Freixenet ICE – a review.

I was recently sent some bottles of Freixenet ICE* to try. I had no prior knowledge of the Freixenet brand, despite its lengthy history, but reading over the serving advice, ‘cava with a twist’ was my initial impression and I was excited to give it a whirl. We all know that you don’t serve  cava with ice in normal circumstances but Freixenet ICE has been specially blended to work perfectly served this way. The design of the bottles exude expense and fun so I was eager to show them off and share them with family and friends.

With a work do on the cards shortly after I received the bottles through the post, my colleagues were my guinea pigs. They were a great group to try it out on as most of them weren’t cava fans. We each had a glass with the Freixenet poured over a few lumps of ice as recommended (but unfortunately we didn’t have any other garnishes at work). It tasted sweeter and richer than any other cava that I’ve tried but not in a sickly way. Everyone loved it and said they’d be very interested in drinking it in the future!

So there you have it. A resounding success with people who were really sure they weren’t going to like it. If you’re a cava lover you will love this. If you’re not usually a cava lover, try it, I know you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

 

*These are my honest views of this product. I have received no payment for this review, only the product itself to test in order to provide my opinion.

Chiltern Park by Nails Inc – a mother’s review.

I’ve wanted to try these gel style nail polishes for a long while now but wanted to know if you needed special remover to take it off afterwards. I want recently reassured by a colleague that I wouldn’t have to put some time and money aside to get the stuff removed and I still hadn’t become a member of the DIY gel trend when I was lucky enough to get my hands on this stunning shade as part of my M&S Beauty Box.  I’m a big Nails Inc fan anyway so it was a good opportunity for me to try one of their gel range polishes. 

‘Chiltern Park’ is a beautiful coral/red colour perfect for the summer and to make you feel a bit brighter on all the grey days we’ve been having.  Applying it is a pleasure. The consistency is thick enough to give good coverage (and an even sheen) after one coat so technically you could stop there. I did two coats to try and make it tougher than it may be after one and didn’t pop a top coat on it as I wanted to see how it would hold up to my day to day activities by itself (and the shine from the polish looked so pretty). Now, I’m not a lady of leisure where an amateur manicure lasts the best park of a week. I’m a mother, I work and I run a home, so like most people out there my nails are ruined after five minutes (you can reduce this time further when, the second after I’ve finished painting them I realise I need a wee and scuff them trying to unbutton my jeans). Seriously though, my beautiful new manicure stood up to washing up and bath time for almost 48 hours but became chipped when the bathroom got cleaned. A reasonable expectation, not at all a whinge. 

I think the moral of the story is, if you want ‘The Real McCoy’, get a trained professional to do your gel nails and they should last you a good few weeks. If you want an affordable alternative, these gel style nail varnishes look great and leave you looking like you’ve had a professional wave their magic wand instead of being the result of  very little effort on your behalf.  My only advice if you’re similar to me? Top it up with a top coat and wear some rubber gloves.*
*or get a maid AND a nanny. 

Summer Picks From Dahlia

I’ve been feeling a bit sad about fashion of late. Walking around the shops, I’m constantly disappointed with the cloned selection in a majority of shops so Dahlia couldn’t have arrived in my life at a better time. I can’t remember how exactly I stumbled upon Dahlia but it was love at first sight. I’ve been a subscriber to their emails for a few months now and have regularly popped onto their site to check out their new arrivals creating a mental wish list all the while. I’m confident that as soon as I have some spare pennies I’ll be grabbing some of their amazing designs. 



* images from Dahlia.com

Above are my four favourite pieces from their current collection. If you would like to see/buy them yourself, just click here.

I guess I have fallen in love with the brand for their kooky twist on classic shapes and combinations but all the while staying relevant. It’s how I would want to dress all the time if I could. In my fantasy I’m living in Paris as a freelance writer and I’ve just thrown on one of these combos before stepping out, going down the road from my apartment and grabbing a freshly baked croissant. Outside of my French fantasy life, I genuinely would wear these items every day. Work, play, whatever…they’re so versatile and are the kinds of key pieces you could chuck together and feel a million dollars instead of opening the doors to your wardrobe and hanging your head in despair. 

Statement and Simplicity – two separate ways to create a successful design and these gals have combined them both. Enjoy! 

Live Lagom – the future of the project

It’s gone far too quickly for my liking, but I can certainly say that this is one of the most interesting things I’ve ever participated in. ‘Live Lagom’ as both a project and an ethos for everyday life, has really changed my way of thinking about many issues related to sustainability. 

