Feeling Festive

I've been feeling so Christmassy lately and I'm not sure why! This Christmas jumper is from Superdry and I love it! My jeans are by Ted Baker and I wore this outfit with my grey Uggs. Today I saw they were putting up the Christmas lights in our town and got really excited. We were actually supposed to take the kids to visit Santa Claus but we decided Emilia was too sick as her eyes are still extremely weepy :( She has drops now so hopefully that will help get rid of this awful conjunctivitis but every time I see her bloodshot streaming eyes looking up at me my heart breaks into a million pieces. The poor little thing wanted to sleep with mummy last night so I gave in and let her come into our bed at about 2/3am. Thankfully Eduardo hasn't caught anything yet but I'm washing everyone's hands like a crazed lunatic and shrieking "don't touch anything!!!" after Emilia wipes or touches her eyes with her fingers.  

We did manage to brave the outdoors and do some Christmas home decor shopping this morning...I picked up some new items for our living & bedroom! Which subsequently led me to clearing out my entire closet & drawers at 9pm this evening. Three huge charity bin bags later and our bedroom is now super organised and a little more festive! Our bed sheets & faux fur throw are from Zara Home, the two faux fur cushions and "Merry" cushion are from Homebase. Our bed, lamps and end tables are from Ikea, as is our dresser/chest of drawers. I bought the light-up star from Homebase, my clear make-up organiser is from HerClutterBox, and the wooden tray on top of the dresser is from John Lewis. I also get asked a lot where the "J" and "A" letters on our bedside tables are from - I got them from a shop called The Lemon Tree. I did a bit more decorating downstairs too which I can't wait to share with you but we are going to Ireland next week to visit family so I will probably do the main bulk of my Christmas decorating when we get back! 

Pizza Party Every Night

You can't see it in this picture but Emilia actually wore a teeny tiny cutesy little ponytail today! It looked so sweet on her especially with this grey & pink outfit...she looked like a little ballerina! And her hair has got quite long recently so there was a lot more to work with than I had expected! Both Emilia & Eduardo's outfits are from Zara Baby today. I think I have shown Eduardo's before but Emilia's is new. I bought a grey jumper with a silhouette of a girl in a pink tutu on it in an effort to get her to wear more items of clothing that aren't dresses...she still made a fuss when I dressed her this morning but I tried to explain that we do not own enough dresses to wear one everyday of the week (blatant lie by the way...thankfully she's not old enough to know any better YET!). I also got her these leggings in a light pink which are super thick & great quality. I'm not sure where her headband is from because it was a gift in our PO box but it matched perfectly. Eduardo's shirt is lined on the inside which makes it super cosy and his leggings were some of the Halloween inspired ones I picked up in October. 

Poor Emilia is suffering with conjunctivitis at the moment :( It's so frustrating because while she is at pre-school I feel like she is constantly picking up something, especially this time of year. I hate it! She's a real trooper though and thankfully it hardly ever manages to dampen her mood but it's still not very nice to see your child ill. I hope that by this time next year she will have strengthened her immune system & won't be as bad! 

We were really naughty and ordered Domino's pizza for dinner tonight! But missed out last night so I think we deserved it (even if we did have pizza twice already this week...*hangs head in shame*)! My huge weakness are their cookies...they are so yummy! I almost prefer this to the pizza, ha ha! The one I always order is the Tuna Delight on Italian base, and Jonathan and I normally go half & half. What is your favourite pizza OR side dish/dessert to order?!

Black Friday

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures today as it was pretty hectic & I had lots to do but here was my outfit of the day! I'm wearing two new items that I recently hauled from ASOS. The cream polo neck (or "turtle neck" as it's called in America!) is by Ganni and I am absolutely in love with it. It's the perfect new addition to my winter wardrobe! So cosy & perfect for chilly days. Underneath I'm wearing army green combat skinnies by Diesel. Buying jeans or trousers online is always a bit of a gamble. I recently got some boyfriend jeans in my size that were way too big...whereas these ones fit like a glove BUT you wouldn't want to wear them whilst devouring a big meal if you know what I mean! I got them in a size 26 and I am normally in between a 25 and 26. So if you're in between two sizes I would definitely pick the bigger one. I did film a haul video on a lot of clothing that I recently purchased including these two items which will go live sometime next week! 

In the meantime, feel free to check out our brownies video that we filmed yesterday! These really are the world's best brownies...let me know if you bake them and I'm sure if you do you will agree! 

