Hello lovelies, happy 2019! Life does tend to get in the way of this little blog and I, especially when it's easier to pop a few stories on Instagram and connect with people that way. But I do miss the whole process of a blogpost - coercing my husband into taking photos, then letting my thoughts spill out without worrying about character limits. So here we are, my first outfit post in I don't know how long (yes, I know I could check, but it's going to be an embarrassingly long time!), and it's quite a special one.

Last year I was approached by Boden to work with them as a brand ambassador, and to say I was thrilled would be a colossal understatement. I literally squealed at my desk! They're the epitome of fun, colourful, good quality British fashion, something I've really come to appreciate in the last few years as I've become more mindful of what I add to my wardrobe, and I've had such a fun time working with them. This month we're looking at some of their key pieces in the Boden 10 capsule collection, designed to encourage people to jazz up their style and get out there in dull dreary January - as someone who struggles in the darker months, I totally appreciate this ethos and as you can see, duly dragged my husband and son to the park yesterday to carry out the brief!




My choice was the Ada midi dress - a lightly flared midi tea dress, with beautiful floaty sleeves and a fun floral print. It reminds me of the dresses I used to live in a few years ago, before pregnancy and motherhood had me retreating to the safety of jeans and jumpers. Putting it on was almost an emotional process - I felt pretty and comfortable, like I'd climbed back into an old version of myself and I'd forgotten what it felt like. I felt like me again and I can't put into words how much that means!





I love the dress with boots and tights, but equally can't wait to wear it for spring, with comfy trainers and a little denim jacket thrown over the top. I'm utterly sold on the midi length too, and I can't lie, part of me is tempted by the emerald green version...

I've also got a lovely 20% discount to offer to my readers if you're equally tempted- link here! It's valid through the rest of January and will be applied at checkout. Happy shopping!







Disclaimer - the dress was gifted to me by Boden as part of a larger Instagram campaign, I have not been paid for this post.

In 2017, two things happened that very drastically altered my life. One is rather obvious, cute, noisy and gets me up before the sun rises. The other was this - we got a car.

My weekly life hasn't changed too much, I can't drive so still spend a lot of time walking with Harry or hopping on trains. But at weekends, we have freedom to go further afield without being subjected to public transport and Crossrail closures. It's wonderful! We've explored more in our local area in the last year than we have in the 6 years we've lived together in Essex. It probably helps that our days start a lot earlier than the pre-baby lazy weekends used to... and taking Harry on outings is plain good fun.

He recently developed an interest in trains - we can see the mainline from our balcony, and he gets so excited whenever I take him on a train, we have to wave bye to the driver and he chats to everyone who looks in our direction. So for the last Sunday in September, we chose to indulge this interest and took him to the Epping & Ongar heritage railway.

As my interest in trains is limited to "will it get me home on time, and will I get a seat?" I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself as much as I did - but there is something undeniably charming about seeing a steam train come puffing into the platform, and Harry's little exclamations of "oh wow!" were enough to make my day.

The railway is run solely by volunteers, and an all-day ticket is around £14 (little ones like Harry go free). The line goes from Epping to Chipping Ongar in Essex, but we were restricted by Harry's nap schedule so only went as far as the first stop on the line in North Weald. After a short walk to explore our surroundings, we got a snack in the restored railcar cafe nearby before heading back to Chipping Ongar. I imagine it would be even more fun in summer, as you can wander through the countryside nearby, but we were inadequately dressed so felt a bit too cold for a longer walk!

They do a lot of themed days, for Halloween, Christmas, etc - so we might return for a visit to see Santa! Next time I think we'd make it a full day out with a pub lunch in between. It was nice pretending we'd been flung back in time for the day, and I obviously loved the Hogwarts Express vibes....

Is it even October if you haven't visited a pumpkin patch?!

I didn't realise they were a thing until last year, I have to admit. It was only when a photographer I follow on Instagram posted some lovely images, and I noticed the location wasn't very far from our place, that my interest was piqued. I convinced my husband that visiting a pumpkin patch, with a 4 month old, in the midst of Storm Brian, would be a fabulous way to spend a Saturday. And I insisted it was in no way for my own sole benefit, as I pranced around snapping pumpkins, myself, a corn maze, and a disgruntled baby half-hidden under a blanket (did I mention Storm Brian was raging? It was a wee bit windy.) I got my photos, we spent a tenner on pumpkins, and raced home to the warm.




This year, I felt a little more justified in visiting, as it wasn't just for me. We visited on a beautifully sunny weekend, popped the wellies on, gathered together our baby gang, and let the little ones loose. I foolishly removed Harry's reins as they were spoiling my photos and he rewarded me by making a run for the fields beyond the patch, sending my husband sprinting after him. Thank goodness for the wheelbarrows provided, perfect for depositing your pumpkin spoils, and for containing a wanderlusting toddler. The pumpkins were cheap, the children entertained, the adults relieved at avoiding a potential soft play visit. It was such a success, I think this might become our autumn tradition.



