Summer Holiday Prep!

I did a bit of shopping for our upcoming summer holiday today...and picked up a few things in the Debenhams Blue Cross sale!  

First off, I needed a bikini and really wanted a bright & cheerful one in contrast to my black one from last summer.  Initially I wanted to match with Emilia's pink gingham bathing suit but the Floozie bikini I had in mind didn't go up to my cup size ;(  Humph!  So I found this Ultimate Beach polka dot one instead and after a lot of rooting around the sale racks, eventually tracked down my very mismatched sizes!  I'm actually very impressed with the support that the top part offers...it holds up very well!  Prior to getting pregnant my favourite style was the string bikini and while I still love the look of them I now need some extra support in the top half, but at the same time I don't want to look too "mumsie" either!  I think this bikini ticks all the boxes!

I also got a hi-low dress from Oasis which doesn't look as nice on as I thought it would...gahh!  Maybe when my boobies shrink back to normal...ha ha ha!  And lastly I got some summer pj's from Frost French's Iris & Edie range.  These were not in the sale but I needed some cute light pj's for Sorrento. 

Yesterday Emilia got a new lightweight "big girl" stroller that will be much more convenient to travel with!  We looked at lots of different options and ended up going with the navy blue Silver Cross Micro.  As you can see, she loves it!  Seriously though, she giggled the whole time she sat in it while we browsed in the baby shop.  The two things that sold me on this were the extra part of the hood which extends in front to shield her from the sun and the locking function on the front wheels for an easier, smoother ride on rough surfaces and cobblestones (hello, Sorrento side-streets!!).  

That's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more pre-holiday prep to blog about in the next few days!  

Stay Stylish!

What I Ate Yesterday!

Breakfast

I went back to the good ol' porridge after a week of juicing for breakfast..it just wasn't enough for me and wasn't filling me up!  Here we have Flahavan's Apple, Cinnamon & Raisin Quick Oats with almond milk, 1/2 banana and blueberries.  I also had a cup of decaff green tea & water.

Lunch 

We had lunch in M&S and I got the British smoked ham salad and mustard dressing sandwich along with another cup of green tea!

Dinner

Jonathan made pasta (requested by me as we hadn't had it in a while and I was craving it so bad!!) with cherry tomato & parmesan sauce, parmesan cheese and some added chicken for Jonathan (he can't go without meat...seriously!).  Normally this pasta (calamarata) is better with seafood or fish but it was the only type we had left in our cupboard so...that's why this dish ended up being a bit weird!  

Post Baby Bedtime Snack/Dessert

I call this the post baby bedtime snack...it's my reward for getting Emilia to bed on time, ha ha ha!  I had a wholemeal scone with butter & rhubarb & ginger jam.  YUM!!  

That's it!  What did you eat today/yesterday? 

xoxo

Emilia's Outfit and New Makeup Brushes!

Sorry this post is late - I meant to put it up last night but didn't get a chance as I was trying to learn iMovie and edit my video!  Anyhow, here is Emilia's cutie pie outfit from yesterday!  She is wearing her new navy blue Layniebug Designs bow and the only way I could get her to sit still for the picture was to place her box of bows in front of her so she was distracted for a while...she just wants to take off all the time!  Her top is from Monsoon, the socks are Baby Gap and the little cut-off jeans are from Next.

Jonathan brought me back a lovely surprise gift for keeping up with posting videos everyday this month on my channel...and came back with my very first MacBook Pro!  I am still getting used to it but so far I love it and it has made editing WAY easier!  This whole month I've been editing videos on Jonathan's old PC laptop which is on its last legs and verrrrrryyyyy sloooowwww!  So this was a much-welcomed change!  Thank you so much Jofee Jokes ;)

   

Last night I also posted my review of the Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Collection brushes.  This was my first time using any Real Techniques brushes and I was very impressed...you can check out my full review here.  Also thank you to Cloud10Beauty who sent me the brush set.  They are an Irish website that stock lots of products unavailable to us in shops...they also sent me the Mama Mio stretch mark cream & oil during my pregnancy!

I will be back later this evening with What I Ate Wednesday - but in the meantime, happy hump day! :)

Stay Stylish!

Emilia's OOTD and June Glossybox 2013!