As mentioned in a previous post, the beginning of this project coincided with a tricky time for my family. My husband had just been made redundant, so for us, learning to be more sustainable and making the most of what we had was as much to do with getting by as it was learning better habits for all of our futures. I thought I was pretty savvy with food waste, recycling, upcycling and other ways of making the most of what you have and being responsible with things you have to buy but I have learnt so many new things recently. 

During the past six months we have become far more organised than we ever had been. In the kitchen more than anywhere thanks to some spectacular storage and cooking solutions and resources. We’ve stopped buying things we already had in the cupboards as we can now ‘see the wood for the trees’ (terrible sustainability pun). We’ve also been able to use less water and energy thanks to a pressure cooker, steamers, a quality pan and oven proof dishes that will freeze and reheat without having to swap into different containers. Especially now we’re both at work ( dramatic difference to our plans when I initially applied for the project) it’s great to know that we can eat well, use up leftovers easily and it isn’t a hassle at all. 

Curtains and liners have kept the heat in/out depending on the weather but it means that our rooms are now more heat efficient when required and the thick curtain put up in my sons room means he thinks it is night slightly longer than he would have previously. Small mercies, eh? 

One of our other big changes has been building a veggie patch at the bottom of the garden. a couple of weeks ago IKEA were kind enough to provide the wood to create a raised bed so we still need to build and photograph that, but all my seedlings that have grown in the greenhouse I chose as part of my shopping haul can go straight in once we’ve completed this task. 

Our biggest results have come from behavioural changes which we will most definitely continue. My husband saw it as ‘my project’ to start with but he’s become more and more interested and involved throughout the process and even joined me at one of the workshops which he thoroughly enjoyed. There have been many things, like the vegetable patch, that we’ve been getting round to during our five years in the house and this project has constantly inspired and motivated us to be better and make better choices. It’s hard to pinpoint a favourite part of the project but I would say that the workshops were a big highlight. Not only were they really interesting and fun, but it was a great opportunity to see my IKEA Gateshead family again. I’ve come to really look forward to seeing the team so a special thanks to Richard, Keith and Paula who have been my main contacts. 

I initially wondered if this project was only useful and interesting to those who embraced it wholeheartedly and I’m sure that in some fundamental way this is true as it is true of anything. However, the last six months have shown me that although this may be the case to an extent, the importance of the issue of sustainability is both accessible and relatable. I urge people to get involved, through this project if you get the opportunity or on your own initiative if not. I’ve already recommended it to people and got family and friends more engaged with sustainable living as I am now even more passionate about it than I ever was. Domestic and global resources will not last forever and ‘Live Lagom’ is a great mantra for life. Small changes make big differences. 

Live Lagom March update.

Over the last couple of months we have been using things from our Live Lagom shopping trip to try and make the most of what we have and waste less in all aspects of our lives. If you’d like to read more about the project, how we got involved and our motivation to participate, you can do so here.

All my pots are stored away in our beautiful new ÄPPLARÖ storage bench which is also doubling up as extra seating on our patio.

This Easter weekend, we started to build a raised veggie patch in a scrappy, gravely bit of garden. We still need to buy timber for the surround so it’s deep enough but we’ve made a positive start as you can see.

In lieu of a big greenhouse, I’ll be using my SOCKER greenhouse to germinate some seeds that we were bought for Christmas (which I’m sure I’m going to get far too excited about) and then hopefully I’ll have figured out a permanent place for them to be planted out by the time they’re strong enough for the big, bad world. I’ve already got garlic, onions and strawberries growing in planters my friend made for me out of my old, rotten decking so hopefully our back garden is going to turn into my little allotment!

We’ve had a move about in the front room to make more safe playing space for our son. The TV and the small sofa have now switched places, but this meant re-routing some cables under the carpet and that the power source would now be further away from the items we needed plugging in. That’s where our wonderful six plug extension lead came into play, and even better than that, it’s got a surge breaker built in, so our TV and other electrical appliances won’t get damaged if there’s a power surge.

The duvet I’d selected was out of stock when I did the shop but Keith (my lovely contact at the Gateshead store) got it sent out to me when it arrived to save me driving all the way back to pick it up. Our last duvet was at the end of its natural life and was all lumpy and had gaps in the wadding stuff. See below:

Our new RODTOPPA quilt has been AMAZING. I’ve actually struggled to get out of my bed every day since I’ve put it on as I’ve been far too cosy. Despite being a lower tog quilt than my last one, it’s certainly in better shape and insulates better which also means that I’m not putting on the electric blanket to stay warm, therefore saving money!