Also I know it's really late by the time this blog gets posted but I just wanted to mention that I did run a Black Friday special today with my jewellery where everyone who purchased a necklace on Black Friday will get a personalised signed thank you note from me. The only reason I didn't offer a discount code or anything like that is because we launched so recently that I didn't think it would be fair on all of my other customers to do that. I hope you guys know what I mean & will understand where I'm coming from! But I am looking forward to sending out your thank you cards! And thank you to ALL of you who have bought my necklace - no matter what day you did! You are all wonderful :) 

Brownies & Burpees

This morning the children & I baked our favourite stove to oven brownies! These brownies are a huge hit in our household; in fact anyone who tastes these always asks me for the recipe and claims they are the best brownies they've ever had! I'm really proud to say that this recipe comes from a book that was written by an friend of my family's...we go way back to when I lived in Baltimore! Kerry Dunnington was our neighbour and a friend of my mum's but since we moved she has written several cook books. The first one, This Book Cooks contains this amazing brownie recipe as well as an upside down cake (the famous "Auflauf" you've probably heard of in the vlogs!) that was a recipe of my mum's! There is also a recipe in Kerry's second book Tasting the Seasons, called "Anna's Pasta" which is inspired by me! I'm so excited and honoured to be featured in a cook book...ha ha! I actually really recommend these recipe books - especially for someone like me who isn't a very confident cook. These are very easy to follow, simple yet delicious family friendly recipes. You can check out Kerry's books on Amazon here! And as you can tell, Emilia had a blast baking (and eating) these brownies! We will be following up with a recipe video tomorrow so stay tuned for that!

It feels kind of silly to go from the topic of baking brownies to fitness, ha ha! But in a way it's nice because after all I do believe in balance ;) So to justify all those brownies I worked out with Lucy again today! And hit a pretty important milestone that I'm quite proud of. I did 30 push-ups today!!! Not all in one go mind you, I did 3 sets of 10. And believe me they were KILLER. But I did it and I'm so happy! So many people ask me why I continue to work out when I "don't need to lose weight" or why do I bother if I want to get pregnant again...etc. etc. and to me the answer is obvious but I suppose to a lot of people it might not make sense. So I wanted to touch on that a little bit here & let you know my feelings on working out and how they've changed. 

Let me start by telling you that I was never a fitness or exercise person...I didn't like sports in school, I never liked working out and I suppose I've always been kind of lucky to be able to eat normally & be naturally pretty slim without having to exercise. I gained about 25lbs with both my pregnancies and lost it very quickly and easily through breastfeeding. Again, I did not properly exercise whilst pregnant. Then in March/April of this year I slowed down & eventually stopped breastfeeding and gained a little bit of weight...it was only about 1/2 a stone but my clothes felt tighter and annoyingly it wouldn't seem to shift no matter what I did. Which is what got me thinking "maybe I should give this exercise thing a try". 

What started as an effort to lose a little bit of weight has completely transformed into something so much bigger and better than that...this has totally changed my life! I'm now back to my pre-pregnancy weight and have been for a while, so yes - exercise has helped me with that but it has also given me SO much more confidence. I feel like it's made me happier, stronger as well as obviously fitter and leaner. It's become like a sort of therapy for me and as much as there are some days when I'm tired or don't feel like doing it, it's become a part of my daily routine so I feel like "off" if I don't work out. Like I said in a previous post, I work out with Lucy now about twice a week where we do about 30 minutes of HIIT. Then on the other 5 days I do a 4 minute cardio HIIT workout in the mornings and 15 minute one at night. When I work out now, it's not to lose anything it's to gain something...muscle tone, strength, confidence, happiness and energy. These are the reasons I do it now, and I only wish I would have started / known this stuff earlier! If you want to begin working out & exercising but are lacking motivation I hope this helps. Because honestly if I can do it anyone can! And remember you only need to do short workouts & small amounts of HIIT to see amazing results. No hour long cardio workouts...because let's be honest, ain't nobody got time for that! 

Road Trippin'

Today took Jonathan & me on a road trip to Stamford where we were filming for a project we are taking part in with Sky. Here's what I wore on what turned out to be a pretty chilly day! (FYI I normally take these pictures without my coat to show you the outfit or because I'm just about to jump in a warm car...but I do definitely take one with me!) My jeans are from 7 for All Mankind, the boots are Toms, my scarf is from Paul Smith and I am wearing my first Christmas jumper of the season! (It's by Abercrombie). My bag is the Louis Vuitton Neverfull and was one of my birthday presents. 

We arrived home quite late but the kids stayed up so we could put them to bed as we hadn't seen them all day! I miss them so much when we're gone...I feel like I'm wasting my day if I'm not spending time with them! When we opened the door to be greeted by Eduardo shouting "hello Mummy!!" with spaghetti bolognese all over his face my heart melted into a puddle. I ordered a few things on John Lewis for the kids' bedrooms (mainly Emilia's) including a dresser to match her bedside table which hasn't arrived yet, a new quilt, cushion and matching lamps for each. Both of them were so happy with their mood lighting, ha ha! Or at least the switch made a fun toy for about 5 minutes before they got bored!

I also uploaded a new What I Ate Wednesday so if you'd like to see what I eat in a day, feel free to check it out! 