We visited Foxes Farm Produce, which has two sites in Essex and opens up for pumpkin picking throughout October (weekends and during the week of half term). I'm told they also do Christmas trees... so we may return in a month!

Look, I'm sorry, this post is a year late - hence the tiny Harry in the photos, back when he was like a warm snuggly handbag we carried around with us, occasionally resulting in explosive nappy changes. The thing is, now we've hit autumn again, I'm feeling a desperate yearning to head back to these gorgeous villages. I know I don't have to sell the Cotswolds as a holiday destination - they do this very well on their own, by virtue of their beauty - but if you were thinking of having a weekend away, or if you have a little one and desperately want a holiday but can't quite face travelling abroad, let me recount our experience, and share some of my photos.





 We went with my bestie and her family, so two couples, two babies (4 and 3 months respectively). We stayed in a gorgeous converted stables in a teeny village called Aldsworth, which was ideally placed for our explorations - it was central to all the places we wanted to visit and was just beautifully peaceful. Above is the view from the stable door - just stunning.

We arrived late on Friday afternoon, after gathering food supplies in Witney, and as our babies weren't quite settled in any particular routine, decided we had time to visit the famous Arlington Row cottages in Bibury, just ten minutes down the road. This proved to be an excellent idea. Despite being absolutely chocka with tourists any other time of day, it turned out to be virtually empty at 6pm on a Friday night, which meant I was able to snap some photos without having to edit anyone out of them (basically, my photography gold standard!). Parking was super easy at this time, so we popped the babies in their carriers and went for a wander. If we'd been baby-free, I think we might have popped into one of the local restaurants, but we had a nice M&S dinner waiting for us back at the stables after our walk, so back we went.





The next day, we decided to make use of our National Trust membership and headed to Chedworth Roman villa, again just a short drive away (albeit slightly complicated, meandering through dinky villages and woodland trails). This was more for my husband's benefit as he is a history buff, but we saw plenty of families there - our babies were the youngest though. Again we had to use the baby carriers, as the villa is spread out across a few levels. It was interesting but my favourite part was gazing across the valley and relishing in the silence - bliss!

After this we got pretty hungry from all that history, so headed to the Smokehouse in Burford as we'd been told there was a market going on. The boys bought venison burgers, but Steph and I decided we had our hearts set on afternoon tea, and the market wasn't really suitable for the little ones, so back in the car we went... ending up in Bourton-on-the-Water.

Oh, how we loved it there! We ate the best scones I've ever had in my life in the Bakery On The Water (we loved them so much, we made a point of returning there this summer!) and wandered the back streets, admiring the cottages and dreaming of living in such a beautiful place. The river meandering through the village gives it a blissful holiday feeling, although when we visited in summer it was absolutely packed - I imagine it's a lot of fun with older children!

I've not written much about Harry's life so far, and I know I'm at risk of forgetting what these days are like for us. Much of his first year has just been about survival, making it to the end of each day; I don't feel like I'm making the most of him, if that makes sense. I already know how fast he will grow and change - not so long ago, for example, he had just turned 1 and had just about figured out how to stand on his own - now, he runs everywhere.

Oh hello there!

You'd be forgiven for thinking this blog was defunct. No more. Shuffled off this mortal coil and what have you. I wasn't sure if I'd come back to it, but I have spent the last year in a maternity leave fog and to be honest, I'd rather use the limited energy I have to wash my hair, or make a cup of tea, for example.

But my maternity leave ends this week, so it seemed like a good time to peek out into the blogging world and give you all a tentative, sheepish wave!

Here's the deal: blogging with a baby in tow is HARD. Okay, for me personally, doing anything with a baby in tow is hard and I've spent more time in pyjamas (is it better if I say "leisurewear"? Asking for a friend) over the last year than I ever thought possible. I watch bloggers like the lovely Amy Jane and Baby, or the ever glorious Hannah Gale knock out blog posts on a regular basis, and I have absolutely no idea how they manage it. My baby doesn't nap very well and when he's up he's way too inquisitive and, well, grabby, to get the laptop out in his vicinity. Trust me, I've tried.

But I've just got a new phone, and the Blogger app actually works (it never used to on my iPhone for some reason), so here I am, sitting on the train home after my first official day back at work, and I just want to say:

Hi.

And thank you for sticking with me, if you're still around! What sort of things would you like to hear from me (if anything?!).

 I've changed a lot since becoming a mum, more than I expected, but I'm trying to keep the tiny part of old me alive, somewhere under the befuddled baby brain that still persists. I'm still working on my photography and trying to develop a business somehow. I'm still in love with my makeup, even though my stash has dwindled. I'm still spending far too much time scrolling through ASOS and H&M, although limited funds means limited spending (my wardrobe these days is what I like to call "creative")... I'm still obsessed with Instagram and spend a lot of my time watching Stories and sharing snaps of my life with Harry (snaps that don't necessarily involve all his plastic tat or weaning mess. I'll spare you the gory parts). So I feel like I have a lot to say, I'm just not sure where to begin, or how to say it.