Perhaps best of all has been the pressure cooker. It’s taken me up until this week to try it out, for fear of blowing up the kitchen and raining molten stew all over myself. Seriously though, in reality it’s been a resounding success. I’ve cooked a week’s work of butternut squash houmous for my packed lunches in only 30 mins and I  sure some of that time was me flapping about figuring out the slow cooker. The other dish I’ve cooked was eaten today and only needed 30 mins in the slow cooker. What emerged was the most succulent beef and ale stew ever! Even my son ate it! Yep, my fussy toddler lapped it up! I think I’ll have to post the recipes on my blog so you can try them yourself.

Generally, we’re getting on well with the project. 2016 has been a bit of a turbulent one for me and mine so far, so in amongst the chaos we’re trying hard to implement and keep track of the progress and difference being made by the items we have chosen. In a way, it’s been something nice to be distracted by. We recently purchased a wonky veg box – 5kgs of veg for £3.50 – and managed to use it all as sides, in soups or enjoying it roasted. Scraps even went in the compost bin! I’ve also used a black clothes dye to breathe life back into garments that were in good shape but were horribly faded – now they’re like brand new again!

Moving forwards, I still need to line one set of curtains and hang another. I’m hoping to have this done sooner rather than later. It’ll block out a draft from our bedroom window and keep the warmth in (and the light out) Toby’s. We’ve also been motivated to change supplier for our utilities  we’re currently hunting out the deals that are best for us and hoping that it will save both energy and money in the near future. Many of the changes we’ve been making are things we’ve procrastinated over during our four and a half years in the house…there’s always been something we’ve been distracted by which is to our own detriment really. But times are changing in a positive way and I truly believe much of that has stemmed from this project.

Have you started the year with a zero waste attitude? Are you wanting to reduce your bills? Comment below and tell me how you’re getting along.

Until my next update…

 

 

 

 

Living Lagom with IKEA

In October of last year, an email popped into my inbox with the title “We Want YOU”. Immediately I was intrigued, but expected it to be a sales pitch – not that I would have been bothered as I need no encouragement where IKEA is concerned. The email spoke of a project that you could apply for that would be aimed at helping the chosen few to live more sustainably by saving more, wasting less and how, with some nicely designed products, the process could be made a lot more simple and enjoyable (with a cheeky £500 towards helping you make these changes). I was desperate to be a part of this and immediately filled out the application form. By the end of that month I found out I’d been lucky enough to secure a place and was so excited to read more about it all.

The project “Live Lagom” is a really lovely and healthy way to look at things. Our welcome packs provided this explanation: “Lagom comes from the Swedish phrase “Lagom är bäst” (the right amount is best), which we believe is the secret to sustainable living. Not denying yourself what you love, while not taking from the planet more than you need. It’s an idea with the power to change the way people feel about sustainability”. I loved it instantly.

Why did I apply? Aside from my love for IKEA and all of its products, I’ve always been pretty frugal – that’s just the way in our family. We’re hoarders if truth-be-told (Marie Kondo would have a fit) but it’s usually been a case of making the most of what we have which is a very Lagom mentality. Another big thing at the time of applying was the fact that my husband was in the process of getting made redundant. A big shock for our little family unit as I was a stay at home mum and therefore we were in clear danger of having no income and were having to make some emergency economies in every aspect of our lives in order to prepare for the worst. The project came along at just the right time for the McDermott’s it seems.

In November, we attended a workshop at the Gateshead branch (my local one) and besides a little intro about the project we got to meet the other participants including IKEA co-workers – some who were involved this time around and some who had participated before. It was great to hear everyone’s thoughts, experiences and reasons behind their involvement. We also got a great little goody bag with some energy saving kit in, just to whet our appetites for all things sustainable.

Our home visit came not long after the workshop. After much thought and some friendly advice , I decided that our New Year’s Resolution/general aims for this project would be regarding food preparation and waste – that we’d try to batch bake more to save energy and continue to plan meals in order to cut down on food waste. The other big one for us was making the house more heat efficient. We can stick on a big jumper and sit under a blanket but our little boy (who is now 18 months old) doesn’t really go for all that. He just wants to move…and take his trousers off. So popping up curtains, lining others, making draught excluders and figuring out somewhere for our towels to dry without covering radiators seemed like the best steps to take. As Keith and Paula saw at our home visit, our biggest challenges regarding heat loss are our kitchen and front door – both old and in need of insulation and/or replacing. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen in the near future so we need to figure out ways to counter the fact that they’re like an exhaust pipe on the house wasting energy we’re using for our central heating. If we manage to make changes to achieve our resolutions, I hope that we’ll reduce our energy use and waste. Good for the planet and good for our bills. A complete success.