Beanie Babes

My two little munchkins were off to ballet this morning! (Well, Emilia was off to ballet...Eduardo is her supporting act!) We chose a pink tutu this morning which is size 6 years but thankfully under a chunky jumper it fits! This is from the Disney store & was a gift from a viewer! The jumper is from Zara, her shoes are from Accessorize and the pink bow is from Layniebug Designs. We later had to swap out the shoes for her pink wellies as it was pouring rain today...thankfully Emilia didn't mind. Phew! Eduardo is wearing a green top from Benetton along with his Levi jeans (which are sadly getting too small!).  

This afternoon I worked out with Lucy my personal trainer. This wonderful woman has changed my life in so many ways and I feel so blessed & grateful to have met her! She's even inspired me in the fashion department, as you can tell from this picture - I totally copied her beanie style! She was wearing this adorable beanie with a grey furry bobble on top and I loved it so much I went out and bought one (or three...actually, ha ha!) of my own! I found this one at Whistles. We did a 20-30 minute HIIT workout which was amazing! For those of you asking about my workout routine, I usually try to train with Lucy about twice a week...then on the other days I do her 4 minute HIIT workout in the morning followed by a 15-20 minute one in the evening before bed. I try to workout 6 days a week with one day of rest :) I love this way of training because it's quick and simple, you can fit it into any busy lifestyle and you don't need any equipment! You can check out Lucy's channel for lots of free workouts & fitness / nutrition tips here. 

Later in the afternoon I finally made time to get my nails done! They were looking really bad and I hadn't got a mani since before New York so this was very much needed! I got Shellac done as usual and went for Winter Glow which is a pale opaque pink. I got the shade Wildfire (vibrant red) on my toes as I couldn't decide between red or light pink on my hands so I decided I would do both! I love how the pink turned out...at first I was worried it would be too summery but I actually like it a lot - it reminds me of marshmallows!

Saccone Jewellery is Here!

Excuse the cheesy picture...but today I have a reason to be ridiculously excited because it's launch day!! My Zodiac necklaces are finally here!! I am so happy to finally be able to share the entire collection with you. My jewellery is available to buy here, and if you register with the website you will receive free worldwide shipping. 

All of my necklaces are made using premium, high-quality materials as this was the most important thing for me when I first came up with the idea for my jewellery line. I wanted to create a timeless, quality piece that you can wear everyday and keep forever. As I've mentioned in a previous post, all of these necklaces are made from 925 sterling silver (nickel free) and there are three colour options: silver, 18 karat gold plated, or 18 karat rose gold plated. The pricing is as follows: 

Silver: £54 / €69 / $79

Gold: £64 / €84 / $94 

I know that some of you will be disappointed with the price but I did try very hard to ensure that everything was under £100. At the same time because quality is so important to me I didn't spare any money when it came to materials used. The necklaces also come in different chain lengths: 45cm, 60cm and 80cm so you can choose whichever you like depending on how you want to wear it! I prefer a shorter necklace so I wear the 45cm. 

I made a video featuring 10 of the 12 Zodiac pendants (Aquarius & Virgo were changed multiple times so I didn't have them in time for this video - but they are available and you can view them on the website!). In this video I go into more detail about the story behind my jewellery line and why I decided to do this. It's a very personal story and this was quite difficult/emotional to film but I am really proud of this tribute to my dad. I really hope you guys love all of the designs as much as I do. I genuinely put my heart & soul into this project, and I am overwhelmed by the positivity and kindness that you've shown me ever since announcing it! I love & appreciate you all so much! 

And don't forget guys, you need to be registered to Stilnest in order to claim your free shipping. Also for Christmas deliveries, ordering before December 14th is a must to avoid disappointment! 

*UPDATE* The website did crash last night due to the huge volume of you who were all trying to access the site at the same time (THANK YOU! You are amazing!!). I am very sorry for this inconvenience as are Stilnest who have worked tirelessly all night long to get everything back up & running. I'm pleased to report that the website is back up and fully functioning again so you can now place your orders. Thank you for your patience & understanding - it is very much appreciated! 

Birthday Party Fun

Today we were invited to our lovely friends Sabrina & Adam's little boy Xavier's 4th birthday party! Emilia was so excited about it she picked out her entire outfit the night before, instructing me to hang it up on the outside of her wardrobe "so she could see it". This girl cracks me up! We were on the brink of a meltdown when I told her she couldn't wear her Elsa costume so as consolation she was allowed to pick this pink dress even though it's a size too big. At that point I was kind of scraping the barrel as every other dress I held up she would respond with a chipper "no thank you!" So this one was going to have to do! This is from Belle & Boo (I didn't even realise they made clothes!) and I put it with a pink top from H&M, faded/dusty pink tights and gold shoes from Zara, and a pink cardigan with a gold bow on (also from H&M). Eduardo is still recovering from his cold/cough so I put him in this warm black & grey plaid shirt from Zara as it's lined with jersey, black jeans from H&M and his shoes are from Clarks. 

I was fortunate enough to get them to pose for another family picture (note the Frozen toys clutched in every photo). I took this right before running back into the house to give all the dogs their mind the house treats and pick up the last few bits which is why I am sans winter coat! My jumper is one I bought last year from the brand Olive, my jeans are by Ted Baker and my boots are from Whistles. Emilia & Eduardo are wearing their coats that we bought in Sorrento (the tags say Baby A.) and although Emilia's is still quite long on her, I couldn't resist for this all pink outfit! 

