalent to one child cinema ticket.

£10 in Tesco Clubcard vouchers is equivalent to £40 Bella Italia tokens.

Dress Up Weekend: Statement Nail Trend

I did not like it at first but the more I see this trend in magazines, blogs and on celebrities, it kind of grew on me (no pun intended LOL). So this week's Dress Up Weekend, I am featuring my dressed up nails.

Here are my inspirations.

Image source here, here, here and here

This trend can be handy when sometimes, we ladies just can't decide which color to wear, now we can wear both.

Celebrations

                     I grew up having our birthdays, my brothers and mine, always celebrated. Whether it is a small or big celebration, my parents always had something planned especially when we were kids. Almost always, it was a kiddie party usually after dinner where bedtime snacks were served and the guest were mostly our cousins. There were always balloons and candle blowing.

That early memory makes me look back to my childhood with fondness. As a child, it is the little things that counts.

With that in mind, I always make sure there is always something planned for my little girl's birthdays. She might not remember a lot of it but just like me, some of it will be etched in her memory and will warm her heart every time she is reminded of it. Besides, I have photos to show her.

Way before she was born, I was already planning her First birthday party. But before that, let me talk about her Christening and after party.

The invites were little booklets with  five pages of photos and captions.

 The giveaways were personalized alarm clocks in different colors.

 The candles  for the ceremony were personalized, too!

And what is an after party without food?

We had a lunch buffet and these were the Bespoke Cake and cupcakes.

And of course, the chocolate fountain.

I found that when it comes to creating beautiful parties, it is all about the details.

In the next post, I will write about the First Birthday Party.

Dress Up Weekend:Think Pink

I love this pink butterfly dress. The fabric is so soft and the cut is one that I can either dress up or dress down. I teamed it up with my pink cardigan. These Nine West shoes complemented the outfit though they are not the most comfortable pair of shoes there is. Since it is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I completed the outfit with my current favorite pink Clark's shoulder bag.

Seasons

It is officially Autumn. Most of the leaves have turned golden and have fallen from the trees and I can actually feel the chill in the air now. It is still very dark at six in the morning and starting to get really dark too at six in the evening. In no time, I will be going to work in the dark and going home in the dark. I never really get used to this changes in season. I mean, I have been based in the England for the last 10 years but still these changes make me really tired and sluggish. I tend to feel little aches and pains too which I would still blame the weather for. I guess this is the easier solution as I cannot really do anything with the weather. If it works then I would not need to worry about the seasons.