This little munchkin has started crawling all over the place, pulling things out of drawers, cupboards, boxes, etc. and she literally will not sit still for a second!  She's also begun to rip off her bows the minute I put them on (something she never did before!) and today she point blank refused to sit still for the camera.  You guys have no idea how difficult it was to get this ONE shot, and even then she wouldn't give me a proper smile...just a little smirk ;)  She's such a cheeky monkey!  Today Emilia is wearing a coral top and matching turquoise & neon leopard print leggings from Zara Baby, coral & navy stripy socks from Juicy Couture and a turquoise bow with a baby pink headband from Layniebug Designs.  We are going to be having a Layniebug giveaway very soon where you could win some of the lovely bows & headband sets that Emilia always wears so stay tuned for that!

I also opened my June Glossybox today and was quite happy with the products I got!  In particular the Figs & Rouge tinted lip balm...it looks like a very pretty shimmery pink - perfect for Sorrento next month!  The Frizz-Ease serum was also a welcome surprise as it's something I haven't used in a few years but used to love.  I'm not sure if I tried this variation of it before but I'm keen to test it out.  Monu products are always good and I have been using their Golden Glow self tanner for my face all month long so I was very happy when I saw the moisturiser with SPF in my box!  I'm not too keen on the colour of the lip liner but it's waterproof so I can appreciate why it would be good for the beach/summer time!  The Mememe eyeshadow will probably be helpful to set liquid liner and that is most likely all I will use it for as I don't normally wear black eyeshadow on my lids!  

If you guys want to subscribe to Glossybox you can do so for £12.95 a month here.  They do ship to Ireland and now also to the US.

Stay Stylish!

Lunch Date OOTD, A Good Night's Sleep & My Baby Boys!

Today I bring you another outfit of the day!  I went out for lunch with my bestie & this is what I wore...these were the other two items I got in the Brown Thomas sale.  The brown and rose gold top & pink skinnies are both from Ted Baker and were half off.  I love the top, though it comes up quite see-through in pictures (not so much in real life, thankfully!) and whereas usually I'd probably pair it up with a prettier bra - I am still breast feeding so I had to make do with a big ol' nude nursing bra...ha ha ha!  So apologies for that!  Initially I thought the pants were a bit 90's as they are a weird scratchy plastic-y material with rose gold hardware and zippers at the bottom but actually they are super comfortable and easy to wear!  I also love the soft pink colour.  The nude shoes are my favourite pair from ASOS, the pink & gold drop earrings are from Talullah Tu and my watch is an old Nina Ricci one my dad got for my mama years ago.  Aaaand say hello to my old forlorn Chloe Paddington!  She made a surprise appearance today as I was out sans baby so didn't have a need to lug around the Storksak changing bag...woo hoo!  

I'm also happy to report that Emilia slept 10 hours in her own room last night!!  Yay!  We were all happy bunnies this morning as she didn't get up till the respectable hour of 8am.  Clearly she likes her new decals...ha ha ha!  I have also increased her daytime feeds to four times daily to make up for the fact that she no longer needs to nurse during the night.  

Now I will love you and leave you with this adorable picture of my two baby boys...Albi & Theo.  This was a rare opportunity where they actually posed together, or rather, where Theo wasn't bullying jumping all over Albi!!

Stay Stylish!

Hi Again!

Long time no blog!  Sorry it's been a while since my last post...but making videos everyday has been taking up more time than I realised!  I think I was a bit over-ambitious with my vlogging & blogging everyday this month jazz...oh well, lesson learned!  I will do my best to post as frequently as I can on here but in the meantime, check out TheStyleDiet for daily videos this month!  

Today I come to you with an outfit of the day.  I recently picked up some things in the Brown Thomas sale - the tee and skinnies were two of my purchases.  Both are by Selected and were half off.  I actually own the same pants in a tan colour but these are more high-waisted and a lovely deep dark navy.  Initially I was a bit iffy about the t-shirt, as with the wrong pairings it could make me resemble a house...but with skinny leg pants I think it's quite cute!  It's a very slouchy, casual look and the v-neck is super low.  Too low for my boobies to be on display so I layered it over a grey ASOS tank.  I rolled up the legs of the pants for a summery, relaxed feel and finished off the look with these super comfy New Look sandals.  

I also re-did Emilia's wall decor in her nursery today.  These are some really cute princess cupcake decals I got from Jellybean 2 weeks ago.  I finally put them up over her crib and all around the rest of the room...I actually love how they came out!  Hopefully she does too, as she is spending a lot more time in her bedroom now that she's sleeping in her crib both during naptimes and at night.  Last night she slept till 8am!  I almost can't quite believe how easy the transition was.    