And here is the aftermath...ha ha! The sugar highs were in full swing by the time this picture was taken! We had the best time at Xavier's jungle themed party. Emilia had an absolute blast getting involved in all of the party games and even dressed up as a mermaid. Eduardo did enjoy himself (especially after the party when we chilled at Sabrina's house) but he is still extremely clingy towards me :( Unfortunately he gets very frightened and anxious at birthday parties because of an incident that happened a few months ago which I've never spoken about publicly. I still don't know if I ever will...it was a very upsetting and traumatic event and it breaks my heart that it obviously still affects him! But I'm hoping that in time he'll forget about it and be able to enjoy birthday parties as much as his sister. And he did come out of his shell a little bit towards the end!

Feeling Lucky

Seeing as my jewellery line launches on the 23rd of November which happens to be the beginning of Sagittarius' birthday month, I thought I'd share a sneak peek of what this star sign's necklace looks like! Let me know what you guys think! I love how the sign's symbol is incorporated into the image of the bow & arrow. I've been getting lots of questions about my necklaces on Twitter & Instagram so I thought I'd address a few of the most popular ones here! People are asking about the materials...I'm very proud to announce that these necklaces are made using solid & finest materials to ensure a premium quality, high-end product. They are all made from 925 sterling silver (nickel free) and plated in 18kt gold or rose gold, depending on the colour option. Quality was something that was extremely important to me when starting out this jewellery line...in other words, I want you guys to have something that will last forever and you can wear everyday without having to worry about it turning your neck green! I've also been asked a lot about chain lengths...they come in three different sizes - 45cm, 60cm and 80cm. (I wear the shortest one.)

And don't forget, necklaces go on sale Monday 23rd of November from here but in the meantime you can register beforehand for free worldwide shipping! 

I have no idea how I got so lucky with this picture!! It all started with me asking Jonathan to take a picture of my outfit (on my own...because I didn't think the kids were in the mood for photos!). Then to my surprise Emilia jumped in wanting to hold my hand and pose (total diva mode with her sippy cup and sunnies on her head!) and then Eduardo got jealous and ran into the shot as well! And to my utter surprise they both beamed up at the camera and shrieked "CHEEEESE" in unison. Sometimes these two are just too bloody cute for their own good!

I am wearing my new cardigan/jumper that I got as a birthday present from my mum (which came in the post this morning!) from Part Two (similar style here), a Michael Kors scarf, Primark jeans and my grey Ugg boots. We got Eduardo's coat from a boutique in Sorrento, his jeans are from Zara and Emilia's coat was a gift from our PO Box (I think it was from Japan!), her bow is by Belle Vintage Boutique, her tights are from DPAM and both children's shoes are from Clarks!

Pampered Pooches

Looking at the state of our bedroom behind me in this picture, I'm kind of ashamed I even posted it...ha ha ha! But what can I say, that's life! I don't always have a perfectly made bed even if this was taken at about midday! This morning I had some free time to catch up on some work as Jonathan kindly took the kids out to do some grocery shopping. So I managed to film a video, get back to a few emails, tick some things off my to-do list and quickly clean the house/do some laundry before they all got back. Phew! My outfit was pretty simple today but I love this top...I wish I had picked up more when I was in New York! It's from J.Crew and the neckline is very flattering. The arms are a little tight on this as they only had XXS left in this colour but I got everything else in XS (which fits nicer in my opinion). My jeans are the black Ted Bakers with rips in the knees and my scarf is old but a favourite of mine from Zara.  

Emilia & Eduardo are still recovering from being sick so we kept Emilia from preschool today. But they are doing much better...thank you for all your well wishes <3 They played outside in their new car (I know...spoiled, spoiled kids but it was a very generous gift from Range Rover!) while I edited. Meanwhile our pampered pooches spent the day at the salon! Lucky for some, they have a more glamorous life than me! They even get massages and listen to classical music...ha ha ha! I love when they all smell beautiful and have fresh new bows in. If only it lasted! Other than that we had a pretty normal Friday night. We ordered pizza (of course) and chilled as a family. But to me those evenings are the best! 

If you'd like to check out my video you can watch it here! It's a Q&A where I answered your questions from Snapchat (my Snapchat is asacconejoly by the way. I try to post everyday). I really loved getting to see your sweet faces and it felt like a much more personal Q&A so I will definitely do this again soon! And thank you to everyone who sent me a snap - you are all so lovely and I wish I could give you a big hug!