 I'll start with saying hi, and we will go from there. 

Talk about closing the barn door after the horses have bolted... my third trimester ended last MONTH. But dear lord, did it drag! I'd heard people saying the third trimester was the worst, but after suffering through my first I am ashamed to say I dismissed these warnings, thinking they couldn't possibly match up. I mean, when you're in your third trimester, you're just a short distance from the finish line, right? You're about to meet your baby, right? So close!

Except as soon as you hit about 30 weeks or so, time just slows down, along with your ability to do anything remotely physical. For me, the worst part was the pelvic girdle pain. I've never known pain like it (contractions are a different story!). It would spread all around my pelvis and hips, and meant I was relegated to walking only very short distances, huffing and puffing like a steam engine. Stairs were just out of the question, whether up or down, and sitting at my desk at work became horrendously painful. Thankfully I was able to tack on some annual leave to the start of my maternity leave and therefore stopped going to the office fairly early on, around 33 weeks.  By 40 weeks I was hardly walking at all, I was in so much pain, and paracetamol doesn't go near PGP!
The only thing that helped was curling around my pregnancy pillow, and spending alternate days barely moving off the sofa. It meant I watched a ton of Netflix (Line of Duty and Happy Valley were ace) and consumed a large amount of ice cream to console myself, but more on that later...

Another fun physical ailment were the leg cramps - I'd escaped these throughout the first two trimesters, but made up for it by leaping out of bed, wailing in pain, on a regular basis. I HATE leg cramps.

Finally, let's talk about being pregnant during a heatwave - specifically, being heavily pregnant during a heatwave... Not only did I sweat just by breathing, but I had barely any suitable clothes when the temperatures soared, and ended up squeezing myself into last summer's maxi dresses and looking absolutely ridiculous. My in-laws very generously bought us an air conditioning unit because our lovely south facing flat gets hotter than the sun! The hottest days involved lots of soaking my absurdly swollen feet in a cold bath, sprawling in front of a fan, limiting my time outdoors, devouring ice creams...



Oh yes, on that note, in my last three or four weeks of pregnancy I was hungry ALL THE TIME. And craved the worst possible foods - I mean, I willingly purchased hot dogs, and I never eat hot dogs! We also visited McDonalds far more than is healthy - I think our local drive through recognised us and my go-to order (McChicken meal and a cheeseburger FYI) but I was just relentlessly hungry. It got so bad I'd wake up at 4am, absolutely starving, and ended up eating all the snacks I'd put aside for my hospital bag, way before we even got to hospital. I demolished an entire (cooked! So hot it was liquid) Camembert to myself one afternoon. I ate Thai green curry three times to try and coax my baby out (it didn't work). And I developed a hardcore Nesquik addiction, guzzling a glass a night to battle the heartburn (Rennies generally made me want to vom).

On a side note, literally all of these things stopped as soon as I gave birth, so if you're currently suffering through your last few weeks of pregnancy, take heart! The end is in sight (and feel free to scoff at me because I scoffed at everybody who told me the same thing).

Finally, let's chat about our baby! We discovered he was breech at 32 weeks, so I was booked in for a scan at 36 weeks. I spent that month researching breech births and Caesarean sections, and by the time the scan rolled around I'd convinced myself that at least I'd be meeting my baby before full term. Nope - he turned the morning of the scan! But I'm still glad I researched C sections, in hindsight...



My bump swelled to epic proportions by the end and I swear it grew on a daily basis at one stage. Harrison was positioned all out front so it just looked ridiculous. That said, it felt wonderful to wear tight clothes, and not have to worry about any flab showing - I can't remember feeling this body confident before!
He remained a very wriggly baby, which can be lovely, but is a little less lovely when it's 3am and you're just trying to sleep, but you've got little knees or elbows digging into your sides. I had a great time trying to film my bump making some spectacular moves!

Harrison measured big throughout my pregnancy - the midwife consistently marked my bump size on the 90th percentile, so as you can imagine I was pretty keen to get him out early if possible. We tried every old wives' tale going, I ate so many curries, tried to walk whenever my PGP allowed it... nothing. At 39 weeks I started getting contractions and got SO excited, as I really thought things were about to get going. But they'd always tail off if I had a bath or went to bed. This happened consistently for three weeks. Yup, three whole weeks - I went very, very overdue! But that leads me to a whole new post, as this one is reaching novel length.

I think that's enough for my third trimester. Tl;dr - I was hot, heavy and hungry! But it wasn't all bad, and terribly exciting getting ready for the birth of course!

Lots of love,
Dani xoxo