RAGRUND chair

SENSUELL pot with steamer inserts

Live Lagom shopping day

The current state of play at Chez McDermott? We picked up our chosen items the first week in January and we’re slowly implementing them in our home. A bout of illness saw all three of us struck down (and in amongst this I’ve managed to find and start a new job to keep the pennies coming in) so we’re just starting to get back on track with it all. The RAGRUND bamboo chair/towel rack is now pride of place in the bathroom freeing up the radiators and generally tidying up the bathroom; most of the glass KORKEN jars are being put to use organising the kitchen cupboards so we can ‘see the wood for the trees’  and therefore we’re not re-buying things we already have in abundance (*ahem* four containers of vegetable stock powder); the SENSUELL pot and the little steamer inserts are already helping me use less energy cooking; the little SOCKER greenhouse is constructed and ready for me to grow herbs and start off my vegetable seeds in the coming months and I’m hoping to make the time to line my bedroom curtains next weekend if my son (and husband) will afford me the time. In the meantime, watch this space. Updates to follow very soon.

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick

I recently treat myself to one of the Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks. With the arrival of Autumn and Winter, I wanted a nice bright colour to combat the gloomy weather and the darker colours we can all tend to hide ourselves away in at this time of year. 

   
 
This beautiful, vivid hot pink is called ‘Pink Punch’. It comes as a crayon style, twist-up with a flat edge for easy, accurate application. It looks even brighter on and you can turn up the intensity by layering more on but is just as effective and head-turning with a quick slick applied. It’s not really glossy like I expected, more a lipstick with a sheen. Regardless of what I expected, I love this product. I love the colour, the texture and the feel of the gloss stick casing. I would totally recommend it to anyone and may end up investing in a few more colours for myself. 

Feeling a bit stressed and helpless

Over the past month I must have felt every emotion. Of course, I’m grateful for my wonderful husband and son and for our health and happiness but I’m also petrified for our future. 

There have been a few heated, tearful, stressful discussions about the work situation. For those of you who don’t know us, my husband is losing his job as a result of the steelworks closing. This is made more stressful by the fact that I had to give up work in June, as like many people, my wage would have been completely eaten up by childcare. I’ve fallen into that gulf of poorly paid parents disappearing for at least two years until subsidised childcare kicks in. Of course it was our choice to have a child but it was not our choice to be victims of industrial vandalism and redundancy. It’s awkward enough for us to get a babysitter for a rare night out so the possibility of one on a permanent basis is not a possibility. This leaves us with a double dilemma. Firstly the crisis involving finding work in the first place. James’ job was fairly well paid so we would both have to work to make up the difference because there are no similar paid jobs left in the area in our skill sets. Therefore problem two means that we would have to both work meaning that we will have to pay for childcare which defeats the point, and one of us would be working for pennies. This is unless one of us had a day job and one had a night job, but then one would still be too knackered to safely care for a child during the day. 

All this means that I’m barely sleeping, my brain is busy all the time and I can’t see very many ways out of this situation. On Sunday last week, I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. My heart was racing on and off all day and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. James is really stressed too, but most of the time we’re both putting on a brave face otherwise I think we’d both implode. The stakes are the highest they’ve ever been with three mouths to feed, a mortgage and bills to pay and the local area in complete decline for opportunity. The saddest part is that we are one of thousands of families in the exact same position. 

The current plan is to apply for anything and figure it out as we go. A terrible, reckless approach but I feel we have no other option. 

Mr Lista – My new best friend

Hi I’m Natalie and I’m a  compulsive list maker. From my earliest memory, I have loved to make lists – whether that was sat for hours with an Argos catalogue compiling my letter and (substantial) wish list to Santa, excitedly considering items to pack for a holiday or simply making to-do-lists all over scraps of paper. Then Mr Lista appeared in my life and made the concept of list making even more fun.

Mr Lista is a wish list and gift list maker. Simply follow their cute little videos to install the little browser button and then just window shop until your heart is content, pressing the browser button to add each item to your list. You can then send these lists to friends, family…whoever you want, so that people know exactly the item you want for any given occasion. There’s even a brilliant little space where you can put any size information or recommendations for when any purchases are made.