Exciting Delivieries & Healthy Foods

Something really exciting happened this morning - my jewellery samples arrived!! Yay! I cannot wait to share all of the star signs and designs with you guys! Here is a sneak peek but you'll have to wait a little while longer to see more! They will be available in gold, rose gold & silver. Also in different chain lengths so don't worry if you wanted a longer one than I wear. (Mine's about 16 inches.) I also got news this morning of how many of you registered on the website yesterday evening...let's just say my mind was BLOWN and I am SO appreciative and thankful for you all! You are amazing!! The website got so many visitors that it actually crashed temporarily because the servers couldn't handle that much traffic! I know some of you had problems with selecting your country in the shipping dropdown...I wanted to reassure you all that WORLDWIDE shipping will definitely be free for all registered users and Stilnest have let me know that all countries will be added to the site by Monday 23rd of November (launch day). I hope that answers some of your questions! I try to keep up with most of them on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook so please keep checking there for more info!

Another unrelated package that arrived last night was from Chroma stationery...they sent us the sweetest personalised notebooks which I am so in love with! I especially liked this one for Emilia which says "Emilia's Princess Plans". Eduardo's says "Eduardo's Masterpieces". I love them! Such a fun idea and the notebooks are really beautiful.

This afternoon I had my first workout session with Lucy since we got back from New York and it felt so good! I'm so happy to be getting back on track again...even though I never actually went "off track" as Lucy gives me hotel workouts to do whilst we're travelling but I feel like doing our weekly sessions helps so much to keep me motivated! For dinner tonight I kept it healthy by making a cleaner/leaner version of burger & chips! I made organic veggie burgers on wholegrain buns with lettuce, tomato & sweet potato chips. This was so yummy and I will definitely be making it again! Jonathan wasn't a huge fan of the veggie burger but he's a big meat fan whereas I enjoy vegetarian food a lot more than him! The brand I got was Dragonfly Gluten Free Organic Tatty & I also got the Mexican Spice version. You can eat them hot or cold & I highly recommend them! 

Emotional Day

Poor Emilia was feeling very ill this morning and even threw up her water before she had even eaten any breakfast. She spent almost the whole day cuddled up like this on the sofa, watching Disney movies and cartoons. I felt so sorry for her! At about 4 o'clock she finally perked up and said she was hungry so I gave her some toast which she devoured straight away & asked for more with honey! Thankfully she seems to be okay now and even ate her dinner with no complaints about her tummy. Unfortunately Jonathan is suffering from man flu so he also spent the day under a duvet! Which meant that I spent most of my time traipsing up & down the stairs with cups of Lemsip and/or sick buckets...ha ha ha!

Lucky for Eduardo, he had an absolute dream day hanging out one on one with Mummy! I think he loved it but at the same time I'm pretty sure he missed his sister & daddy. He also does the sweetest thing every morning...he came running into me while I was working at the kitchen table asking me for "ip-sick" so I grabbed Emilia's wooden toy lipstick from her box and gave it to him. He made a face at it and said "No! Mummy ip-sick!" and then insisted on dragging me all the way into the hall where my handbag was to retrieve my own (Estee Lauder mind you, this boy has expensive taste!) lipstick. He then puckered his lips waiting for me to apply it. How is it possible that a little boy could be so adorable?! So we both applied our lipstick and then made kissy faces together...whilst clutching a pink hairbrush. Ha ha ha, sorry Jonathan!!

Onto the emotional part of this blog post, so apologies in advance for any mushiness that you read from here onwards! 

As I've already mentioned my jewellery line doesn't launch until next Monday but we are offering free worldwide shipping to all of you guys if you register on the website www.Stilnest.com/AnnaSaccone before launch date! (It's free to register, you just need an email address!) I am so excited to share all of the designs with you! My mum sent me this picture of my dad wearing the Scorpio necklace which this whole jewellery line was inspired by. The picture is really old, as he didn't wear it anymore by the time they were together so this was taken before they knew each other. I took a few selfies today of me wearing the necklace and was going through the motions of "left, right, straight ahead" posing and then just as I was about to post I remembered my dad's picture and put them side by side. I didn't even intentionally mean for us to look at each other but it was as if the photos just clicked and suddenly it looked like they were always meant to be. As soon as I saw the photos together I burst into tears and continued to bawl my eyes out for a good half hour afterwards (though it is also my time of the month so that probably had something to do with it!). I'm fine now and was eventually able to stop crying so I have recovered from my emotional breakdown...ha ha ha! Thank you to all of you for your huge support about my jewellery, it has been overwhelmingly positive and I am just so grateful to you guys! <3

And if you guys are feeling hungry, don't forget to check out today's What I Ate Wednesday!

Sassy & Sweet

Today was ballet day and these two went matchy-matchy! I don't always match their outfits intentionally but sometimes it's just so much fun & I can't help myself! Eduardo doesn't attend the ballet class but he likes to come along for the ride and eats his mid-morning snack in the adjoining cafe. (I think he'd secretly love to take part though...future Billy Elliot perhaps?!) Emilia wore her red tutu (which is getting too small!) from Belle Vintage Boutique, cream tights, a cream cardigan from Il Gufo and gold shoes from Zara. Eduardo wore a red top from Benetton, blue jeans from River Island and his shoes are from Clarks.