In other news I've been juicing again!  I tried soooo hard to do the Jason Vale 3 Day Detox but I couldn't make it past day 2.  I just can't go so long without solid food, although I do love the juices (even the beetroot ones!) so I've started incorporating them into my regular diet.  For example this morning I had his special detox juice for breakfast, then a salad for lunch and Jonathan cooked Jamie Oliver's chicken & mushroom pie for dinner.  OMG...it was amazing!!  We had it with carrots & peas sautéed in olive oil & thyme.  I'm literally drooling at the thought of it...see???  I could never do a juice detox!!!!  What was I thinking!?  Ha ha ha...

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.  If you'd like to check out my OOTD video, click here!

Stay Stylish! 

Emilia's 9 Month Update!

Emilia is 9 months old today!  Seriously, where does the time go?!

Height/Weight: She has not had her height or weight officially checked since her last developmental check at 8 months although we did notice a little growth spurt (yay!) and she has grown 4 centimetres!

Routine: Emilia's routine hasn't changed all that much since last month.  She usually takes about 2 naps a day, one shorter 1/2 hour nap in the morning and then another longer one (normally about 2 hours) in the afternoon.  She nurses about twice in the day and then again at bed time and two more times at night.  She eats breakfast, lunch & dinner with little snacks sometimes in between...depending on how much she's eaten during the day.

    

Sleeping: Emilia is now sleeping in her own crib in the nursery!  The transition was actually a lot easier than I expected.  I started off with getting her used to her crib during her daytime naps and then gradually worked her up to her night time sleep.  What I will usually do is feed her in the glider in her room with the night light on and then settle her into bed with an item of clothing I have been wearing all day long so she has the familiarity of my smell.  She does still wake twice a night to feed at around 10:30/11pm and then again at 5am.  The 5 o'clock feed is what kills me!  Hopefully when she increases her solids intake we will be able to skip that one!  A few times we did have difficulty getting her to settle down and on one particular occasion it took about an hour which was rough going but we stuck with it!  

Having said all of this, last night we did break the rules a bit because our lovely YouTube friends Benji, Judy & Julianna arrived from America and at around her bed time so Emilia's routine was out the window...oops!  We were so exhausted and I knew that today was going to be a full day of travelling & sight-seeing so Emilia just slept in our bed to ensure a full night's sleep.  However tonight she is back to her own bed...yay!

Eating: As I said previously, Emilia eats three square meals a day with small snacks in between depending on how much/little she ate at her meal times.  She usually has cereal and milk for breakfast, a bunch of different veggies with some wholegrain pitta or a half a bagel for lunch and then whatever we are having for dinner.  She now loves to drink water from her sippy cup and snacks on fruit, Ella's Kitchen organic cheese & tomato puffits and organic fromage frais.  She takes two daytime feeds of breast milk right before both naptimes, and then again at night.

Sizes: Emilia is wearing 9-12 month or 12 month clothing and size 4+ nappies.  

Milestones

• Her first words include mama, dada, baba and sometimes she even says what sounds like "hiya!"
• She will high-five or wave good bye if you catch her in the right mood!
• She now loves to play peekaboo herself, with a blanket or bedcovers.  
• Emilia now has 6 teeth with another two bottom side ones coming up as well!
• Pulling things out of boxes and putting them back in.  This is her new favourite thing to do...she is obsessed with pulling my makeup or lipsticks out of a box and then putting them all back.  It's so cute to see!
• She is definitely very mobile.  I would not say that she is exactly crawling yet but she moves around like a ninja!  She backwards crawls, rolls over multiple times, climbs up onto things and can get from lying down on her tummy to sitting position quite easily.
• Sleeping in her own room is a huge milestone and probably the one I'm most proud of this month :)

9 Months Postpartum

I just wanted to touch on my body at 9 months postpartum as I realise I stopped updating you guys on that after a few months just because I thought it was getting a bit repetitive but this month I actually have some things I'd like to talk about!  

I finally got my first postpartum period back at 8 months but as of then there's been nothing.  I took a number of pregnancy tests but they all came back negative so I'm not sure if it's the breast feeding that's just messing up my cycle or what...it's so confusing!!  