The sky’s the limit where ‘lista’s’ are concerned in terms of quantity of items and also which occasion you can use them for. Birthdays, New Home gifts, Weddings, Baby Shower ideas, Christmas prezzies, an Anniversary or Engagement –  whatever you need a gift for, get a lista made!

Since discovering Mr Lista, I’ve already made a few ‘listas’: one with furniture I’d love for my home, one with complete dream items and one with lots of fashion items I wish I could afford this Autumn/Winter. Sadly, as some of you may already know from my social media, James just lost his job so there’s no room for luxuries until we’re back on our feet. You can see part of my Autumn/Winter Lista below and can click on it to see ALL of the items I’m coveting!

Luckily for me I’m always asked every birthday and Christmas if I’ve got anything in mind that I’d particularly like and things are going to be made infinitely more simple by Mr Lista. Now I can simply tell the person in question that I can email a very specific list of my favourites and make both our lives happier and easier. My husband and I have even decided to make a lista for our one year old son’s Christmas list, as we’ve already had lovely friends and family requesting ideas.

I’ve never really bothered with wish list facilities because the things I like are spread over so many sites I’d forget about all the different wish lists and it’d be a waste of time. The beauty of Mr Lista is that you can add to your lista from any site, big or small.

As you can tell, I’m hooked. To make things even better, at the moment as part of the launch, you can enter your listas into a prize draw to win the things on there up to a value of £1000! What’s not to love? It’d be a great early Christmas present to yourself in my opinion. So sign up today at MrLista.com and then promote your lista on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #DearMrLista  – it will cost you nothing and will revolutionise your life!

Let me know what you think of Mr Lista and tweet me links to your listas or even pop them in the comments below. I’d love to see what you choose! Good Luck!

Festival of Thrift 2015- what is it all about?

If you’ve never heard of or been to The Festival of Thrift you’ve missed out and should put aside the dates for next year now! It’s a celebration of that old ‘make do and mend’ mentality and celebrates being thrifty and how it can be easy and fun to do. 

You may have heard me bleating (read:seen me tweeting) about winning the Festival of Thrift’s Blogger Challenge Competition. To take part we were asked to do something to fit with the ethos of the festival and create something railway themed out of a cardboard box and anything else you had kicking about in your home. Why railway themed? It was to celebrate the 190th anniversary of the world’s first passenger steam train that travelled between Stockton and Darlington, and this coincided with this years festival! I cobbled together a station, railway track and train out of bits and bobs lying about my home. You can read more about that here. As I say, I was excited to be announced winner of the challenge and named ‘The Festival of Thrift’s Thriftiest Blogger’ and my model was displayed on its very own stand. 

   
I wanted to tell you my favourite bits of my visit to the festival on Saturday and I’ve taken a few pictures so you can see them for yourselves. 

 
Firstly, I happened upon this wonderful bag made by Sea Drift Design. I’m truly in love with this bag and only with I had some spare cash as I know it would last me forever. It was made with pre-used Harris Tweed, leather and the piece de resistance? Driftwood handles! Aside from my love of being thrifty, my other great love is ‘uniqueness’ and I try my best to fill my life and my home full of quirky, beautiful things. This is definitely one of those things and I think I shall be lusting after it until it’s mine. A great example of making something amazing out of lots of otherwise relegated materials. You can check out Sea Drift Designs for yourself here.

The food stalls were incredible and if I’d had all day and ten times the natural capacity of my stomach to play with I would have tried EVERYTHING that was there. We came away with some scrumptious artisan breads and cheese. However my complete favourite foodie thing was a beef brisket brioche bun (with slaw and sauce) that I ate there. 

 
I’m actually salivating just thinking about it now. The business responsible for this taste sensation was Longhorns Barbecue Smokehouse and I actually had to go and say to them how much I’d enjoyed my food! 

My husband and I had our toddler with us and (we were driving) otherwise we would have been tempted to try out this beauty…

 
We spent the walk/sulk back to the car saying how we’d love a big plot of land where we could build a house and have something like this in the garden to enjoy with family and friends. It’s like something off George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces. I bloody love that programme. 

I won’t regurgitate all the ‘about us’ stuff about the festival, but it’s worth going and reading about here. Please, I implore you, to visit it next year. If you’ve already been I guess I’m preaching to the converted, but truly, it’s not a naff set of stalls where people are making crap out of more crap, there are skilled artisans making truly incredible things and they can teach you to do it too.

I hope you enjoyed my highlights. Let me know your favourites and what you think of mine!