I've been working hard at getting everything ready for my jewellery launch (Monday the 23rd of November...eek!!) and this includes sourcing old pictures of me with my dad. I asked my mum to send me a few and she threw in a couple of randoms. Here's one of me when I was about...four? I think? Giving my "don't mess with me" look which Emilia does A LOT! Ha ha ha! Her personality reminds me of myself as a child SO MUCH. We were joking about this today actually as Eduardo was very emotional and clingy after his nap. I was getting frustrated because I literally could not get anything done as he would whinge every time I moved away from him and cling to my leg. Jonathan said "aww the poor little guy, he's feeling under the weather. He just needs extra attention...he doesn't cope very well with this sort of thing" We both looked at each other and I rolled my eyes and said "yeah, like SOMEONE we all know" (Jonathan is currently suffering with man flu and acting like the end is nigh) and we instantly burst out laughing. I know most people say Emilia looks like her daddy and Eduardo like me but in terms of personality the opposite applies! Jonathan was actually a whole lot more sensitive & quieter than me as a child - I was pretty independent and loved being the centre of attention...now who does that remind you of?! This is why I love my sassy girl & sweet boy, they are both so special in their own way! 

The Long Awaited Birthday Haul

Today I finally got a chance to film the long awaited birthday haul! I know many of you have been requesting this for almost two weeks now. Well, here it is! I am actually wearing one of my presents in this picture (which you've all seen before). It's this grey jumper from my sister Emma who got it at & Other Stories. I seriously love it so much! I can see this becoming my favourite winter look. Here I've styled it with my leather Michael Kors leggings which I bought last year. I'm also wearing a black & gold Kate Spade bracelet and I didn't leave the house today so no shoes...ha ha!

And here are the other items I featured in my haul video...I promised I'd link them here so I will do my best. First thing I mentioned were the Christian Louboutin Pigalle 85's in patent leather. The most beautiful & classic shoes I've ever laid eyes on! So uncomfortable but everybody tells me they wear well & get comfier with age. I also got the Louis Vuitton Neverfull which is the perfect "mummy bag" for storing everything toddler/baby related in as well as all your normal bits & pieces. I got a classic black Prada Saffiano leather tote to match my wallet I got about 2 years ago. I really needed this staple black bag in my collection and had been eyeing up the Prada ones for ages! I love how this one has so much room & lots of different compartments! From my sister Erika I got these Victoria's Secret PINK pyjamas which are adorable...I wish I could wear these every night! I got my first ever Jo Malone candle in Peony & Blush Suede which I currently keep in my bedroom. The scent is very fresh & feminine plus it keeps my nightstand looking chic! And finally I got this beautifully soft black Kate Spade wristlet which is perfect for nights out when I don't want to lug around a big old handbag. 

I am so grateful for all of my birthday gifts and truly appreciate every one. I know that birthday hauls aren't everyone's cup of tea as they can come across as bragging or showing off but being totally honest with you guys, I enjoy watching other people's and I think they're a lot of fun! So if you like these too, enjoy :)

Casual Sunday

Today was a pretty casual & chilled out Sunday. We had all these plans for the weekend but then I got sick and the children haven't been very well either...plus Jonathan is still recovering from his surgery. So we laid low and barely did anything but I think we're all feeling a lot more relaxed & ready to tackle the week ahead! Our plan for today was to ease gently into braving the outdoors and do a spot of grocery shopping...like most times this ended up being an excuse to eat out for lunch on the way home ;) We went to Ask Italian, I ordered the goat's cheese salad followed by this beauty - a warm pear & almond tart which I drowned in cream. Yummy!! 

At Morrison's Disney DVDs were on special offer so we bought Pocahontas, Aristocats and Monsters Inc. After watching Monsters Inc. this afternoon I FINALLY convinced Emilia to let me put her hair up in pigtails like Boo! She looked adorable! She has even requested to wear her hair this way to preschool tomorrow (*squeals and jumps up and down triumphantly*)! I feel like I've won an award. Honestly...do you know how long this took!?! Emilia is wearing her new Minnie & Mickey pyjamas from Baby Zara. Oh, and see that pink hair tie on her wrist? She took it out of my hair accessories bag while I was putting hers in pigtails. When I was going to bed myself I discovered one in every other colour hanging off all the knobs on my large chest of drawers. That girl makes me laugh, even when she's asleep and doesn't know it!

Rainy Day & Baking Cookies

Sometimes my little munchkins are up for posing and cheesy grins...other days they are not. It depends on their toddler moods & attitudes but when they are good they are very very good! I always end up thinking to myself "what beautiful angels I have!" then we get a day where they're more interested in tearing each other's hair out than smiling for the camera, or the very sight of mummy's phone induces shrieks for "PEPPA!!" or "ANNA/ELSA/OLAF!!!" and I promptly give up. But today they were little cherubs in their (almost) matching outfits and they even went as far as holding hands. Aww, bless :)

It was raining all day today so we put Emilia & Eduardo's new Hunter boots to good use (I'm totally lying by the way, we never left the house...but it was fun to wear them regardless!). I got Emilia the Original Kids' Gloss Wellies in the colour Lipstick. Eduardo's are the Original Kids' First Classic Wellies in the colour Mineral Blue. Emilia's entire outfit is from Zara, as are Eduardo's trousers whereas his shirt is from H&M. 