I also mentioned before that when I slowed down the breast feeding with Emilia and she started eating more solids that I gained about 4-5lbs...I have still yet to lose that!  It's not a huge deal to me but my body is definitely different than before as all of my weight gain now goes right to my belly area and also I find it harder to lose.  My diet has not changed at all but I think the breast feeding initially caused me to lose a lot of weight fast - even to the point where I was a little too skinny.  Now I am still at my normal pre-prego weight as I always have fluctuated around 5lbs but it definitely shows in my tummy area!  Here is the belly at 9 months postpartum and 119lbs.  Sorry my jeggings are super high up...ha ha ha!

That's it for this month!  I still can't believe we are in the 9th month...I know I keep repeating myself but this first year is just flying by!

Stay Stylish!

May Favourites 2013!

May was not a big shopping month for me...I only had two beauty favourites!  But I thought they were worth a mention anyway.  

The first one was the Rockstar Tan Fame Instant Mineral Tan which I did an entire post on here.  This stuff is amazing for a quick, easy, natural looking tan in a bottle!  No fuss, no streaks, no biscuity smell, no patches and a little bit of shimmer.  Great for special events or anytime you need an extra glow.  The only downside is that it washes off so beware of rain...ha ha ha!

Last month I also picked up these super cute hot pink Sleep In Rollers.  You get two packs of ten with a reusable hot pink tote bag.  I used these a few times to get that voluminous, blown out look that I never seem to be able to achieve with a hairdryer.  

When I first used them I was a little nervous as it was my first experience with any kind of rollers (by myself...I had gotten this done a few times in salons).  I still have yet to wear them overnight so I can't quite comment on how comfortable they are to sleep in but they are very easy to wear during the day...so much so in fact that I often forget about them!  I forgot to take an "after" shot of how my hair turned out but here is a screen shot from one of the Saccone Joly vlogs - it was the day before my sister-in-law's wedding.

I love that you can just put them in for a few hours and forget about them...then take them out and voilà!  Perfect blow-dried looking locks with minimal effort.  

Sorry I didn't have more beauty faves last month but it looks like June will be a more extensive list!  What were your May Favourites?

Stay Stylish!

The Body Shop Haul!

A couple of weeks ago I was kindly sent some new Body Shop products to review.  Here's what I got!

The first three products are from their Brazil Nut range.  I never knew brazil nuts smelled so yummy!  These are so luxurious and delicious smelling...almost good enough to eat ;)  I got the Brazil Nut Shower Cream (€8.95) and the Brazil Nut Beautifying Oil (€15) which is supposed to be a non-sticky, multi-tasking oil for body, face or hair.  I think I might try this on my body as it promises a radiant glow.  I also received a Brazil Nut Body Butter (€18.95) which smells divine!  I am a huge fan of the Cocoa Butter body butter so I will definitely be trying this out.

They also sent me their newest addition to the Tea Tree range for blemished skin - the Tea Tree Cool & Creamy Wash (€8.95).  This is a cleansing creamy wash for skin that is prone to breakouts (like mine) and I am really curious to see if this helps as I'm always on the hunt for better skincare!

Last but not least, two products from the Honey Bronze collection - the Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder (€20.50) complete with its new packaging and the Honey Bronze Shimmer Lip Balm (€5.95).  I absolutely loved my last Honey Bronze bronzer...just as much as my Benefit Hoola which I consider to be the best matte bronzing powder I've ever tried!  This is equally long-lasting, great for contouring and never patchy or muddy looking.  This time I got the shade 04 which is one darker than the one I had previously.  If this heatwave keeps up maybe I'll actually need it ;)

And here's a lip balm I won't be letting Emilia play with!  This is probably my favourite of all the items I got.  Everyone knows I'm a sucker for a nude lip, and for a balm this is surprisingly opaque!  It gives a hint of sparkly shimmer with a nude, sunkissed base.  The packaging is really cute & different too...definitely a winner!  Here's what the Honey Bronze products look like swatched:

And this is the lip balm on my lips.  It also smells like honey...yum!

Let me know what you think of these products and if there's anything you'd like to see reviewed first.  Have you tried any of these?  If so, what are your thoughts?

Stay Stylish!

Healthy Summer Salad!

We have been so blessed with this hot sunny weather lately and I decided to switch up my lunch for something lighter.  I was craving fresh veggies & salads so I came up with this recipe using what we had in the fridge!  

