3 Budget Friendly Ski Resorts to take the Family

I have been lucky enough to have done both a skiing holiday as a child and then a snowboarding trip with friends in University, having grown up surfing in South Africa I picked it up pretty quickly and enjoyed every moment of it and it's the kind of experience I would love to share with the kids, the only thing that has stopped up so far is the price. The thing is skiing and snowboarding doesn't come cheap especially if you are looking to hit some of the world famous slopes such as Kitzbuhel in Austria of Whistler in Canada but that is starting to change and the skiing industry is becoming a whole lot more competitive which is a good thing. With Europe opening up, plenty of budget friendly airlines and being able to research for trips at the drop of a hat online,  people looking to some of the lesser know (and often more interesting) destinations you will be pleasantly surprised. Personally I love nothing more than having the change to explore a new destination so even t......

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Family, Finance and the Home

Having a family has changed my view on money I can still remember the moment I found out I was pregnant with my eldest, up until that point I only had to think about myself, what I earned I would either save to go travelling or spend on things like clothes and eating out but as soon as I saw those two blue lines a switch went on inside of me and I knew straight away I would have to save every penny and that the way I viewed money needed to change. I think I have always been fairly sensible and have never got in over my head when it comes to money although I did have some student debt and minor spending on credit cards but nothing too unmanageable. If debt had become too much, I would have sought help from professionals ( click here ), to reclaim control of my finances. At the time of my first pregnancy, neither John nor I were earning very much so I wanted to make a point of really getting on top of things, clearing debt, and saving for essentials. I became very frugal and......

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Top tips for going to Cheltenham Festival in Style

Although I’ve definitely had a fun festive period, I really love springtime because it’s the time when we can finally shake off the winter blues and enjoy the great outdoors. And I’ve been investigating a few options for getting out and about, and the upcoming Cheltenham Festival seems to offer a good combination of cocktails, horse racing excitement, sports fun, and of course, lots of fashion opportunities. But as ever, my main question is - what to wear? Races conundrum The hardest thing about putting together a look for the races seems to be how to look stylish without necessarily breaking the strict dress codes that are often enforced. Thankfully the Cheltenham Festival looks like it doesn’t suffer the restrictive dress code found at Royal Ascot, but it still requires a little bit of forward planning. Thankfully, the racecourse’s website gave a good idea of what was acceptable depending upon what kind of ticket you’d purchased. And similarly, I found that Betway’s site ......

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How to make Bath-time better

Baby G in this Cuddledry As you know when it comes to your kids bath time there are so many products out there at the moment, literally hundreds and a fair amount of them your don't actually need and end up being wasted or left unused. We try and keep our lives as clutter free as possible and I thought it was a good time to share what we have found useful of late and products that have actually made our life a little easier. When it comes to Baby G's bath time we are only using two products at the moment, both natural based and organic - The Baby wash & Shampoo from Green People which is so very gentle, has no irritants and is perfect for those with sensitive skin and best of all a little goes a long way. We are also using Weleda Calendula Body Cream to help keep the little mans skin nice and moisturised. It goes on really well and doesn't feel oily, we will be sticking with both for a while. Cuddledry  - I have to admit I was a bit scept......

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20 Tips that Help Make your Holiday Travel Better

Looking out across Budapest The globalization of the world has resulted in a sort of myopia in terms of understanding and adapting to other cultures, especially when we are traveling. Mass media has given many of us the mistaken opinion that everyone is basically similar, which is far from true. As traveling becomes easier and more of us are fulfilling our desires to see the world, it is easy to unintentionally run afoul of local customs and traditions.  Mr A enjoying the warmer weather of the South of France Here are twenty examples. 1. If you are unsure of the culture and traditions of the country you are travelling it it's probably best to dress is subdued colours. 2. Use your right hand. While this can prove problematic for those that are left-handed, many Asian and Middle Eastern cultures it is considered rude to use your left hand when eating or for any other social function. 3. Don’t wear green and yellow in Brazil. Brazil is a fairly relaxed cou......

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Laundry Love - Samsung WW9000 First Impressions

Okay so I have to admit I am not the most organised or on top of the laundry kind of person. I mean everything gets clean and thats the main objective, I think it may be because I have never been very exciting or enthralled by the idea of laundry - it's always seemed rather tedious, time-consuming as well as energy and finically draining, especially when you have a toddler or newborn clothes to wash basically every day. But I always try and keep an open mind so anything that may change that I am up for hearing about so when the lovely people over at Samsung asked me to review their new, sleek, stylish and eco-friendly Samsung WW9000 EcoBubble machine I was very excited to see if this would change the way I felt about doing the laundry and I have to say honestly it has....for the following reasons. First of all aesthetically the machine is very pleasing to the eye and looks rather space aged - I love it's smooth lines, blue tinted door and gone are any unnecessary knobs or ......

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Top Tips before heading on a Road trip

We love heading off on an adventure - in fact we have just come back from a wonderful holiday in France - can't wait to tell you all about it but first I thought I would put together some top tips when planning a road trip - even though our latest holiday was mainly spent on some lovely high speed trains we did hire a little Fiat while in France for a week and the same rules apply when making sure your mode of transport is safe for you and your family. 1. Always pack a roadmap and have an idea of where you want to go. it's lovely just jumping into a car and following the sunset but some practicalities do need to come into play, especially if your driving in another country. You don't need to spend a lot of money, a decent road map will do and perhaps a copy of local camping sites and hotels so you don't get stuck without somewhere to stay. We would of been totally lost on our road trip to West Wales last month without our map 2. First Aid kit is essential ......

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Parenting Hacks and Mothers Tricks

Being a parent can be testing at times to say the least but we all have our own ways of getting by and ways to ease the stress, dealing with tantrums and getting our kids to eat veggies and one thing I have learnt is most mothers have some tricks up their sleeve. I know when Mr A was a baby he loved pureed banana and avocado together - the perfect combination of fruit and vegetable, or telling him that Broccoli is baby trees and makes you as big and strong as a tree - this one still works! To this day I still love to combine veggies and fruit together in a fun and tasty way that encourages Mr A to gobble it down such as one of our favourite low-sugar healthier baking treats - Spelt Carrot and Apple Muffins These are packed with goodness and whole grains so why not give them ago 100g Wholegrain Spelt flour  75g Plain Wholegrain flour 1 medium apple, pealed, cored and grated 135g coarsely grated carrot   2 free-range eggs ......

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Interior inspiration Day with HomeSense

Me enjoying a picnic at HomeSense Last week was very exciting indeed as I was invited to take part in an Inspiration day at the Cardiff HomeSense . A lovely table with all sorts of yummy goodies including cupcakes and bubbly was set up and I was ready to help any readers and shoppers with any interior challenges they had. Before I settled down to have a chat with shoppers I spent the first hour walking around the store and picking out 10 must have items for the next season and with so many wonderful products I was really spoilt for choice. Here are my 10 blogger picks 1. I came across these beautiful ceramic bowls with a retro design and they would bring a lovely fresh look to any kitchen cupboard. 2. Rules are meant to be broken and you really don't need to have “sets” of things, so why not go for an eclectic mix of coffee mugs for a little quirky style 3. Following on from the retro look is this wonderful vintage inspired childs ride on sc......

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