Because it was such a gloomy & rainy day, we did what we always do when we can't go outside...bake! We baked these delicious white & milk chocolate chip cookies which went down a treat. While I was trying to get a good shot of the plate Emilia's little head popped up from beneath the counter and I burst out laughing. I had to use this picture, it makes me smile every time I look at it! She's such a cheeky monkey :) Here's the recipe we used for these cookies, though we did cheat a bit and made them bigger as it says bakes 25 but we made about 16! 

Ingredients: 

200g butter, softened

1 egg

375g caster sugar

450g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

200g chocolate chips (we mixed milk and white)

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line baking trays with greaseproof paper (you will need about three). With an electric mixer, combine the butter, egg and sugar until fluffy. Then add the flour, baking soda and vanilla until a firm dough is formed. Don't overwork the dough! Finally, stir in the chocolate chips using a wooden spoon. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour. (We totally skipped this step but we were just too impatient!)

Separate into balls and place onto the greaseproof paper - we made about 16 big ones! Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once cooled they should be large, chewy and slightly soft in the middle - perfection! Enjoy with a tall glass of milk :) 

Sick Day :(

Last night I started feeling quite poorly so it was no surprise when this morning I woke up feeling even worse! I basically spent the day in bed trying to sleep off this dreadful flu. :( I've completely lost my appetite too which is totally unlike me so have been downing Lemsips and water instead. (Though I did manage to muster the strength to munch a few slices of pizza - it is Pizza Party Friday Night after all!!).  The worst part of it all was not seeing Emilia & Eduardo all day. When I finally emerged from the bedroom at 6pm it was already nearly bedtime! I felt like I had missed an entire day of seeing their cute faces :(

Thankfully the day didn't end before grabbing some cute shots of the kids on my phone. Here's one of Eduardo calling the dogs in, which is his new favourite thing to do. At least he gets to boss someone around which isn't easy with Emilia in the equation! ;)

"Puppies! In in in in in!!" 󾌴󾌧󾮞🏼󾆛🏼󾆷󾔯 #thatsmyboy #lordofthedogs

Posted by Anna Saccone on Friday, 13 November 2015

  

London Vibes

I feel like putting the word "vibes" after the place you're at is what all the cool kids are saying these days. The fact that I know this information along with the meanings of the words "bae", "goals", "tho" (after every statement) and "on fleek" makes me very impressed with myself. Oh yes, I am very trendy and hip to the jive...in fact I think I deserve a medal. I may still not have figured out how to get music onto my iPhone but I am vibing it up in London folks!! *puts down the knitting needles*

Moving swiftly along! Today was spent in London where we had a very interesting & insightful 4 hour long meeting. It's made me pretty excited about some upcoming projects and many more things to come in 2016! I can't wait to share them with you all and I want you to know that a big part of all of that is definitely going to be my blog. So I will not be forsaking you, don't worry :) I plan on staying here and putting up consistent content for you everyday. I know you love the daily posts and I'm so grateful for all of your support so far this month - it means so much to me!

Onto my outfit for today...I chose almost all black with a pop of red. My jeans are from Ted Baker and I love them. They are super stretchy and mid - high rise so they suck everything in! I wore them with a black leather belt from House of Fraser, my Valentino boots and a Vila long-sleeve top. My plaid shirt is by Tommy Hilfiger and my bag is by Prada. My scarf is a really old one from Mexx!

Hiding from Mummy & What I Ate

Here's my little stud muffin hiding from his mummy! He makes me laugh so much and his personality is coming out more & more everyday. This is his hide-y hole spot that he runs to if he's either scared, sulking, throwing a little strop or running away from us if we're chasing him. I don't know why he picked this corner but for some reason it's always either here or behind the lamp in our living room!

Today he looked especially cute in this grey & mustard outfit which he wore to his playgroup (hence the name tag!). The leggings are from Zara Baby and have black bats on them (this link takes you to the girls' section but I'm 100% sure when I bought them they were in the boys' Halloween section too and the label just says "Zara Baby"), the jumper is by Jo Milano and we bought it in Italy. I love grey on babies & toddlers! I remember when I was pregnant with Eduardo and had hauled a load of grey baby clothes, someone left a comment telling me that dressing my baby in grey would affect his personality later in life and make him a boring, shy and socially awkward person...ha ha ha!! Needless to say I didn't take any notice and will continue to dress my children in whatever colours I want! People say the most ridiculous things on the internet but sometimes you just have to laugh at it! I hope you dress yourself and/or your children however you fancy and in whatever makes you happy :) And pay no attention to people who tell you otherwise!

Being that it's Wednesday I also uploaded a What I Ate video, so if you want to check that out you can do so here:   

Hobo Chic-ken Burritos!