To make this easy peasy salad I used about half a bag of rocket (50g roughly), 5 cherry tomatoes, 4 slices of cucumber chopped up, 1/2 an avocado and homemade dressing.  To make the dressing I just used 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.  Drizzle over the salad and you're done!  I don't normally count calories except for junk food but I calculated them so I could share with you guys - this whole salad is about 380 cals, not bad for a healthy yet filling lunch!  

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Stay Stylish!

Summer Outfits of the Day!

Today was a rare warm & sunny day in Ireland and I actually ended up wearing a tank top & shorts at home but this was what I wore when we went out.  Emilia finally got some use out of her baby shorts & one of her t-shirts...let's hope this weather doesn't end soon!

I'm wearing my black Boob tank top along with tan skinnies rolled up at the ends from Selected (LoveClothing), leopard and black patent kitten heels from ASOS and a lightweight black blazer from Vila.

Without the blazer.  It was actually way too hot for it in the end!  What a lovely scorching day :)

Emilia looked so cute in her DPAM outfit from my mom!  Her rolls in those shorts just kill me...so adorable!  The shorts & t-shirt combination are from Du Pareil Au Meme, her hair bow is from Layniebug Designs and the yellow sandals are from Miniclub.  

Hope you guys enjoyed your Friday!

Stay Stylish!

What's In My Bag?

Here's a look inside my changing bag...I figured an updated one of these posts was well overdue!  My handbag is the Storksak Elizabeth in Tan Leather.  I love how understated it is - most people don't even realise it's a changing bag!

Here are all the items I carry in the more "obvious" areas.  For example I keep my keys in the outer front pocket and the Arm & Hammer nappy bags hanging on the outside.  There is a strap inside the bag where you can hang keys but I use it for my Bath & Body Works "I Heart Cake" hand sanitiser :)  I store my wallet & passport together in the big velcro pocket on one side of the inner part of the bag and my phone & camera case are usually at the top of the main compartment where I can reach them straight away.  

Here are most of my baby-related things!  On one side of the inner part of the bag there are two compartments for nappies where I generally store 3 in each.  At the bottom of the main compartment I keep a spare vest, cotton bib and two packs of Water Wipes.  You also get a changing mat with the Storksak bags as well as a zip-up pouch where I store some baby Q-tips and wet wipes.  I also carry a plastic Tommee Tippee bib which is great for travelling as you can fold it up and wipe it clean!  In the side pockets inside the bag I store Butt Paste, a little sample of Sudocrem, a cupcake teething toy and pack of Ella's Kitchen Cheese & Tomato Puffits for Emilia! 

In the other side pockets I have Lanolin cream, three pens, a spare hand sanitiser, and a reusable shopping bag.

In the back part of the bag there is a zipped up pocket section where I store all of my cosmetic items.  As you can see, this is where I hoard a lot of lipsticks...ha ha ha!  In here I have five hair ties, two compact mirrors, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, four lip balms, a sample of L'Occitane hand cream, one lipgloss and six lipsticks!  

Can you tell I'm a fan of nude lipsticks?!  These are from left - right:

Chanel #297 Sweet Beige, MAC Honeylove, MAC Angel, MAC Cremecup, Rimmel Kate 03, P2 Pure Color Sunset Boulevard and Chanel Rouge Coco Supserstition.

That's it!  Let me know what you like to hoard in your bag...ha ha ha ;)  

Stay Stylish!

What I Ate Wednesday!

Breakfast

Organic Quick Oats (Flahavan's) with almond milk, 1/2 banana and cinnamon.  No coffee, as we were out :(  

Emilia had the other half of my banana with her Cheerios & milk!

Lunch

We grabbed lunch to-go from Gloria Jeans.  I had a chicken tikka wrap and a black coffee.  The wrap wasn't the best but I suppose Gloria Jeans isn't really known for its food as much as its coffee!

For her lunch Emilia had cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, carrot sticks, Babybel cheese and about half a wholegrain Food Doctor pitta bread!

Dinner

For dinner we had chicken korma with naan bread, broccoli, mange tout & baby corn.  Emilia had the same thing, except a smaller portion obviously! :)  She especially loves chewing on the broccoli...om nom nom!

Dessert

After Emilia went to sleep (in her own bed, woo hoo!) I rewarded myself with some much-needed chocolate.  This is Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut, yum!  I also had a mocha.  

I am still chugging my water, aiming for 2L today!  Emilia sipped water throughout the day too.  And that's it!  What did you eat today?

Stay Stylish!