This photo was taken after coming home from London where I spent last night with Jonathan while he recovered from part one of his surgery. He's now back from day two and is feeling pretty rough :( I think it's much worse when both sides of his head have been done...at least yesterday only one side was in pain! I will say that the results are truly amazing and he looks SO much younger! It's crazy how a few centimetres on a hairline can transform your face. 

I literally threw this outfit together last minute as I was packing for London and ended up looking kind of...slobby, ha ha! We'll call it "hobo chic" but really it's just kind of oversized everything! I'm really disappointed actually that these jeans don't fit properly because I bought them recently from 7 for All Mankind and they're too big! I already checked on the website and they're sold out of the smaller size :( Boo! They are beautiful jeans though - so comfy and well-made! I think I'm going to give them away to a friend of mine...she can wear them a lot better than me. My cardigan is from Abercrombie and the t-shirt is by JCrew. I actually really like the top part of this outfit but because it was quite baggy all over, I felt like it was a bit sloppy looking! 

For dinner tonight I made this wonderful creation which again was a recipe I found on Jamie Oliver's website. It's actually a chicken burrito but it looks like a taco because our tortillas were smaller and I couldn't wrap it properly. Plus I ended up standing them in the oven for a while because we were waiting for Jonathan to get home. The children & I devoured these...unfortunately Jonathan wasn't very hungry, probably because of his traumatic day!! But I definitely recommend these and will be making them again! 

Four Years, Two Babies and Six Dogs

I don't think I ever shared this picture on the blog but this is our 4 year wedding anniversary shot! I took an Instagram on the same day but both kids were looking grumpy...we actually took a LOT of pictures to make sure we got at least one we could use and this was the clear winner! (Even if Eduardo still looks like he's going to beat someone up!). Sometimes I can't believe how much has happened in the last four years...I love our little tradition of taking a picture every year especially because you can see the progression of us going from newlyweds to parents! I'm even pregnant in two of those shots :) 

This morning Jonathan went into London to begin the procedure of getting a hair transplant. He was both nervous & excited at the same time (probably more nervous though!) and I had to bring all six dogs to the vet for their vaccinations...in my new car which I had never driven before. Err, you can imagine how that went down!! I don't even know which buttons mean what yet so it made for an interesting morning that's for sure! Thankfully all the puppies were fine and healthy which is the main thing. I then filmed a video (which you can view below!) before heading into London to pick Jonathan up from the hair clinic. Poor thing is on so many meds and it looks sore :( But it will be worth it in the long run...they do half today and half tomorrow. The half they have done already looks amazing and makes the world of difference! I feel like he's going to look like a teenager when they're finished with him! 

We are currently staying in a hotel in London for one night so that Jonathan can get an early start tomorrow. It's funny because as much as this hotel room is super organised and clean, there are no toys or kids' clothes/suitcases to unpack and you would think it would be much more relaxing & stress free, it feels so empty without them :( Being a parent is so conflicting sometimes. You think you need time apart (and you DO!) but then when you get it you miss your children like a hole in the head. I can't wait to see them tomorrow! 

On a totally unrelated note, here's my Bath & Body Works haul of what I got when we were in NYC!  As you can tell from the thumbnail, I was very excited about this. I hope you enjoy! 

Baking Day

We are still getting over our jet lag, so today started with breakfast at 1 o'clock and lounging about in our pyjamas for most of the afternoon! I'm in love with this cute pair from VS Pink, they were a birthday present from my little sister Erika! (Top and shorts available here & here.) 

After we got back from America we had a lot of mouldy fruit & vegetables I needed to get rid of...among those were some black bananas. As I was about to throw them in the bin, I remembered what my mama always taught me! When life gives you black bananas, bake banana bread! (Only joking - she never said that, I just made that part up ha ha ha!) She did always used to bake it so as not to waste food though and today I found myself craving it badly. Then I also remembered we have some canned pumpkin left over from my Halloween baking so I Googled a few recipes and came up with this one. I didn't have any walnuts but I used raisins and was short one egg so instead added an extra (small) banana. The result was delicious but extremely moist! Next time I'll try with both eggs and see how it turns out. But the good news is the kids liked it and we had it for a healthy-ish pudding! 

We have hardly any food left in the house (we get our weekly shop delivered each Monday) but I suppose I got bitten by the baking/cooking bug because I really felt like cooking something from scratch using whatever ingredients I could find! So I figured we had pasta, tuna and tinned tomatoes and everyone enjoys a good old pasta bake. I used Jamie Oliver's recipe with wholewheat penne. The recipe feeds 6 people and it went down a treat, with plenty left over for tomorrow! Emilia finished every last bite - I was a very proud mummy :) 

Here are my two little angels before bed...we skipped their nap today and put them down at 8pm so they would get back on schedule. Fingers crossed it actually works because starting next week they have all their activities on again! I bought them these in the Disney shop in Times Square - I was supposed to keep them for Christmas but as you can see I'm way too impatient. Plus they look so cute, how could I resist?!